Ember

31 - Our truths

Ember

I managed to sneak away from the party with ease. The hotel ballroom was packed with people, and no one will miss me. Even if they do, I don’t care.

I gave Colin the excuse that I had a headache coming. He smiled and told me to rest and that he’d see me tomorrow. I don’t know what Marco told everyone, but I noticed he had left before 8:30 PM. I was itching to follow him, but he said 9 PM, so I waited until 8:55 PM before leaving.

I hope I look okay. I’m wearing a skin-tight red dress that doesn’t leave much to the imagination. My hair is loose and curled and falling over my shoulders. I have to admit that I noticed the lust in Marco’s eyes when he saw me walk into the party. His jaw may even have dropped a little.

I know that I couldn’t stop staring at Marco and the way he was dressed. Don’t get me wrong, the man always looks good. But tonight, he’s wearing a black suit with a matching shirt and tie. He looked incredible, and all I wanted to do was go to him and have him kiss me in front of everyone. I wanted every woman there to know that Marco was mine. Only he isn’t mine yet, so I did nothing.

Upon reaching the rooftop, I gasp.

When did Marco do this?

Why?

There’s a sun lounger near the high edge, with a small round table filled with strawberries, chocolate, and champagne. There are two flutes filled with the gold-colored liquid. There are even pink rose petals scattered all over the table and a string of twinkling lights strung along the wall behind the lounger. It looks magical!

Did Marco do all of this for me?

“What do you think?”

I startle a little, but I don’t turn to face Marco. He leans into me from behind, I can feel his breath on my neck, and my knees are shaking.

Oh God, how can Marco have this effect on me?

I’ve never felt this before; it’s powerful on a level I’ve never known.

“It’s beautiful.” I shiver and rub my arms with my hands. Hands suddenly slide over mine and around me.

“You don’t need to be afraid; I won’t hurt you.”

“That’s what they all say.” I didn’t mean to say that out loud, but we’re not here for secrets. I pull away from Marco and step toward the sun-lounger.

Marco hands me a glass of champagne with a smile on his handsome face. “You look beautiful, Ember.”

I look down at myself. “Thank you. You look handsome.” I groan inwardly. I want him so badly that my puss.y aches. I can’t even deny it anymore.

Marco smirks in my direction and sits beside me on the lounger. It looks more like a chaise to me, but it’s definitely a sun lounger. But I wouldn’t expect anything less from a hotel like this one.

I close my eyes briefly while breathing in the fresh air from up here. I’m really breathing in the scent of this man beside me. God, he smells so good. His cologne could be deemed an aphrodisiac.

You’re a horny bitc.h tonight, Ember. Are you in heat or something?

“So, we came here to talk. Why don’t we start with what really pushed you to join Dun’s Dungeon?” I hadn’t realized I was looking down until Marco slid his hand to my cheek. My eyes meet his. “What did Toby do to hurt you, Ember?”

I take a deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth. I thought it would hurt to talk about it, but I don’t feel the stab to the heart that I once did.

“Toby and my best friend from birth betrayed me.” I shrug like it’s nothing, but I imagine my face tells a different story.

“They cheated on you?”

“Yup. It’s a long and boring story, Marco. You don’t want to hear it.”

“Yes, I do. You can tell me anything, Ember.”

I know that I can tell him anything, and perhaps I should have told him about Toby before now. However, I wasn’t ready to talk about him or Lydia. I’m ready now. So, I tell Marco everything right from the beginning, how it all started and how it ended, and I don’t leave a damn thing out.

Marco doesn’t pass judgment. He doesn’t say anything; he simply listens to my story. He strokes my back soothingly as I explain why he had to hold me while I sobbed that night in my room on the bus. I tell him how Jessie said that Toby and Lydia are getting married and that they’re having a baby. I tell Marco how I wasn’t crying because I was jealous in any way. I was crying because they moved on so quickly; it was as if I never even existed to them.

“So, there it is, that’s my story.”

“Wow. Baby, I’m so sorry they did that to you. You didn’t deserve it, especially from the two people who should have loved you more than anything else in this world.”

“Thank you. Now, why don’t you tell me what happened with your ex?”

Marco sighs while moving behind me, pulling me between his legs and wrapping his arms around me. I rest my back against his chest and smile when he rests his cheek against my temple.

“My ex cheated on me a couple of years ago. I thought she loved me as much as I loved her, but it turns out she loved every other man she came into contact with just as much.”

I wrap my arms around Marco’s and close my eyes briefly. Now I know why Marco was so quick to offer advice on moving on; he’d been through the same thing as I had. Maybe it was not the same situation, but he was cheated on just the same.

“How did you find out?” I don’t want Marco to relive painful memories, but I believe he needs to get this out because I don’t think Marco has let go as much as he believes he has.

“Sasha, my ex, decided she’d climb into bed with Bob one night after a party.”

I turn my head to look at Marco.

What the hell?

Marco smiles slightly. “Nothing happened, even though she tried to force it. Bob jumped out of bed and told me right away what had happened. I didn’t believe him,”

“You didn’t?”

Marco shakes his head. “Not at first,” He sighs. “I didn’t want to believe the woman I loved was capable of doing something like that while I was in the next room. At the same time, I knew Bob wouldn’t lie to me about something that massive.

“A couple of weeks passed, and the whole time, I wondered if Sasha was out there messing around with others.” I entwine my fingers with Marco’s as he kisses my head. “Then Colin asked me to meet him over at his place. He’d arranged drinks with a few people, and he knew I’d been feeling like shi.t. I went because I wanted to get drunk. As soon as I got there, I realized Colin had set me up,”

“Set you up?” I’m confused.

“Yeah,” Marco chuckles. “There was nobody home but Colin. He told me to follow him, so I did. I thought maybe the party was outside as that’s where he was leading me. There was no party, but there was Sasha, riding Matt’s brother, Chris, without a care in the world. The woman didn’t even care that she was in someone else’s house!”

My mouth opens and closes so many times that I feel like a fish out of water.

What kind of person would do something like that?

“Naturally, I screamed her name. She looked at me in shock and climbed off of Chris. ‘This isn’t what it looks like,’ she told me. The stupid bitc.h was fuckin’ the guy, and she expected me to believe it wasn’t what it seemed? I walked away from her, but not before telling her that I never wanted to see her again.”

“I’m so sorry, Marco.”

Marco kisses my temple, and my eyes close because I feel emotional after what he just told me. I can’t get my head around what kind of person would do what his ex did. It doesn’t take a genius to work out why Colin did what he did; it was because he’s a good friend. I don’t know about Matt’s brother and where he comes into it all, but I guess he was helping in some weird way. But cheating on the person who loves you is low.

To sleep with another man in someone else’s house?

What the hell am I talking about?

My ex did that; only he slept with my best friend at my house! Marco and I have more in common than I would have guessed.

“It’s done with. I spent long enough blocking it out through drink and drugs and women. Then I met you, and things didn’t seem so hopeless. You made me want to change, and you made me want to try again with a woman who won’t cheat on me. We could be magic together, Ember.”

“Are you really over her, Marco?” It’s not that I want to talk myself out of a relationship with Marco, but I need to be sure.

Marco smiles at me while stroking his knuckles down my cheek. “Until I met you, I hadn’t let go of what Sasha did to me; I won’t lie. But when I met you, I felt something so special for you. Every day with you has healed me, Ember.” I feel my nose burning with emotion, and I can’t help smiling. “So, to answer your question, yes, I really am over Sasha.”

My heart starts beating faster. Hearing Marco say that he’s over his ex settles something within me. It also helped me realize that I am completely over Toby.

“What about you, Ember? Are you over Toby?”

I smile and nod my head. For the first time in weeks, I have no doubt in my mind that I’m ready to move on. “I am so over him.”

There are no words as I guild Marco’s mouth to mine with my hand on his face. The second our lips touch, it’s like fireworks going off all around us. I’m moaning into his mouth, whimpering, begging with my mind for him to pin me down, tear off my dress, and make love to me.

When we both need to come up for air, he pulls away with a smile on his face, forehead pressed against mine. “You felt that too, didn’t you? You feel the powerful spark between us every time our lips touch.”

“Yes,” I can’t even deny it because I felt it in every sinew in my body each time we kissed.

“We can go at your pace, Ember. As slow as you need to go. Just tell me that you’ll give me a chance. Give me a chance to prove I can be the man you need. Let me be the one.”

“I’m scared, Marco. I feel so much for you, but I don’t want to be hurt again. I don’t want to put my trust in you if you’re only going to break my heart in the end.”

“Listen to me,” I turn a little in his arms. I want to look at his face when he speaks. “I will not hurt you the way he did. I’ve been cheated on, and I would never put another person through that; it’s agony. The same happened to you, so I know you won’t do that to me either.”

I shake my head. There is no way I’d do that to anyone.

“I’ve given up the drugs, the women, even the drink, mostly. All for you because I know you’re worth more than that.” He smiles. “Baby, I would give up everything if you ask it of me.”

“How can you want me this much? You hardly know me.”

“My heart knows you, Ember. Your heart knows me; that’s why it calls to me. You feel it, too; I know you do.”

I bite my lower lip because he’s right. “I feel so much when I’m with you, Marco. I feel things that scare me, but I want to explore what it means. The other night, when you told me that you were falling hard for me,”

“I did?” I close my eyes for a second because he did forget. He cups my face and forces me to look at him. He smiles at me. “And you told me the same thing, didn’t you?”

I swallow hard before nodding my head. “I didn’t know that was what I felt until you said those words to me. Is that how you feel, Marco?”

“I can’t even deny it, Ember. You mean absolutely everything to me. You changed everything about me, and all for the better.” I smile and stroke my thumb across his jaw. “I like who I am when I’m around you, and I love how you make me feel.”

I giggle because that’s just how I feel. “I like who I am when I’m around you, too.”

“Give me a chance, Ember. I don’t think I could live the rest of my life without you by my side. I know what the others have said to both of us, but we can make them see that this is real. I honestly believe that, Ember. I believe you and I have something special and that it will last a lifetime.”

I blink and let his words sink into my brain. I know that Marco loves me; he doesn’t have to say those three words for me to know that. What he just said about us lasting a lifetime was enough to hook and reel me in. I don’t know what will happen when the others find out about Marco and me, but I do know that I can’t let this man walk away without being mine.

“All I want is to be with you, Marco.” A gorgeous smile spreads across his face. “I didn’t plan to feel this way about you, but I can’t stop it because it just grows stronger every hour. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that I won’t let you walk out of here unless you’re mine.”

“I have been yours since that day in town.” Then he kisses me, and I’m lost to the man I love.