by Claire Adams
Sam stepped up beside me with a smile on his face and his glasses a little off center.
"Hey, man. You guys getting out of here?" He pressed his shoulder against mine.
"Yeah. You know I hate crowds of people and rich people in general." I glanced back to look over the crowd. "This is like my own personal hell."
He laughed and rolled his eyes. "You fit in just like the rest of us do."
"Like a sore thumb?" I smirked and turned my attention back to Val.
"You want me to swing by your place and check on your mom before I head home tonight or are you guys going back that way?" Sam reached out and gave Val a quick hug as she rejoined us.
"You don't need to check on her. Everything is going to be fine now that Daniel is locked up for good." I let out a content sigh as I wrapped my arm around Val's shoulders. "We'll see you tomorrow."
"Be safe." Sam moved back into the crowd as we walked to the back door of the house. I figured it would be easier than trying to get to the front. Besides, Valentine's parents were at the front door talking to some of the older people as they left.
"Wow, that was crazy. I honestly didn't think Allison was going to go through with it." Val squeezed my hand as we picked up our jackets by the back door and walked out into the snowy afternoon.
"Would you have?" I hopped off the porch and turned back to wrap my hands around her waist and help her down, too.
"Hell, no." She took my hand and we jogged over to the bike together. "Would you have?"
"Are you seriously asking me that?" I worked to get the bike ready to go before getting on and offering her my hand. "I don't live to please anyone."
"No one at all?" She chuckled as she got on behind me and put on her helmet.
"Well, almost no one." I started the bike and waited until she wrapped her arms around me to pull through the cars toward the back of her father's land. The snow had dissipated a little bit, and there seemed to be a paved path that led into the woods where we were headed.
She leaned past me and pointed in the direction to go before wrapping her arms around me again and cupping my dick tightly.
I growled, but it was a wasted response. She wouldn't be able to hear me over the roar of the wind and the helmet.
By the time I pulled up to the cabin, she was shivering and her skin was ice cold. I carefully tugged her helmet off for her and wrapped my arms around her as we jogged to the cabin.
"Wow. That was far worse than I thought it would be." Her hands shook as she tried to get the door open.
I moved in and took the key from her to unlock the door. I opened it wide and nodded. "Get inside, baby."
Much to my surprise, it was already warm. The place was cozy and looked to only be a two-bedroom cabin. I had imagined it to be something much bigger, but what I found was exactly the type of place that I would want to spend the night with her.
"You like it?" She pulled off her jacket and rubbed her hands over her arms.
"I love it." I pulled off my leather jacket and then my suit jacket. "Let me start a fire and we can snuggle up and get you warm again."
"Okay." She moved in behind me and handed me kindling as I worked on it. "Thanks again for coming today. I know it must have been sickening to think about having to deal with my folks."
"I wasn't thrilled about the idea, but I wasn't going to not be there when you wanted me to." I looked over my shoulder at her as my heart melted in my chest. "You were beautiful back there."
"I'm not now?" I chuckled at the look she threw me.
"Yes. You're always beautiful. Damn, woman. I can't even give you a compliment." I turned and picked up the stoker as she moved beside me and worked on getting out of her dress. My mouth went dry as I glanced up to see her in nothing but a pair of tiny white panties. "Wow."
"You like?" She walked to the couch and picked up a blanket. The back of her panties was nothing more than a string that beckoned me to come play with it.
"I love." I turned and got up as I started to work on my shirt. "You do realize that we didn't eat at your mom's house."
"Yeah, I figured we wouldn't, so I stole a couple of trays from the kitchen earlier today for us." She wrapped the blanket around her and walked into the kitchen as I followed.
"Trays of what?" I wrapped my arms around her from behind as she stopped in front of the fridge. I couldn't help but lean down and kiss her neck and the top of her back. "You smell good."
"You feel even better." She pulled out two big trays and moved back as I released her. "A fruit tray and this meat and cheese tray. Let's eat, and then we can go try out the big comfy bed in the back room."
"I like the sound of that." I took the food from her and sat it down on the coffee table before dropping down on the couch and pulling my shirt from my shoulders. She moved in beside me and snuggled up, kissing and licking at the tribal art that ran down the side of my throat. "You keep it up, and we'll have to save this food for later."
She laughed and moved back. "We might want to go easy on it."
"Why is that?" I pulled the tops off of both of them and got up in search of a bottle of wine or something for us to drink. I found a couple of beers in the fridge and brought them back to see her nibbling on a strawberry.
"I'm pretty sure I've been officially cut out of the will." She shrugged and picked up a cracker. "I told my father to go to hell in so many words."
"Wow, that sounds intense. Even I didn't tell your father to go to hell, and believe me when I say I wanted to." I sat back down and popped the top on her beer.
She took it and took a long drink before exhaling and leaning back. "Yeah, well, it was a long time coming."
"Are you going to be okay? You know I can pick up extra shifts at the shop and stuff." I turned to face her as I popped the top on my beer. Concern for the beautiful girl beside me filled my insides. Half the reason she was shunning her parents was because of me, no doubt.
"I'll be fine. You don't need to do anything." She smiled as her eyes filled with tears. "That you want to means a lot to me, though."
"Of course. I'd do anything you needed me to, Val." I moved toward her and leaned over to kiss her several times before moving back to my side of the couch.
"I feel the same." She sat up and started to work on a pile of grapes as I joined her. "Tell me what you decided about Dr. Barnes’ offer to be his research assistant."
"I'm gonna do it." I nodded. "I'm going to the tryouts for the Olympic swim team, too. I agreed with your thoughts a few days ago about diving into any opportunities that came my way."
"Good. I'm proud of you." She glanced down at her hands. "I should call to see if I can try out for the girl's USA basketball team. I was hand selected last year, but, well, I think I told you that my father put his foot down."
I nodded and slid my hand over her thigh, wishing like hell that the blanket would suddenly disappear. "I bet they would take you in a heartbeat, baby."
"Maybe. I need to work out what I'm going to do about next semester. This semester is taken care of and my rent at the Gamma house is all paid up until August." She smiled and shook her head. "I can't tell you how free I feel. For the first time in forever, I feel like I might actually get control over my life, that maybe I can do what I want to do."
"You can, Val. I'm here to help support that, too." I picked up a grape and pressed it to her lips as she opened her mouth and sucked it in slowly.
My heart started to race in my chest with the way she was looking at me. The woman had a power over me that I couldn't explain, nor did I want to.
"I'm going to talk to my adviser on Monday." She tugged at the blanket around the top of her chest and stood as it fell to the ground.
I reached for her and helped her into my lap. "And, what are you going to discuss with this adviser?"
I moved down and licked at her pert nipple, sucking it into my mouth and flicking my tongue over it as I ran my hands down the silky skin of her back.
She gasped softly before sliding her ha
nds over my shoulders. "I'm going to switch my major to Kinesiology. I want to play basketball or be a coach. It's an extra year in school, but I'm not in a hurry."
I moved back, letting her nipple pop from my mouth. She groaned, and I moved to bathe the other one with my tongue as she pressed herself against me and rocked back and forth. She felt perfect in my arms, like no other woman had. It was her heart, her spirit, her drive.
Glancing up, I took a deep breath and pulled her down for a long kiss before rolling us over and pinning her to the couch.
"I love it. I think you'd be a great coach." I moved down and ran my nose by her jawline. "What can I do to help?"
"Nothing. Just continue to live your dreams and I'll be there to support you, too." She slid her hands into my hair and pushed at my head a little.
I chuckled and moved down the couch to hover above the silky white material that held me back from my treat for the evening. I licked at the side of her panties as she squirmed beneath me.
"You're coming with me to the try outs, right?" I ran my hand over her panties and dipped my fingers just below the cloth to pull it to the side. My breath left me as I realized she had shaved herself bare. "Val. Shit."
"You like it?” She reached down and ran her hand over her smooth lips, parting them for me.
"I love it." I licked at her before glancing back up. "You're coming with me, right?"
"Yes, of course. Anything you want. Just stop making me wait." She smirked before letting her head drop back.
I chuckled and swatted her hand away before tugging her panties off and letting my eyes take in the feast. "Beautiful."
"All yours." She was panting, and I'd yet to touch her more than a little teasing here or there. The night was sure to be long and fulfilling, if nothing else.
I slid my hands under her ass and squeezed it as I leaned down and gave her exactly what she wanted.
Me, hungry as fuck for her.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Val
Warmth filled my entire body as Tate worked me into a frenzy with his mouth and fingers. I came up off the couch as my orgasm hit, and the room danced around me in various shadows. He whispered naughty promises against my swollen flesh and took me again, though I begged him not to. It almost didn't seem fair, seeing that he was so damn good at bringing me over the edge.
He glanced up and licked at his wet lips as he petted me. "God, I love your body."
"It loves you, too." I reached down and touched his cheek. "Make love to me on the floor by the fire?"
"Yeah. That sounds great." He got up and offered me his hand.
If he had been anyone else, I'd have pulled the blanket around me and tried to hide behind it, but something about him made me want to bare everything I was or would be to him and him alone.
"Tate." I stopped in the middle of the room.
He turned to face me and worked on his slacks. "What, baby? You need something?"
"Do you think we've taken things too fast?" I couldn't help but ask. Where my sister was back at the house soon to go to bed with a man she could care less about, I was soon to lay down on a pile of blankets beneath the one I felt like I could spend forever with. I was concerned that my infatuation wasn't the beginnings of love, but rather something more passing like lust.
"No. Do you?" He kicked off his slacks and pulled his underwear off before moving up to stand in front of me. The feeling of his body pressed to mine was like nothing I could remember enjoying quite as much.
"No, but I worry. We keep talking about falling for each other, but I think I've already fallen. It's only been a couple of weeks."
"When you know it's right, it's right." He slid his hands into my hair and pulled me up for a long probing kiss.
I ran my hands around his waist and over his ass, rubbing soft circles into the muscle as I flattened myself to the front of him.
"And you think you know it's right?" I broke the kiss and moved around him as I got down on the floor and patted the space beside me. "Come here."
He grabbed a few condoms from his slacks on the floor and dropped them behind me as he got down on the floor beside me.
"I think love is finicky, Val. It comes and it goes, but when it shows up, it's rare. You gotta grab a hold of it. Too many people settle, much like it sound your sister did today, but we don't have to. At least, I don't have to." He smiled. "You might already be settling."
"I'm not settling, but where do we go from here?" I scooted closer to him, wanting to feel his skin against mine.
"We take it day by day, baby. I'm in no hurry, and if you're willing to get on this crazy ride with me, then I'm thrilled to take it slow. The more time I have to convince you that forever with me is a good idea, the better." He rolled onto his back and smiled. "Stop talking about all of this and get up here and make love to me. We'll figure this out as we go through it. That I'm yours and you’re mine is enough for me."
"You're right." I moved on top of him and straddled his thighs as he picked up a condom. I snatched it from him and opened it before working to slide it over the thickness of his erection. "I love how big you are."
"I love how well you take me." He ran his fingertips down my arm as I shifted up and positioned myself to take him.
He closed his eyes and laid his head back as I rolled my hips and started to make love to him. His fingers dug into my thighs as he closed his eyes with a groan. My hair danced along his chest and abs as I worked him steadily.
"I've never wanted a woman the way I want you." He brushed my hair back as I laid flush on him and pressed my lips to his, indulging myself in his scent, his touch, and his taste.
I closed my eyes and let the feeling of our bodies pressed together usher in a sense of serenity that I wanted to cling to forever. It wasn't about fucking or even physical touch, but about finding my other half, the guy that could help to complete me and make me stronger for it all.
"Love me," I whispered against his lips, not realizing that I'd spoken my deepest desire aloud.
"I already do." He turned us over and rocked against me, deepening the intensity of our sex. I cried out and wrapped my legs around him as he hovered above me, watching me lovingly.
The night was incredible, and one I wouldn't soon forget. We moved to the bed sometime during the night and made love again before crashing into the comfort of the silk sheets and king-sized bed.
He fell asleep almost immediately, but I couldn't force myself to close my eyes and miss a moment of studying his perfect features. His dark brown hair was disheveled and wet from working ourselves into a lusty mess.
The pink stain on his cheeks was adorable, but it was his lips that captivated me, from his thin upper lip to the thick bottom one. He was perfect. My fingers traced the lines of his tattoos until sleep weighed heavy on me.
"Just a few more minutes," I whispered as my eyelids began to droop more and more.
"Anything you want, baby," he grumbled and rolled onto his back before jerking back toward me and pulling me into his arms. "Sleep against me. Please. I want to feel you."
I smiled and snuggled up to his side, falling asleep to the rhythm of his heart beating.
*
I woke the next morning to find the bed empty beside me. Worry rolled through me.
I sat up and started to call for him, but the smell of bacon filled my senses, and I dropped back down into the bed, physically exhausted, but emotionally alive. We had so many good things ahead of us.
Tate's offer to be a research assistant at the college had the power to blossom into something else, something long-term. If he could get on with UMN, he would be set. I wasn't truly sure of what his dreams were for himself, but that was going to be part of my plan for the next year – I wanted to pick him apart and learn as much about him as I could.
I had a long road ahead of me seeing that I'd have to see my parents again and discuss what the next few years might look like while I wrapped up school. I was completely prepared for them to rej
ect the idea of helping me, and it might be better if they did. I hated the idea of owing them anything.
Tate's voice brought me from my thoughts as he stood in the doorway to the bedroom. His slacks hung low on his hips, and the dark trail of hair that moved from his bellybutton to inside his pants beckoned a longing deep inside of me.
"Hey. You awake, beautiful?" He moved to the bed and crawled up it to press himself against the top of me over the sheet.
"No, I'm not." I smiled and pulled him down for a long kiss. "Do I smell breakfast?"
"You do. I hope you're hungry. There was bacon and sausage in the fridge, and not the shitty kind." He smirked and kissed me once more before getting up. "Come on. Get up and join me, lazy butt."
"Lazy butt?" I sat up and stretched. "It's 10:30? Holy hell."
I hadn't slept past eight since high school. I got up and found a soft white robe in the closet, but nothing else. Why I hadn't thought to bring some clothes up with me the day before was a mystery.
After trying to do something with my wild head of hair, I walked into the kitchen and stopped by the coffee pot, breathing in deeply.
"Did you do all of this?" I grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured myself a cup.
"I did." He glanced over his shoulder at me. "Mmm...you look good enough to eat."
"You'd be the one to know." I chuckled and picked up a piece of bacon before sitting down at the breakfast bar and letting my eyes run over the long muscles of his back and perfect swell of his ass.
"I'd better be the only one that knows." He turned and ate a piece of sausage as he watched me. "You want scrambled eggs or fried?"
"Fried. Where did you learn to cook?" I hopped down and walked back to the plate of bacon. After grabbing a couple more pieces, I moved up behind him and kissed his back as I fondled his rear with my free hand. "Did your mom teach you?"
"She did a little, but I actually learned more from Sam's dad than anyone else. You know, I didn't have a dad." He turned and kissed me before stealing a piece of bacon from my fingers and nodding toward the table. "Go sit down before you eat all the meat."
