A/N: Can I just say that I had big plans for up-against-a-blackboard sex for last chapter's prompt and I'm kinda sad I didn't get to use it? Although I am pretty happy with what I ended up with, hurt/comfort was not my initial thought for that one!
For as long as Emma could remember, she had gone to spend summers with her grandparents in Degraff, Ohio. The sleepy little farming town had been her refuge on those hot summer days once school let out. Her brother would be shipped off to baseball training camp to groom him for the majors while her parents jetted off somewhere across the ocean and she would spend her days in the middle of nowhere. Some kids would have begged to go along on the exotic adventures her parents took every summer but not Emma. She couldn't imagine a more perfect place to spend the summer, reading books in a hammock beneath the cherry trees on sultry afternoons and swimming in the spring-fed pond at the back of her grandparents' property when the heat was just too much.
One of Emma's first clear memories of her childhood is of standing on a kitchen chair beside her grandmother, four years old and carefully stirring a bubbling pot of strawberry jam. To this day, the smell and taste of strawberry jam has the ability to pull Emma back in time to those scorching summer afternoons on the farm.
It had been a friendly invitation when Will had asked her to go strawberry picking, their relationship just beginning to blossom under careful tending and love. Emma had jumped at the chance, feeling a deep longing for strawberry jam, and a yearning to go back to simpler times.
"Wow Em, that's a lot of strawberries!" Will remarked as Emma struggled to haul a large basket out from between the rows of berry plants. Will took the basket from her hands and swung it onto the little cart they'd pulled along with them.
"I know," Emma smiled, "Do you mind if I just pick a few peaches before we leave?"
"Sure Em," Will chuckled, wondering what on earth tiny little Emma planned on doing with so much fruit.
As they loaded their haul into the car, Will noticed stalks of rhubarb hidden in among the strawberries and peaches and decided he just had to ask.
"Emma, what are you possibly going to do with all of this?" Emma just smiled and said,
"Why don't you come over later and I'll show you?" Will cocked an eyebrow at her, chuckling softly at the unintended innuendo and Emma flushed bright pink. "Never mind," she stammered, completely mortified.
"No I don't think so Em, I really want to see what you have planned."
Emma had her hair pulled back neatly in a bun as she moved quickly from pot to pot over the stove, her cheeks blushed red from the steam as she worked. She heard Will's knock at her door and called over her shoulder,
"It's open Will!" as she dipped a spoon into the strawberry rhubarb jam bubbling at the front of the stove. Pulling a face as Will entered the kitchen, she poured more simple syrup into the pot to ease the bitter tang of the rhubarb.
"Wow Em," Will commented from the doorway, casting his eyes about the kitchen. His normally neat and tidy Emma had upside down mason jars on every available surface, lids stacked neatly nearby, and a small section of the countertop was littered with strawberry hulls, peach pits and rhubarb leaves.
"Can you taste this?" Emma asked, holding a red-coated spoon out to Will who obligingly took it into his mouth.
"This is really good Emma," Will said, "Strawberry peach?"
"Mm," Emma agreed, dipping a new spoon into the pot and trying it for herself. "No, there's something missing." Emma's fingers danced along her spice rack as she tried to determine what would make the jam perfect.
"Ah ha!" Emma pulled a spice grinder and a jar of pink peppercorns from the shelf, dumping a handful of the seeds into the grinder. When the peppercorns had been reduced to a fine powder, she upended them into the pot and stirred the powder through. She held another spoon out to Will, "Better?"
"Perfect," he agreed, surprised at how much depth the addition of the peppercorns had given the jam. Emma smiled and began to ladle jam into jars, quickly capping them and dropping them into a boiling water bath to seal them. Feeling useless, Will stepped in to take on the job of capping the jars and Emma smiled at him,
"Thanks, this is always much easier with two people."
Two hours later there were twenty jars of strawberry peach pink peppercorn, twenty jars of strawberry rhubarb and forty jars of just plain strawberry jam piled high on Emma's kitchen table. She and Will sat at the breakfast bar having just finished eating pizza, taking in the fruits of their labour.
It had surprised Will how quickly and easily Emma had opened up about her childhood and the summers she spent on her grandparents' farm. Emma was normally so quiet and reserved, never sharing enough of herself to let anyone close enough to really hurt her. Sliding from her stool Emma asked,
"Did you save room for dessert?" Will swallowed hard and tried not to stare as Emma bent down to retrieve something from her freezer.
"Uh sure."
Emma pulled a tub a vanilla ice cream from the freezer and stuck it into the microwave to thaw it slightly. While she waited she pulled two bowls from the cupboard and cracked the seal on a jar of the strawberry peach jam. After scooping ice cream into each bowl, Emma spooned jam over each one and slid a bowl across the counter to Will.
"This is fantastic Emma," Will told her as they sank comfortably onto her couch, bowls and spoons in hand.
Will took Emma's empty bowl from her hands and carried them to her kitchen, rinsing each dish before putting them into the dishwasher like he knew she liked. Emma smiled when Will returned to the couch beside her,
"Thanks for indulging my crazy," she said, nudging him with her shoulder. Will laughed, turning to stare as Emma tugged her hair out of the bun and let it curl loosely around her shoulders. Unable to resist, Will swept the hair off of Emma's neck and brushed feather-light kisses along her jawline, smiling to himself as her head tilted to give him better access. Slowly, doing his best not to move too quickly, Will let his hand stray to Emma's breast, his thumb brushing gently across her nipple. Sucking in a gasp, Emma contemplated telling Will to stop but then he began to suck at the pulse point in her neck and she lost the ability to speak. Emboldened by her acquiescence and the soft mewling sounds falling from Emma's lips, Will allowed his hands to stray lower, tentatively grasping her upper thighs.
"Will," Emma choked out, "What are you doing?"
"I want to make you feel good Emma," Will whispered low in her ear, "Do you want me to make you feel good?" Will's fingers moved dangerously close to the juncture of her thighs and Emma could do nothing but nod. With her permission secured, Will deftly unbuttoned Emma's jeans and tugged them down her legs, taking her panties with them. Emma sucked in a deep shaky breath and Will said, "I'll stop any time you want me to Emma, just let me know."
"Don't stop," Emma begged, surprised at the sound of her own voice encouraging Will on. Emma nearly stopped breathing as Will lowered his head to kiss the inside of each of her knees before slowly travelling upwards.
"You're gorgeous Em," Will growled, fascinated by the sight of an aroused Emma. Deciding he could wait no longer, he flicked his tongue across her, smiling when she cried out.
It wasn't long before Emma was writhing beneath him, begging for a release greater than she'd ever experienced before. Will, not one to keep a lady waiting, upped the intensity of his work and held onto Emma's hips as she thrashed wildly, climaxing with a force she'd never dreamed possible. As she came down from the stratosphere, Emma looked down at Will through heavy-lidded eyes and said,
"I never realized you were such a fan of jam."
Next: second person- Will; romance; search