Chapter 17
Rebecca
The plan was simple: First, we were going to bait the media into tuning in to Tanner and mine’s “relationship”. We’d go out, ignore the press, go out some more, and then casually include Beth into the limelight.
Tanner was against that last part at first, but Chase was able to convince him it was a necessary danger to lure in the bad guys. Of course, Michael and I had to assure Tanner we were going to keep Beth safe no matter what, so it helped him calm down and agree.
As the weeks progressed, Chase was suddenly contacted by an old friend of his back in Paradise, Louisiana named Daniel Turner, who as luck would have it, was also tracking down Tanner’s neighbor. The information he shared completed the puzzle, and instead of pursuing after the guys I had beaten up before, we now knew the leader who ordered them.
Apparently, this Daniel had rescued his wife from a man named Alfred, who, other than running a shady night club, also had dirty business dealings under the table. Daniel had killed the guy, and thought the worst was over, but recently, he had been getting threatening messages about avenging Alfred’s death. Daniel immediately worked to investigate the case, and after months of research, he found out the man who was after him was Alfonso David, Alfred’s brother, and a much bigger fiend compared to his younger sibling.
Alfonso, it turned out, was also Tanner’s neighbor’s former boss, whom he had stolen the money to pay off his debts from.
It was one big convoluted mess, but at least it gave us something to work on rather than just waiting for them to come to us.
On the other hand, my fake relationship with Tanner was getting realer with every fake date we had. After I told him about the baby I never got to have, telling each other about ourselves became so much easier. I learned he had Beth when he barely graduated from college, and how he didn’t have a clue how to raise a little girl all by himself. I told him how I got pregnant at seventeen, and that I joined the Army in the hopes of being reunited with my boyfriend, who was also the father of my baby.
He didn’t ask me about whom the father was, or if I ever got to meet him again. I wasn’t sure if he had already figured it out, though. Whichever it is, I decided not to ask him about Beth’s mom, either. Mostly because I didn’t want to pry into his business when he so graciously didn’t pry into mine. But the rest was because I didn’t want to know if deep down, he still cared about her.
I guess that was the moment I realized I was starting to have feelings for Tanner. The words he said to me on the lake that one night kept playing in my head over and over sometimes, I had a hard time sleeping at night.
And then there was Michael. Michael who said he still cared about me and wanted to start over. Michael who would do anything to get me to forgive him and come back to him.
Michael who still didn’t know I had a baby with him.
If I was being honest, this was the reason why I couldn’t let myself fall completely for Tanner. My heart was still conflicted between these two guys, and a secret I don’t know how long I was going to keep.
“Rebecca, can I talk to you for a minute?”
I was broken out of my thoughts by the man himself, and I nodded, half-wondering if I should take this chance and just tell him what happened. It would be so unfair to him if I delayed it any longer.
“Sure,” I said, nodding my head. “Actually, I have something to tell you, as well.”
“I’ll go first, then,” he said, before taking a deep breath and shaking his arms to try and loosen up. “I know you’re starting to fall for him.”
“What?” I said, scoffing. Was I really that obvious? “That is not true.” I lied. He narrowed his eyes at me and shook his head.
“We grew up together, Rebecca. I can tell when you’re lying to me,” he said. I sighed heavily.
“Where are you going with this, Michael?” I said softly. He looked at me seriously and placed his hands on my shoulders, squeezing it gently.
“Please don’t choose him yet,” he begged. “I know what I did was wrong, but I’m trying to fix it. Please just give me a chance to prove how much I loved you, how much I still love you. Don’t give up on us, please.”
“Michael, I have to tell you something,” I said. “I wasn’t hurt just because you left me.”
“Then what is it?” he asked, his eyes leaking with desperation. “Tell me, I can fix it! I’ll do anything!”
“You can’t fix this,” I muttered, and he wrinkled his eyebrows. “Michael…the last night we had, I got pregnant.”
His eyes widened as my secret finally spilled from my mouth, and his hold on my shoulders slackened. I continued.
“My parents disowned me, and I had to work to support myself. Then one night a drunk guy who lived in my building tried to force himself on me when I got home from work, and when I wouldn’t let him, and he pushed me down a flight of stairs.”
“Rebecca, no…,” he gasped.
“I lost her, Michael. I’m so sorry. I lost our baby.”
***
I felt so exhausted after telling Michael everything, but I still couldn’t fall asleep. I kept seeing how broken Michael looked after my revelations, and it hurt me inside.
I told him how after I lost our baby, I was so consumed with rage that I joined the Army hoping to see him again, and blame him for the downward spiral my life had taken. I told him how after two years of not hearing anything from him, I eventually gave up and tried to forget what happened.
He just stood there taking everything I gave him, and when I was done, and all the tears from my cheeks had dried up, he swallowed and sluggishly walked back to his room, not saying a word.
I tossed and turned in my bed until I was finally fed up by my restlessness, and decided to go out for some fresh air. I spotted the light in the studio was on, and I couldn’t resist walking toward it and then opening the door.
Tanner looked up from his notes and smiled as I entered.
“I was wondering when you were going to come,” he said, looking back to his composition and scribbling a couple of notes. “Couldn’t sleep?” he asked, and I shook my head.
“Not a wink. Did you get everything set up for the party?” I asked back.
“Technically, it’s my manager who did everything, but yes. Everything is all set for the trap tomorrow.”
“Excellent.”
“Now why don’t you tell me what’s with the long face?”
“Distract me,” I told him, and he turned around, looking at me in confusion. “I told him. I told him about my baby.”
He leaned his back against the table and folded his arms.
“Oh.” He said.
“So you knew.”
“I had a hunch.” He admitted. “And you want me to distract you because…?”
“Because I keep seeing his face in my head and it’s keeping me up tonight,” I told him truthfully.
“Now that won’t do,” he said, tucking the pencil he was holding in his pocket. “That won’t do at all.”
He took slow, deliberate steps toward me until we were only a few inches apart, our chests almost brushing against each other with every breath of air we took. He placed both of his arms on the wall on either side of my face, caging me in and I had to swallow hard.
“I don’t want you to think about another guy,” he murmured, leaning closer to my face.
“You don’t?” I whispered, my eyelids falling a little bit as I felt his breath against my cheeks. He shook his head.
“Nope,” he said. “But I don’t want to be used just so you could forget him, neither.”
“When I take you…,” he brushed his knuckle against my cheek before tilting my head up by my chin. “I want to be the only one you think about. Can you do that?” he asked.
I could feel his erection through his pants, through the thin fabric of my shirt and I moaned.
“Yes,” I panted.
“Are you sure about that?” he asked. I glared at him and took his face between my hands and kissed him senseless.
Tanner groaned before taking control of the kiss, ravaging my mouth with his tongue. I hitched up my leg around his waist to pull him closer against me, and he lifted me up so I could wrap my legs and arms around him like I was a koala hanging from a tree.
He carried me over to his desk, sweeping his stuff off so he could perch me on top of it. He helped me pull my shirt off over my head, and his hands immediately went up to caress my breasts, pulling and twisting at the nipples until they became two stiff peaks.
His mouth blazed a path from my jaw, to my neck, then to the valley between my breasts where he bared his teeth and left his mark on me. I’d probably be so mad at him later once I see the bruise, but for now, I was so drunk with need, I didn’t even care.
I buried my fingers in his scalp, and pulled him towards my left breast, subtly telling him where I wanted his attention to go and he followed, circling my nipple with his tongue before rolling it between his teeth. He suckled me like a babe while kneading my other breast like it was dough, and I couldn’t help but gyrate my hips at the edge of his desk, trying to get even the tiniest of friction it provided. I whined softly as he took his mouth off my breast with a pop until he gave the same treatment to my other breast making me sigh.
He pushed me down so I could lie on my back, and he pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it away somewhere before putting his hands on his pants and taking them off, too.
My mouth watered as I peeked down and realized he went commando, his cock jutting proudly at me like it was some kind of prized stallion. He was so long and thick that it made me nervous.
“I don’t think you’re going to fit,” I said, my eyes almost crossing as they focused on his member. He held his prick at the base, and my eyes widened when more than half was still showing. He moved his hands up and down his length, and I licked my lips unconsciously.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “You’ll expand, too.”
“I know that. But it might not go back to its…original shape, if you know what I mean,” I said seriously, and he chuckled.
“Oh, baby, you shouldn’t say that to a man, especially me,” he said, and I frowned at him. “The thought of ruining you for anybody else seriously makes me want to fuck you more.”
I gulped at the heated gaze he was giving me, his eyes darkening as they roved over every inch of my body possessively, like a colonist filling himself with the scenery of his next conquest and it ignited my core. His hands explored me from the base of my neck, down to my breast, the curves of my waist and stomach until they were massaging my thighs.
He propped my legs on the edge of his desk and bent down, his face so close to my center that his breath was brushing against my clit and stimulating the bundle of nerves there. He placed his thumb on the outer lips, making me jump a bit at the contact before making me moan as a finger breached into my sacred core.
His half-lidded eyes watched me writhe and convulse as my first orgasm spread through my body just from that contact alone, and he shook his head in mock disappointment.
“You’re too sensitive, Miss Hayes,” he whispered hotly against my clit. “I’m going to have to punish you for that.”
“What are you--,” I cut off into a scream as he peeled my lips and licked my pussy from bow to stern, sending my hips up into the air. He held onto my stomach and propped me up with his arm, swirling and rolling his tongue inside of me like I had a well of secrets he greedily wanted to uncover.
His mouth then did unspeakable things on my core that I couldn’t help but trash my head from side to side, my senses tingling and going haywire from the onslaught of sensations he was giving me. I felt him drive two fingers inside of me, his movements in sync with his tongue and it was enough to send me over the edge of oblivion.
“You taste so good,” Tanner murmured. I opened my eyes to the sight of him staring at his glistening fingers. He slowly turned his eyes up at me before putting his fingers inside of his mouth and sucked.
“You’re primed for me,” he growled, and I moaned out loud.
Jesus Christ, how could this man be so erotic?
He took his cock once more, beating it a couple of times before positioning the tip to my entrance, its head already dripping with pre-cum…
I sat up, startling Tanner a little until I dropped to my knees in front of him and grabbed his cock, making him hiss.
“Rebecca…you don’t--,” he grunted.
“Shut up and let me blow your brains out this time,” I said, before taking him into my mouth until his head was brushing against my throat.
He groaned and muttered a line of curses as I bobbed my head back and forth, rolling my tongue around as I went. I pulled back until my mouth was wrapped around the head and started sucking on it like a popsicle, my tongue prodding the tip and tasting his load.
He held my head with one hand now, clutching at my hair and thrusting his hips into my mouth a couple of times, intensifying after each thrust. I was dead set on making him cum in my mouth when he suddenly pushed me away, making me growl in protest.
“Enough,” he said, eyes flashing wildly. “That’s not where I want to have you first!”
He picked me up with one swoop that I had to hold onto his shoulders for purchase, and my eyes widened as I felt the tip of his cock along my slit before he dropped me onto his cock with such force. I cried at the sudden fullness inside of me, grimacing a little as the muscles I haven’t used in a long while started to expand and take him in, trying to fuse us together.
He growled against the top of my chest as he held me, his eyes focusing on the feel of my pussy wrapping itself on his delicious cock.
“You’re so fucking tight, baby,” he whispered.
“Please,” I keened, already feeling delirious from the pleasure.
He lifted his head up to look at me, so I bent mine down for a kiss, taking his lips and plunging my tongue into his mouth and tasting myself on him. Our tongues danced wildly, battling for dominance while he lifted me up and impaled me with his dick, over and over while our lips stayed fused together. My hands continued to explore his muscular back, his arms, his face, and his neck, the strains from our coupling showing from his veins.
I gyrated my hips while he continued to push his raging member inside me, the move forcing my eyes to roll to the back of my head as his cock touched a spot I never knew existed. I was bucking, pushing and pulling against him like I was riding an unbroken stallion. Our moans and grunts were coming together in a sweet chorus that had me thanking God that his studio was soundproof, or else we’d have scarred Beth forever.
“I’m close,” he said with a grunt, and it amazed me he could make love to me in this position for so long. “Are you close?” he asked.
“Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes,” I chanted, my sanity lost somewhere in the abyss.
“Come with me?” he asked, his thrusts getting faster, deeper, and hotter. “Please come with me, baby.”
I couldn’t respond anymore. My coherency disappeared along with my last wit. Instead, my body did the talking for me.
I buried my nails on his back as I reached my peak, screaming as my inner muscles started undulating around him, and then I felt him come. White hot bursts of his seed hit my walls sending me to another high, my name on his lips as he growled over and over in conjunction with his trashing hips.
He let go of my ass, and I managed to land on my feet, my arms still wrapped around his neck as we breathed heavily, our skins sticking against each other from the sweat and our juices combining.
I closed my eyes in exhaustion as I rested my head on under his chin, and he surprised me by picking me up bridal style and heading out the door, both of us butt naked.
“Where are we going?” I asked, tightening my hold on him.
He pushed his door open and walked in, kicking the door back closed, and then laying me on his bed like a rag doll. I landed on the mattress with a huff, my arms and legs falling spread-eagled. He went back to lock the door before turning back to me, his eyes still dark and ravenous.
“Get on all fours,” he ordered.
Oh my God, this guy was going to give me a run for my money. How can he recover so fast?
Still, the sight of him all hot and sweaty and his chest and eight pack shimmering from our exercise made me wet again, and I heeded his command, going on my hands and knees and turning up my ass towards him.
I watched him stalk towards me with a predatory glare before kneading my ass, teasing my clit with his cock again before burying it down to the hilt.
His tempo was more even now, his thrusts more controlled and quick that I started to babble incoherently from pleasure. His hands crawled up to my breasts and started pinching at my nipples as he continued to piston his hips deeper and deeper against me.
I thought this was the maximum number of erogenous zones he could stimulate on me, but he proved me wrong when he shifted the angle by leaning down so my back was brushing against his chest, and he took the shell of my ear by his teeth.
Sweet Jesus. If he was trying to kill me with sex, I was one hundred per cent certain he was going to succeed.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” I moaned, licking my lips with each delicious contact.
“You are so fucking sexy,” he whispered hotly, his tongue soothing the bites he made on my ear. “I love this. I love it. I fucking love you.”
I couldn’t understand him anymore. I couldn’t hear anything except my moans, my gasps, and the slapping of our skin as he hit the mark over and over…
I collapsed from my most powerful orgasm yet, my arms feeling like Jell-O and unable to carry my weight anymore. I leaned my head against the mattress and closed my eyes, but Tanner was still far from stopping.
He changed the angle yet again, and lifted one of my legs up with one hand while keeping me up with other, his hand using my breasts as an anchor as he licked my neck and continued thrusting.
He roared once more as he came before falling half on top of me, his cock limp but still buried within my core.
He gathered me into his arms and planted soft, butterfly kisses all over my neck, my shoulders and then my back almost reverently, making me sigh at how fast he switched from being rough to sweet and gentle.
He was such an amazing lover, the perfect puzzle that fit the lock of my own.
I wiggled a bit so I could face him, grimacing as my movements had pushed him out of me, but I stared at him with every bit of tenderness and love that I realized I had for him.
I wanted to tell him. I wanted to tell him now.
I opened my mouth and spoke…chickening out at the last minute.
“You’re not a distraction.” I said instead, but the sparkling look on his eyes and amused smile told me he got what I wanted to say, anyway.
He pulled me closer to him and wrapped his fingers lightly around my neck.
“I never thought so.” he whispered back, making me smile brightly.
I snuggled into him with a sigh, exhaustion slowly settling in. He wrapped his arms around me and tangled our legs together. I was about to fall asleep when I heard him say one last thing.
“Just so you know, I’m waking you up again in a few hours,” he said, his voice starting to sound groggy. I smiled against his skin and burrowed myself deeper into him.
I was never a morning person, but his version of a wakeup call was the kind I didn’t mind having every morning.
***
“Are you sure you’re going to be able to dance at the party tonight?” Tanner asked, his finger tracing little circles on my skin as we looked up at the ceiling in post-coital bliss.
“If you were worried about that, then you probably shouldn’t have overdone it,” I said, wincing at the numbness in my thighs.
I tried going to the bathroom earlier, emphasis on ‘tried’. As soon as I stood up, my legs crumpled up like a piece of paper, and I just lay there on the floor, sitting on my legs. I literally couldn’t move an inch, and the reason for my being that way just laughed his ass off. The son of a bitch had to carry me to the toilet. It was so embarrassing.
“I couldn’t help it,” he whispered, crawling on top of me again and kissing the tip of my nose before smiling at me. “You feel so good.”
“You’re insatiable.”
“Only for you, my love.”
I froze at the endearment, and looked at him with disbelief. Did he seriously just call me that?
Somehow, having sex with me multiple times had granted him with the ability to read my mind because he snorted and rolled his eyes at my expression.
“Seriously, Rebecca. I’m pretty sure that after I made love to you the 3rd time, you would’ve realized how much I love your sexy ass,” he said, grimacing. I regained my composure and shrugged coolly.
“I don’t know. It wouldn’t hurt for me to hear it,” I said. He sighed and placed a soft kiss on my lips.
“Fine,” he said, kissing my lips again. “I love you, crazy.”
I smiled and pecked him back on the lips.
“I kind of love you, too.” I kidded, provoking him to glare at me before flipping me on all fours, coercing me in the most delicious way to tell him that I loved him…properly, this time.
“So, do you think everything would be okay tomorrow?” Tanner asked after an entire hour of lovemaking.
“I hope so,” I whispered, my muscles dead tired and my thighs quivering a little from exhaustion. “I don’t want to put off Beth’s safety any longer than necessary.”
“I agree,” Tanner said, nodding. “But seriously, do you think you could pull it off?” he asked, still worried. I groaned.
“I would if you’ll let me sleep already,” I said, whining.
“What about Michael?” he said, obliterating the sweet, teasing atmosphere in an instant. “Are you going to tell him about us?” he asked.
I turned around to face him and nodded.
“I have to.”
“When?”
I kissed him softly on the mouth.
“Soon.”
“Fine,” Tanner grumbled. “As long as he doesn’t get any ideas…,” he slid his hands over the top of my thigh, brushing my skin with his fingers and making me whine in protest.
“Haven’t you had enough?” I asked. “I am so tired…”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you, Rebecca,” he whispered. “I’ll probably be doing this—doing you,” he smirked playfully. “—all night long.”
Jesus, exhausted as I was…I liked the sound of that.