Page 50 of Embers of You (Amity #1)

Jameson

“Do you think she’ll be back?” Ma asks as Sutton’s car fades from view.

I’m surprisingly confident with my response. “Yeah, I do.”

There’s eight notes, each one has a letter I made a bit more obvious and when she puts them together she’ll see what they spell. I wanted to tell her that I loved her as soon as I saw her today. It took everything in me to hold back and stick to my plan.

I’ve hated this time without her, I wish I could go back to that day and hold her tighter instead of pushing her away. I know I’ll regret it for the rest of my life, but I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d spend forever making it up to her if she’ll let me.

And she will.

Things are finally starting to look up. Ma got into a trial that’s not guaranteed to help, but something makes me feel like it’s the hope that we needed. Maybe something can go right, and the sun is finally going to come out.

I just have to wait a little bit longer.

I gave Sutton the night, but I wasn’t going to wait for her to come to me. I’ve been chasing her since I met her and that’s not going to stop. I’m the one that pushed her away. I’m the one that would have been to blame if I lost her. Which means I’m the one that’s going to fight for her.

Collecting the bouquet of flowers off my passenger seat, I check the bundle of blooms—all of them different—just like I’ve been leaving with the notes.

There’s no note this time because I’m going to tell her everything.

Even if she hasn’t figured out the secret message I left in the notes, I have to tell her.

I notice Wes leaving his house as I walk around the front of my truck, and we give each other a head nod before he gets in his loud sports car.

He drives off as I knock on Sutton’s door.

It takes her a minute before she swings it open, her eyes wide as she looks from me to the flowers, then back to me.

“Good morning.” I smile, extending the flowers toward her.

“Morning, what’re you doing here?”

“Did you think I was joking? I told you to take the night. Did you figure it out?”

“Uh, well.” She opens the door a little more. “You can come in.”

Her tone is unsure, and for a second I’m worried she did figure it out and doesn’t feel the same way.

I’ve been so sure we were on the same page with our feelings, but for the first time I’m not entirely sure.

I don’t let my nerves show as I step inside.

Bennet greets me with a nudge to my hand, which I return with a pat on his head.

“So, I can’t remember the order of the notes,” she admits, nervously.

I chuckle lightly as she leads me to her living room where the pieces of paper are spread out on the floor.

“Want me to show you or tell you?”

“Show me,” she says softly, looking down at the flowers in her hand.

I know exactly what order they go in, so I drop down and organize them for her to see. I made a single letter darker on every one to spell out my message. It’s not overly obvious, but I wanted to tell her in some way before I had the opportunity to speak the words.

I LOVE YOU.

“Why are all the flowers different?” she questions.

I stand up in front of her, and she looks up into my eyes.

The mossy green I’ve missed seeing just about brings me down to my knees.

I lift my hand, tracing my finger along her jaw when I answer, “I realized I didn’t know your favorite flower, so I tried a different one every day, hoping one would be right.

And if I wasn’t, then I hoped one of these would be.

” I point to the variety I’ve brought her today.

She bites back a smile, and then looks down at the notes. The second she gets it, her breath hitches, and I crowd her back. I push her hair over her shoulder, and graze my lips against her ear.

“I love you, Sutton. You’re everything to me. You are my first thought in the morning, my last thought at night. I could never go on without you, and I hope you’ll take me back because I’m going to hold onto you so tight and never let you go.”

I grip her hip, and turn her toward me, she’s clutching the flowers like a lifeline, so I gently remove them from her hands and set them down before pulling her against me. One arm wrapped around her back, the other holding her chin to tilt her head back.

“I’ve been in love with you since before you even gave me the time of day. I know that may sound ridiculous, but I don’t care. I’m out of my mind in love with you.”

Her eyes search mine, pooling with tears before she finally puts me out of my misery with a wide smile. “Took you long enough to tell me. I love you, too.”

Unable to wait any longer, I take her mouth with mine in a heated kiss that I don’t plan on stopping ever if I don’t have to.

“I missed you so much,” she sobs against my lips.

“I missed you too, baby.” I drag her with me onto the couch where she straddles my lap, and continues to keep our mouths sealed together.

She opens for me, and the second my tongue touches hers I groan into her mouth and kiss her even deeper. My hand grips the back of her head, tangling in her soft brown hair as I angle her head to where I want her to be.

I kiss along her jaw, and down her neck. She grips my shoulders tightly moaning my name. “Jameson, tell me this is real.”

“Of course it’s real. We are real.”

Sutton grips my face and moves me back to face her. We’re both breathing heavily, overwhelmed with all the feelings running through us, the emotional release is strong and I want to touch her, look at her, just be with her.

“I don’t want to give you everything if you’re going to push me away when things get tough again.”

“I won’t. I never will. I knew as soon as you left I’d made a mistake. It’s one I’ll never make again. I know you’re scared. I understand it, which is why I’ll never stop working for your love to make sure I deserve all of you.”

“You’ve always deserved me. We all make mistakes and we’re human. I just want to make sure this is as real to you as it is to me.”

I nod. “It is. I love you. More than I can even explain with words.”

Sutton swivels her hips slightly and hums. “Then don’t show me with words, show me in other ways.”

I’m instantly hard, and I know she can feel it. My hips flex instinctively, as though my dick knows exactly where it’s supposed to be. I take her mouth in a heated kiss once again. She moves against me, rubbing herself on my lap and I wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her into me even more.

“How do you want me to show you, baby? You name it, I’ll do it; I’m all yours.”

She moans, kissing me harder and with the way she’s moving it’s like she’s trying to fuck me through our clothes. I wish more than anything I could make them disappear instantly because we have to part to remove them, and that’s the last thing I want.

“Touch me, fuck me, never let me go,” Sutton pleads.

I lift her up and lay her on the couch, covering her body with my own, our lips never parting as our tongues tangle. I’m settled between her parted legs, pressing down onto her and she cries out trying to rub herself against me.

I need to feel more of her so I move down her body, pushing her shirt up, finding that she’s not wearing a bra and my mouth instantly latches onto one of her nipples.

I suck the hard bud into my mouth and she grips my hair tightly.

I let go, doing the same to the other one, before continuing down her stomach.

I’m at the waistband of her shorts and I look up at her, silently asking for permission.

She nods subtly and it’s all I need to hook my index fingers into the fabric and pull them down. Her hips lift enough to help me ease her out of the shorts and then I look down at her naked body below me. I just stare at her, amazed that she still wants me. Amazed that I’m here with her.

Amazed that she’s mine.

She lifts her leg, nudging me with her foot. “Your turn, cowboy.”

I reach behind my head to pull my shirt off, dropping it onto the floor next to us. She taps my leg with her foot. “These, too.”

I smirk. “I will, but I haven’t tasted you in too long, and I need to fix that right now.”

I push her thighs apart, settling on my stomach between her legs and tossing them over my shoulders. I reach up with one hand to play with her nipple while the other is banded around her thighs so she’s not able to flail them around.

That’s when I devour her. The first swipe of my tongue reminds me of how sweet she tastes and I groan, diving back in, needing to taste every inch of her, licking and sucking while she gasps and moans.

It’s everything I’ve missed, and what I’ve needed.

Now I have her back, and I plan on being down here for a while.

When I suck her clit into my mouth, I pinch her nipple at the same time and she cries out, arching her back, but she’s not able to get far because I’m holding her down. It doesn’t take long for me to feel how close she is to her release, and I want it more than I want air.

I stiffen my tongue, pushing it inside her, licking before moving up to flick her clit and push a finger into her tight wet heat and that’s all it takes for her. She’s coming on my face and I’m licking her as much as I can while she squeezes my finger so tightly my dick jumps, dying to be next.

After she comes down, I climb back up her body and she pulls my mouth onto hers, tasting herself on my tongue.

I love when she does that. I thrust against her, wishing we didn’t have anything between us so I could sink inside her right now.

She pushes on my pants, but I stop her by scooping her up in my arms.

“What’re you doing?” she asks as I start to carry her into another room.

“Taking you to bed, because I’m going to make love to you properly.”