Elle clung to Emmett as she sobbed, his words echoing in her mind.

Your scar is beautiful, Elle. Just like you. Nothing else matters to me.

She worked to control her emotions as Emmett held her tight. Slowly her tears eased, her breathing returning to normal.

Emmett pulled away, staring down at her face. His thumbs slid across her cheeks, wiping away the tears as his fingers wrapped around her head, bringing his lips to her face, kissing each cheek. Her lids fluttered closed and he kissed those as well.

She opened her eyes and studied his face. Was it love she saw staring back? Love for her? She hoped so, because she was falling in love with him all over again. She’d probably never really stopped loving Emmett Sumner. He gave her strength.

Elle released him, stepping back and exposing her chest. She fought the need to cover herself, drawing in a deep breath and holding it for several heartbeats before releasing the words on a sigh. “I’m ready.”

Elle watched as Emmett slowly raised his hand, reaching out to touch her scar again. When his fingertips traced over her skin, she felt his touch down to her toes.

“It’s not bad,” he whispered. “It’s actually not like others I’ve seen online.”

Elle shrugged. He was right. She’d had an excellent surgeon and was thankful, but still she felt self-conscious.

“I love it,” he said, leaning down to press his mouth against her chest, his lips lightly skimming over the scar. He pulled back and looked at her, his eyes dark with desire. “Don’t ever run from me again, Elle.” Emmett’s words rumbled through her body. His statement wasn’t a command but a plea from a man who had been hurt, by her. She’d tried to save him the agony of going through her journey, but instead she had broken him, and in doing so had broken herself.

He kissed her forehead. “I understand why you did, both times. I’m just asking that next time you have more faith in me. In us.”

She nodded and her head slipped to his shoulder. She pressed her cheek into the crook of his neck, breathing in his familiar scent.

Emmett’s hands slipped down her hips, cupping her bottom. “Wrap your legs around my waist,” he whispered as he lifted her in the air. “Where’s old lady Payne’s apartment?”

She laughed out loud. “Are you serious?” She wanted to be intimate with Emmett again more than she wanted to breathe, but still. “Here?”

“I can’t wait for you, Elle.” His words were strained and she felt the bulge in his pants pressing against her center.

Had she done that? Elle had thought it impossible for a man to ever want her that way again after losing her breast.

Emmett lifted her with ease and she tightened her legs around his waist, her arms wrapped solidly around his broad shoulders.

He groaned. Apparently, she was wrong.

A small smile tugged at her lips. She knew now she could affect a man. But the only one she wanted to was carrying her through the dance studio and toward the steps she’d shown him earlier.

“Up there?” he growled.

Elle nodded, unable to speak.

Emmett released one hand and opened the door, rushing up the stairs like a sprinter.

As they made their way to the top, Elle pointed to another door that held the small efficiency apartment.

Moonlight streamed from a window at the back of the small space, washing the room in a low glow. Emmett walked them both toward the bed and lowered her onto the mattress. She repeated the mantra, You can do this, you can do this, reminding herself it was only Emmett.

Suddenly she remembered she wasn’t wearing a top. Thankfully Emmett came down on top of her, shielding her nakedness.

“Elle,” he whispered.

“Yes?”

“I want you.” Emmett moved to pull away but Elle held his neck tight, preventing him from moving.

He tugged her hands away. “It’s me, Elle. I’ve seen you. I’ve touched you. I want to touch more of you.” A small smile tugged at one corner of his mouth.

Her hands slipped away. “Okay,” she whispered.

Emmett sat back on his knees, staring down at her. His eyes roamed over every inch of her body. She moved to cover her chest, but he grabbed her hands mid-motion and brought them to her sides.

Emmett’s hands spread wide across her ribs, his thumbs caressing the underside of her breast while the other trailed over her scar. His eyes were fixated on her body, his expression one of awe. It wasn’t something she ever thought she’d see in a man’s eyes again.

Elle’s breath steadied and her heartbeat settled in to a more even pace.

He slowly scooted down her body, his hands tracing her skin as he moved. His fingers stopped at the edge of her underwear, his eyes now locked on hers.

Elle cocked her head, her hands still by her side, gripping the sheet. She wanted to feel Emmett’s body against hers, feel his mouth caress her skin like it had the one night they’d spent together. He was obviously not affected by her scar.

His body remained still, his eyes pleading.

She realized he was waiting for permission. “Yes,” she whispered.

Emmett needed no more encouragement. His fingers tucked into the waist of her underwear and slowly slid them down her hips.

The cool air brushed against Elle’s bare skin and she drew in a breath as she watched Emmett pull her panties away and toss them on the floor.

He stared down at her exposed body, his hands sliding up her outer thighs. Goose bumps skittered along her skin.

“What about you?” she asked with a small smile, finally feeling comfortable with him, almost as much as she had in New York.

His eyes met hers as he tugged at the buttons of his shirt. The material fell open and Elle slid her hands across his broad chest and over muscular shoulders, reveling in the feel of his hardness. She watched as he swallowed hard and closed his eyes, obviously as affected by her touch as much as she was his. Elle slipped the shirt down his arms and tossed it to the side as he had her underwear.

Emmett Sumner with clothes on was a sight to behold, but Emmett Sumner shirtless was a vision, one she would never tire of.

“All of it.” She smirked.

He laughed. “My, my, someone’s getting brave.”

Elle reached out to caress his chest, scraping her fingernails down his skin. “You made me brave,” she said.

This stopped him. “You’ve always had strength and courage. I didn’t have to give you anything in that department. It’s you who makes me brave.”

She glanced down at his jeans. “Brave enough to take those off?”

Emmett laughed as he jumped off the bed, working fast to rid himself of his pants and underwear.

Her eyes went wide, her mouth-watering as she gawked, all thoughts of self-consciousness gone. She sighed. His body was smooth and hard and filled out in just the right places.

“I know the feeling,” he said with a wink. “I could look at you all day, too.”

Elle rolled her lips between her teeth, embarrassed she’d been caught gawking.

He crawled back on top of her, nestling his knees between her legs as he braced his large hands on her thighs and pushed them apart.

She wrapped her legs around his body as his lips grazed along the skin of her neck.

Elle drew in a ragged breath, her eyes fluttering closed.

His mouth moved lower down her body and she had to release her legs to let him go. He teased her belly button, circling it several times with his tongue before working lower, trailing down, down. Oh, God, down. Then suddenly he was gone.

She opened her eyes, her chest heaving with anticipation.

Emmett ran a hand down her leg, grasping her ankle and raising her leg into the air. She was limber and her leg moved easily.

“God, a dancer’s body is just…” Emmett didn’t go on, but his half statement had been enough to make her laugh, lightening the tension and unease she felt.

“Have you been with a lot of dancers?” Elle teased. Suddenly images of Emmett with another woman burst into her mind and self-doubt wrapped her in a vice again.

“Only one,” he said, kissing her leg. “And she’s the only one I ever want to be with.”

His words washed over her, bathing her in the confidence she needed. Her leg relaxed in his hand.

Emmett kissed her ankle, moving his lips up along her calf, hovering at her knee, his tongue grazing lightly.

Elle’s entire body shivered and she moaned. Good God, who would have ever thought the back of a knee could be an erogenous zone. Apparently, Emmett Sumner thought it and was busy proving it to her.

She watched with fascination as his lips moved higher, grazing along the delicate skin of her inner thigh, moving closer to her center. Her heart thrummed in her ears and she felt herself growing wet. She clutched the sheets at her side, preparing for his mouth to press against her where she needed it the most, but before he gave her what she needed, he was gone.

Emmett slowly lowered her leg to the bed.

“What,” Elle stuttered, looking down at him, “but, why?”

“Patience, Elle.”

“Patience?” she snarled.

“You made me wait.” He teased, grasping her other ankle and bringing it to his lap as he ran his fingers teasingly over her skin.

She had. If this was her punishment for running, it was torture of the best kind.

Emmett caressed and kissed her leg just as he’d done the other, his lips skimming her skin, stopping behind her knee to swirl his tongue along the crease.

“Oh, God,” she moaned. “I think I could come just from that.”

“Do you want me to stop here?” Emmett asked.

“No,” she shouted.

He chuckled as his lips moved higher, skimming her inner thigh. She felt the vibration of his laughter in the deepest parts of her body. Elle shivered as his tongue left a trail, nearly touching her center. Suddenly, his mouth was gone.

“Please don’t stop.” She arched her hips toward him, the move almost involuntary.

He chuckled, his eyes lighting with pure joy. “Oh, I don’t plan on stopping any time soon, Ms. Noble. Not until you beg me.”

She would beg all right. But it wouldn’t be for him to stop.

He pressed soft kisses on her abdomen and heat trailed across her flesh as he slowly worked his way down her body. She gasped when his mouth found her most sensitive spot, every inch of her skin buzzing with need. She slid her hands into his hair. “Yes,” she said, begging, but she didn’t care.

He laughed and she would have hit his head but the vibration of his chuckle as he pressed his tongue against her robbed her of speech.

He laved and sucked and teased.

“Oh, God, Emmett,” she cried out, gripping his hair tight, holding him against her.

Elle panted and squirmed as Emmett slid his hands further under her hips, caressing her body, driving her closer to the edge. Her heart beat wildly as tremors of pleasure began, spreading through her body like a wildfire.

“Emmett,” she cried out. Still he pressed on, literally. “Emmett,” she called again, tugging on his hair.

He raised up, staring at her in confusion.

“I need you. Inside me.”

His eyes caressed her body. “Now?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“Let me get a condom.”

She didn’t question why he had a condom, nor did she tell him it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—tell him the particulars of what chemo had likely done to her body, not now. She just wanted Emmett buried inside her, so deep she wouldn’t be able to feel anything but him.

He dug in his wallet and held up a condom as if in victory. Turning around he gifted her a dazzling smile.

“I need you, Emmett” she moaned. “Please.”