Not a Chance(78)

Dustin stared in horror at Emma who was calmly taking prim little bites of her food and smiling like nothing out of the ordinary was taking place.

"Well the way I understand it," Pastor Harris said, "you two have been interested in each other for a while. I can't imagine a courtship lasting too long."

"Of course not," Susan said. She smiled at Dustin. "Why, we've already got a wedding cake picked out. And you should see the dresses she's going to try on."

Dustin couldn't hear anything over the pounding in his ears. The food lost all taste. His tie was choking him. He reached to his neck. No, he wasn't wearing a tie. It was the invisible yoke of marriage wrapping its cold fingers around his neck like the hand of death.

"Dustin, are you alright?" Emma said.

He looked at her and nodded, trying not to show the terror that he was feeling. "Fine. Great."

She smiled and patted him on the hand again. After dinner there was dessert and still more talk of a future he was in no way being asked to participate in, but that involved him nonetheless.

"I know it's cold outside," Emma said, "but would you like to bundle up and sit on the porch swing with me?"

Dustin sighed in relief. "That sound's great," he said, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. At last an end to the horror and a few moments alone with the girl he loved.

She brought out a huge blanket for them to share. Dustin slid his arm around Emma's waist and pulled her up against him. All he would get to do until they were married was hold her. And since the thought of marriage terrified him beyond description, he would just have to train himself to be satisfied with it.

Emma slid her arm behind his back and lay her head on his chest. He rested his cheek in her hair and inhaled the scent of her. Their breath turned to fog in front of them, but they felt warm being near each other.

She pulled back just enough to look up at him. He smiled down at her, but she wasn't smiling. She was breathing faster than normal and her lips were slightly parted and he knew she wanted him to kiss her. Which made him smile more. And then he leaned down and touched his lips to hers. The winter felt like Spring, then, and he felt her smile against his lips. He brushed her cheek with the backs of his knuckles, then he reached his fingers into her hair and tilted her head back, cradling it in his big, strong hand.

This time when he kissed her he didn't stop. He pulled her hard against him and drank her in, lapping at her tongue with his own like a desert traveler, parched and desperate for water. He pulled away for a quick second for a gulp of air and then plunged back in for more. Her breath was sweet and her skin was soft and the little moans of pleasure she emitted inflamed his passion to almost more than he could bear. Yet the more he tasted her the more he needed more of her. His fingers dug into her back and he could feel her breasts pressing against his chest.

And then she pushed herself away.

"God," he gasped, groping at her trying to pull her back against him. She angled herself away from him and looked into the night. He was still panting like a dog. He held onto her shoulders and kissed her neck. "Oh, Emma," he whispered. "You're so sweet." He nipped at her earlobe.

She inched away, out from under his grasp and then turned to face him. "I'm really sorry about my parents tonight," she said. Her voice was strong and her breathing normal.

"What?" Dustin said. The blood flow hadn't returned to his brain and all he could focus on was her red, swollen lips. He licked his own lips in remembrance of the taste.

"All the marriage talk? I can tell it really bothered you," she said. She leaned back against the swing and pulled the blanket back over her shoulders.

Was this not the same woman he'd been making out with only a moment earlier? Had she not been in the exact same moment with him? And yet here she sat, perfectly undisturbed. Poise in tact. Only a few loose strands of hair and those lips as evidence that they'd been doing anything more than cuddling. "It's okay," he said, still trying to get his breath back. "I don't care. Come back over here with me."

"It's just, they know how much I want to get married. And they're also very old-fashioned. They don't believe in dating just to date. It has to be going somewhere. And I've assured them that what you and I have is definitely going somewhere. But I think they just want to hear it from you."

He reached out and touched a lock of her hair where it was hanging against one cheek and touching the corner of her mouth. "That was some pretty good kissing, huh?" he said.

She sighed. "I just wish they'd been more tactful. I hope they didn't freak you out too badly?" She looked up at him, then and met his eyes.