"So my sister called this morning.. She and her son Chip will be coming to visit me". Emma said to Karen as she prepared for work.
"Oh cool" said Karen. "how long is she going to stay"
"Just the weekend... Chip has to go to school. I haven't seen them for a while so she decided to come over". Emma said as she put the eggs she had been stirring into the frying pan. "although I have a feeling mom sent her. To check up on me."
"Uh uh" said Karen
"So I might not be around when she gets here so I'm gonna leave my key at Frank's place. Just in case you are not around to let them in with yours"
"Uh uh" Karen said again.
"Is everything okay?" Emma asked her. "You seem distracted "
"Oh I'm not distracted.. I'm not distracted at all" Karen said. "I was just wondering, isn't there something you wanna tell me?"
"something... Like
Emma was putting the house in order. Her sister Isabel was coming over today and she was obsessed with every part of the house clean. Emma was fairly neat, but Isabel's kind of neatness was over the top.Karen came into the living room "Hey girl... Guess what happened last night?" she said without greetingEmma stared at her. "You look super excited. And you know I will never be able to guess right so just spill"Karen replied by raising her left hand. On her finger there was a beautiful ring."Oh my God!" Emma cried. Abandoning her cleaning and rushing to Karen's side. "Frank proposed?""He sure did" Karen said excitedly."Oh and the ring is so beautiful... I'm so jealous...""I knew he was acting all weird about where we were going last night but I had no idea what he was planning...You know Frank can be really weird sometimes.."Emma laughed. "I
He was so fucking late. He hadn't meant to be but those documents needed his immediate attention. He hoped she would still be at the party when he got there.His driver parked the car and he stepped out. The fact that he'd had to go home to change even took more time. Attending the party didn't matter to him. It was just an opportunity to spend time with Emma. He saw a chance and he took the opportunity.He walked into the hall and looked around, his eyes searching for her. She was no where to be seen. Maybe she had gone home. He thought. He would be disappointed if she had.He saw Karen and Frank at a corner and walked up to them."Hey man" Frank said. "Where the hell have you been?""I got held up at work" Daniel replied. "Had some paper work to take care of. Where's Emma?" he asked Karen."Oh she's somewhere around" Karen replied. Last time I saw her she w
"Put me down!" Emma said."You choose to invite attention, lady--" he tried to ignore the low, throbbing ache that threatened to test his legendary self control. "--and now you have it". He strode to his car.She weighed virtually nothing, he thought, as he all but thrust her into the car and delivered instructions to his driver in a clipped angry tone."Daniel... I'm not going anywhere with you" she said"Be silent!" still seething, he shrugged out of his jacket for the second time that evening and dropped it on her lap."I don't --""Cover yourself" The ferocity of his tone shocked even him so he could hardly blame her for shrinking back in her seat. Her reaction shamed him because whatever his faults, he had never struck a woman and never would. He was a man who prided himself on his self control and yet at that precise moment he wanted to kill someone."You are
His movement was swift and smooth and came without warning. In a show of ruthless determination and masculine strength, he powered her back against the seat and trapped her mouth under his with such ferocious passion that her whimper of shock was swiftly transformed into a soft sigh of acquiescence.Her skin tingled, heat exploded deep within her and every inch of her trembling, quivering body cried out for him. Ached for him.She had dreamed so often of the two of them together. Had tried to imagine what it would be like to be with him properly.But now she didn't have to imagine and his hard body came down on hers, one muscular thigh sliding between her legs as he held her captive with the weight and the heat of his mouth. The hard thrust of his arousal touched her intimately and she shifted and arched in an attempt to bring them closer together.She felt hot. So hot. Her body burned and craved. He
Daniel opened the door and stepped out of the car. He tried to help her out but she refused his help. Grabbing her bag in one hand and using the other to keep his jacket wrapped around her."I don't need your help" she said as she got out, forgetting about the incredibly high heeled shoes she was putting on and loosing her balance. He caught her just in time. Wrapping his arms around her."Easy" he said. His hands around her incredibly gentle."Thanks" she said. Then proceeded to follow him into his house.Daniel clicked on the right, stood aside as Emma entered, then closed the door."Thank you for coming" he said deliberately trying to annoy her."It's not like I had a choice" Emma said.She glanced around the huge room. She was uneasy, a state Daniel kept her in constantly.Daniel's eyes followed hers. He surveyed his home, attempting to view it
"You mind your manners, Daniel Rohan" Emma said, getting up and helping him clear the table. "I'm not afraid of you"."I know you are not" He said as he poured out two glasses of wine and handed it to her. They went back to the living room.Emma looked at the newspaper strewn couch, gathered the papers together, and stacked them neatly on the floor."I know you are not afraid of me" he said softly as he handed her a glass of wine. "But I wonder if you know how much you scare me. Here sit down". He patted the couch cushion next to him. "The moon is bright enough tonight. We don't need this." He clicked off the lamp.Emma took a quick swallow of the wine and sat down on the end of the couch. She watched shadowy leaf patterns play on the carpeting, highlighted by the glow of the moon, and took another sip of wine." Take it easy on the wine, my lady. We don't want you getting amorous." he said
When Emma woke up the next morning, the first thing that registered was how comfortable she was. Too comfortable. And warm. They were in Daniel's room. On his bed.The second thing she realized was that she was on top of Daniel. Not just on top of him, but sprawled across him as if she owned him. Her cheek was plastered to his shoulder and her forehead pressed against the side of his neck.Appalled that she could betray herself like this, she started to ease away but Daniel tightened his arm around her."Don't go." he said." This is nice."But Emma sat up anyways. She stared at him."did we...?" she began to ask. But he interrupted."No we didn't" he answered. "jeez... what do you take me for Emma?""I'm sorry... I didn't mean to""it's okay". He said. "I guess you should go get ready. So I can take you back home."
The days passed slowly, the nights increasing Emma's restlessness. Was it really that slow? Emma didn't think it was. It only seemed that way because she missed Daniel. And the fact that she missed him so much scared the crap out of her. She was actually looking forward to his return. So much for all her 'I don't care about you speech'.She missed him. Not that she was ready to admit that to him. Hell...she was having a hard time admitting it to herself.It was Tom's birthday. And even if he said he didn't really celebrate his birthday, Emma had baked a two layer chocolate cake with strawberry frosting.Even if Tom wasn't going to celebrate. He sure as hell didn't have anything against cake. I mean... What kind of person doesn't love cake? She thoughtWhen she got to work the next morning, a new white van stood in the employees' parking lot, a dealer's tag still on the window. She wondered why it was there. Well it
Emma stood in front of the bathroom mirror and looked at her reflection.She had a towel around her. After she had breastfed and put Jack to sleep, she and Daniel had returned to their bedroom. And right now, Emma couldn't remember if she had ever been this happy in her life.... She couldn't believe how amazing everything had turned out.When she opened the door and stepped into the bedroom, Daniel was on the bed, his chest bare, reading something on his phone... Which he dropped when she came out of the bathroom.Damn, he thought. She'd never stop being sexy to him. She always and would always have that effect on him.Emma blushed at his reaction, then she went to get dressed. She put on the sexy nightie Karen had given her as a gift for her wedding night.When she turned, Daniel was still watching her. Not bothering to hide the desire in his eyes."Come here" he said. Tapping the
The door opened and Jared walked into the room. They hadn't really talked since he arrived but he had been nicer, smiled more and very warm towards her... And especially to little Jack.He wasn't so so terribly intimidating anymore. He had turned out to be surprisingly charming. And he loved Jack. His new nephew. He’d perch Jack on his big, broad chest while he read, informing the baby of any interesting movement on the share market.“This boy is a Rohan indeed,” he’d declared one day. "Can’t start learning too soon.”But right now, as he walked into the room and asked Karen and Monica to excuse them so they could talk in private, Emma wasn't sure of what he had to say. After they left, he turned to her and Emma waited for him to speak."You look very beautiful, Emma" Jared said. "My brother is very lucky to have you"Emma smiled sweetly at him
"So I know this probably isn't what I should be talking about right now... But how about we push the wedding forward and get married in three weeks? If you agree of course" Daniel asked.Emma stared up at him."Yeah" Daniel continued. "All three of us are family already. Why wait any longer? There's no reason to. Your mom is going to be here to see the baby, why not invite our families to come see the baby and attend our wedding at once"Emma smiled at him. "Yes. Let's do it" she said. "I gotta say, I like this loving, caring, soft side of you"Daniel simply grinned and leaned down to kiss her again. As he did, the door opened and Karen, Frank, Tom and Monica came into the room."Hey, Daniel" Karen said playfully as they moved closer. "Let my girl rest a bit before you get her pregnant again"Everyone laughed at Karen's joke...including Daniel. "Oh, he's so cute" Karen murmured as t
Dr Davis also treated him with considerable deference as he monitored Emma's labour, assuring them both that everything was proceeding normally.The contractions were coming fast. She barely had time to catch her breath in between the waves of pain. Daniel sat beside her, watching anxiously, giving her his hand to grip, repeating what the doctor said—head engaged, won’t be long, bearing down soon—as though she couldn’t hear for herself, or he needed to assure himself that this agony had a short time limit.Emma didn’t try to speak. Wanting to remember everything about having this baby. Her entire concentration was focussed on willing her baby to make a safe journey from her womb, imagining every pain as a positive step forward. The urge to push came suddenly and was almost uncontrollable.“Not too hard, Emma,” the doctor instructed. "Slow it down if you can, a nice, gentle passage, no tearing. Yes, that’s good…coming now…head in my
"Are you going to the office?" Emma asked as she walked into Daniel's room the next day.Daniel turned to look at her as he unbuttoned his shirt. "No I'm not. I can't leave you here alone. I have a meeting though. But I will be doing it via video call" he replied."You can leave if you have to" Emma said. "Apparently, this baby isn't ready to be born yet"Daniel smiled at her. I'm sorry that you're uncomfortable, baby." He said. " But when the baby comes, you will be so happy that all of this won't matter. You are going to have someone you are gonna love more than anything on the world. Infact I gotta say, I'm little jealous of all the love our baby is going to be getting. I'm so used to having you all to myself now"Emma laughed and her body shook. "Relax" she said. "I'm going to love the heck out of the both of you. Infact i—"She stopped suddenly in her attempt to walk towards him. Pain... Anguis
"Oh my God" Emma said to Karen and Monica as she returned to the living room from the bathroom. "That must have been the tenth time I've been to the bathroom in the last two hours""It's also been the tenth time since you have told us" Karen said sarcastically and Monica giggled. They had come to visit Emma at Daniel's house.Emma rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it must be really hard for you to hear" she said.Daniel was in the room too. He sat at another table working on his laptop. But he was clearly listening to them because he giggled at Karen's comment.Emma turned to him and rolled her eyes, which made him laugh."Hey honey" he said to Emma, while smiling. "Is there anything you need me to do for you?""Yeah right. Like you haven't done enough" Emma said, jokingly pointing at her stomach. Daniel simply exchanged glances with Monica and Karen and they laughed again. Emma smiled too.
“How about breakfast in bed?” Daniel asked.“Mmm, that sounds nice. I don’t think I can move and I’m suddenly feeling lazy.” Emma replied.He smiled because he couldn’t imagine anything better than the two of them sharing an intimate meal in bed. Hell, if he had his way they wouldn’t leave the bedroom for the rest of the day.“Let me go fix something up for the both of us " He said. "You stay here and get comfortable. I’ll be right back.”He kissed her nose and then carefully disentangled himself from the warm clasp of her body. He eased her onto her side, pulled the rumpled sheet over her and rolled toward the nightstand, sitting up and putting his legs over the edge of the bed.He glanced back to see that she’d immediately commandeered his pillow, which made him chuckle, because it was exactly what she’d done in the past."What?" Emma asked as she watched him. "Why are you smiling
His breath escaped in a long hiss and then she slid down, resheathing him all over again.“You drive me crazy,” he muttered.She smiled, clearly satisfied with his admission.He savored the feel of her much smaller hands engulfed by his. They held on tightly as she began a slow, rhythmic ride. Their gazes locked. They never looked away, never broke eye contact as she made love to him, driving him closer and closer to ultimate release.Emma expelled a pent up breath as he stretched her, as the sweet burning of her body molding to him became the single thought on her mind.He reached for her breasts and she covered his hands with hers as he massaged her breasts, and she continued rocking her hips in a steady rhythm, tossing her hair over one shoulder, it became a curtain over their hands, over her breast.He loved her hair, she knew that, and he still did, because he took a chunk of it and roped
It was easy to forget all that had happened between them now. It was easy to forget the weeks of pain and loneliness. It was easy to imagine that they’d never been apart and that they had always been together, home in bed, just waking in Daniel's place—their home.This was the healing they needed. Emma smiled into his neck.------------------------------Daniel lay there, Emma in his arms, thinking about what had just happened. On the surface it had been a very quick, very hot sexual interlude. One of the best he’d ever had.But it went deeper. It wasn’t just sex. It wasn't like all the other times they had been together. If it was just sex, his heart wouldn’t feel as though it was going to burst out of his chest. He wouldn’t be so overwhelmed that he had no idea how to process what he felt.It was… It was more intense than sex had ever been between them. They had been a study in hot, flirty, fun in