Page 9

KAT

“Hey, gorgeous.”

I spun around and grinned when I spotted Tally in the doorway. “You’re back.”

He stepped into the room Dylan and I were sharing. “Dylan here?”

I shook my head. “Harmony took the kids out to get ice cream.” He pushed the door shut behind him and held my gaze as he walked across the room, making my heart flutter a little. I licked my lips, curiosity winning out over excitement. “How’d it go?”

“Turned out crackhead Post Malone was just the head guy in some stupid street gang. He folded pretty easily,” Tally explained with a shrug. “And while I’m not usually one to involve the cops, we stopped by your local station on our way out of town. Turns out he had about five warrants out for petty shit like bail jumping and not appearing on theft charges. So we let them know he was probably not doing so shit hot and where they could definitely find him.”

I stood tall, feeling like a weight was being lifted from my shoulders. “So when we go home, he won’t bother us?”

Tally’s face changed.

It was instant.

“Yeah. You’ll be fine.” He turned away, but I grabbed his arm.

“Tally—”

He pulled it away, shaking his head as he faced me again. “If that’s what you want, to be in Jacksonville, then just go. Maybe this time it won’t hurt so fucking much.” He stormed toward the door, but I couldn’t let him walk out.

“You think it didn’t hurt me?” He paused, his hand on the door handle. “You think it didn’t kill me to pack up my shit and walk away?”

He slowly turned around, scrubbing his hand over his face. “Then why, Kat? Because one day you were there, things between us were so fucking good, and the next day you were gone. No warning. No goodbye. I just showed up at your damn door, and Sophie had to tell me.”

“Because I was falling in love with you, and I didn’t think you would love me back,” I yelled, stumbling back and hitting the wall.

It was out there.

Off my chest.

The feelings that I don’t think I’d ever even admitted to myself floating in the air between us.

I swear, if I’d blinked, I wouldn’t have seen him cross the room toward me.

He moved so fast that I was suddenly wrapped in his arms and being carried to the bed. My back hit the mattress, and he climbed on top of me, pinning me to the bed as he hovered over me. “For a long time, I wished you’d given me a chance to fight for us. To fight for you. To show you I gave a damn.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, feeling a single tear drip down the side of my face.

I felt guilty and sad about the choice I’d made.

But I owned it.

“We really had no idea what we were doing then,” he said with a soft laugh. “Things were growing between us, and we were both trying to fight it and ignore it like it wasn’t happening.”

We had.

He had called me one day and told me everyone was commenting about us dancing together and Tally being around me more often. I think we both freaked out a little at that. Neither of us had been prepared for what we had to turned into—something more than just sex and good times.

But it had.

It happened fast.

And it seemed that neither of us was prepared for the feelings that came along with it or knew how to express them to each other.

“But I don’t want to make the same mistake twice,” he finally admitted, and the butterflies in my stomach were once again alive and fluttering. He lowered his mouth, his lips grazing my jaw, following the line until he found my mouth. My skin prickled with goose bumps as he hovered, his breath tickling over my skin. “And I’m not going to just let you leave again without a fight.”

The statement scared the crap out of me and filled my heart with so much joy.

Being back in the clubhouse had me questioning everything.

What I wanted for my future.

And how badly I wanted it.

Where we’d been didn’t matter anymore.

I’d made those choices.

I had lived with the consequences for eight years.

And now I was at a fork in the road.

It was time to make a new decision, and one that would possibly dictate the next eight years.

I grabbed the front of Tally’s shirt and yanked hard, pulling his mouth down to meet mine. The kiss was divine. It was intense and frenzied but filled with a passion that was only found between two people with a special connection.

He sat back suddenly, his hands working at my jeans. I couldn’t help but laugh as he unbuttoned them and grabbed the hem around both ankles, jerking and tugging them, lifting me off the bed as he frantically stripped them from my legs.

My panties were next, practically torn away and tossed across the room.

He didn’t waste a second spreading my thighs and ducking his head between them. I gasped as he kissed his way up my inner thigh, his stubble tickling the sensitive skin. I swore he covered every inch, torturing me until he reached my center.

One long swipe of his tongue through my pussy had me grabbing fistfuls of his hair and lifting my hips toward his mouth, seeking more.

He licked and sucked at my clit, his tongue circling the tiny bud before pulling it into his mouth like his favorite candy. The fuse was lit, and with each swipe of his tongue I was burning, getting closer and closer to detonation. “Tally, oh God,” I whispered, tossing my head back and grinding my hips against his face, searching for that final spark that would send me to the damn moon. “Oh yes!”

It felt like I was flying through the damn stars, a loud moan falling from my lips as pleasure rushed through my body.

One second, he was there, and the next, he was gone.

I was still flying high when I opened my eyes to see where he’d gone, only to see him kneeling, his jeans pulled down just enough to free his cock. It was in his hand, and he was watching me come apart while tugging it.

“So fucking pretty.” He reached for me, grabbing my hips and rolling me onto my stomach before pulling me toward him so I was up on my knees but spread wide open. I kept my chest pressed to the bed, my arms stretched up over my head.

He lined up his cock, running it over my wet slit a couple of times, bumping my sensitive clit and sending more electric spasms through my body before finally driving his length so damn deep inside me. He grabbed my ass cheeks, pulling them apart so he could press forward as hard as possible.

“Dammit.” I groaned into the bed, gripping the sheets and trying to keep from instantly coming again. Or maybe I was still riding that first wave. Either way, it was hard to think straight. I was overwhelmed by the sensation of him inside me again.

It was familiar, but at the same time, new.

We weren’t the same people we were before, but our connection was as strong as ever.

Just when I was preparing for him to fuck me hard, he leaned over, wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me up off the bed. With his cock still deep inside me, he held me against his chest, his mouth dancing along the crook of my neck as he began thrusting in and out.

“You feel me deep in that tight little pussy?” He growled softly in my ear.

“Mmm,” I hummed. That was all I was capable of at that moment, my other senses were overwhelmed and excited.

The angle was different.

It was so damn deep and hit all new places and buttons deep inside me.

I leaned my head back onto his shoulder and reached my hands to my breasts, twisting and plucking at my nipples. He reached around between my legs with his free hand, and I was done for the second he brushed my clit.

My entire body shuddered as my orgasm swept over me.

He let me go, and I fell forward onto my hands, trying to hold myself up as he pounded hard and fast inside me before finally stilling and letting out a loud groan. “Fucking hell.”

I finally collapsed onto the bed, my body aching and damned satisfied.

Tally chuckled as he shuffled off the edge and onto his feet. I turned my head to the side, smiling as I watched him tuck himself into his jeans and zip them up.

My heart stopped when he turned away. “You’re leaving?”

He paused, hanging his head for a moment before he turned and walked back over to the bed, pressing a long, slow kiss against my lips. “I was just gonna get you a cloth so you can clean up.”

I was stupid.

A fucking idiot.

Then he did just that.

And when I found my panties, I pulled them back on and sat at the edge of the bed next to him, laying my head on his shoulder. “I just—”

“I know I walked out on you a lot,” he cut in. “It taught you to expect that I was just there for a fuck and then would tap out. But if we keep focusing on that shit like it will change anything, it’s gonna drive us crazy. I want to talk about now. I want to talk about you being here. About us giving this a second chance.”

“What do I do about our house? Dylan’s school. My job.” Even though I wasn’t sure why I was coming up with reasons to be in Jacksonville when I knew it wasn’t what I wanted.

It was just a house.

Just a school.

Just a job.

All things that didn’t have to be in Jacksonville.

Things that could be here.

With Tally.

This wasn’t like the first time I left. When I wasn’t sure where we stood, and I was scared Tally wouldn’t want the same things I did.

He’d made it clear.

And he’d left it up to me.

There was a gentle knock on the door, and it eased open just a crack. “Um… just a heads up,” Harmony whispered through the gap. “We’re back, and the boys are chatting with Dylan to keep him occupied, but if you’re fucking, I’d finish that up about now. Cool. Bye.”

“Tally, I—”

He shook his head. “Just think about it. I know you have a lot to consider, and you would be the one giving up things. But can I ask just one thing?”

“Mmm…”

“At least stay until Christmas. It’s only like three days away, and it would be nice for you and Dylan to be here with the club.”

With the club.

And with him.

“Yeah,” I agreed with a soft smile. After losing Mom, I knew Christmas this year would be one of the hardest. And being here with Tally and Harmony and the club sounded like the perfect way to get through something really hard. “I think we’d both like that.”

“Good.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me from the bed. “Then we better head out and do some shopping.”

Shopping.

Three days before Christmas.

God help us all.