After the third round of margaritas, they all had a fourth. Because the drinks had been spaced out over four hours, and because Beth had kept up with her water intake, she wasn’t drunk. Though when Bennett dropped her off at eleven o’clock, she was feeling pretty damn good…and wasn’t overthinking anything.
Beth unlocked and opened the front door before turning to wave to Bennett and Mel, who were sitting in his idling truck parked in the driveway. Then she stepped inside, locking the door behind her. The hall light had been left on and she dropped her purse on the table by the front door before making her way down the hallway.
The only sound coming from the living room was “A Whole New World” from the end credits of Aladdin. The only light came from the movie flickering on the TV and the soft glow from the lamp in the corner. When Beth stepped into the room, the scene before her had her heart catching in her throat.
Everyone in the room was asleep. Tripp was sprawled out on the floor with Penny snuggled up on his chest, her little hand clutched in the fabric of his T-shirt. Grant was a few feet away, using a softly snoring Duke as his pillow. And last—but certainly not least—Nora was passed out on the sofa. She had changed into pajamas and her face was washed clean of makeup.
Beth stood there for more than a minute, committing the moment to memory. All three of her kids were peacefully asleep…along with the man that she loved. Because there was no doubt that Beth was in love with Tripp Black. He’d stolen her heart the very first time he’d kissed her; she just hadn’t realized it until that very moment.
She reached up and wiped her fingers across her cheeks, unsure of when she’d started crying. Fresh tears fell with each blink, but unlike so many times over the last year, they weren’t tears of loss or pain or frustration. No, they were tears of joy. It had been too long since she’d had those, and she savored them for everything that they were worth.
It was only when the credits stopped rolling and the room turned blue from the screen’s light that Beth finally moved. She crossed to Tripp, kneeling down beside him and gently brushing her fingertips across his forehead. His eyes snapped open and his body tensed for just a second before he focused on her.
“Hey,” he whispered, his voice groggy and rough.
“Hi.” She brushed her fingers across his forehead again before she leaned down and pressed her lips to his. It was just a soft kiss, a simple brushing of mouths. When she pulled back her attention moved to Penny, still sound asleep on Tripp’s chest. “They exhaust you?”
“I think it was a joint effort.” He smiled at her sleepily.
“I should get them to bed.” Beth ran her palm down Penny’s back.
“Yeah.” He nodded, sitting up.
Beth stood and Tripp handed Penny up. True to form, the child didn’t wake, just stirred a little as she snuggled into Beth’s arms. Beth held her niece close, kissing her soft blond hair as she made her way down the hallway to the second bedroom on the left.
By the time Penny was tucked into bed and her star night light turned on, Tripp had already moved the other two kids to their beds. Nora had rolled over onto her side, arms wrapped around one of her pillows. Beth grabbed the door and pulled it nearly closed, keeping it cracked by a few inches the way she had with Penny’s.
When Beth crossed over to her nephew’s room, Tripp was getting Grant settled. Duke was sitting at the foot of the bed, his big fluffy head resting on the end of the quilt that Tripp was currently adjusting around Grant’s shoulders. Quilt adjusting finished, Tripp reached up and brushed back the hair that had fallen across Grant’s forehead.
Such a simple gesture filled with so much affection. Just that quickly Beth’s heart was in her throat again.
Tripp straightened and turned around, his eyes now on her. She didn’t say anything, just held out her hand to him. He closed the distance, grabbing her hand and interlocking their fingers as she led him out into the hallway.
Tripp turned, about to call Duke, who was now lounging on the floor next to Grant’s bed.
“Leave him for a minute.” Beth tugged Tripp’s hand. She turned to him, both of her hands landing on his chest as she looked up into his face. “The kids were good?”
“Of course they were. No issues. Well-behaved. We all had a good time.”
“When did Nora get home?”
“Around nine thirty. She came home, got pajama’d and joined us for Aladdin…which we all apparently fell asleep to.” Tripp reached for her face, tracing the line of her jaw. “Did you have a good time?”
“I did. It was nice to get out with the girls.”
“I’m glad.” He leaned down, his lips hovering above hers. “Just so you know, you taste like margaritas,” he said before he opened his mouth over hers.
This kiss was not a simple brushing of mouths, but one that devoured. Beth’s hands roamed across Tripp’s chest while his migrated south to her ass, his fingers flexing and kneading as he held her to him.
Beth slid her palms up over his shoulders and to the back of his head. With her fingers tangling in his hair she pulled back and looked up at him, this man that she wanted…needed. And even though she wasn’t prepared to tell him that she was in love with him, she could show him. Show him how much he meant to her.
“Stay.” Never in her life had she felt more certain about one word, and she was definitely doing what felt right. “Stay all night, with me, in my bed. Please.”
Tripp’s hands moved up to her waist, his grip tightening as he leaned down close to her mouth, their lips barely a breath apart. “That’s a request I’d never refuse.” He kissed her again, his tongue finding hers.
She’d become well-versed in what happened when the two of them lost control in a kiss, and she had to stop it from happening right then.
“Bedroom,” she gasped when she pulled back, breathless. “No wall sex tonight…Well, at least not these walls.” She gestured to the space around them.
“That probably wouldn’t be wise.” His grip on her waist tightened and he turned her around. “Lead the way,” he whispered in her ear.
Beth grabbed one of his hands and did just that, pulling him across the living room, through the kitchen, and into her bedroom. He closed the door behind them with a snap and then she was in his arms again.
The room was semi-illuminated by the moon glowing through the open blinds, so neither of them let go long enough to turn on a light. They didn’t say a word as they undressed each other. The only sounds were of their unsteady breaths between kisses, and their clothes hitting the floor.
Once they were both fully naked, he pulled her against him, the hard length of his erection pressing into her belly. His mouth hovered over hers as his hands traveled down her bare back, fingers tracing her spine.
“I’ll never get over how your skin feels under my hands. How you feel against me.” One of his palms slid all the way down her back, and over the curve of her ass. Then he was touching her, his fingers running over her folds and finding her wet. “How it feels to be inside of you.”
“Tripp!” She gasped as he slid one long finger inside of her, pumping his hand a few times before he pulled all the way out…and then slid in two fingers. Her body arched in his arms, her grip on his shoulders tightened.
“I’ll never get over how you respond to how I touch you. How your body reacts to me. What it’s like to kiss you. And Beth, I will never get over the taste of you.” His mouth landed on hers, his tongue sliding between her lips. His fingers hadn’t stopped moving in and out of her, applying pressure to every spot that made her squirm and rub up against his erection.
“I need to be inside of you, Beth.” His mouth slid down her throat and he placed a hot open-mouthed kiss right above her collarbone. “I need you to be wrapped around me in every way.”
“I need that, too.” She said it to the ceiling, as her head was currently rolled back on her shoulders, giving Tripp greater access to her neck.
“Where are your condoms?”
His question had her head coming up, her eyes meeting his. “Tripp, I…I don’t want anything between us.” They’d been together long enough that he knew she was on birth control. “I know I’m safe.”
“I have to get a physical every six months. I’m clean.”
“I trust you.” Her hand moved to his face, cupping his cheek in her palm. “I don’t want any barriers, Tripp. I just want you. I just want us.”
“God, yes,” he groaned before kissing her again, grabbing on to her thighs, and lifting her up in one easy move. He only had to take a few steps back until he could sit on the edge of the bed. She straddled him now, her knees sinking into the mattress on either side of his thighs.
One of her hands was at his shoulder, gripping it hard as she levered herself up. The other hand was between their bodies, wrapping around his cock and lining him up with her entrance. Her eyes moved back to his—eyes that were filled with a type of longing and heat that she’d never seen before—as she slowly lowered herself down, impaling herself fully.
They both inhaled at the same moment, stealing each other’s air.
Tripp’s hands were at her hips, holding her steady. “Give me…just a second.” The words left his lips more than slightly strained. “You feel soo fucking good. Too fucking good.”
Yeah, he wasn’t the only one who needed a second to gather himself. Because really, Tripp bare, thick, and hard inside her was more than she’d ever experienced before.
And they hadn’t even really begun.
His grip at her waist tightened and he lifted her up, the core of her dragging along the length of him, before he pushed her back down. She was just slightly higher than he was, only needing to lean down a few inches to get to his mouth.
“Slow,” he breathed against her lips.
“Slow,” she repeated.
They were both moving now. Tripp’s feet were still on the floor, allowing him to get leverage. Both of her arms looped around his shoulders as she kissed him. One of his hands left her waist, moving to her breasts. He brushed his thumb across one nipple, then the other, and even more pleasure shot through her.
Her lips fell away from his on a moan, her back arching. Tripp’s head bent, his lips at her breast where he rasped his tongue across one puckered peak, and then drew it into his mouth.
“Oh, oh, oh.” Her hands were at the back of his head now, fingers in his hair as she held him to her.
The first orgasm was a slow build, a combination of how they moved together, how his mouth moved over her breasts, how he held her, touched her, tasted her. She had to hold herself back from screaming, but his name did escape her lips when she came.
Her body was still pulsing around him when she found herself on her back in the middle of the bed, Tripp thrusting in and pulling out of her still-clinging body. He looked down into her face, grabbing one of her hands and stretching it high above their heads, their fingers twining together. In their new position, she could just make out that possessiveness in his eyes as he lowered his head, kissing her in a slow lingering way that matched how his body moved over hers, moved in her. But when his mouth started to move harder, his kiss more demanding, so did his hips.
She was more than grateful that his mouth was still on hers when she came for the second time, because she wouldn’t have been able to keep that one quiet. Not one little bit. And as Tripp groaned against her mouth with his own release, apparently he couldn’t, either.
He collapsed on top of her—he had no other choice, really, as her legs were wrapped solidly around his waist—sweaty and shaking as he buried his face against her throat. She wasn’t even remotely ready for him to move away from her. Wasn’t ready for him to leave her body. She loved how he covered her, loved how his weight pushed her down into the mattress, loved how he filled her.
Loved him.
“What?” Tripp asked as he pulled up and looked into her eyes. “What did you just say?”
Her mouth fell open on a gasp. She hadn’t even realized she’d been speaking out loud. Why did this always happen with him? Why couldn’t she keep her thoughts inside her head?
“I—I didn’t mean to. I—”
“Are you taking it back?” The corner of his mouth quirked up as he lowered his head, his lips just brushing over hers. “Because I’m in love with you, too, Beth Boone.”
Beth gasped again, and he took advantage, his tongue dipping inside of her mouth. She brought her hands to the back of his head again, holding him to her. He rolled them both, him on his back, her sprawled across his chest.
She levered up on her arms, her hair swinging forward on either side of her face as she looked down.
“I’ve been waiting for you to figure it out.” He looked at her as he reached up and pushed her hair back and behind her ears. “I didn’t want to tell you before you realized you loved me back. Didn’t want to freak you out.”
“Me? Freak out?”
“Yes. You. I know you’re worried about how fast this is moving.”
“And you’re not?” Her heart was still beating rapidly in her chest.
“No.” He shook his head. “I’ve never wanted something more in my life. I love you, Beth. So damn much.”
“When did you realize it?”
“It was one of those nights Wallace had the kids. And when I got home from work, I found you taking a nap in my bed. You were curled up around one of my pillows, and you looked so damn peaceful. All I could think was what I wouldn’t give to know what you were dreaming about.”
The memory of that afternoon came flooding back to her. She’d been exhausted because, courtesy of another thunderstorm, the three kids had joined her in bed the night before. She also knew exactly what she’d been dreaming about because when he’d kissed her to wake her up, she’d thought she’d still been dreaming.
“You. I was dreaming about you, Tripp.” She leaned down and pressed her lips to his.
“Tell me again,” he whispered against her mouth.
“I love you.”
“Again.”
“I love you.”
“Again…”
* * *
Coming to consciousness was slow going for Beth the following morning. It took her more than a couple of seconds to realize she was naked, that the sheets were moving over her bare skin.
She never slept naked these days…unless she was in Tripp’s bed. But no, she was definitely in her bed. She knew that without a doubt. Her mattress, her sheets, her scent of laundry detergent.
When she opened her eyes, it took a few bleary-eyed blinks to adjust to the sunlight that beamed through the window. She hadn’t closed the blinds before she went to bed last night…
Last night…Tripp, in her bed. Her accidentally telling him she loved him…him saying it back.
Her eyes moved over to the empty space next to her. The sheets were rumpled and there was a definite impression in the other pillow.
He left?
The clank of a pan being set on the stove came from the kitchen. A moment later the low rumble of Tripp’s voice hit her ears and the smell of coffee and bacon filled her nose.
Beth scrambled out of bed, making a quick trip to the bathroom before grabbing her robe from the back of the door and tying the sash securely around her waist. She opened the door and walked out to find everyone in the kitchen.
Tripp was at the stove in his jeans and T-shirt from yesterday, with a still pajama’d Nora at his side. A pan of bacon was crisping up in front of him while he held his hand a few inches above an empty pan on another burner, testing the heat.
“Put a little bit of that butter in the pan,” he told Nora and pointed to the butter dish on the counter with his tongs. “Spread it around as it melts and then add the eggs.” He indicated the bowel of whisked-up and seasoned eggs by the butter dish.
“Okay.” She nodded as she cut off a dollop. “This good?”
“Yup. In the pan.”
Both Penny and Grant were sitting on stools at the center island, flour spread all over the granite countertop, and just a little dusted across their noses and cheeks. Duke was at Penny’s side, his head in her lap.
“Morning,” Beth said as all eyes turned to her.
“Aunt B! We made pancakes!” Penny squealed. “But don’t sneak Duke any of the chocolate chip ones because they aren’t good for him.”
Duke’s head perked up at the sound of his name, but when Penny started to scratch the dog’s ears, he rested his head back in her lap.
“Only the plain ones.” Grant pointed to the center of the counter at a plate covered with a white towel.
“Is that so.” She raised her eyebrows at Tripp, whose gaze was entirely focused on her.
“It is.” He grinned at her.
“What do you have going on over there, Nora?”
“Super fluffy, and cheesy, scrambled eggs,” Nora said, not taking her attention off the job in front of her, where she slowly ran the spatula across the bottom of the pan.
“Does anything else need to be done?” Beth asked as she glanced over at the dining room table, which had already been set.
“Nope.” He shook his head. “Breakfast will be ready in about five. Coffee is brewed, though. You can make yourself a cup if you need a little caffeine.”
“I always need a little caffeine,” she said as she went over to the coffee maker, a smile turning up her mouth.
A girl could get used to mornings like this.