Page 51 of Owning Emma

I grinned, trying to play off the worry. “She has strong stock. Besides, a little worry is good for the woman.”

Emma blinked. “Don’t even get me started on you. Come here.”

“Yes ma’am.’ I looked at the ground, afraid to make eye contact. Knowing she would see right through me. The act, the act that the whole ordeal didn’t shake me was a lie and she couldn’t know the fear.

She reached for my arm. “What happened?”

I didn’t pull away like I usually would with anyone else. Instead, I savored the feel of her fingers against my skin. “It’s just a little burn, Emma.”

I swear she grew a foot in height at that statement. “A little burn? Are you kidding me? You could have been killed.” She reached for Roman, noting little nicks on him as well. Placing her hands on his cheek she continued, “Is whatever this dispute about worth this? Possible death? What is so important that you are willing to risk your life and everyone’s around you?”

Roman’s eyes closed at the touch, and I could visibly see the battle that plagued him inside. I understood completely, the battle plagued me too. When his eyes opened, they focused only on Emma “You. He wants you, Emma.”

She gasped, dropping her hands to cover her mouth from the shock of his words. I swallowed hard trying to work past the lump. “It doesn’t matter. He will never touch you.”

Never. Not as long as I was alive, no one would touch her.

Tears pooled in her eyes and trailed down her cheeks, and the sight of her crying made me feel broken and confused. I reached up and brushed away a tear as it trailed to her chin. Roman took a step closer and wiped her other cheek as he declared, “You’re safe with us.”

She took a deep breath and her voice sounded as broken as I felt when she said, “Why?”

“Why what?” Roman asked.

“Am I just a pawn to you?” My finger touching her damn cheek left a trail of soot.

Roman’s head tilted to the side. “Do you think so little of us that you assume we would only protect you to spite him?”

“I-I don’t know. Why else?”

Why else? Because despite what she thinks, we are good people. We care. We love. . . because we love. I watched her intently, my eyes boring into hers, and she didn’t even blink as she waited for an answer. She didn’t look to Roman as she waited for him to speak. Her eyes were locked on mine, as if she could see into my soul.

“We care, Emma,” was all that Roman offered and it was weak. Claiming you care without showing your love is a fucking weak explanation to a girl who had a caring mother who left, and who had a caring father who put her in danger. We care was not what Emma needed to hear to understand that we were genuine. No, she needed more. So much fucking more.

I was standing there next to Roman one second, then the next I had Emma’s thighs in my hand, lifting her to wrap her legs around my waist as I slammed her back into the wall, my lips capturing hers in a furious kiss. I hadn’t expected her arms to loop around my neck, or her thighs to squeeze me as she pulled my body into hers. Feeling her acceptance as her tongue dueled with mine made my body roar with ownership, wanting to claim every inch of her.

A movement behind me caught my attention and I dragged my lips away from hers, remembering where I was, but I still didn’t look away as she panted against me, gasping for breath. One hand left her body and found a spot on the wall behind us, using its solidarity as strength against my weakening knees.

“That was . . .” Roman cleared his throat, the words coming out in a dry scratch. “That was unexpected.”

I ignored him, leaning down one more time to capture her lips, this time savoring them slowly, memorizing the feel of them as they slowly moved against mine. Kissing Emma was . . . unexpected. But now that my lips were on hers, I felt it nearly impossible to pull away.

Was this how he felt the morning I caught Roman kissing her in the kitchen? Like she was his last gulp of air right before he was to be pushed under the endless ocean? I wanted all of her, not like I deserved it. But whether I deserved her or not was not going to encourage me to stop. If I only had this moment until she came to her senses and pushed me away, I was going to make the fucking most of it.

I pulled my lips from hers, whispering words I couldn’t even begin to understand against her chin, her jaw, her neck, and she hadn’t pushed me away, not even offering a slight hesitation, until Roman filled her view.

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