by K. L. Ramsey
“I need to get back to the condo. I have some company coming over to help me celebrate having the place all to myself.” Everyone knew what Torren meant by “company”. All three men groaned when Torren held up three fingers.
“Really, Tor? Three women? You know what to do with three women?” Aaron teased.
“Man, just because you seem a little confused about the female species right now, doesn’t mean you can take it out on me.” Torren smugly sat back in their grandfather’s favorite chair.
Tag knew that his brother had no problem with the female persuasion. In fact, he was pretty sure that three women at once wasn’t Torren’s best. He’d came home from his long weekend with Piper to find five women hanging out. Torren had always been a little wild, but lately he was taking things to a whole new level. Tag was starting to worry about his brother.
“How about you, Mr Big Mouth, you seeing anyone lately? Or are you still dating your hand?” Torren threw a pillow at Aaron who dodged the blow.
“Not really seeing someone, more like just talking.”
Tag knew that something was up with Aaron; he hadn’t been into the shop lately. He just figured that his friend was busy at work. His department had lost a few guys to cutbacks, so he knew that Aaron was picking up some of the slack. He would pass him on his way to Sunny’s for morning coffee. Usually, Aaron was leaving Sunny’s bakery as Tag was going in.
“So, you gonna share who you’re just talking to or do we get to guess?” Jack sat next to Aaron, on the sofa, waiting to be filled in. “Okay, so we are going to guess.” Jack looked at Tag and Torren for any suggestions.
“Sunny,” Tag guessed. “I think it’s Sunny. Did you two hook up after her little stunt on the hike the other day?”
Aaron froze, and Tag knew that he’d hit a nerve. He almost felt bad about opening his big mouth.
“No, and no, we didn’t hook up.” Aaron seemed to concentrate even more on his food and Tag let the subject drop. Whatever was going on between Aaron and Sunny, his friend was obviously not ready to talk about it. Tag knew not to push Aaron, so he was happy that Jack seemed to pick up on the tension and change the subject.
“I’m heading back down to town tonight to pick up Maddie. She doesn’t want to stay the night, says she will miss me too much.”
Jack puffed out his chest, but Tag wasn’t buying it. The truth was that Jack probably would be the one missing Maddie. Since they’d announced that they were going to have a baby, Jack was even more overprotective than usual. Tag couldn’t blame him; he was beginning to feel the same way about Piper and they had only been together for a few days now. He couldn’t wait to be married and have a baby on the way, he just hoped that Piper felt the same way. It was something that they really didn’t discuss. He didn’t want to push her away and she didn’t want any promises. They would just have to navigate their way as they went. This was all new to him; he had never lived with another woman before. Well, except his mother. He knew that he and Piper moving in together was right, he just worried that they were going too fast for her. He was afraid that one morning he’d wake up and she would be gone. He didn’t want to think about a life without Piper. Sooner or later, they would have to figure out what their future would look like, but right now he was willing to take what he could get.
Chapter Twelve
On the morning of the big move, Piper was up and ready before dawn. She’d barely slept the entire night before. Jack had picked Maddie up around midnight and Sunny and Lorna had crashed just after she left. She’d packed a few last items and then tried to sleep, but she’d been too excited about the move to get her brain to shut up. Really, it was a welcome change from the nightmares that she’d had about her parents, or the sexy-as-hell dreams that she was currently having about Tag. Although she really didn’t mind those. It had been a long time since she’d been so excited about something that she couldn’t sleep. There was no sense in her wallowing in bed trying to force sleep to find her, so she’d got up and showered.
Tag sent her a text after she got out of the shower—apparently, he couldn’t sleep either. The two of them made a pretty ridiculous pair. They were acting like horny teenagers about this whole moving in together thing. She smiled like a crazy person as she typed back her reply. Within minutes, Tag called her.
“Hey,” she answered the phone. “So, you couldn’t sleep either?”
“Nope, I guess I’m pretty excited about someone agreeing to shack up with me.”
Piper giggled and hurried to shut her bedroom door. She didn’t want to wake Sunny or Lorna.
“I’m pretty excited that you asked me to shack up with you, Tag.” Piper sounded like a sixteen-year-old girl that had just been asked to prom. “So, when are you going to come and pick me up?” She wedged her cell between her chin and shoulder so she could pull her shorts up her legs.
“Look out your bedroom window, honey.” Piper ran over to her front window and pulled back the curtain just enough to peek out the corner. She found Tag leaning against his pickup truck in all his sexy glory. He had on an old pair of jeans and a white t-shirt that stretched across his muscles just right. He touched the tip of his baseball cap when he caught her looking at him, drawing her attention back up his body.
“You look good this morning, Tag.” He laughed at her breathy comment.
“Well, I can’t quite see you, honey, but thanks.”
“I can’t open my curtains just yet, I’m not fully dressed.” Piper teased. She heard a rustling on Tag’s end of the phone, followed by Lorna’s voice.
“Tag, tell me you didn’t just wake up my aunt.”
“Okay.” Tag pushed her door open and shut it behind him after he breathlessly made his way into her room. “I won’t tell you that I woke her. She was already up and let me in the door. Must have seen me coming.” Tag disconnected the phone and tossed it on Piper’s unmade bed. He took her in from head to toe, as she stood there in just her shorts and lacy white bra.
“You look good today too, Piper,” he almost whispered. He crossed the room to stand in front of her, and pulled her into his arms. She felt like it had been forever since he’d kissed her, not just a day. He must have felt the same. He crushed their mouths together with a passion that made her want and need him with every flick of his tongue.
“Tag,” she moaned into his mouth, “We can’t do this here. Lorna is right downstairs.” She wrapped her arms around Tag’s neck and pulled him closer in to her body.
Tag laughed, his lips vibrating on her skin. “Honey, you’re sending me mixed signals here.” He dipped his head to lick and then gently bite her nipple through her lace bra, igniting a fire deep in her belly. She moaned, thrusting her breasts into his hands as he fumbled with the front clasp to her bra.
“We have to be quiet. I don’t want to wake Sunny.” Piper knew that she was fighting a losing battle. Her body betrayed her with every touch from Tag.
“Quiet is my middle name, honey.” He unsnapped her bra and moaned as he filled his hands with her breasts. She pulled him down with her on top of her bed, fumbling with the zipper to his jeans. She was still somewhat shy about the whole sex thing. Tag didn’t let her hide behind her walls though. He told her just what to do in every dirty detail, enough to make her blush. Truthfully, she liked the way he talked to her during sex, it turned her on.
“Honey, I need you naked.” He stood back up, looking down at her body like he wanted to lick every last inch of her. She shivered with the promise that his wicked smile delivered. He pulled off her shorts and sucked in air with the realization that she wasn’t wearing any panties. She’d decided to surprise him later at the cabin, but now was as good a time as any.
“Fuck honey, that’s hot. Did you do this for me?” She shyly nodded her head, reaching up for him. She wanted the weight of his body on top of hers. She needed him naked and thrusting deep into her core.
Tag shucked his jeans and boxers and lowered his body on top of Piper’s. “I don’t
have protection, Piper. Tell me if you want me to stop.” Piper smiled up at him, pulling Tag down for a passionate kiss.
“We don’t need any.” Tag froze against Piper, and she knew that he was getting the wrong idea. “Don’t worry Tag, I’m nowhere near ready to have kids. I’m covered. I’ve been on the pill for a few years now. The doctor told me that a woman my age should always be prepared.” She laughed, burying her face against Tag’s chest. “I guess she read me all wrong. I didn’t need to be prepared for anything. Well, except now, with you…”
Tag gently raised Piper’s face to meet his.
“I’m happy that you took your doctor’s advice. Hell, I’m fucking thrilled. Are you sure?” Tag looked like a kid about to run downstairs on Christmas morning.
Piper couldn’t help her giggle. “I’m sure, Tag. I want you to be my first, um, well, first experience without a condom. I want all of you.”
Tag groaned. Not needing any more invitation, he thrust, balls deep inside of her. She gasped at the intense pleasure of being completely filled by him.
“You good Pipe?” Tag’s voice sounded hoarse. She knew that he was on edge. “This is a first for me too. I won’t last long.” She wrapped her legs around his waist, loving the way his body felt against hers.
“Take me Tag, I’m yours.”
He crushed his mouth to hers, and ground into her body, over and over.
“Touch yourself, honey. I need you with me.” He grunted out his demands and she didn’t hesitate. She knew that Tag like to watch her. She found her release, biting into Tag’s shoulder to keep from screaming. He spilled his seed into her and collapsed onto his side, pulling her with him.
They were both breathless and tangled up when Sunny knocked on Piper’s bedroom door. “Pipe, you about ready? We need to get a move on. You’ve been getting dressed for a really long time.”
Piper could hear Lorna and Sunny’s giggles through her door. Tag groaned and untangled himself from Piper. He strode into her bathroom and came back moments later with a wet washrag, using it to gently clean her. She thought that was possibly the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her.
“I should take another shower.” Piper sat up, allowing Tag to pull her into his arms.
“No, you should wear me all day and think about where I’ve been, deep inside of you. You’re mine, Piper.” He pulled her in for another quick kiss and handed her the clothes that he pulled off her earlier.
She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about Tag calling her “his”. On the one hand, she loved that he felt that way, but on the other, the thought scared the daylights out of her. She had all day to think about it before they were going to be alone again. She just needed to get her libido and her heart under control by the evening. Taking things slowly with Tag was proving to be a challenge.
***
Tag couldn’t stop thinking about taking Piper without a condom. Something deep inside of him, maybe his inner caveman, had roared to life afterwards. He had never felt that way about another woman. He knew that he was checking off boxes for Piper’s firsts, but taking her bareback was a first for him. He felt the primal desire to mark her as his, linking her to him for the rest of his life. He knew that it was too soon to be thinking that way about Piper; they had only been together a handful of times.
She consumed him to the point of not being able to sleep without her in his bed. He thought about her morning, noon and night. She had become his entire existence in such a short amount of time and that scared the shit out of him. There was no telling how Piper would take the news that Tag was falling for her, but he needed to be honest with her. He’d just wait for the right time to spring that piece of news on her. Right now, he needed to get his head on straight. They were unloading the last pickup truck full of Piper’s things into the cabin. After that, he planned on kicking their friends out and taking Piper to their bedroom. He wanted a little more one-on-one time with his woman.
“Hey, man, watch where you’re going.” Tag almost knocked into Torren with an armload of boxes. “You need to get your head in the game, Tag.”
“Yeah, sorry.” Tag found Piper in the corner of the kitchen, unloading one of her boxes. He smiled at her and Torren groaned.
“Crap, you’ve fallen for her.” Torren’s voice was so loud that Tag worried about Piper hearing. He wanted her to hear how he felt about her from him. Also, he was afraid that she would freak out and want to load everything back into the trucks to move back home.
He shushed Torren, grabbing his arm to hustle him back out to the front porch. “Lower your voice, Tor.”
Torren laughed as his brother pulled him through the open screen door. “Wait, you’ve fallen for her and you haven’t told her?” Torren doubled over laughing, slapping his thighs. Yeah, Tag didn’t find the whole situation as funny as his twin brother did.
“It’s complicated. I don’t want to scare Piper off, she’s been through more than most people.” Torren straightened up at Tag’s somber tone, placing his hand on his shoulder.
“Listen, man, I get it. She’s had it rough, but so have we. You and I only had each other and Dane, but we turned out alright.”
Tag nodded. He knew that Torren had been overcompensating with the opposite sex to forget some of his crappy childhood memories. Tag had tried to be there for Torren their whole lives, but his brother had proven to be a handful. Dane had stepped in to point both the boys in the right direction, but as kids they didn’t want to listen to any authority figure. Now, Tag would do just about anything to have Dane around to dole out some advice.
“Right, but we also didn’t have to watch both of our parents murdered. It’s just complicated. I’m trying to navigate a minefield here, so don’t screw this up for me, Tor.” Tag stared down his brother, knowing that Torren would get why he needed to proceed with caution. They both knew what it felt like to be left by someone that they loved.
“I get it Tag, I really do. But, Piper isn’t Dad. She’s a good person with a shitty past. I bet you’ll find that she is just as into you as you are her. Just give her a chance.”
Tag nodded and slapped his brother on the back, deciding that they had spent enough time sharing their feelings. He hoped like hell his brother was right. The last thing he wanted to do was watch Piper walk out of his life like his father had, all those years ago.
Chapter Thirteen
Two weeks into living under the same roof with the woman of his dreams and he had proven to himself that he was just a big coward. They had both settled into living in the cabin, dividing up chores and even finding a routine to sharing the bathroom in the morning. Piper liked to go into town early to get her shop ready for customers, so she and Tag usually rode down the mountain together. He dropped her off at Sunny’s bakery and picked up his morning coffee and then headed over to his store.
Torren usually showed up about thirty minutes before they opened, wearing a shit-eating grin that told everyone around him that he’d just got laid. He would tell Tag all about his sexcapades from the prior evening. He had recently taken up pestering his brother about not coming clean with Piper about his feelings, to which Tag’s usual response was that at least he had feelings. This prompted Torren to point to his crotch, telling Tag where he kept all his feelings “bottled up”. It was almost as if Torren wasn’t capable of an adult conversation that didn’t revolve around his dick.
At quitting time, Tag would circle back to Piper’s shop and wait for her to finish up with her day. She would usually check on her parent’s house and pick up the mail that she still had delivered there. Most of her daily mail went directly to the shop. In a small town everyone knew each other, so the postman just dropped all her mail at the ice cream parlor, but occasionally, a stray piece of mail would find its way over to Piper’s house.
Tag was sitting in the corner booth where he usually waited for Piper, when Lorna came storming through the door.
“Piper,” she said breathlessly, “I got this letter from New
York today, it was delivered to the library. The guy that delivered it was looking for you but said that I was also on the list of people he could deliver to, so he left it with me. It looks official open it.” Lorna thrust the large brown envelope into Piper’s hands.
“Thanks, Lorna.” Piper tossed the envelope onto the back counter and went back to refilling the straw containers.
“Wait, you’re not going to open it? I’ve been dying all afternoon, waiting for my shift to end so I could run that over to you.”
Piper nodded at Lorna and smiled.
“Well, thanks for doing that but I don’t have time to look at it right now. I’m sure it will keep until I close in fifteen minutes.”
Lorna settled onto a seat at the bar, disbelief showing on her face. Tag moved from his spot in the corner, to sit next to her. He really liked Lorna and he respected the way she’d stepped up to take care of Piper. Not many young women would give up their freedom to be saddled with someone else’s kid. She was one tough cookie and he could tell that she was not going to let this envelope go. Tag wanted a front row seat to watch the two most stubborn women he knew go match for match on when the mystery envelope should be opened. Truthfully, he was a tad curious as to what was in it. He knew that Piper’s parents were killed in New York and he was worried that it contained something about their deaths. He couldn’t stand the thought that a simple piece of mail would have the power to hurt Piper. He suspected that she had drawn the same conclusions and was just flat out avoiding it.
“Piper, you can’t keep me in suspense! Just open the darn letter.” Lorna folded her arms over her chest, waiting her niece out. Tag almost laughed when Piper assumed the same stance, shaking her head at her aunt’s request.