Breathe Again (6 page)

“Just you and me, Sav. Just us,” Tate whispered. With one swift movement, he eased me down, my back flush against the desk. The sensation of the cold timber against my heated body was incredible.

Without a sign of hesitation, Tate slid deep inside me, filling me with what I had desperately missed. He stilled above me. Two months without him had led to instantaneous pleasure soaring through every inch of my body. My body clenched around him and the smirk sweeping over his face made my confidence soar. Pulling out and pushing in slowly, he gently rocked his body above mine, holding himself up with his hands. Confusion swept through me. This wasn’t my Tate.

“Are you going to fuck me?” I moaned in desperation, raising one of my eyebrows in his direction. His eyes flashed to my stomach and I realized at that moment that he was scared of hurting me and Jellybean. I couldn’t help but giggle. “Tate, if you aren’t going to fuck me hard, then what the hell are we doing here?” I shifted down the desk and wrapped my legs aggressively around his hips, pushing his body closer to mine. “You won’t hurt me.”

I watched as his jaw tense and then the beast was unleashed. His hands encased around my waist and he pounded into me like it was the first time we had ever had sex. Every inch of my body shuddered and felt his desire with every thrust of his body. He was so deep. I bit my lip to stop the scream of pleasure soaring through the air. The sound of the desk shifting on the floor under the intensity of Tate’s pounding increased the roar of my impending orgasm. Fuck, I had missed him.

“Come for me, Sav.” His voice, his demands, his words unleashed a flood of desire inside me and I exploded into a rush of stars and heavy breathing as I came around him. Tate’s body became rigid and stilled inside me like a statute as he came deep within me. Our breathing crashed together as our foreheads rested against each other’s in a blatant attempt to be as close as possible. As I breathed out, he breathed me in. Within seconds, I felt him relax against me and finally we were as one again.

Tate pulled out slowly, his concerned eyes never leaving mine. Did he think I was going to freak out? My body finally felt relief after being wound so tight for the past two months and only Tate could relieve that.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Tate grabbed a tissue from his desk and softly and gently started to clean me up. My eyes slammed shut as the simplest of touch sent shudders through my body. His hands ran down my legs, sweeping his fingertips along my inner thigh. It was so innocent, but every hair on my body stood to attention. I was hopeless. Tate slid my panties up over my legs followed by my jeans. There was no way I wouldn’t have the
I just got royally fucked
look plastered all over my face.

“You’re blushing.” Tate laughed softly. His hands gripped mine and pulled me to my feet. My protruding stomach grazed his, and I sighed in contentment and satisfaction.

“I know you wouldn’t cheat on me, Tate. I was just scared. I felt ambushed. I felt like it was happening to me again and I can’t handle that. I should have trusted you. I do trust you. And it’s foreign for me to trust someone as much as I trust you. I should have told Chelsea to fuck off. I’m so sorry.”

His strong arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me taut against his body. His scent flooded my nose, a mix of cologne, beer, and sex. He was perfection. My bump poked his abs, and I finally felt like I was home. The unease, the loneliness, and the confusion of the last two months were washed away the moment I was in his arms and, well, to be honest, the moment he took me on his desk.

His perfect lips splashed soft kisses on my still-sticky-with-sweat neck as he buried his face in my hair, his breathing calm yet deep. “I love you, Savannah Rae. Always.” Tate words vibrated against my skin as his grip on my waist intensified.

“We are each other’s forever, right?”

“You are my forever. We need to trust each other. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did about Blake and I regret it so much. You are my everything, Sav. If I have to chase you around the world, I will. If I have to shout it from the rooftops, I will. Just please stick with me. I’ll prove my love every day if I have to. You are it for me. No one else.”

“You are swooning again.” I laughed softly, nuzzling into his chest and enjoying the rhythmic sound of his heart.

“So can I come to your place tonight?”

“Our place,” I corrected. “I still want it to be our place.”

“Can I move in tonight?”

Running my fingers through his hair, I kissed him quickly and pulled out my best bedroom eyes. “Um, Tate, while you are happily fucked and clearly boozed, I have something I need to tell you.”

“Should I be nervous?”

“I may have offered Lucas our spare room for a few weeks.”

Confusion swept over his face. “Why isn’t he staying with Ali?”

“Have you been drunk the whole time I’ve been gone and missed that Ali and Lucas are no longer together?”

“What the fuck? I saw them together… Oh. That was a month ago. Why? Where is he?”

“He hasn’t said anything to me about it.”

“Come on. We are finding him.”

Tate clutched at my hand and hauled me out of the office and through the crowd as I protested. Two massive fears swam through me. One was how I looked. I still had the sated look of pleasure on my face and I knew my hair and makeup were an atrocious mess. And two, Tate plus copious amounts of alcohol confronting Lucas wasn’t a good combination.

Lucas sat at the bar, talking to a new member of the Red Velvet staff I hadn’t met yet. His eyes drifted towards Tate and me, and I gave him a pathetic smile in reassurance.

“Lucas, can I please have a word?” Tate asked in a surprisingly calm tone when we finally reached the bar.

Lucas shot a look at me before turning to Tate. “Uh sure.”

“Not here. In my office.” Tate squeezed my hand quickly and pulled me back towards his office.

Lucas looked at me with questioning eyes. I mouthed, “He knows you and Ali aren’t together.” Lucas’s eyes widened and he looked over my shoulder at Tate.

I sat on the edge of the desk when we got to Tate’s office. Tate closed the door and crossed the room to stand beside me. Lucas shifted on his feet nervously, his gaze darting between Tate and me. Silence filled the air. As every second passed, the intensity increased.

“So you and Ali have broken up?” Tate asked in a low tone.

“Yes. We are on a break.”

“Why?”

“Tate, that’s none of our business,” I objected, shooting Tate a
what the fuck
look and Lucas an
I’m sorry
look.

“Ali is my cousin, Sav, so it is certainly my business, and if Lucas is going to be staying with us, then I need to make sure someone who didn’t hurt my cousin is moving in.”

“You two are moving in together?” Lucas asked with a huge smile taking over his face.

“Focus, Lucas!” I shot, not hiding the smile I had on display.

“I asked her to marry me. She said no. I know we haven’t been together long, but she is my future and I wanted to snap her up before someone else did. She said she needs time apart so I moved out.”

“You asked her to marry you!” I shrieked and clapped like a baby seal. “Lucas, that is so sweet. How did you do it? Where were you? I want to know everything. Fuck it, I am crying.”

Lucas and Tate both turned to me and smirked as warm tears cascaded over my cheeks. My emotions were a mess. Damn pregnancy hormones. I was now notorious for crying at the drop of a hat. I’d even cried in Starbucks the other day because I heard a song and because they didn’t have my favorite mint chocolate Frappuccino available that day. Seriously, I was an emotional wreck.

“Don’t you two laugh at me!” I warned with a hint of a smile being heard in my voice. “It’s your fault I’m crying all the time.” Moving towards Tate, I stood before him, my eyes scanning his face. He seemed to have sobered up quickly. I wanted to give him and Lucas time to talk. They needed to talk. “I am going to go and find Tanzi. Will you be okay in here?”

“We will be fine. We are just going to talk,” Tate said softly, kissing my lips lightly and playfully slapping my arse as I turned and made my way out of the office.

An hour passed and there was still no sign of Tate and Lucas. To say I was worried was an understatement. To be honest, the thought of them brawling and now both lying unconscious in Tate’s office had crossed my mind more than once. I sat with my glass of ice water, sipping it occasionally with my eyes glued to the closed office door. Talk about being on edge.

Suddenly, the door swung open and the sight before me nearly had me falling out of my chair. Tate and Lucas walked out of the office laughing, neither of them bleeding. My eyes bugged wide and I knew my mouth was hanging open. Tate shot a wink at me as he moved through the crowd towards the bar and Lucas walked towards me before slumping on the chair opposite me.

“That guy is too much.” Lucas almost swooned.

I choked on my water. “What the fuck just happened?”

“All will be revealed. Let’s just say I apologized for oogling at your boobs earlier and then we spoke for a good ten minutes about your girls.” Lucas smirked at me and folded his arms over his chest. I looked at him wide-eyed and in shock. Tate and Lucas were fiercely competitive with each other, but now it seemed they had skipped being friends and were now best friends.

“Oh and, Sav, you and that damn office smell of sweaty sex.”

Tate

W
AKING UP
with Sav in my arms was hands-down one of my most favorite things in the world. Sex, surfing, and Mom’s red velvet cupcakes were up there, but this...this was abso-fucking-lutely perfect. My eyes were still closed and I felt her shift in my arms. I knew exactly what she was doing when I heard the soft sigh escape her lips.

“Staring at a person while they are sleeping is creepy.” My rough voice bounced off the walls of what I could now call
our
bedroom.

Her giggles filled my ears and I grabbed her tightly around her waist as she buried her face in the crook of my neck. We lay in silence, but I felt the increasing beat of her heart against my bare chest and I groaned as her nails ran through my hair. She pulled away and looked at me with eyes of intention and instantly my dick came alive.

“You have that look on your face again. Seriously, girl, you are going to fuck me to an early death.”

“Now wouldn’t that be a way to die?”

My laughter roared through the room. “I’d like to see my baby before you kill me though.”

“If you are lucky, Mr. Connors. You are my personal sex toy, remember.”

I
ROLLED
to my side as my eyes fluttered open for the second time today. My stomach growled and my head had a slight pounding from the alcohol I had drunk the night before.

The warmth of Sav’s body against mine calmed me, but the growling of my stomach ultimately won. I slipped out of bed, found my boxer shorts, and silently walked out the room, closing the door softly behind me. The soft hum of the television and the smell of coffee filled the air and my senses came alive.

“Morning.”

Lucas sat on the couch, eyes glued to the television, with a bowl of Lucky Charms resting on his lap. Ahh, that’s right—we had a houseguest.

I collapsed on the couch beside him and flicked over to the surfing show I loved watching on Saturday mornings. We sat in silence, neither wanting to speak. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. This whole scene was too amusing. A deep chuckle rumbled from deep in my chest causing Lucas to look at me in confusion.

“What’s so funny?”

“This. You and me sitting on a couch while Sav is in bed. We are actually talking civilly, I don’t want to punch you in the face, and you aren’t flirting with her. Can you believe we are here?”

“It’s pretty funny. Don’t worry. The only girl I want to flirt with now is your cousin, but like her cousin, she is too damn stubborn. Seriously, does stubbornness run through the veins of anyone with the Connors surname?”

“If you are planning on joining my family, then you better stop dissing our awesome qualities.” I shot with a laugh.

The sound of the bedroom door opening startled us and we both turned. I couldn’t help the smile taking over my face. Sav stood before us in her cute bright blue pajama shorts and tight cami that was covering her stomach. My eyes roamed every curve of her body in silent appreciation.

“You have a very active child this morning,” Sav yawned as she lowered herself on the couch between Lucas and me before grabbing the bowl out of his hands and proceeded to shovel Lucky Charms down her throat.

“Is the baby kicking?” Lucas asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nodding, Sav handed the bowl to me and shifted on the couch towards Lucas. Taking one of Lucas’s hands she rested it on her lower stomach after lifting her cami to reveal her bare skin. His eyes grew wide and his gaze didn’t move from his hand.

“Holy fuck,” Lucas stammered. “Was that...? Was that a kick? That is amazing! Tate you need to feel this.”

A low laugh escaped as I watched Lucas’s face dissolve into a smile. “I had plenty of Daddy and Jellybean time last night. This is Uncle Lucas time.” I shot him a grin, sat back on the couch, and watched as Lucas was overcome with the amazement of Jellybean. To be honest, it made me super proud of my kid.