Disclaimer: SM owns all the good Twilight stuff, if I had anything to do with it nothing would have faded to black.

Ch13:Parameters of Desire

Embry existed in a cocoon of warmth and sublime comfort. He sensed Leah sinking into an exhausted sleep with him. He noticed the moment she started and stiffened in his arms.

Some part of him must have been expecting it because he spoke without thinking. "Don't even think about moving, Leah. You're staying right there, whether you sleep or not is up to you babe."

He felt her sag against him. Soon her breathing became soft and even, and he knew he had been right to take way the choice from her. She might not be used to sleeping in a man's arms, but she was going to learn to get comfortable with it—with him, if he had a say in the matter.

Which, of course, was still up in the air, he thought wryly before he fell asleep.

He awoke several hours later, wondering what could have dragged him from the depths of profound slumber. The warm, soft body pressed tightly to his naked skin felt good. He raised his hand and stroked a smooth thigh, and then he palmed a round ass cheek. His dick twitched. He inhaled the increasingly familiar scent—Onaona—and began to sink into a delicious, nonsensical dream involving Leah naked singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and gifting him with one of her rare, beautiful smiles.

A cell phone rang again in the distance, pulling him from his increasingly lustful dream. It wasn't his ringtone, so it must be Leah's. The phone stopped ringing after a moment… only to start up again almost immediately. He sighed and extricated himself from Leah's body, scowling at being pried out of his drowsy contentment. He found her phone on top of the dresser in the guest bedroom.

"Yeah?" he answered gruffly.

A long pause ensued. "Embry?"

He grunted an acknowledgement, still half asleep.

"It's Rosalie."

His eyelids blinked open. "Hey, Rosalie."

"Is Leah okay?" she asked, the distance of continent and an ocean unable to disguise her anxiety. "I didn't get a chance to check my messages until now. I had to pick up Tia and—" She cut herself off before asking, "is everything okay? Leah sounded super upset when she called, and she said I should call her right away."

"She's fine. There was a media leak here in Honolulu in regard to the escort service. That was what Leah wanted to warn you about before you saw it on the mainland news."

"What?"

Embry filled her in on what had occurred, making a point of assuring her that he didn't believe whoever was responsible would try and involve Rosalie.

"I'm not worried about that. My soon to be ex-husband didn't know where I went on vacation or who was with, either," Rosalie exclaimed. "I'm worried about Leah."

"Well, she's worried about you," he replied wryly, briefly outlining Leah's confrontation with Sam and the warning she gave him.

"Shit, leave it to Leah to worry about a friend instead of herself. I can't believe this happened. It just sucks after she had dared to go out on a limb and all by staying in Honolulu. You must know her well enough by now to realize how hard that was for her."

"What do you mean?" Embry asked, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. As Rosalie talked, he slowly stopped rubbing. His hand fell to his side.

He suddenly felt wide awake.

By the time he went back to bed, Leah had curled up into a little ball at the far corner of the bed. The sheet and blanket had fallen from her nude body. He got beneath the covers and pulled her against him, spooning her. She didn't fully wake up, but she sighed and straightened her legs, bringing them into full contact with his.

Embry remained awake for an hour or more, highly aware of the soft, feminine body pressed against him, thinking of the events of yesterday, going over what Rosalie had told him on the phone. The fragrance of the massage oil, sex, and Leah's unique scent filled his nose. He stroked her silky skin from thigh to breasts. She kept sleeping, but Embry sensed an increased tension level in her muscles as he caressed her, as though some inner, dreaming part of her perked up in sensual awareness. He pressed closer to her warmth; his dick grew stiff next to her ass.

He continued to ponder while his body hummed with an awareness of the woman lying next to him.

She moaned in her sleep when he shaped a breast in his palm and stroked the nipple lazily. The flesh was soft when he first touched it with his fingertips. Although he couldn't see her nipple, he knew it would be a delicate brown color in its relaxed state, fat and succulent. Just thinking about it made him salivate. As he finessed her, the nipple tightened. He ran his fingertips over the tiny bumps and she shivered in her arms.

Rosalie had revealed that Leah had chosen to return to Honolulu; that she had planned to seek him out. He had been floored by that fact. More stunned than he had been when she had chosen to seek him out on previous occasions… when she had exposed herself, despite being afraid of what might happen. He'd sensed how hard it had been for her. That must have been part of what aroused him so much.

And despite it all, she had made that ultimate step. She actually stayed in Oahu. Maybe not just for him… but still. She had stayed. She had been planning on seeing him again.

No wonder she had wanted him to hurt last night after seeing that disgusting news bite.

She would feel even more vulnerable if he told her what Rosalie had said.

He grasped her hip and stroked his dick in the crevice of her ass cheeks, all the while thinking… scheming. Her skin felt like warm silk next to his erection.

It infuriated him all over again to consider how Leah had done something so difficult for her—fought past her anxiety and uncertainty about what was happening between them—and returned, only to have her fragile trust smashed to bits by that crass news story.

How the hell was he going to encourage her to give him her trust again?

She's mine. I just have to convince her of that. The thought surprised him at first, but he must have been harboring it for a while in some secret part of his mind, because the shock faded quickly enough.

Wasn't a person the most vulnerable when they slept?

The arrival of dawn cast the room in gray shadow. He slid his hand down her belly, stroking her, pleasuring her even as he accustomed her to his presence. He slipped beneath her defenses while she was the most unguarded.

Since his motivations were pure, he refused to feel guilty about that.

He pushed back a round buttock, sandwiching his dick deeply in the luscious crevice. He palmed the firm flesh, massaging it in a tiny circular motion around his burrowing erection. The heat he felt emanating from her tiny asshole made his dick throb with a dull delicious ache.

He leaned back, reaching for the bedside table and snagging a bottle from the drawer. She continued to sleep while he lubricated his dick, but he noticed a pink flush had risen on her cheek.

He pressed close again, sliding his oiled dick between her ass cheeks and massaging the puckered, nerve packed opening. He resumed caressing her, touching her hips and thighs, awakening her flesh even while her mind continued to slumber.

"Embry," she mumbled incoherently when his finger burrowed between plump labia. He tickled and rubbed and played with her slick kernel of hypersensitive flesh he found.

"That's right," he whispered next to her ear before he kissed the delicate shell. "Just relax, I'm going to give it to you in the ass babe."

She moaned softly. He couldn't have said for certain if she was awake or sleep, but he suspected she was somewhere in between. She pressed her hips back, applying pressure to his straining dick as he thrust between her ass cheeks. Embry grimaced in pleasure.

He continued to stimulate her clit while he kissed her neck, surrounding himself with her scent. When he reached the limit of his restraint—which was much sooner than he preferred—he reluctantly withdrew from her juicy labia. Her body remained fluid and relaxed when he thrust a finger in her ass. He stroked her for a while, readying her snug channel for his dick.

She started to resonate heat like a furnace.

He couldn't wait another second to bury himself in her. He grabbed his dick with one hand, her ass cheek with the other. Her sleek body stiffened when he pushed the thick head of his dick into her ass. He felt her clamp down on the tip of his penis and tense her muscles. Her ass naturally tried to resist the invasion, but he applied a steady pressure, keeping his dick lodged in her.

Now that he was in her, there wasn't a chance in hell she was going to get rid of him so easily.

"Shh honey," he whispered as he landed kisses on her neck, ear, and cheek. "You feel so good. So hot and tight."

"Embry," she groaned when he slid into her another half inch. Her muscles rippled and convulsed around him, causing his eyes to roll back in his head in pleasure.

He found it surprising that she still didn't being up the fact that he was going in her once again raw. He didn't even know if she was on the pill or anything but he wanted all of her, regardless of the situation. A fleeting image of her being pregnant with his child ran through his mind and he groaned in growing lust. A little over a week and he was thinking thoughts like this? She must have sprinkled him with some kind of magic because he was hooked. He wasn't going to allow her to escape him again, not if he had anything to do with it. He knew he was out of his mind but he couldn't even bring himself to care.

He pressed his chest to her back, but moved his hips away from her slightly…giving his dick room to navigate as he slowly worked his way into her. He wanted to be slow and patient with her, the opposite of what he had been the other night when he had fucked her so ruthlessly… or last night when he had given her a dick pummeling in anger over her stubbornness.

Regret from the memories gave him the strength he needed, despite his intense arousal.

He released his lubricated dick and grasped her hip, maintaining the constant pressure required to keep himself inside her. He pulsed his hips, stimulating that nerve packed channel with just the few inches of his dick, coaxing her resistant muscles into taking him deeper. She whimpered softly.

He dropped a kiss on her heated cheek. "How's that? Feel nice?" he whispered.

She nodded.

"I'm gonna give it to you nice and slow. Give me your mouth."

She turned, so sweet in what she offered despite her uncertainty. He did everything to her mouth that he wanted his dick to do to her ass. He plunged his tongue deep and possessed it utterly. He thanked her without words for coming back to him and apologized for the pain she had experienced.

Guys weren't always the best at expressing themselves, but he hoped Leah was listening… because he tried.

The kiss went on—hot and electric, and all the while, he slowly worked his steel hard erection into her tight channel. Every once in a while, he would pause in the blissful torture and release her hip so that he could stroke her. She whimpered into his mouth as he pinched her nipples gently. His dick lurched in her ass, answering her cry of longing.

His hand returned to her hip, holding her steady while he possessed more of her.

By the time he was nearly sheathed in her, they were both covered in fine sweat. They had to break their kiss, hungry as they both were, because they panted so fiercely.

"Touch yourself," he ordered.

She complied, moving her hand between her legs. When she moaned in pleasure, he pressed his more tighter against her round ass.

"Awww, yeah," he gasped harshly.

Their breathing sounded ragged in the silent room. Embry held himself right at the edge of orgasm. She squeezed him in a merciless grip. Her hand moved more rapidly between her thighs. He bit at her ear then found her lips in the darkness.

He brushed their mouths together. "I don't want to hurt you Leah. I'm just trying to reach you."

She cried out, the sound striking him as poignant, sad… filled with longing. She shuddered in orgasm. He shut his eyes and fucked her. Pleasure engulfed him. He held on tight to her hip, feeling her flesh tremble.

When he came, his eyes popped open as if he was seeing a different universe. His dick jerked deep inside her. Just when he thought his climax would wane, another wave tore through him then another.

He found his face pressed against her neck and cheek. He was holding her fast against him. Their skin was so damp they would likely make a popping sound when they finally unsealed their tight bond. Her heart pounded frantically in her rib cage.

He licked his lips and tasted her tears. "Did I hurt you babe?"

"No," she whispered softly.

She turned and kissed him passionately as the pale yellow light of dawn filled the room.

Embry put on a pair of trunks before he dove into the lagoon several hours later. Leah felt a little guilty about that, since she knew he only donned the shorts out of consideration for her. Part of her was glad that he wasn't parading his godlike naked body around as he usually done. There were men in the vicinity standing guard around the area of the houseboat after all. But part of her regretted seeing him being forced to alter his habits because of the actions of some asshole. Embry body was such a savage beauty, it seemed somehow wrong for him to be forced to cover it… especially here in his private paradise.

Leah never really saw the men guarding the houseboat, but she knew they were out there, nonetheless: in the marina parking lot, along the periphery of the beach… possibly in the foliage that surrounded the lagoon. They had never seen the photographer, either. Surely he had been going about his sleazy business in the thick tangle of koa and palm trees, fire cracker bushes, ficus and hibiscus shrubs that protected Embry's paradise home.

She sat on the deck of Embry's boat and watched him knife through the water in a path toward the open sea. She had screwed everything up last night. Royally. She had sexually tormented him to the point of madness. She had been determined to make her last memory of Embry Call that of him being helpless… desperate with need… as out of control as she had felt when she saw that news story yesterday.

It hadn't been her finest hour, Leah admitted as shame swept through her. Especially when she had lost a great deal of her certitude that Embry was somehow responsible for those photos and that news leak. She didn't know when she had changed her mind, precisely. Her righteous outrage must have leaked out of her while she slept in his arms. By the time had had made love to her at dawn in such an intimate and tender manner, it had dissipated to mist.

Why wouldn't he let her talk about what had occurred between them last night? She felt as if she should say something… Apologize?

But hadn't he ripped through his restraints like a savage, chased her, thrown her down on the bed, and fucked her like a madman? And without protection. Although the protection part didn't bother her as much as it should have with her being on the birth control shot.

He did it because you asked him to fuck you…begged him, a disdainful voice in her head reminded her. And it brought them closer together, strangely.

She wiggled restlessly against the wooden deck of the boat, feeling the tenderness of her genitals… the tingle. She might be sore, but just thinking about that frantic, pressured joining had aroused her all over again.

She lay down on her side in the warm sun. Maybe she drifted off again, because the next thing she knew, Embry was returning from his swim. He straightened in the water and flipped back his longish bangs in a habitual gesture. He flashed her a smile. An ache swelled in her chest.

He was a born heartbreaker. Look how easily she had given in to him last night, even when she had been furious and burning to exact revenge. He'd even convinced her not to speak about the turmoil of last night, repeatedly telling her not to worry about what had occurred for the time being.

Her growing feelings for him mingled with her confusion. But her uncertainty couldn't stop her from returning his infectious grin.

"Good surfing waves. Do you want to show me your moves?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No I would like to watch you though. Aren't you worried about boats, since this isn't a public beach?"

He grabbed onto the ladder with one hand and leaned back parallel to the boat, floating lazily in the water. His long legs drifted up to the surface. Leah couldn't help but smile wider. He was such a water animal, so comfortable and playful in his movements while he was in his natural environment.

"I have eyes in the back of my head. Besides, boats out of the marina usually head farther out from the shore when the waves are this high."

She became conscious of the fact that he studied her intently. "What's wrong?" she asked glancing down over her bikini clad body.

"Are you sure we've never met before?"

"Before?" Leah asked perplexed by his question.

"Yeah, like when you were a kid, living here in Honolulu."

Leah shook her head. "I don't think so. How old are you?"

"Thirty-five and you're twenty nine right?"

Leah rolled her eyes at him. "Of course you would know that... but I doubt a teenager would have noticed a scrawny kid."

His dark eyes lowered over her warmly. "Hard to imagine you scrawny. I'll believe it when I see a picture."

"It's true. My father used to accuse me of being skinny on purpose." Leah shook her head rolling her eyes upward at the thought.

Embry snorted. "What little girl wants to be skinny? I have cousins who angst over their twelve year old daughters wearing padded bras that make their figures so imbalanced, they look like they would tip over on their faces in a brisk wind."

Leah laughed. "Being a pre-adolescent girl is no easy task."

"Did you hate it?"

"Hate what?" she raised her eyebrow.

"Being an adolescent."

She sighed and stared out at the sparkling lagoon. "Hated it, along with the rest of it."

"The rest of what?" he prodded.

"Childhood." Leah answered dryly.

She blinked at the loud splashing that accompanied Embry clambering up the ladder.

He dropped down on the deck next to her, spraying droplets of water on her sun warmed skin. "Is that why you've been hesitant to go and visit your parents graves?"

She continued to gaze at the lagoon and nodded.

She heard his slow inhale before he said, "My offer still stands you know."

"What offer?" she asked.

"I'll take you to Oahu Cemetery. I'll just sit in the car or I'll go with you. Whatever you want. Or you can just tell me to shut up and I won't bring it up again."

"Thanks," she murmured, her gratitude genuine despite the tight feeling in her throat and her difficulty in meeting his eyes. He seemed to notice her discomfort and changed the subject, something for which she was even more grateful.

"I'm going in to Bry's in a bit and then to talk to a few people about the news leak… see what I can find out. Do you want to come with me or stay here?"

"I'll stay if it's all right. It's very peaceful here." She stared at the sunlit lagoon. "I don't like to think of your privacy being invaded by whoever took those pictures."

"You seem to have trouble believing it, but I do value my privacy. I don't mind being a public figure and I do what I have to do to maintain my businesses. But when I'm here on this boat, it's my life."

She remained silent and pensive as the rippling water sparkled brilliantly in her eyes. It hit her that it was no longer a matter of not being caught in Embry Call's trap. She had been spellbound, tight and secure, sometime in the night. She wasn't sure how he had done it. Maybe she had been hooked since that moment when she had dared to wander into his territory and seen him rise like a god from the blue water.

The only thing left to do was to figure out what she was going to do about those chafing yet strangely alluring bonds.

"I believe you," she said hoarsely after a moment. "If I hadn't been so taken off guard yesterday… so angry, I would have been able to think straight. But now that I'm back here, now that I see you here again… I realize you wouldn't do something as sleazy and crass as paying someone to take our pictures. Not here, not in the privacy of your home."

"Well that's something I guess." His tone held a bit of mock amusement.

She turned to him, "Why do you say it like that?"

"I like you way too much," he muttered under his breath before sighing heavily and answering her. "I would prefer you believed me because you knew me a little better, knew without a doubt I would never pull something like that," he murmured holding her gaze. "But these things take time I guess."

Leah glanced away uncomfortably. She liked him too, even if she didn't understand how much. Her desire for him ran deep. She realized he had mistaken her silence for something else entirely when he spoke again.

"Ah I see, still not willing to commit to spending more time together." He chuckled dryly as he leaned back bracing himself on his arms. "You know you've done the impossible right?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've managed to make me Embry Call, the guy who's usually the intimacy challenged one, look well-balanced—relationship wise anyway. Next thing you know, people will be calling me sensitive."

She gave his an incredulous look, and they both laughed.

"I don't know what I'm doing here, Embry," Leah admitted shaking her head, even if it was a lie. She knew exactly why she was here.

"What do you mean? You're here because some asshole interfered in our lives right?" he asked warmly.

Intently. As if he knew something she didn't.

She looked out at the lagoon, but she still felt his gaze on her cheek like a touch. Thankfully, her cell phone started to ring.

She leapt up. "Excuse me, that's probably Rose. The connection is bad, and we kept getting cut off earlier."

They were cut off again unfortunately. She was able to get through to her publicist, whom she was talking to when Embry came inside to shower.

She switched off the enormous flat screen television in his living room when he exited the bedroom twenty minutes later, looking casual and handsome as the devil wearing low riding khaki shorts and a dark blue knit shirt. His hair was combed but still damp and his wavy bangs had already fallen on his forehead. She hadn't hit the remote control quick enough, and he had noticed she had been watching the noon news.

"Are they still running the story?"

Leah nodded. "It's pretty much the same. They just added some archive footage of you winning a gold medal and me performing. Then they mentioned other celebrities who had been caught up in sex scandals of one kind or another."

Annoyance tightened on his features. "Fucking vultures."

"Yeah, I shouldn't have looked for the feeding frenzy. My bad." She paused and tugged at the hem of the T-shirt she had put on over her bikini. "When will you come back?"

"I'll be back by six or so. My goddaughter's birthday luau is tonight, the one I invited you to the other…" He faded off.

Leah paused in her fidgeting when she saw the way Embry was peering at her between thick lashes.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"You're going to be here when I get back." His tone had carried a hint of both warning and trepidation.

She swallowed with difficulty. It hadn't been a question.

"Of course, I mean… yea, I just wanted to know when you would be back, that's all. Besides I thought you said last night your father's guards would prevent me from leaving," she added with a mock glance of condemnation. She had been teasing so it took her by surprise when he stalked across the room with a blazing look in his eyes.

The next thing she knew, her breasts were flattened against a hard chest and Embry's sweet breath was brushing her upturned lips. "I would keep you as a prisoner here if it didn't interfere with my strict sense of morality."

She quirked up a brow, her gaze fixed on his mouth. "You have morals?"

"Despite what my Gran—and apparently you—think yes," he growled. His manner playful… but perhaps not. Leah thought as she noticed the fire in his smoky eyes.

A shiver went down her spine. "I was just kidding."

"I'm asking you to stay." he spoke gruffly. "I don't know what I would do if I came back and you weren't here."

Before Leah could answer his mouth slanted over hers. He molded her body to his, piercing the boundary of her lips with his sleek tongue, making Leah want. Making her hurt. It surprised her, the arousal that suddenly sprang into her body, given how many times she had come last night.

But it was Embry, and she was quickly learning the new parameters of her desire. It still intimidated her. It still made her insecure, but she had said she would stay and she would.

For him.

You guys never cease to amaze me, haha! Glad you guys are liking this version of Embry still :)

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xoxo