Just This Once (The Kings)

I stood in my kitchen and stared at the countertop, listening to Emily cry as soon as she made it to the bedroom. The door had barely clicked behind her when a muffled, gut-wrenching sob escaped her.

She was leaving.

The kitchen swirled and narrowed around me—the soft lights blurring at the edges until it was just me and the distance to her. I couldn’t stand the helpless, broken feelings coursing through me. I knew Emily had said she was tired and wanted to shower. She probably didn’t want me to see her cry but . . .

I slapped the dish towel onto the countertop and strode down the hallway toward the primary bedroom. Behind the closed door, I could hear her muffled sobs despite the running water.

I quietly entered the room. Light peeked out from underneath the bathroom door, illuminating my path. Outside the bathroom door, her shaky breath was even more apparent. I raised my fist to knock.

Doubt swirled in my mind.

You’re holding on with both hands, and she’s leaving anyway.

It was always too good to be true.

You were never good enough to keep her.noveldrama

My gut lurched and my jaw flexed. “Fuck it.”

Without knocking, I twisted the door handle and entered the bathroom. The shower was running, and through the mirror, I immediately spotted Emily’s small figure huddled on the shower floor, shoulders shaking.

I made quick work of stripping off my shirt and discarding my jeans and underwear. Without a word, I opened the shower door and stepped in behind her. Lowering to the floor, I folded myself over her and let my shoulders take the brunt of the hot water as it pounded down from the showerhead. My legs and arms cradled her as sobs racked her frame.

I didn’t know the right words to say. I didn’t know how to make anything better. All I could show her was that I was there.

I would stay, even if she could not.

Emily had big dreams, and she deserved more than upending her life for me. She hadn’t asked me to leave with her either. It was a panicked thought that ran through me when I was spouting off options to her, but the sheer ridiculousness of it forced me to hold my tongue. We’d only been dating—in secret, at that—for a few months, and it would be rash of me to assume Emily wanted me to follow her anywhere.

But I’d do it.

If she gave the word, I’d give the chief my notice and start looking for something else.

Only I had been too chickenshit to even offer it.

I was pissed off that Emily was being punished for caring for her students. Even more livid that someone had called the school about the donations the fire station had made with the sole purpose of getting her into trouble.

As we sat in the shower in silence, I held her. I vowed to find out who did this to her . . . and I’d make him pay for it.

Once Emily’s sobs shifted to quiet sniffles, she relaxed into me. I washed her hair and body, giving her space in my silence to process all the changes that seemed to be happening far too quickly.

When we finished, I carried her to the bed and helped her dress in one of my T-shirts. In the soft lighting of my bedroom, I spotted the hint of a blush as her lashes lowered. I brushed my thumb across the apple of her cheek.

Tucking her legs into the bed, I wrapped my body around her, praying it wasn’t the last time I would be able to hold her. With measured breaths, I stared into the darkness as her back rose and fell against my chest. My fingers brushed along the outside of her arm, memorizing every line and curve.

Emily shifted her hips, gently pressing her ass into me, and I bit back a groan. It was going to be a long night if I had any chance of being a decent man and offering only comfort rather than a quick fuck.

Her quiet whisper broke through the darkness. “Whip,” she breathed. “Please touch me.”

Following her lead, I stroked my fingertips across her shoulder, down her arm, and over her hip. I gathered the hem of her T-shirt and slipped my hand beneath it to feel the soft skin of her abdomen.

She sighed into me.

I hitched my knees higher, tucking her into me as I caressed her soft skin. My lips peppered gentle kisses along her neck and shoulder. My mouth softened against her skin, and I took my time to soak in its warmth and taste her.

Emily shifted, quietly rolling herself toward me. In the low lighting, I searched her eyes for answers. Her soft gaze roamed over my face before she leaned in to kiss me. It wasn’t the hurried, frantic kisses we’d shared before. It was languid and deep. I breathed her in as our mouths met and tongues explored.

Using my weight to gently roll her to her back, I hovered over her. Her lashes swept across her cheek, and I pressed every available inch of my body to hers. “You are so effortlessly beautiful. Do you know that?”

Emily smiled but shyly buried her face into my chest with a disbelieving laugh.

I shifted to softly nudge her. “I’m serious. I ask myself every day how I got lucky enough to be with a woman like you.” I didn’t always have the right words. I wasn’t exactly sure how to articulate the tender ache in my chest, but I had to try. “You’re my safe place, Prim.”

Emily’s arm wrapped around my back and pulled me closer, slanting her mouth over mine. My hands smoothed up her sides, dragging the T-shirt with it. I broke our kiss only to remove the shirt and toss it aside. My cock thickened between us as I reached down to slide my hand between her legs.

Emily moaned into the darkness, widening her legs and allowing me access. I rubbed and teased her, holding back from diving in and taking until she was ready. I kissed her jaw and neck while I caressed her. When her hips bucked forward, I slipped one finger inside her, then two.

Her nails dug into my shoulder, and I reveled in the sharp pinch as her pussy clenched around my fingers.

“You,” she breathed. “I want to feel you.”

“I’m right here, baby.” My fingers pumped in and out of her, going slower and deeper each time.

She pressed on my shoulders, demanding I meet her eyes. “Please.”

I leaned toward the nightstand, where I kept the condoms, but her grip on my shoulder tightened. “Just you.”

A small smile twitched my lip as I lowered to kiss her. I spread her legs and notched myself at her entrance. My whole being ached for release, but I was determined to go slow this time—to show her how she deserved to be worshiped.

Slowly, I pushed the head of my cock inside her. Our moans filled the bedroom as I sank into her, each barbell of my piercing stretching her open.

When I was buried to the hilt, I paused and looked down at her. “You feel like home to me.”

Her eyes went wide, and her arms pulled me down as she wrapped herself around me. I moved with her, reading her cues and giving her whatever she needed. It felt like hours as we moved together in the darkness.

When we were both worn out and breathless, I pulled her close to me and buried my nose in her hair. Sated and spent, my gaze wandered to the walk-in closet at the far end of the bedroom. Tucked away in a corner, a denim jacket haunted me like a scratch inside my skull I couldn’t reach. Talking about my mother was something I never considered, but in the quiet moments with Emily, it almost felt safe.

“Can I tell you something?” I whispered in her ear.

She hummed and looked at me with sleepy eyes.

“There’s a woman’s jacket hanging in my closet,” I started.

Emily looked up at me. “I wondered where that came from.”

I raised a playful eyebrow. “Jealous?”

A grin crept onto her face. “Of course not. I’m much too mature for that.”

My arms squeezed her tighter. “You never have to worry about that. Actually . . .” Fuck, my gut ached even saying the words. “The jacket was my mother’s.” Emily’s sea-blue eyes held me in place, allowing me the space to continue. “Bug found it in some random box in the basement along with some other things.”

“What other things?” she asked.

“The jacket, a few photos, her driver’s license . . .” My voice trailed off on the last bit of information—the piece that still didn’t sit right with me.

Emily frowned. “Kind of hard for someone to leave town without that.”

Her simple statement confirmed what I already suspected, but I shoved it down. “I remember Mom wearing that denim jacket. She used to cuff the sleeves.” I laughed at the mundane detail that was seared into my brain. “I don’t know if I really remember it or just recall it from pictures. I was pretty young when she left.”

Emily’s fingertips gently traced across my eyebrow and down my face. “I don’t understand how a mother could leave like she did. I’m sorry you had to endure that.”

Emotion thickened in my throat. I didn’t want to think about my mother or why I couldn’t seem to forget about her anymore. I didn’t want to worry that my moments with Emily were hurtling by too quickly.

Instead, I wanted to savor every second, so I pulled Emily closer and cuddled into her warmth. It was soul crushing to think that this thing we found—this magic—could come to an end over something as simple as a job.

There has to be another way.