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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

DAYTON

There was something to be said about being able to tell Tameron how I felt.

Not just those three words, though hearing them from him was something I’d started to doubt would ever happen.

But knowing I could be myself—that falling for him wouldn’t send him running—gave me a peace I’d lacked since realizing I wanted him.

Weeks ago, I was the man staring across the gym floor at him, quietly pining for someone I thought couldn’t stand me. Now, he was lying in my arms with his cheek pressed to my chest, our small kitten curled between us, watching a cooking competition show with the sound off and the captions on.

Home, I thought to myself. Tameron had explained that home was what he’d been searching for and that Bean and Creek had helped him realize he wasn’t lacking a home. He was just looking in all the wrong places.

I never thought I could be that for someone. And it wasn’t due to lack of support or love. I had an amazing family I wanted to be near. I had two siblings who were my best friends and parents who loved me and would love any partner I walked through their front door.

But this was different. Tameron was different.

Because he was mine.

I stroked a touch over the crown of his head, and he tilted his gaze toward me, his eyes crinkled at the edges with his smile.

Swallowing heavily, still not used to this, I lifted my free hand and dropped my middle and ring finger toward my palm. ‘I love you.’

His lips parted on the edge of a very soft sigh. “I love you too.” His own hand, resting on my stomach, formed the same sign, pressing it into my skin.

I basked. There was no other word for the feeling in my chest. I sat in a place of utter and genuine contentment, and I never wanted this to end.

Then his hand started to creep south, and okay…maybe putting an end to the cuddle session had some merit. My abs jumped slightly under his touch, and I felt the curve of his smile against my pec as he carefully slipped the tips of his fingers under the waistband of my sweats.

“Yes?” he asked.

I grazed a touch behind his ear to make sure his hearing aids were still on, then said, “Yes. Please.”

He moved his hand beneath the soft fabric, then let out a small laugh. “Commando, eh?”

“I didn’t know you were coming over.”

Pressing up on one elbow, he stared at me, brows raised. “You wear your fancy boxers for me?”

“I was trying to impress you,” I told him with a grin, cupping his jaw.

It was meant to be a joke, but Tameron looked…flattered. His eyes widened a fraction and his pupils dilated, cheeks tinged pink. He dragged his tongue over his lower lip, then said, “I’m probably pretty easy to impress.”

I blinked, then grabbed him, whipping him around so he was pinned beneath me. He was breathing harder, but he most definitely was not afraid. “You are the furthest thing from easy.”

Tameron swallowed heavily. “I know I’m hard to?—”

“No.” Pressing a finger to his lips, I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. You made me work for you, Tam. Your attention, your affection, your love.” He looked upset again, so I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I was honored.”

Biting his lower lip, I could see him working through something, and I sat quietly while he did it. It would never be an easy road with him. Maybe someday in the future, the two of us would just exist together—confident and carefree. But I would never not be willing to fight for him.

“Thank you.”

I grinned. I’d expected him to argue, but right now, I wanted his compliance.

“Let me show you how much?” he said softly.

My brows flew up. “Oh yeah?”

He lifted a fist. ‘Yes. Please. Bedroom?’

Easing myself off him, I offered a hand and he took it, heaving himself to his feet. He didn’t let me go once he was steady. Instead, he tugged me against him, using his strength to keep me pressed against his body while he leaned in and took the kiss I’d been wanting to give him for hours now.

I groaned into it as his tongue tangled with mine. His free hand gripped my hip, pressing his fingers in deep, and he rocked himself into me so I could feel how hard he was.

How much he wanted me.

“Bedroom,” I growled, ripping myself out of the kiss.

He looked dazed for a second, then grinned. “I’ve been doing some reading. Some…studying. I learned something new, and I want to show you.”

Well shit. I was definitely not going to say no to that.

He kept my hand tight in his as he led the way to the bedroom, pausing when he got to the doorway. “Uh…is Dax?—”

I pressed up against his back. “I don’t know if he’s coming home tonight. He won’t hear us, though, remember? We can put a sock on the door if you want.”

“Oh my god, no. I don’t want him to know what we get up to!”

I laughed hard and spun him, pressing him against the doorframe. “I’m sorry to say, my love, but he knows.”

Tameron’s eyes went wide and he reached up, touching my bottom lip with the tips of his fingers. “Say that again.”

“He knows?”

Tameron shook his head. “The—the other thing.”

The other—ah. Yes, that. I took a breath, then leaned in close. “My love.”

He shuddered, then surged into a kiss, taking my mouth desperate and needy.

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I pressed my body against his, letting him take what he needed until he was satisfied.

We stood there for long, lush minutes, tongues dancing together until we had to break away to breathe.

“What were we doing?”

I chuckled and nuzzled the side of his neck. “You were going to show me what you learned.”

“Right. Yes.” He tugged me past the door, then slammed it. His hand hesitated, and then he flicked the lock before turning to face me. “He won’t try to come in, right?”

I grimaced. “Baby, no. Dax might enjoy stomping on boundaries, but he doesn’t want to see his big brother getting railed by his friend.”

Tameron stared, then burst into laughter. “Right, yeah. That makes sense.” He closed the distance between us, but instead of kissing me again, he held me at arm’s length, staring me up and down.

I felt a bit like I was on display. Normally, I didn’t mind. It happened a lot. I was a battalion chief and a fitness instructor. It was my job to command attention. And I certainly didn’t mind here, but this was a very different type of observation.

Tameron looked at me like a starving man in front of a free buffet. “Will you undress?”

I curled my fingers into the waistband of my sweats. “Do you want me to spice it up? Do a little tease?”

His breath caught in his chest. “Mm.” I could tell his hum was entirely involuntary. He probably couldn’t even hear himself make it. He cleared his throat after a second. “Maybe next time. I don’t want to get distracted.”

I had no idea what he was planning, but I was all for it. With a single tug, I had my sweats on the floor, my cock jutting out heavy and fat with all the blood that had rushed south to fill it. I cupped my balls in my hand, then stroked myself as he watched.

“Uh…” He blinked a few times. “Stop that.”

I let go immediately, and he made another startled noise.

“Shirt,” he said.

I peeled it away and dropped it on the floor.

He wet his lips with a round swipe of his tongue. “You, uh…you like following orders?”

I didn’t. Not normally. “When they come from you, I think maybe I might.”

His breath trembled on his exhale, and then he stepped closer. “We can play around with that idea later, yeah.”

I ran a finger down the front of his shirt. There was something to be said about standing there entirely naked and vulnerable for Tameron while he was not only fully clothed but feeling a bit bossy. Who knew that was a thing for me?

But then again, I’d also never really been in love before.

Looked like Tameron wasn’t the only man who would be having firsts in this relationship, and somehow, that made me feel better.

“How do you want me?” I asked in the heavy silence.

“On the bed, face down, knees under you.”

“Ass up?”

He grinned even as his face flushed. “Yes.”

I had a feeling I knew where this was going. We’d done plenty—fingers, face fucking, and shooting my load deep inside him as I watched him fall apart. But there were other places we could put our mouths, and I knew that was probably what he had planned.

My stomach clenched, my dick kicking in anticipation as I turned away from him and set one knee on the bed. Then I paused and twisted slightly. ‘Naked-you also?’

His cheek went concave as he bit them from the inside, and then he nodded. ‘Yes. Can I…?’ He hesitated. It was clear he was still working on his dirty talk lexicon.

‘Fuck me?’ That one he knew.

His ears went bright red, but his jaw tightened in determination, and he nodded. ‘Please. After,’ he added.

I tried not to smile. ‘Yes. Anything you want.’

“That might be a dangerous promise,” he warned me aloud.

Turning, I gripped him by the hips and dragged him up against me. “Anything,” I said, my voice low, deep, and pointed, “you want.”

He sucked in a breath, then kissed me quickly but firmly before pushing me away. “Knees. Um…please,” he added.

I grinned. I couldn’t help it. Turning away, I pressed both hands to the mattress and then crawled toward the pillows and hugged one to my chest. I spread my knees slightly, then leaned forward until my spine found a comfortable spot to relax.

“Good,” I heard him murmur. “Fuck, you look so good.”

I wasn’t sure if he’d intended for me to hear that, so I stayed silent. I could hear him rustling in the drawer, felt a few things drop to the bed, and then the unmistakable sound of him undressing.

His jeans hit the floor with a heavy thud, then his shirt. A moment passed that felt like a short eternity, and then his hands pressed to my hips. They were rough and warm as he slid them down the outsides of my thighs, and my stomach jumped as he fit himself into the space I’d left with my feet.

“You’re gorgeous,” he said, this time louder.