She clears her throat and fixes her skirt under the table before standing. “I… ah, need the restroom,” she announces to the table.
Tora makes a hasty run for it with Kaylah telling her to wait up, which is when I notice Jackson looking after Tora with a strange curiosity. He looks at me, back to Tora, then me again which is when understanding dawns. He knows exactly what went down and the way he grins, chuckles, and shakes his head tells me he’d probably have done the same thing had Elle been here.
Chapter 3
We step through the door of our home in Broken Hill and I swear, having Tora walk through it with her bag of belongings in my hand and her diploma safely in hers is the best feeling in the world. That chapter of our lives is finally over.
We can now move on to bigger and better things, like making her my wife.
She had made me promise not to ask her until she had graduated and well, I don’t intend on waiting long. Not long at all.
I usher her through the door and drop the bag at the front.
After her graduation dinner, Jesse and Jackson convinced us that it was the best idea to find a club and celebrate in a true Ryder fashion, though, he sent Kaylah back with the parents, not wanting her anywhere near a club in case she was to fall or pop a baby out on the dance floor.
We stayed out until three in the morning and then came stumbling through the door to her empty home, only to crash on the living room floor with only one pillow and our body heat to keep each other warm.
The house had been packed up the few days leading up to graduation and only that morning did the truck get filled and sent on its way back here. The removers sure made a mess of our garage as we weren’t here to tell them where to put everything, but that’s a problem for another day. One I’d happily tackle with Tora.
We spent the night on the floor and I gave her every last piece of me as I pushed up into her. When we woke up this morning, we realized we’d slept most of the morning away and then had a mad dash to get to the airport for our flight.
We handed the keys back to the realtor and now, here we are, happy to be home.
We walk in through the foyer and into the kitchen where Tora places her diploma down on the table. I grab her around the waist and haul her up onto it. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you home.”
Her arms come down around my neck as she leans into me. “I bet I’m happier to be home.”
“Not possible,” I tell her.
She looks around and checks out the back window. “Where’s little Jesse?” she asks, referring to our golden Labrador who is definitely no longer a puppy.
“Brooke’s been watching him for the last few days. She’s going to drop him home tomorrow. Give you a chance to get in and unpack everything first.”
Tora’s lips come down on mine and it’s like coming full circle. She’s finally here, in my arms, right where she belongs. “I fucking love you,” I murmur against her lips, absolutely loving her sweet taste.
She rests her forehead against mine and breathes me in. “I thought those three years were never going to end,” she tells me with her eyes closed, taking pleasure in being in my arms. “I could never be away from you like that again. I missed you too much.”
“Like I’d ever let that happen,” I tell her, sliding my hands down her body until they’re firmly on her ass.
I lift her off the table and she squeals out in surprise as she locks her legs around my waist. “What are you doing?” she laughs. “I have to unpack.”
“Screw unpacking. We have all the time in the world for that. I’ve missed you in our bed,” I tell her. “Nothing is more beautiful than seeing you naked in our sheets, laying on your stomach, with sexed up hair and the sheet just covering your ass. It’s fucking stunning,” I say, “but when the afternoon sun comes streaming through the window and casts a shadow down your spine right after I’ve been inside you…It’s a fucking wet dream.”
“You really have a way with words,” she mumbles, looking down at me as I carry her up the stairs.
“Just saying it like it is,” I tell her, running my fingers down her spine and loving the way a shiver takes over her skin.
I push through the door of our room and just as I had hoped, the sun is streaming through the window, casting the afternoon glow over our bed and I just know that watching her on top of me is going to be a sight I’ll never get enough of.