He wanted to devour her. To lick and taste every inch of her. But she hadn’t been feeling well earlier. Instead of ravishing her as his body demanded, he crawled over her and pulled her flush against him, her back to his front.
She conformed to his body as though she were made for him. A perfect match. She might not know it yet, but she would. He’d see to it.
“How are you feeling?” He flattened a palm against her belly. Concern for her well-being trumped the demand surging through his balls. Although when she nestled that sweet ass against his dick, the urge to ride her crack almost did him in.
“I’m good. All better,” she murmured. “Does this mean you aren’t mad at me anymore?”
He might’ve addressed that question with a more detailed answer had she not chosen that moment to lower his hand between her legs, using her fingers to guide his through her slit.
How had he lived without this woman?
“Not mad.” Just a driving need to get inside her. He licked up the side of her neck, reveling in her full body shudder.
“H-how did your meeting go?”
He nipped her earlobe. “You really want to talk about my meeting when my hand is between your legs?” He sure as fuck didn’t. To prove as much, he trailed his fingers from her pussy to her knee. He urged her leg back to rest on top of his, opening her up.
Using his fingertips, he drew a lazy pattern along the inside of her thigh. Higher, higher until he could feel the heat of her pussy against his knuckles. “I’m not going to take you like this. When I slide into you this time, I want to see those gorgeous eyes. I want to watch as you take all of me and beg for more. But first, I’m going to make sure you’re good and ready.”
She writhed under his hand. “I’m ready.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” He cupped her and squeezed. Slid two fingers past her entrance. Pure male satisfaction pulled a growl from his chest. She was ready. So small and slick. Perfect. “I believe the last time I fucked you, you said I could have you any way I wanted.”
“I didn’t say you could tease me.”
Abby rolled her hips, sliding his dick through the crevice of her ass. He saw fucking stars. Dark of night, clear Texas sky on the Fourth of July kind of stars.
“That’s it,” he ground out. “You like that move, don’t you? You know how it makes me crazy. Go on then. Rock those hips, babe. Show me how you want to ride my cock.”
Less than a second later, Tanner regretted the order. The slow, seductive roll of her hips jacked him good. Too good. Enough so he forgot his fingers were lodged deep within her body.
The heavy weight of his balls shifted to the base of his spine. He was so hard he hurt. And while blowing his load on her ass sounded pretty fucking good right now, he had something better planned.
With a series of quick movements, he had Abby on her back.
Her cheeks were flushed with arousal. “What are you doing?”
He crawled between her knees and kept right on going, placing kisses along her torso on his way to her mouth. His heavy length bobbed against her stomach, spreading the pre-cum leaking from his tip.
He didn’t know how he would manage to slow things down as ramped as he was, but he owed it to her to try.
“I’m loving you, Abby-girl,” he admitted, surprising himself. Well, why not? It was the damn truth. She might as well know where he stood.
He lowered his head and captured her mouth, silencing any response she might’ve made. He didn’t need her words tonight. He only needed her to feel. He nipped and her hungry lips opened for him, giving him passage to the sweetest mouth he’d even known.
“Your body was meant to be worshipped,” he murmured against her lips. “You deserve better than the hard fuck I gave you last time.”
“No. No, I don’t.” Her greedy hips bucked, seeking what he had for her.
His girl was impatient tonight. He tugged her lower lip with his teeth, unable to suppress a smile. “You don’t?”
She palmed his cheeks. “No,” she said firmly. “I loved everything about the last time. What I loved the most was knowing you were there with me, as out of your mind for me as I was for you. I don’t want controlled, Tanner. Controlled is boring and usually unsatisfying. And I feel fine. If you want to love me, do it like you mean it. I need you to mean it.”
Ah, hell. How was he supposed to say no to that? He couldn’t deny Abby anything, least of all his desire for her.
Resting his forehead against hers, Tanner let her see how much she affected him. “You wanna feel how much I need you? When you’re sore in the morning, you’ll know exactly how much I mean it, you hear me?”
“Yes,” she panted. “I hear you.”
“Spread your legs, Abby-girl. Wrap them good and tight around my waist. Make room for me.”
With audible relief, Abby did as he asked, bringing their bodies into alignment. The second his cock met the heat of her core, his arms gave out and he sank to an elbow. He reached back to fist his length. He dragged it through her folds, wetting his tip. Flat-out drunk now with the need to thrust, to get inside her and live there, Tanner reached under and grabbed her ass, tilting her to the perfect angle to…
“Oh my god!” Abby’s nails dug into his sides.
Ahhhh. So fucking sweet.
So fucking mine.
No one else could love her as much or as completely as he did. They might be getting reacquainted, but he knew her where it mattered. Here, like this. Nowhere to hide. Nothing between them but sweat and raw, primal emotion.
The overwhelming desire to possess every inch of her grew by the minute, spurred on by the gleaming lust in her heavily lidded eyes.
Fuck, yeah. His girl needed to come and he was the man who would get her there.
Without giving her time to adjust he moved, burying himself to the hilt over and over until sweat dripped from his temples. The air grew thick around them, making it hard to breath. He didn’t care. Oxygen was secondary to the force driving his thrusts.
“You feel so goddamn good. Abby. My Abby.” His voice grated with the hunger consuming him. “I want to hear you. Tell me you feel it, too.”
“Yes. So good.” Her words were punctuated by his thrusts. She grabbed the back of his head and pulled him down, her lips meeting his in the middle.
He gave her what she wanted, diving into her mouth with the same frenzy going on down below.
She tightened around him and he knew she was close. Thank fuck, because his balls ached with the need to empty.
He pulled away from her mouth. It killed him to slow down, to unwind her legs from his hips and shift to his knees. He lifted her ankles to rest on his shoulders. Her resounding moan at the new angle made the move worth the effort.
“I’ve got you, love.” He found her clit, teasing the sweet little morsel with the pad of his thumb. Her nipples stood tight on the small mounds of her breasts, begging for his other hand. He squeezed her flesh, plumped and pinched the rosy peak between his fingers, knowing the combined sensations from his hands and his cock were the ticket to getting her off.
His heartbeat jackknifed as Abby clamped around him. So tight and hot he thought he’d lose his mind. Then she curled her hips, a subtle shift that pushed him deeper, and his madness was complete.
“That’s it, Abby. Take what you want. Take it all.”
He felt her unravel. His name burst from her lips as she came in a warm rush that bathed his sensitive head. He had no choice but to follow.
The force of his release tore a broken shout from his lips. He kept pumping, making her his, filling her until he had nothing left to give.
Until she owned the body that matched his soul.
Chapter Ten
Abby woke up alone. She smoothed her hand over the empty space beside her. Tanner had been up awhile. The sheet didn’t hold even a smidgen of his warmth.
She wished she could stay in his bed all day, but she’d done that yesterday, missing a day of work becaus
e of the hangover from hell. At least she had managed to send an email with Tanner’s offer on the house, thanks to her assistant discretely sending her laptop over to the hotel. She’d be surprised if the response wasn’t already in her inbox.
Right. Time to get up. She had an offer to confirm and paperwork to prepare.
She rolled out of bed feeling somewhat hung overthis time not from anything she drank. Tanner hadn’t been kidding about her body being sore. She ached in all the best places, reminding her of the intensity of the night before.
Her heart did a little pitter-pat. Had he said he loved her?
Whoa. Slow your roll, girly. Don’t get ahead of yourself.
He said he was loving her. With his body—which he’d done in spectacular fashion—but nothing about his heart. No claims of undying love and devotion. Just pure, animalistic desire.
Why did she crave a confession from him anyway? They’d been back together less than a month. Well, if together meant hiding in his hotel room and eating take-out.
He’s doing the best he can with what he has to work with.
Of course he was. He’d take her out if he could, right? She wasn’t some dirty little secret he was trying to hide.
Damn, her emotions were on steroids lately, bending and inflating until she couldn’t breathe. Things had always been intense between her and Tanner. In the past she blamed it on the drama of teenage love. But they weren’t kids anymore and still with Tanner she felt too much. He was like a drug she couldn’t kick. A rush pulsing through her veins, making her want more, more, more. She rehabbed after him once. She wouldn’t survive a second time. Not with her whole heart intact.
Right. As though she’d been carrying around her whole heart these last ten years.
She blew out a frustrated breath. Whether she liked it or not, she was in love with him. For better or worse. No denying what her heart already knew.
Now if she could get her head on board…
Coffee. Coffee will help.
Skirting around the bed, Abby spotted Tanner’s shirt on the floor. Tempting, but she didn’t want to risk running into Mitch wearing nothing but a T-shirt. She hadn’t gone home to get a change of clothes, so she settled for wearing the sundress she wore the other night. The hotel laundry had purged the scent from the fabric, leaving it fresh and clean. If only she’d thought to have them wash her panties.
Oh well. She slipped into the dress, tugging it down as far as she could while still keeping her boobs secured. Going commando for an hour or two wouldn’t kill her.
She followed the scent of coffee to the kitchen. No sign of Tanner or Mitch, but a full pot of coffee waited on the warmer for her. She poured herself a cup and carried it to the living room, grabbing her laptop bag along the way. Once she was set up at the coffee table, she checked her phone and found a text from Tanner letting her know he’d gone down to the gym for a quick run … an hour ago … and a request for her to stay put until he got back.
Her body heated at the thought of what he might do when he returned. Would the sight of the offending sundress poke at the possessive streak he seemed to have where she was concerned? Good thing she wasn’t wearing any panties or they’d be wet right about now.
Addict.
Laughing at herself, Abby flipped open her laptop and checked her messages. As expected, Tanner’s offer had been accepted. He could move in immediately. She shot off a quick message to the seller, then she grabbed the remote and settled into the corner of the couch with her coffee to wait for Tanner.
Surfing through the channels, Abby stopped on a local entertainment station. Tanner’s face flashed on the screen. Dying to hear what the locals were saying about his return to Miami, she set her coffee down and upped the volume.
A video of Tanner working out with his previous team played while the reporter narrated, focusing on his past exploits in LA. The video melted into another photo.
…But never fear, ladies of Miami, it looks as if Tanner Wild has come out of hibernation. He was spotted last night at Prime 112…
Blood surged through Abby’s ears, making it impossible to hear the rest. The photo was of Tanner. Tanner and a dark-headed woman, snuggled together over a meal.
Last night? The meeting. Last fucking night.
He’d taken another woman out for a very public dinner … and keeps you here, his special little private fuck.
Maybe she was his dirty little secret.
“Abby?” Tanner rushed over. Where had he come from? “Are you okay? What is it?”
“Is that why you didn’t want to talk about your meeting last night?”
“What are you … ?” Tanner glanced over his shoulder, his jaw hardening as he caught the tail end of the report. He hissed a vile curse.
“Do I mean anything to you?” She needed to know she hadn’t imagined it. Hadn’t imagined the way he touched her—passion mixed with a bit of reverence.
There had to be a logical explanation, right? One that didn’t leave her heart in shambles?
His head whipped around. “How can you…you don’t think…?” His growl raised the hair on her arms. “What do you think, Abby?”
She opened her mouth, closed it, unable to answer his question while her mind whirred so loudly she couldn’t think. She knew what she’d seen. The image of Tanner and that woman was something she wouldn’t soon forget. She needed space to process and Tanner currently occupied all the available area.
“Abby. Talk to me.”
She got up from the couch. “I can’t. I just … can’t.”
“Goddamn it.”
Tanner trailed Abby to the bedroom, slamming the door behind him hard enough to rattle the walls. “Stop, Abby. Stop. Don’t walk away from me. There’s been too much of that already, and I’ll be damned if it’s gonna continue.”
She grabbed her sandals from the floor and spun on him. The hint of anger and betrayal in her eyes fed his own until he burned with the need to bend her over his knee and punish her for daring to doubt him.
“Because you say so? You’re the one who left first, remember?”
“And I’ve regretted it ever since. Walking away from you was the worst decision I ever made. It’ll be yours, too, because I guaran-damn-tee that…” He jabbed a finger at the bedroom’s blank television, not giving two shits that it wasn’t the offending device. “…isn’t what you think. Now you can sit your ass down or I’ll find a way to tie you down. Either way, you’re not leaving this room until you hear the truth.” He took a deep breath, his next words tumbling dry as sand from his mouth. “And if you’re determined to leave when I’m finished, I won’t stop you.”
It would kill him, but her happiness was more important than his own. Didn’t mean he’d let her go without a fight, though. And he fought dirty.
“What’s it gonna be, babe?”
With a powerful sigh, Abby folded her arms and sank down onto the edge of the bed. “Fine. Who is she?”
Fuck if the jealousy in her tone didn’t make him hard. He was a sick bastard to get off on her indignation, however misplaced it might be.
“We’ll get to that. First, I want to know why you got drunk the other night.”
“I don’t know…”
“Don’t fuck with me, Abby. You get answers when I get answers.”
When the first tear trailed down her cheek, he almost caved. He fisted his hands to keep from reaching for her. But this was important. He knew her better than she gave him credit for. That fucking gossip report had returned some of the bricks he’d spent the last few weeks knocking out of the wall she had around her heart, but not all of them. He still had a chance to reach her once that feisty, troublemaking brain of hers settled the fuck down. He hoped getting her to talk first would do the trick. The sense of urgency nagging at his gut told him if he fucked this up now, he wouldn’t get another chance. He had to wait her out.
Come on, babe. Talk to me.
His relief was staggering as sh
e laced her fingers and started to speak.
“Things have been really tough lately. Financially, I mean. I’ve always taken care of myself, no matter what. I’d been considering a move to Arizona. My dad offered me a job with his construction company, a job I didn’t want. And then you show up and suddenly the man who broke my heart in high school becomes the one who holds the key to my independence. I could’ve lived with that, I think. You get a house, I get paid for selling it to you. An even exchange.”
Her hands shook as she tucked her hair behind her ear. It took a mighty effort to remain still when every cell in his body died to soothe her.
“But then I … we … I know it shouldn’t matter. Rationally, I know that. But I’ve never been rational when it comes to you. The fact that you felt the need to make a special arrangement for me, after we had sex, made me feel even more like a failure.” She lowered her voice. “Oh look, my former ex turned current lay can’t take care of herself. Guess I’ll have to do it for her.”
That did it. Tanner stalked toward her. He gripped her shoulders, giving her a shake. “Don’t you ever refer to yourself as just a lay. You’re more than that and you know it. And it’s my privilege to take care of you. Hell, as far as I’m concerned it’s my goddamn right.”
She glanced up at him. Her tear-stained cheeks and glassy eyes brought him to his knees. Literally kneeling at her feet. He cradled her hands in his. “There’s no shame in needing help, love. It doesn’t make you a failure. It makes you human.”
“Add to that the revelation that I don’t want to sell real estate anymore and hellooo drunkfest.” She sniffed. “Your turn. What happened last night?”
He rubbed her fingers between his hands, not liking how cold they’d become. “So much has happened the last few days I’m not sure where to start. I’ve decided to buy the old Reynolds Youth Center property. I want to tear down the old building and start new.”
“A new youth center?”
His heart skipped a beat at the sparkle that appeared in her eyes. She liked the idea. Good, because he needed her to be a part of it, in whatever way she saw fit.
Dare To Love Series: Dare's Wild (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 9
