Taming Emma(40)

“Oh, Luke,” she said, rising to her feet and taking the few steps to him. She picked up his hands and he rose to his feet, allowing her to wrap her arms around his shoulders. “It’s ok, Luke,” she said into his chest, pulling his head to her shoulder. “It’s ok.”

His body shook and she held him. This man who was the most powerful man she’d ever met now shuddered in her arms. “It’s ok.”

He pulled back and turned away, running an arm across his face. “Emma, I’ve only ever walked away from everything I’ve known. I’m alone and there’s a reason for that. Louisa and my stepbrothers are the only ones who’ve managed to stick around. I’m not good, Emma. I hurt people, I’m cold, I don’t have the capacity to…”

“Shhh,” she said, this time allowing him to take her in his strong embrace. “Sometimes walking away is our only option,” she said. She turned her face up to his and put her hand on his cheek. “It’s what we have to do to survive. I understand that, Luke. I know it. But you’re here now. And I’m here.”

“You’re the only person to ever make me want to show myself. You were wrong the other night. When you said I didn’t trust you, you were wrong. I do trust you and my feelings for you are different from anything I’ve ever felt and that scares the hell out of me. But I don’t want to run, Emma. I want to stay. With you. I want to stay with you and try, but I’m scared I’m going to hurt you.”

“It’s too late for that, Luke. I can’t change how I feel about you and I can’t walk away.” Tears slipped from her eyes.

He wiped them away with his thumbs. “Emma,” he said, taking her face into his hands and tilting it upward. His mouth closed over hers, kissing her as if for the first time, hungry and full of need.

She twined her fingers into his hair and held him to her, needing him just as he was, hurt and a little broken, but more whole than any man she’d ever known.





Epilogue





Emma checked her watch. Luke would be downstairs in less than ten minutes and she’d just barely have time to dress and apply a little bit of makeup. She zipped up her skinny jeans and slid into a pair of high, sling-back pink pumps. Wearing the quarter cup bra he’d given her during their first weekend together, she slid a silky dark rose-colored blouse over her head. Her nipples stood prominently out and it made her smile. She’d never realized how sensitive they were until she’d met Luke. He could almost make her come just by paying a little extra attention them.

Nate Jr.’s quiet cry cut into the night. Emma smiled. He must have woken from his nap and was likely hungry. He’d come home after spending four weeks in the hospital. Having a baby in her arms and in the house was invigorating and exhausting at the same time. Emma had kept her room with Celia and Nate for another six months, using the fact that she was a live-in babysitter as an excuse to hold her nephew any time Celia put him down. He was a sweet baby who hardly cried and he looked more and more like her brother every day. It was strange to see and although she thought of her own lost baby at first, having Nate Jr. around actually helped her come to terms with what had happened. She even began the slow process of forgiving herself.

“Emma,” Celia called out.

“Be right down,” Emma answered. He was early. It was just like him. Taking her powder case, she brushed some over her face. Only mascara and lip gloss tonight. It was her birthday and he claimed to have special plans for her tonight.

Over the last few months, they’d seen each other almost every day. After that night in the kitchen, there was a whole other level of trust between them and she felt closer to him than she’d ever felt to anyone in her life. She’d started back at school and if she went full time, she’d be finished in less than a year and a half. Luke had been hinting at having her move in with him, but she was scared. She liked things as they were. She felt like she was relaxing for the first time since her parents had died. As much as she was ready for the relationship to go to the next step, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to take the chance that it would go the wrong way.

“You look amazing.”

She looked up to find Luke standing in the doorway wearing a suit.

“Thanks,” she said, eyeing his more formal dress. “Should I wear something different?”

“Nope,” he said, moving in and taking her into his arms. His mouth closed over hers and he kept her hands in his.

She moaned against his kiss, her body softening into his hard chest.

“Come,” he said. “Let’s get to dinner.”