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She gasped herself as tiny tremors contracted her muscles around him, as though his release gave her a small one of her own.
“Emelia, my Em,” Dante whispered as he wrapped her up in his embrace, not an inch between them. “I’m too heavy,” he mumbled and tried to rise, but Emelia tightened her legs around his hips.
“No. I love having you this close. I’ve waited so long, Dante.”
He nuzzled against her neck. “Let me slide out of you before I get too hard. It will hurt you before you’ve had time to heal. I want to keep you close though, after I’ve taken care of you.”
She didn’t know what he meant by that, but she released him, and although, she did have pleasure from him being inside of her, she knew that she would be tender for a time. She could already feel him hardening again, so she let her hands slacken from around his neck and enjoyed the feel of him as he slipped free.
Dante gasped and quickly kissed her lips before he jumped from the bed. “Don’t move.” He ran to the bathroom and, hardly a minute later, reappeared with a washcloth. “Even if it hadn’t been your first time, I’d have cleaned you up.” Which is what he did, and then placed a kiss to her mound before he tossed the cloth into the bathroom.
“Mmm,” he sighed. “I love these.” He kissed each nipple before he pulled her into his arms as their legs entwined and Emelia rested her head against his shoulder.
Emelia felt content in Dante’s embrace, and the feel of his bare skin against hers distracted her from the discomfort between her legs. They were as one now and she was determined that nothing and no one would come between them, even if she didn’t feel as confident about that as she’d like.
“What are you thinking about?” Dante asked, caressing her back.
“You.”
She felt him smile against the top of her head and tipped her head up to meet his gaze. “Am I really yours? Are you really going to give up the church for me? Because if you’re not, you need to tell me now.”
He covered her lips with his finger. “I love you, Em. The only reason we haven’t been together before is because I ran to the church when I thought what I felt for you was wrong. So wrong. But knowing that it wasn’t wrong at all makes me angry, and not just because we could have been together. It makes me angry because I could have had a different relationship with my father and your mother. I know we get on okay now, but it took years to get where we are today, and that pisses me off.”
“I’m sorry you were lied to, and I’m sorry I didn’t try harder to tell you the truth back then.”
“It was my own fault. I wouldn’t answer your calls, and I never read the letter you sent. I was adamant that I wouldn’t have anything to do with you. I figured it was the only way to deal with what had happened—by ignoring it. I didn’t forget though. How could I? So my answer is yes. I willingly will give up my position in the church, and I won’t ever look back.”
“How do you know that? What if in years to come you have regrets and blame me?”
He shook his head. “No. Don’t ever think that. You aren’t listening to me. I only ran to the church because I thought I was in love with my sister. I thought that I was committing a sin and the only way to absolve was to give my life to God. Back then, I thought it was so wrong and didn’t know how to deal with what I felt for you when I thought it wasn’t allowed. I will never regret leaving the church for you. And really, I’m leaving for me as well.
“My dream, as you might remember, was to have my own restaurant, and I still have the money from the sale of the one I was in the process of setting up. So I can do that, but I want to do it in a way that means I can still help the community wherever we decide to settle—an outreach program or something. But Emelia, I’ll be happy as long as you’re by my side.”
Emelia smiled through her tears. “I wasn’t sure you’d be able to give the church up, but as long as you’re doing it for you as well, then I’ll accept that.”
“Good.”
“My only worry now is our family. I wish I knew how they’d react, but I don’t. It’s worrisome.”
Dante sighed. “We’ll think about that when we need to. Let’s just enjoy our time together.”
“Mmm. I’ve waited years for you.” Emelia snuggled closer and couldn’t mistake his hard arousal that pulsed against her hip. “You have a lot of lost time to make up for.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we won’t be making up for lost time for a few days. I need you to be completely healed, as much as it’s going to frustrate me.”
She giggled. “I’m sure we can be creative as to what we can do.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Be creative, Emelia suggested. Oh, Dante could be creative when he wanted to be, and he was glad that Emelia was on board.
He’d gone from no sex for seven years to having sex on the brain as he pulsed with arousal against Emelia. Her scent filled his senses to the point that she was all he could smell. Her skin was like silk beneath his fingers, and he craved touching her.
But he hadn’t lied about not making up for lost time until she’d healed, which gave him the idea for a bath. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and whispered, “I’m going to run us a bath…it’ll help. I promise.” He kissed her again, and slipped from the bed, but not before he noticed the smile playing around Emelia’s lips.
He forced his eyes from her. All he wanted to do was climb back on the bed and hold her, but she needed taking care of so he moved his ass to the bathroom. The tub in his cabin was Jacuzzi style, which would be good to help with the tenderness that Emelia must feel. He had no experience with caring for someone after their first time, but he’d be damned if he didn’t pamper the woman he loved.
When he thought about going back to Montana to announce to their family that he was leaving the priesthood, and the reason why, he felt nauseous. Albeit, Emelia wasn’t the sole reason for his decision, she was certainly the deciding factor.
