Total eclipse of a heart (Embry Call)

38. Last night of our lives

3rd POV

"I want to spend this night with you, preferably with no clothes and a lot of kissing." Her daring gaze had made him shift in his place, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as she licks her lips slowly, unapologetically demanding his attention and hands on her body.

Completely unlike her, Valerie steps closer, unwavering and for the first time ever, she found confidence in herself, her emotions and more so, Embry's love. There was nothing stopping her from being with him anymore, no secrets lingering in the dark corners of her mind, no inner huntress struggling with the idea of feeling something for anyone, let alone for a supernatural being but she loves him and there is absolutely no doubt in her mind about who she'd spend the last night of her life.

"What do you say, Em? You and I, just us. For once." Her voice is laced with adventure, but desperation as well. She never thought she'd be the one talking a boy into having sex with her. If she's completely honest, she never thought anyone would ever want to have sex with her.

"You're making it really hard for me to say no right now." Embry lets out a heavy sigh, holding himself back with the last shred of self control left inside him. When she looks at him with that fire in her eyes and her hands are on his body, it's hard to even think. He wants to. He really, really wants to but they have just found middle ground and stopped fighting. They're facing a possible massacre and he can't help but feel she's only interested in this because she doesn't want to have any regrets if one of them dies.

Just thinking about that possibility makes his chest tighten and an ache to rip his heart open anew. There is no future without her, that much he knows. But if it's he who dies? He'd want her to be happy. Even if it ends up being with Jacob.

Anyone but Alec.

"Why would you say no?" Her hands stop moving, fixed on his chest, her fingers on his collarbones as he minds his breathing, making sure it's at a normal pace and she couldn't pick up on his doubts. Her lips are pressed together as she waits for an answer, her entire body rigid as she holds her chin high and refuses to break eye contact. She's studying him, he soon realizes. She's a huntress, trained for a lot more than reading people and he knows she could easily read him if he let down his guard. Maybe even without doing so.

"Because you're high on adrenaline of the possible battle and I don't want you doing something you might not be ready for." Clearing his throat when she simply raises her eyebrow to his explanation, Embry quickly adds: "And we wouldn't even have a place to actually...do it." Averting his gaze awkwardly, he places his hands on her hips and pulls her in, just close enough to feel her scent without using his wolfish superiority. Sometimes, all he wants is to be human with human limitations, never fearing one argument could end in tragedy he'd never forgive himself for.

He just wishes he could be human again for one night in his life. Maybe then her father wouldn't hate him, or perhaps he'd be on better terms with his mother, or he'd never be aware that one of his best friends' fathers slept with his mother...being human is much better than the alternative he was forced into.

A human wouldn't be scared of getting intimate with his girlfriend, afraid he'd apply a little too much pressure in the heat if the moment or push a little too hard when he has her under him.

And yet, there she is, his beautiful, fierce, some would say ferocious soulmate and with a simple finger placed upon his chin, she captures his attention again and he can't help but be grateful he isn't human.

If he were, would he ever know she's his soulmate?

If he were, would he have watched her with Jacob now, instead of holding her in his arms when she's got a very intimate night planned in her head and he can tell just by the look in her eyes that she isn't scared of what might happen when they're alone, only of what might happen if she's never alone with him again.