Chapter Thirty-Two
Val
Warmth filled my entire body as Tate worked me into a frenzy with his mouth and fingers. I came up off the couch as my orgasm hit, and the room danced around me in various shadows. He whispered naughty promises against my swollen flesh and took me again, though I begged him not to. It almost didn't seem fair, seeing that he was so damn good at bringing me over the edge.
He glanced up and licked at his wet lips as he petted me. "God, I love your body."
"It loves you, too." I reached down and touched his cheek. "Make love to me on the floor by the fire?"
"Yeah. That sounds great." He got up and offered me his hand.
If he had been anyone else, I'd have pulled the blanket around me and tried to hide behind it, but something about him made me want to bare everything I was or would be to him and him alone.
"Tate." I stopped in the middle of the room.
He turned to face me and worked on his slacks. "What, baby? You need something?"
"Do you think we've taken things too fast?" I couldn't help but ask. Where my sister was back at the house soon to go to bed with a man she could care less about, I was soon to lay down on a pile of blankets beneath the one I felt like I could spend forever with. I was concerned that my infatuation wasn't the beginnings of love, but rather something more passing like lust.
"No. Do you?" He kicked off his slacks and pulled his underwear off before moving up to stand in front of me. The feeling of his body pressed to mine was like nothing I could remember enjoying quite as much.
"No, but I worry. We keep talking about falling for each other, but I think I've already fallen. It's only been a couple of weeks."
"When you know it's right, it's right." He slid his hands into my hair and pulled me up for a long probing kiss.
I ran my hands around his waist and over his ass, rubbing soft circles into the muscle as I flattened myself to the front of him.
"And you think you know it's right?" I broke the kiss and moved around him as I got down on the floor and patted the space beside me. "Come here."
He grabbed a few condoms from his slacks on the floor and dropped them behind me as he got down on the floor beside me.
"I think love is finicky, Val. It comes and it goes, but when it shows up, it's rare. You gotta grab a hold of it. Too many people settle, much like it sound your sister did today, but we don't have to. At least, I don't have to." He smiled. "You might already be settling."
"I'm not settling, but where do we go from here?" I scooted closer to him, wanting to feel his skin against mine.
"We take it day by day, baby. I'm in no hurry, and if you're willing to get on this crazy ride with me, then I'm thrilled to take it slow. The more time I have to convince you that forever with me is a good idea, the better." He rolled onto his back and smiled. "Stop talking about all of this and get up here and make love to me. We'll figure this out as we go through it. That I'm yours and you’re mine is enough for me."
"You're right." I moved on top of him and straddled his thighs as he picked up a condom. I snatched it from him and opened it before working to slide it over the thickness of his erection. "I love how big you are."
"I love how well you take me." He ran his fingertips down my arm as I shifted up and positioned myself to take him.
He closed his eyes and laid his head back as I rolled my hips and started to make love to him. His fingers dug into my thighs as he closed his eyes with a groan. My hair danced along his chest and abs as I worked him steadily.
"I've never wanted a woman the way I want you." He brushed my hair back as I laid flush on him and pressed my lips to his, indulging myself in his scent, his touch, and his taste.
I closed my eyes and let the feeling of our bodies pressed together usher in a sense of serenity that I wanted to cling to forever. It wasn't about fucking or even physical touch, but about finding my other half, the guy that could help to complete me and make me stronger for it all.
"Love me," I whispered against his lips, not realizing that I'd spoken my deepest desire aloud.
"I already do." He turned us over and rocked against me, deepening the intensity of our sex. I cried out and wrapped my legs around him as he hovered above me, watching me lovingly.
The night was incredible, and one I wouldn't soon forget. We moved to the bed sometime during the night and made love again before crashing into the comfort of the silk sheets and king-sized bed.
He fell asleep almost immediately, but I couldn't force myself to close my eyes and miss a moment of studying his perfect features. His dark brown hair was disheveled and wet from working ourselves into a lusty mess.
The pink stain on his cheeks was adorable, but it was his lips that captivated me, from his thin upper lip to the thick bottom one. He was perfect. My fingers traced the lines of his tattoos until sleep weighed heavy on me.
"Just a few more minutes," I whispered as my eyelids began to droop more and more.
"Anything you want, baby," he grumbled and rolled onto his back before jerking back toward me and pulling me into his arms. "Sleep against me. Please. I want to feel you."
I smiled and snuggled up to his side, falling asleep to the rhythm of his heart beating.
*
I woke the next morning to find the bed empty beside me. Worry rolled through me.
I sat up and started to call for him, but the smell of bacon filled my senses, and I dropped back down into the bed, physically exhausted, but emotionally alive. We had so many good things ahead of us.
Tate's offer to be a research assistant at the college had the power to blossom into something else, something long-term. If he could get on with UMN, he would be set. I wasn't truly sure of what his dreams were for himself, but that was going to be part of my plan for the next year – I wanted to pick him apart and learn as much about him as I could.
I had a long road ahead of me seeing that I'd have to see my parents again and discuss what the next few years might look like while I wrapped up school. I was completely prepared for them to reject the idea of helping me, and it might be better if they did. I hated the idea of owing them anything.
Tate's voice brought me from my thoughts as he stood in the doorway to the bedroom. His slacks hung low on his hips, and the dark trail of hair that moved from his bellybutton to inside his pants beckoned a longing deep inside of me.
"Hey. You awake, beautiful?" He moved to the bed and crawled up it to press himself against the top of me over the sheet.
"No, I'm not." I smiled and pulled him down for a long kiss. "Do I smell breakfast?"
"You do. I hope you're hungry. There was bacon and sausage in the fridge, and not the shitty kind." He smirked and kissed me once more before getting up. "Come on. Get up and join me, lazy butt."
"Lazy butt?" I sat up and stretched. "It's 10:30? Holy hell."
I hadn't slept past eight since high school. I got up and found a soft white robe in the closet, but nothing else. Why I hadn't thought to bring some clothes up with me the day before was a mystery.
After trying to do something with my wild head of hair, I walked into the kitchen and stopped by the coffee pot, breathing in deeply.
"Did you do all of this?" I grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured myself a cup.
"I did." He glanced over his shoulder at me. "Mmm...you look good enough to eat."
"You'd be the one to know." I chuckled and picked up a piece of bacon before sitting down at the breakfast bar and letting my eyes run over the long muscles of his back and perfect swell of his ass.
"I'd better be the only one that knows." He turned and ate a piece of sausage as he watched me. "You want scrambled eggs or fried?"
"Fried. Where did you learn to cook?" I hopped down and walked back to the plate of bacon. After grabbing a couple more pieces, I moved up behind him and kissed his back as I fondled his rear with my free hand. "Did your mom teach you?"
"She did a little, but I actually learned more from Sam's dad than anyone else. You know, I didn't have a dad." He turned and kissed me before stealing a piece of bacon from my fingers and nodding toward the table. "Go sit down before you eat all the meat."
"Bossy ass." I turned and went to sit back down. "When did you move in with Sarah?"
"When I was really little. I don't remember much about the orphanage, to be honest." He finished my eggs and put a plate in front of me. "I always thought when I finally got my shit together, I would go looking for my real parents, but I don't have the desire to do that anymore."
"Because of Sarah doing such a good job raising you?" I cut into my eggs and dove in without waiting a moment longer. I loved fried eggs and my father was the only one that could do them just right. It would appear that Tate had that magic power, too.
"That and just growing up. I hated them for a long time, but I realize that they were probably just doing the best they could at the time." He shrugged, but kept his back to me. "I think when I finally get married that I'd like to have a few kids of my own, but I'd like to adopt some, too."
"I think that's great." I continued to eat, not realizing that he was looking my way until I got an uncanny feeling that I was being watched. I glanced up and smiled. "What?"
"What do you think about adopting kids?" He grabbed the plate of breakfast meats and sat down next to me, pushing it between us and starting to cut his eggs.
"I like the idea. I would totally be open to adopting some kids." I picked up a piece of sausage as the warmth of him even asking my opinion melted me a little. "I think my biggest concern about the future is making sure that I'm nothing like my mom and dad."
"You're not, Val." He touched my back and kissed my shoulder.
"I know I'm not now, but there are times when I see both of them coming out in my actions and the way I want to treat people." I shivered at the thought. "I want to be the kind of woman that gives encouragement and offers hope. You know?"
"Of course, I do. You've offered me hope." He moved back to work on his breakfast. "I honestly thought I would be a bachelor forever. I wanted a woman just like you, but what hottie-tottie woman would ever date a guy like me? That chick would have to be coo-coo-crazy."
I swatted at him and smiled. "Just let them see your cock. They'll come running in large hordes."
He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "You're too much."
"Oh, yeah?" I turned to face him and brushed my knee by his thigh. "But you like it?"
"I love it." He pinned me with a hard stare. "I heard what your told you mother last night at the party."
"Which part? I said a lot of stuff to her, most that I'm not proud about." I picked up the last piece of bacon and wagged it between us. "You want this or are you willing to sacrifice it in the name of love?"
He rolled his eyes. "Eat it. I like chunky women, remember?"
I let out a yelp and tossed it back on the plate as he belly-laughed loudly. The sound of it was something to behold, and I knew that I could hear it a million times and never grow tired of it.
"What part are you talking about in my conversation with my mom?" I reached over and ran my hand down his back slowly as I pressed my chest to his arm and my lips to the side of his neck.
"The part where you told her that you weren't interested in Kade. You said that you were already in love with someone else." He looked over at me, his face so close that it wouldn't have taken much to capture his lips with mine.
"And?" I brushed my mouth over his shoulder as I watched his expression grow lusty.
"And, was it true? Are you in love?" He touched the side of my face and turned to pull me to a standing position between his legs. "I wanna know."
"What do I get if I tell you?" I pressed my body against his and ran my nose along his before kissing him a few times.
"Me. All of me. Forever." He captured my face with his strong hands as he watched me intently. "Were you just saying that to shut her up or did you mean it?"
"I meant every word of it." I pushed against his hold and wrapped my arms around his thick neck as I tilted my head and kissed him with every bit of passion I had inside of me.
He gave into the kiss and sucked and licked at my mouth until we were both out of breath.
He pulled back and licked at his lips. "You know my life isn't easy."
"Yeah, because mine is." I smiled and glanced down at his lips before moving my gaze to rest on his warm brown eyes. They were the first thing that captivated me about him that night that seemed so long ago, but wasn't.
"I think we make a good pair. We're the best of two worlds." He brushed his thumb over my lips. "You being a humble rich girl and me being a poor boy with dreams."
"I like that a lot. Let's live your dreams, hmm?" I leaned in for another kiss, loving him more than I should after the short amount of time we'd been together. It wasn't a shallow affection that would soon fade, but a deep gratefulness that he was willing to help me see a much different world around me and appreciate the diversity of who we were in it.
"You are my dream. Now what?" He smiled and pulled me down for a long make out session. I didn't need to know what was happening next. I was in the arms of the man of my dreams.
Next could never come for all I cared.