Page 61 of Sunshine
There’s so much more to say, to tell each other, but instead, she buries her head in my neck, and we sleep.
I wake with a smile—a damn ear-to-ear grin, and those are usually only reserved for Reece. But Tessa, her scent all over mypillow, is in a tidy tight ball beside me. Within seconds she jolts up, limbs shooting up protectively as Jake calls to the heavens.
“Relax, Sunshine. It’s just your rooster.” I soothe her with a hand to her back.
She’s frazzled. Perhaps more frazzled than she should be over a rooster call she’s heard every morning for the last several months. She quickly settles though and looks over at me with a flat expression. “He’s not my rooster.”
I give her a crooked nod as I rise. “Uh-huh. I’ll gladly help you twist his neck. You’ll only be able to use him for soup though, he’s a mature bird. He’ll be tough as shit.” I smirk at her horrified expression because it’s exactly what I expect. She’s fallen for the little fucker.
“Coffee?”
“God, yes. Please.” She flops back onto my bed. “And biker?”
I turn to look over my shoulder as I’m pulling up my jeans. “Hmm?”
“Lay a finger on my rooster and I’ll burn your house down.”
I laugh, pulling the jeans all the way up, not bothering to button them.
“And another thing…”
Again, I look over at her.
“You’ve got a great ass, both in and out of those jeans.”
I smile. “Quite a compliment coming from you, Sunshine. And speaking of asses, how’s yours?”
Her mouth flattens and her eyes narrow. “Fine.”
I spin fully, taking the two strides to the bed in one step, and grab her, flipping her over. Her gorgeous ass is only slightly pink, but when I give it a swat she hisses. “Oh, it’s fine, is it?”
“My coffee isn’t going to make itself, you know.”
She huffs and I laugh, giving her bottom a dirty squeeze.
“Noted.” I walk out of the room. “By the way, your ass is the best I’ve seen. And if I didn’t love your sass so much I’d redden it again right now.”
There’s silence for a few beats and when I look over to the doorway she’s there, the sheet wrapped around her, her arm protectively holding it to her breasts. “It was the hottest thing I’ve ever done.” Her words are small, shy even, and I swallow at the flicker of vulnerability. Although she’s showing more of that side of herself to me the last few days, it doesn’t diminish the awe of it and her growing trust in me.
“The spanking?”
She shakes her head. “Not just that, although I really liked that. No, the whole thing. The way you take charge, put me in a submissive headspace. The way you peel away my hard layers, finding the real me within. The woman I would have become if my parents weren’t so…” She shakes her head again. “Never mind.”
I drop the coffee filter and go to her. “No ‘never mind’. I want to know everything about you.”
“My gran probably already told you.” Her narrowed eyes cut to mine. “Since you two were besties and all.”
“She had great taste.” I shrug with a grin but then turn serious. “Tell me.” I touch her cheek running my thumb along her soft skin. “I want to know you, Tessa. You’re not just some woman I’m fucking around with.” She lowers her face, so I cup her chin, tipping it back to me. “I care about you. You’re special.” My chest feels tight, and I can’t believe the words left my mouth. But no matter how nervous it makes me that the words are between us, I know they’re true.
“Tell me about your parents,” I press. “I know they traveled a lot. Took you with them.”
Her expression pained, she nods, so I scoop her up, sheet and all, walk the five steps to the couch and sit down with her in mylap. She leans against me, looking out the window across from her. “I’m only telling you this because you shared your story with me yesterday.” She sits up, looks me in the eye and presses her lips to mine firmly. “I know that was hard for you.”
“Not as hard as I thought it would be, Tessa Harlow.” These words are just as true as the others and I have to breathe in deeply to loosen my chest.
“I had no roots, no friends, no one to keep me safe. They left me with strangers, different ones, in different countries. Some were good people, but most weren’t. They had low standards when it came to finding people to watch me.” She glances at me. “They had important work to do and I was a burden.” She presses and rolls her lips, her face flushing as she tries to rein in her emotions.
“The final straw was when they came home to find that I’d locked myself in the bathroom for two days.” She holds herself, and the sheet, a little tighter. Instinctively I sense what’s coming and the heat of rage begins to burn inside me, but I don’t dare move, knowing it could stop her from telling a story that needs to be told.
