No Boundaries, No Lengths - Fan Fiction Eminem

Acceptance

Salome POV

I frowned when I realized that I'd put away all the groceries for later tonight and still hadn't heard Marshall come back from the bedroom. I peeked into the living room, but he wasn't there. That had to mean he was still in the bedroom, which was odd.

I wasn't going to lie to myself and say that I hadn't enjoyed today. Although he'd caught me off guard with his plan to just traipse around Detroit all day doing errands with me, it had been nice. We hadn't talked much, but we hadn't needed to. Little touches, glances here or there, the occasional smile - all of it had said enough, though probably too much on my side.

As we moved around town, I'd become even more convinced that that I would never be free of Marshall. I had known it before, but I'd refused to accept the reality of what it meant. After today, however, I couldn't ignore it any longer.

Marshall had the power to destroy me. It was amazing that I hadn't gone up in smoke three years ago. But, if I dared to let the hope and love that burned within me take control, I knew he could also save me. I'd been living without him, but the existence paled in comparison to what I was when I was with him. I knew it when I felt more alive buying the food to make him dinner than I had when I'd gone sky diving. He held my joy in his hands and there was nothing I would ever be able to do to avoid it.

When I stepped into my room and found him, my heart turned over. Marshall was lying on my bed, his head buried in my pillow, which he clutched and curled around like a stuffed animal. He was so peaceful in his sleep, the world he was in giving him the relaxed look of a happy man.

"Are you going to break me again?" I whispered as I looked at him from the threshold. It was my biggest fear and the reason I'd managed to hold him at a distance thus far.

When he and I got together twelve years ago, he'd made it clear that he didn't intend to ever marry again. At the time, I'd been young and disinterested in marriage, so it hadn't been an issue. Later, I'd loved him too much to care. His words today, that he wanted to marry me, had rocked loose something that I hadn't felt in ages, and it had scared me.

I wanted to marry him. I wanted to stand proudly before the world and tell everyone he was mine:  that this harsh, wonderful, handsome, sarcastic, funny man had chosen me. I'd proudly take his name; wear his ring. But, that was one more step down the road to my complete destruction if he ever left again.

I was at a crossroads. I didn't trust him yet, but there was a fork before me that would take me that direction if I had the courage to walk that way. I just had to accept the deeper reality of life:  I couldn't predict the future. Though I knew if I accepted the path my heart wanted me to take, I would have moments of pure bliss, there was also the stark reality that I could end up a shell of a person if it happened again - if he walked out once more.

As I looked at the man who breathed life into me even as he took it away, my choice was clear. I may regret it, but I'd give Marshall the chance he'd been working so hard to secure. I couldn't promise him all of me yet, but I could give him that much.

My decision made, I slipped off my shoes and crawled up behind him. I stuffed my left arm under a pillow as I spooned in next to him, sliding my right arm around his waist. My head came to rest millimeters from his back and I closed my eyes at the familiar, warm feel and scent of him.

My heart beat harder as I snuggled in, recognizing both the danger of this and the potential reward. I ignored it, though. Instead, I sank into him as my senses reminded me of how good it felt to have him in my arms again. With a sigh, I melted into the sensations and fell asleep.

---

What felt like several hours later, I found myself coming out of the fog of sleep. I was wrapped up in Marshall, his arms around me as my head burrowed into his neck. Distantly, I recognized that he'd turned in his sleep and was cradling me to him. I could feel his hands leaving hot imprints on my skin under the back of my shirt even as I realized one of his legs had slipped between mine.

"Hmm," I murmured, placing a slightly open mouthed kiss to the place just where my lips had been hovering.

I loved the feel of him under my mouth. He was warm and alive, his scent swirling around me as I snuggled deeper into him. Nothing in the world could match the pure feeling of contentment as I reveled in the thump of his heart near my ear.

As I placed another kiss next to the first, I felt his pulse quicken and his hands tighten. I was still too happily ensconced in the rosy bubble of being so near him, though, so I gave it no mind. Instead, I let my right hand, which was behind his back, move over the muscles there as it remembered what they felt like.

Marshall's breath became shorter in my ear as he pulled me closer to him, giving me better access to touch. I pushed at him, feeling his arousal against me as I traced invisible lines down his spine. His breathing turned to a soft moan as I pushed back, trying to ease the tension building between us with the rubbing of our bodies.

"Baby?" He whispered, his voice husky.

I nearly whimpered at the sound, the familiar timbre soaking through me and settling into the pooling heat between my thighs. God, how I'd missed that. He was the only man who'd ever been able to bring me to the edges of insanity by just the way he spoke.

"Hmm?" I murmured, pressing as close to him as I could as I first licked and then nibbled at his neck. I had always had a thing for this spot. It was a magnet to my mouth.

"Sal, baby. I need you to give me some words." Marshall said, his voice needy and dark. "'Cause I'm desperate for you, but I don't want to push you too far." He admitted and I smiled into his skin. I left him hanging for a moment as I sucked on the spot that had my attention, feeling his body come to life and his hands clasped at me.

"I can't promise everything, not yet. But, I'm willing to try." I murmured against his skin. I felt him nod and hold his breath. He wanted me to say it all before he moved.

"Love me, Marshall." I whispered as I moved to nip his ear. "Remind me how only you make me feel." Marshall moaned and gripped me harder, rolling over to hover above me as he looked down in my eyes.

"Always."