“I was surprised to see you. I was upset to see that you’ve chosen to wear…” He couldn’t even call those panties. They were horrific.
A little smile began to curl up her mouth. “This is about the undies? You’re mad I’m covering my pussy. Well, Case, I wasn’t sure if Boomer was going to walk in, and I thought I should leave a little mystery between us. As for these particular undies, I didn’t have time to do a bunch of laundry. I kind of got home, found out I had a crazy-hot stalker leaving me messages, and then I flew here so I wouldn’t miss you.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He might never take his eyes off her again. His cock jumped back to life. Months had passed. Months where he’d been hit on by several lovely women and not a one of them moved him. No one touched his soul the way Mia did, and Case had rapidly discovered that his cock definitely followed where his soul went. No pretty face or hot body could compare to Mia. Those other women didn’t glow the way she did, didn’t light up a room or make his heart do weird, fluttery things that he was never going to admit to. Never. Except maybe to his brother when he’d had too much Scotch.
Ian had told him to suck it up on the girly love stuff, poured him another drink, and then very quietly admitted he felt the same way about Charlotte and if Case ever said a damn thing to her, Ian would beat the shit out of him.
Then they’d talked about the Cowboys.
That was the Taggart way.
And so was this. He reached out and hauled her up. She was easy to move, all trussed up. A gorgeous, sexy piece of baggage. Mia had chosen to offer herself up like this. He would take it. They could work through their issues while finding the connection that had been missing for months. He’d missed touching her, missed tasting and loving her. And he’d definitely missed spanking her.
She gasped a little as he twisted her and managed to maneuver her so she was over his lap, the offensive panties in his line of sight. Those had to go.
He reached out and touched the curve of her hip, sighing at the contact. Finally he could touch her, feel the warmth of her skin under his. “I’ve been leaving you messages for months. Why today?”
Was it because of Theo? He would be all right with that. She loved adventure and she’d been a part of finding him the first time. Hell, she was why they’d found him the first time. She could come along but she needed to understand this relationship wasn’t ending the minute the op did. None of that fucking-until-the-op-was-over bullshit for him. This was forever.
Mia wiggled on his lap, but she didn’t complain. “I might have been stubborn and might have switched phones and not listened to any of your messages until today. The minute I did, I was here. Case, I’m so sorry I got rid of that phone because I didn’t want you to be able to reach me. I knew the minute I heard your voice that I would come back to you. Please touch me, Sir.”
Hearing her call him Sir made him long for more. He knew he likely didn’t deserve it, but one day she would call him Master and more than that, she would call him husband. He let his hand trace over the curves of her ass. So round and perfect, and made for his hand and his cock. This was exactly what he needed. He needed to be her Dom again, needed his strong, gorgeous sub here in his arms. She could knock him on his ass outside the bedroom. It was her job when he was a dumbass. She was going to be his woman, his better half. But here in the bedroom, he needed her sweet submission. He let his hand slide under the seam of those awful undies. “It’s all right. I needed the time to sort a few things through. I needed to be better for you. But Mia, just because I’m working on my temper doesn’t mean I can’t lose it again.”
She held on to him. “I wasn’t angry that you lost your temper. I knew you would be mad at me for what I did. It was how cold you got.”
He didn’t remember feeling cold at all. Never about her. He definitely wasn’t feeling a chill now. He began to draw the panties over her hips, exposing her gorgeous skin. “I was never cold. Not about you. I made a massive mistake, but you’re the one who walked away. I never intended for those to be the last words we said to each other. Not once. Even when I was angry as hell at you, I knew I wouldn’t let you go.”
“I didn’t see how you could possibly love me when you thought those things about me,” she said quietly.
“And I didn’t think you could possibly love me at all. I was angry. With you. With me. With Theo. With Ian for letting Theo go. I was angry about everything. But I wasn’t stupid. I wouldn’t have let you go. My every intention was to send you home so you could think about what you’d done. I was treating you like a child instead of letting you be my partner. I need to know if you can forgive me, Mia.” If she couldn’t, he would keep on trying until he changed her mind. Nothing was more important than winning her back, than being the man she needed him to be.