“Condom,” I say, kissing her nose.
She’s shaking her head no. “I’m on the pill; I want you now.”
I still. Holy f*ck! Never. Never have I ever ridden bareback.
Tatum can sense my hesitation. “What? What is it? I’m clean. After Josh, I got a full check-up.”
I cringe hearing her talk about him, especially when I’m about to be inside of her.
“I’ve never,” I say, my eyes boring into hers.
“Me either,” she says softly. “But with you, I want to. I don’t want there to be anything between us.”
Just the thought has me ready to blow. I lean down and rest my forehead against hers, still mindful of my weight so I don’t crush her. “You own me,” I whisper as I slide into her, no barrier, nothing.
Just us.
The feeling of being inside her like this is like nothing I have ever felt. I can’t tear my eyes away from hers as I slowly begin to move. She closes her eyes and moans. “Open your eyes, baby. I want to look into those beautiful greens. I want you to watch what being inside of you does to me.” Her breath hitches as I start to move a little faster. I’m not going to last. She feels like silk. My hand glides down and I begin to rub against her with my thumb. I hate this is happening so fast, but I can’t stop it. I refuse to go without her. I need her with me.
“Blaise,” she moans. “I’m…”
I lean down and place my lips next to her ear. “Let go, Tate.” And she does, my name falling from her lips and hers from mine.
Rolling to the side so I don’t crush her with my weight, I hold her tight against my chest. My entire body is trembling from the experience. I can’t speak and it’s work to pull air into my lungs. Never felt anything like it.
Tatum turns in my arms and lays her head on my chest. She rests her hands over my racing heart. “It’s never been like that,” she says.
I don’t say anything; I can’t. My voice won’t work.
Tatum looks up. “B?” she asks, biting her lip. I can tell she thinks my lack of conversation is for all the wrong reasons.
I kiss the top of her head and hold her close.
“You’re trembling,” she finally says.
I focus on my breathing to get myself under control. Once I feel like I can carry on a conversation, I roll on my side so we are laying face to face, nose to nose. I trace her face with my finger. “You did this to me. You ruined me for anyone else. That was the greatest experience of my life. Nothing will ever top that,” I say to her.
I watch as a tear slips down her cheek. I catch it with my thumb, then lean in and place a soft kiss on her cheek. “Why the tears?” I ask hesitantly. I’m scared to death I just ruined this.
“You, this, us. They’re happy tears, Blaise. I haven’t felt this way for…well, ever. Not like this anyway. I’ve never felt so connected with someone. I thought we had a freaky connection thing going before, but this, what we just shared, was intense and passionate. Scary.” She pauses as she absent-mindedly traces the tattoo on my arm. “My heart’s invested now, and I can’t take that back. I don’t want to.”
I bite back the words I love you. Yeah, I do and I want to tell her so f*cking bad, but it’s too soon. I have to take my time with her, or she’ll run. I can’t let that happen.
I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. “Mine too, Tate. I’m in this, you have all of me. It’s you and me,” I tell her.
“You and me,” she repeats my words as we both drift off to sleep.
Waking up in Blaise’s arms is the greatest feeling in the world. What comes after that is pretty damn amazing as well. Blaise made love to me again, then we showered…together.
I’m packing up our things and I can’t find my hairbrush. “Blaise, did I leave my brush in there?” I call out to him.
He walks up behind me. “This one,” he says, holding the brush. I jump. I wasn’t expecting him to sneak up on me.
“Yes, thank you.” I take the brush and shove it in my bag. “I think I’m all set,” I say, zipping up my bag. I turn to face Blaise; he looks nervous.
“What’s up?” I ask.
Blaise takes my hand and leads me to the bed. He sits down and pulls me into this lap. He has both arms around my waist and his head resting on my shoulder. “Tell me this is us, that once we walk out that door, we are still us.”
I sigh with relief. I was thinking he was going to tell me he made a mistake, that we are a mistake.
“We are us. We are whatever you want us to be. You fought for me, and here I am. What are you going to do with me, Blaise Richards?” I flirt to try and lighten the mood.
He kisses me hard, then says, “I’m going to shout from the f*cking rooftops that you’re my girl.” His hand cups my cheek. “You’re my girlfriend,” he says as his lips find mine again.
We get lost in the kiss, in just being with each other. Then we hear Ember beating on the door, telling us to get a move on. Blaise pulls back and a huge grin lights up his face. “Girlfriend, I have someone I want you to meet,” he says. We stand up, Blaise grabs our bags, and we leave our nest. I have no idea who he wants me to meet, but he seems excited about it.
Ember and Jackson are in the hall waiting on us, and both are all smiles. Looks like they had a great night. Blaise stops and pulls me to his side. “Ember, Jackson, I would like to introduce you to my girlfriend, Tatum. Tatum, this is my sister and her boyfriend, Jackson.”
I can’t help it, I bust out laughing; the rest of them do, too. Blaise is wearing his sexy smirk. I just shake my head at him. Ember pulls on my arm and we skip off down the hall ahead of the guys.
We beat the guys to the elevator and Ember pushes the button for the door to close. “Okay, talk fast we only have five floors. You and my brother?”
I nod my head yes. “Yes, I can’t resist him,” I tell her.
She smiles. “Good, finally. He has been head over heels for you since day one. Now my turn. Jackson told me he loves me!” she squeals.
“Ember, that’s awesome. I know how you feel about him.”
“I’ve known him for years, through the guys, and, well, he’s amazing. He looked so relieved when I said it back.” The elevator reaches our floor as the door opens she says, “That tidbit will have to get us through until we get home, but I want deets,” she says under her breath. The elevator next to ours dings and our guys walk off, both looking sexy as sin.
Checkout time is eleven and it’s ten fifty nine when we reach the counter. Blaise and Jackson check us out and we load up. We missed the hotel’s breakfast, so we’re all starving. The Richards are expecting us for the weekly Sunday dinner. I offer to be dropped off at the apartment, but Blaise is having no part of that. I’m a little nervous as to what his family will say about us. I work with his mom, and she has been amazing to me, they all have. But now things are different; I’m dating her son.
As soon as the car is stopped, Blaise is out and opening my door. He grabs my hand and our fingers intertwine. He leads me inside. He bends down to whisper, “I have more people for you to meet.” As we walk into the kitchen, he blurts out, “Hey, guys, I want to introduce you to my girlfriend, Tatum. Tate, this is my family.” He’s laughing by this point from the smiles on everyone’s faces.