EMBERKaden brought his lips to mine in a kiss so soft, so gentle, it was unlike any of the thousand we had shared so far. Our mouths moved together in an unhurried rhythm that left me breathless and my heart a puddle of goo.I kissed him with every ounce of intensity and emotion he was showing me, pouring my unspoken realization of love into him and hoping against all hope he would feel it, tell me he loved me too, and wouldn’t run screaming for the hills.In the time I had known him, Kaden Marx had been many things. Jerk, friend, protector, mentor, heartbreaker, player, idiot. But he had never been a boyfriend. The guy was so allergic to commitment it was like he was afraid he was going to go into anaphylactic shock if he so much as thought about committing.At least, he used to be. After hanging up with Gracie, I spent some time thinking about what it meant that I was in love with him. As terrified as I was about losing him if he ever found out how I felt, I also found myself wonde
Ember“What are you doing?” I managed to ask, my breathing already becoming labored. “Why shouldn’t I move?”“To answer both of your questions in one, I want to show this pretty pussy some love, and if you scoot back, you’re going to ruin it for both of us.”I vaguely registered him using the L-word, but I hardly thought it meant anything in the context he used it. My heart missed that memo and went ahead to skip a beat just because he said the word out loud anyway.“I won’t move,” I agreed huskily. Expecting him to drop right to his knees and dig in like he had done before, I was surprised when I felt the dip of the mattress on my left when his knee hit it, the warmth of his body hovering above mine, and the soft press of his lips on my mouth.He kissed me lavishly, passionately. My hands slid up the toned muscles on his back and into his soft hair. My moans disappeared into his mouth.When he finally stopped kissing my lips to pay attention to my neck, my shoulders, my ear, and my c
KADENI loved sex. I adored fucking. It was one of my favorite pastimes, and I didn’t care if that made me a manwhore. It wasn’t like I did it more often than most single, reasonably attractive guys in this city.The reason why we got so much of it was because New York was equal opportunity. The women loved sex as much, arguably in some cases more, than the men. If you knew where to look and how to play your cards, the place was a veritable den of fucking iniquity.As a result, there had been no shortage of sex in my life. Sure, as I got older, I grew tired of the game and played it less often, but that was by choice. I was simply over the typical hookup.When I was young, the game was borderline addictive. Getting drinks after work, scoping out potential hookups, the pick-up? It was a finely honed skill developed over time that was almost a rite of passage for the thousands of young professionals who flooded the city after graduation.But after the first couple of years, it lost its
KadenThe pancakes went a lot faster than I had initially anticipated and, surprisingly, weren’t a complete disaster. That was where I made up time. I had thought I might need to factor in time to scrap one batch and start another.I plated up my creation, got maple syrup and whipped cream I found in the back of my fridge out after checking it wasn’t expired, and took my girl breakfast in bed. Ember was just starting to stir when I walked in. She did one of those stretches that had earned her nickname and lazily blinked open her eyes. Just like a kitten.“Are my eyes deceiving me, or is Kaden Marx bringing me breakfast in bed?” She smiled, sitting up with surprise in her eyes.“Your eyesight is just fine.” I handed over her breakfast, cutlery, and a glass of water. Then I settled in beside her with my own. “If I’d planned this better, there would have been juice. But someone showed up and surprised me last night.”“Water is perfect,” she told me, leaning over to give me a quick peck
EMBERAn eternity passed between the time I was in Kaden’s kitchen and my arrival at work. By the time I arrived in front of our mammoth building, I was dazed, confused, and half convinced there was something very wrong with my hearing. Or my head.Because there was absolutely no way I could have heard him right. No way could Kaden have told me he loved me. And the way he said it? God, it was like they were the easiest, most natural words he had ever spoken.I knew what had happened between us last night was intense and all, but for it to have caused him to say that, to bring me breakfast in bed, and draw me a bath that smelled like an expensive shop? I didn’t even know where to begin with figuring all that out.It was like I woke up next to an entirely different man than the one I’d fallen asleep next to. A man who believed in chocolates and wine, although to be honest I preferred tacos and tequila. Be that as it may, Kaden wasn’t like that.And the pancakes were made from scratch to
EmberHearing them from him was exactly what I’d been wishing for, a sign he wouldn’t run and write me off if I said them first. Hearing those words for the first time in earnest from any man who wasn’t related to me surely should have elicited a more appropriate response.There was only one conclusion to be drawn for all this. Something was wrong with me. Any other girl would have turned around, run to him, thrown her arms around the gorgeous, incredible man who said he loved her for the first time, and told him she loved him too.Only, I hadn’t done that. I had, in fact, reacted in the exact same way I was afraid he might have had I said it first. I turned and ran.I blamed my reaction on my overactive imagination. I was halfway to the street when I realized I hadn’t actually imagined what he said. By then, it was too late.Forgetting I meant to stop by my own office first, I marched straight to Mr. Marx’s office. I was so out of it, I didn't even realize I was still ten minutes ear
KADENAfter Ember practically ran out my door, I stayed in the kitchen for a long time. At first, I had half a mind to run after her. I decided against it only because she was an economically productive member of society and had a meeting with her boss.Her career trumped my slip of the tongue. Talk about inconvenient timing.Sighing, I eventually got up and padded to my bedroom. I wasn’t going to wallow in despair because she didn’t say anything.It wasn’t the kind of thing that anyone could be expected to deal with on the fly, literally on their way out to a meeting. Obsessing about her reaction, or lack thereof, wasn’t going to get me anywhere.What I needed was a plan.Hot water sprayed onto my shoulders in the shower as I tried to think of the logical next step. It might have slipped out, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true. I did love her. I was serious about Ember and sure of what I wanted with her. If she didn’t feel the same way, I could be whoever and whatever she needed me
KadenI texted him on the way down to the parking garage to ask if he had time for a coffee. He replied almost immediately with a thumbs-up emoji, telling me he had taken the afternoon off.We met at a coffee shop near his office. I got there first since he was still wrapping up at work and snagged a table around the back corner. It was the most private table I could get, and we were going to need at least some semblance of privacy while having this conversation.Ryan arrived about twenty minutes after I did, his dark hair windswept and his cheeks tinged with red from the increasingly cold weather. Green eyes sparkling, he was grinning and undoubtedly relieved to have the day off work until he saw the expression on my face.Sliding into the seat across from mine, his eyebrows pushed together. “You look like shit, dude. What’s up? You can’t be jetlagged from a flight to Houston.”“I’m not jetlagged.” I just hadn’t gotten much sleep because I was up half the night making love to his sis