I’m not surprised Emma senses the shift. Rolling her hips over me smoothly, she reaches down and locks her hands around my neck, pulling me up so she’s settled on my thighs, and we’re face to face, chest to chest. Heart to heart. Emma brings her mouth to mine as she moves above me. She sucks mybottom lip into her mouth, nipping at it until I open for her, and she dives in, her tongue sliding into my mouth, mimicking the motion of her body.
My pleasure rises with every move of her hips. I glide my hands up and down her back, over her ass and down her thighs and back up again. I want to brand every inch of her with my touch, mark her as mine, keep her with me forever.
I break the kiss, bringing a hand up to cup Emma’s cheek, keeping our eyes locked as she grinds down on my cock, my head spinning and the base of my spine starting to tingle. I hold back, though, determined to take Emma with me. It feels acutely important that we come together, that I share this moment with her. The one where everything changes.
I lick my thumb and press it to her clit, moving it in the tight circles I know drive her wild. When I start to fuck up into her, Emma groans, the movement of her body speeding up, meeting me thrust for thrust as she barrels towards her own release and takes me to mine.
“I’m so close,” she moans out, eyes locked on mine. “It’s so good, Jeremy. You feel so good.”
As my pleasure rises, my filter lowers and words spill out of me as we both climb higher.
“It’s never been like this, Ems. Never. Only with you. I need you. All of you. And I never want to let you go. Come for me, Pretty Girl. Take me with you.”
I increase the pressure of my thumb on her clit and Emma cries out, moves her hips faster as her orgasm tightens her entire body. I slam up into her harder once, twice, three times, and I careen over the edge, my own orgasm barreling into me. Electricity snakes up my spine, and my vision edges black. My balls draw up tight and I burst, pleasure swamping me as I hold Emma tight and release into her body, filling her up. A fierce possession fills me at the thought of my cum inside ofEmma, and I lock my arms even tighter around her as she drops her head onto my shoulder, both of us breathing hard, hearts pounding against each other.
We stay like that, slick bodies pressed together and my half-hard cock still inside her. I’m flayed open, every emotion on full display, nowhere to hide and nowhere to run.
Emma is the first to break the silence, lifting her head up so she can look me in the eyes, our faces inches apart. Her eyes are still glazed with pleasure but looking at me with a raw intensity.
“I’m yours, Jeremy. I need you too, and you never have to let me go.”
The words are right there. Rising up in my throat and filling my heart and my head, and I’m shocked Emma can’t see them. But then I know she can because she puts a hand on my cheek and leans in to press a soft kiss to my lips and wraps me up in her warmth and safety. She gives me so much. I want to give her everything.
“Tell me something true, Jeremy.”
“I love you,” I rasp out, saying the words to Emma for the very first time, and I’m surprised that it’s not scary at all. Instead, it feels exactly right, saying them to her. Emma’s eyes well with tears, and I bring my thumb up to wipe away one that escapes and rolls down her cheek. I leave my hand there, needing to be connected to her in every way possible.
“I’ve loved you for so long. Years, I think. I thought it would be scary to tell you, but it’s not because it’s you and me. You know me better than anyone, and you understand my broken parts and make me feel like maybe they aren’t so broken anymore. You’ve given me family and a home and more happiness than I ever thought I would have. I never want to spend another day without you. You brought me back to life, Ems. There is so much in me for you, and I want to give you everything. You and Maddy, because I love her too.”
Emma closes her eyes for a second, leaning into my hand, and when she opens them, I see everything I feel reflected back at me. My heart beats with love for her.
“I love you too. I love you so much. I’ve never needed anyone the way I need you. You are everything to me. I promise I’ll make you feel loved and safe and cared for. You and Maddy. You’ll never have to wonder or worry because I’m right here, and I’ll never leave. Both of you are mine to keep.”
I lean in and kiss Emma deeply. It’s a kiss full of hope and love and anticipation for a future I never could have dreamed of but that is right here in front of me.
“Thank you for loving me,” I whisper when I break the kiss.
Emma kisses me one more time and brings her hands up to cup my face, keeping her eyes on mine.
“I promise I’ll love you the way you deserve to be loved. The way you’ve always deserved to be loved.”
We stay like that for a while, soaking up this moment, and I send up a prayer of hope to the universe that it will always be like this.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Jeremy
My phone dings as I pull up outside the big brick colonial house on a quiet suburban Bethesda, Maryland street.
Ems
[photos attached]
Turns out, when there is a seven-year-old involved, Halloween is a full day affair. You didn’t have to spring for the real deal costumes you know. She’s seven. She wouldn’t have known the difference.
I grin at the pictures Emma sent. There’s one of Maddy in full Hermione Granger costume, complete with a candy bucket shaped like a stack of spell books in one hand and the wand I got her in the other. The other is of Emma and Maddy together, Emma dressed as Professor McGonagall at Maddy’s insistence. I bought both costumes at the same time I bought the wand, after an exhaustive search for the most authentic ones I could find. It was totally worth it. My girls look amazing.
Me
