CHAPTER ELEVEN
Jordan opened the door for room service to push the cart in. He didn’t know how long Emme would sleep, but he was starving. After dozing for an hour, he’d woken energized and horny — along with another feeling he couldn’t describe. It was almost…happy? Whatever it was, it was the exact opposite of how he’d felt for the last ten years. He’d thought about waking her, but decided to let her sleep and had gone for a run instead to try and burn off some of the excess energy.
Watching her confront her nightmares last night drove home the realization he’d made on the camping trip when he’d unfairly dumped his baggage at Bree’s door. He’d never really faced his own issues. He’d pushed them down and ignored them. Kept going on deployment after deployment because that was the only place things made sense. The only place he felt needed and useful.
His conversations with Rocco and Emme came back to him. Both had found a sense of purpose in what they did. He wasn’t getting that in the Army anymore — hadn’t been for a while. But if he left, what else was there?
A soft sound drew his attention as he handed the receipt folder to the attendant. Emme stood inside the hall leading to her room. Thanking the young man who’d brought the food, he closed the door, and pushed the cart over to the table. “Are you hungry?”
She nodded and scratched the top of one foot with the other. Her pajama pants hung low on her hips, exposing a sliver of skin above the waistband. He’d kissed that brief expanse of skin and all the skin above and below it. His cock remembered.
Down, boy.
“I got you an omelet and fruit. I noticed that’s pretty much all you eat for breakfast.”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Thanks.” She walked to the table and sat.
He set her plate in front of her and grabbed the carafe from the cart. “Coffee?”
“Please.”
Two words so far and she hadn’t met his gaze yet. Did she have morning-after regret? Of all the thoughts he’d had while waiting for her to wake up, not touching her hadn’t crossed his mind. He could feel her unease and a lead ball formed in the pit of his stomach, killing his appetite.
Her fork clattered to her plate. “I don’t know how to act.”
He leaned back in his chair.Here comes the brush off.“What do you mean?”
“What am I supposed to… Can I…?” She propped her elbow on the table and dropped her forehead into her hand. “This feels weird and I don’t want it to be weird.”
“How do you want it to be?” He didn’t know whether to tell her they could go back to the way things were before and forget it happened or pick her up and set her in his lap.
“Not weird!”
He sighed. “Do you want to pretend it never happened?”
She finally met his gaze, a dark blush forming high on her cheek bones. “No.”
“Whatdoyou want?”
Her tongue licked her bottom lip and she glanced at his mouth. “To touch you.”
“Take what you want, Emme.”
Her chair scraped on the floor and she padded around the table. He scooted his chair back and waited, his heart pounding in his chest. His cock throbbing in his pants.
She straddled him, hooked her hand behind his neck, and pressed her mouth to his.
Surprised, it took a few seconds for his brain to catch up. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. He pushed a hand up her shirt and pressed on her upper back, crushing her breasts to his chest. Opening his mouth he traced her lips and thrust his tongue in when she matched his movement.
She sucked on his tongue and he groaned deep in his throat. She rubbed herself against him, once. Twice. He shoved his other hand into the waistband of her pants and traced the seam of her ass. She gasped and increased the pace of her hips. He held her firm against him and thrust up to meet her.
Her panting grew heavier and her nails scraped across his scalp. She broke their kiss and dropped her head to the crook of his neck.
She shuddered in his arms and let out a low-pitched moan.
Taking his hand from under her shirt, he brushed her thick hair away from her face. “You’re so fucking beautiful.” She blushed and he used his thumb to tilt her chin up to look at him. “No more hiding. No more weird. Okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
