Eternal Hope

Chapter 5

Carter

That Afternoon Before Dinner

Em had asked him out. She asked him out. 

Carter spent a good 30 minutes marveling at the straight forwardness of this woman. He couldn’t believe that he was actually getting the chance to have a conversation with her, not to mention a date. 

Carter shook his head and got himself together mentally. He knew that they really needed to clear the air and talk about the way they parted almost three years ago. They ended on bad terms, he could remember her parting shot as she walked out the door, “I hope you grow up before you lose everything that makes life worth living.”

Carter wasn’t quite sure what made her say that, maybe she was prophetic? Not a week later his sister called and told him that she was selling the house and that he had to move out so that she could fix it up before the contract went through. He had two days to pack up everything, find a storage facility to hold all of his things, and then find a place to crash that wasn’t his parent’s guest room…. which was back in the old mountain small town he grew up in. Five hours away!

Carter had tried to focus on the positives. He had a job, his cats had a place to stay with his parents while he found more permanent housing, and he had amazing friends with comfortable couches. His friends had rallied around him during this time. Though most of them agreed with Emmerysn, they never held the break-up against him and continued to support him unconditionally. This was both a relief and slightly awkward for Carter. He had never made friends easily and found communication extremely hard. It didn’t help that he didn’t utilize inflections or tone very well. Or at least that is what Em used to say. He would say the right thing but with the wrong tone, making it come out condescending or rude, when he really meant to be compassionate. And his face wasn’t much better. Em used to laugh and call him her ‘Gargoyle boyfriend’, because his face barely twitched unless he was feeling a particularly potent emotion. 

Of course, Em was no better at communication or facial expression, and that was part of the reason why they clicked, and why they fought so bitterly at the end. Carter couldn’t put his motivations into words, and Em couldn’t read his mind. It was a bad set up. He wanted nothing more than for the two of them to live together and make their plans a reality, but in the end, he just couldn’t take the steps necessary. He wished that he could go back in time and explain what had taken a year and a half of therapy to put into words. Carter had been afraid. Not of the actual move, or the jobs, or even the commitment; Carter was afraid of losing Em. He wanted her full attention, those dark bedroom eyes on him at all times. He wasn’t ready to share her with the world. Even in his head that didn’t sound quite right, but it was the closest he had gotten to the truth. It still felt wrong, and Carter couldn’t for the life of him figure out why. But now he had a second chance, and he was determined to Carpe Diem the f**k out of it.

When Carter arrived at their favorite Italian place around the corner from his old house, he knew he was in trouble. Em was dressed for war. 

Carter had only seen her in thigh highs once, and it was enough to give him jack off material for years. She had skipped down the stairs wearing sheer black thigh highs, a matching variated purple bra and panties set, and a see-through button up long sleeve blouse. No bottoms. She had bounded into his arms, not expecting the erection he was sporting to immediately beg for her attention. She had laughed and offered to change; Carter had offered to help her undress. It seemed that she had taken the one time “all of my clothes are dirty and now I have to wear this” incident and turned it into a full-on wardrobe choice. Carter was not one to notice clothing or give compliments, but the hint of garter peeking from under her feminine lace dress thing was almost too much for the monk he had become. She had finished the look with wedge heels that made those long legs almost drool worthy. Adding insult to injury, she had her hair worn curly, pulled back on top and leaving the rest of the coiled mass to hang down to her shoulders. It was his favorite hairstyle on her, paired with sexy librarian glasses, and deep cocoa pools for eyes, Carter was looking at his latest wet dream.

He took a moment to bring his mind out of the gutter, specifically what he could do to her while those frilly garters were still on; and shifted himself discreetly to hide the semi he’d popped. Now was not the time or the place to throw Emmersyn Payne on her back and lick at the hot and sweet candied center hidden between her thick silken thighs. Just the thought of digging his fingers into her thighs and forcing them to remain open for him was enough to have him checking his mouth for drool. He wanted to leave his handprints on every inch of her body, they would linger for days and remind her of just who she had given her heart, mind, body, and soul too. Carter breathed deep and mentally slapped himself. This was not the time for s****l fantasies. 

Bringing his thoughts and, hopefully, his d**k under control, Carter walked over to the table where Em was seated. They exchanged pleasantries and small hesitant smiles before settling down to look at the menu. They both knew what they were going to get, but it gave them time to get their thoughts together. And for Carter to once again bring his body under control. Being this close to Em was significantly worse than from across the packed restaurant. Now he could smell her, a combination of fragrant shampoo and lightly scented lotion. And she had decided to push her breasts up and wear a dress that made them look like an all you can eat buffet. Between the temptation of her body and the hesitant eyes, Carter wasn’t sure if he could make full sentences, let alone hold a coherent conversation.

That being said, they didn’t talk at all during the meal. There was an awkward moment where he accidentally ordered for both of them: two calzones, one with sausage and peppers and the other with sausage and mushrooms. And while he was at it, he ordered their favorite dessert: Cheesecake with Strawberry compote on the side. The plain cheesecake was for Em. She said that a good cheesecake didn’t need any help from fruits. Carter thought that just because it didn’t need any help didn’t mean that they should turn away delicious strawberries. This was their compromise. Carter ordered without thinking, especially since he ordered this meal once a year, on their anniversary. 

The look that Em had given him when he just ordered for them both should have killed him on the spot. But she had simply smiled kindly at the waitress and handed over her menu. Carter thought about asking if she wanted something else to eat but couldn’t bring himself to change their old habits. He wanted to remind her that he knew her preferences. He wanted her to be thinking about all the times that they had come here to treat themselves. Back when both of them were counting pennies and living paycheck to paycheck. They had been broke, newly graduated college students. Or well Em had been, Carter had still had one more summer semester to finish out his Masters in IT and Computer Software Engineering. He had only made it through those last tough months because Em had forced him to eat, study, and go to class. He probably would have flunked out without her.

Carter realized with a start that he had never thanked her for all of the effort she had put into making his life successful. Giving him goals and a path, when he had given up. Back then he had been annoyed by her pushing, even compared her to his mother at one point. How wrong he had been, and how stupid. Carter was so caught up in his memories and regrets that he didn’t noticed the determination cross Em’s face. She was looking from him to her twisting fingers and then back to him again. Carter should have seen the next sentence coming, but he was too preoccupied trying to word all of the gratitude and regrets that he wanted to express.

Em took a deep breath, “I have a son. His name is Liam, and he is two years old. I think that you should probably know.”

Carter drew in a breath. Startled out of his speech rehearsal. “Wait what?”

Em tried again, speaking slowly like she was trying not to spook him, or like he didn’t comprehend English very well, “We have a son. His name is Liam and I think it’s time you met.”

Carter took a breath and made his first confession, “Yeah I know. He and I have online chats about once a month.”

Carter watched Emmersyn’s eyes grow larger, then harden with anger, hurt, and trepidation. He realized that he maybe could have eased into this piece of information a little better, “No, no, no Emmersyn. Don’t go there. Just hear me out, ok? Please?”

Emmersyn was shaking and rocking back and forth, Carter could recognize the signs of a full scale shut down. Her eyes were lost, her body was on autopilot and her fingers were tightly knitted together. This was how she had looked right before she had broken up with him and disappeared. 

Carter stood, dropped some bills on the table to cover the cost of dinner and the tip, and then gently and firmly took Em’s arm, snagged her bag and phone, and steered her out of the restaurant. About halfway to his car, she came to life and ripped her arm from his grasp. She rounded on him with all of the fury of a scorned harpy, unleashing fire from her dark molten eyes and obviously about to spew words dipped in lava from her mouth.

Carter could admit that he loved her temper and found it a huge turn on, but he needed to curtail the fight that they were about to have. He had things that he needed to say, and decisions to explain, now was not the time to indulge in seeing his woman lose her composure and finally speak her mind to the fullest. So, in order to cut her off at the pass, Carter wrapped one arm around her waist, pulled her in tight to his chest, and did what he’d wanted to do ever since he set eyes on her again for the first time in two years: He kissed Emmersyn Payne. 

Carter poured every feeling he had for this woman into his kiss: Love, regret, admiration, apology, gratitude. Carter could feel Em fighting him, her hands were pushing at his shoulders and her body was twisting to try and break free from his hold. Carter anchored her head to his with a hand tangled in her thick curls and licked at her hot mouth. A mouth that he now realized was kissing him back. 

Carter felt that knowledge shoot straight through his starving body. Em wanted him; he didn’t need any other aphrodisiac than that. His breathing was getting heavy and erratic. He felt himself falling into her kiss once more, especially as she softened and melted into him, her softness melding to his hardness. Her breasts were soft, her n*****s hard, and he felt his d**k push against her abdomen. Carter was just thinking of grabbing her by her ass to lift her into his arms and feel those long legs and thick thighs around his hips again before he had a moment of clarity. He needed to say his piece before he buried his hard d**k in her sweet body again. She needed to know all of the details and s*x would only complicate things.

Releasing her mouth with a harsh groan, Carter laid his forehead on hers and took deep calming breaths. His lust could not be unleashed in a dirty parking lot. He remembered why he was kissing Em in the first place and spoke pleadingly to her, “Em, I have a lot of explaining to do and I would like to do that in comfort. So, I’m going to take you to my house, and we are going to air out our grievances. After that, I’m going to try my hardest to talk you into letting me pull your clothes off with my teeth and finally get you back where you belong.”

Em sighed and opened her eyes, they were dark molten cocoa filled with lust and confusion, “Where I belong?”

Carter smiled and used the hand in her hair to pull her head back and expose her neck so he could tease kisses and soft nips up and down the sensitive skin, “In my arms, naked, and begging me for my dick.”

Em moaned and Carter knew he had to get this show on the road before he took her in the back seat of his truck. Hard. And with gusto. “Let’s go.”

Unknown POV

He’d watched as that f*****g maggot put his unclean hands on Emmersyn. HIS Emmersyn. He gripped the steering wheel, enraged as he watched her melt into the pervert’s hands. He could not believe that she would do this to him. First, she decides to stop writing her Holly Town Mysteries series and now she’s spending her time making out in public with another man rather than starting her next series. But that was fine, he had a way to make her work faster. He grinned sinisterly as he watched her get into a beat-up blue Ford Ranger. He knew what was important to her and was more than happy to use it to his advantage. He hoped that she was smart enough to know what was good for her. He would hate to have to follow through on his threats. 

Maybe it was time to show her just how serious he was.