Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Tanner
Icouldn’t have stopped myself if I wanted to.
Not that I did. The woman had been tempting me all damn night simply by existing.
She was funny and smart and had the biggest heart.
It showed in how she talked about her family and friends.
When she cared, she cared big, and that made her even sexier.
How I’d managed to wait this long without kissing her proved I was even stronger than I thought.
Until the very moment she gave me the green light.
With her requested kiss, I snapped. The instant my mouth crashed down on hers, I knew I was done for. A deep, needy groan ripped from my throat. My tongue came out, running across her bottom lip, and as soon as her mouth opened, I dove in.
She tasted like sunshine and sin. Like strawberries covered in rich dark chocolate.
My hands came up to tangle in her silky hair, and damn if it didn’t feel even softer than I’d imagined.
I tangled my fingers deep, using my grip to tip her head back farther so I could take the kiss deeper.
The little whimpers coming from her made me hard enough to pound nails, and when she fisted my shirt in her delicate hands to pull me closer, it took everything in me not to lay her out on the table so I could have my way with her.
As badly as I wanted to drown in this woman, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep from ripping her clothes off. “Mmm, sweetheart.” I forced myself to end the kiss, both of us breathing heavily as I pressed my forehead against hers. “We have to slow down or I’m going to lose my mind.”
She chased after my lips, her eyes glassy with lust. “Me too.”
I cupped her cheeks to keep her in place. “I don’t want to take this too fast.”
Holly nodded and tried pulling me in again. “Fast. Good. Let’s go fast.”
“No, baby, just listen.” I grabbed her wrists and pulled them away so I could straighten up.
I attempted a deep, calming breath, hoping it would get my throbbing dick under control, but all that did was fill my lungs with her citrus and spice scent.
“I don’t want to scare you off by moving faster than you’re comfortable with.
” The only thing I wanted more than to be buried deep inside of her at that very moment was to know I’d get to see her again.
I couldn’t risk running her off because I moved too quickly.
“Tanner?”
I blinked, managing to clear a bit of the lustful fog from my brain. “Yeah, Sunshine?”
“Screw slow.”
A sound like a record scratch blasted between my ears. “What?”
Her gaze was more focused than it had been a second ago. “I don’t want to go slow, and you’re absolutely not going to scare me off. I promise.” She grabbed me by the face, squishing my cheeks together as she declared, “Believe me when I tell you I want this.”
All rational thought flew right out the window in that instant, and I lunged. She let out a yelp when my hands spanned her waist and I hauled her out of her chair and into my lap. Our lips clashed together, and the only thought flying through my brain was that I would gladly drown in this woman.
Holiday
I was having an out of body experience. That was the only reason I could think of for why I was doing something so out of character. I wasn’t against one-night stands. I’d just never had one.
Until tonight . . . hopefully.
I moved instinctively, spreading my legs wide on either side of Tanner’s hips so I could settle more deeply on his lap.
I swallowed down his groan and fisted his hair in my hands as my tongue came out and swiped across his lower lip.
There might as well have been a gunshot starting off a race, because something in the mountain of a man I was currently straddling snapped.
If I thought he’d been wild before, it was nothing compared to the way he gripped my ass in both of his large hands. His fingers squeezed my flesh as he used his hold to rock the most sensitive part of me against the long, thick, steel rod I felt behind his fly.
A gasp ripped from my throat at the feel of him pressing against me.
Desperation and adrenaline coursed through my veins in place of my blood.
That first kiss had rocked my freaking world.
It had been the best kiss I’d ever had, and I knew, as his lips worked against mine and his tongue skillfully brushed my own, a man who could kiss like that could do so much more.
It was in that very moment I realized that every sexual experience of my life so far had been incredibly . . . boring. That had to be the case, because that first kiss with Tanner Fine was, hands down, the most erotic, thrilling thing I’d ever felt.
And I wanted more.
I wanted wild and passionate and exhilarating. I wanted to wash all that boring away, and my gut told me this man was more than up to the task.
A needy whimper slipped past my lips as Tanner continued rocking me against his erection, each brush causing my panties to grow wetter.
“Tanner,” I panted when the need for oxygen forced me to break the kiss.
I was pleading for something. I just didn’t know what.
But he didn’t let up for a second. With my mouth free, he took the opportunity to drag his lips down the column of my throat, sparking to life erogenous zones I hadn’t realized existed. “Oh my god. This feels so good.”
I could feel my release building. My entire body felt like it was about to go up in flames at any moment. But I needed more.
“Tanner,” I said again, begging for something unknown.
“I know, Sunshine,” he growled against my skin. “I know exactly what you need.” I didn’t have a doubt in the world about that, and I was totally willing to sit back—or lie back—and follow his lead. For a man I’d only started getting to know, I trusted him with this . . . for whatever reason.
My heartrate escalated and my breath stuttered as he pulled my hips tighter against his. “Tell me, Sunshine, are you wet for me?”
I sucked in a breath as I tried to focus on his face.
It was harder than usual to do, given that I felt drunk on him.
My tongue came out to swipe over my swollen, kiss-bruised lips.
I opened my mouth to tell him yes, but I couldn’t get my voice to work around the wad of cotton suddenly thick in my throat.
Tanner pulled back, his deep eyes lit with fire as they skittered across every inch of my face. His thick, expressive brows pulled into a frown. “Was that too much? Do you not like me talking like that?”
I’d never really given it much thought. I’d read plenty of it in books over the years, but fiction had been a far stretch from reality, at least in my case.
Blane barely did more than grunt until he got off with a noise that was more akin to an animal being torn to pieces in the middle of the night by something much bigger.
But the way my body reacted to his words, the way my core pulsed as I grew even wetter, was all the answer I needed.
“No. I mean yes! Yes, I liked it. I’m just . . . I’m not used to it. But”—a smile pulled at my lips—“I really liked it.”
His mouth curled into a deliciously wicked grin that made my insides feel like lava. “Good. Now answer the question. Are you wet for me right now?”
My chest rose on a jumpy inhale. “Yes,” I finally admitted on a gust of breath. “I am.”
He pushed his chair a few inches back and grabbed me by my waist, lifting me off his lap and onto my feet directly in front of him, cradled in the gap between his widely spread thighs. My heart was racing; it felt like something was crawling beneath my skin.
Tanner sat back in his chair, looking like the picture of casual relaxation as he braced an elbow on the arm of his chair and rested his chin in his hands.
If not for the hard-on that looked like it was trying to burst through his zipper, I might have thought he was unaffected.
His gaze was like a physical touch as it raked over me from head to toe, causing shivers to erupt across my entire body. “Then show me.”
“What?”
“I want to see how wet I’ve made you. Show me. Take off your pants.”
If it had been Blane giving that order, it would have given me the major ick, but those words coming from Tanner’s mouth were molten. I was so hot I worried I would pass out.
Any other time, I might have been too shy, but something about him made me feel courageous, made me want to reach out and grab what I wanted. And what I wanted most at that very moment was him.
With a newfound bravery I didn’t know I was capable of, I kicked off my shoes, hooked my thumbs in my waistband, and slid my leggings down my thighs until they pooled at my feet.
The hungry rumble that traveled up Tanner’s throat at the sight of my frilly lavender panties was like a hit of dopamine. I wanted to hear it again and again.
“Sit back on the table and spread your legs,” he ordered, and I was helpless to do anything but obey.
I took half a step back and bumped into the very edge of the table.
I gave myself a single moment to send up a plea to whoever was listening that the table would hold my weight, then hoisted myself up.
The finished wood was cool against my overheated skin, making me shiver as I braced my palms on the table behind me and slowly spread my thighs.
I felt like I was coming out of my skin. Like if he didn’t touch me at that very second, I was going to combust.
Tanner’s eyes had grown darker, reminding me of melted chocolate, as he dragged his tongue across his lower lip before pulling it between his teeth and biting down. “A little wider, baby.”
I did as requested, and I knew without having to see for myself that the evidence of my arousal was obvious, having darkened the material where I’d been dripping.
“Jesus, you smell like heaven.” Tanner leaned forward, so close I could feel the whisper of his breath against my sensitive skin. He inhaled deeply, his eyes rolling backward before falling closed. “I’ve been dying to do this.”
“Tanner,” I whispered, my arms starting to quake. “Please.”
“You need me to touch you, Holly?”
More than anything. “Yes, please. Please.”
He hummed, the sound lush and sinful. “Christ, you sound so pretty when you beg like a good girl. You know what good girls get?” I clamped my bottom lip between my teeth and shook my head.
“They get rewarded.” With that, he hooked a finger in the gusset of my panties and moved the lace aside.
Then he buried his face in my pussy and began devouring me.