Chapter Four #2
“First, you are the most beautiful fucking woman that I’ve ever seen.
Second, I think your girls are pretty spectacular.
And third, this was a great idea you just aren’t ready for everything that I want.
” Torren laughed at the irony. He was finally ready to have his first grown-up relationship, and he found a woman who only wanted casual sex.
Tana wrapped her arms around Torren’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss.
He liked the way she took her time kissing and nipping his lips and finally sealing her mouth over his.
He rolled her underneath his body and pinned her to the sofa, breaking their kiss and leaving them both breathless.
“We need to talk first, then we can circle back to this.” Tana’s disappointed look made him smile.
“Fine,” she spat. Tana sat up beside him and straightened her clothes.
“Talk and stop telling me how beautiful I am or how great my kids are. When you say sweet stuff like that, it makes me lose my mind. How about we start with what you want from me exactly?” Torren pulled her onto his lap and wrapped her in his arms again.
He loved it when Tana got a little feisty; it made him hot and a whole lot bothered.
“I want you, Tana. I want to date you,” he admitted.
Tana’s eyes lit up, and Torren could see that she was once again getting the wrong idea.
He held up one finger, stopping her from agreeing to his plan because he wasn’t quite done.
“I mean like go out on a date, take you to dinner, and all that jazz.” Tana deflated and sat back against him.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for us having sex too, but I’m ready for a real relationship and I’d like to try having that with you.
” Torren suddenly felt shy. His face was warm, and if he had to guess, he was blushing.
“Torren, have you ever had a relationship with a woman?” Tana framed his face with her hands, looking him in the eyes, and he never felt so vulnerable.
It was almost as if she could see into his soul.
He shook his head, not quite able to find the words.
They sat like that for what felt like an eternity, Tana stroking his face and looking at him as if she was truly seeing him, the real him that not too many people got to meet.
“Tell me why you don’t want to date, Tana. What happened with your ex?” His words were almost a whisper, but by the look in her eyes, she heard him.
“He wasn’t a nice person. I don’t like talking about him; it’s still too painful,” she sobbed.
Torren pulled her against his chest, kissing the top of her head.
The last thing he wanted to do was upset her or make her cry, but he knew that Tana was keeping something from him, and the only way to find a way forward would be to hash out both of their pasts.
“I understand if you don’t want to talk about him, but I’m here if you change your mind. I don’t want to push you, honey.” Torren stroked his big hand up and down Tana’s small back, and he waited for her to continue, not sure if she would. Tana sighed against his chest.
“We were both so young when we got married, and I was foolish enough to believe that he was my knight in shining armor. Everything was perfect until Matt lost his job, and then he started drinking. He was mean when he drank, and one day, he hit me. I swore that I was going to leave him—that we were done. But I kept thinking that he would change because he loved me.” Tana hiccupped, “I was such a fool. People don’t change.
” Torren could feel his body tense. Did she believe that he couldn’t change and that everything that everyone in town said about him was true?
No wonder she didn’t want a relationship with him—she thought he was incapable of changing his ways and being in a committed relationship.
They would address that later; he’d prove to her that he wasn’t that same guy.
“I kept going back to him over and over. He finally found another job, and things were good again. We even got pregnant with the girls as a way to try to patch things up between us. I thought that a baby would fix our relationship. Boy, was I wrong. He lost his job again, and I took two jobs just to make ends meet. He started spending all his time down at the local bar and drinking away all the money that I was making. I got fed up and said something, and he beat me so badly that I ended up going into labor early and almost losing the girls. Hell, I almost bled out and died. When I woke up, he was in my hospital room holding one of the girls and telling me how sorry he was. I thought that it was just the wake-up call that he needed, and I believed that this time he would be better. I was scared and a new mom. I took him back, but his promises were all lies. I finally left and went to live with my mother. Taking the girls away from him only made him angrier. He kept harassing us, threatening to kill me and take them. He even said that if I didn’t go back with him, he’d kill all three of us because no one else could have us.
” Torren tightened his arms around her and pulled her body closer against his.
The thought of her ex laying one finger on any of them made him crazy.
How could a father want to hurt his kids?
“When I filed my second restraining order and the local police did nothing to stop him from getting into my mother’s house, I left.
I packed up the girls and drove out of town.
I didn’t even tell my mother where I was going because I didn’t want him to get the information out of her.
I can’t even let her know that we are all right,” Tana sobbed.
“He’ll find out and come after us. He was serious, Torren.
I know him, and I know that he wanted to kill us for leaving him.
He said I betrayed him and took what was his,” Tana sobbed.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you, baby. But not all men hurt women, and sometimes people can change. I promise you that he will never get near you or your girls ever again.” Tana shook her head.
“You can’t promise that, Torren. If he finds us, we won’t be able to stay here.
That’s why I don’t want to get involved in a relationship.
It will hurt too much to leave.” Torren crushed his mouth against hers.
Tana’s lips were soft from her wet, salty tears, and he deepened the kiss, taking everything that she was willing to give him.
Tana straddled his lap and let him pull her tank top up over her head.
She covered her breasts with her hands and tried to pull away.
“I’m sure that you aren’t used to doing this with moms. I’m sorry if I don’t quite measure up.” Torren gently tugged her arms away from her breasts and stared at her body. She was the most gorgeous fucking woman that he’d ever seen.
“You’re perfect, baby. Don’t hide from me—I want to see all of you.” Tana gifted him with a sexy smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Deal,” she whispered against his mouth. “As long as I get to see all of you.” Torren groaned and took her mouth again. Tana Cahoon was going to test every ounce of his restraint, and he was looking forward to it.
Torren pinned her underneath his body, pressing her half-naked body into her sofa.
She wanted to tell him to slow down and let her catch her breath, but when he kissed his way down to her sensitive nipple and sucked it into his hot mouth, she lost the ability to speak.
He was giving her exactly what she asked for—hot casual sex, but the practical part of her wasn’t happy with the outcome.
Torren admitted that he wanted a relationship with her, but was that what she wanted?
The idea of having a man in her life again scared the shit out of her, not only for her sake but also for her girls.
The twins were already attached to Torren’s puppy—what would happen when they fell in love with him too?
Tana knew that her girls would be heartbroken to lose another person from their lives, but what was she supposed to do?
Live like a nun? It was so long since any man touched her that every little graze of Torren’s fingers and teeth sent her body spiraling over the edge again.
He snaked his hand down into her shorts and ran his big fingers through her already slick folds, causing her to practically buck off the couch.