Songbird(18)

Enough. It was enough. She was so tired of pain. Tired of never feeling like she was going to live again. Happiness seemed like a once-upon-a-time story that never made it to the end.

“Emmy, Emmy, please baby, don’t cry.”

Greer wrapped his arms around her as he knelt beside her on the hard ground.

“I just want it all to go away,” she said. “I can’t do this anymore, Greer. I can’t.”

Taggert dropped down on her other side, his hand tangling in her hair as he pulled her head to his shoulder.

“Come home with us, Emily. It’ll be okay, I swear it. We’ll get through this. Together. We’re never leaving you.”

She raised her head to look at him at the same time he lowered his lips. They met in a heated rush, and she tasted tears—his or hers?

His hands moved clumsily over her cheeks until he cupped her face. He deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding like warm velvet over hers.

It was urgent, it was calm. It was anguished and loving. Salt lingered on their lips, and she knew it was a mixture of both their tears.

“I love you,” Taggert whispered in an aching voice. “I love you so damn much, Emily. I need you. Please let us take you home.”

Greer’s hands ran over her shoulders, and he squeezed reassuringly. Then his mouth caressed the curve of her neck as his fingers slid the strands of her hair out of his way.

She dared not breathe. She didn’t dare hope. So much had been taken from her she refused to believe that what she wanted most was within her grasp. And then she remembered the price she’d had to pay to have it.

“Don’t think, Emmy. Don’t analyze. Let us take you home. We need to talk,” Greer said quietly against her ear. He kissed her hair and stood, urging her to her feet.

Taggert rose and reached for her hand. For a moment he stood rubbing his thumb in a pattern over her knuckles. The slight calluses on his fingers rasped over her skin, and she trembled in his hold.

Her mouth quivered, and she resisted the urge to rub her hand across her swollen lips. She could still feel his mouth on hers. Tender. So much intensity just waiting to burst free.

Did she have the courage to face them again? Trust them with her heart? As she stared into Taggert’s eyes, she was filled with so many conflicting emotions. Fear. Joy. Sadness. Hope. Love… So much love. It hurt every bit as much as her grief. She wanted to be able to express her love, but she was terrified, and it felt like a betrayal of Sean.

Taggert lowered his head again and touched his lips to hers in a simple, heartfelt gesture she felt to her core.

“Come home, Emmy. That’s the first step.”

Chapter Nine

Emily got out of the truck and hurried toward the house. Her instinct was to hide, just as she’d been hiding for the last year. The back door swung shut behind her, the sound cracking through the silent house. She hesitated for a moment, not knowing where to go, and then she headed up the stairs to her room.

She was inside, her door safely closed. She let out a long breath, one she’d held because it hurt to breathe. And then the door swung open behind her.

She whirled around to see Greer and Taggert standing there, determination and fire in their eyes.

“No more running, Emmy,” Taggert said.

He crossed the distance between them, grasped her shoulders in his big hands and crushed his mouth to hers. Even as his lips devoured hers, his hands dug underneath her shirt, pulling, his movements jerky and desperate.

His palms covered her br**sts, and she went still against him. The sweetest of pleasures surged through her veins. His touch. How she’d longed for his touch. It was everything comforting and beautiful. Strong. Masculine.

She leaned into him, wanting him closer, seeking his warmth. Cold. She’d been cold for so long, and now it was like walking into the sun after a long winter without any heat.

Her shirt came off and then Greer’s lips pressed gently against her shoulder. She flinched in shock and turned, seeking confirmation that he was there too. She glanced between the brothers, unbelieving of their acceptance. There was no anger, no disgust.

Heat and arousal made their eyes glow. There was an almost drugged, drowsy satisfaction in their depths as if they’d waited as long as she had for the simple pleasure of their touch.

Her lips parted, and she swallowed rapidly. Then she tried again.

“Please,” she whispered. “Don’t do this if you’ll hate me afterwards.”

“Ahh Emmy,” Greer said, his voice breaking. He turned her to face him, his fingers caressing the line of her jaw. “I’ll never hate you.”

He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers. Just one simple gesture. Then he returned, kissing her lightly again as if judging her reaction.

When she teetered toward him, he slid his hand around her neck, cupped her nape and pulled her to him.

He kissed her like a man starving. He wasn’t gentle, and yet he was. She couldn’t explain it if she wanted. There was such an urgency. He devoured her lips, but there was such love and caring that tears burned her eyelids.

His tongue delved deep, licking gently over hers then going deeper, wrapping around hers, exploring every part of her mouth. She sucked air wildly through her nostrils because he stole every puff that she tried to drag past their lips.

When he finally tore himself away, he was breathing just as harshly as she was. His gaze fell to her br**sts, and then she was pulled backwards into Taggert’s embrace. Her back met his chest and his heat scorched her skin. His arms wrapped around her waist, and his palms skimmed up her belly to her cup her small br**sts in his hands.