Izzy
All the air left her body in a whoosh and Izzy blinked a few times, certain she was seeing things. When the telescope and the mountain of blankets and pillows filling the bed of Tanner’s obnoxious yellow truck didn’t disappear, she spun around to face him.
“Tanner.” She breathed his name and lifted her hand to his cheek. So many thoughts ran through her mind, but none formed into coherent words. Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling closer to him than she had all week. Closer than she had in years.
His deep chuckle vibrated against her, and she closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation. “I’m glad you like it, but we haven’t even gotten to the surprise yet, sweetheart.”
She pulled back but held onto his shoulders. “What do you mean? We’re going to lie under the stars together on a huge pile of pillows and you even got a telescope which is something we never had before. Tanner, what more could there possibly be?”
“Well, I’m glad you asked, sweetheart.” He stepped away from her with a grin and pulled something off the driver’s seat of his truck. When he turned back around, her eyes widened at the present wrapped in dark blue paper. “A little something for you.”
Izzy shook her head, not accepting the proffered gift. “It’s not my birthday.” Her brow furrowed. “And it is still, what, thirty-six days until our anniversary? So why am I getting a present?”
A brief flash of disappointment flitted across his face and served to only deepen Izzy’s confusion. But just as quickly as it had come, it disappeared. “No, it’s not your birthday or our anniversary or Christmas, even. You’re getting this because you deserve to get something you love simply because you love it, not just because I’m sorry for what I did. Which I am. Extremely.”
She couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at her lips when she finally took the nearly flat rectangle from his grasp. She took a few steps closer to the truck, needing the help of the interior light. Izzy’s breath caught when she pulled the paper away. She looked from the gift she held in her hands to Tanner’s expectant face and back several times before jumping in his arms, still clinging to the picture frame. “Tanner.” She choked out his name past the tears clogging her throat.
His grip on her tightened under her thighs, holding her close.
Izzy put her hands on his shoulders and pushed back enough to look in his face, tears streaking down her cheeks. “You bought me a star.” A bubble of laughter escaped past the happy tears. “First you bring the sky inside and now you buy me a star.”
He grinned and carried her around the bed of the truck, setting her down on the tailgate before climbing up beside her. “Come on, sweetheart, let’s lay down for a bit. Unless you want to look for your star. I got the telescope to see if we could find it. Or we could look for what—”
She put a finger against his lips, silencing the stream of words. A tiny part of her enjoyed seeing always confident and capable Tanner just a little nervous. She slid back on the inflatable mattress and laid down on the pile of pillows. “Being right here sounds perfect.”
Izzy had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing at how quickly he scrambled up beside her. He stretched out next to her, sliding his hand in hers and intertwining their fingers. “Belle, being anywhere with you is perfect.” He whispered the words, but they had the effect of a powerful windstorm.
“It’s been way too long since we’ve done this.”
Tanner stayed silent for a long time after her comment, and part of her wondered if she shouldn’t have said anything. She chewed on her bottom lip and tried to think of anything she could say to ease the sting.
Finally he propped himself up on an elbow. “How long, Belle?”
She turned her head slightly, and the earnest look on his face made her scoot closer to his side. “At least three years,” she said softly. “With the kids and work, we were just too busy.”
Tanner leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. “Not we. Me. Dammit, Belle, I’m sorry.”
She reached up to bury her fingers in his hair and pull his lips more firmly against hers. The taste of his lips drove her to wiggle her body beneath his. His scent wafted over her, and she barely contained a groan. She was finally surrounded by Tanner in every way and she never wanted it to end.
“Belle.” He murmured her name against her lips and began to kiss down her jaw, planting moist kisses along the column of her neck.
Izzy pulled Tanner until he was fully on top of her and her thighs were locked around his waist. When she lifted her hips and pressed against the evidence of his need, she felt a gasp against her neck where Tanner had been licking and biting softly.
His hands slid under her shirt, caressing her back and drawing her closer to him. Tanner lifted the shirt over her head and began making a path of hot kisses across her bare chest. She arched into him again, her fingers tugging on his hair to bring his mouth back up to hers.
“Tanner.” She whimpered his name in between kisses, the soft cotton of his shirt rubbing against her skin, teasing every overly sensitized inch.
She’d always loved playing with Tanner’s hair and gave her fingers free rein to get reacquainted with each strand. When his hands skimmed down her sides and flicked the button open on her waistband, she couldn’t help but shiver against him.
His mouth curved against hers. “You like that, sweetheart?”
She hadn’t realized until this moment just how much she missed his touch and his lips leaving a scorching trail along her body.
His hands.
His mouth.
And one week ago they had been kissing someone else. Holding someone else. Touching someone else.
Ice trickled down her spine, freezing her movement. She pushed Tanner away and scooted to the far corner of the mattress. She grabbed her shirt and held it against her chest. Why didn’t I put on a bra? she chastised herself.
Even in the darkness she could see his face fall. “Belle, what’s wrong?”
“I can’t.” She sobbed and gripped the shirt tighter against herself. She waved her free hand in a sweeping gesture. “Tanner, this is beautiful and perfect, and you gave me the most amazing gift…but I can’t stop thinking about her. And you.” Her heart splintered. “And you don’t feel like mine anymore.”
She tugged her shirt on over her head, jumped out of the truck, and ran toward the dimly lit house in the distance as fast as she could.
***
Izzy had already found Orion four times and Perseus once, but it didn’t stop her from searching the ceiling again for more familiar constellations. She didn’t want to close her eyes and sleep. This was far better than any dream.
She’d dreaded her birthday ever since her parents’ divorce. It had become just another reason for them to bribe her into loving one more than the other, to fight over whose turn it was to have her, or to badmouth the other parent. Each year made her feel exhausted and manipulated, but mostly unloved.
A smile spread across her lips. That was all before Tanner.
His arm came over her stomach and he pulled her next to him. “I’m gonna take that down if you don’t stop looking at it and get some sleep, sweetheart.” His voice was sleep-roughened and possibly the sexiest thing she’d ever heard.
Izzy rolled onto her side and moved even closer against him. “This was the best birthday I’ve ever had.” She leaned forward and pressed a soft, moist kiss on his bare chest. Neither had the energy to pull their clothes back on after a thorough birthday celebration under the star-lit ceiling.
Eyes still closed, Tanner’s lips curved up. “Yet, sweetheart, yet. That was just the beginning. I’ve got a lifetime of birthdays to spoil you.”
Nothing lasts forever. The voice that always lingered in the back of her head seemed to be louder and much more insistent tonight. Maybe, just maybe, if she could keep Tanner happy, maybe this could last. “You really are the perfect boyfriend, baby.”
“We’re perfect for each other.”
Keep Tanner happy. The thought raced through her mind again. An idea started to form and she smiled. He definitely should get some reward for all his hard work.
He rolled onto his back and pulled her against his side. Even though she was still slightly sore nearly everywhere from lots of undivided and oh-so talented attention from Tanner, the moment she pressed her bare skin against his, the smoldering embers ignited. She bit her bottom lip, slowly tracing the muscles on his stomach with her finger.
His face remained completely expressionless and his eyes stayed closed, but his muscles contracted beneath her touch, giving her just enough motivation to lightly trail her hand further down. When she wrapped her hand around the smooth skin below, she was finally rewarded with a groan.
Izzy’s confidence grew, and she moved her hand up and down softly, reveling in every twitch as he responded to her touch. She slid her body down his, following the path of her fingers with her mouth and grinning against his skin at his sharp intake of breath.
“Belle.” Her name left his mouth on a hiss just as her tongue ran up the silky length her hand abandoned. He clamped her wrist tightly and dragged her up his body. “Sweetheart, what the hell are you doing?”
Her heart plummeted. She did it wrong. Tanner wasn’t happy. “I-I…” she faltered, not ever dreaming she’d need to explain herself. She scrambled off his chest and sat up, tucking the sheet around her. Fine time to be naked.
Tanner sat up to face her, an inscrutable expression on his face. She hated it when she couldn’t read him. “I didn’t mean that. I know what you were doing, sweetheart. I just want to know why.” He flicked his gaze to the ceiling and waved his hand. “This is a gift for you, Belle. Something I wanted to do because I love you and it would make you happy. Not something you need to pay me back for.”
A tear streaked down her cheek and she cursed it. Why did she feel the need to ruin everything by crying? “I just want you to be as happy as I am so that you’re mine forever.” Izzy clapped a hand over her mouth as soon as the words tumbled out.
The color drained from his face, and Izzy’s stomach turned, hot tears falling in earnest now. Why did she have to wreck the best birthday of her life by saying that to him?
Tanner put his hands on her cheeks and lifted her face, his thumbs swiping at the wet streaks on her face. “Belle, sweetheart, I’m yours. Forever. I have been since the first day I met you. Happy, sad, angry, doesn’t matter. I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Her hands fell away from the sheet and she launched herself into his arms. Tanner’s arms. The safest place in the world.
He made soothing sounds and ran his hands down her hair. After several moments, he lightly pulled her away, just far enough to look in her eyes. It had been over a year that she had spent completely spellbound by those sapphire pools, but the duration didn’t lessen the impact, even though they were barely visible in the nearly dark room.
His hands slid down from her shoulders and he held hers captive. “Now repeat after me: ‘Tanner is mine forever.’”
“Tanner is mine forever,” she parroted back dutifully. Her fears quieted for the moment, she couldn’t help but smile. He really was perfect.
“‘And very, very soon I am going to finish everything my soft little hands and talented mouth started tonight before Tanner dies of anticipation.’”
Izzy threw her head back and laughed. Maybe she didn’t do it wrong after all. “And very, very, very soon I am going to finish tasting every part of Tanner I can think of and a few more I can’t.”
She pulled her hands from his and climbed into his lap, the sheets tangling around them. Tanner groaned when her lips found the soft patch of skin at the juncture of his neck and shoulders. “Holy hell, Belle.”
She nipped at the sensitive spot and smiled. Tanner was hers.