Tucker (The Family Simon 1)

Couldn’t speak, because there were no words.

Couldn’t move, because she had nowhere to go.

Abby could do nothing but stare back into the piercing brown eyes that watched her from across the room.

Teague moved out from behind Tucker and placed their bags on the floor, closing the door behind them as the entire room fell into silence.

This reunion had been a long time coming. Those first few days had turned into nearly two weeks, and now that Tucker was here, only ten feet from her, Abby could do nothing but stare at him like a complete idiot.

In her mind, she was already in his arms, but right here, right now, she was frozen. Screaming inside. Happy. Scared. Angry. Grateful.

Tucker’s hair was lighter from his time in the sun, his skin tanned. With a few days worth of stubble on his chin, he looked dangerous and sexy and so much like home, that Abby wanted to cry.

“Tucker,” his mother said, rising from the sofa.

Tucker’s gaze didn’t waver from Abby. He strode across the room, his long legs eating up the space between them in less time that it would take for Cooper to pound back his Mathews Special.

Before Abby could react, his arms were around her, and she was crushed to his chest. Oh God, his warmth. His flesh and blood beneath her.

She still couldn’t breathe. Or Speak. Or move.

She heard someone talking—Teague?

But then Tucker scooped her up into his arms without saying a word to anyone, and headed for their bedroom. Abby buried her nose in his neck and tried to keep it together, but every inch of her was trembling.

Tucker kicked their bedroom door shut and then his hand was on her face, his touch gentle.

Something finally turned on inside Abby, and her eyes flew open.

“I love you.” Tucker’s voice was rough, but there was no mistaking the emotion that laced those words. His eyes held hers prisoner. “I love you, Abigail Mathews and I’m sorry that I waited so long to tell you.”

That was it. Abby was done for. With those three little words, Tucker had wrecked her.

“Oh,” she said, trying to bury her face in her hands. She was overwhelmed. Overwrought. Wrecked.

Gently, he tugged her hands away.

He kissed her forehead and murmured, “I love you.”

Then he sought out the corner of her eyes, his tongue sweeping the edge and taking care of the tears that sat there. “I love you.”

And then he claimed her mouth, a soft, gentle claiming that was more of a caress. All of the emotion inside her bubbled to the surface, and she made a strangled noise, her muscles suddenly free as she move

d in his arms. She needed to get as close to Tucker as she could.

God, she’d crawl inside him if it were possible. Bathe in his spirit, live in his soul. She wanted this man on every single level that existed.

He deepened the kiss, both hands sunk deep in her hair, holding her in place as his lips and tongue connected them once more. It was a soft, sensual kiss of welcome. A kiss of coming home. A kiss of promises and a future.

And it was a kiss that said he belonged to her.

“Hey,” Tucker said when they finally came up for air. “You okay?”

She brushed that long piece of hair off his forehead that always seemed to creep down. “You’re home. You’re home, so yeah, I’m good.” She smiled, sniffling a bit when he wiped the corner of her eyes again.

“Sorry. Don’t mean to ugly cry. I just…” she shook her head. “It’s been a long few weeks, and I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”

“I’m so fucking tired,” he admitted. “And I know I’ve got a lot of stuff to explain. Hell, I might not even be able to explain it all, but I’ll try.”