The Way Back Home (Homecoming Novella)

by C. Lymari

  “There’s my girl,” Dex said as he made his way behind the counter.

  When he reached me, he put his hands on my hips, making me yelp, and raised me to the counter. Oh, boy. Now, that just reminded me of table sex.

  “Hi,” I said, looking at him.

  He smiled at me, and for the first time in a long time, he reminded me of the man I met years ago, who was carefree. Something happened to him, and I thought I was in a position now that I had a right to know about it.

  “What happened to you?” I asked.

  His smile died, but his hold on me got stronger. “What do you mean?”

  “When you came back, you were different,” I said as I ran my hand through his hair.

  “I love it when you do that,” he murmured.

  “I’ve only done it like twice.”

  He didn’t miss a beat when he answered. “Four times, and I loved each one more than the last.”

  Oh, be still, my beating heart. Dex’s answer made me deliriously happy; I smiled brightly at him.

  “Fucking finally,” he said more to himself than me.

  “Finally, what?”

  "Sunshine, this is the first time you've smiled at me like that. I've been waiting for a long time, and it feels fucking good."

  “I’ve smiled at you before.”

  “I would’ve remembered if you had.” He bent to kiss my cheeks where my dimples were. “You’ve been withholding these from me.”

  Then he bit me.

  “Ew.” I pushed him off me. Then I remembered why I was glad he didn’t come by all morning until now. I took a deep breath. “I don’t want to tell people we’re a thing yet.”

  To my surprise, Dex didn’t get mad. He just nodded like he understood where I was coming from.

  “Why not?” he asked.

  Crap. I didn’t expect him to ask that. I kind of thought he was just going to go along with what I said. Then I realized how unfair that was of me. This meant I was going to have to tell him the truth.

  Here goes nothing.

  “I kind of…last time, everyone knew you ditched me—”

  “And you’re scared that if it all goes to shit with me, you’ll be the talk of the town again?”

  Well, when he put it that way, my only response was to nod.

  He took a deep breath, his hand coming to my cheeks. “Emma, I plan on being the only man in your life. I know it’s going to take time for you to trust me. I get that, and I respect it.”

  I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Leaning into Dex, I gave him a peck, and I could tell he liked it because he groaned. Yay me.

  “Now, back to the subject before you changed it.”

  Dex gave me a sad smile. “Sunshine, I want to tell you everything, but I want to make sure you’re on the same page as me.”

  He had a right to say that, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.

  “Okay.”

  “You done?”

  I nodded.

  “Good. Let’s get out of here; I need inside you now.”

  Oh boy. Apparently I needed to clarify that I also wanted to take things slow.

  “Um…Dex?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Can we take things slow?” I asked as he picked me up to walk us out of the store.

  “Oh, I’ll give it to you real slow.” His low timbre made me tingle between my legs.

  Crap.

  “I meant like no sex slow.”

  Dex stopped walking right as we reached the door. He rested his head on the top of my chest and shook it.

  “I can’t believe she’s doing this to us,” he mumbled between my breasts, and I had a feeling he did that on purpose.

  “Are you talking to me?”

  “Shhh, I’m talking to your pussy.”

  “Dexter!”

  17

  Dex

  Taking things slow shouldn’t have been much different than before when I wasn’t getting any. You’ve had sex once. But now that I’d had Emma, I craved her all the time. Seriously, it sucked. The only plus was that she was mine even if the whole world didn’t know it yet.

  We were having a meeting for the preparations for Founder’s Day. That was tomorrow, and I knew Emma was stressing about it. She told me she was making more treats in hopes of making more money to get current on her payments. I just wished she would let me help her, but I knew if I did, she’d be pissed. A part of me wanted to say screw it and do it, but I knew that would be something she wouldn’t forgive.

  “Hendrix!”

  I jumped in my seat. "Yes, Chief?"

  "You have been too peppy lately."

  “Can’t a man just be happy?”

  One of the other guys smiled at me; “She gave in, didn’t she?”

  Everyone's eyes came to me, and I knew Emma didn't want anyone to know, but these men were my brothers.

  I grinned. "A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell."

  “Whooo, my man is finally getting laid,” Clark said, clapping my back as both the chief and I told him to shut up.

  Rushing around my place, I was trying to tidy up the best I could before Emma got off work and came over. She had an hour to go, but still, it needed to be perfect. When there was a knock at my door, I smiled and rushed to it. She closed early for me.

  "Oh…hey, Mom."

  My mother glared at me. “Oh, hey, Mom? Is that how my baby boy greets me now?”

  My mother needed to go before Emma got here.

  “Mom, we talked about that whole ‘baby boy’ bullshit. Clark gave me shit for a month.”

  My mom made her way in. She brought a bag full of groceries, and that was the only reason I let her in. And because I loved her, but mostly the food.

  “Cynthia calls him Clarkie.”

  “Not as bad as ‘baby boy.’ Trust me.”

  My mother started to put the food away, and I looked at the clock just to make sure it was nowhere near the time Emma would stop by. My mother needed to be gone by then.

  “Who’s the lucky girl?”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about, woman.”

  “Honey, you are freshly showered, smell like cologne, and are attempting to clean. I repeat, who is the lucky girl who has my baby’s heart?”

  “Don’t know what you mean.”

  “I’ll help you clean if you spill.”

  “It’s Emma,” I rushed out because four hands were better than two.

  My mother started grinning and jumped up and down.

  “Oh, honey! I knew she would cave eventually.” Mom hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Come on. You don’t want to scare her away already.”

  My mom was a miracle worker and even helped me make some food to feed Emma. When I saw her headlights, I was already by the door waiting for her. Not sure about all the taking it slow bullshit, but I was sure sleeping over meant sex.

  "Knees to chest, sunshine. Come on, hurry."

  Emma shook her head and ignored my request. I leaned on the door frame and was speechless for a second as I watched her make her way to me. She looked so beautiful. Her golden curls everywhere, tight jeans, white shirt, and those cute yellow Chucks.

  “Hi.” She smiled at me, dimples and all, when she made it to the doorstep.

  My chest constricted. There it was: the reason why I hadn’t told her the truth about my incident.

  Leaning down, I kissed her.

  “I missed you,” I whispered against her lips.

  “Me too.”

  “Up you go,” I said before I lifted her up so I could bring her inside.

  Emma's grin got brighter, showing those dimples I loved. "You know I can walk."

  “See, I know that, but this way there’s less of a chance you’ll run away,” I told her.

  Later that night, once we were both fed, I lead Emma to my room. Man, it felt good to have her here in my space. I wanted more of it. One night, and I was already used to her being here.

  “Is it cool if I
change?” There was a shyness to Emma right now that I liked.

  Pointing to the bathroom, I got the bed ready. Leaning back, I waited for her to get out. Was it too much to ask that she walked out wearing just her yellow apron and those Chucks? Probably, but a man could dream.

  When she did walk out, she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She was wearing long sleeves and black tights. So much for my fantasy. Still, my cock grew hard.

  “Have I told you how beautiful you are?” I leaned up, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards my body. Once she was close enough, I brought my hands to her hips and guided her to straddle my lap.

  "The first time I saw you, you took my breath away. You have no idea how badly I wanted to touch you that day."

  Her breath hitched, and her pupils dilated. “Can I kiss you?”

  “You never have to ask me that, sunshine.”

  Our mouths met halfway, clashing passionately. It was no longer urgent, but slow, knowing we had this now. It was not a stolen kiss, nor did I have to wonder when her taste would be in my mouth again. Emma’s hand came under my shirt, and I tensed for a second because her hand almost touched the puckered skin on my abs. Her nails pressed against the ridges of my muscles. Shit that felt good. Not being able to help myself, I bit her lip.

  “Dex,” she moaned.

  I had the urge to worship her body right now.

  “Please tell me I can fuck you, sunshine.”

  Emma groaned. “Mother Nature came today.”

  My body shook with laughter. I was sure I was going to cry. “The Lord giveth the Lord taketh away.”

  “Dexter!” Emma hissed, and hit me like she always did when I said something stupid. “I can make you feel better.”

  “Oh, yeah? You going to give me a massage?” My shoulder could definitely get some TLC.

  Emma smiled, coyly at me, and kissed my lips, then my neck. Man, that felt good, and her wiggling in my lap was not helping my hard-on go down.

  “Nope,” she said as she brought her mouth by my ear, her breath making a shiver run down my spine.

  Fuck. When she bit my earlobe, I was afraid I was about to embarrass myself.

  “Emma,” I rasped.

  My girl pulled back and looked at me, and her doe eyes were filled with lust. Slowly she made her way down my body. My chest rose and fell as she pulled down the waistband of my shorts. My dick jerked in her hand, the tip spilling some pre-cum. Emma looked me in the eyes as she lowered her head and put me in her mouth. The moment her mouth made contact with the head, my hips jerked. Her mouth was hot, and it made me feel like I was coming out of my damn skin.

  I threw my head back. “Fuck, sunshine, your mouth is heaven.”

  This made her braver, and her pace got quicker. I didn’t want to push her for more, but fuck, I wanted to hear her gag. Fisting the bedsheets was the best I could do. That was until she took my hands and brought them to her head.

  Fuck yeah.

  “Use your hands too, Ems,” I demanded.

  She did, and fuck me, I almost came. There was absolutely nothing hotter than my sunshine taking my cock. Her curls all around my lap, those pouty lips wrapped around me, and those doe eyes gazing up at me. Wrapping my fingers around some curls, I started to push her deeper. Making her take me like I needed to, and I knew she was getting off on it too by the way she moaned around me.

  “Fuck, Emma, just like that,” I grunted, and she kept going.

  My hands kept steady at her head, my hips pushing up against her. The sound of her mouth against my flesh, turning me on even more.

  “Sunshine, I’m going to come.”

  And instead of pulling back, she took me deeper into her mouth. I swear, I saw stars.

  Man, this woman. She was already in there with me. She was it. I’d known it for a while. There was silence while we both got ourselves together. I was glad; otherwise, I would probably have blurted out that I loved her.

  “Was that okay?” I looked to see Emma now on her knees. The confident woman who had me at her mercy was now gone.

  “Sunshine, that was the best I ever had.” Sitting up, I pulled her into my arms. “As a matter of fact, I decree that every time Mother Nature comes, you do that to me.”

  “Dexter!” she screeched.

  After that, I took care of my girl in other less messy ways.

  -

  Waking up with curly hair all over my face was a dream. Somewhat because it was hair all over my face, and it was slightly uncomfortable.

  “Morning, sunshine.” My hands were wrapped around her waist inside of her shirt.

  “Five more minutes,” she groaned.

  “Next time you stay over, I’m going to feast on your little pussy before I fuck you good and proper, and you won’t be saying five more minutes.”

  “Dex,” she hissed, but it was almost a moan.

  Waking up to her for the rest of my life was something I looked forward to.

  "Come on, let's go. We have to set up."

  “I have to set up,” she corrected me.

  “Sunshine.” I turned her around so she could face me. She was incredible, and I was glad that not once did I think about giving up on her. “You’re mine, and I’m yours. That means we don’t do things alone. I got your back. You get that?”

  “You know I have yours, too, right?”

  "I know," I said before I laid her before me and kissed her. "Come on, I think I can make you some breakfast."

  Emma

  Dex helped me set up, because I’d told Jess she could have the day off since Quincy had it off too. She offered to work after Freya left, but I didn’t want to ruin this day for her. Dex was doing cop stuff, and I was glad he wasn’t hovering. In the past few days, he always managed to bring up his offer to let me borrow money to get current on my payments. Another reason I was glad he was busy elsewhere was that I knew Harold would stop by to buy something today.

  Harold was never mean about me being behind, but it was embarrassing.

  “Reporting for duty, boss.”

  I turned around, looking at Cubbie like he’d grown two heads. “What?”

  "Dex told Clark you were short-staffed, Clark told Jake, and he asked Mom if she could help. Since she's busy until after the parade here, I am. All I ask for is that big brookie that has my name all over it."

  “That’s very nice of you guys.” My voice wobbled a bit.

  Blake shrugged it off. “It’s what we do. We take care of our own.”

  He was right; that was what people in town did. Even if they sometimes gossiped about you, when push came to shove, they were always there. Thinking back on it, I was sure poor Harold was trying to give me a hand to get on my feet, and I kept ignoring his calls. After Cubbie left, Jake helped me for a bit, and so did his mom, Cynthia. She singlehandedly managed to sell most of my goods. I was glad I’d over-baked with hopes of selling out. Jana and Rusty stopped for a little bit. Poor Jana was a few weeks short of being due.

  I was finally by myself when Rachel and Prescott stopped by my booth.

  “Hi,” my voice was weak.

  I felt sorry for her and Prescott. They were both miserable, but neither was trying to make things better. Sometimes, we held on to things we could never have because we knew that once they were out of our grasp, we could never get them back. Both Rachel and Prescott held on for selfish reasons. I pitied them. They had so much, yet it didn’t matter; they were more miserable than people who had nothing.

  After they left, Dex came, and he wasn't alone. Walking on either side of him were his parents. Well, for once, I was super glad we were keeping things between us because I couldn’t do the awkward “meet the parents” thing right now.

  “Sunshine.” He grinned at me.

  “Dex.” My tone was much more serious than his.

  For some reason, his grin only got bigger while I pretended to ignore him and asked his parents for their orders. Both of them stared at me and smiled. Crap, did I have flou
r on my face again?

  “You need help, sunshine?”

  I hated how I was beginning to melt on the spot every time he used that nickname. It was not fair.

  “I’m okay,” I said quietly.

  “I have to go, but you guys take care of my Emma.”

  And just like that, he left me alone with his parents. After he’d called me his Emma. His. I wanted to kill him for that, but also, I kind of wanted to kiss him. Just a little bit.

  After the embarrassing shift with Dex’s parents, with them telling me all the good things he’d done and how he might be a little impulsive, but he meant well, I was alone again, and I was glad. Frankly, I was overwhelmed with everyone’s generosity of their time. I felt so loved and embraced by my town in a way I never had before.

  It was dark by the time Max stopped by. Seeing him irritated me a bit because he planned to buy my place with Abigail.

  “Hey, Emma,” he greeted me, but he just sounded hollow.

  I looked at him, and there was nothing to him that made him want to live.

  "Don't ‘hey, Emma’ me," I snapped before I could stop myself, shocking him and myself.

  His eyebrows reached his hairline.

  "You and Abigail might sweep in and buy this place, but no one's going to stop by. I hate to say this, but everyone hates your fiancée." Part of me couldn't believe I’d said any of that, but someone had to.

  Handing him his coffee, I was ready for the day to end. Max looked at me, dumbfounded, and opened his mouth. When Abbi called him over, he walked away, but turned to look back at me with a pensive look.

  18

  Emma

  Emma, I’m coming home.

  My car was double parked at the airport. Last night, Freya had called and said she was coming home. I told Dex that much, but what I failed to mention was that Freya was coming back to get Max back. Not that she told me, but why else would she come back today? I knew that Dex and Abbi didn’t see eye to eye, but she was still his cousin.

  Freya strutted her way out of the airport. She looked flawless and glamorous, and she did not care for it, not in the way Abbi did. She was all the things Max had always looked for, but had tried finding in all the wrong places.