Tanner
His hands skimmed down her side, her skin smoother than the satin sheets clinging to their sweat-slickened bodies. The faint scent of salt water wafted through the open window, but Tanner didn’t pay any attention, choosing to breathe in her scent instead. Apples and sun and perfection.
“Oh, baby.” She whimpered the long forgotten endearment into his shoulder as he slowly started to thrust in and out. “Oh, baby, yes.”
Her heard her breath catch on the end of the word and grinned as he nipped the skin at the base of her neck. “Is that good, sweetheart?” He murmured the question as he made a trail of kisses from one shoulder to the other. “Damn, Belle, I’ve missed you so much.”
Before she could answer, her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. He felt the hot coil tightening in his belly, almost to the point of being painful. She screamed his name and he rolled his hips forward again, so close…
“Tanner.” Her voice sounded softer suddenly, farther away. He pushed the thought from his mind. So close…
The entire bed began to shake. What in the actual hell? An earthquake? On an island in the middle of the Caribbean? This couldn’t be happening, could it?
“Tanner!” This time Belle’s voice was sharp and right next to him, and he bolted upright in bed. His bed. Their bed. In their house. No island, no earthquake, and sure as hell no hot sex with his wife.
“Tanner, you’re late.” She hissed out the words, still shaking his arm despite the fact he clearly wasn’t asleep any longer.
He swept a hand across his sweaty brow and squinted at her. The last tendrils of his lusty dream hung on, and he wanted nothing more in that moment than to lay Belle down on the bed and remind her exactly why they were so good together. “Late for what?”
She rolled her eyes, still kneeling next to him on the bed. “For work? Tanner, it’s almost eight and…”
Yeah, he forgot to mention that detail yesterday. He smirked at her and saw a cloud of suspicion cover her eyes. “And it’s my day off.”
Her hand fell from his arm, and she rested back on her heels. She shook her head and drew her brows together. “Y-you don’t take days off.” She ran her fingers through her long, chocolate brown hair and Tanner had to stifle a groan. Damn, she looked good first thing in the morning. “You work late nights, you work weekends, but you definitely don’t take days off.”
Tanner’s heart constricted with her words and a spark of irritation flared. “I do now.” His voice was harder than he’d intended, but dammit, he was getting tired of the reminders of his failures. He was fixing it, wasn’t he?
Belle lifted her eyes to his and nearly all of his frustration melted away at the fire he saw reflected back at him. “You do?” She walked forward on her knees and straddled his lap. “So every Thursday you’ll be home?”
Oh, holy hell, was she really doing this or was he still dreaming? He swallowed down the sarcastic words that had been on the tip of his tongue just a moment ago. “Y-yes. And Tuesday afternoon.”
A small smile curved her lips and her fingers trailed up his arms to rest on his shoulders. She sat in his lap, and as soon as the physical result of his far too realistic dream brushed against her inner thigh, her eyes flared, and he sucked in a breath. Well, damn. His greedy little vixen was back.
When her tongue ran along her bottom lip, he thought he’d die right there. He tried to keep his hands at his sides. He tried to let her take control. He wanted her to be certain. Needed her to be ready. But the feel of her mouth against his ear nearly destroyed every ounce of self-control he had in his body.
“You were having a really good dream, weren’t you?”
Honesty, he reminded himself again, total honesty. “I had your tight little body beneath me.” He grasped her thighs. “And your sexy legs holding me tight against you while you screamed my name. Hell yeah, it was a good dream.”
His hands traveled under her shirt. She gasped against his neck where she had been planting tiny kisses. He made lazy patterns on her back with his fingertips before circling around to her navel.
She pulled back slightly, staring at him for several long moments before tugging his shirt over his head.
He grinned as her unabashedly needy gaze swept over his chest and her tongue darted out to lick her lips again. “You see something you like there, sweetheart?”
Belle’s eyes flew up and caught his. Something had changed and his smile slipped away. Seconds before what had been pure desire blazing in the chestnut depths now mixed with a love and adoration he hadn’t seen in a long time.
Tanner lifted a hand to her face, running a finger down her cheek. The haze of passion that had clouded his vision became something much stronger.
She wrapped her hands behind his head, lowering her forehead to rest against his. “Tanner, I—”
A sharp rap on the door accompanied by a small whiny voice cut off her next words. “Mommy, we’re hungry,” Noah pleaded from the other side.
With a light chuckle, she closed her eyes, then placed a soft kiss on his cheek. She scrambled off the bed, but Tanner grabbed her wrist before she could step away. When she turned back, she pinned him with a dazzling smile that took his breath away. Words failing him at that moment, he kissed the inside of her wrist before letting her go.
Ten minutes later, he braced his hands on the wall of the shower, his head hanging down as the icy blast did absolutely nothing to cool the fire Belle stirred.
He pulled one hand back and slapped an open palm against the smooth tile. He was trying so damn hard to be patient. But waiting was so much harder than it had been in college. He knew what she felt like, what she tasted like, what she sounded like…and dammit all to hell, he wanted that back.
With a growl, he turned off the water, unsure if his mounting anger was toward Belle or himself, and that only fueled his irritation. Tanner tugged a fresh t-shirt and shorts on with much more force than necessary.
He marched down the stairs resolutely. He needed to talk to her. Needed to know that she saw the changes he was making. That she knew he was sorry and that he’d never make those kinds of mistakes again.
And his conviction held firm until their eyes collided. The concentration that had filled her face while she poured orange juice and scooped scrambled eggs onto the plates dissolved into a sparkle that wiped away his frustration.
She lifted a shoulder, and a light blush stained her cheeks. Twelve years together and she still blushed. “Hey.”
So she wanted to flirt? He threw her the cocky smile he knew she loved. He could absolutely play this game. “Hey yourself, sweetheart.”
Tanner dropped a kiss on Ava’s cheek and gave Noah a high five, feeling Belle’s gaze on him the entire time from where she stood with her hip propped against the counter. He crossed the room to stand as close to her as possible. He trailed a finger down her arm. “So what do you want to do today, sweetheart?”
Some of the playfulness disappeared from her eyes. “I, um, I didn’t expect you to be home and, well, I was going to ask your parents to watch the kids to go to a yoga class. With Caroline. She, um, she invited me last night.”
On the last word, Belle captured her bottom lip between her teeth. Tanner reached up and pulled it free, smoothing his thumb across it. “That sounds like a great day, Belle.” He touched his mouth against hers in the barest of kisses before leaning down close to her ear. “And an even better night if we get the kids to bed early.”
He turned away to join the kids at the table, smiling to himself. But he couldn’t resist throwing a wink at her flushed face as he took his seat. “Hey, guys, Mom has some stuff to do today, so I was thinking we could go ride horses at Grandma and Grandpa’s.”
***
The screaming from inside the apartment hit Tanner’s ears before he got his key in the lock. What in the holy hell was going on in there?
Belle sat on the couch, eyes closed, mouth drawn down. The raised voices coming from where her phone sat on the coffee table seemed to get louder with each exchange. A single tear trailed down her cheek.
He dropped his case on the chair and took a seat beside her, insults and sarcasm still blaring from her phone. She turned her head and fixed him with an empty gaze. At times like this, he really hated her parents.
“They’re fighting over who is going to pay for my shoes.” Her voice was so soft he had to lean close to hear. “My shoes, Tanner. We are having a three-way phone conversation just so they can have a screaming match over my shoes.”
Summoning every ounce of calm he could, Tanner cleared his throat. “Carla, Jerry, I just got home and Belle and I need to work on some things so she’s going to have to call you back.” He pressed the red button on the touchscreen before either of her parents could respond.
How two such self-centered assholes could create something as beautiful and special as the girl falling apart in his arms astounded him. He wouldn’t change a thing about Belle, but he hated that her childhood was a constant cycle of shouting and selfishness. She deserved better. And he had every intention of giving her just that for the rest of their lives.
She mumbled something against his navy polo shirt, and he set her away from him slightly, smoothing back her hair. “What’d you say, sweetheart?”
“Let’s elope.”
If she had told him she was actually an alien in disguise, he couldn’t have been more shocked. Since the day he proposed, she spent nearly every night skimming bridal magazines and websites, shoving various pictures in his face when she was exceptionally excited. And he feigned interest every time because damn, she was cute when she was eager.
She wanted an autumn wedding. She wanted a four-tier wedding cake. She wanted a damn tiara. She didn’t want to elope.
“Sweetheart, I don’t—”
Belle covered his mouth with one hand. “Don’t say it. The dress, the venue, the cake…none of it matters. What matters is that we are married and we love each other and we love our day.” Fresh tears collected in the corners of her eyes. “And there is no way I can enjoy my day with that. So please. Let’s elope. Tonight. Tomorrow. I don’t care.”
Her words did a better job of silencing him than the soft palm resting against his lips. His mind raced. Damn, he wanted to do the right thing. He wanted to make her happy. He wanted her to have zero regrets. He wanted…
“Please.” Belle’s hand slid from his mouth to his cheek, her voice soft and pleading.
Well, hell. “Where to?”
Within four hours, Belle had booked a flight to New Orleans, they had packed their bags, and they were driving to the airport. Their trip through security, at the ticket counter, and even the wait to board the plan seemed to fly by. Tanner stored their luggage in the overhead compartment and settled in beside Belle for the two and a half hour flight.
Before he finished buckling his belt, she slipped her arm through his. “In less than twenty-four hours, I’m going to be your wife.”
His chest swelled with an unexpected pride, but he couldn’t ignore the small voice of doubt that warned she may regret this decision in a week or a month or a year. When his brothers got married. When they were invited to a wedding. His stomach churned with worry that one day she would wish they had a big wedding.
“Hey.” Her soft voice cut through his thoughts just as the plane leveled out. “What’s wrong?”
Tanner had a brief internal debate on exactly how he should answer before closing his eyes and heaving a sigh. Screw the macho crap, he’d always be one hundred percent honest with her. “I’m scared you’re going to regret this one day.”
Her lips curled into a sensuous smile. “You’re pretty sexy when you’re all insecure and stuff.” She nuzzled close to his ear. “There is not one second of our time together I’ve ever regretted, and this certainly won’t be the first one.”
Tanner finally let go of the last reservation and turned slightly in his seat toward her. “So tomorrow is going to be a great day, right?”
Belle’s hand, as it always inevitably did, drifted into his hair, playing with each short strand. “And it’s going to be an even better night.”