I draw a deep breath and take that final leap, linking my hand in his.
“Thank fuck,” he says, the relief in his tone palpable. The husky desire in his voice renews my own.
I’m not sure who moves first, but he falls on top of me, his lips consuming mine, our kiss more open, honest, and giving than anything I’ve felt before.
He helps me slide back to the center of the bed and rises over me, his cock once again in his hand, this time at my pulsing, needy core.
“You’re mine. You’ve always been mine,” he says and slides into me, filling me, consuming me.
He’s smooth and hot inside me, and with nothing between us, we bond in ways that surpass sex and break through the concrete wall I built around my heart.
CHAPTER NINE
Axel
Iwake upwrapped around Tara. For the first time in forever, all is right in my world. Since I don’t want to wake her, I have a long time to think about everything that happened yesterday and how quickly things did a one-eighty. Walter is still in the kennel, which breaks my damned heart, but the woman I love is in my arms.
Given the choice, things worked out in my favor, but I wish I could help those dogs find homes and Norah save the shelter. Ideas come and go as Tara sleeps, some sticking and helping me form a game plan.
Once I work out those issues, my thoughts turn to Tara. I breathe her in, inhaling the strawberry scent of her shampoo and the lingering hint of sex in the air. Last night was a reunion of the best kind. After that first time, we fell asleep. I woke her at three with my face in her pussy and my name on her lips, and after an explosive orgasm where I thought she pulled out all of my hair, she greedily returned the favor. I came harder than I ever have in my life, and I grin at the memory.
I don’t know how I convinced her to trust me, and as she stirs, I’m worried she’ll wake up and regret that she gave herself to me in the deepest way. I made myself clear that I want everything, and I wasn’t kidding.
She rolls until she’s facing me, and her lashes flutter open, her brown-eyed stare as enticing as my morning coffee.
“Hey,” she says, one side of her face on the pillow as she meets my gaze.
“Hey.” I brush long strands of hair off her cheek. “Sleep well?”
A pleased, sated smile takes hold. “Really well.”
“No regrets?” I have to ask.
She places her finger over my lips, stopping the question. “Not one.”
I blow out a relieved breath. “I need to know what changed your mind.”
She sighs and places her hand over my chest. “You asked me to trust you with my heart. You wanted everything, and I knew if I walked away, I was going to be alone. Worse, I’d be without you again.”
I see the sheen of tears in her eyes before she blinks them away. I never want to see her sad or hurting.
“I knew my mother had loved and lost my dad, and she’d moved on. There was a lesson there I was finally willing to see.” Her fingers draw circles on my skin. “So I opened my eyes. I needed to get over my fear of loss and abandonment, or I’d lose you. And I couldn’t let you go again.”
I’ve heard what I need to. There is no going back. For either of us. I kiss her hard, my mouth parting her lips, my tongue making itself at home.
I’m not sure how long we lay locked and lost in each other, but when she breaks the kiss and comes up for air, I look her in the eyes.
“I love you, Tara. I’ll be with you even when I’m not, and I’ll never be gone long.”
Her smile lights up everything inside me. “I’ve made my peace with what I thought were our differences. I fell in love with a boy who wanted to be a famous rock musician, and I’m still in love with the man who achieved his dream.”
I grasp her wrist. “I’m going to make all of your dreams come true, too.”
“You already have.”
***
Tara
