With Brave Wings (21 page)

Next to him, Kayden was trying to grab his sippy cup while not looking away from the movie, so Tennyson gave it to him.

"It depends on what you want." He wished he could be there with her. Hold her, comfort her. "If the goal is to give him a second chance, take it as slowly as you want. Don't let him pressure you into something you're not ready for."

She nodded. "I'm still not sure, but…ugh. I don’t know."

"You'll figure it out." He knew she would. "In the meantime, let him wait and don’t feel bad about it."

"Got it." She nodded again, appearing slightly happier now. "Thank you." There was something else she wanted to say—Tennyson could tell—but she was hesitating. "Am…am I weak?"

That threw him off. "What? Why would you say that?"

"I don’t know." She shrugged with one shoulder. "I feel weak sometimes—when there's something I don’t wanna do alone. Like I'm failing in this…growing up thing."

He opened his mouth, only to close it. He was stunned that she'd even consider asking for help a weakness. But holy hell, did it make sense now. And he felt bad for her.

No, Peter Pierce didn’t deserve forgiveness anytime soon.

If she'd had a good upbringing, she would've known it didn’t make someone any less independent for wanting help every now and then. Help wasn’t just for assistants who got paid.

"I…" Tennyson let out a small laugh, his mind spinning and connecting all the little pieces he'd sometimes wondered about. Mainly her stubbornness when it came to doing everything on her own. Christ. "We have a
lot
to talk about, princess."

*

They spoke for over an hour, and he did his best not to sound like a teacher. He only wanted to give her advice. From there on out, it was up to Sophie to decide what she'd do.

The image of her became clearer as she explained her own side of things, the admiration Tennyson had for her growing tenfold. She was smart, open-minded, and had the biggest heart, but she'd been thrown around a lot in her younger years. Going from completely sheltered as a daddy's girl—back when Peter was actually a good father—then neglected and left to nannies and housekeepers. Later, a credit card had taken over. Unlimited funds.
"Do whatever you want, just stay out of Peter's way."
Comfort in the shape of the latest designer shoes. Staying upbeat by partying. Thinking highly of herself by putting others down.

Lastly, she'd broken free and figured everything she'd done in her old life had been wrong, so she'd set out to do the opposite. She had to do everything without assistance because she'd never lifted a finger before.

"I mean, I know people help each other all the time," she went on. "But I've been like, 'Okay, in the future, I can ask someone, but I gotta learn it on my own first.' You know? Because it seems wherever I look, everyone's acing it. It makes me wonder if I'm the only one who doesn’t know what the fuck I'm doing."

Little does she know.

"Everyone feels that way, baby," he murmured. "You don’t have to be strong all the time. Nobody is."

"Oh." She drew in a breath, her bottom lip trembling, though she was quick to blink back her emotions. "You never ask for help."

"What?" he chuckled. "Of course I do. Most recently, I asked for Asher's help with the condo you want to sublet to Brooklyn. I had to hire workers for Fight for Fighters because I can't be on site in San Diego while I'm busy with
Killer
." He paused and leaned forward a bit more. "Sophie, if what you're really wondering is why I may not ask
you
for help, it's very simple. I think you do too much as it is. You're twenty-four years old, you work up to sixteen hours a day, and you have Kayden. You think I'd add to that?" He shook his head. "Not gonna happen."

She sighed and averted her eyes. "Well, when you put it like that…"

Tennyson smirked faintly. "However, should you decide to let others help you when you need it, don't be surprised when I ask you to help me, too."

He had lists.
Lists.

"Noted." She mock-scowled at him before it morphed into a soft grin. "My head's sorta swimming."

It was getting late, too. And unless she wanted to sleep with dirt and twigs in her hair, he had a feeling she'd want a shower before bed. "Get some rest, and we'll talk soon, okay? I'll text you once I've dropped off Angela and Kayden at the airport."

Sophie nodded, her expression sweet. "Thank you for this, Tennyson. For everything."

"Anytime." He meant it. He would do anything for her, at any time. "I'm actually glad we talked about this. It gives me hope you won’t always want to be one hundred percent in control of every aspect of your life. It's okay to share every burden with me." He smiled at her bashful grin. "Sweet dreams, princess."

Sophie kissed two fingers before pressing them gently to the webcam.

Chapter 19

Toronto
 

Sophie plopped down on the floor of the bathroom in her hotel suite and stared at the pregnancy test she'd taken. She hadn't trusted her irregular period to tell her whether or not she was pregnant; after all, she'd spotted throughout her first pregnancy. Hence buying a test.

The timing was horrible, considering she had work lined up for the next several months, but she couldn’t help but feel disappointed the test had turned out negative.

She'd had this naïve fantasy of surprising Tennyson, and the two would be so happy that they'd forget all their issues and ride off into the sunset. But that didn’t happen. So…big-girl panties on. She had to take the first step.

At one point, yes, she'd been so determined to do everything without any outside help. But she was fucking done. She couldn’t go on like that anymore. And judging from what Tennyson had told her—how he'd phrased himself—during their Skype conversation a few weeks ago, maybe he hadn't been pushing her away at all. Maybe he'd simply been her biggest supporter by going along with everything he thought she wanted. If there was a movie she wanted to make, he had been the first one to have faith in her and tell her to go after her dreams.

He was the one who deserved to be chased.

*

Toronto
 

It wasn’t easy making six children pose on command at the same time, and Sophie was having fun watching the photographer and the children's parents trying. With the youngest being four and the oldest being eleven, there was a variety of "I don't wanna, Mommy!" to "This is, like, sooo lame."

They were all decked out in ratty clothes from the war era, and it was time to take stills for posters and promo tours. This photo shoot was also the last thing they'd do here in Toronto.

"That’s perfect, Samuel!" The photographer praised one of the children. "Could you please hold that for just a second?"

Sophie angled herself slightly sideways and turned her face toward the camera. Worry and determination etched her features, and she gave little Bram's hand a squeeze. Samuel, a seven-year-old jokester, peered up at her with the saddest eyes, and the photographer took picture after picture.

"Annabelle, could you move closer and hug Sophie's leg? Remember, she protects you. You feel safe with her."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie could see Lucy, her assistant, holding up her phone, but it would have to wait.

"Okay, that’s great, everyone! Now we're only waiting for Will."

Sophie took that opportunity to wave at her PA to come over, and she scurried closer right away.

"I spoke to your manager," Lucy said. "He said he'll arrange the flights, and…and…" She glanced around them and then leaned close to whisper in Sophie's ear. "He told me I had to call you a stubborn ho for messing up the schedule. Also, he's not surprised."

Sophie laughed. "That’s my Daniel, all right. No worries, hon. Did he by any chance tell you how long I would have?"

"Yes, about twelve hours. More if you hire a jet to take you to New York. And they'll squeeze in your physical for
A Killer's Walk
right after you land. So…do you want me to confirm the jet, or…?"

Sophie waved that off. As much as she would've preferred more time, it was a forty-thousand-dollar difference, and that money could go to better places. "Twelve hours is better than nothing."

*

The clock was ticking, but Sophie couldn’t go to Germany before speaking to Tennyson. And seeing Kayden.
God.
There was no word strong enough in the English language to describe how much she hated being away from her family.

She'd only seen Kayden twice in the past two months. She'd cried more than she wanted to admit, and she hadn't seen Tennyson at all.

Two months had been a long time to think about everything, and in the end, it was pretty fucking simple. The reason she didn’t have to worry about losing her heart to someone else was because she'd already lost it to Tennyson years ago. Maybe even in Vancouver.

She'd just taken his presence for granted, but being away from him—while having all these feelings stirring up a storm inside her—had shown her what life would be without him.

Her stomach twisted painfully at the mere notion.

Lying in bed at night, her masochistic mind had conjured several scenarios. In some, she came home to her family, only for Tennyson to announce he'd met someone. In others, he decided she was too immature for him.

Jealousy, grief, and anger had formed a fist around her heart.

After they'd landed at LAX, they headed straight for her physical, and she had to apologize for being rude. But seriously, they sure could drag those out.

When the poking and prodding was done though, excitement took over.

She received a text from Daniel as they got back in the car, and she squealed internally after reading it.

Tennyson is on his way to the loft because I may have told him I suspected a bathtub flooding. Noah will watch Kayden across the hall, and everyone owes me a hundred bucks.

Trust Daniel to make sure she wouldn’t come back to an empty loft. Sophie really should've thought about this herself.

Her fingers flew over the keyboard as Lucy spoke to their driver.

First of all, pick a honeymoon. It's on me. Second of all, why does everyone owe you money? Xoxo.

Daniel's response came quickly.

Tsk, tsk. Careless spending. (We'll discuss later, darling.) And they owe me money because there's been a bet on when you and Tennyson would finally get your shit together. Asher picked London. I picked before Germany. Brooklyn went with after Germany, and Noah said Christmas.

Sophie snorted and shook her head in amusement.

*

When the car rolled up outside her building, her stomach flipped.

"Is there anything you want when we pick you up here tomorrow morning?" Lucy asked. "Breakfast, coffee…?"

"Nah, we can get something later," Sophie replied, opening the door. "Have fun with the hubby." She winked and then got out.

She took the elevator up, unable to contain her excitement. She gave out a small shriek, feeling silly, but she couldn’t help it. She was so ready to let go of her illusion of control and share everything with the man she loved almost as much as she loved their son.

Reaching her floor, she exited the elevator and dug out her keys. But as she was about to unlock the door, she heard Tennyson on the other side.

"There's no fucking leak, Daniel." Oh boy, he was irritated. "We just drove halfway across motherfucking LA at rush hour because you weren't sure you'd shut off the water this morning."

Sophie slapped a hand over her mouth and giggled. Poor Tennyson! Daniel stopped by some mornings to help out with Kayden, and this was genius. Too funny.

"That doesn’t explain why I had to bring Noah," Tennyson gritted out. "What do you mean, so he can watch Kayden? And while I have you on the phone, why did I get a text half an hour ago saying that Sophie's completed her physical for
Killer
?"

Time for Sophie to intervene before Daniel dug himself into a nice little hole he couldn’t get out of. She tried the doorknob and found the door unlocked, and a few seconds later, she was standing in front of Tennyson.

His eyes grew large, his jaw dropped a little, and he lowered the phone.

"Hi." She rocked on her feet a bit, grinning widely. "I'm afraid there's no leak. Daniel made it up so you'd be here when I got home."

"I… Shit." He stopped fumbling and brought the phone to his ear again, though his gaze never strayed from Sophie. "You're a good man, Daniel. Talk to you later." With that said, he ended the call and pocketed the phone.

Before he could take a single step toward her, she ran for him and jumped into his arms. And she silenced his surprised laugh by crashing her mouth to his.

Home sweet fucking home.

He kissed her back hard and backed her up against a wall in the hallway. "Christ—fuck. Hi, baby. What're you…"

Doing?
She was getting her feet back on solid ground and unzipping his jeans. "Where's Kayden?"

"Um, Noah." He was having a difficult time catching up, she could tell. "Not that I'm not positively thrilled you're here, but shouldn’t you be on a plane to Munich?"

"After I've put a permanent Sophie stamp on your ass." She yanked him down to her level and kissed him again, having missed the taste and the feel of his tongue along hers. "We have until five tomorrow morning. I want cake with Kayden because I missed out on the last one. I want sex with my man because—well, that’s obvious. Look at you." She slid a hand down his boxer briefs and cupped his hardening dick.

Tennyson shuddered. "I…right. That can be arranged." He shook his head, dazed. "I'm sorry, it's a lot to process."

"It's okay." She smiled and sank to her knees. "Take your time, and let me take care of you." She leaned forward and kissed the base of his cock, closing her eyes and breathing in the manliness of his natural scent.

"Fuck," he whispered. His hand came to the back of her head, and he wove his fingers into her hair. "Tell me more about this permanent stamp."

She would, in a moment. First, she sucked him into her mouth and moaned softly as he thickened and grew harder with each pass of her lips and tongue.

When he was hard as a rock and watching her with lust-filled, hooded eyes, she eased away and stroked his wet cock firmly.

"You're mine now." She spoke quietly while nuzzling and kissing his skin. "You're my piggyback ride 'cause all this flying solo crap has gotten old." She noticed a sensitive spot where his thigh met his groin, and she licked him there. There, it was hers now. "You and Kayden are everything to me." Peering up at him, she closed her lips over the head of his cock and suckled at the drops of pre-come.

"Jesus fuck, Sophie…" He scrubbed his hands over his face, only to return to eye-fucking her. "You've made me the luckiest bastard on the planet. I don’t have words to describe what I'm feeling."

That was good. It meant she was doing a good…um, blow job. She sucked him harder and faster, encouraging him to fuck her mouth.

He hissed as she cupped his balls, and then he finally pushed his hips forward. In a fluid motion, he filled her mouth and paused so she could relax her throat.

"Oh, that’s it," he groaned. "Sweet motherfucking… Oh, Christ." He slid in the last inch and cursed when she swallowed around the head. "My beautiful girl—those cock-sucking lips…"

Sophie moaned pleadingly around him and had to rub her thighs together to get some friction. Her body quivered, her panties were ruined, she fucking burned.

"Where do you want my come, princess?"

She gasped for air and stood up, practically attacking him. "My pussy. Please—I need you."

Catching the urgency in her voice, Tennyson spun her around so her front was pressed against the wall. His fingers worked her pants and pushed them down her legs. They pooled by her feet, and he nudged her legs farther apart before sliding a single finger along her slit.

Her knees nearly gave out.

"I love how wet you get for me." He kissed her neck and replaced his digit with his cock. Up and down, spreading her juices, coating himself, making her shake even more.

It felt like an eternity passed before he finally pushed his cock inside her. The relief—fucking relief—not to mention pleasure, was so out of this world that Sophie's eyes prickled and stung.

He fucked her slowly from behind, so perfectly, all while holding her close. She was trapped between him and the wall.

"This means you're mine, too," he whispered huskily in her ear. "We'll be there for each other. We'll make decisions together." She nodded quickly and shivered as he palmed her pussy and fingered her clit. "We'll be a family."

"Yes," she whimpered. "Yes, yes, yes."

Tennyson began moving faster, his thrusts deep and aggressive. "All cards on the table." He spoke through clenched teeth. Breathing labored. "When you stress yourself out, I'll take the liberty of tying you to our bed. And—
fuck
." He panted and grinded deeper. "When I screw up, you put me in my place."

Having lost the ability of speech, she could only nod, nod, nod. She was so close, her body tense and buzzing with need.

He groaned her name and pushed in hard, simultaneously rubbing her clit more persistently. She got pulled under as her orgasm crashed down on her, and she was only vaguely aware of him rocking into her, his movements jerky and irregular.

Sophie's mouth went dry from trying to suck air into her lungs, her skin was flushed, and she guessed she had about thirty seconds before her legs caved.

Tennyson's chest heaved against her back, and she felt his lips on her shoulder, the soft rasp of his trimmed beard sending shivers down her spine. The only break in the pleasure was the feeling of his cock leaving her.

They clearly needed to have sex more often so she wouldn’t always be so damn sore after a round with him.

Sounds like a good plan to me.

"I need to sit down," she groaned breathlessly. "Shit." She swallowed.

"I can do better that that." He gripped her jaw and planted a smooch on her lips before he offered a lazy grin and hauled her up in his arms with a grunt.

He carried her into the bedroom and noted with satisfaction that the bed looked slept in.

"Clothes off." He lowered her to the floor and pulled up her top.

Once she was buck naked, she jumped onto the bed she'd missed for months now. "You've been sleeping in here?" She stretched lazily and rolled over to bury her face in a pillow. Oh yeah, it smelled like him. "Deliiicious." She hummed appreciatively and took another whiff.

There was just something about soap, man, detergent, and cologne.

"I thought it smelled good, too. Until I had to wash the sheets, anyway." Tennyson lay down next to her and drew the covers over them. He was naked as well, and Sophie snuggled close and rested her chin on his chest. "That’s why I chose to sleep in here at first—it smelled like you." He shrugged slightly and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Then I stayed." A smile tugged at his lips as he studied her hair. "It's strange seeing you as a blonde."

She smirked. "Yeah, it's been a while." Then she'd have black hair for
A Killer's Walk
.

He hummed and pulled her higher up to kiss her. "But, as always, out-of-this-world gorgeous." God, she was giddy. "I can't believe you're here."

"I had to." She pecked him softly, now lying right on top of him. "Um, I have something I wanna say, but maybe I should go to the bathroom first." She had to press her thighs together in order to not make a mess.

"No, you most certainly do not." He rolled them over so half of him was sprawled over her. "I want you smelling of my come for now." His dirty mind came into play when he cupped her pussy under the covers and swirled the tips of two fingers around her entrance. "Soaked and properly fucked as you should be."

"My filthy fucker." She poked his cheek and grinned. He kissed the pad of her finger, and she knew this was it. She got nervous, but it couldn’t erase how confident she was in them—in what she wanted for the rest of her life. "I love you, Tennyson."

His gaze softened, and he shook his head, letting out a breathy laugh. "I love you too, Sophie. You have no idea how much."

It was a wonder her smile didn’t split her face in two. "Gah!" She hugged him to her and began dropping a bunch of kisses all over his neck, shoulder, and jaw. "I'm so freaking happy I could…I don’t even know."

If someone had told her this was going to happen a few years ago, she would've laughed. Hell, even when Tennyson stole the first piece of her heart—when he visited her in the hospital in Vancouver, when he gave her that necklace… She never would've dared to dream this big.

Thinking about the necklace, she squirmed out of his hold for a moment and opened the nightstand drawer. She found the beautiful necklace with the silver feather, and she was quick to put it on.

Then she was back in his arms, and he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

"I love you," he murmured thickly. "Fuck, how I love you."

Her heart squeezed. "Always," she whispered back. Something told her to give him a minute, maybe the way his voice had come out. "Always, always, always." She pressed soft kisses along his temple and caressed his arm, up his toned biceps, and then gently scratched his upper back.