Speed-shopping with Emma, or so I thought.
Emma stares at the clothes. Then she glances at me, then back at the clothes.
“Take what you think is pretty,” I encourage her. I’m sure as hell not going to dress her.
She stands and looks for a few more minutes before she moves. She takes three pairs of jeans and three shirts, and I watch her count. I get an overwhelming urge to punch something.
“Emma,” her head snaps up, “do I have to drag you to the nearest court right now and marry you? Will you feel better then?” My voice is too sharp. “I’m going to walk away for a few minutes to calm down. When I come back, please have the clothes you want, and it better be enough to last more than a week. Warm ones! There’s no limit.”
I know it’s only five a.m. back home, but I phone Zac as I walk out of the store.
He answers after a few rings. “Morning, give me the news.”
“Hey, Zac.” I say his name because I need to hear it. I’ve always been the older brother, the strong one in the family, but when he came in after marrying Laurie, I finally had someone I could talk to. He became my older brother. “It got ugly, like dog ugly. I have Emma, but damn that mother of hers, damn her to hell and back.” I hiss the words out.
“Where y’all at now?” he asks.
“I left Emma to get some clothes. All but dragged her out of that house without anythin’. As soon as we’re done here I have to find out where the consulate is at, and get her visa sorted.” That’s the only thing I need to worry about right now.
“So I was thinking, right,” he starts. “She’s a witness to our case. I can say that she has to appear as a witness. They have to let her come if she’s part of an ongoing investigation. I’ve looked into it.”
Everything else becomes a blur but Zac, and what he’s telling me.
“Are you telling me to bring her in?” I ask, making sure I heard him right.
“Do you have a better idea, Aiden?”
No, I don’t. I don’t have one that will get her into the U.S. tomorrow. Everything else will take time.
“No, no I don’t.”
“I’ll get Jake on it first thing. We’ll subpoena her as a material witness. I’ll email it to you as soon as I have it. Should be before lunch, my time. You can get her back here with it, just keep that in mind,” he says.
“Okay. Speak to you later.” I head back to Emma, not feeling any calmer.
I’m going to subpoena her. Dammit.
~*~
She did as I said and got clothes. She has everything she needs. We even stopped at a chemist for her to get her personal stuff. I’m feeling all domesticated right about now.
It comes through after three. I get it printed at the front desk, and steel myself to face her. I tell myself she’ll understand. I tell myself a lot of things, but the second I walk back into the room I feel like crap all over again. Why does it have to be this way?
She’s out on the balcony, looking out at the rain. I glance down at the formal document in my hand and just push through. My heart is pounding as I walk over to her.
“Emma,” I say. She looks up at me, smiling softly. She must see something on my face. Nerves or confidence, I don’t know which one. “I have a way to get you home fast.” I wait and she doesn’t say anything, her smile doesn’t waver. “I’m going to subpoena you as a witness to testify against Colton and Katia, so they have to let you back into the U.S.”
“All right,” she says. Just like that. “Can I ask a favor, Aiden?”
“Anythin’,” I say quickly. I’m waiting for the outburst. This means she’ll have to face Colton and Katia in court, she’ll have to testify. Maybe she doesn’t understand.
“Can I see Gran before I go?” Her smile is still in place. She is too calm, as if we’re standing in the eye of a storm, and I’m waiting for the second wave to come.
“Of course.”
~*~
I take her to see her gran the following day. It’s surprising how fast things get sorted out when the law gets involved. I can take Emma home. Finally.
The small smile she has playing around her lips is starting to bother me. That something that’s not right, I think I know what it is. That’s no peaceful look I see in her eyes, it’s too calm. When I wondered how much more she could take before she’d break, I should’ve looked closer. Since Emma lost it in the bathroom, she’s been like this – poker faced. Then there was the goodbye with Chloe, and now her gran.
I have to get her back home. I can protect her better there.
When we get to her gran, there’s a flicker of hope. Emma’s face lightens up. I feel bad for taking her away from her gran, but I’m not leaving her here.
“I heard what happened, love,” her gran says, and Emma goes straight into her arms. They hold each other. “She’s just stubborn, that one. She’ll come around, you’ll see.”
“She can come around all she wants, Gran. I’ve finished with her. I have no mother.” I can hear the hate in Emma’s voice.
We go in, and it gets really emotional when Emma sits down next to her, holding her hand.
“I’m leaving, Gran.” Emma’s eyes are alive with love and regret.
“It’s all good. My time is almost up, and then you would’ve been alone.”
I feel like I should give them this moment, but I sit rooted. I can’t bring myself to leave Emma, not even for a second.
“Look in that box there, love.”
Emma gets the box her gran points to. It’s decorated with butterflies and one big dragonfly. She handles it with care. Her gran opens it with old, shaking hands, and takes a book from it.
“I want you to have this, while it’s still mine to give to you. It’s my most precious possession.” She hands it to Emma who has that look of awe on her face. She caresses the book.
“It’s your bible,” Emma whispers.
“My first one. It’s never let me down. Soon I’ll be up there watching over you.”
“I’m not saying goodbye,” Emma chokes.
I start taking deep breaths as my eyes tear up. This is way too emotional for any man to handle.
“Of course not. It’s never goodbye for us. I’ll see you again.”
Dammit. I watch them hold each other. I watch them love each other. Emma needed this.
~*~
Chapter Twenty Three
Emma~
It’s hard to pretend everything’s okay. But I won’t burden Aiden. I will be strong.
If the Lord wanted me to fly, he would’ve given me wings. I firmly believe this. All the flying is bloody awful. I console myself with the thought that Aiden is next to me, and it will be the last time. A few minutes after take-off, my ears block and I feel queasy. I don’t eat or drink anything, for fear that it might resurface.
“Sweetheart, you’re cuttin’ off the blood flow to my hand,” Aiden says with a smile. I let go of his hand and flex my fingers. “Are you scared of flyin’? he asks.
“No, I just get motion sickness,” I explain.
He pulls me in against his chest and I close my eyes. I still can’t believe he came all this way for me. I can’t believe the nightmare is over. I’ll never have to listen to my mother again. I’ll never have to feel her again, smell her again. A wave of relief washes through me, and it makes it a little easier leaving Gran and Chloe behind.
Zac meets us at the airport. It’s late and he looks tired. We’re all tired.
“Welcome back, Emma,” he greets me. I’m thankful when he doesn’t try to hug or shake hands.
“Thank you for coming to get us.” I know Zac is important to Aiden. I’ll have to work on feeling comfortable around him. His smile is warm and it makes it easy to smile back.
Zac and Aiden might have a lot of catching up to do, so I let them walk a few steps ahead. Aiden stops suddenly, and I almost smack into him.
“Hell no,” he snaps, and both Zac and I stare at him. “We had this talk, Emma. Beside me,” he s
ays, calmly, and I move quickly. I didn’t mean to upset him.
He places his hand on my back, caressing the length of my spine, while he talks to Zac.
This is going to be hard. Cultural differences. I know Aiden wants me to be me, but how can I, when I don’t know who that person is?
~*~
Zac drops us off at Aiden’s house, and the reality is hitting harder and harder with every passing second. But I keep fighting it, telling myself that as long as Aiden is happy, nothing else matters in the world.
We’ve unpacked, and although my clothes are hanging in the cupboards, it’s still all his. His room, his bed – his home.
“Have you lived with someone before?” I blurt the question out. It just seems so easy for him. Letting me come into his space.
“What makes you think that?”
I watch him take off his shirt. I drink in the ink all over his skin, curling from his neck down his chest to his abs. I’ve missed looking at him. The past few days have been a bit of a blur, and it feels as if I’m seeing him for the first time since I left.
Now it’s just us – it’s really just the two of us.
But every time I want to let myself go, the reality hits. How are we going to do this? This living together.
“It just seems so natural for you. Like you know what to do,” I admit.
I glance around the room again, at the massive bed with the headboard and side tables with bed lights, the dresser and chair. There are three small paintings on the wall, abstract art.
“Yes, I have.”
I don’t know why, but it shocks me. I shouldn’t have asked. I don’t want to know about him and someone else.
“I lived with Zac for just over a year.” My eyes jump back to him. “You’re the first woman, though.”
“I have no right to ask,” I say quickly. “You just seem so comfortable.”
“Because of you, Emma. We,” he says, motioning between us, “have lived together before. This isn’t something new.”
“There, we we’re on mutual ground,” I say, trying to bring my point across.
Aiden does that thing where he tilts his head slightly to the side and stares at me. I swallow hard, and for the life of me, I can’t remember what I wanted to say next. It’s unnerving when he does that.
“This is your home now. This is your room now,” he says, walking toward me.
My mouth goes dry. I’m nervous and my stomach flutters. We haven’t really kissed (or anything for that matter) since he’s come to get me, and now we are here. It feels as if everything has changed. We are in his home and I am dependent on him. That’s a different kind of vulnerability to get used to.
He stops right in front of me and takes hold of my shoulders. He looks really tired.
“Everything here is yours. Please don’t come and ask me if you can use something, just use it, just take whatever you want. If you want to move stuff around, then move it around.” He leans down, then he stops and smiles, “just please leave my desk.”
“Alright,” I whisper.
He brushes his mouth against the side of my forehead, and the tingles I’ve missed so much rush over my skin. He takes my hand and tugs me toward the bathroom. I watch him turn on the water in the shower before he turns back to me.
We’ve showered together before. We’ve done the starkers thing before. We’ve made love before.
Why, oh, bloody why am I so nervous, then?
I love this man.
He comes to stand in front of me and moves his hands over my shoulders, brushing back my hair. Then they slip up the curve of my neck, and he takes hold of my face, tilting me to look up at him.
“Hey, you.”
“Hey.” I swallow the word.
He leans in closer. He hasn’t shaved, with all the drama, and he looks bloody dishy. I bring my hands up to his bare chest, unable to resist touching him. I trace over his inked skin and his mouth curves slightly. He approves.
Warmth spreads through my insides, and a feeling settles deep in my heart – I just want to make him happy. My other hand shoots up to his neck so I can pull him down, pressing myself to him. There’s a sweet clenching deep down when his lips meet mine and I feel his tongue sweep hungrily through my mouth.
He yanks at my shirt, and we break away, only to let it pass between us before we melt together again. He unclasps the snap of my bra and flings it aside. I smile against his lips.
This is good. This is very good.
“I want you, Emma,” he says hoarsely, his breaths coming fast. His mouth moves down and his hands cover my breasts. When he bites at the curve of my neck, I dig my nails into his back, and he presses his hips against mine. A moan drifts up my throat. I want to forget everything. I want only to think of Aiden.
His hands drop to the snap of my jeans, and he takes them off. When we’re both naked, he moves us to the shower. We don’t last five minutes in the shower. He tries to, though. It’s me.
It feels like I’m going to shake apart if I don’t feel his hands on me all the time. I practically throw myself at him, and the low growl coming from his throat is the most satisfying sound I’ve ever heard. When he turns off the water I’m humming with need.
We barely dry ourselves before I reach for him. His hands dig into my hips, pulling my body against his, and I quiver in response to feeling him against me.
There’s no sign of any nerves. What nerves? Who said anything about any nerves?
There’s only the man I love, naked in front of me.
Afterwards, we lie still for a few seconds before Aiden speaks. “Your heart is racin’ a mile a minute.”
“I just ran a marathon,” I tease.
“Feel welcome to run it any time,” he drawls, under me. His fingers trail softly up and down my back. “I love you, sweetheart.”
“Around the world and back.”
I say it because I don’t want to be one of those people who fall into a habit of just saying ‘I love you’ for the sake of saying it. When I say it, he’ll know I mean it.
~*~
Chapter Twenty Four
Aiden~
“She says ‘around the world and back’. She doesn’t say ‘I love you’ back.” Okay, so now I’m voicing my worries to Zac the next day.
I shouldn’t, I know. I should talk to Emma about it, but how do I talk to her about this?
“So maybe it’s her way of sayin’ it. You yourself said she didn’t hear it all her life, so maybe she’s not comfortable saying the words. As long as she shows you, and she’s here, it’s all good.” Zac smiles like a proud dad. “Now for the crap part. The court date is set for Monday. You gonna tell her, or should I?”
I forgot about that.
“How about I come over and we both do?” he offers.
“Zac, I love you, but I have to. This I have to do.”
My mind is already running over the different scenarios of how to do it.
Walking into a home where the woman you love is cooking for you is an awesome feeling. Walking in and seeing her dancing to some tune she’s humming is just amazing.
I stand and watch her stir something, wiggling in front of the stove. I grin like a dumbass. I should go lock my gun and badge away before she sees them, but I want to look at her just a little longer.
Even though she’s cooking, the kitchen is spotless. I’m a neat person, but she’s on a whole different level. She wipes down the counter and turns slightly. The look is priceless. She’s smiling, she looks happy.
“Hey, you,” I say, and her face lights up even more.
“You’re home!” she squeals.
She runs to me, almost bouncing with delight. My heart swells with love, and I catch her, pressing her to me.
“I missed you,” she whispers into my neck.
I hold her tightly, needing to feel her body melt into mine.
“Ow,” The word bursts into my neck and I let go of her fast. She tries to rub her breast without me seeing, her eyes are
on my chest.
Dammit! The gun.
“Ahh … give me a sec.” I run towards the room to lock it away, and I could kick myself for not doing it first.
Opening the safe, I unclasp the holster and take off the badge.
“Aiden,” I hear her behind me. Her voice is cautious.
“Yeah?” I’m not sure how to bridge the gap of my job.
“Can I see your badge?” I swing around surprised. She looks small, real small. “It’s what represents you out there, right?”
I swallow as she reaches for my badge, the one thing that sets me apart from her. I’ve taken down so many men and women that don’t deserve to be called humans. But here I’m standing in front of this tiny being and she has the power to take me down.
Her fingers wrap around my badge, and her eyes soften to that soft green. Her mouth curves gently as she looks at it.
“Detective Holden,” she says, and all my blood flows to one point in my body, “if I have to be arrested, it better be by you.” She steps close to me and puts the badge back in my hand. It’s a damn miracle I don’t drop it when she leans up to my ear. “Why don’t you shower while I finish up.”
I don’t want to do any of that. I want to drop the gun and badge and throw her on the bed.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Immensely,” she whispers.
She leaves me standing in the room, wanting her.
~*~
Once again, Emma takes the news of having to appear in court real well. She smiles as if I’m telling her about the damn weather. It’s as if none of what happened with Colton and Katia can touch her. She doesn’t talk about her time with them, either.
Friday afternoon, I mention to her about meeting my folks. I give her the option of having them over Saturday or going there, and she surprises me by making a choice.
We’re on our way there. As I pull up to my folks’ house, her nails dig into my thigh.
“Dogs, Aiden,” she breathes the words, all fearfilled.
“They won’t bite,” I assure her, as the two German Sheperds come bounding toward us. “They’re trained. Retired from the K-9 unit. Really, you have nothing to be worried about.”
Wake Me Up (Love Knows No Boundaries) Page 22