Page 58 of Resisting the Temptation (Broken Shelves #3)

Ben

I knew kissing Emma would be life-changing. I just didn’t know it would cause a cataclysmic reaction in my soul. Our kiss wasn’t what I was expecting.

It wasn’t all lips and teeth and tongue. It was a gentle breeze blowing the remaining shreds of my sanity away and revealing the last parts of Emma she kept hidden from me.

I don’t want to stop kissing her, but I refrain from mauling her in the elevator, and I don’t shove her against the door when we get into our room like I desperately want to.

I know the most important thing right now is for us to talk, but now that she’s let me taste her sassy mouth, I can’t get enough. I want—no, need— more.

Emma turns around once the door is shut and bites her lip—the lip I had the pleasure of tasting not five minutes ago .

“We should probably talk,” she rasps as she takes off her coat.

“We should,” I agree as I toe off my shoes.

“We need to figure out where to go from here.”

“I know where I want to go, Dulzura. ”

“Where is that?” She fiddles with the sleeve of her shirt.

“Home. I want you in my house. I want you in my bed. In my life—everywhere.” I cross the few feet of space between us and cup her face, feeling the heat from her cheeks as they blush.

“I want to take you to the club on Saturdays and show you off, then spend Sunday mornings making breakfast together.

I want to show up at work together and go home together at the end of the day.

I want to meet your friends. I want to plan surprises with Jordan.

I want you to color-code our schedules and help me grocery shop.

“But mostly, I want to be your peace. I want to be your comfort. I want to hear every thought that crosses your brain, even the dark ones you don’t want anyone else to know. I want to hold your heart in the palm of my hand and have you trust me to treat it with the utmost care.”

Emma’s cerulean eyes dart between mine like she’s waiting for me to say, “ just kidding. ” Like she’s trying to figure out if this is all a joke. None of that is coming. She should know I’m a serious guy. I don’t do jokes.

“This was supposed to only be sex.” She shakes her head. “You aren’t supposed to want more.”

I tilt my head as I absorb her words. I wasn’t supposed to want more. Does it mean she does? Does it mean she’s been hiding her true feelings this whole time ?

If that’s the case, she did a fantastic job because I had no idea.

“But I do. My life was dull and gray for years. Boring. Until you opened the curtains and showered me with your sunshine and bright colors. I know this is probably a lot, and it probably feels sudden, but it’s not sudden for me.”

Emma blinks at me. “What if you… get tired of me? What if I become needy and overwhelming and you think I’m too much? What if—”

I cut her off with a peck on her lips. She’ll work herself into a tizzy if she keeps going, and I don’t want her to get carried away.

“If I could go back and sucker punch every person who’s made you feel like you weren’t worth staying for, I would.

And I’d start with your shitty family, then move on to every ex who made you feel like a burden.

There will be times when you’re emotional.

I already know this. There will be times when you’ll need my undivided attention, but honey, you’ve had it this whole time.

My whole world revolves around you already—you’re my sun.

I’m not scared off easily. I’ll be right here to reassure you every time you have doubts. ”

Emma’s lower lip wobbles as tears line the bottom of her eyes. She’s cried so much today—this whole week, really. Every wave of tears feels like a wrecking ball to my chest.

“I wasn’t supposed to get attached. You weren’t supposed to be sweet to me. You were supposed to be the grumpy coworker who knows how to fuck my brains out but then doesn’t want anything to do with me after. ”

“Yeah, well you were supposed to be a stress reliever. You weren’t supposed to be my dream girl. Guess we were both blindsided.”

I can tell there’s more she wants to say, but she’s had a long day with the funeral and the confrontation with her family. There are a million more things I want to say, and at the top of the list are three little words which will surely be too much for her right now.

“We can talk more about this in the morning. You’ve had a long day, and we both need our rest for the drive tomorrow.” I place a tender kiss on her forehead, and her lashes flutter closed.

We decided we would leave early tomorrow morning so we can drive straight through the day instead of stopping in Vegas again.

Maybe we should stop anyway and get married, so she knows how serious I am about her.

Well, Ben, sei impazzito. You’re crazy.

I shake off the bizarre thought. “Would you like to go to bed now, or would you like me to take care of you?”

“I want you to take care of me, but—”

I cut her off with a kiss.

God, I love that I can do that now.

“I know there are probably a million thoughts and worst-case scenarios swirling around in that beautiful head of yours. I promise—tomorrow while we drive—you can ask me all the questions you need to. Tonight, let me help you clear your head for a while. Let me worship you the way you deserve.”

“Okay.”

I strip her of her clothes and have her lay on the bed while I unbutton my flannel shirt .

Emma’s eyes track my fingers as they undo the buttons and expose my skin, and when I finally get my shirt off, she licks her lips as her eyes roam over my torso. It’s a heady thing, having her full attention.

It’s a heady thing having her.

I hope I can keep her forever.

After I’ve removed my clothing, I crawl over her on the bed, nestle my hips between her thighs, and lower my face to hers.

The kiss starts out gentle and exploratory as my tongue parts her lips and caresses hers. She makes a mewling sound that goes straight to my dick and makes me lose my damn mind. I’ve been robbed of the sweetest sounds by her no kissing rule, and I plan on spending a long time making up for it.

The kiss turns frantic and needy as I suck on the tip of her tongue, and she threads her fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck, tugging gently.

I kiss her harder, trying to permanently ink my kiss onto her lips so she never forgets what it feels like.

I want her craving my lips as badly as I’ve craved hers.

I circle her gorgeous throat with my hand to hold her in place so I can devour her mouth the way I need, greedily swallowing every sound coming out of her mouth.

I pull back enough to mumble, “I feel like I’ve been dying of thirst for years, and you’ve finally quenched it and brought me back to life.”

It hits me, then. I can finally, finally kiss her neck and mark it the way I want to, now that we’ve blown her rule to smithereens.

I give her one last lingering kiss on her lips then kiss both of her cheeks, her nose, her chin, then trail wet, sloppy kisses down her jawline and neck. She gasps when my teeth scrape along her sensitive skin before I bite down and suck.

I pull off of her and admire the bloom of red which will turn purple soon. A mark not easily covered unless she wears a turtleneck.

A mark that says she’s mine.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

I’m greedy. I want to mark every part of her pale skin not covered with ink. I don’t want anyone to doubt who she belongs to—especially her.

Emma keeps raising her hips, looking for friction she won’t get from the position we’re in, so I trail one hand down her sternum and over her plush belly before I cup her pussy and feel her practically dripping for me.

“Oh, honey. You need something in here, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she moans.

“What do you need, hm? Tell me. Let me take care of you.”

“Need your cock, Daddy. Please!”

We both freeze and stare at each other. I can tell she didn’t mean to say that, and she’s freaking out.

I watch her throat bob with a swallow, and she shakes her head.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t know why—”

“Say it again,” I growl.

I didn’t think I had a daddy kink. Age play isn’t my thing, and past partners always sounded whiny to me when they tried using the moniker.

But with Emma ?

It feels like she’s giving up the last bit of herself she was holding back. It feels like she’s trusting me implicitly to take care of her and know what she needs.

“I need you to take care of me… Daddy. ”

I capture her lips again as I thrust into her agonizingly slowly, swallowing her answering moan.

This isn’t going to be rough like our other times. No, this is slow, sweet. This isn’t a means to an end to find release. This is…

This is making love.

“That’s right, sweetheart. I’m your Daddy now.” Thrust. “You come to me when you need something.” Thrust. “I take care of you.” Thrust.

Her pussy clamps on me with every declaration, and the effect is dizzying.

“Yeah, you love it, don’t you? You love that you can trust me to take care of you.” Another slow thrust. “You love that you can let go with me, be your true self. Give me every part of you, Emma, even the ones you want to hide.”

Emma blinks up at me, her eyes glassy. Then her lip wobbles, and a tear runs down her cheek.

“I’m sorry.” She sniffles. “This so isn’t sexy.”

I stay seated inside her while I move down to my elbows so I can hover right over her face.

“Don’t apologize. Do you want to stop?”

Emma shakes her head adamantly. “No… I just… I’m feeling… a lot. ”

I stroke her cheek and give her a chaste kiss. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”

She shakes her head again .

I start thrusting slowly again, whispering against her mouth. “Let me tell you what I’m feeling, Dulzura. I’m feeling like you’re perfect for me. Like you were made specifically for me. That you were always meant to be mine.”

Emma’s eyes roll back as I hit a particularly tender spot, and her pussy pulses. I snake one hand between us to rub gentle circles on her clit, and she bows off the bed at the contact.

“Open your eyes for me, honey. This next part is the most important.”

She opens them up, and I’m almost bowled over by how full of… love they are. How vulnerable and open. Her oceanic gaze is swirling with the same emotion I feel, and I can tell it’s on the tip of her tongue, but she doesn’t want to say it first.

I continue thrusting into her and strumming her clit as I admit what I’ve known for weeks now.

“I feel like I’m in love with you, Emma.”

That seems to be the thing that tips her over the edge, and her pussy squeezes the ever-loving shit out of my cock.

“Ben!” she moans.

“That’s it, Dulzura. Squeeze the cock of the man who’s fucking crazy for you. You own me, body and soul, so take it. Are you ready to take my cum?”

“ Please. ”

I pick up the pace of my thrusts until my balls draw up, and I explode inside of her as stars explode behind my eyes .

Emma won’t meet my eyes while we clean up and get ready for bed, but she doesn’t fight me when I ask her to sleep in my bed.

She may not fully believe me right now, but I’m going to have all day tomorrow to show her how serious I am.

She may not be ready to say it back, but I know she feels it, too.