Chapter 6
Hunter
I’d finally told her the truth.
As we both stood there in silence staring at each other, I could see the shock on her face. I could also see the confusion as she went through everything in her head. I knew this wouldn’t be the end of the argument. She wouldn’t believe a word of it.
I was surprised it had taken this long for everything to come out. Every day since the funeral, I had been expecting to see Ember, and for her to have this conversation with me. However, she never came.
I guessed I understood why now. It probably hurt her as much as me to face the fact that Elliott was gone.
“It’s true, Emmy. Elliott made me promise that I would never touch you in any way more than just a friend or a brother. He told me I could never have the woman I loved. And I agreed to it.”
I could see her confusion starting to morph back into anger as she walked over and slapped me across the face. Even though it hurt, I just stood there.
We both needed this. Neither of us had grieved our loss – not just Elliott, but our own friendship and love.
“How dare you speak badly of Elliott?! He would never have made you make that promise. He knew how much I loved you. How much I still—”
That was the moment we both realised the truth. I saw it in her eyes as soon as she said the words. The look told me that not only had she loved me, but that she still did, and not as a friend.
To hell with the promise. I needed to touch her.
I placed my hand on her face, and she instantly leaned into it. I wiped away her tears as I spoke.
“Let’s go sit down. We really should have talked about this a long time ago, and I think now is the right time.”
A sad smile came over her face, and she nodded.
I took her hand in mine and led her into the living room.
She took a seat on the settee, and I went over to stoke up the fire and place another log on it.
I loved the warmth of the fire and wanted to make it as welcoming as possible to have this difficult conversation.
As I sat down next to her, I wanted to take her hand in mine, but I knew I had to tell her everything first. Then she could make her own decision.
“So, it was just before we went on our first tour.
We were packing all our stuff, getting ready to leave, and he asked me how I felt about you.
I told him the truth: that I loved you. I think at first he thought I meant in the same way he loved you, but then he looked into my eyes and realised that I meant I loved you as the gorgeous woman you are.
“We had a huge argument over it. He said that I wasn’t the right guy for you, and I would hold you back from doing all the things you had planned for your life. That I would expect you to be the little ‘wifey’ at home, looking after the house and kids, while I was out living it up.
“I tried to argue with him, tell him that I would never stand in the way of your career.
I was so proud of what you had already achieved, and I would never have taken your dreams away from you.
He asked me to prove it and said if I really loved you that much, I would let you live your own life and not get involved with you.
“What could I do? If I ignored him and continued as normal, he would have assumed that I didn’t love you as much as I said.
If I made the promise and kept to it, I proved my love for you, but also pushed you away from me.
Either way, I would probably have lost you.
I hoped that once I proved myself, he would finally give in, but then everything happened and I didn’t know what to do.
“I was at the funeral, for a while. I had gone and made my peace at the chapel of rest, first thing in the morning. Then I stood in the back of the crowd at the burial. I so wanted to run up to you and wrap my arms around you, but the promise I’d made just kept going around my head.
I realise now that was when I lost you and it was too late for us.
Especially when I found out you were dating and then got engaged to Wayne. ”
I could see the pain in her face when I mentioned his name. I wasn’t sure if I should mention that I knew what had happened, but I didn’t have to, as she spoke.
“It’s over between us. That was the reason I was out in this stupid weather.
I found him in bed with his secretary this evening.
I was so hurt and angry that when I arrived here and found out it was your house, I wanted to lash out at you.
I wanted to hurt you like I was hurting, like I am hurting now. I’m so sorry.”
I decided there and then that I wouldn’t hold back anymore. I leaned towards her and wrapped my arms around her. I felt her start to break down in my arms and knew the tears would be falling down my face again soon.
We had both needed this, and I had kept us both from it. It had always been me to comfort Ember when we were younger; I guess in a way, Elliott was jealous of that. That was possibly the reason for the promise.
It didn’t matter, though. It was just the two of us here now, and she needed comfort. I wasn’t going to hold back now. I was going to give her all the love I had in my heart from this moment on.
I felt her sobs start to dissipate as she brought her emotions under control and gave her a squeeze of reassurance as we pulled apart slightly. I gazed into her eyes and saw that look again, the one that told me she still loved me.
Leaning down, I pressed my mouth against hers, finally getting to taste the lips I had craved all my adult life.
I didn’t want to be the one to deepen the kiss. After everything she had been through, I wanted her to be the one to make that decision. I felt her tongue lightly glide across my lips, so I opened my mouth and allowed her entrance.
I couldn’t help myself as I pulled her into my body and started to kiss her hard. She was mine now and always had been. Ember instantly returned it and placed her arms around me and up into my hair.
She was perfect in every way, as I always knew she would be.
We stayed there for a moment in each other’s arms, our tongues exploring our mouths as we continued to kiss.
Ember pulled away after a while, breathless and with a look of lust in her eyes.
I gazed into them, knowing exactly what I wanted next, but unable to ask the question.
“Shall we take this upstairs to the bedroom?”
I was shocked as she got up from the settee and held her hand out for me to take. I wasn’t going to let her change her mind, so I instantly got up and took her hand in mine. I led her up to my bedroom and turned as soon as we entered, pulling her against me.
As soon as our bodies touched, I knew she would realise how much I wanted her. She gasped as she felt my cock pressing into her.
I leaned down and whispered into her ear. “You don’t know how much I have wanted this day to come. Are you sure?”
Her voice was lustful as she spoke. “Yes, Hunter. Please.”
I carefully removed the hoodie she was wearing, only to find her completely naked underneath. I groaned seeing her breasts and nipples pucker up at the temperature change and couldn’t help myself as I ran my fingers across her skin and took her breasts in my hands.
Leaning forward, I pressed kisses into the crease of Ember’s neck, eliciting a soft moan from her lips, a sound that went straight to my already hardened cock.
Removing my hands from her breasts, I moved them down and hooked my fingers onto the waistband of the sweatpants she was wearing.
She hadn’t had to tie them up, so I was able to fully push them down her legs with little effort.
When I found myself face-to-face with her pussy, I couldn’t resist the urge to part it with my fingers, finding her already wet from anticipation.
I gently ran my tongue through her parted lips, finally getting my first taste of my woman.
God, that sounded so good in my head. My woman.
“Hunter.” My name left her lips on a moan as I felt her legs tremble in my hands.
I placed my arm around them, holding her tight as I continued leisurely running my tongue through her folds, and around the swollen bud in front of me.
I wanted to take my time. I had waited so long, and there was no way I was going to rush this.
Another moan left her lips and then a sharp breath as I ran my tongue over her clit.
“Is this what you want, babe? You want me to eat you out and make you come?”
Her hum of confirmation urged me to continue.
I may have never loved another woman except Ember, but that didn’t mean I had led a life of celibacy.
I had slept with plenty of women and knew my way around a woman’s body; I had just never loved them in the way I did this woman in my arms. That was why I was going to give her exactly what she wanted.
I unleashed on her clit with my tongue, like a man dying of thirst. I knew she was already close to coming, as her breathing was becoming heavy and her moans were growing by the second.
I slowly pushed a finger inside her and massaged her walls, finding the perfect spot almost immediately as she moaned out my name.
When her walls slowly swelled around my finger, I carefully pushed in another and held on to her tightly as I increased the pressure on her clit with my tongue and massaged her inside.
It was only a few short moments before I felt her orgasm crash over her, as she pulsed around my fingers and moaned out my name. I slowed my pace, prolonging her ecstasy for as long as possible, all the while conscious that I needed to hold her to keep her from falling.
As her moans died down, I removed my fingers and slowly got up from the floor.
Seeing her face flushed and her chest rising quickly as she brought her breathing under control filled me with pride.
She slowly opened her eyes and met my gaze.
I pulled her to me and crashed my lips against hers, desperate to devour her mouth again.
Now that I had her, I couldn’t get enough.
I broke the kiss as quickly as I started it and looked into her eyes.
A smirk came over her face. “Well, that was certainly hot.”
“You thought that was hot, did you? Well, I’d best show you what else I can do, hadn’t I?”