Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Suggested listening: "Words" by The Kite String Tangle, "The Greatest View" by Flume ft. Isabella Manfredi, "Dark In My Imagination" by of Verona
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With a heavy sigh, Embry let his head fall back against the wall.
He'd walked through the door of his apartment minutes earlier, grateful the pack meeting was over and they could put the entire ordeal behind them. The worst happened and although it seemed everyone considered what he said, there was more to come. Without actions to back each one up, his words and their silent consensus would mean nothing.
After throwing his keys on his small kitchen table, Embry hoped the meeting made a difference among the rest of the pack—that they'd put aside their own hurt feelings and bad memories and try to remember why it had been so hard to move forward without Leah in the first place.
So in reality, only time would tell.
He took a moment for himself, standing in place just beside the bathroom door. He'd lost track of how long he stood there, but at that exact moment in time, it didn't matter.
If he stayed there—if he didn't move—he could hang onto the peace, a place with no tension, no questions, no looks demanding things he wouldn't hand over.
Only silence.
Silence—and the sound of running water coming from inside the bathroom, the steady, soothing noise of the shower calming him for reasons that required no explanation.
Because in that moment, in his tiny apartment, it was just him and just Leah, who stood behind those walls at his back, unaware of how he'd possibly just thrown their day off the rails.
Just Leah…
Fuck, it was so hard to leave that morning. He knew what he was in for with the pack meeting and what he'd needed to prepare for. Still, he awoke slowly with the sun, almost like his body intended to savor how he did. Leah's frame curled into his, warm, painted toes pressed against his skin, her even breaths blooming across the plane of his chest.
It made it impossible to want to leave the solace of his bed, tucked in the safety of his apartment, away from secrets and questions and any kind of pretenses.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes with his free hand, he had peered over Leah's sleeping form, trying to move as little as possible. Their legs tangled together in a way that refused space and distance, skin still sticky with sweat from the night before. Craning his neck, Embry's eyes landed on the alarm clock on the nightstand. The pack meeting started in thirty minutes and he needed to shower before, but when his gaze fell slowly from the clock to Leah beside him, he lingered on her peaceful expression.
He only saw that look—completely and unadulterated—when she slept.
So he told himself he could be a little late. He drew her closer, closing his eyes when she stirred, an indistinct murmur of protest escaping her as she buried her face deeper into the curve of his neck. Inhaling deeply, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead, wishing all they had to worry about were moments like that.
But it ended. Embry was back, and they both had to keep moving through another day.
And he hoped it would at least be easier than the last.
Hitching his thumbs in his jeans pockets, Embry pushed himself off the wall, angling toward the bathroom door. It wasn't latched so he nudged it open with his shoulder. The quiet sounds of humming filtered into his ears, the noise mixing with the thick steam filling every corner of his microscopic bathroom.
Worrying his bottom lip, he leaned against the doorframe, waiting. He let his eyes linger on the mottled glass shower door. It was transparent enough for Embry's eyes to make out Leah's slim figure as she stood beneath the steady stream of water. He held his breath, taking it in, studying a flawless form he knew by heart.
Embry lost track of how long he stood there, coming to his senses when the humming stopped.
"So are you gonna say something or just keep checking out the scenery?"
Pressing his lips together to hide a smirk, he glanced at the floor. "If we're being honest, I was kind of enjoying the show."
Leah's lighthearted snicker fanned the anticipation building somewhere deep inside him. She was in a good mood, which amazed Embry after what happened the day before and what likely would come later. Still, he was thankful, wanting to keep that feeling there for her.
"Well, then by all means, don't let me stop you," Leah replied, the playfulness clear in her voice.
Taking a step into the bathroom, Embry leaned his hip against the sink basin, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Not sure you could," he murmured with a grin.
Leah chuckled, but the sound preceded a tentative, heavy exhale. Embry knew what she would say, because Leah Clearwater wasn't a person who dragged things out or beat around the bush.
"How'd the meeting go?" she asked.
Embry's smile drooped. "Well… everyone knows you're here now."
Leah paused. "What am I in for?"
Embry shrugged, even though she probably saw the gesture. "I don't think it's gonna feel much different than before. Jared didn't say much, and the pups didn't seem to care much either. Paul might be the biggest thorn in your side."
Leah scoffed. "I kind of figured that by the brotherly welcome I got yesterday," she admitted quietly. "He was never one to forget a grudge, even if he can't remember the reason he had one in the first place."
A knowing half-smile tugged on a corner of Embry's mouth. "No shit."
Silence enveloped the room again, and Embry couldn't keep his mind from straying to the rest of the conversation he had with the pack—what he admitted to and what he told them about finding Leah in Chicago.
Fuck, he didn't want to ruin the day so soon, not when it seemed like Leah was trying so hard to keep it intact with a hopeful attitude.
But he couldn't lie to her. He had to tell the truth.
Embry closed his eyes, preparing himself for the worst as he forced the words from the back of his tongue. "I told them."
He opened his eyes in time to see Leah still. Suddenly, she moved toward the shower door and in one swift movement, opened it far enough to reveal her wide-eyed expression, her skin slick with water, steaming from the abrupt change in temperature.
"You told them what, exactly?" she asked, gripping the edge of the door with one hand, her eyes vehement.
With a nervous chuckle, Embry straightened, taking a step toward the shower. "Easy on the shower door there before you snap it in half…"
But Leah wasn't distracted, and the way she looked at him—the anxious trepidation in her glare—extinguished every bit of impudence inside him, replacing it with the smallest trace of fear rooted deep in his chest.
Tipping her head down, Leah narrowed her eyes slightly. "Embry…" The word was a warning.
Embry shivered beneath the power in her gaze, but refused to look away, forcing out the words he needed to say with his exhale. "I didn't tell them what you're thinking. I didn't tell them about… us." He paused, raising his eyebrows and taking another step forward. "But I told them I found you in Chicago."
"Embry!" Leah groaned, backing away from the door. She attempted to slam it shut but Embry took a wide step, closing the distance between him and the shower and catching the door before it finished the action.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, gripping the door in one hand and the wall with the other. Peering down, he tried not to look at her, positioned back beneath the running water, knowing full well he might not be able to think straight if he did. "Will you at least let me explain?"
A few moments of silence expired between them, and Embry made use of the time to choose his words carefully. Inhaling deeply, he mustered the resolve he needed to tip his head toward her, his eyes meeting Leah's determined ones as she sluiced the shower spray from her hair.
"Talk," she ordered, her voice a little less sharp, like she'd used those few moments to remind herself to give him the benefit of the doubt, to remember that he wouldn't have said something unless it was necessary.
Embry smiled, because it hadn't always been that way.
He sighed. "I had to," he murmured, releasing his grip on the wall and replacing it with his forearm. "They needed to know… not everything, but enough to understand what it took for you to come home. They needed to go into this with their eyes open, too."
Leah tried to appear unfazed, but she didn't fool him. Anxiety simmered somewhere below that cool exterior. He could tell as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, as she let water run through her hair more times than necessary, and how her eyes darted back and forth between him and anywhere else.
When she didn't speak, Embry continued, "How do you expect them to understand if they don't know?" Embry watched as Leah stiffened, another reaction likely unnoticeable to anyone but him. Taking a deep breath, he fought with himself for a second, deciding whether to say what else he wanted to say.
He said it anyway. "And it's not fair for you to ask me to keep it from them."
She opened her eyes, the flames in her stare lethal, but Embry arched his brow, almost daring her to argue with him.
Leah's lips parted as she tried like hell to soften her features. "I didn't want their sympathy," she murmured. "Or their pity. That's not why I came back, and I didn't want them to think you forced me to do it."
Embry smiled. "I didn't ask them for sympathy, and I'm pretty sure that's not what they think… at least I hope not. But now they know and maybe they'll keep an open mind. That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, would it?"
Jerking her head toward him, her skeptical glare made him chuckle, her reaction showing exactly what she thought of his optimism.
"Give them a chance," he encouraged. "They're your family, too, and they're the ones who had no choice in this. Maybe they'll surprise you."
She looked wary, but Embry detected resignation in her eyes, a silent concession to what he tried to tell her.
And in the moments between his words and hers, he was hopeful his reassurances would be enough.
Leah's lips parted before she tipped her head back beneath the showerhead, hesitating one last second before she spoke.
"Okay."
Embry lifted both eyebrows. "Okay?"
"Okay," she repeated firmly. "After last night, and the fact I got through it without booking a ticket home the second it was over, I'm feeling pretty unstoppable, if we're being honest." She paused, leaving her eyes closed, offering Embry nothing but the words she planned to say. "You're lucky, because…" Another pause. "I haven't felt this good in… a long time."
Chewing contently on his lower lip, Embry crossed his arms in front of his chest, taking a moment to admire her words and what they meant. It was huge to him because weeks earlier, he knew better than anyone those words didn't exist.
The fact she felt stronger after facing Sam, taking what he told her at face value and believing him when he assured her it was the right thing, filled him with gratitude.
And it filled him with something else, too—something deeper, something more consuming.
An overwhelming devotion, synonymous with the woman standing in front of him.
"Happy to hear it," he whispered.
Leah made an indignant noise in her throat, just loud enough for him to hear. "You can make it up to me though," she interjected, a glimmer of mischievousness in her voice.
"I could take you to breakfast in Forks," Embry replied, lips tightening as he fought a grin. "The diner has this new brunch buffet on the weekends. They do it on Fridays, too, and it's seriously…"
He didn't finish before Leah turned toward him. The thought of food died on his tongue, forgotten as he lowered his eyes. He watched rivulets of water cascade down her frame, drops glistening on her face and streams carving delicate lines in the space between her breasts and abdomen.
"That's not exactly what I had in mind," she said, the words commanding his rapt attention where it belonged.
Embry's lips parted, but nothing came out. He was too focused, too fixated on her.
Standing there like that, so sure and self-possessed, oblivious to the picture she created, she was so fucking beautiful.
It was dizzying how quick it happened—how quick it always happened. Nothing outside that moment mattered, nothing but her. He couldn't imagine anything more important than seeing her like that in front of him—than knowing she was about to be his.
He'd be damned if it didn't make everything going on outside of them better, if only by a fraction.
A fraction was all he needed…
She was all he needed.
And a fierce desire to reaffirm that need filled him—so fast, so hard, the realization knocked the air from his lungs.
Stepping from beneath the stream of water, she closed the small distance between them. When she reached him, Embry held his breath, afraid he'd blink and it would all fade away. His eyes followed her every movement—when she glanced down, arm lifting from beside her body, fingers grazing his cotton T-shirt. Mesmerized, he watched one fingertip trace patterns across his chest, over his heart.
She leaned closer, gripping his shirt. Tipping her chin up, she met the piercing ebony of his spellbound gaze.
Her eyes sparked, proving she wanted the same thing—the same affirmation.
Fuck, Embry craved it, more than anything else.
The corners of her mouth curled into a brazen smile when she brought up her other hand. Bottom lip disappearing between her teeth, she rose on her tiptoes, gripping the back of his neck and forcing him to succumb to the pressure.
Choosing that moment to close his eyes, he relied on his other senses to soak up her nearness. He inhaled her scent, the smell of his sandalwood soap filtering into his nostrils. He listened to her shallow breaths—felt her heat, her hands reaching out for him, the warm water soaking through his thin shirt.
He was lost, drowning, when she finally spoke.
"We have right now," she whispered, her voice a dusky murmur. "Let's not waste it."
Embry gripped the edge of the shower, steadying himself, her words resonating inside, possessing him. What she planned to say next, what they did, or what she asked for—it didn't matter because Embry already knew.
He would give her whatever she wanted.
The hours of the day leading to that moment evaporated, taking with it all they had left to conquer. The night before, the pack meeting, the hesitance of their brothers, the rehearsal and bonfire that night—all of it disappeared, surrendering the hold it had on him.
The need to seize right now overcame him.
Inhaling sharply, Embry shifted, startling her with his abrupt shift in mood, capturing her lips in a bruising kiss. Arms lifting, he clutched her cheeks between both hands, peppering her mouth with ardent, needy kisses as she did the same, returning each one with a roughness that mirrored his.
Leah deepened the kiss, holding him as close as she could, the water coating her skin immediately soaking his clothes. Ghosting rough hands across smooth shoulders, he brushed back soaked ringlets of hair from her exposed neck as she tugged, her fingers curling around the waist of his jeans, slipping the button through its closure.
Embry rocked back, raising his arms, permitting Leah to peel the shirt over his head. Discarding it, she towed him back, her body cohering to his as their lips reconnected.
She was done with waiting, wanting him closer.
Inhaling the unmistakable, potent scent of her need surrounding him, Embry was more than happy to give her what she wanted.
God, he would give her everything…
After kicking free of his jeans, a step over the edge of the tub put Embry in the shower with her, the door closing behind him with a bang. When he bent to meet her, Leah kissed him with longing, like too much time had passed, arms wrapped around his shoulders and nails digging unforgivingly into his skin. Twisting silken strands of her hair around his fingers, Embry's other hand drifted around her lower back, fingers spread wide, cupping the swell of her ass.
They were intertwined, every inch of them, but it wasn't enough.
In that moment, he needed so much more.
Mouth still angled over hers, Embry took control, roughly encouraging her to back up. It was not a request. Leah acquiesced without a fight, submitting to his demand until he pinned her against the shower wall, pressing himself impossibly closer to her prone body.
Separating from her by a fraction, Embry relished each heavy, tormented pant that spilled from her lungs.
"Is this what you want?" he rasped, catching her bottom lip between his teeth, shuddering when she groaned in response.
"Embry…" she pled, the sound of his name desperate. She stretched, attempting to recapture his kiss, but he leaned away, just out of reach.
He waited a moment, her beautiful frustration on display for him. Leah's chest heaved, her eyes wild and wide and refusing to blink as they drew him back in, every part of him relishing that look and how she trembled against him.
Kissing her bottom lip lightly, his fingers securing around her wrists.
He gave her top lip the smallest of nips as he slowly, painstakingly, lifted her arms above her head.
Leah moaned in spite of herself, eliciting a wicked smile from Embry as he encased her wrists in one large hand, trapping each arm and rendering her helpless.
"Tell me what you want…"
She closed her eyes at his words, an unnerved whimper escaping her throat as Embry rocked forward, brushing his lips along her jawline, tasting the sweetness of her skin.
Against her cheek, he smiled again.
"Tell me…"
Arching her back toward him, Leah responded with frenzied, insistent kisses on his skin, anywhere she could reach.
It still wasn't enough.
Embry dipped lower, nuzzling her neck, leaving a single, open-mouthed kiss against the place her pulse was strongest. He used his free hand to trace the outline of her frame, fingers following her curves, skirting around her flank.
He wanted her to say it—in that moment, he needed to prompt the words from her. It was another affirmation, one belonging solely to him.
And as his hand slipped between her parted thighs, Embry knew what it would take to break her.
He knew what it would take to hear the words.
He grinned as her body bucked against him, trying to close an imaginary space.
Drawing a sharp gasp between parted lips, she spoke the words he waited for, each one tumbling out on her exhale.
"You," she groaned, her voice soft but definite, her muscles tensing and contracting against him. "Fuck, Embry… I want you."
That was all he needed. Still smiling, he drew his nose along the tender spot where her neck met her shoulder, inhaling subtle hints of jasmine. As Embry retreated from the apex of her thighs, her distraught moan unleashed a new wave of furor within.
Grasping her waist, Embry's lips skimmed her clavicle, the column of her throat, moving until he could whisper in her ear, speaking words she would welcome.
"Turn around."
Her gratified exhale puffed across his cheek before he leaned back to see Leah catch her bottom lip between her teeth—to see her pupils dilate as she struggled to hold back a brilliant smile saved for a handful of moments. Embry couldn't get enough of those moments. He couldn't get enough of those smiles.
He loved them, but he would enjoy them later.
Neither lingered nor did they waste any more time before she complied, her movement eager and fluid and willing. Freeing her trapped wrists, she breathed a near sigh of relief when both calloused palms reconnected with her delicate skin, the sound changing to a hiss of pleasure when he brought her flush with his body.
Fuck, he ached for this and what she could give. He ached for her. It was a visceral yearning, one that spread from every corner of his insides, satiated only by a release that came from one thing.
A release given by only one person.
In silent response, she angled away from him, leaning forward until she pressed her hands against the shower wall.
Peeking over her shoulder, she rewarded Embry with the smallest of smirks, her myopic gaze unraveling his last shred of control, her eyes a kind of liquid torture to those held captive by them.
She was ready for him, waiting to be taken.
He reached for her, his hands tracing her silhouette until he grazed her hips. And as he touched Leah, he listened to her—the tiny sounds she made, whimpers of anticipation, his name expelled on bated breath.
Fuck, it was bewildering. Intoxicating…
Maddening—for both of them.
Leaning forward, smiling against her skin, Embry parted his lips, dragging his teeth across flesh and leaving a gentle bite in his wake.
Claiming it as his, in the only way he could.
Leah gasped, her body shuddering against him. "Fuck, Em," she rasped, her voice a little too high, more vehement. Arching her back, she rose on her tiptoes, the swell of her ass brushing the tip of his aching, hardened length. "I can't… I need…"
Holding the air in his lungs, Embry shuddered, her movement helping him feel her fire long before it became a part of him. The heat was a kind that could swallow him whole and he knew that, but it didn't matter. In that moment, he didn't give a fuck because that's what he wanted—to lose himself, to forget everything else.
Every fucking second would be worth it. It would give them both strength and he knew that, too.
Pressing his palm against her spine, Embry gave in, thrusting forward as she rocked back, burying him inside her as far as he could.
He reeled, the pressure and overwhelming power of it all causing an unmitigated cry to leave his throat, the noise overpowering so many others—his pounding heart, the running shower, Leah's sharp inhale as she adjusted to him.
Fuck, she felt so good, but no matter how easy it would be to lose himself in those first euphoric sensations, he needed to move.
He did—slowly at first. Embry concentrated, watching Leah's eyes flutter closed, her lips parting as she focused, losing herself in each languid, shallow thrust. He clung to her hips as she pushed back, equally slow and deliberate movements matching his.
It wasn't enough. She squirmed against him, demanding more.
Bracing his feet, Embry increased his pace, little by little, methodical, agonizing. Palms spread wide, fingers digging into supple flesh, he found a deep, purposeful rhythm that somehow kept time to his pulse, to the sound of it racing in his ears.
Jesus, he couldn't fucking think…
Every cry, every moan, every word that escaped Leah's throat—that escaped his own—encouraged him to go faster, harder. It prompted him to drive the beautiful woman in front of him higher and closer to that edge he knew exactly how to help her find.
Leah matched his strength, his eagerness, allowing him to lean forward. Encasing her with one arm against his sturdy chest, he urged her upright, resting his lips against her temple, tasting beads of sweat mixed with shower water. Venturing lower, his hand once again slipped between her parted thighs.
Leah quaked in his arms, a string of expletives slipping from her mouth that did nothing but embolden him. He didn't slow down, his hips mercilessly meeting hers, his fingers moving against her trembling body.
He didn't stop, couldn't stop, his own peak quickly approaching—that tightening somewhere deep inside him, a gathering tension that ached for and craved release.
He wouldn't last, no matter how badly he wanted to.
But he wouldn't approachh that edge, not without her. It wasn't his moment to enjoy alone.
And none of it was about words. It wasn't about her telling him what she wanted or the insecure but necessary need he possessed to hear it.
It was about showing her how much she meant to him and wanting her to feel the same way he felt in that moment. It was proving to her that, no matter what they faced or what they were about to in the coming hours, it was just him. It was just her.
Filling, exhausting and worshipping one another while they could and in the best possible way.
It was just the two of them—together.
Always…
He knew when it happened. He heard the choked sob escape her throat—felt her muscles tense and spasm, her body clamping down around him.
That was all it took. He drowned with her, losing himself to his own end before he could slow down—before he could prolong hers. That tightening unraveled with an intensity he didn't anticipate and, as he pushed himself into Leah for a final time, it wasn't long before his own overwhelmed cry mixed with aftershocks of hers.
He staggered, the world beneath him spinning. She steadied him, though, her arm finding its way around his neck, urging him forward and encouraging him to lean on her—to keep his legs on solid ground.
Eyes still closed and fighting to catch his breath, the arm around him tightened and a pair of lips pressed a soft, fluttering kiss to his jaw.
It drew his eyes open.
It also signified the end of their stolen moment.
A warm, relaxed smile greeted him. Heaving a deep, fulfilled sigh, Leah closed her eyes, tipping her head into the curvature of his throat when she was certain he was still with her.
He smiled, indulging in her glow for as long as it would last. Angling his head down, he kissed her forehead, each closed eyelid, the tip of her nose. He lingered on his last destination, leaving a few lazily reciprocated kisses on her mouth.
Leah pulled her lower lip between her teeth, nibbling on it as she opened her eyes, burrowing her face in the crook of his neck. "It really is okay," she whispered, her breath giving birth to goosebumps across Embry's sensitive skin.
His brow furrowing, Embry pulled back slightly, curiosity getting the better of him. "What is?"
Leah hummed, a pleased, satiated noise, meant to ease any lingering uncertainties he possibly carried since the veil of need they both shared moments earlier had subsided.
"That you told the others about Chicago," she replied, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. "You were right. And I—I trust you if you say telling them was the right thing to do. That, and it was wrong to ask you to keep secrets for me, so really… it is okay."
Embry hesitated, her words registering somewhere new inside him.
For a single moment, he'd thought it—what her giving him the benefit of the doubt earlier meant, but it was different to hear her say those words, to hear her say she trusted him. She'd never said it out loud, which made it even more significant to Embry.
He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head, lingering for a moment and cataloging her admittance somewhere deep inside him, next to everything else that happened—all the other small steps she took—in the weeks leading up to that day.
"So," he murmured against her hair, "does that mean you trust me to tell them about us?"
Leah froze, lips parting despite the silence hanging between them.
Embry bit his tongue, trying to contain his grin. He didn't want that, not really—at least not at that point. He'd thought about it, but his stance hadn't changed.
What they had—it was no business of the others.
This was theirs…
Embry chuckled, the thought evaporating from his mind and lifting a teasing brow. "I'm kidding," he whispered, grinning.
Leah scoffed, avoiding his stare for a moment and wriggling in his arms, trying to get away.
Groaning in protest, Embry hugged her to him, ending her struggle by burying his nose in the slant of her neck.
It took less than a moment for her to relax.
He loosened his hold on her. "We should mark this on a calendar, though, to remember the day Leah Clearwater admitted I was right..."
Leah snorted, and before Embry could say another word, she shifted in his arms to face him. Reaching up, she draped her arms around his neck and pulled, prompting them both to move until her back collided with the shower wall.
"Don't get used to it," she retorted, grinning and yanking Embry to her. Covering his mouth with hers, she swept away any protests he may have had for good.
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A/N: *grins* I thought it might be nice to get these two reacquainted since it's been so long…
As always, thanks to MargotTenser for pre-reading and ChrissiHR for beta-ing this chapter (more times than I care to admit, but she's half the reason this lemon didn't come out a mess of hips and curves and heavy breathing). I appreciate both of you oh-so-much and everything you do!
Anyway, thoughts on this chapter?