When I Was Theirs

74. Three months later - Emmy

74

Three months later - Emmy

I t looks the same.

I drop my ridiculously heavy rucksack to the floor, staring up at my apartment building.

I expected it to feel different.

But maybe I’m the one that’s different.

Cool autumn air whips across my face. Shivering, I reach for my bag and start dragging it unashamedly across the ground by the strap using both hands.

My stomach begins to flutter as I press my fingers to the keypad and push my way through the door.

Same gray walls.

Abandoning my bag at the bottom of the stairs, I take them two at a time, racing up to the third floor. And then I stop.

Breathe.

My hand is shaking as I quietly fit my key to the lock and nudge it open, listening.

I can’t hear anything.

Maybe he’s not here.

Disappointment curdles my stomach.

So much for the surprise, Emmy.

Sighing, I slip in through the door.

I can’t work out what I’m seeing. Blinking rapidly, I lean back against the door.

Because my living room is white. Cream.

Every inch of it is crammed with flowers.

There must be hundreds of them. Hundreds of perfectly crafted paper flowers, filling my apartment.

Crouching, I reach for one, scooping it up. Lines of black text run over the petals, and my lips part.

Book pages.

And not just any books. My eyes travel over the words, before I reach for another.

He picked romance books. Every flower is created from a love story.

“Emmy?”

Kneeling on the floor, cradling a flower in my hand, my head jerks up at the choked sound of my name.

He’s here.

Standing in the doorway of our bedroom. Water droplets roll down Jared’s chest, a green towel slung around his hips. He stares at me in disbelief. “You’re here.”

Silently, I nod.

His gaze drops to my hands. “Shit. I wanted to – you’re early.”

A day early.

“I wanted to surprise you,” I whisper.

His eyes travel over me, settling from surprise into something warmer. “Fuck, I missed you.”

Not as much as I’ve missed him. It’s not possible.

The smile starts in one corner, his lip quirking up. And it grows, until he’s grinning widely at me. “You’re really home?”

My own grin grows, spreading across my face as I scramble to my feet. “I’m home.”

And I have waited long enough for this. For him.

“Yes.” He reads my face. “ Yes , Emmy.”

And I move.

Jared catches me as I throw myself at him. My legs wrap around his waist.

Grabbing his face in my hands, I press my lips to his.

And in our living room, surrounded by paper flowers he made for me, Jared Bennett and Emmy Marsters kiss for the first time.

It’s a kiss worth waiting for.

I’m crying, and he’s laughing, and we’re stumbling backward. But our lips stay together. Jared takes over, pressing my back against my bedroom wall and softening my clumsy effort, brushing our mouths together in a gentle caress before he pushes my lips open with his.

My arms wrap around his neck, my hands buried in his damp hair as we share oxygen and lips and mumbled words. Jared’s hand cradles the back of my head, his arm strong around my waist as he helps hold me up.

“I missed you.” Another kiss. “So fucking much.”

“Don’t stop.” I tip my head back, giving him access to my throat as his lips travel down. “Don’t you dare stop.”

“I won’t.” He breathes it into my skin, stubble grazing my neck and making me shiver. “You and me, Em. Always.”

His promise wraps around me as he carries me to the bed. His hands are already sliding up my bare legs as I use my feet to kick his towel off. “Where the hell is your jacket? It’s October.”

I spare half a glance at my outfit, my protest weak. I’m too busy watching him as he climbs over me. “It was warm in Colombia.”

And I’m burning up. Everywhere his hands touch sets me on fire.

And he touches me everywhere.

I help him tug my yellow shirt out of my shorts, tugging it over my head and tossing it to the side. His fingers are already unzipping my shorts, dragging them down my legs until I’m left in my underwear.

“God,” he whispers reverently. Jared stares down at me, “I love you. Probably should have started with that.”

“I know.” If there’s one certainty in my life, it’s that Jared Bennett loves me.

“Good.” He presses his lips against my stomach, glancing up. “Because I’m planning to fuck you like I don’t. Fast first. Slow second. Third, we’ll see how we feel.”

At the gritty tone in his voice, my toes actually curl.

No complaints from me.

My breasts feel full and heavy as he hooks his fingers into the cups of my daisy-speckled yellow bra. His hot mouth seals over my nipple, and I buck as his teeth scrape it. Jared moves from one to the other, his hand squeezing until I’m moaning, pushing myself up to him. “More.”

He softens his touch, and I groan. “Jared. Don’t tease.”

There’s a smile in his voice. His tongue trails down my stomach. Lower. “I’ve spent a long, long time dreaming about this, Emmy. I think my hand is sick of me at this point.”

Empty muscles clench at the thought. “I want to see that.”

“Not today.” A kiss to my hip bone. “I have better places to be right now.”

I wriggle in sudden self-consciousness as he reaches my underwear. His finger runs over the embroidered white flowers. “I like these.”

“Wait.” Panting, I prop myself up on my elbows. Just in time to watch as he uses his shoulders to push my legs apart. Jared’s tongue darts out, pressing into me through my underwear.

Oh, fuck. My thoughts scramble. “I… the plane—,”

I’ve been traveling. “Shower.”

He raises his head to look at me, eyes wild and hair crumpled. “You think I care about that?”

“I care.” My head tips back, and I bite down on my lip. “No kissing me… down there. Until I’m clean.”

“You mean I can’t fuck your pussy with my tongue?” He presses harder, and the neediest little noise comes from my throat. “Good girl. That’s it. Push against me. Rub yourself on my face, Em.”

I mean, I could—

“No.” I yelp it, nearly kicking him in the face as I scramble back and off the bed. “Shower. Two minutes. I’ll just keep thinking about it otherwise.”

Jared props himself up on his elbows, his eyebrows raising. “Two minutes. And then I’m coming in after you.”

I flee past him, darting into the bathroom and staring around wildly. My underwear is soaked, my breasts reddened and the cups of my bra pushed underneath to force them up.

“Okay.” I chant to myself, slapping the button for the shower. “Two minutes.”

After the quickest but most thorough scrub in history, I shove a toothbrush into my mouth and inspect myself in the mirror.

It’ll do.

I skid back into the bedroom with approximately one second to spare. My breath tangles up in my throat. “You couldn’t wait?”

Jared’s hand moves over his cock, stroking it in slow, strong movements. Even his arm muscles flex. A condom rests on the bed beside him, and I swallow.

That should not be as sexy as it is.

He smirks at me. “Thinking about you? Hot and naked and wet? Nope.”

I sink against the doorframe, my mouth going dry. “I feel like I’m going to wake up any second.”

His face softens. “Get over here.”

I kind of want to watch for longer. But I jump on him anyway. He laughs as he rolls us over, until he’s pressed flush against me, my legs parted. My eyes travel across his face.

I’m going to spend my whole life with this man.

Another kiss. “Missed you.”

I blink away the brightness in my eyes. “Show me.”

He tangles our fingers together, pushing them up above my head. As he pushes in . “Fuck, Emmy.”

He fills me slowly. Every empty space lights up like Christmas as Jared sinks in, inch by inch. “So much better than my imagination.”

“And your hand.” My back arches as he thrusts, his eyes focused on me.

I’m already tingling as he pauses, holding himself inside me. His teeth grazed my neck. “Remember what I said?”

“Fast first,” I whisper. “Slow second.”

“That’s it.” My breath escapes on a gasp as he pulls back and thrusts, my hands pinned. “You okay?”

I lift my legs, wrapping them around him. When I squeeze my muscles, he swears. “I’m not going to last very long.”

Neither am I. “We have other— ah !”

My headboard bangs against the wall, a very obvious announcement of exactly what we’re doing as Jared’s hips thrust against me in hot, fluid movement. “Never going to get enough of this.”

I can’t breathe. Can’t speak. All I can do is grip him and take what he’s giving me. Everything, and more.

“Never.” His lips brush mine, and he presses our foreheads together. “Jesus, Em. You feel perfect.”

Faster. He becomes heavier on top of me, his thrusts pushing us up the bed until I’m writhing, my body bucking underneath him. “I – I—,”

“Give it to me.” He flexes against me. “I want to hear it, baby. Let me hear you.”

My cry fills the whole fucking apartment, ripples of pleasure surging through my lower half in waves that don’t stop. Above me, Jared loses control, his movements jerking as he shudders in release and drops his face to my neck, breathing heavily.

My legs slip from his waist as I slump back into the mattress, my breath heaving. He follows me, his weight pressing down.

“I don’t want to squash you, but I don’t think I can move.” I can feel his smile against my skin, his words muffled.

I shake my head. It flops from side to side, my energy well and truly depleted. “Don’t move.”

I just want to soak this in. Soak him in.

“Okay,” he breathes. “I think you broke me.”

But you fixed me.

“Worth waiting for,” I manage to choke out. “But not for so long next time.”

A breathless laugh. “We’re going again as soon as I can move my legs. I don’t plan on stopping.”

“Jared?”

“Yeah, Em?”

I rub his back with my foot. “Thank you for my flowers.”

They must have taken him the whole time I was gone, to create that many.

“You’re welcome. I thought they might work as decoration for the shop. I can put them up, create a wall.”

Yes . I can see it, so clearly. “Perfect.”

Clearing my throat, I nudge him again. “Also, I need a cloth. Or another shower.”

“Another shower,” he mumbles. “I have ideas.”

Oh.

As it turns out, he has lots of ideas. Enough that when my eyes blink open a few hours later, I’m sprawled upside down on the bed. My hair hangs off the end.

Jared trails his fingers over my stomach, his smile flashing. “Hey, you.”

“Hey.” My voice is sleepy. I look up at the stars on the ceiling above us. “I missed these.”

“You had real stars.” He kisses my collarbone. “I saw the pictures.”

But it wasn’t the same, not without him beside me.

“Will you come with me?” I ask. I don’t quite dare to look at him. “Next time?”

Jared rolls over me, pushing damp hair away from my face. “I don’t plan on leaving your side ever again, Em. This is it. If you want it. I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure you never doubt me. And we can go wherever you want to go.”

My smile grows. “Think you’re up to the challenge?”

“I do.” He bites down over my pulse. “And we’re going to find out.”

Yes, we are.

I want all the little moments with Jared Bennett.

Every last one.