Page 66 of Make Me Love You

He knew she would need to be at Holiday House, in case her guests needed something during the night and to make breakfast in the morning, so he headed in that direction. He focused on the feel of her warmth under his fingertips and the festive lamp posts on Main Street as they drove by. And this, too, was a moment he felt nostalgic for before it was even over. Sappy, but he didn’t care.

He took her hand again as they walked up the path from the driveway to her door, releasing it only so she could bustle around and make sure everything was in order for her guests. The house was empty, so they were still at the fireworks, he reckoned, which gave them a little more privacy.

He took advantage of that by squatting low to drop a shoulder to her belly, then tossing her up in a fireman’s hold. She gave a shocked shriek-laugh that made his heart nearly burst with pride. It struck him that she hadn’t laughed much during their years of friendship, not once her mom got sick, and now her laugh always sounded a little bit surprised, like she hadn’t expected to be happy. He wanted to spend every day for the rest of his life making her laugh.

He carried her upstairs and deposited her on the bed with a bounce that made her giggle. Emma Andrews! The most non-giggly woman he knew! He toed off his shoes while simultaneously grabbing the hem of his T-shirt in an attempt to get naked as quickly as humanly possible. But she propped herself up on her elbows and watched him with avid interest, and he found himself slowing down to give her a show.

The shirt came off over his head and he made sure to flex his abs as it went. Her cheeks flushed a pretty pink. He liked that. His hands dropped to his belt buckle, she licked her lips, and he really liked that. He moved a little faster after that, sliding his jeans and underwear down at the same time, in part because he was losing restraint, but also because if there was a sexy way to remove himself from his pants, he hadn’t found it.

She didn’t seem to agree, because the look in her eyes was downright hungry. He took a step toward her, but she stopped him.

“Don’t move. I want to look at you.”

Eli wasn’t a bashful man, but it was a vulnerable thing to stand there bare-ass naked while Emma, fully clothed, perused him at her leisure. Usually he was the one in control. He insisted on it. But this was Emma, and she could have him any way she wanted him. God, he wanted to please her.

Their gazes clashed and held. Without breaking eye contact, she peeled off her tank top, then reached around her back to unclasp her bra. Next went her jeans and panties, her gaze still never leaving his, and apparently she did know the secret to getting out of her pants in a sexy way, because he was nearly salivating when she was done.

He hadn’t moved from the spot where she told him to stay, despite that every cell in his body was aching for her. He waited, his muscles coiled like a lion who had sighted prey. Her hand slid across her belly and then, so damn slowly, farther down until her fingers disappeared in the honey-colored curls at the apex of her thighs, all the while her gaze stayed on him.

He couldn’t breathe for aching.

“I’m wet,” she said.

That was it. He was done. Waiting any longer was impossible, as impossible as keeping his hands from filling themselves with her breasts and his lips from kissing hers. He grabbed a condom from her bedside table, tore open the packet, and rolled it over his length.

Her neck arched on a gasp as he entered her. He paused there, holding himself still, trying to get a check on this sudden overwhelming need. Christ. His chest felt like it was cracking open. No, not his chest, his entire being. Like the feeling inside was too much to be contained by things like bone and muscle. It shocked him with its enormity. What was he supposed to do with all this need?

“Eli?” She looked at him with a question in her eyes.

He couldn’t answer. He was afraid of what the words might be.

Whatever she saw in his face made her own expression soften. “Eli,” she said again, so sweet, and this time it wasn’t a question. It was an answer. To everything.

He moved now, unable to hold back. Her nails dug into his shoulders, her legs locked around his hips. And now he knew what to do with all that need. Give it to Emma. Share it with her. Harder. Deeper. More.

She pressed her face against his neck, rained quick kisses there before scraping with her teeth, her internal muscles pulsing around him as she found her release. He was on the edge of his own, desperate now to slow it down, to give himself a little more time here inside her. A moment longer, just a moment.

But it was too late. Pleasure roared through him in a thundering wave, blindsiding him with ecstasy and breaking his damn heart. He held on tight to Emma, desperate to keep her close.

Just once more. For the last time

Everything was for the last time.

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