I sniffled and pulled in a breath, searching for the courage to say what needed to be said. There was no more putting it off. It was time.
“I’m really scared.”
He looked like I’d just punched him. “Of me?”
Reaching up, I cupped his cheek and shook my head. “No. Never of you. But the way I feel about you terrifies me.”
His brows pulled together. “Why?”
It was now or never, so I decided to rip off the Band-Aid, get it over with so I could deal with what came next.
“Because I’m in love with you,” I admitted quietly. “I’m in love with you, and you’re leaving. And I know that when you do, it’s going to crush me.”
Tanner’s eyes flared wide and his mouth opened to form a perfect O. I sat frozen in his lap as I watched him process what I’d confessed. Then the man did something I wasn’t expecting and smiled the most beautiful, brilliant smile I’d ever seen on him.
My face pinched into a frown and I narrowed my eyes, feeling salty all of the sudden. “Why are you smiling? This isn’t the time to smile. I poured my guts out to you, and you’re smiling like the freaking Joker.”
“Are you kidding?” Dear god, he looked downright giddy. “The girl of my dreams just told me she’s in love with me, and you expect me not to smile?”
“Wha—”
That was all I got out before he slammed his lips down on mine. The kiss was hungry and possessive. It lit my body up like I was the sky on New Year’s Eve, and I was incapable of stopping it.
“Just so you know, I’m in love with you too.”
Until that very moment, I didn’t realize that words had the power to heal someone completely.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Holiday
Itwisted in Tanner’s lap, bracing my knees on either side of his hips as I took his face in my hands and crashed my lips against his, pouring every ounce of emotion I was feeling into the kiss. It took no time at all for Tanner to catch up. His hands traveled up my thighs and beneath the dress I’d worn for dinner at the Groves earlier that night.
A trail of goosebumps popped up everywhere he touched, like electricity crawling along my skin. I couldn’t get enough of this man, and I wasn’t sure I ever would. Or if I even wanted to.
And now that I knew he loved me too... everything felt different, like the intensity had been turned up to a million.
He pulled my bottom lip between his teeth and sucked it as his hands grasped my ass. He used his hold on me to rock me against the rigid erection tenting the front of his slacks. A needy moan was wrenched from my throat as his hard length pressed against my clit.
“Tanner,” I breathed, dropping my head back as he licked and sucked and kissed across my neck.
“Right here, Sunshine. Tell me what you need.”
My hands tangled in his hair as I ground my hips down on him harder, my core aching and desperate to be filled. “You. I want you inside me. Right now.”
Tanner bunched the skirt of my dress in his hands, lifting it up and whipping it over my head. My bra came next, leaving me in nothing but a tiny thong. He dragged the tip of his tongue up the straining tendon at the side of my neck before biting the sensitive skin there. “Is that sweet little pussy ready for me?”
“Mmm,” I hummed as a rush of arousal flooded my core and drenched my panties. “Always ready for you.”
“You know what I want to hear, baby. Give that to me, and I’ll give you everything you want. Always will.”
I didn’t have a doubt about that. He’d proven it time and time again. But this man—myman, he wanted to hear me beg for it first. The payoff was more than worth it, so I didn’t mind one damn bit.
“Please,” I pleaded, my voice coming out high-pitched as the need to come threatened to suck me under and overwhelm every one of my senses. “Pleasefuck me. I need you so bad, I can’t stand it.”
A wicked smile pulled at his lips, turning me on even more. “Does my good girl want to ride my cock?”
“Yes,” I panted, fisting his button-down in my hands. “Take this off. I want to feel you.”
