Tanner staggered into the bedroom. He threw himself into the first bed. There were two queens and barely enough space for a bureau. The door to the bathroom stood open. The floors were marble, the fixtures gleamed. I stared at Tanner as he shimmied up toward the pillows like a worm.
“What now?” I asked.
“Now we sleep,” he said.
“Come on.” I poked his side.
He groaned. “Go away.”
“We’re sleeping in the same room, I can’t go away.”
“Go sleep on the couch.”
“You got two beds, remember.”
He grunted and rolled onto his back. “Fine. If you’re going to touch me, at least get in bed with me.”
I gave him a flat look. “I want you to tell me what’s next.”
He sat up and messed up his hair with his right hand. “I doubt Bennigan saw where we went,” he said. “I hurt him just as bad as he hurt me, maybe worse. It’ll take him a few days to track us down.”
“In the meantime?”
“We’ll make some calls,” he said. “Talk to some people. I’ll heal and prepare for the next time Bennigan comes calling.”
“Are you sure there will be a next time?”
“I hope not,” he said. “But I need to prepare anyway.”
“This is crazy.” I sat at the edge of the bed.
“Yeah, I can see why you might think that.” He shifted his position and slid down next to me. I looked at him and he gave me a searching smile.
“How can you be so… calm?”
“I’m always calm.”
“But how? You almost got killed earlier.”
“Maybe, but I didn’t.”
“You’re crazy, you know that?”
“Probably. But you don’t do what I do and lose your cool.”
“So, what, you’re some kind of superman?”
“Exactly.” He smirked at me. His eyes glittered in the hotel light. His thigh pressed against mine. He was a lot bigger than me, and the thought sent a thrill of excitement down my spine.
“I don’t believe you,” I said. “You wouldn’t be doing… this if you were.”
“Doing what?”
“This.” I touched his leg.
He reached up and stroked his fingers along my cheek. My lips hung open. He was beautiful even battered and bruised.
“I know this is difficult for you,” he said and his voice was a gentle whisper, velvet against my skin. He moved close, lips inches from my ear. “I know this is terrifying. But you’re safe with me.”
“How can you be so sure? Earlier was too close.”
“No, it wasn’t. He’s the one who ran away, remember?”
“Still, he broke in, he—”
“If you keep going down this road and let yourself lose control over every possibility, you’re not going to be able to handle the next few weeks.”
“Weeks,” I whispered.
He tilted my chin toward him. “Let me help you.”
“Help me?” I shook my head. “How?”
He kissed me.
I almost pulled away. It surprised me so much that I nearly jerked my mouth back.
But his other hand snaked through my hair and held me there.
I sank into the kiss. I let him take his pleasure and reveled in his lips. I thought I tasted a hint of coppery blood on his tongue that made my heart race.
I wanted more.
He turned and pushed me back.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Helping,” he said and dropped to the floor in front of me. I got up on one elbow to stare as he tugged at my yoga pants and slid them over my ass.
“I don’t know how this is helping,” I said.
“You’re tense. I’m going to make you less tense.”
“Tanner—”
“I like when you say my name.” My yoga pants hit the floor. He leaned over me, bit my lower lip, then pushed me against the bed.
He pinned me there with his left hand on my shoulder, kneeling on the bed to my right, as his right hand moved down between my legs.
His fingers slipped up along my panties.
“Wet,” he said, head tilted, beautiful lips parted. “I thought so.”
“Tanner—” I gasped as he pressed at the top of my slit and rolled over my clit. “We shouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s late. You’re hurt. We should rest.”
“Excuses.” He pushed my panties aside. I felt cool air on my soaking lips. He rolled his fingers along me and spread me wide. “Look at you, dripping wet. When did you first realize you were soaking? Was it when we walked into the hotel? Or earlier, when I took a bath?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He let out a soft chuckle as his fingers teased me, rolling up and down my pussy, gathering up my soaking and spreading it all around.
“You want more truth from me?”
“Yes,” I groaned.
He slid two fingers deep inside. My back arched and a gasp escaped my lips.
“This is why I’m still here,” he said. “This is why I came back.”
“Fuck,” I moaned and rolled my hips.
He slid his fingers back out and moved them up to my clit.
An explosion of pleasure.
“I don’t know what it is about you, Elise. But I can’t stop thinking about your body, about the way you rode my cock, about the way you bit my shoulder. You kept moaning my name, yeah, just like that.”