Love Surfaced Page 22
“My life is pretty complete right now,” I say.
Placing the water on the counter, he situates himself back into the same position from a minute ago, except his hands reach behind me. I yelp when he thrusts me forward, squeezing my ass.
“Mine, too.” His lips press against mine for the tenth time in the last half an hour.
Not that I’m complaining.
twenty
“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, PIPER. I need to be with you tonight.” Tanner is standing in front of me.
I smile at the desperation in his voice.
“I told my mom that I’d help her with the flowers. I’m sorry. The rehearsal is tomorrow.” It’s tearing me apart that I can’t be with him.
“Can I help you to get things done faster?”
His eyes widen in hope, and I shake my head.
I cringe. “Do you think we’d really get it done faster?” All I see is his roaming hands on my body every time my mom turns around.
His head bounces. “Probably not. What if I just sit down with you?” He sneaks his hand out to my hip, lifting my shirt to touch my bare skin.
Fully aware of the shivers shooting up my spine from his touch, I attempt to deter him. “I should spend a little time with my mom. You know how she is.”
He nods. “A little clingy . . . in a good way.” A smile quickly encases his lips, not meaning to offend.
How did I make it two years without him? I don’t want to leave him.
“Of course. In a loving way,” I correct.
He chuckles. “You always have the right words. Text me when you’re done, okay?”
I nod, my voice caught in my throat, as his hand meanders across my skin.
“All right. I’ll go spend some time with your brother.” He bends down and kisses me quick.
“Hey, what’s with the short kiss?” I ask, grabbing his arm and swinging him back my way.
“It will only torture me if I kiss you how I want to right now.”
I laugh and place my hand on his cheek.
“Then, let me torture you.” I inch up on my toes, my lips pressing on his.
He shuts them, fighting my tongue as it tries to break into his mouth. My laughter at his antics doesn’t stop me. My hand slowly moves down his chest, sliding further, and I cup his balls with my palm. His mouth opens immediately, and my tongue takes advantage. Once his tongue dances with mine, I moan, unable to refrain from the pleasure he draws out of me. Stepping up, he pushes me against the wall, pinning me with his hips. As the bulge grows in my hand, my willpower to hold of from having him now grows weaker.
Just as I’m about to say, The hell with my mom and her flowers, he steps back, and my confused body attempts to cool down.
“What?” I ask.
He laughs. “Have to leave you wanting more.”
He winks, and I narrow my eyes.
“You could take me all night, and I’ll still wake up, wanting more.” I walk by him. “I’ll text you later,” I say in a song voice while sashing my ass back and forth.
“I’ll be waiting.”
I feel his eyes on me the whole time I begin to retreat to the basement, and it’s nice to know that I could turn around and be in his arms in a second. But wanting to finish the flower arrangements, I painstakingly take each step.
THREE HOURS LATER, I’M CLIMBING the stairs, holding on to the railing. “I have no feeling in my fingers,” I whine.
My mom laughs. “Hey, you’re young. I’m old, so imagine how mine feel,” she jokes behind me as her hand pushes my ass up the staircase.
“Thank you, Piper” From her relaxed shoulders and upturned lips, I know how much my help means to her.
She follows me into the kitchen, and I spot shadows out by the pool.
My eyes squint to figure who is out there. All the porch lights are off, only the pool lights showing any sign of activity.
“I’m beat. I’m going to bed,” my mom says before kissing my cheek.
“Good night, Mom.” I smile and then peek out to the pool again.
Then, my phone vibrates in my back pocket.
Tanner: Come on out.
Me: Is it only you?
Tanner: Yeah.
I don’t hesitate to open the French doors and escape to the moonlit sky. After I weave in between the tables, Tanner’s body emerges from the lounge chair. His chest is bare, and his body is wet with his swim trunks hanging off his hips. I have a sudden urge to shed my clothes.
“Hey,” he greets me.
I watch the glistening drops fall off his body. “Hi.”
“I was out with Brad tonight and thought I’d wait for you for a little while. I saw you in the window.” He holds his hand out to me, and once I place mine in his, he pulls me into him.
“You’re wet,” I whisper.
“And you’re about to be.”
His hands skim down my spine, and I push my chest against his, arching my back.
I tilt my head, my lips cascading kisses up his jaw, while he molds my ass in his hands. He backs up to the nearest lawn chair, and I sit down, eyeing his bulging swim trunks right in front of me. I peer up through my eyelashes at him, and goose bumps engulf all over my skin when he licks his lips.
He bends down on his knees, his hands cupping my face. “I love you, Piper,” he says, filling my heart with his words.
I graze the back of my hand down his stubble cheek, and he closes his eyes.
“I love you,” I softly admit.
Ever so gently, his fingers slide up my legs, past my waist and under the hem of my shirt. He casts a trail of kisses up my stomach while he pushes the shirt off my body, leaving me in only my bra. I take a deep breath as his lips move up my neck, and his fingers round my sides to undo my bra. As the straps drop from my shoulders, a tormenting groan rumbles from his throat, as he pulls one cup down, taking my breast into his mouth. I arch into him more as his tongue teasingly twirls around my nipple.
I hold his head to me and my heavy eyes close, reveling in the waves of passion and love rolling between us. His mouth scorches my skin, as he painstakingly explores the crevice and globe of my breasts. He eases my bra from my arms, and his hands skim down my abdomen before unbuttoning my pants. The sound of the zipper brings a surge of excitement that this is actually going to happen. I’m finally going to have Tanner McCain inside me again.
Switching sides, he wraps his mouth around my other breast while wiggling my shorts, directing me that he wants them off. Taking my hands off his head, I push back on the chaise lounge chair and scoot my butt up. I hear the clothes land on the ground, and the cold air chills my naked body.
Tanner inches up and guides me down, so my back rests along the chair. He climbs my body, lying on top of me, igniting warmth to my core. His two hands gently push the strands of my hair off my face as my heart turned over from his deep loving gaze.
“You’re gorgeous, and I’ve imagined this moment so many times, but I don’t want to take you outside your parents’ house,” he admits, his finger lazily weaving through my hair.
I wrap my hands around his waist and his hard chest crushes my breasts. My desire for him rising too fast to consider waiting. “I just want to feel you. I never want to be away from you again.”
He kisses my neck, swiping his tongue up to my ear. “But—”
I tighten my thighs against his waist and he circles around my center. “No, Tanner. I want you inside me. I want to feel how much you love me as we come.”
He pushes up on his strong arms, hesitation embedded in his sight.
“Don’t think,” I repeat his own words to me from years ago.
A small smirk crosses his face and I see his own matching desire for me overriding his gentlemanly intentions.
“We’re covered?” he asks, quickly closing the subject of waiting and I squirm under his hard body, itching to feel him.
I nod, a clear understanding between us.
My hands move down his body, and I pu
sh his swim trunks off his ass until my feet can finish. Once he’s naked, he centers his body to mine, and I feel his tip at my opening. My legs open wider, securing around his waist. His eyes pin to mine, he slowly pushes into me, and my back arches while my fingernails dig into his shoulder blades.
I gasp as he fills me. “You feel so good,”
He begins to circle his hips and thrusts into me. “I love being inside you,” he mumbles in my ear before sucking my earlobe into his mouth.
My chest rises and falls with my rapid breaths from not only the exertion, but also from trying to get our bodies as close as I can. My hands splay across his back, flowing down his tense muscles, as he continues to spread a fire throughout my body.
“Don’t stop, Tan,” I say, clenching harder to subdue my orgasm.
Winding his arms around the back of my shoulders, he urges my body to match his tempo, driving him deeper inside. An eruption of nerves frenzy inside and my thighs clench harder around his taut waist.
“Oh my God,” I whimper, nuzzling my head in his shoulder.
My hands grip his sweaty body, eager to find some kind of hold, while he manipulates and controls our rhythm.
“Don’t ever walk away from me again.” Tanner forcefully speaks at the same time he thrusts into me. “I was lost without you,” he whispers in my ear. He’s always that mixture of sexy and sweet.
I surrender to him and become unable to fight his masterful skills that send me to surrender.
My core tightens. “I’m coming, Tan. Oh God . . . you . . . oh . . .” I explode into a million pieces.
Tanner pushes two more times before he stills inside me murmuring my name.
His body collapses on top of me, and his lips sweetly land on mine. “I love you,” he murmurs.
My arms tighten around his shoulders. He draws out of me, and I already ache for him. Situating himself on the side of me, he reaches for a towel on the other chair, slowly wrapping it around us. My body sinks in the curve of his body, melting into his arms.
“I told you I’d make you wet.” He chuckles.
I shake my head in amusement. “That you did.”
“You want to go for a swim?” he whispers in my ear.
“I don’t have my swimsuit.” I purposely wiggle my ass into him, feeling his excitement for round two.
“I don’t think that’s a problem.” He moves away from me and stands up.
The moonlight casts down on his trim body, the muscle grooves glistening, and my heart soars because this Godly man is mine . . . all mine.
“You’ll keep me warm?” I accept the hand he has out for me, rising to my feet.
He encases me in a hug. “Always, Piper. Always.”
twenty-one
THE ORANGE HUES GLOW, SIGNALING the sun is rising. Tanner and I went for a swim and then talked until we both fell asleep from exhaustion on the lounge chair. His body sheltering me under the towels was better than my plush mattress by myself that I’ve become used to.
“Hmm . . . I’ll never grow tired of waking up with you.” I tilt my head to rest along Tanner’s cheek as he casts kisses on my shoulder.
“You never have to,” he whispers. His arm travels across my bare stomach as he slides closer to me.
“I will in two days.” My lungs constrict as I think about him getting on a plane for Colorado.
“Hey.” He kisses my shoulder, manipulating my body to face him. His thumb brushes along my cheek. “Come with me.”
My heart warms as I look into his honest eyes. “I just got my job.” As fast as my heart leaped, it sinks faster. There’s no possibility of us being together physically right now.
“Then, I’ll train here.” He tightens his arms around me.
The sun peeks over the trees, and I’m unconsciously counting the limited minutes we can steal before my mom wakes up.
I shake my head with a small smile. “No, you won’t.” He won’t sacrifice his dreams just for us to be near one another.
His lips turn down.
“We’ll just do long-distance for a while,” I bravely answer our dilemma, with the solution we’d rather not use.
Torture packs in his eyes, . “No, we won’t. I can find somewhere here to train. Sure, I’ll have to go back occasionally, but you can come with me.” He gathers me in for a hug and kisses my cheek. “I can’t go another night away from you, especially not in two days.”
His arms snug around me like my own human security blanket. I never thought I’d be a girl who needed a guy, but I need Tanner. These past two years were torment for me, not seeing him or hearing his voice. I desperately craved his sweet kisses, gentle touches and contagious laughter. Only knowing what he’s been up to from Google and off comments from Brad was gut-wrenching, to say the least. How many nights did I lie awake in my bed at night, recalling our short month affair and how loved I felt in his arms? Now, I’m expected to have him for twelve hours, and then ship him on a plane. It tears me up. I may have turned into the clingy girl I hated back in college, but I won’t allow him to put his dream in jeopardy. I’m a big girl and I can handle a little separation until the time is right.
“Tanner, I won’t allow it. You need to be in Colorado if you’re going to make the team.” I pull back from his embrace, placing my hands on his face, the stubble pricking my palm. “We’ll figure it out.” My confidence even surprises myself, but it feels nice being the decisive one.
He maneuvers on top of me, kissing my shoulder. Resting on his elbows, his eyes study me for a moment. “When do classes start?” he asks.
My breath hitches and I rock into his hardness. “September. After Labor Day.” My arms wrap around his waist, grazing up and down his bare back with my fingertips.
“Then, come back with me for one month.” He bends down, his lips scatter moist soft kisses along my collarbone.
“Okay,” I agree.
His head bolts up. “Really?” he questions, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
“Yeah.” I giggle because he resembles a kid at a candy store.
“Then, we’ll figure the rest out after. Once I’m on the team, we can come up with something permanent.”
“Okay.” I continue to appease him, only pulling a wider smile across his mouth.
He slams his lips on mine, muting my laughter at his overzealousness. Breaking apart, he pins me with his eyes again. “Don’t worry. I’ll make the time for you. You won’t be sitting next to the pool all day, watching me swim back and forth.” His determination and promise that he can carve time out for me, warms me further if even possible.
I smile. “That doesn’t sound so horrible,” I joke.
He kisses me again, making the pit of my stomach whirl with arousal.
“Hey, I like hearing you say that.”
He tilts his head. “What?”
“Once you’re on the team. I like the confidence because you’ve been tossing comments about you being a shoo-in off your shoulder all week.”
He face goes somber. “I hate to get my hopes too high, you know? I did that once, two years ago, and then my whole life crumbled in my hands.”
His body slumps, and I slide my hands up until I’m holding his head to mine.
“All is forgotten now.”
He leans down, our foreheads resting on each other’s once again. “I love you, Piper Ashby, and I promise never to ruin us again.”
“Me, too.”
His fingers dig into my hair, tilting my head back. His tongue licks up my neck until it reaches my earlobe. “I can’t wait to have your clothes in my closet, your toothbrush next to mine, and your body in my bed,” he whispers.
My body melts into the cushion. “Kiss me,” I demand softly.
His lips linger over mine, claiming them.
“Shit! Seriously?” Brad’s booming voice rings in my ears.
Tanner pulls the towel tighter around our bodies as he laughs.
“Sorry.” I cringe.
Tanner continues chuckl
ing while shielding me.
I glance at Brad, who has his hands over his eyes.
“Is this what I’m going to have to deal with?” he asks, his phone in his hands. “I’m guessing neither of you have your phones?”
Tanner looks down at me, and I shake my head.
“Nope,” he answers for both of us.
“Didn’t think so. Get dressed, and come into the house. News isn’t good.” He spins around and disappears.
I hear the door shut behind him.
“What do you think is up?” Tanner asks.
I shrug.
“You don’t think . . .” Maybe there’s a chance Brad came to his senses and called off the wedding.
Tanner shakes his head. “I know the boy is confused, but that’s not exactly something Brad would do. He’s not one to admit his bad decisions.”
I nod, agreeing.
Climbing off of me, Tanner picks up my clothes and places them on the chair. Then, he grabs his trunks, sliding them up his legs. He eyes me as I shimmy my shorts up my body, and I play seductive kitty by biting my lip, and dropping my chin to my chest, as I push my ass out a little more. .
He laughs. “Keep going, even if those are moving the opposite way I prefer them to go.”
I toss the towel at him, and he swiftly catches it. As I slide my shirt over my head, his hands flow up my stomach before the fabric falls.
“Can you spend the day with me today?”
The feeling that he wants so much of my time and body is indescribable. I’m on cloud nine, and I don’t want to come down anytime soon.
“Yes,” I answer.
He beams. “Let’s go up to the university.”
“Okay.” I don’t care where he takes me as long as his hand is in mine.
“I guess we have to get whatever Brad’s doing out of the way. Don’t want him to think I ditched him for his sister.” He laughs.
I nuzzle into his strong arms one last time. He kisses the top of my head, and I push back from his warmth, turning around and walking into the house.
I open the door to my parents’ house, ready for the barrage of questions sure to be thrown our way. My mom isn’t one to miss her daughter in clothes she wore last night. Plus, Tanner is in his swim trunks. Not to hard for them to put two and two together.