CHAPTER29
TANNER
“For the sake of clarity, you should know that I, Tanner Harris, want you, Larisa Ford, more than I’ve ever wanted anyone.” I breathed the words against her lips as I helped her onto my lap and wrapped my arms around her.
Her head hovered slightly above my own, and she smiled before giving me another searing but quick kiss. Then she reached for the hem of my shirt. “Oh yeah? Prove it.”
“I thought I just did.” I slanted my lips over hers and pulled her closer for a kiss that kicked things up another notch or two.
Her hands were still tugging at my shirt, but I’d had enough. Making out on my sofa wasn’t prime positioning. It made things more difficult than they needed to be, but there was also no way we were moving to my bedroom right now. I was too scared that something would go wrong between here and there.
Reaching down, I yanked the shirt the rest of the way out of my pants and pulled it off. There. Done.
Our mouths parted for the material to pass between us, and I slid my hand around the back of her neck and looked into her eyes as I held her there. “Anything else you need cleared up before you’re sure there aren’t any misunderstandings between us?”
She shrugged, her gaze on mine before she lowered it to my lips. “This doesn’t change anything between us. I’m still working for you and the terms of our agreement remain unchanged.”
“I wouldn’t have anyone touch that house but you,” I promised. “That it?”
“Yep.” Bringing her head down, she sealed her lips over mine and my head spun with the emotion I was putting into this kiss. I really fucking liked this girl and I wanted her to know it.
Our hands moved together to undo the button and the zipper on my slacks. I lifted my ass and she dragged my pants and my underwear off. When they hit my ankles, I kicked off my shoes and pushed the clothes off after.
Our movements were frenzied but deliberate, and I was naked in seconds. When our mouths clashed together again, I unhooked her bra and pulled it off, then took her worn-looking but still sexy as fuck lace panties in my hands.
“Are these somehow important to you?” I murmured the question between hungry kisses.
She lifted her head just enough for me to see her frown before her eyes widened. “You’re not ripping them off. Hang on a sec.”
“Well, I mean, I could rip them off,” I said. “I just didn’t want to do it without asking.”
“They’re not important to me, but I’ve got this.” She raised herself up on her knees and pulled her legs out of the underwear one at a time. “Okay, fine. Ripping them off would’ve been faster, but it’s always sounded a little painful to me.”
“I’m told it’s a pleasurable pain.” I kept kissing her. “We’ll try it next time. Then you can confirm it for me.”
Instead of replying, she settled back down on my lap now that the panties were off. Her slick heat grazed my cock and we both sucked in sharp breaths.
“Fuck, we need a condom,” she said.
I caught her face between my hands. “I’ve got some, but we don’t need them just yet.”
Her eyes met mine. “I want you inside me, Tanner. I know there's a bunch of stuff we can do, but I’m not interested in anything else right now.”
“Okay, hang on.” I reached down and managed to snag my fingers on my pants. I pulled them back onto the sofa and found my wallet still in the pocket.
She giggled against my mouth. “I’d have thought you had those stashed everywhere around here. Maybe even hidden between the couch cushions.”
“Don’t joke,” I groaned, aching to get inside her and fucking desperate to see what she looked like when she came. “I used to, but I got rid of them all in a ceremonial cleansing of the apartment when I promised myself I was done with random hookups.”
“This isn’t one of those?”
“No.” I got the condom on and looked into her eyes as I helped her position herself above me. “This is you. There’s nothing random about it.”
She sank down on me. Her breath caught, her eyes rolled back into her head, and the most exquisite moan I’d ever heard came out of her.
I hadn’t been bullshitting either of us. This was her.
I’d promised myself there would be no more fucking around, but this wasn’t that. This was being with a woman I could actually see myself having a future with—one that lasted for longer than a few days, at that. I wasn’t quite in love with her, but there was very much a “yet” that belonged at the end of that sentence because I could definitely see it happening.