As Tanner followed Arabella out the door to his bike, he had to pry his eyes off her ass more times than he wanted to admit. He couldn’t wait to have her wrapped around him again. Nothing had ever felt so right as having her holding him, trusting him, accepting his lead. He wondered briefly how a relationship with Arabella would go, which led to pictures in his mind of that ass of hers naked and draped over his knees. He was just at the part where that rear started to pinken from the smacks of his hand, when the woman herself jolted him from his daydreams.
“I’m sorry, what did you say again?” He asked, when he realized she was waiting for a response to something he hadn’t heard.
“I kind of have to wait for you before I can get on. So, I was wondering if you planned on doing so before dawn.” The impish light in her eyes made him want things he shouldn’t, so he didn’t respond except to get his ass on the bike.
Tanner was contemplating driving by his house to extend the trip, to feel Arabella wrapped around him just a bit longer, but he decided that it was probably best he didn’t. Decision made, Tanner pulled into his driveway. Once they’d both dismounted, Arabella put her hands on her hips, turned a full circle taking in her surroundings and declared, “Not what I was expecting.”
“What were you expecting?”
“I don’t honestly know, maybe a cheap bachelor pad apartment. A rundown shack or industrial building. Maybe a mansion on a hill. All I really know is I wasn’t expecting Mary Poppins’ dream home.”
Tanner watched as Arabella took in the well kept, colorful flower beds and well maintained exterior, freshly painted a pretty pale blue with yellow trim. He’d been meaning to change that since he moved in, but hadn’t gotten around to it.
Had it been waiting for her?
The home didn’t seem too big but also wasn’t as small as one would imagine a cottage to be, yet it still managed to give off the cottage vibe. He could see where it wouldn’t be what she pictured for a big biker.
Her words caused Tanner to let out a full-on bark of laughter, though. He laughed until tears came from his eyes and his stomach ached. It was several minutes before Tanner was able to get breath enough to say, “Little Hurricane, did you just disparage my manhood?”
The shade of pink that spread over her face was the exact shade he’d imagined her bottom would turn. Tanner stopped laughing and sucked in a breath as a wave of desire so strong, it almost knocked him flat, took over. He stepped closer to her, cupped his hands around each of her cheeks.
“I’m going to kiss you now.” Arabella sucked in her own breath at his words, “if you don’t want that, now’s the time to say stop.”
He took his time lowering his head, giving her plenty of time to reject him. When his lips touched hers, going slow went out the window. He licked the seam of her lips, eliciting another gasp of surprise. He took advantage of his opportunity and drove his tongue into her mouth. There was no gentle easing in, there was no slow build up. He simply ravaged her mouth, doing his best to devour her. She tasted somewhat bitter from the beer but also had a sweet taste all her own; he committed it to memory, in case this was his last chance to taste her.
Tanner palmed Arabella’s ass and lifted her up his body so he could deepen the kiss. He started walking to the porch and pinned her against the closest support post. With her now positioned so perfectly, he couldn’t resist the urge to grind his hard cock against her pussy. Her moan fueled his need. He squeezed her ass with one hand while sliding the other under her shirt.
When Tanner encountered the lace of her bra, he flicked his finger over her pebbled nipple through the fabric. She tore her lips from his, gasping for breath. He continued to kiss her skin, along her jaw, down her neck, the sensitive spot on her collarbone. Tanner kissed everywhere his mouth would reach.
“Inside,” Arabella panted.
That one word jolted him back to reality. He withdrew his hand from her shirt, gently placed her back on her feet and took a step back. Tanner forced himself to take a breath and think this through.
“I guess I shattered the moment, huh? Too bad. It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted a man.” She sounded genuinely disappointed.
“I didn’t mean for it to get out of hand like that. Little Hurricane, you can drive a man past reason.”
Tanner was running a hand through his dark brown hair and mentally kicking himself for losing control, for even a minute, when her words finally registered.
“Wait, how long is ‘a long time’?”
Arabella didn’t answer. She simply fixed her clothes, then turned and headed for the door while Tanner found himself, once again, enthralled by the swaying of that gorgeous behind.
“This is where you’ll sleep. I know it’s not much but honestly, I haven’t used this room at all. I don’t have many visitors, I’m not even sure why I have it set up.” Tanner opened the door to the guest room and Arabella took it in. The day bed was simple, but was made and took up most of the space along the left wall. The room was clean but it wasn’t decorated in any way and was sparse on furniture. All Arabella could see was a small dresser to the right and a nightstand by the daybed with a small desk lamp on it. The room didn’t even have curtains, just cheap plastic blinds over the window.
“This is perfect. Thanks.”
“Feel free to make yourself at home. Bathroom is right across the hall and my room is at the end of this hallway on the right. Linen closet is across from my room if you need a towel or new sheets for any reason.” Tanner really wanted nothing more than to drag her to his room and finish what they’d started outside, but he knew it was too soon for both of them. They’d just met. Tanner planned to keep Arabella in his sights for as long as he could manage. He knew he’d promised to help her find a place, but he was thinking he could offer her this room to rent. He had the inexplicable feeling that if she walked away, he would never see her again, and was going to do his damnedest to make sure that didn’t happen.
Tanner was tossing and turning. His thoughts were centered on the woman sleeping down the hall. He wanted to know what had driven her to that bridge. He needed to know her. The most he knew to this point was she was exceptionally good at dodging questions. He hadn’t even noticed, until he’d laid down, that she’d basically volleyed back every question he asked her at the bar. He’d learned nothing of import after talking to her for hours. This made him suspicious and he was now wondering what she was hiding. He needed to get to the bottom of it but he didn’t have a clue how.
Tanner was just fluffing his pillow for the hundredth time that night, when an ear-piercing scream ripped through the house. His old military training took over. He was out of his bed and in Arabella’s room within seconds.
The lights were off, but he could just make out her form thrashing on the bed. She kept whimpering and the moonlight filtering through the blinds glinted off the tear tracks on her cheeks.
As he took in the scene, she curled into a ball trying to make herself as small as possible. Tanner rushed to the bed and touched her shoulder, trying to wake her. Arabella shrank even further at his touch and he wondered what the hell she was dreaming about.
He gently took hold of her shoulder, only tightening his grip slightly when she fought him, and drew her onto his lap. He began rubbing her back and pleading with her.