I didn’t know what else to do or say, so I turned and made my way back into my bedroom. I didn’t care if everyone had heard. I didn’t care if they judged me for it or laughed behind my back once we all dispersed for the day. But I wanted to make sure I said my piece before leaving to go stay with my sister.
Because I knew that was what I had to do.
But Tanner stepped into my room and closed the door behind him. “So, you’re going to your sister’s?”
I shrugged as I tossed one of my shirts into my luggage. “Better than staying here with this craziness. I’m surprised you can hear threats coming with how much everyone fights around here.”
He chuckled as he came up behind me. “What if I told you that I never stopped loving you either?”
I froze. “Don’t you dare repeat those words just because—oh!”
He gripped my hips and whipped me around before cloaking my back with his arms. “I’m not just repeating them, Summer. I mean them. And you can ask anyone else around here if you don’t believe me.”
My eyebrows rose. “You’re being serious.”
His face came closer to my own. “As a heart attack.”
“Oh, Tanner,” I whispered.
“Please, don’t go,” he murmured.
The second his lips connected with mine, I was transported to another realm. I slid my arms around his neck as he guided me to the bed, pressing his body between my legs. I pushed his jacket off his shoulders. I locked my legs around him and felt his girth growing against his jeans. And as our tongues dusted off the dance from our youth, our teeth clattered with the force of our kisses.
Before our clothes came off in a flurry.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
He nibbled at my neck. “Not the scrawny kid you remember, huh?”
My hands rumbled down the muscles of his back. “Jesus Christ, take me any way you wish.”
He growled as he pinned my hands above my head, our bodies clad in nothing but its skin. His lips crashed against mine while the tip of his cock caught against my entrance, and when he pushed inside, my back arched with pleasure. Electricity shot through my veins, sizzling my muscles to their very core. And as my body molded to him—as my hips bucked against his ravenously—I lost myself in the warmth of his muscles as he fell on top of me.
Pounding against me like a wild animal.
“I love you so much,” he growled.
I raked my fingernails down his back. “Don’t stop. Holy shit, please, Tanner. Don’t ever stop.”
My toes curled and my mind fell blank as his lips wrapped around my pert nipples. I slid my fingers through his disheveled hair as his tongue lapped and pressed against my puckered peaks. He sucked them between his teeth as if he were about to have a little snack, and the second my walls caved around him, his cock pulsed within me.
“I’m coming! I’m coming! I’m coming!” I choked out.
Then, he pulled back and slammed into me before his body unleashed.
“Jesus fuck, Summer. So tight for me. Oh, yeah.”
I collapsed against the bed. “I love you so much.”
He collapsed against me, his cock filling me to the brim. “I love you too, Summer.”
As his body cloaked my own, I stared up at the ceiling. His soft kisses dotted my bare shoulder and I closed my eyes, committing every single second of it to memory. I moaned softly as he kissed down the valley of my breasts. He traced my stretch marks with his tongue while his hands danced along the peaks and dips of my curves.
I never wanted the moment to end. I didn’t want us to part only to have to get on the road and put all of this behind us. I wanted more moments like this one. I wanted the life with him that we had promised one another back when we were children.
I still dreamed about that life.
And if he was willing to have me, I was willing to put in the work in order to build it.
Feeling him panting against me was the highlight of the entire moment. Not because we were finished, but because it was a moment of weakness that Tanner always allowed me to be privy to. He worked hard for my pleasure, always, and to feel him collapse against me made me feel as if he trusted me with his vulnerability.
But when his cock stiffened inside of me again, he slowly pushed himself back up.
“Ready for round two?” he asked with a grin.
I giggled breathlessly. “I don’t know if I can even move after something like that.”
He gripped my ankles and tossed them over his shoulders. “That’s okay. You can just lay there.”
“Tanner, just give me a—oh, holy fuck.”
He sank deeply into me. “I see some things never change.”
I panted softly for air. “Like the fact that you push my limits?”
He folded me in half as his lips danced along the shell of my ear. “Like the fact that you still like it when I do.”
I groaned. “Don’t stop.”
He pulled back and slammed into me, causing my eyes to widen. His lips captured my own, swallowing my groans and moans as my juices dripped down his balls. He pinned my wrists back above my head once more, but instead of holding them down he threaded our fingers together.
Before his body rolled deeply against my own.
“Oh, Tanner.”
I breathed the air I afforded him. “You’re perfect, Summer. Perfect for me, after all these years.”
Tears rushed my eyes. “I love you. Please tell me we’ll make it out of this alive.”
He released my hand, gripped my chin, and forced me to look into his eyes. “Even if it kills me, you two will make it out of this alive. You have my word.”
My eyes watered. “I don’t want you to die.”
He kissed my lips softly. “Then, I won’t.”
I lost myself in the rippling strength of his body. I lost myself in the way he pushed electricity through my bones with every thrust of his hips. The way he growled and grunted with his efforts stopped my heart, and every time he kissed me, he breathed life back into that same unbeating heart.
I had missed him so much that I didn’t realize how much it had affected my life, my mind, and my soul.
That was, until I heard those words dripping from his lips.
“I love you, Summer. I love you. I’m gonna come. Come with me. Do it. I know you can.”
He shoved himself deep inside of me before his thumb pressed against my swollen clit, and as he stood there, watching me fuck myself against him, I chased my high. I locked my ankles around his neck and pushed against his finger as my walls clamped around him. My eyes rolled back as I fisted the sheets within my hands, white-knuckling the soft fabric.
But it wasn’t until I heard those magic words that I finally fell over the edge for a second time.
“There’s a good girl,” Tanner growled.
“Oh, God! Yes!” I exclaimed.
My entire word went blank as my ecstasy robbed me of my breath. My legs slipped from his shoulders and fell off to his sides before he collapsed on top of me, covering my mouth with his as he spilled into me. The evidence of our love dripped down my ass crack. And as he crawled into bed with me, scooting me up with his arm wrapped around my back, I collapsed against him as a wet spot formed below me.
But I wasn’t in it for too long.
“Up we go,” he groaned.
He rolled me over until I was on top with my ear pressed against his heart. My eyes fluttered closed as he ran his fingers through my hair like he always used to do when we were teenagers. I closed my eyes and let myself sink into his warmth. His muscles girded me, creating a foundation for my body to rest upon as he panted for his own breath.
And as my eyes fell closed with exhaustion, I drew in a deep breath.
“What time is it?” I murmured.
He chuckled before he shifted around. “Eleven thirty.”
I sighed. “Her party’s over in an hour.”
“Are they feeding her lunch?”
I nodded mindlessly. “Yep.”
“Good. That means one less stop for us.”
I licked my lips. “So, are you going to be following us on your bike or something while I drive her to Sloane’s?”
He paused. “Actually, I think the plan is for all of us to travel in cars.”
I furrowed my brow. “I’m not following.”
He snickered. “Let my brain right itself, and then we can talk.”
I kissed his chest right where his heart was beating. “I like that some things don’t change.”
He leaned up and kissed my forehead. “Me, too.”
I wasn’t sure how long I laid there, but eventually darkness took over my vision. And when I came to, I found myself alone in bed with the comforter pulled over my naked body.
Which panicked me.
“Tanner?” I asked.
His voice emanated from the corner. “I’m here.”
I sat up and squinted my eyes to see him. “What time is it?”
He grinned. “Twelve, on the dot.”
I threw the comforter off my body. “I gotta get changed. I have to get her stuff so we can go pick her up.”
He stood to his feet. “Why don’t we go over the plan before we start packing up, yeah?”
I slowly looked up at him. “What do you know that I don’t?”
He eased me back down against the edge of the bed before he pulled the comforter over my shoulders.
“Brooks and I were talking out in the hallway while you were taking a little nap, and the both of us came to the conclusion that it’s smarter to drive than it is to take our noisy bikes.”
I nodded. “It’ll also be smart for you guys to leave your leather jackets behind.”
He sat next to me. “That’s the plan. What’s going to happen is you’re going to take one of the vehicles that Porter and Brooks are currently retrieving, and then they’re going to follow you a few car lengths back the entire way to get Cheyenne as well as the entire way to your sister’s.”
I blinked. “You aren’t coming along?”
He shrugged. “Didn’t want to make any assumptions. I wasn’t sure if this is how you wanted to introduce me to Cheyenne.”
I took his hand in mine. “I don’t think there’s going to be a good or bad time to introduce you two. I think it’ll happen when it happens, and it might as well happen now.”
He smiled a bit. “You think so?”
I nodded. “I know so. Because I know that if you aren’t in that car with us, I’ll be panicking the entire ride down and back. I know that if you’re not with us, Cheyenne will keep asking me what’s wrong and I won’t be able to hold off for too long before I tell her.”
He chuckled. “Can’t keep secrets any longer? You used to be so good with that.”
I shook my head. “I have one major rule in my house, and that is that I’ll never be upset with Cheyenne over something unless she lies to me about it. If she coughs up the truth, we work through it. Only when she tries to cover something up will I ever get upset.”
“That’s actually a good rule to have. But the trust goes—”
I smiled softly. “Both ways, yes. I can’t expect her to be truthful with me if I can’t be truthful back.”
“And you want to, what? Use me as a distraction?”
I shook my head softly. “No. I mean, not really, though it might serve as one. But what I really need is for you to be with us in case something happens. I need you there if something happens because I know you’ll do whatever it takes to get Cheyenne back, and that’s what I need. I need someone who will be as sacrificial with her as I am. Because I’m telling you, Tanner, I can’t live without her. If something happens to her, I’ll never come back from it.”
He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. “You have my word that no harm will come to her. At all. All right?”
I curled tightly against him. “Nothing can happen to her. She has to be okay. She has to come out of this okay, you hear me?”
He pulled me into his lap. “Shhhh, shh, shh, shh, shh. It’s okay. I gotcha.”
But then, a knock came at our door. “Tan? Summer?”
I sniffled. “Who’s that?”
Tanner cleared his throat. “What’s up, Porter?”
Ah, Porter. “Everything okay?”
He cracked the door, but didn’t come in. “We gotta head out in a few minutes. Just wanted to let you know.”
Tanner kissed my forehead. “We’ll be out in a few minutes, thanks.”
“No problem,” he murmured.
And when he closed the door, I stood to my feet. “Let me find her luggage full of things and I’ll throw on some clothes. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”
Tanner stood. “I’ll go get the cars in order and pack some road trip snacks, because this isn’t the kind of trip where we’ll be able to stop.”
I reached for my clothes on the floor. “Good idea.”
“Does Cheyenne have any allergies I should know about?”
I smiled at his question. “No, but she doesn’t like bananas. It’s a texture thing.”
He chuckled. “Her and me both. They have a great taste, like in milkshakes, but that’s about it.”
I barked with laughter. “Her favorite damn milkshake is a fucking banana milkshake. That’s hysterical.”
He laughed with me. “Then, maybe we can stop once to get us some milkshakes. How does that sound?”
And when my eyes met his, my future rushed around behind his gorgeous green eyes.
“Sounds wonderful if we can be safe about it,” I said.
“You’ll always be safe with me. You and Cheyenne, both.”
His sentiment struck my soul hard just before he eased out of the bedroom to give me some privacy, and I prayed to any God listening that he was right. I prayed to any God that still gave a shit about us that Cheyenne and I would make it to my sister’s safely.
Even if I had made the decision to come back with Tanner instead of staying in Santa Barbara.
