Chapter 9
Nighttime at Honey the excitement came even faster.
Someone saw me—really saw me—and didn’t ask me to be smaller, simpler, easier for them to want.
I leaned in and pressed my lips against his in a soft, tender kiss.
“Okay,” I whispered.
I didn’t know what else to say to that. To him.
So, I kissed him again.
Or maybe he kissed me back, I didn’t care.
I just knew I wanted it to never end.
His mouth caught mine as if we were both starving for something sweet and real.
There was heat, but underneath it was something steadier.
He wasn’t devouring me. He was memorizing me.
Like every kiss was a question, or a promise.
And each kiss back was a silent agreement, acknowledging that I wasn’t going anywhere.
My fingers twisted in the front of his shirt as I slid forward on the prep table, thighs parting to hook around his waist. He groaned softly as I pulled him closer, and his hips pressed into mine in a slow, teasing grind.
“Tanner,” I whispered against his mouth.
“Yes, Sugar?”
“Did you touch yourself before you came here?”
He didn’t shy away from my question, nor offer some macho reply, instead, he smiled against my lips, biting my lower one. “Twice,” he answered. “I probably should have gone for three, so I didn’t pin you to the counter the second you looked at me with those big blue eyes.”
I moaned, sliding my fingers under the hem of his shirt as my eyelids fell shut. “I’m not mad, either way.”
“I’ll remember that for next time.”
“Next time, let me watch.” I countered, and he made a noise that sounded like an injured animal as he bit my neck with the slightest pressure. It wasn’t nearly as rough as I wanted, but it gave away how on edge he was. “Do something else for me.”
“Anything.”
“Touch me.” I begged in a whisper.
His hand moved up to the hooks of my overalls and flicked them both open without a second of hesitation. They fell onto the table behind me as the front folded forward. The roughness of his palms electrocuted me as he ran them over my bare midriff under my crop top, and he bit my lip again.
“Yes.” I moaned.
“I’ve been thinking about this since the first time you smiled at me across that counter,” he murmured, kissing along my jaw, down to the spot just beneath my ear as his fingers slid up under my shirt. “I’ve jacked off to thoughts of you more times than I care to admit.”
I gasped and leaned into his touch, pushing his hands up my shirt until his thumbs brushed the underside of my bare breasts, and a growl escaped his lips as a whimper left mine.
“I had a dream about you the other night.” I admitted. “I’ve played with myself every night since then.”
He nipped my earlobe, “Tell me about it.”
I groaned, tipping my head back and pushing my chest into his hands as his thumbs brushed across my hard nipples. I had small breasts, but he didn’t seem to mind as he played with them under my shirt, face buried in my neck, hips rocking slowly between my thighs.
“You snuck into my shower.” I licked my lips, trying to think. “And you said all the right things, touched me in all the right ways. It felt so real.”
“Was I the only other one in the shower that night?” He asked, and I groaned, feeling guilty.
“No.” I shook my head slightly. “Rhea joined us.”
“And what happened when she did?” His hips moved in a perfect, teasing rhythm with his fingers, playing with my nipples.
“You held me while she ate me out,” I whimpered when his fingers pinched around my nipples and tugged, creating an inferno in my lower belly.
I leaned back on my hands, and he didn’t hesitate to lift my shirt up, revealing my chest to him completely before lowering his lips around one nipple and sucking it hard enough to rip a needy gasp from my throat.
“And then she stroked your hard cock between my thighs and put you inside of me, helping you fuck me just right.”
“Damn,” He growled, flexing his hips harder, pinning me to the table. “That’s not what I was expecting.”
“Do you hate it?” I stammered, unsure if I had taken it too far in revealing my deepest desires when things were still so new.
“Did you take care of her while I fucked you?” He countered, ignoring the question. “Did you make her feel good while you took me deep into your body?”
“Yes,” I moaned, dragging my nails over the back of his scalp as he moved to my other breast and sucked hard. “She loved the way you pushed me against her with each thrust.”
He rested his forehead against my sternum, forcing a deep breath into his lungs as his hands gripped my waist as if he were holding on for dear life.
“I shouldn’t want that,” he admitted, tipping his head back to look up at me.
“But I do. Tell me what you want,” he rasped.
“Tonight. Tomorrow. This whole damn mess. Say it.”
“I want you,” I said, panting and pulling his lips back to mine. “I want your hands. Your mouth. I want more nights like this. More mornings, too. I want to stop feeling like it’s wrong to want both of you. I want to stop feeling like it’s all going to fall apart into pieces.”
He stilled, just for a breath.
And then he kissed me like his life depended on it.
“Then don’t feel guilty,” he said. “We’ll figure it out. I’m not asking you to have it all solved tonight. Just let me in. Let us happen.”
“I’m scared it won’t work,” I admitted.
“I’m not.” His thumbs brushed my cheeks; eyes locked on mine as he pulled back. “You think I’m not tempted to get jealous? That I don’t wish I’d had you to myself a long time ago? I do. But I also know when something’s real. You and I—that’s real. And if Rhea’s part of that? Then we make it work.”
My heart pounded, raw and open.
“You’re dangerous, Officer Brooks.”
He smirked. “Yeah? You’re the one who brought me into your bakery and fed me carbs with dirty little smiles until I fell for you.”
I laughed, choked and breathless and so stupidly addicted to him as he pulled my shirt down, covering me back up. “I don’t want to stop,” I pouted.
He smiled, rocking his hard-on against me again, making me moan. “I don’t either, but I don’t want to do this here. Not like this.”
I blinked up at him.
“We’re going to do this right,” he said, brushing a kiss to the tip of my nose.
“You’re going to have this same conversation with Rhea.
And when we’re all on level playing fields, I want you in my bed.
Or yours. No tile dust or tools, and no secrets or guilt.
Just us. And her, if that’s what you want. ”
Because there was always Rhea where there was Tanner in my mind.
And somehow that didn’t scare me anymore with his acceptance.