pullmeoutalive | Ramey

[ Emma has a strange way of bringing things out in him. A desire to fix and protect, and a gentleness he did not know he possessed. Shadows, perhaps. Distant echoes of the man he could have been had he not run away from home, terrified of what caring for someone would mean for him.

Because he cares for her. He cares for her so deeply it makes his chest ache.

Her question makes him fall still, and he's quiet for a very long moment. It scared him, the first time he called her that, but it kept spilling out anyway. He could dodge around calling Faraday guero with hardly any effort, but this word- this woman- were so very different. ]

Dear. [ His voice is still soft, now with the barest hint of embarrassment. ] Sweetheart.

[ now that gives emma pause. she's not entirely sure what she expected his answer to be, but— she doesn't think that was it. everything is still a swirl of confusion, a mess of tangled emotions that tugs at that quiet warmth behind her sternum, that feeling that's kicked up more and more often in the softer moments with him.

smiling together over a joke at dinner.

walking in the door to find vasquez waiting for her, still covered in dirt from a long day, just then taking off his boots.

seeing that hat hung next to matthew's. ]

Sweetheart.

[ finally, careful and tentative, she sits up, pulling away — but not trying to break free from his arms. she rests a palm on his chest as she looks up at him in the low light of the oil lamp next to her bed, something searching in her eyes, an uncertainty that she can't quite put her finger on. this steps beyond the metaphorical lines they've drawn over the weeks, more than the comfortable balance they've struck together, and emma can't help being cautious. ]

You mean that?

[ He feels her start to pull away and loosens his hold on her- he doesn't let go, but gives her leave to break away if she wants it. She doesn't, and the press of her palm against his chest is strangely electric.

He glances down and meets her gaze, that searching look in her eyes catching him and holding him there. ]

Si. Of course I do.

[ of course i do.

the breath emma takes is slow, an attempt to steady herself as she stares into his eyes. she has that intensity, that fire and determination that almost impossible to tamp down, but for the moment, there's something quieter to it. a nervousness she doesn't often let slip.

her fingers move higher, from his chest and to the side of his neck, her thumb brushing lightly, oh so lightly, against the curve of his jaw. ]

How do I say that to you?

[ Oh God.

He sucks in a breath, quick and quiet as her hand comes to rest on his neck, and he leans into the touch without quite realizing it. It feels like they're both teetering on some precipice, and that look in her eyes is bound to pull him right over. ]

Querido.

Querido.

[ it's soft, said almost reverently as she tastes the unfamiliar syllables. ]

Querido.

[ she tries it again, still quiet as her palm cups his cheek, gives the smallest, gentlest of tugs to pull his face closer to hers. her heart pounds in her chest, her pulse rushing in her ears as she feels herself stepping nearer to that cliff with its promised point of no return.

another breath catches, and finally, she braces herself to throw that halting caution to the winds as her lips brush against his. ]

[ That word on her lips, unfamiliar and experimental as it may be, might be the most beautiful sound he's ever heard.

Then she tugs him closer, and for a brief, startling second, his pulse pounds in his ears, something wild and winged and warm fluttering in his stomach. Their lips meet, barely brushing, and there he goes, falling headlong over the edge he had so carefully traversed before.

He leans in, pressing their mouths together again, gently, giving her every chance to back away but hoping to God she doesn't. ]

[ she could pull back, could easily break out of his arms, put distance between them, but—

she doesn't.

his lips press to hers again, and she meets him with that same gentleness, that tentative hesitation and warmth as her fingers slip from his cheek to knot in his hair. not pulling at him, not trying to drag him away, but anchoring herself.

the kiss lingers, soft and sweet, and she pulls away just to breathe. she doesn't go far, instead brushing her nose against his, as something of a smile starts to tug at her lips.

and once more, with a faint, near-laugh in her voice: ]

Querido.

[ He wraps his arms around her anew, pulling her close now that it seems she has no intention of pulling away. His fingers comb through her hair, and he hums against her lips, warm and pleased.

When they part, he lets out a soft, low chuckle, resting his forehead against hers.

It's almost freeing, being in free-fall like this. ]

Tienes una hermosa sonrisa, querida.

[ She's going to ask what that means, he knows she will, so he heads her off. His hand slips around to the side of her face, thumb brushing lightly over her lower lip ]

You have a beautiful smile.

[ ah, at least he beats her to the punch as he translates for her. confusion melts into another smile, still soft but undeniably warm. there's genuine affection in the way she looks at him, something that hasn't been directed at...well, anyone, since matthew. not like this.

she leans into his palm, her lips brushing against his thumb in another hint of a kiss. ]

Gracias.

[ she hasn't learned a lot from him, but he's given her words here and there, and she's done a fair job of retaining it all. she likes being able to understand or respond when she can, even if she can't offer much. ]

Didn't realize you felt this way.

[ and she hadn't wanted to admit to herself that she felt the same. emma cullen doesn't shy away from much, but the vulnerability and uncertainty that comes along with these feelings for a man who isn't her husband, well...it's a lot to swallow. ]

[ It always makes him smile a little to himself when she speaks Spanish to him, the few phrases he's taught her cropping up now and again. He's already smiling, a pleasant sort of giddiness buzzing under his skin at her closeness, the way she leans into his touch, the open, raw affection in the way she looks at him.

He surely doesn't deserve this, but heaven help him if he doesn't want it. ]

Snuck up on me.

[ He breathes out a laugh at the end of his words, pressing a quick kiss to the tip of her nose. ]

Can't say I expected you to feel the same.

[ oh.

the light kiss to her nose has her smiling all over again. ]

Suppose it must have snuck on me just as well.

[ quietly. slowly. with every smile and laugh they'd exchanged, with each kindness he'd shown her and the continued effort he'd put into helping her feel less— alone. with vasquez there, her house had felt so much less empty, less like this yawning, expectant void that served to consistently remind her of everything she'd lost to bogue. ]

This mean there won't be more talk of you leavin' for my own good now?

[ she runs her fingers through his hair where she'd been gently holding onto him, just taking the opportunity to feel him out, to find those unfamiliarities where he differed from what she knew, what she'd experienced before. ]

Si, querida.

[ He says it slowly, lazily as he leans into her questing fingers. ]

You've more than convinced me to stay.

Good.

[ she looks pleased by that — because she is. a guarantee that he's going to stay is all she wanted, because even if he'd said as much earlier...she still worries. that he'll think she's better off if he's gone, that she'll be safer. obviously, she wholeheartedly disagrees.

but something makes her pause, a little bit of hesitation creeping into her expression before she speaks again. ]

Stay...here?

[ she glances down towards her bed as an explanation. she's settled now, but she also isn't...quite ready to be left alone in the dark, not after something so violent and intense. ]

[ His eyebrows go up at her question. Propriety is certainly the last thing on his mind, if it's there at all, he wouldn't have been living in her house all this time otherwise, but he wants to make sure that she's sure that this is okay. ]

¿De veras? Are you sure?

[ emma thinks on it, but then nods again. ]

Is there reason I should be concerned inviting you otherwise?

[ she doesn't expect him to be inappropriate, and if she was truly worried about being proper, she wouldn't have invited him into her home for so long. an unmarried woman with an (objectively) strange man staying under her roof?

propriety was abandoned that first night he slept in her house.

besides, without him there, she'll either fall back into her nightmares or not sleep at all. ]

[ At this point, she could probably ask for anything, the stars, the moon, and he would try to claim it for her. It doesn't take much to convince him to stay. ]

No, querida. I was only making sure.

If you want me to, I'll stay.

[ that was what she expected, after all. she trusts vasquez (a funny thing, considering their first meeting), and even now, the possibility of him overstepping doesn't even cross her mind in more than a cursory way. ]

I do.

[ she offers another light smile. ]

Likely more comfortable than that bedroll in the other room.

[ and then, because she can, she leans in for another kiss. ]

Probably.

[ He huffs out a small laugh, but it's quickly halted by the press of her lips. She's going to spoil him at this rate, he thinks, as he lets the kiss linger. He doesn't dare take the kiss deeper, not right now, after they've first stumbled into this. ]

Much better company too.

Ramey > open rp

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