Marrying Ember (3 page)

“Does it now?” My throat ran dry. The shock here wasn’t that Ember’s parents weren’t married. Once I’d thought about it for a second, I realized how in step with their lifestyle that was. I realized we’d never even discussed marriage. It was lots of 
lifetimes
 and 
eternities,
 but
marriage
 hadn’t been verbalized.

“I think marriage is great, if that’s what people want. Josh and Monica, for example. I was a mess when he proposed. Those two
needed
 to be married, like, immediately.” She laughed softly and moved her hands to my thighs. I placed my hands over her wrists.

“I mean does it hold significance to 
you
?” I spoke firmly but still quietly. Her eyes met mine with confusion but it slowly registered as her lips parted with a click of her tongue and a sigh.

“I haven’t really …”

“Thought about it?” I cut her off. “Are you kidding?”

“Well, no, I mean … Yes, I’ve thought about it because I knew your parents were married—or at least I assumed they were—and most people prioritize marriage.” Her cheeks were growing pink, right about the rate at which my stomach sank.

“Most people? Like, people who aren’t you?” I didn’t mean the irritation in my voice, but it was hard to contain.

“What’s the big deal? I’m not saying that to be passive but, for Christ’s sake, Bo, I want to be with you for-
ever
, what does a piece of paper have to do with that?”

I exhaled roughly, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. “It matters because it’s a rite of passage with the person you love. That you put on that 
piece of paper
 that you 
promise
 forever. It’s written.”

“Soooo my words don’t hold enough weight unless they’re printed?” Ember drew her eyebrows together as she put her feet on the floor, following the walk I’d decided to take through the bedroom door.

“I don’t want to fight.” I ran a hand through my hair, entering the kitchen and pulling a bottle of Vitamin Water out of the fridge.

“Who’s fighting?” Ember looked around, her tone careful.

I gulped the water until half the bottle was gone, then slammed it down on the counter.

“That was a little aggressive.” Ember crossed her arms and arched her eyebrow.

“Marry me,” I blurted out.

Her nostrils flared as her face twisted in pure sarcastic splendor. “I was wrong … 
that
 was aggressive.”

“You don’t want to marry me?” Sweat sprang up on the back of my neck. This wasn’t how I was supposed to ask her to marry me, but she wasn’t supposed to not answer, either.

“You’ve lost your goddamn mind, Bo. You’re not asking me to marry you right now. You’re freaking the fuck out and it’s not okay.” She placed her hands on her hips and swallowed hard.

“What if I was?”

“What if you were what?”

I took a deep breath through my nose. “What if I was asking you to marry me right now?”

Ember rolled her eyes. “You’re not, though.”

My voice grew dark. “Answer the question, Ember.”

“I—”

I didn’t let her finish before I cut her off by holding up my hand.

I bit my lip. I didn’t want to yell, but I didn’t want to stand in the room with her anymore. That was more my fault than hers. She had no way of knowing that with every word she spoke she was spearing every plan I had for us for the rest of the summer … and the rest of our lives. As I headed for the door, Ember seemed to sense what I was doing, and beat me to it, placing her hand on the knob.

“No way,” she nearly yelled, her eyes fierce with passion. “Hiding out here all weekend, remember?” She pressed her back against the door, blocking my exit.

I rolled my eyes. “I can just go out the back door, Ember.”

“Right. But you won’t, because you’re not an asshole. You’re not going to run away from this conversation by accusing me of running away from it, Bo.”

Her eyes widened as tears threatened to fall, and her cheeks were still red. Even worse, she was right. The good news was, she wanted me to stay, even though I was acting like a total ass.

“Okay.” I sighed. “Sorry. So … what do we do?”

Relief spread across her face. “Well, we dial down the panic a notch.” She walked past me, toward the oversized couch where she curled herself up.

“Yeah.” I chuckled nervously as I walked to the living space and sat next to her.

“So, do you want to talk about the whole marriage thing?” She lifted her eyebrows and twisted her lips playfully.

“No,” I said, surprising myself.

Ember leaned into me, pulling my arm way from my body and wrapping it around her shoulders as she snuggled into my chest. The smell of lemongrass was never far away. I kissed the top of her head and took a deep breath, grateful that I didn’t have to have a conversation with Ember about her thoughts on marriage to know … to know that soon I’d ask her to be my wife … and she’d say yes.

“Can I interest you in a topic change?” Ember’s voice lowered at the end of her sentence. She moved her lips to my neck and left them there until I responded.

“Anything you want.”

Her grin excited me. “
Anything?
”

I nodded, and all the blood my brain needed to process an answer raced south.

Ember pulled away from my body, throwing her hair up into a loose ponytail.

“What are you doing?” I asked as she worked her hands across the belt of my shorts.

“I want to see you the whole time. And I want you to see me.” After she undid my zipper, she lifted her shirt over her head, tossing it behind her where it landed on the coffee table.

I slid my shorts off as she stepped out of her long skirt. She stood in front of me for a moment, while I took off my shirt, and I could barely complete that task while staring at her form. The way her waist curved in, leaving soft slender hips in their wake, stole my breath. The sliver of a shadow her breasts created over her ribs begged me to touch her. With her hair pulled back, I had the good fortune of viewing the length of her, from her flawless hair that hung down past her breasts, all the way to her toes. Unobstructed.

“I can’t have you standing that far from me anymore,” I whispered, the obvious physical sign of my readiness posted up between us. She held out her hand as I reached for her, allowing me to pull her on top of me.

Hovering over me, her knees digging into the couch, she paused, drawing her lips across my jawline and ending at my ear so she could whisper to me. “I’ve never wanted anyone as badly as I want you at this moment.”

Her hard nipples pressed against my chest and I wrapped my hands around her hips. “So what are you going to do about it?” I growled into her ear.

Challenge flickering in her eyes, Ember moved her hands to the tops of my shoulders and slowly slid onto me. Excruciatingly slow. My fingers dug into her skin as she exhaled loudly, throwing her head back.

Each time we made love, I had to spend the first few seconds getting a grip or I feared it would end right there. The way she overrode my well trained sexual defenses caught me off guard more than I cared to admit. All guys have them … things they think about when they don’t want the sex to be over in a split second. Mine ranged from sports to standing naked in a blizzard. It’s true.

Somehow, though, when Ember tilted her chin back down and stared at me with warm devotion, that was all the focus I needed. I wanted her. Needed her. Wanted her to feel everything I felt in this moment.

“What?” She whispered, breathless as she moved against me.

I shook my head, moving my hand to the back of her neck, where I tugged on her elastic and released her hair. A forest of soft auburn encircled us in an instant.

“What are you doing?” She insisted, moving faster.

I gripped her harder, allowing the silk of her hair to tickle the side of my neck. “I want to be swallowed by you.”

I pulled down on her hips harder, and she answered by moving faster, pressing her forehead into my shoulder as I groaned through clenched teeth.

“Ah,” she cried out in that quick, panicked, high-pitched way that told me she was close.

“Open your eyes,” I commanded, my words spilling out in disorganized ecstasy.

Ember lifted her head, her pupils overtaking her eyes. As they rested on mine for a few seconds, I felt the tension building in the way her movements became less graceful. More staggered. More desperate.

“I’m …” Ember trailed off as she clenched around me, pulsing hard and fast. Her eyes stayed on me for a few seconds before she threw her head back once more, calling my name over and over as her voice bounced off the walls of our house.

Normally I can enjoy the fullness of her orgasm before I’m brought to my own. Not this time. Between the high anxiety I’d been dealing with over proposing to her, and nearly blowing that all up earlier, and the way her chest heaved under her breaths, I couldn’t hold on anymore.

I thrusted her down, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her tightly to me as I buried my face in her neck. Her orgasm continued to move through her as mine came. We moaned and panted together as our bodies came to rest and the only thing I could hear was the desire in my heart for this amazing woman. One who I desperately wanted to call my wife.

“You look as worn out as I feel.” Regan spoke dryly as we loaded gear under the bus for leg number two of our summer tour.

“If I look anything like you do, Kane, kill me now.” I laughed as I slammed one of the compartments shut on the large RV.

From the depths of sarcasm rose Georgia in a fluttery mock-Southern accent. “Why,
no one
could possibly ever look like you do, Bo Cavanaugh. You’re just a dream, wrapped in a milkshake, dipped in—”

“Okay, okay we get it. He’s
super hot
,” Regan exaggerated while shaking his head.

Georgia lifted way up onto her tip-toes. “
You
’
re
super hot,” she whispered into his ear before she kissed it.

Just after Georgia waved goodbye and Regan wiped the smirk from his face, the RVs were loaded and we were waiting for a few stragglers. Namely, Willow.

Ember marched down the stairs of the lead vehicle. “Are we set? I heard the doors underneath close.”

“Just waiting for Willow,” Regan rattled off.

Ember looked between the two of us, took a deep breath, and walked slowly back into the RV.

“That could have gone worse.” Regan sounded relieved as he patted my shoulder.

“I just hope she’s not saving it for when she sees Willow face-to-face.” By avoiding the rest of the band all weekend, we’d also managed to avoid talk of the overly sexualized flower-child arch nemesis.

Regan adjusted the straps on his backpack as he slid his sunglasses on. “It can’t be any worse than Willow trying to hit on you, right?” His tone was hopeful as he smiled.

“Let’s hope not,” I groaned and followed Regan onto the RV, where Ember had cleared space for the three of us to sit.

“Hey, where are they going?” Ember shouted up to her dad, who was at the wheel, as she pointed out the window. The second RV in our tiny caravan was pulling out of the parking lot.

Ashby addressed Ember through the rearview mirror. “They’ve got to get gas. We’ll catch up with them when Willow gets here.”

Regan and I shot each other a look.

“She’s riding in here?” Ember cleared her throat, her new tactic for avoiding a nasty tone in her voice when she
really
wanted to deliver one.

“That’s not going to be a problem, is it, dear? We all thought you two girls could use some time together to … get over … whatever the heck is going on.” Raven didn’t look up as she paged her way through a paperback. There was nothing on the cover but abs and a guitar. I assume there was a title, but even I couldn’t see one through the expertly organized masculinity.

I held my breath. I was certain Ember wouldn’t tell her parents about Willow’s accusation that she and Ember were half sisters, but her mother’s casual attitude about their apparent rivalry was bound to make Ember’s head explode one of these days.

“It’s not a problem for me,” Ember asserted. “Does Willow know she’ll be cozy with us for the next several hours, at the very least?”

“Let’s find out, shall we?” Ashby said with a smile as he opened the RV door for Willow, who bounded up the steps with much more pep than awaited her in the cabin of the vehicle.

“Hey, guys …” Her brightness slid away with her words as she looked at Ember.

Before any of us had a chance to say anything, there was a loud pounding on the door.

Just behind Willow marched a much shorter, and much louder, Georgia. Willow turned to face her, having to look down to meet Georgia’s eyes. That didn’t seem to affect Georgia as she pointed emphatically at Willow.