CHAPTER69
TANNER
Larisa and I lay together in the ridiculously large bed she’d put in here for me. I moved, still inside her, and was already sorry to have to leave her heat. Then I realized that I didn’t have to.
This really was our bed now. Neither of us had to leave and neither of us were in any hurry to go anywhere else. In fact, I didn’t even have a pesky condom to get rid of.
Excitement rushed through me, and despite the fact that I’d just come hard, my cock responded to the thought. Larisa laughed, blinking up at me when she felt it.
“What the hell?” she asked, chuckling. “Was that not as good for you as it was for me?”
“It was probably even better for me, but I’m not done with you yet.” I grinned as I lifted my hips to withdraw from her and then sank into her again. “I’m so fucking happy right now that I’m not sure I’m going to be done with you at all tonight. Are you staying, or did you want to go back to your apartment after all?”
“Oh, I’m staying until you get tired of me.” She laughed as she dragged her fingers through my hair and planted a soft kiss on my lips. “However many nights that may be.”
I smiled and kissed her again. “I’m never going to get tired of you, so I guess you’re here for the long haul then.”
“Good.” She rocked her hips from side to side to let me know she wanted me to roll over, and I went willingly. It took some maneuvering, but we managed to do it without me sliding out of her.
With her sitting on top of me, she held her hair off her flushed face with one hand and braced her free hand against my chest. “So, what now? I guess we have a few practical things to sort out, but I don’t really feel like talking right now.”
I thrust up into her and groaned when she caught her breath. “Nah, I can definitely think of better things to do than talk. Like christen our bed some more. Or our bath. Or any of the other surfaces in the house.”
An incredulous look settled on her beautiful features. “Our bed. Our bath. That sounds weird, doesn’t it?”
“Weird. Awesome.” I shrugged. “Whatever it is, it sounds right to me.”
“Same here.” She lifted herself off me, and when she came back down, I pulled her head down and kissed her as we got moving again. We ended up christening the bed and the bath before we finally fell asleep, but a short while later, we woke up again and she smiled as she turned on her side and looked at me. “Early morning snack? I’m starving.”
I laughed. “We’d better feed you then. Stay in bed. Let me go make something and bring it up for you. Some of us have to work in a few hours.”
“I’m sure I can get started a little bit later today.” She sat up and followed me when I got out of bed. “It’s not every day that your boyfriend asks you to move in with him and tells you he loves you for the first time. Also, thanks to the fact that you put some thought into this, I don’t even have to go back for my laptop before I can get started. I can just pop down to my office when I’m ready and dive right in.”
I snaked my arms around her from behind and pulled her back into me once we were both out of bed. “Do you want to cook naked? I’ve never done that with someone before.”
“I’d be happy to be your first.” She put her hands around my forearms and started forward. It was slow going down the stairs since neither of us seemed inclined to let the other go, but eventually, we made it to the kitchen and surveyed the snack options available to us.
“How about pancakes?” she asked. “I can make them from scratch. It could be an early breakfast instead of a really late-night snack.”
“Pancakes, huh?” I kissed the top of her head and let her go. I walked over to the cupboard in the corner that I’d stocked with pantry basics. “I can help with those. My mom used to mix the batter and keep some in the fridge for the next day. Should we do that?”
She cocked her head, pursed her lips, and moved them from side to side before she nodded. “That seems like a good idea. It’s very domestic, but I like it. Let’s do it.”
“Let’s do it,” I agreed, happier than I’d ever thought I would be to be planning breakfasts with someone. “It feels a little surreal, doesn’t it? That we’re going to be living here together.”
“You’re telling me,” she said. “Until a few weeks ago, I didn’t even know that you’d ever be interested in settling down, least of all with me.”
“Only ever with you,” I said confidently.
I pulled out the ingredients and placed them on the counter while she readied a mixing bowl and spoon. We worked together seamlessly, like we’d done this together before, and I felt another rush of adrenaline when I realized that we would be doing it together from now on.
She measured out the flour from memory and cracked the eggs into the bowl. “Have you decided what you’re going to do yet? We never got around to talking about what your financial advisor said the last time you went to see him.”
“Right.” I nodded slowly and tied an apron around my neck before I went to the stove to start warming up a pan. “He’s been playing the markets for me and he’s always got tons of advice on investments I can make, but I’ve asked him to look into a few things for me.”
“Such as?” she asked. “The housing project or something else?”
“The housing project and a few other things,” I replied. “Jeremiah’s earmarked a few properties in a few areas for us to go and have a look at, if you’re still open to considering the housing project. If you’re not, maybe you can suggest someone who will be? I’d rather do it with you, obviously, but I really need to do something and I’ve been talking to Jeremiah about it a lot. I’m definitely interested in pursuing the housing thing.”