Delayed, Nathan Kingsly [read aloud txt] 📗

Emma and lay us out farther up the bed. She’s so short that when I wrap her against my body, she’s the definition of the small spoon.

“You’re so warm.” She whispers into the dark of the room. Wiggling to get closer, hugging on the arm wrapped around her front.

My laugh is deep as I pull her as close as she can get. “Am I earning my keep yet?”

“Even if you were, I wouldn’t tell you. You’d lord it over me, and I’d have to spend the rest of our time together deflating your ego back down to tolerable levels. There are other things we can spend our time on, especially if you’re naked.”

“Give me five minutes, and I’ll make you rethink all this back talking.”

“How long do you think we’ll need to stay here?” She questions as she grabs two paper cups of the coffee she made. Handing me one, she takes a seat beside me on the couch. The rain hasn’t slowed against the windows since we got here almost three hours ago. We ended up having sex a second time, taking a nap, and I woke to the coffee's aroma in my nose. No one was more shocked than me that I slept hard enough to allow her to move freely in the room without me waking. I got dressed in a rush feeling the exposure now that I wasn’t solely focused on her.

Shrugging, I say. “I don’t know.” Grabbing my phone, I scroll through the weather site I recite, “It's possible that the storm may continue to affect the east coast, around the Carolinas for several days.”

“Trying to leave already?” I joke as I put the phone on the coffee table. I smile until I look to find her gnawing her bottom lip with a crease between her brows. “What is it?” I ask.

She releases her lip and looks over. “If the storm clears up in two or three days, I will make my brother’s wedding in time to help with the last arrangements.”

“You don’t think they can manage without you?”

“It’s not that. I want to help my brother. Do you have siblings?” Crossing her arms, she leans into the cushions of the couch.

“Yeah, a younger sister.” I’ve listened to her message. She knows about the storm and hopes that I’ve found a place to ride it out. Mom is calmer and still at the hospital. When I know more of what I’m going to do, I’ll give her a call.

“Wouldn’t you want to make her life easier if you could?”

“Sure, I guess.”

“It’s the same thing.” She shrugs as if it’s a universal truth, but she doesn’t understand the dynamics of every family, and her solutions wouldn’t work for everyone. Staying away was my way of protecting my family.

“Hungry?” I ask to change the subject.

“Starving. Do you think there’s any chance of room service?”

“Only one way to find out.” After a few minutes of talking to the front desk, I look over and find that Emma has moved to stretch out on the mattress. Her eyes closed, one of her legs dangle off the side, swinging back and forth.

Moving over to her, she pops her eyes open as I slide her leggings back down. A lazy smile flirts with her mouth as she asks, “What are you doing?”

“Snacking before dinner.”

Flinging the fabric behind me, I take my first real taste of Emma, and it’s even sweeter than I expected.

Ten minutes later, with a sated Emma, and my erection untouched and straining against my jeans, we leave the room. As soon as we make it to the main lobby, there are people milling about, talking in small groups, but eventually, we find a lineup for food in one of the hotel conference spaces.

The hotel employee waves us over. “Room number?”

“One hundred and two,” Emma says.

He marks something on his checklist and then looks back up. “Sir, room number.”

“Same as hers.”

He looks back down, his pen hovers, and looks back up, his eyebrows scrunching together. “It says only one person should be staying in that room.”

Emma loops her arm in mine and lays her head on it. “I assure you, there’s some kind of mistake. My husband doesn’t go anywhere without me.” The title husband exaggerated in her assurance along with her batting eyelashes.

When he ducks his head again to check the sheet as if it’ll change, Emma catches my eye and winks.

“You’re right, ma’am.” Emma looks back as he lifts his head. “There must be some type of mix-up. This has all been a little rushed and unorganized.” He clicks his pen and places it next to his checklist until it’s parallel with the pages. “Please go ahead, and each of you pick up a box provided on the table. The meal’s simple, a sandwich, a pack of chips, and bottled water. We’re fortunate enough to be close to a Subway. Also, pick up a kit; they are under the table. One per room, please.”

“Thanks so much.” She leads me away, and we follow his instructions. Once we’re out in the hall, she starts to laugh and bumps me with her hip. “Stop looking like you swallowed a bug.”

“Wouldn’t do that when I’ve got a perfectly good sandwich in my hand.”

She giggles, and my shoulders start to relax. “Want to eat in our room, husband?” She shakes her head and laughs when I tense up again. “Jesus, Liam, you need to relax.”

“You two must be newlyweds.” Someone says behind us. We turn almost in sync to find an older woman walking towards us with a box of her own.

“We are,” Emma says as she puts an arm around my back and presses herself against my side. When she looks up at me again with a smile, I roll my eyes and put an arm around her, bringing her that much closer.

“How lovely.” The woman says, bringing our attention back to her. “How long?”

“A few hours,” I say before Emma can come up with some