Page 46 of Trusting Tanner
He hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but he had, and he wasn’t sorry. From what little she’d said about her ex, and the information he’d gotten from Devon, there was a lot more going on than he knew. And if he was going to have a relationship with her, he needed to know what he was dealing with.
“What didn’t he do? It’s a much shorter list.”
He put both of his hands on her thighs. Her body was stiff again. “It’s okay to tell me.”
“Well, you know he cheated on me. I told you that already.” She lowered herself, putting her weight in all the right places, but she still didn’t relax.
“Yeah.” His heart rate spiked, and he sucked in a hard breath, trying to focus on what she was saying and not the fact she was straddling his growing erection.
“In the beginning, things were great. But our first Christmas together, we’d only been dating a couple of months, he told me he was traveling with his family, which is why he hadn’t invited me home with him. I found out later that was a lie. He just didn’t want me to meet his parents.”
Tanner ran his hands down her thighs then back up, hoping the soothing motion would help her relax. “I’d put you on a plane right now and fly you home with me. You could meet my parents, my brothers, my cousins. Hell, I’d even take you to the cemetery and introduce you to my dead grandparents.”
She laughed, and the tension in her legs disappeared.
But he wasn’t joking.
“Zach was very selfish. Everything was always about him—what he wanted to do, who he wanted to hang out with, where he wanted to go, what he wanted to eat, how he wanted to have sex. Who he wanted to have sex with.”
Tanner clenched his teeth. Acid rose in his throat. Hearing about Jules’s past sex life wasn’t something he wanted to endure, but more than that, he wanted to beat the dumb-ass for hurting her. What kind of dirt bag loser treats a woman like that?
“Sorry.” She frowned. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear about that.”
“I’m sorry. You deserve so much better.”
“He told me I wasn’t long-term material and…” She hung her head. “That hit me hard.”
He waited a beat, hoping she’d explain, but she didn’t. There was something in her tone, though. Something deeper than a shitty ex-boyfriend. “Where is he now?”
She looked up, her eyes hooded, preventing him from learning anything other than what she wanted him to know. “He graduated last semester.”
“He’s lucky.” Tanner rested his hands on her waist. “Because if I crossed his path, he wouldn’t be able to walk away on his own.” His tone was hard, and his words were clipped. He wasn’t a violent person, but he had no problem putting someone in their place, and her ex needed a taste of his own medicine.
“I don’t want to talk about him anymore.” She leaned forward, covering his mouth with hers. And then she bore down on him.
“Fuck,” he groaned, wrapping his arms around her and holding her down on him as he rocked his hips up. His cock was hard enough to crush steel, and there was no hiding it. Based on her small gasp and the way her tongue plunged frantically between his lips, he knew she felt him.
She dragged her fingers down his chest and then slipped her hands up his shirt, her fingertips tracing the lines of his abs. God, she had the softest touch. His stomach clenched, and he jerked forward involuntarily. Liquid heat pulsed through his veins, melting his nerve endings and igniting a diabolical slow burn inside of him.
“What would you like to talk about, then?” He could barely get the words out past his heavy breathing. Gently pushing her onto the couch, he brought his body down over hers. She hooked one leg around his waist as if she were afraid to lose the lower-body contact. “Personally, I’d like to know your thoughts on public displays of affection.” He eased his hand up her shirt, giving her waist a firm squeeze.
“Are you serious right now?”
“Oh, I’m very serious.” He nipped at her bottom lip. “I mean, if we’re going to keep seeing each other, I’d like to know what my limits are. Is kissing in public okay?” He parted her lips with his tongue and groaned with delight when she met his kiss, her tongue dueling with his.
“Mmm…kissing is definitely okay,” she murmured, her eyes still closed.
“What about holding hands?” He laced their fingers and pinned both of her hands above her head.
She nodded and then wiggled her hips, shredding his self-control. He pressed forward, and she gasped. Goddamn, he wanted her. He wanted to take his time peeling every stitch of clothing from her body, and then spend the entire day and night worshipping every gorgeous inch of her.
“What about this?” He pressed his lips to her neck, and she shuddered beneath him. His cock strained behind his zipper.
“Tanner.” She pulled her hands free from his and pushed against his chest. “As amazing as all of this feels, I don’t want to spend the day on your couch dry humping like two teenagers who don’t know how to do the real thing.”
“My room’s not far from here. I could take you there instead.”
She laughed. “Not really what I meant.”
