House of Payne: Tag

by Stacy Gail

  Excellent timing.

  “Hey, tiger.” Absently locking the SUV’s door, he closed the distance between them, noting in the light of the setting sun that she looked wan, if not downright exhausted. “What’s wrong? You look like shit.”

  “Great. Glad to hear it.” With a long sigh, she dug through her purse for her keys instead of greeting him with a kiss like she normally did. “It’s been a shit day. Glad I look like I feel.”

  Damn. “I mean you look like someone’s used and abused you. Point me in the right direction and I’ll beat them up, whoever they are. You can even watch, if you want.”

  Much to his relief, that made her smile. “Nah, it’s all good. It was just one of those days where all the air got cleared. Like, all. I don’t think I could take another emotional scene, so if you’ve got some existential issues that need to be delved into, could it wait until tomorrow morning? I’ve kinda had my fill for the day.”

  “Sure, baby.” He took her key, opened the door for her, then guided her to her apartment. “How about a night in? I call for some greasy, artery-clogging, super-cheesy pizza with extra pepperoni and we just Netflix and chill?”

  The laugh that burst out of her lifted his heart in ways he couldn’t begin to explain. “That sounds like heaven. Go ahead and make the call while I get into something more comfortable, okay? Won’t be a minute.”

  From feeling like an emotional punching bag, Ivy felt a surge of renewed energy zip through her as she shucked her work clothes and got into a turquoise-colored tank dress made for summer laziness. That was what it was to have Tag in her life, she realized, taking the time to fluff her curls in the mirror. Just the sight of him gave her a shot of happiness that was better than any drug known to man.

  “Have you done your final tat design?” she wanted to know as she joined him in the small living area. Some of the furniture had made it back to where it belonged once she’d done one wall in a futuristic cityscape. She wasn’t thrilled with it, but for now it would do. “I haven’t even started mine.”

  “Tick-tock, tiger.” There was a relaxed smile playing around Tag’s mouth as he tucked his phone away, and it was a smile she loved. He wasn’t the kind of man who smiled easily, so whenever he did so around her, she felt like she’d won the lottery. “The final reveal is only three days away.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes—you’ve done the final tat design.” With a short sigh, she settled onto the brown roll-arm couch and grabbed up the remote. “It’s weird. I’m never stuck for inspiration. Like, ever. But since this is the last design challenge, I’ve got so many ideas I can’t seem to settle on just one. I want this last design to depict who I am as an artist. But I also want to express what I see in this world as being absolutely vital to life. And at the same time, I still want to hit on something that every person can relate to in a deeply personal way.”

  “Damn, woman.” Sounding amused, Tag went into the kitchen area. “Talk about a laundry list. Can’t say you’re not ambitious.”

  “I know I have it in me, but I just can’t figure out how to put what I want into a visual that everyone could understand right off the bat.”

  “You’ll figure it out. Do you want me to get you a glass of wine or a beer before the pizza gets… What the hell.”

  That brought her head around to where he stood by the fridge, his back to her. “What?”

  There was a beat of silence. “Did you and Minnie have a fight?”

  At the sound of her friend’s name, her smile vanished. “Not a fight, exactly. She pissed me off today by sharing something she probably shouldn’t have. In the end it all turned out for the best, so I’m trying to get over… wait.” Her eyes narrowed on his back. “How could you possibly know about that?”

  “I know something happened because Minnie beat you home today.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “She’s got a key to your place, right? She left you a peace offering here on the counter.”

  Immediately her heart took a nosedive into her stomach. “Oh my God, Tag, please tell me it’s not another box of condoms or coconut lube that smells like Mounds candy bars.”

  “No.” A funny smile curled a corner of his mouth as he turned around, a piece of paper in one hand and something cupped in the other.

  She stared at him, baffled. “What?”

  “First, there’s this. And I’m not stupid enough to stick my nose into shit between chicks who seem to enjoy going off like fucking bottle rockets, I swear. All I’m going to say on the matter is I think she’s sincere. Just my opinion, and beyond that I’m staying out of it.” He joined her on the couch and handed her the paper. Frowning, she took it and immediately recognized Minnie’s unique block printing in Sharpie.

  Ivy,

  I’m so sorry for today. I hope these will help make tonight as great as this morning was shitty. I’m also hoping that when I see you tomorrow morning, you’ll be less inclined to murder me with your bare hands.

  I’m really sorry.

  Minnie

  Ivy shook her head, reading the note once more. It was sweet, but… “I don’t understand. What is she talking…?”

  The clatter of dice on the coffee table in front of her brought her bewildered eyes up. She zeroed in on a pair of pink dice that didn’t have any dots on them. Instead they had words.

  Very specific, very naughty words.

  “I’ve heard of these, but I’ve never actually seen them before.” Tag leaned forward, checking out the dice. “One seems to be an action die and the other is a body part. I just rolled a lick and a neck.” He glanced her way while she just sat there gaping at the little pink cubes. “Guess the rules of this game are pretty straightforward, yeah? I have to lick your neck before it’s your turn.” He leaned toward her with a predatory gleam in his eyes, and it was a wonder she didn’t spontaneously combust when her body heated up in an all-over flush. “Pizza’ll be here in about forty-five minutes. We have time for a quick game, don’t we?”

  He was such a tease. “What kind of friend would I be to turn down Minnie’s peace offering?”

  “Is that the only reason you’re willing to play?”

  “It depends.”

  “On what?”

  “On how well you lick my neck.”

  “Oh, tiger.” His voice was a deep rumble that hit her in her girlie parts as he brushed her hair aside from her neck. “Challenge accepted. I’m going to give this game my all.”

  She wanted to respond, but the moment was lost when his lips brushed the side of her neck. She curved her body toward his, her eyes closing to savor the feel of him as he caressed her first with his lips and then his tongue, and she shivered as he drew moist little whorls over her skin. He sucked and swirled until she couldn’t hold still, and if she wound up covered in hickeys she didn’t give a damn. His mouth was magic, and she would wear his mark with pride.

  “Well?” His voice was rough around the edges, something she knew happened when he was aroused. It was, without a doubt, her favorite Tag voice. “Was that good enough to tempt you into playing?”

  “Give me those dice.” Keeping her eyes on his, she blindly groped for them and gave them a toss. “Well? What am I supposed to do with you?”

  “Hm.” His mouth hovered over hers before he gave the dice a distracted glance. “Shit. It says touch and ears.”

  She couldn’t help but giggle. “Touch and ears? Damn, what a crappy role.”

  “You could do a do-over.”

  “That would be cheating.”

  He nuzzled his nose with hers. “I won’t tell.”

  “It doesn’t say how I’m supposed to touch your ears though, right? I mean, I could just put my fingers in your ears, but that’s not what I would call foreplay.” Still laughing, she rose to her knees and leaned an arm on the couch’s back while sliding his hair behind his ear. “This is what I call foreplay.”

  With that, she leaned into him, parted her lips and gently drew his lobe between
her teeth to toy with it. When she’d had enough of that, she closed her lips on it so that she could suck on it and play with it with her tongue before she moved to give his other lobe the same attention, all the while sliding her fingers through his hair in slow, pleasurable caresses. When she finished, she backed up and looked into his onyx eyes. “Your turn to roll, honey.”

  Without looking away from her, or even speaking a word, he rolled the dice.

  Since he didn’t look, she made herself do it and nearly sighed in mingled relief and excitement. “Suck and nipples.”

  “Fuck, yeah.” As if he’d been waiting to do it his entire life, he pulled at the tank dress, ripping it off her shoulders to puddle around her waist, the lacy bra she wore underneath falling away with an efficient twist of his wrist. Then he had her lying back against the cushions while his mouth covered her upper chest in hungry, open-mouthed kisses.

  That wasn’t what the dice had called for, but since she was fairly certain the rules were whatever they made them, she was calling his technique a winner.

  “I don’t know how you do it.” His distracted murmur against her skin made her toes curl. Everything about him made her toes curl. It was a wonder she could even walk. “How do you become more beautiful than the last time I saw you?”

  Oh, this glorious man. “I don’t. I’m not.”

  “You are.” His tongue traced a wet circle around a sensitive areola, making her shiver. “Every time, you’re more beautiful than the last. Every fucking time. It’s insane.”

  “I—” At last his mouth closed on the nipple, and suddenly all the nerves in her entire body seemed attached to that one point. Wow, she thought, her hands clutching at his hair to hold him closer. Just totally freaking wow. “I’m glad you see me that way, honey.”

  “It’s not how I see things, and it’s not my eyes playing tricks on me. It’s how you are.” Trailing kisses to her other breast, Tag administered the same focused attention on the areola, tasting her with a thoroughness that had her moving restlessly beneath him. “I know beauty, tiger. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to capture it because it’s so fucking rare in this world. You are my idea of beauty. My ideal. And you just keep getting better.” With that, he brought her nipple into his mouth, toyed with it with his tongue before sucking hard.

  Oh, yeah.

  Her hands moved from his hair to clench the rounded firmness of his ass a moment before she shifted to shuck her panties along with the tank dress. With a sigh of relief now that she’d removed the barriers keeping her from him, she opened her knees to cradle his hips between her thighs. Their game was forgotten, which was just as well. She wasn’t playing anymore. Thankfully he seemed to be of the same mind as he reached for his wallet for a condom, kicked off his jeans and boxer briefs, then yanked his T-shirt off and threw it on the floor.

  Now they were getting somewhere.

  “It’s never just sex with you,” he grated, and her heart almost stopped when she noticed his hands shook as he rolled the condom into place. “Never just sex, never just fucking around. That’s part of your beauty. You and me together…it’s more than anything I’ve ever known, Ivy. More than anything I’ll ever know, and the enormity of that… It crushes me in the best fucking way.”

  “I know.” She welcomed him into her arms, into her body, and she lifted her hips to ensure the first powerful thrust of his cock went as deep as it could go. Yes. “It’s this, Tag. It’s two pieces becoming one. It’s completion.”

  “Completion.” His voice was no more than a growl as he rolled his hips with driving motion, the smooth glide of his thick cock so good she had to close her eyes to better savor the pleasure blooming in every cell. So close… “You’re my other half, Ivy. My missing piece. And you know I’m yours.”

  Somehow his words touched her as deeply and tangibly as his body, and that was all it took to push her over the edge. Shudders of pleasure rippled through her as every cell burst with euphoric bliss. As intense as it was, her orgasm seemed to spark his. She was still in the process of coming down to earth when his head tipped back, his teeth bared as he plowed into her like he couldn’t get buried deeply enough, until with one last mighty thrust he collapsed with a groan that thrilled her.

  Perfect.

  With the beginnings of a smile, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and marveled at how he brought her that perfection every single time. She had to be the luckiest woman alive, and she opened her mouth to tell him that, when the sound of the front entrance buzzer cut her off.

  She started, surprised. Who knew there was a world out there besides just the two of them?

  “Assholes told me forty-five minutes.” Tag reluctantly pulled out of her, one hand going for the condom he needed to take care of while the other reached for his discarded jeans. “If they think they’re going to get a tip for being fucking efficient and better than on time, they’re out of their goddamn mind.”

  Heh. “If you’re nice to the brave delivery person coming into this neighborhood, I’ll play another game of dice with you.” Smiling, she reached for the pink cubes and gave them a roll. “Ooh. And just so you know, I rolled a suck, and player’s choice.”

  He blinked. “Right. A twenty-dollar tip coming up. Be right back, and don’t touch those dice.”

  She laughed as he practically ran to answer the door.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ivy’s eyes slid open, and at first she wasn’t sure what it was that had awakened her. Her bedroom was awash in shadows, and the street beyond was as still as it ever got. She was curled up on her side with Tag behind her, little spoon to his big spoon, and she could tell by his even breathing that he was asleep. Just as she decided to drift back off to sleep herself, she heard it—the faint wolf whistle text chime of her phone.

  A text?

  Who the hell would text her at this time of night?

  As carefully as she could, she slid out from under Tag’s arm and eased herself out of bed, then padded as silently as she could out to the living room to her phone where she’d left it, snagging up her robe along the way. It was well after midnight, she realized as she shrugged into the robe. That meant whoever chose to text her at that time of night clearly needed her attention in a big way.

  Oh crap. What if someone had landed themselves in the ER, or maybe even jail, or Clawsome was burning down to the…?

  Heya. U still mad at me?

  Minnie.

  Of course.

  Ivy sighed in relief and curled up in the corner of the couch. “No. Or at the very least, I’ve decided not to kill you.”

  She could see her friend was typing.

  Did u find my peace offering?

  At that, Ivy couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “Tag did.”

  And?

  “As peace offerings go, you hit it the jackpot. Seriously, I think we should send the Mideast peace-talk guys those dice. They have miraculous peace-keeping properties.”

  Yay! So does this mean I’m out of the doghouse?

  Ivy chuckled to herself and let her thumbs to the talking. “You’re definitely out of the doghouse. But you’re also out of luck in getting those dice back.”

  That’s ok. Don’t need gimmicks to get in the mood now.

  That made Ivy’s brows inch up. “What does that mean?”

  I mean life has changed. I’VE changed. Today changed me completely and now I feel freer than I’ve ever felt in my life.

  “Awesome, Minh,” Ivy whispered to the screen before she typed. “You happy?”

  Very.

  In the silence of the living room, Ivy smiled. “I’m so glad, Minnie. Love you.”

  Love u too. And u know something else? I think I might be in love.

  Ivy blinked and reread the message to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. “That was fast.”

  Nope, not fast. I just didn’t let it come to the surface. But it’s been there for a while now.

  Ivy’s eyes narrowed. “Please don’t tell me it’s
Mal. When he played that trick on you with the handcuffs, he showed himself to be a total dick.”

  No, not Mal.

  That left only… “Shamar.”

  Yup. He’s so wonderful. The most wonderful man in the world.

  Ivy pursed her lips. “I thought the only thing you loved about him was his penis. Are you sure that’s not what you’re feeling now?”

  It took a while for Minnie to respond, and when it finally showed up it was a wall of text.

  Almost from the moment Mama freed me from my obligation to marry Hyun, all I could think about was Shamar. And not just his penis, which is saying something for me. Even before today, I loved hanging out with him, listening to the sound of his voice, laughing with him. Every second I’m with him, I want those seconds to last forever. Every time we’re apart, all I can think about is when we can be together again. Not for the sex, though heaven knows that’s a spectacular part of our relationship. I just love being around him. That’s when I feel complete. Is that love?

  Ivy couldn’t seem to stop smiling at her phone. “It certainly sounds like it. I mean, that’s pretty much the way I am with Tag.”

  So I was right? U r in love with Tag?

  “There’s no one else in this world I’d rather be with, from morning to night and every second in between. I’m at my happiest when we’re together, and I want that happiness to go on forever. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”

  Minnie’s response was immediate. Yay! How did he react when u told him?

  Ivy grimaced and took a few seconds to figure out the right words. “I’m still getting used to this whole love thing myself, Minh. Once I’m used to it, I’ll think about sharing with Tag.”

  Sooo…you’re not going to tell him?

  “Not yet.”

  But I told Shamar, and he was okay with it.

  “Good for freaking Shamar,” Ivy muttered before moving her fingers over the phone’s screen. “When I’m ready, I’ll tell him.”

  “Ivy?” Yawning, shirtless, and absently tugging at the waistband of his undone jeans, Tag wandered down the short hallway from the bedroom. “Where you at, babe?”