Strong hands touched my shoulders tenderly. Axton had moved to stand behind me. When I didn’t move he kissed the top of my head. “Go talk to Nik. Put him out his misery. Poor bastard is all kinds of fucked up right now.”
Chapter 16
One Step Forward…
The half-moon was shining bright over the Gulf Coast. I frowned up at the sky, full of stars and hope for those that wished on those twinkling little diamonds. I was almost desperate enough to wish on one myself tonight.
Emmie had been in her room all day. I had gone to check on her a few times and the room had been so quiet inside that I had figured she was sleeping. Each time I turned away from the door that led into our shared room my heart had felt a little heavier. When Axton had finally arrived, I breathed a little easier, but I still couldn’t shake my unease.
Way too many What Ifs kept flashing through my mind. What if Emmie didn’t believe me, or even Axton about Gabriella? What if she couldn’t move on from this? What if I lost her?
My hands shook as I thought of what my life would be like without Emmie in it. My throat grew dry, and I took a long swallow from my Corona to ease some of the tightness. It didn’t help so I took another drink.
“It’s a beautiful night out.”
My head jerked up at the sound of Emmie’s voice. I had been so lost in my own misery that I hadn’t heard her approaching. She was standing right beside my lounger, looking up at the sky with the slightest hint of a frown on her beautiful face.
“Yeah. Beautiful.” But my eyes were on her, not the sky. Nothing was more beautiful to me than Emmie.
She stood there for the longest time just staring at the water and the star filled sky. I didn’t mind the silence. Simply having her next to me eased some of the tightness that had been clenching my heart all day long. If she was down here with me now, that had to be a good sign.
“I woke up feeling stupid,” she said in a voice so quiet that I had to strain to hear her. “I don’t have any right to be mad at you for something that happened more than a year ago.”
“Em…” I tried to stop her, to explain that there was nothing for her to be mad about in the first place, but she stopped me by turning to face me.
Even in the dim light of the half-moon and the lights coming from the beach house behind me I could tell that she had been crying. Her big green eyes were still puffy and her face still a little pink. “Axton told me that Gabriella lied. I’m sorry, Nik. I’ve made such a mess of things lately.”
I reached for her. Taking her hands, I pulled her down onto my lap and did the only thing I really could do. I kissed her. Her lips were salty from her tears, but still the sweetest things I had ever tasted in my life. I let go of her hands and tangled my fingers in her hair. I was helpless to control my groan when she opened her mouth and let me inside her hot mouth.
The kiss lasted forever, but nowhere near long enough. When I pulled back I was reluctant to let her mouth go but knew that we needed to talk. I kissed her lips one last time, savoring her taste on my tongue. “I love you, Em.”
Her chin trembled. “I love you, too.”
Every time she said it, every time I heard those words leave her mouth, my heart stuttered in my chest. “I wish you would have said something about Gabriella, baby. There was never anything going on between us. Never. By the time she came on the scene I was barely functioning because I wanted you so much. Even if she had wanted something, I never would have been able to touch her.”
“We’ve both been idiots. We could have been together long before now if we had opened our eyes.” She sighed and buried her face in my neck. “I’ve loved you for so long, Nik. Even now it’s kind of hard to get my head around the fact that I finally have you.”
I pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I know. It’s the same for me.”
Slowly she raised her head. “About that kiss with Axton …” I tensed, the images of her kissing my friend making my stomach turn and my heart squeeze. But I didn’t say anything. I needed to hear what she had to say. “It didn’t mean anything, Nik. I swear. I don’t know what it was for him, but for me it was just him playing around. Axton is my friend. It would never be more than that.”
“I know, Em.” I pulled her head down onto my chest. “I know.” I honestly believed that for her it had only been Axton teasing, just as I believed that for Axton it had been so much more. But I wasn’t going to think about that. It would only drive me crazy and ruin my friendship with Axton.
We sat like that for a good hour, neither of us talking as we held on tight to each other. The sound of the water hitting the beach and rolling back out was soothing. I was sure that as long as I had Emmie in my arms nothing else would ever matter again.
Emmie sat up so suddenly her head almost knocked my jaws together. “Oh my gods!” she whispered.
I rubbed at the sore spot on my chin where her head had connected. “Are you okay?”
“I think…” She giggled as she held her hand over her stomach. “There it is again.”
“What?” I demanded, concerned.
“The baby. I just felt her. She’s kicking up a storm in there.” She grasped my hand and laid it over her stomach where she had just been touching. “Right here.”
I smoothed my hand over her slight bump, and she pressed my hand a little tighter against her. At first I couldn’t feel anything and felt disappointed, but then Emmie shifted a little and I felt it, just a little flutter under my fingertips. My heart contracted and my throat grew tight. “Was that her?” I asked in an emotionally rough voice.
“Yeah, that was her.” Emmie laughed. “This is so amazing, Nik. I was scared I wasn’t ever going to feel her kicking, and now she’s starting to use me as a punching bag.”
I grabbed Emmie’s waist and lifted her until her stomach was level with my mouth. Her hands gripped my shoulders to steady herself, but she should have known that I would never have dropped her. Grinning, I pressed a kiss against her stomach where I had felt our child moving. “I can’t wait to meet you, little girl,” I whispered against Emmie’s flesh. “I can’t wait to show you the world.”
Emmie’s hands moved from my shoulders to my hair, tangling in the thickness as she held me against her for a moment. Then she was pulling away, straddling my waist. “Make love to me, Nik.”
“Here? Now?” I was already reaching for the snap on my jeans, but I had to be sure that this is what she wanted.