Claiming Emma (9 page)

If she had given a thought about what that might look like, she would not have guessed his idea of a date was a seriously casual dinner at the diner in their grubby clothes and an early night home to Lucy, but apparently that was in fact considered a date by the big army ranger.  Truth be told, if she had a shower and a chance to shave her legs first it might count as one for her too, minus the grubby clothes of course.  So while he was in the grocery store picking up the few things they needed she sat in his big comfy truck and wondered what else she could expect from a date with Noah Hale.

It was three days later; Noah was filling in the shelves of stock at the garden center before it opened.  In the last three days he had found his rhythm in both the garden center and with Emma and Lucy.  What’s more, now that he no longer broke into a cold sweat at the thought of handling the tiny baby, he would have to say he enjoyed that time as much as the time he worked side by side with Emma at Lavender Farms. 

There was something peaceful about working in the dirt and then heading home to play with a baby and a beautiful woman, that nothing else he had ever done could compare with.  For the first time in a long time he felt settled.  He was not about to question that feeling or let worries for the future rob him of it.

Emma, he knew, was not nearly as settled as he was.  Mostly she was worried about Hannah, and the specter of Marcella turning her sights to Lucy, but he also knew she had yet to grasp that he had claimed her, and what that really meant.  That was a conversation he felt it best to put off until the rest of this shit with Marcella was out of the way.

So it was with some impatience that he waited for a call back from Brady with the information on Marcella. 

Seeing Emma, walking across the old barn among her wares, in her purple galoshes and jeans; her apron; holding gloves, clippers and dirt smudges, reminded him what he wanted to get on with.

It had been a long three days for Emma, he knew, looking over at her as she smiled absently at him, before heading to whatever she had to do today in the greenhouse.  She had been gradually getting more and more keyed up and he knew she was worried.  She was used to seeing Hannah every day.  Without being allowed to visit she had to subsist on phone conversations with her friend the doctor, who was forced to get her information secretly from the nurses at Briar Rose.

Marcella, they knew, had been forced to find a hotel in the neighboring town of Nevada City since the one bed and breakfast located in Little Town was full up and not accepting new tenants.  When Emma had heard this she had smiled a secret smile and shook her head.   He stared at her until she finally told him.

"You know how I told you Clementine worked at the grocery store occasionally with her father, and baked pies?"

"Vaguely," he rumbled back waiting for the punch line.

"Clementine also runs the bed and breakfast.  In the history of the world I don't think they have ever been full up."  She smiled at him, a teasing light of humor lighting her eyes.  "Clementine and Nicki are good friends.  She had to have been on the phone with Clem in like Mach 10 seconds after we left for Clem to find out in time to refuse to rent a room that night."

"Small town," Noah muttered, not hiding his satisfaction in that.

"You have no idea."

So Marcella was forced to commute when she wanted to see her daughter, not to mention on day three she was still waiting for the second Doctor to show so she could get the medical approval to move her daughter.  Apparently, as Nicki had suggested, her father was indeed an avid fisherman, and had made himself scarce, as was his usual habit when the fish were biting.  Though from what Emma said, his absence was usually a few hours to two days at a time at this time of year.  It was only in the height of fishing season that he truly took off, and everyone, especially his daughter, planned accordingly.  Chances were good he had gotten word he was needed and why, and acted stayed away.

That was good news for them.  Also good news was that Marcella had shown absolutely no interest in her granddaughter in the three days she had been visiting Hannah at the hospital.  She came, she promised terrible consequences if the doctor was not produced, then she left.  Managing to alienate every nurse and staff member at the clinic within that short window.

After three days, the nurses and the N.A.’s hated her, and the administration were vapor as soon as her rental car hit the parking lot.

Marcella, it was reported all over town, did not spend time with her daughter.  According to those same nurses, with reported disgust, she did not ask about her health, history, or anything else.  When Marcella came she stayed briefly, the whole time pitching a fit or on her cell phone threatening to do so.  Noah had to hand it to her, in three days she had managed to make an enemy of every person within the town limits.  Impressive.

The lawyer did not come with her after the first day, from what the nurse had overheard he told Marcella, it was out of their hands until the Doctor showed, and he did not feel it would be ethical charging her for his hours when he didn't need to be there.  At the mention of the money Marcella had stopped arguing with the man and came alone from then on.  Each time later in the day and for a shorter visit.

So on that front they were in a holding pattern.  Marcella was waiting for Doc Brown to return, and Noah was waiting for word from Brady.  Lucky for him things were not in a holding pattern between him and Emma in all things.

Progress, he was happy to say, started nearly the second they picked up Lucy and headed home for their "date", which Emma still refused to refer to as such.  With the way it ended it sure as fuck felt like a date to him.  A strange one to begin with, since Emma insisted on him "practicing" his baby skills by feeding the baby before they ate.  Which he did for the third time in his life.

Watching Lucy suck down the formula in the bottle while looking at him with big blue eyes was something he thought he would never get used to.  Then she grabbed hold of one of his fingers holding the bottle.  Her tiny hand would not even wrap around one of his digits, but she held on with crazy strength just the same.  It made Noah feel both more protective, and at the same time in awe at the strength in those tiny fingers.  Emma must have seen it on his face because she laughed softly and patted him on the back.

"I'll get dinner out handsome.  You look like you got this."

He most emphatically did not have this, but she was out of the room before he could tell her that.  Once Lucy finished her bottle, he gingerly adjusted her to his shoulder and patted her gently on the back as Emma had shown him the first time she tortured him with baby care lessons.  This time the sound of her little burp was less a surprise and more just satisfaction that he had done it right.  He turned to find Emma watching them with a soft look on her face.

He spoke in a soft rumble, since the baby had gotten comfortable on his shoulder and he couldn't tell if she was asleep or not.  "Does she need to be changed too?" he asked, his voice a gruff near whisper.

She bit her lip and shook her head, her soft eyes on him and Lucy.

"I'll put her down," she said quietly. 

"I can do it," he returned just as gruffly, not quite ready to lose the warm weight across his shoulder.

Emma looked surprised and then smiled at him so big and bright he felt it in his dick, which under the circumstances seemed all kinds of wrong.  Turning, she led the way to the nursery, and Noah enjoyed the view.  He always did when he got the chance to watch Emma Younger walk away in her jeans.

She led him past closed doors he could only guess where extra bedrooms, or a bathroom, then past an open door with an iron bed that looked like a good sized guest room and continued to what could only be Emma’s.  They walked straight through to what had once been a walk in closet, but had been transformed into a nursery of sorts.  Some of Emma’s clothes hung on one side, while the baby’s things were organized on the wall of shelves by Lucy’s crib.

Emma’s bedroom, he was happy to see, looked like the rest of the house, cool colors, comfortable, and tidy.  It smelled like her.  Lavender and lemon.

Her bed was king size and high with lots of pillows and a comforter that looked like it had the consistency of a cloud.  A picture flashed through his mind of taking Emma to that bed and sinking into her with that cloud beneath them.  He felt that in his dick too, but shook it off until he could get the baby settled in her crib.

Emma checked the baby monitor and tucked Lucy in as soon as he had her gently deposited in her bed.  They both backed out of the once closet, now nursery, and stood looking at each other once the door was nearly all the way closed.

They looked at each other a long time, and then Noah reached for her, his hand going to the back of her neck to slam her into his hard body, and then with a growl his lips were on hers, and immediately her hands were on him and her mouth was opening in clear invitation, as if she had been feeling the need as badly as him.  He growled again, and let go of her neck so that both of his hands could cup her ample ass, and he lifted her up until her legs wrapped tight around his hips.  The hands she had in his hair dug in deeper, pressing him closer.

"Noah," she said, pulling back just enough to speak before she licked a trail to his ear.

His grunt was all the response he was capable of at the time.  Luckily she seemed not to mind his way of communicating.

"This is probably a bad idea."  Her breathless whisper in his ear he felt in his dick too, along with the way her hips bucked against him trying to get closer to him everywhere.

What was she talking about?  This was a fucking phenomenal idea.  To express that he grabbed the back of her neck again to lead her mouth back to his.  She obeyed the unspoken command and kissed him again.

"Okay," was her breathless reply against his open mouth.  "You make a good...argument."  She kissed him again, her tongue dueling with his as one of his hands lifted to wrap around one of her astoundingly soft breasts.  "But no matter what it...feels like, we haven't known each other more than...a few days."  She petered off when his thumb found her tight nipple and brushed over it, once, then twice.  Her hand tightened in his hair and her head fell back so that he lost her lips as she breathed hard and wiggled to get closer to him.

Holy Fuck she felt good. 
But he wanted those lips.  He lifted her and adjusted her with a little bounce in his arms, until her head was back up and her glittering eyes were on his.

"Give me your mouth," he rumbled, his hand tightening possessively on the breast he did not want to release.

Emma sucked in a breath, her eyes shooting sparks of heat that singed him.  Then she licked her lips, her eyes going to his mouth and one of her hands leaving his hair and finding his hand on her breast.  He wondered for a moment if she was going to try and pull his hand off, and Noah was not sure it could be removed at this time barring surgical intervention.  It felt too fucking good there.  But her hand found his and, instead of pulling, she pressed harder, forcing his hand firmer against her nipple.  Then he watched her eyes flutter as she licked her fucking gorgeous lips.

"You're right," she finally said her usually smooth voice rough with desire.  "We can talk about it later." And he did not just feel that in his dick but in every nerve ending in his body.

Noah took her to the bed.  He pressed her down on her back and followed her down.  He was right about it looking like a cloud, because they sunk into the down comforter and if he did not already have the feel of Emma under his hands, he might have thought that was the softest thing he had ever experienced.  But he did have Emma's skin to compare it to, and after the soft silk of her sweet smelling flesh, nothing else could compare, and that was before he got her clothes off. 

Each article of clothing he peeled off revealed new delights of softness that needed to be explored.  He had her top off and her magnificent breasts were bound in warm red lace, her underwear he was thrilled to discover matched the bra.  Then she was moving against him, pushing him up until he had to pull back, only to have her push his shirt up and off his chest.  Her small hands a soft brand pushing along the heat of his skin.

He helped her as soon as he realized what she wanted, even as his eyes never left the magnificent, soft body lying under him.  He kicked off his shoes and socks, his eyes melded to her soft form.  The feel of her unbuttoning his pants and her hands going back and over his butt beneath the denim to push off his jeans briefly had his eyes closing in reaction.  He was barely able to stop an involuntary hip thrust but he managed not to embarrass himself.

Thank Fuck.
Finally, in nothing but his black boxer briefs and Emma in red lace they stopped to take stock.  Noah, to make sure she was with him the way he needed her to be and Emma just seemed to be memorizing the sight of him above her.  And like her hands, her green eyes glittered over him trailing heat everywhere they touched.

She did this breathing hard, her eyes dilated with passion.  He could relate, Noah was sure his dick had never been this hard for a woman in his life, and he had been a randy teenage boy at one time, so that was saying something.

It was Emma who broke the silence.  "You are beautiful," she said softly.

Between the whispered heartfelt words and the look in her expressive eyes, Noah was done.  Not just done,
fucking done
.  He needed inside her right fucking now.

Without another word between them he reached for that sexy as hell red lace bra and attempted to rip it off her body.  Unfortunately, as much as he needed to make her naked, the fucking thing didn't come apart in his hands no matter how hard he pulled at the fucking sexy thing. 

He grunted his displeasure and something on his face must have penetrated Emma's sex haze because she laughed, pushing him up and back so that he hovered over her on his knees straddling one of her silky thighs.  He gave her a baleful stare and she laughed harder, but before he could respond to that, say spank her fine ass for laughing at his dilemma, her hands went behind her back in the bed, which presented him her breasts as if she was offering them like a prize.  Since he was more than willing to claim them his mind went a little blank for a moment, and then she had whipped off her bra and let it fly, baring her fucking,
fucking
beautiful full breasts.  He had seen enough breasts in his day to consider himself something of a connoisseur, but he had never seen anything to compare with Emma naked and jiggling under him in that soft as fuck bed.