Page 44 of Shelter for Tanna

Thirty minutes later, they lay naked and exhausted in each other’s arms in the master bedroom. “Wow, that was… wow,” Tanna whispered.

“Yeah. Middle of the day sex. That was fucking awesome, babe. Plus I could see everything, and I meaneverything,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

Tanna giggled. “But did you like everything you saw?”

“No. I loved everything I saw. And I want to see it again.” He pressed a slow, soft kiss onto her lips and she came back at him. Pulling back to look into her eyes, he was surprised when she rolled him to his back and climbed on top of him. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m not sure exactly how this works, but it looks like fun.” She dragged her slit up his length and Braden felt himself harden painfully. “Oh, would you look at that! I must be doing something right!”

“Babe,” he said, his hands wrapping around her waist, “you’re doing everything right.” When she lined herself up and dropped onto his hardness, Braden saw stars. Her warmth and tightness around him drove him crazy, and his hands slid from her waist up under her breasts and palmed them. “Jesus, you’re amazing.”

Rising and dropping again, she sighed. “You’re pretty damn amazing yourself. Ohhhh, yeah?nice and deep. That feels sooooo good.”

“You feel damn good yourself. You’d better enjoy being in charge this time, because next time, I’m taking you from behind and I’ll fuck you ‘til you can’t walk.” It was hard to talk, his need was so great, and he fairly growled out, “Hard and fast. You’ll be on your elbows and knees until I let you up.”

She was all smiles. “Then I guess I’d better enjoy this, huh?”

An hour later, as he knelt behind her, he pounded into her and listened to her cry out. God, it was so nice to be in the house by themselves so they could make all the noise they wanted! And she was really getting into it too. The woman was perfection, from her amazing, heart-shaped ass to her soft, round tits, those big, hard nipples, and that head of caramel-colored hair. Braden couldn’t believe she was in love with him. How lucky could one man get?

As they showered together afterward, he lathered her up and enjoyed just touching her, letting his hands slide over her skin, the scent of her body wash filling the room. When she was squeaky clean, he stood and daydreamed as her hands wandered all over him, his body wash leaving her hands slippery and satiny. If he’d ever had any dream he’d want to have come true, it was that moment with that beautiful woman in the shower. He wrapped his arms around her from behind as they stood under the pulsing water, rinsing the last of the soap from their hot, naked bodies. His chin came to rest on her shoulder and he whispered in her ear again, “Mine.”

“I’m yours. I’m definitely, totally, one hundred percent yours, Braden,” she whispered in reply and tipped her head back to kiss his cheek.

As they dried off, he remembered something. “Oh, by the way, while the boys and I were out today, Max asked if we were getting married.”

Tanna wheeled, her eyes wide and her mouth in a perfect littleOshape. “And what did you tell them?” she wheezed.

“I told them it was too early to say, but that it would be okay with me if that’s where we’re going with this.” When she didn’t reply, Braden asked, “Is that something you’d never consider?”

“Oh, no. It’s not that. It’s just that, well, it’s kinda fast.”

“Nothing about this is moving slowly, and that’s okay with me. I’m not saying we should do it next week or next month, but if that’s something you’re positively not interested in, I kinda need to know.”

“I’m absolutely interested. I just don’t want to get in a hurry, that’s all. Why is Max already asking something like that?”

Braden shrugged. “I guess he sees it.”

“Sees what?”

“How much we love each other.”

Her eyes closed and the corners of her lips turned up gently. “I guess that’s a good thing.”

“I think so.” Wrapping his arms around her, he drew her in close, her bare skin against his. “What I know for sure is that believing it makes your kids feel more secure. And I think that’s all they really need, to feel secure. They need parents who love them and love each other, and who support them and each other. That’s all any kid really wants or needs.”

She nodded as she pressed her forehead to his chest. “You’re right. I hope we can give them that.”

Laughter rolled from Braden’s chest. “Don’t look now, baby, but I think we already are!”

* * *

Saturday night was amazing in a quiet, normal way. Tanna watched in wonder as the four of them hung out at the house, cooking, eating, and cleaning up after dinner before entertaining themselves with a couple of shows on a premium cable channel. The room was large enough that everyone was comfortable, the boys seemed to love it there, and Tanna was in heaven as she sat on the sofa wrapped in Braden’s strong arms. Jesus, she was in love with the guy! It was surprising to her that he’d be fine with just sitting around. Most guys would want to go out, go to a bar or dancing or to the movies or something, but he appeared to be enjoying just being there as a family.

A family. Tanna’s heart soared. Thinking back, she remembered sitting like that with Michael when he wasn’t deployed and the kids were little. They’d be playing on the floor and she and Michael would be sitting on the sofa, watching some stupid show on TV, occasionally tying a shoe or finding a lost toy. She remembered Michael coaching Daniel’s tee-ball team when he was four. That kid had loved playing ball! He was fourteen, and there was a school team, but he’d never tried out. He’d never even mentioned it, and Tanna knew why. There wasn’t money for a uniform fee, or a player’s fee, or the physical exam and shots he’d need to play. And worse yet, there was no way for him to get to practices and then home, not to mention he was saddled with Max’s care. Tanna was at work. He didn’t have friends who played, so there were no moms to carpool with.

He didn’t have friends. Tanna’s heart broke as she watched her eldest son sitting in the chair across the room, flipping through the pages of the magazine Braden had bought for him. He never complained, and he never asked for things. He helped out as much as he could, got good grades, and was no trouble at all. But he never got invited to parties and never had kids over. The only reason he had a phone was because she felt he had to have one, being alone with Max sometimes, but it was a prepaid phone and he never used all the minutes because he had no one to talk to on it. A pang of guilt washed over her. That was all her fault. He’d never gotten to be a kid, and she grieved for the little adult he’d had to become. She was thankful for him but, damn, that was a job he shouldn’t have had to take.

Braden interrupted her thoughts. “So, babe, question. I was wondering about inviting a couple of my buddies over tomorrow. Well, them and their wives. And their kids. How would you feel about that? Nothing big, just casual. Burgers and dogs and that kind of thing.”

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