Chapter 24
Tanner
“I thought you went to bed,” I said to Hannah as I walked out of my bedroom and into the living area of our suite.
She was in a pink, modest, cotton nightgown that shouldn’t look sexy, but on her, it did.
I was restless after showering, unable to sleep, so I’d decided to go into the kitchen and have a drink.
I’d found Hannah sitting on the couch, gazing out the window, which had three hundred and sixty degree views of the city.
She was hugging one of the throw pillows with a faraway look on her face.
She turned to me with a smile. “I tried to sleep. I guess I was still wired up from this evening. The show was amazing. Plus, I didn’t want to miss my last chance to watch this view at night.”
“If you like it that much, we can stay for another night,” I suggested as I walked into the kitchen with only a pair of sweatpants on.
I poured a glass of wine for Hannah and grabbed myself a beer before I walked back to the living area.
I put the drinks on the coffee table and settled myself behind her, my arms around her waist so she could lean back against me.
She tossed the pillow onto the couch and put her arms and hands over mine.
Now that I was here, I wasn’t going to miss the chance to have her sweet body against mine, even if it was fucking torture.
She let out a sigh of contentment that made the restlessness inside me settle down almost immediately.
“This really is an incredible view,” she murmured.
“It is,” I agreed. “Do you ever miss New York?”
The lights of New York were stunning, but all I could look at was Hannah.
I couldn’t remember a time when she’d looked quite this happy.
“Not usually,” she explained. “I mean, views like this make me appreciate it, and I do miss Broadway and some of the incredible food here, but I don’t think I’d want to live here again. I guess there’s a big part of me that likes being in a small town. What about you?”
“If I want the city, I can get there by jet or helicopter,” I told her. “I probably have the best of both worlds, but I always missed Crystal Fork when I was here. I was raised there. Granted, I didn’t miss the gossip or the things that drive me crazy about that town, but I missed the sense of community and most of the people. I also missed getting on a horse and getting away when I needed it.”
“And actually being able to see the stars at night,” she added.
“That, too,” I said with a nod as I reached for my beer.
“We had big dreams when we lived here,” she said as she picked up her wine, took a sip, and set it back on the table.
“In the beginning, that was about all I had,” I said drily. “I don’t think I ever understood why a woman like you wanted a guy like me. I was broke with nothing but an entry-level job and a shitload of dreams.”
“And a lot of ambition,” she added. “I knew you’d make your dreams a reality. Besides, I thought you were the hottest and most charming man I’d ever met.”
“I wasn’t charming. I’m still not. And I definitely wasn’t the best looking guy around,” I disagreed. “I was crazy about you, but I could never quite seem to find the words to tell you how I felt in the beginning.”
“Which is exactly why you were so charming,” she informed me. “You were a serious guy with no bullshit. That’s pretty refreshing here in the city. I was completely charmed.”
Okay, I wasn’t going to try to talk her out of thinking that I was charming. “And the scar on my forehead? And the fact that I’m just an average looking guy?”
“You are no such thing,” she scolded angrily. “You have the body of a god, and the most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever seen. That scar on your forehead was the only thing that kept you from absolute physical perfection, which was good. No woman wants to date an Adonis. They’re usually boring. To me, you were and still are…perfect. I had my own scars.”
Hell, I wasn’t about to try to get her to look at me realistically. If I was lucky enough to have that title with her, I wanted to keep it.
“Like I’ve told you before, I never saw those scars, Hannah. I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Still do, and that is never going to change.”
We were silent for a moment before she finally asked, “Why did your mother never tell you that I didn’t run off with another guy? I’ve been wondering about that. It’s not like my mother didn’t know the truth, and those two are best friends.”
Hannah and I had talked a lot about our past over the last few weeks, but maybe there were still a few things to say before we could leave it behind.
“She didn’t know what I was thinking, Hannah,” I said huskily. “I didn’t talk about our breakup. I couldn’t. I had to compartmentalize it to survive. The only thing that kept me from coming after you was my fucking pride. I avoided your mother for a long time. I didn’t want to hear about your life with someone else. When we did speak, I didn’t ask about you, and she could hardly give me any news about your life without me asking first. It’s not like you and I were old friends.”
“Your mom never said anything about me?”
“Not to me,” I grumbled. “I made it pretty clear that talking about you was off-limits for me, and you knew my dad. He wasn’t going to ask unless I wanted to discuss it. He slapped me on the back in sympathy when it first happened and told me if I ever wanted to talk about it, he’d listen. We never discussed you again. I traveled a lot, and went on with my obsession about KTD for a few more years. In my mind, there was nothing I could do about your choice. I didn’t have my shit together back then. It took me way too long to grow the hell up.”
If I’d had my priorities in order, I would have known that Hannah was sending me a message by leaving.
Instead, I’d taken it as a rejection, making an immediate assumption that was never remotely true.
“I didn’t have my shit together, either,” she said remorsefully. “But we’re here together now. It almost feels surreal to me.”
It actually felt like a fucking miracle to me, and I’d never take this second chance for granted.
Hannah was mine, and she was going to stay mine.
“If that ever happens again, I’ll find you,” I said in guttural voice.
She squirmed so she could turn around and face me.
Her actions were almost torture for me because that shapely ass was wriggling against my already hard cock.
Her beautiful eyes met mine with a vulnerable expression that made my gut ache.
“I’m not the kind of woman who runs away anymore, Tanner,” she promised. “I’m looking forward to the future too much for that. I could beat myself up for forever for not leaving a note, or not trying harder to get you to listen to me, but I can’t. I’m too happy right now to look behind us. Everything that happened brought us to where we are right now, and to the woman I am today. Would I handle things differently now? Of course I would, but I was pretty young and pretty messed up all those years ago. We’re both in a much better place to be together in a better relationship.”
Hell, she was probably right.
I hadn’t appreciated her back then, and I definitely hadn’t deserved her.
“I accept that,” I conceded. “But did it really have to take that many years apart?”
She wrapped her arms around my neck. “I’m not complaining. I’m pretty happy exactly where I am right now.”
I lifted a brow and tightened my arms around her waist. “That wasn’t exactly a complaint. I’m happy where you are right now, too.”
The only thing that would make it better is if we were both naked and in my bed right now.
Then it would be absolutely perfect.
As much as I wanted to just be close to Hannah, I also wanted her coming hard and screaming my name.
I hadn’t been with another woman since college.
I hadn’t wanted to be with anyone except Hannah since the moment we’d met.
And now that I was with the object of every one of my sexual fantasies, it was damn hard not to try to get her into my bed.
But it was going to have to be Hannah who made that decision, and I wasn’t going to rush her.
“I couldn’t sleep because all I could think about was you,” she said in a seductive voice that made my cock twitch. “I got myself off in the shower thinking about you, but that didn’t cut it for me.”
Holy! Fucking! Hell!
I didn’t want to rush her, but I wasn’t sure I could handle this conversation.
There was only so much a guy could take.
However, I must like torture, because I asked, “How long have you been getting yourself off thinking about me?”
It wasn’t like Hannah and I had never been intimate, and I wanted to know.
“Almost from the moment we saw each other again,” she said without an ounce of hesitation.
I grunted with satisfaction. “Same. I can’t look at you without wanting to bury my cock inside you until you’re thinking about nothing else but me.”
Hannah buried her hands in my hair and gazed at me with a vulnerable look in her dark eyes. “Do it,” she said suggestively. “Do it before I lose my mind. I want you, Tanner. I’ve always wanted you, but that longing is worse than it’s ever been before. I don’t care about our past or our future right now. I just want you to fuck me until I can’t think straight anymore.”
She put her hand between our bodies and stroked boldly over my hard cock before she added, “I think you want exactly the same thing.”
The desire in her liquid brown eyes broke me.
Hannah wanted me, and fuck knew I couldn’t go through another night without her.
I gripped her silken hair, holding her head to keep her looking directly into my eyes. “Be sure this is what you want, Hannah. Once I take your gorgeous body, you are going to be mine. No turning back. Ever.”
Her gaze burning into mine, she reached for the hem of her nightgown. “Then I hope you’re ready for a long night,” she said in a low, tremulous voice.
That was her answer.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Christ! She was bolder than she’d ever been, and that confidence ramped up my possessive instincts even more.
I needed Hannah, and I didn’t give a fuck about admitting that to myself.
My heart nearly stopped when she raised that demure nightgown up and over her head and tossed it onto the floor without looking away from me.
I broke eye contact then.
I couldn’t help it.
The woman had the body of a curvy, sexy goddess, and she’d been completely naked underneath that gown.
She raised a brow, an action that was almost a challenge.
A what-do-you-plan-on-doing-now-that-I’m-standing-here-naked challenge.
I had her on her back on the couch, my body over hers, before she could take another breath.
I gripped her hair, tilted her head, and growled, “I’ll make you pay for being a tease.”
“Oh, God, I hope so,” she said breathlessly.
“Count on it,” I vowed right before my mouth slammed down on hers in a greedy kiss that almost made my head explode.
Honestly, it wasn’t really a kiss. It was more like a desperate claiming of the only woman I’d ever really wanted.
I needed my cock inside her, but I wanted to possess her in every other way possible before that happened.
She moaned into my mouth, and fisted my hair.
She was panting by the time I released her lips to explore the soft, sensitive skin of her neck.
My mouth explored its way down her body until I finally got to the most delectable pair of breasts I’d ever put my hands or lips on.
I sucked one nipple into my mouth and lightly pinched the other.
The sexy gasp I heard come from Hannah’s lips told me that she still liked some of the same things that she had when she was younger.
Her hips lifted, and she started to grind against me.
“Please don’t tease me,” she insisted. “Not this time. I can’t take it.”
I could have reacquainted myself with her breasts for much longer, but the desperation in her voice was echoing my own.
Hannah wanted.
I needed to satisfy that desire.
I reached between our bodies and finally touched her soaked pussy, stroking a finger over her distended clit.
“Oh, God, yes!” she moaned. “Touch me. Please.”
Fuck that! I knew what made Hannah insane, and I was going to use that knowledge until she was coming so hard that all she could do was scream my name mindlessly.
There was going to be no satisfaction for me until I heard that happen.