Chapter 33
Aisling
Present day
I wake up to the sounds of birds chirping, the tent glowing orange in the morning light. I lift my head from Tanner’s broad chest and he groans quietly, immediately slapping his hand down over his eyes.
He repositions us gently, my back meeting the soft sheet that we slept on as Tanner nudges his large quads between my thighs.
“Not ready to sneak you back over to your tent yet,” he rumbles in his deep morning voice, stubble scraping over my breasts as he laps gently at my nipples.
“Don’t make me go,” I plead teasingly, giggling into my hand when he smirks up at me, sucking harder.
He leans up and cages a thick forearm above my head, grinning cockily down at me as he rubs his length between my thighs. Then he dips down to kiss me gently, a growl in his throat as he pushes my knees wide.
He buries his face in my hair, biceps flexing as he fists his length.
“Let me put it inside of you,” he rasps, his voice so gravelly that my nipples pinch.
He nudges the thick head against my heat and my hands clutch desperately to his broad shoulders.
Just as he begins groaning, licking warm stripes up my neck, he immediately halts his hips as we both think the same thing at the same time.
“Condom,” he rumbles gruffly, panting like crazy.
He gives himself a few long seconds before dropping his rigid cock onto my belly.
“Sorry,” he rasps quietly, kissing my cheek before he rises onto his elbow, squinting around for his wallet so that he can find a condom. “I’m so turned on that I can’t even see,” he admits, an anguished laugh leaving his throat.
He pulls up a couple of sheets and pieces of clothing, before dropping himself back on top of me, bunching his fists in the pillow.
“Just gimme one minute,” he drawls, voice muffled against my throat. “Then I’ll find the rubbers and take that pussy nice and slow.”
“But I want you now,” I whisper, smothering my giggles when he immediately throws himself upright. He whacks the back of his head against one of the poles and mouths the word ow as he fights his own laughter.
“Fuck,” he whispers, grinning down at me as he rubs his head. Then he scans the area for his wallet, tossing his shaft while he looks around for it.
He spots his wallet at the edge of the tent and practically tears the thing in two, grabbing the three remaining foil squares and smiling down at me when he sees me giggling excitedly.
He’s just about to tear into one when his phone suddenly buzzes beneath his discarded shirt.
He’s still holding the edge of the square in his teeth, one second away from ripping it open as his eyes flash to mine. Then they flicker down between my thighs and I see his irises flash and darken.
I ease the packet from his teeth and rise up onto my knees, kissing the centre of his heaving chest.
“Take the call,” I whisper, kissing his mouth when he frowns warily, torn.
After a long beat he exhales deeply, glancing down at his shirt and to the rectangle glowing beneath it. He grabs his phone from beneath the cotton, blinks down at the screen, and hits answer .
“Hey,” he rumbles quietly, laying back down and hauling me on top of him. I have to stifle a yelp as he hauls me onto his chest and he grunts against my throat when he accidentally slips an inch inside of me.
His eyes are practically watering as he withdraws his cock from between my thighs, his shaft flexing violently as he tucks me firmly against his side.
“Yeah,” he rasps into the phone, clearing his throat before whispering, “yeah, that’s great.”
I keep my eyes on his heaving chest, not wanting to draw his attention when he’s taking a call.
The large warm hand wrapped around my shoulder reaches up to brush my cheek. I peek up at him from under my lashes and he turns his phone screen so that I can read it.
Mom.
A little disturbing considering the fact that he was almost inside of me a second ago but I nod up at him anyway, realising that he’s showing me the screen so that I know that he isn’t hiding anything – or anyone – from me.
“Okay, yeah,” he murmurs, his voice a hoarse scrape. “On it, Mom. Okay, love y’all, bye.”
His thumb taps the end call button on the screen and he tosses his phone to the bottom of the tent, broad chest lifting heavily as he rakes his free hand roughly through his hair.
“I need to go,” he rasps, his palm scrubbing over his tan forehead. “Have to head back to Carter Ridge for a few days. Important stuff.”
When he drops his hand and looks down at me I know that he sees the flash of fear in my eyes, the sudden worry that this is his way of leaving me after getting what he really wanted.
He instantly presses his mouth down on mine, grunting quietly as his hand squeezes my throat.
“Let me rephrase that,” he murmurs, panting hard as he pulls away. “Don’t know if I mentioned it before, the other reason why I came to spend the summer in Larch Peak, but if I didn’t… okay, so one reason why I came here is because it’s where Hunter and I are going pro this fall. But I also wanted to spend the summer somewhere close to Carter Ridge, because I wanted to be able to head there ASAP when my dad got back from deployment.”
Tanner holds me closer, gazing toward the warm orange tent canopied above us.
“He’s home,” he says simply, “so I need to head over there and see him.”
My eyes flick between his strong handsome face and the large muscles of his chest.
“Okay,” I whisper, even though I wish that I could keep him here with me until my own journey at Larch Peak is over – until my mom has seen my first renovation and decided whether or not I can start working on a small-town house-flipping branch of their business. I listen to the powerful thump of his heartbeat. “I hope that you have a lovely time.”
His large muscles shift beneath me and when I look up he’s lifted himself onto one elbow. His brow is slightly raised and he’s giving me an amused lazy smirk.
“Ash, are you fuckin’ kidding?” He laughs quietly as he grips my ass, dragging me back on top of him. “You’re obviously coming with me. I’m not about to leave you here.”
I blink down at him in surprise and let him push my chest roughly down onto his.
“I can’t meet your parents,” I whisper, gasping when his palms cup my breasts. “Especially when your dad has just got back from d-deployment.”
Tanner rolls me onto my back and takes my mouth with his.
“Good a time as any,” he rumbles. “He’s away so much you gotta take every opportunity you can get.”
My heart squeezes in my chest at the thought of Tanner, younger than he is now, waiting for months at a time and wondering if he would ever see his dad again.
“Tanner…” I argue, not wanting to intrude. “That’s a really big deal. It’s, like, family time.”
“Exactly,” he rumbles. “That’s why you should be there.”
I try to smooth away the little crease in my brow. “But we aren’t even together yet. It’s way too soon.”
A hint of a smile crease flexes in the strong hollow of Tanner’s cheek.
“If it was up to me we would have already done this four years ago. Trust me baby, it’s not too soon.”
He hunches down to kiss me slowly and then he rolls onto his back, pulling me along with him so that I’m laying on his large chest.
“Everyone here is going to know,” I whisper as he pulls back slightly, cupping my face in his big warm palms.
“What d’you mean?” he murmurs, kissing my cheeks as I frown at my own thoughts.
“Like, no-one knows about us yet,” I whisper, “and if we suddenly both leave the campsite–”
“We don’t have to stay in Carter Ridge,” he murmurs quickly, voice rasping as he kisses my neck. “We’ll come back as soon as you need. Your mom’s gonna check out the lake house next week right?”
I kind of can’t believe that he remembered me telling him that.
“Yeah,” I say warily, “but–”
“We’ll be back before that, by at least four days. And fuck the guys here knowing where we are – as long as we tell your brother, it’s no-one else’s damn business.”
“You think we should tell Connell?” I gasp, swallowing nervously as Tanner shifts us again and ranges his large body on top of me.
“I don’t wanna lie to him,” he rumbles, his stunning eyes looking sincere as they carefully search mine. “Do you… not want him to know? I’d just rather be honest, let him know where you are.”
I nibble nervously on my lower lip, eyes on Tanner’s chest as I try to calm down.
“I know you’re right,” I admit quietly, “it’s just hard for me to be so open about… feelings and stuff is all. Putting my heart back on my sleeve,” I whisper, glancing down at my little freckle.
Tanner flashes me a handsome grin and lifts my arm up so that he can kiss the tiny love-heart. He grins as I smother my laughter with my free hand, and he starts licking at it like an animal, groaning obscenely when I try to kick him away.
“You’re such a caveman,” I pant, giggling into the pillow as he rolls me over.
“And you’re in my cave, baby,” he rumbles, smothering me with kisses.
He rolls on a condom and positions himself behind me, giving me that handsome grin when I can’t stop laughing.
Then he presses a kiss to my dimpled cheek and murmurs, “Again.”