“Yeah, well, I can’t either,” I responded back in jest.When he braced a hand beside me to push himself over, I wrapped my legs around him again.“One more minute.”
I should have figured he wouldn’t let that slide.With a push, he rolled us over, still inside me, and I scrambled to unhook my ankles from behind his back before they were crushed under his big body.
“One minute here.”He put his hands on my hips and shifted me down just slightly, just enough so I could rest my head on his shoulder, snuggling into his neck.I bracketed my forearms beside our heads on the pillow and closed my eyes, fully relaxed.Rory’s hands lazily roamed up and down my back.
After a quiet moment, the only sound in the tiny cabin being our slowing breaths and the crackle of the fireplace, Rory said, “That was worth the wait.”
Smiling, I propped my chin in the middle of his chest and teased, “It made up for last time.”
I squealed when his hand connected with my ass in a stinging slap.“Sass.”He rubbed the spot to ease the sting before tapping both hands on either side of my hips.“I gotta get rid of the condom.Would hate to be considered the next Conor and Mia.”
I froze at that.
Did he mean…?
Did he not want kids?I mean, I wasn’t by any means ready for them, but I liked to look at the long-term and there was no sense wasting time with someone if there wasn’t going to be a forever…
He must have seen a shift in my eyes because he tugged on my hair.“Emily.”
I forced a smile and shifted off of him.“Go get rid of the condom, Rore.”I moved off the bed and wished I had my bed clothes nearby but because they weren’t, I walked naked to the bathroom, refraining from closing the door as badly as I wanted to, and pulled on the sleep boxers and sweatshirt I’d brought in earlier.The soft inner fleece of the sweatshirt was still too much for my sensitive nipples, but I wasn’t about to walk back out to find a tank to wear under.
I was working on pulling my hair up in a top knot when Rory walked in.My eyes caught his in the mirror but quickly went back to my own reflection.In my peripheral, I watched as he discarded the condom and just when I thought he’d move from the room to grab his own clothes, he stepped behind me and slid his arms around me, his hands under my sweatshirt and on my bare stomach.I lowered my arms after securing the band around my knot and let my arms hang uselessly beside me.
I watched in the mirror as he turned his face in to mine, pressing his lips to my temple before regarding our reflections.“I just meant,” he said softly, “that we wouldn’t want an unexpected pregnancy right now.Someday, Emy girl, I am going to put a baby in here.”He rubbed my stomach gently.“When you’re through with school and are completely ready.”
My eyes teared up; I couldn’t help it.With a watery tilt of my lips, I asked, “When did you turn into such a good guy?”
His chuckle vibrated against my back and he pressed another kiss to my temple.“There was this girl…” Rory turned me then, and I put my arms around his naked back.“In due time, Emily.You have more important things to worry about right now.”
I tilted my chin up so I could press my lips to his softly.“I’m game.”
10
Rory
Later,when Emilywas cuddled under the blankets of the cozy bed, sleeping through the midnight hour, I reached for my phone from the bedside table.These last two days with Emily far exceeded my expectations and there was no way in hell I was watching what we had walk away—atanypoint.
What started out as a chase, the need to take the one girl who wanted nothing to do with me, turned into so much more than I could have ever fathomed.Two years of my attention being focused on Emily, on how I could be the man for her, really put into perspective Bren and Stone’s situation.I would never fully understand their need to have kept it a secret for five years, but I got the whole longevity of it.
I wanted what my sister had with Stone, what Con had with Mia.And I wanted it with the woman I once felt was ice cold indifferent toward me.
I scrolled through my emails, finding the one I was looking for, and shot off a new message to the puppy lady before responding to a second message.Tomorrow Emily’s Christmas would be complete—and we still had the actual holiday to go through.
Best damn Christmas ever.
Emily satin the middle of the now-made bed, hair a freaking mess and a coffee mug in her hands between crossed legs.Her facial expression told me she wasn’t exactly thrilled to have been woken up at four.
That said, I made sure to have coffee ready before waking her; I knew her well enough.
She should be happy I let her sleep all night.I sure as hell didn’t, not with memories of the two of us between these very sheets—well, on top of them really.I would have loved nothing more than to take her again and again throughout the night.As it was, I slept off and on and finally woke up at three thirty to start getting our stuff together.
I glanced up at her sour expression and chuckled to myself, turning my attention back to the task at hand.“Hey, you told your mom we’d be there at ten.”I reached for Emily’s discarded lingerie from the floor and grinned as I stuffed it in the bag with everything else.
“It doesn’t take six hours to get to San Diego,” she mumbled, lifting the mug to her lips.
“From home, no,” I said, standing.I tugged my pajama pants back into place.“But we’re north; it actually will take nearly seven.”I looked at the clock.Four sixteen.“And we’re still going to be late.”
Her eyes widened.“Seven hours?”She uncrossed her legs and placed the mug on the table beside what had been her side of the bed.“I have to shower!”
