Page 45 of Emma's Element

He was awed by the woman in his arms. Losing her teammates, her friends, being the lone survivor of a horrific event was tragic enough. But what she went through afterward was traumatic. And she survived. She was a survivor, and she was thriving. He should have listened more closely to Graham’s words all those months ago. He understood now what he’d been trying to convey. Witnessing her strength made him want to be a better man . . . for her.

“You amaze me,” he whispered into her hair.

“I’m nothing special.”

“You are to me. What you went through . . . I can’t imagine. And look at you now.”

“If it wasn’t for Jolene, I don’t think I’d be where I am. When she heard about what was happening, she came to me. I was in a horrible place. She convinced me to move to Lake Haven and helped me get the job at Nighthawk. I owe her a lot.”

“She’s a good friend.”

“The best.”

After a while, she climbed out of bed to get water. He sat up and watched her walk into the other room, her bare back on full display to him. An image of her lying on this bed while he ran his tongue over each vertebra had all the blood in his body rushing south. When she disappeared behind the door, he got up to follow.

She stood near the bar; her head tilted back as she drank from the bottle, exposing her long neck. He remembered having his lips there that last night together. Her skin had felt like silk and tasted sugary sweet; he could still taste it on his tongue.

She crossed to the windows; the slightly rumpled satin of her dress shimmered as she moved. The smooth material defined her curves while the slit teased him with glimpses of her toned thigh. His dick throbbed, recalling having those curves in his hands.

Seven months had passed, and his need for her hadn’t diminished. Not for the first time, he’d considered he may have made a mistake when he’d left. She’d wanted him to stay. Had even tried to convince him they could combat the media together.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, ashamed he’d been such a coward while she’d been ready to fight, like the fierce warrior he was coming to understand. “Why did you try to get me to stay after those pictures came out? Knowing what you’d been through, I don’t understand why you’d be willing to risk that kind of exposure again.” She’d been through hell; why would she be willing to face all that coming back up?

She shrugged. “I didn’t want them to win again. I didn’t want to allow them to control my life. And I . . .”

He moved closer, watching her reflection in the glass. “You what?” he prompted quietly. Her tongue came out to wet her lips before she rested her forehead on the glass.

“You’ve experienced many betrayals that cut you bone deep; I understand that pain. The loneliness, the isolation, the need to protect yourself from more hurt, I saw all that in you because it was in me too.”

She squared her shoulders and turned around to face him. “But I saw other things in you as well. I saw how the people who surrounded you wanted to keep you contained, but you drew on the courage inside to expand against their confinement. I saw your hesitation and fear to trust, but also your desire to form lasting bonds with people that you could depend on unconditionally. I saw your aching loneliness and all the things you felt but couldn’t speak about.”

She placed her water bottle on the table before crossing to him. He couldn’t blink, could barely breathe. His heart pounding in his chest sounded loud to his ears. Time had slowed as he watched her raise her hand, inch by inch, and place it over his heart. Her beautiful brown eyes locked on his, bestowing on him the gift of her tumultuous emotions.

“But most of all, I see what is in here.” She lightly tapped her hand against his heart. He grasped it, holding her hand in place against him, drowning himself in her dark pools. “The way you supported Annika and her school. The way you talk about that little boy you helped in Indonesia. The respect and care you show the people in the Nighthawk family.”

She paused, her eyes dropping to their joined hands. “I see what’s in here mostly because of the way you look at me. I’d never had that before. During the aftermath of the accident and the Coastie Siren malarkey, I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to open myself up to anyone ever again. But you made it so easy because of what’s in here,” she admitted, tapping his chest again with her index finger. “You made me feel safe and reminded me that I was strong. I was willing to stand by your side against the vultures because I see you, Marcus. And that was all I needed. With you, I could have taken on anything.”

With his heart ready to burst out of his chest, he lifted her hand and placed a kiss on her palm. After returning their hands to lay over his heart, he stepped closer, cupping her cheek with his other hand. “You don’t need my help fighting your battles. You are already fierce all on your own. But if you grant me the privilege, I would be honored to stand by your side to battle whatever life throws our way.”

The shimmer of tears built in her eyes before she lowered her lashes to hide them, causing his heart to ache. He unconsciously used their clasped hands as if to rub away the pain. “I should never have left,” he admitted. Her gaze flew back to his, her brows shooting to her hairline. He ran his thumb over the apple of her cheek, lightly grazing the skin. “I’ve been fighting this battle for my privacy for so long that I thought it was hopeless. But you’re right; together we’re stronger, I see that now. You pulled yourself out of a hell you didn’t deserve by your strength and fierce will alone. A remarkable feat. If I had pulled my head out of my ass and been half as courageous as you, we wouldn’t have lost those seven months together. I regret that.”

He cupped her other cheek in his palm. Leaning closer, he brushed her lips with his in the barest whisper of a touch. Then he wrapped his arms around her and clasped her to him. She took a deep, tremulous breath before she burrowed her nose into his neck, her arms slipping around his back. He pressed a kiss to her temple then slid his fingers along her scalp through her soft hair, cradling her head in a firm grip. He released the sigh he’d been holding forever. He hadn’t known it was possible for someone to fit so flawlessly in someone else’s arms. Emma fit him perfectly, just arms holding and hearts beating. And the feeling of her in his embrace professed to him that his arms had been empty for too long.

Chapter sixteen

“Forgetregret.Ifwelive in regret, we miss out on living our lives.” She raised her gaze to his; the intensity in his eyes was dark and steady. A pulse of awareness beat like wings in her core. She studied him; the physical package was as compelling as his heart. His chiseled jaw, firm lips, and thick lashes over those lake blue eyes and his flaxen hair shining in the light drew her in. Unable to resist his sexy chin dimple, she reached up and slid her finger over it. She let the corners of her mouth tilt up in a slight smile when his eyes flared at her touch. She’d done that to him with a simple caress. It was a heady feeling.

There was an immense pull in the tiny space that separated them, the kind of pull that made it impossible not to lean forward and place her lips on his chiseled jaw. She felt his sharp intake of breath more than heard it, pressed up against him as she was.

Emma slipped her hand into his soft, golden hair, grasping the nape of his neck. With just the slightest flex in her arm, she pulled him down to her mouth, kissing him with all the pent-up passion that trundled through her. The exquisite sensation of his lips heated her to the core. His shocked gasp against her mouth sent a quivering tidal wave of awareness through her.

The kiss deepened, his tongue sweeping into her mouth at her open invitation. She pressed forward, their chests flush, wanting more. The searing contact of his lips unleashed a frantic hunger. After a moment, he leaned back, and she sucked air into her lungs with a ragged breath.

“Emma,” he breathed, his voice unsteady. “I don’t think I deserve you but thank you for seeing me.”

So overcome with emotion, she could only nod. She burrowed her nose against his throat, relishing the feeling as his arms surrounded her. He inhaled deeply before releasing a hot breath against her throat. He cursed softly before murmuring against her ear, “I missed your strawberries.” She’d never been prone to swooning over a man, but the reverence he’d whispered about her fragrance had her melting.

He held her quietly for a time, the silence easy between them. Then he tilted her chin up, wiping a single tear away, his gaze full of concern. “I’m sorry you lost your teammates and for what happened to you after the accident,” he said. “None of that was fair. You deserved to grieve for your friends, not fight everyone you knew to get the truth out there. And you certainly didn’t deserve to be eviscerated by the press. I’d like to go find those people and shove their press passes so far up their asses they’d have to eat prunes for a year to remove them.”

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