Me: If you wear the hat, I'll say it ;-)

Talon: Deal. I miss you.

Me: I miss you too. So much.

Talon: You're still sleeping in my shirt, right?

Me: Every night xo

Chapter 29

Asia

Twenty days. I cross the final day off in my day planner with a big, triumphant smile. We did it. We got through it with no fights, no setbacks, and no additional pictures of women causing me to go into an epic jealous freak-out. I'm proud of us.

I close my planner and put it off to the side of the kitchen island where it lives and cross the room to pour myself a cup of coffee. When I head for the refrigerator to get my flavored creamer, I shriek and jump, my arms flailing like a ninja.

He's leaning against the doorway, his muscular arms crossed beneath a tight black Henley, and that old top hat is perched on top of his head. Beneath each of his eyes is a slight smudge of black liner. He looks uniquely bizarre and incredibly sexy.

"Holy shit!" I run toward him and throw my arms around him. "Why didn't you tell me you'd be here so early?"

"I wanted to surprise you." He pushes my hair from my face and caresses my cheek. "I just want to look at you for a sec." His dark eyes roam my body and then lock on to mine. "What was it you were supposed to say to me?" he asks, his thumb stroking over my lower lip. God, I love when he does that.

I'm so mesmerized by the fire in his eyes I can barely remember what my name is, let alone something I agreed to say. My brain spins until it finally comes back to me.

"You're my heart's hero," I say softly, and his eyes close for a moment before he bends down to kiss me, his lips soft against mine and tasting of bubblegum, his hand going to my waist and pulling my body against his. I sigh against his lips, absorbing his touch, his taste, his smell. My senses all come alive when he's near, and everything feels right.

"That's definitely the best thing anyone has ever said to me."

"I'm glad. I missed you so much. That was the hardest twenty days of my life."

"We need to go upstairs. Now."

We race each other to the bedroom, where he tackles me onto the bed while we pull each other’s clothes off in a frenzy. His lips devour mine possessively and I can't get enough of touching him, feeling his warm flesh beneath my fingers as they travel over his shoulders and down his back to squeeze his muscular ass. This man should be the squats poster child—his ass is just that perfect.

His mouth leaves mine and starts a tantalizing path down my neck to my breasts, his teeth grazing lightly over my sensitive nipples. He moves from one to the other, sucking me between his lips while his hand goes between my legs, pushing my thighs apart. A moan escapes my lips as soon as he strokes me and slips a finger into me, zeroing in on the spot he knows drives me wild. Squeezing my thighs together, I trap his hand and grind my sex against his fingers.

After teasing me with his fingers and tongue, he flips us over so he's lying on his back, pulling me on top of him.

"Get on my cock, baby. I want to watch you." His voice does things to me that I never thought possible.

Grasping his thick cock in my hand, I hold him against my lips and slowly descend down onto his throbbing hard-on. He moans and grabs my hips, gently pulling me down farther on him.

"I really fucking missed you," he groans, sliding his hands up to cup my breasts. "I'm not gonna slam you, babe. I want you to be in control this time."

What the hell do I know about controlling the cock? Nothing.

Sensing my hesitation, he moves his hands back to my waist and gently lifts me up and down. "Relax your muscles… Take it as deep as you want and just let yourself go."

"Close your eyes."

"Jesus, Aze—"

"Just do it!" I can't do this with him watching me; I'm way too self-conscious about how awkward I look.

"Fine. Just fuck me before I lose my mind." He gives in, closing his eyes, and I'm glad he can't see me smiling and giggling at him. He really does try so hard.

"Stop giggling or we'll try a different hole that requires no eye contact."

Yikes!

He grabs my hands in his, still with his eyes shut, and holds them tightly as I ride up and down his length.

"That's perfect… Don't stop," he groans, his breath quickening as I move faster and take him deeper, causing my insides to ache. It feels so good, though, to have him inside me again, and nothing has changed. The closeness we found before he left is still here.

His eyes slowly open and he pulls me down on him, our lips meeting for a wet kiss, his hands moving to my ass to guide me back and forth on him, my clit rubbing deliciously against his abs. He fists my hair in his hand and pulls my head back, exposing my neck for him to kiss and lick.

I whimper and grind harder on him as his lips move to my breasts, sucking me into his mouth. The flicking of his tongue over my nipple sends electric pulses through my body and I lose control, gyrating my hips faster and harder on him, feeling his cock ram up into me, bottoming out.

Taking my hands in his again, he pushes me upward, forcing me to impale myself on him. His eyes are wild with lust as he lies back and watches me move on top of him, breathing in deep pants.

When I start to shudder on top of him, he pulls me back down onto his chest, wrapping his arms around me, his lips finding mine in the tangling mess of our hair.

"Don't make me not look at you, Aze," he says later, when we're snuggled against each other under the covers. "I want to see you. Every part of you."

"I'm sorry. I just felt…weird. Being so exposed, I guess."

"That's what I want, though. I love your body; you don't have to worry about that."

He loves my body.

Why can he say that, but not say he loves me?

"I love your body, too.

"And you know how much I fuckin' love those eyes of yours." He kisses the top of my head and rests his chin against me. "I missed sleeping with you." He sighs deeply. "I missed our bed. And these sheets. I hate that fucking bus."

And now he loves my eyes.

Can he not just go one step further and love me?

"Will you make me cupcakes tomorrow? I love your cupcakes."

Grinding my teeth in frustration, I nod. "Of course."

For God's sake, please stop loving everything under the sun and love me back, I beg silently.

But he doesn't say it. He rubs his foot up against mine and falls asleep, leaving me rewinding back to that hashtag he posted, hoping that was a hint.

#Love

Chapter 30

Talon

"It's so big," she says, her eyes going wide as she cringes and pulls away.

"It's not as big as it looks."

"Yeah, it is! It's huge. And pointy. I don't remember this from the last time I had this done to me."

"Try to relax." I grab her small hand and squeeze it. "Think about something else, and you won't feel it going in."

"Are you kidding?" she says incredulously. "That's impossible."

Lukas trades a teasing glance with me while Asia freaks out in the chair and I lean against his table, shaking my head. I had a feeling she was going to freak out about the needling.

"Asia, I won't do this if you're scared. That's not how I work. You have to want it," Lukas says gently. "If you're scared, you'll wiggle and you could cause me to screw it up. I need you calm and unwiggly."

"I do want it. It's just pointy and noisy."

"Baby, trust me, it's not as bad as it looks. It's only going to sting a little."

"Rayne!" Lukas yells over the wall of his cubicle. "Bring me the rescue remedy drops!"

A few minutes go by, and my sister comes to us with a glass of water and a little amber bottle in her hand.

"What's that? You're not drugging my wife."

Rayne rolls her eyes. "It's a natural calming remedy. It works most of the time."

I narrow my eyes at her. "Is it safe?"

"Yes, Tal. It's totally safe. We're not idiots."

"Okay, I'm just checking. I don't want my wife all roofied up."

"You're such a nut." She puts a few drops of the remedy into the water and hands it to Asia. "Sip this. It should make you less nervous." She looks over at me and then back at Asia. "I hope you don't have him in the delivery room if you ever have kids."

Asia laughs as she sips her water. "That's definitely something to think about."

"Hey, if we have kids, I'll be in that room making sure no one does the switcheroo with my baby. That shit happens all the time."

"Maybe get a puppy first," Rayne advises. "You know, to sorta practice."

"We have a cat that calls me Daddy. I'm already practicing."

Lukas leans back in his stool. "So, you have a talking cat? Does it wear a hat?"

"No, Asia talks for her. And yes, it does wear hats. And dresses."

My sister cracks up. "I really need to come to your house."

"Rayne, you're welcome anytime. We have plenty of room; you could stay with us for a few days if you want to," Asia says.

"I may just take you up on that. I'm living with Gram now, and although I love her to pieces, sometimes I feel like a little break would be nice. She's constantly feeding me. I'll be a whale soon."

Asia lies back and pushes her jeans down a little, and Lukas starts his work inking my name on her hip. It's a good thing I trust my cousin, because I'm all sorts of fucking jealous watching another guy touch my wife's body.

"Just keep sipping the water and it should relax you a little," Rayne says, then leaves to go back to her reception area.

"You okay, jelly bean?" I ask.

She winces a little. "Yeah, it just burns. Your sister is gorgeous, Tal. Maybe we should have her model some of the clothes for my website? We could pay her. Maybe Kenzi, too? I don't see why we should hunt for models when you have two beautiful girls right in your family who would probably love to model for us."