Whatever It Takes (Second Chances #2)

by L. E. Bross

  “Tess?”

  I spun around with a squeak and found Ryan already at the top step as if I had conjured him out of thin air.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you. God, it feels like fucking forever since I got to do this . . .” He stepped closer and his finger nudged my chin until I looked up. His eyes, dark brown pools of simmering passion, looked down at me and I swallowed against the lump forming. His intense gaze left me breathless, like I’d run a marathon, and my lips parted to catch any bit of air available.

  His head lowered slowly and the feathery-light touch tickled the sensitive flesh of my lips before his warm tongue traced a slow path across them, stopping in the middle to nip my bottom lip between his teeth. The playful bite sent a shiver of desire racing up my spine.

  I gasped into his mouth.

  His hand tangled into my hair and held firmly as his mouth claimed mine, his tongue sinking between my lips and stroking the warm, wet recesses until I could do nothing but kiss him back with abandon.

  Our tongues clashed, danced, and fought for dominance. Tonight I wasn’t giving an inch. If I had to leave him again, I wanted to remember this night for the rest of my life. I pulled away, gasping for breath. Every fiber in my body was electrified. With so little time left, I wanted all of him.

  “I need to shower,” I said between kisses. “I could use a back washer.”

  “Fuck yes,” he growled.

  He was wrapped around me when I opened the door and slipped inside. Louisa was sitting on the couch and she smiled at us.

  “He went down around nine and haven’t heard a peep. I’ll leave you two alone.” She grinned at us before letting herself out.

  “God, I thought she’d never leave,” Ryan said. His mouth was hot on my shoulder and he reached around to unfasten the hooks that held the corset closed in the front.

  “I’m not wearing a . . .” The leather fell to the floor.

  “You are going to kill me.” Ryan cupped my breasts and ran his thumb over the tips. “And I will die a happy man.”

  I arched and pressed my entire back to his front. His teeth nipped at my neck and I groaned. “Shower.”

  “In a minute. I need to help you out of your work clothes.” He ran his fingers down my ribs before bringing them together just above the edge of my jeans. His lips made a path down my spine that almost sent me to my knees.

  “Ryan.” I moaned low, and he slowly turned me around and then sank to his knees.

  When he pressed his lips right above one hip, I threaded my fingers in his hair. He undid the button and lowered the zipper, pressing kisses on the skin he revealed. My breath caught.

  It seemed to take him an hour to peel my jeans down to where my boots kept him from going farther. I gripped his shoulders when he unzipped them and tugged them off. Before I could get my balance, he had my jeans off too. I stood there in nothing but a pair of black lace panties.

  “You are so amazingly beautiful.” He kissed both hips, then I felt his hot breath right between my legs. Even through the thin fabric, I felt his hot tongue moving over me. It wasn’t enough and he moved away too soon so that he stood in front of me now.

  Heat still pulsed from the point of his brief contact and desire curled up my body. When he lifted my hand and took the tip of my finger into his mouth, scraping his teeth along the sensitive underside, a shudder racked my body.

  His eyes were burning and I couldn’t look away. What I thought I saw there should have made my heart soar, but instead, the ache in my chest made it hard to take a breath.

  When he cupped my jaw, I tilted my head into his hand.

  “Tess . . . I need to tell you . . .”

  I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my mouth against his. He could not say anything because it would change nothing. I slid my fingers down his arm and pulled him toward the bathroom.

  While he was taking off his clothes I started the water and lit a couple of candles so we could turn off the harsh overhead light. With everything bathed in the soft glow, it was magical. This was what I wanted to remember. Ryan. Just like this.

  He was completely naked and magnificent. Hard corded muscles ran down his arms and legs. Grooves on the side of his hips pointed right between his legs where his cock was hard and ready and beautiful.

  We’d had sex before this, but I knew tonight was more than that.

  Tonight was about love. And goodbye.

  It made everything more important. I tried to catalog every detail because I never wanted to forget this night. I crooked a finger under the waistband of my panties and pulled them down. Then I reached up and tugged the elastic bands from my hair, one then the other. I shook my head, savoring the relief in my scalp.

  My sigh was answered by a groan. We both stood naked, staring at each other, and the anticipation made my skin buzz. It took only a step and he was in front of me again. His mouth lowered over mine, possessive and demanding. His tongue stroked the inside of my mouth and fresh desire exploded over me, reigniting into a fury of intense need. I returned the kiss with my own urgency. His body pressed harder into mine and his cock pressed against my stomach.

  Steam from the shower filled the room and covered our bodies with a thin layer of moisture.

  I scraped my nails lightly over the muscles in his back. He groaned into my mouth and deepened the kiss, pushing against me slowly until I felt the edge of the tub on my calves. I stepped inside and felt the flow of hot water down my back.

  “God, you taste good,” he said, following me in.

  As if to prove it, he caught my lip between his teeth and bit down lightly, tugging on the kiss-swollen flesh. He somehow managed to turn me around so that my back was against his front.

  The shower was small and with Ryan in there with me, I could barely move. But I didn’t need to. With him pressing against me in the back and the hot water running between us, it was perfect.

  “Do you know how many nights I stood in my shower, thinking about you and getting myself off?” he asked against my neck.

  If I’d had the room, I would have melted into a puddle.

  His hand ran down my water-slickened stomach and settled between my legs. I let my head fall forward and rest on the shower wall. He moved my hair aside and kissed the back of my neck. When his fingers slipped inside me I groaned.

  “I never want to stop touching you,” he said. “You are so perfect, Tess. So goddamned perfect for me.”

  I cried out, partly from what his fingers were doing to me and partly because of what he’d said. I wanted to be so much more for him, but I couldn’t. And the pain of that knowledge mixed with the explosive pleasure he was pushing me toward.

  “Ryan,” I moaned.

  “Let go, Tess.”

  I leaned my head back against his shoulder and closed my eyes. Lights danced behind my eyelids and the tension inside grew tighter. Tears filled my eyes and seeped out from the lids. The water washed them away immediately.

  “Come for me, baby,” Ryan said.

  I shattered. My mouth fell open and I gasped in shallow breaths and the tension peaked and exploded into a million shiny pieces. Ryan tightened his arms around my waist and kept moving his fingers, keeping me from finding myself again for a very long minute.

  “God, I could watch you do that over and over again. But right now, I need to be inside you.” His hands slid over my wet skin and he guided me out of the shower.

  The edge of the counter was cold against my ass and I gasped. Ryan grabbed the towel off the rack and laid it behind me, then he tugged my arms around his neck.

  “Hold on to me, beautiful,” he said, pressing his hot mouth against my throat.

  I did and he lifted me up and set my ass on the edge of the sink. The height of it put me exactly where I needed to be to fit against him perfectly.

  I wrapped my legs around his hips and he
groaned when his cock slid against my wet skin.

  “You are so fucking perfect, Tess,” he mumbled, staring down between us. He traced a path of water droplets over my shoulder to the tip of my breast.

  “Ryan, please.” I shifted a little closer and moved my hips back and forth.

  He gritted his teeth and the air hissed out from between them. “You are killing me.” But he reached down and grabbed his jeans and pulled out a condom. He had it opened and on faster than my desire-filled mind could comprehend.

  When I felt the tip of him nudging between my legs, I tightened my grip on his neck and slid to the very edge of the counter. I dug my heels into the back of his thighs and let my head fall back when he slid all the way inside, filling me.

  “Fuck,” he gasped.

  I answered with my own nonsensical words because he had started moving.

  “Lean back as far as you can,” he urged. His fingers dug into my hips and held me steady, so I let go and braced my hands on the edges of the counter. Then I leaned back until I felt the mirror at the back of my head.

  I heard the sharp intake of his breath and almost smiled. He made me feel like the sexiest woman on the planet. I arched my back as much as I could and he surged inside me, driving harder now.

  “You are not playing fair,” he growled, punctuating each word with a harder thrust of his hips.

  The angle was perfect, and with every stroke he hit the bundle of nerves just inside me. Every stroke brought me closer and closer.

  I moaned his name, long and loud, and he lifted my hips off the counter so that I was supporting all of my weight, but the small change was all it took to send me flying over the edge. The tension in my body ebbed and flowed in waves of pure pleasure.

  Ryan crowded over me and drove with faster and faster movement. He caught my lips and our tongues tangled in urgency. Then, he stilled and his deep groan filled my mouth while he pulsated inside me.

  Finally he leaned back with a gasp then laid his forehead against mine. My legs were like rubber and slid down the outside of his thighs. We stayed like that, still connected, gazes locked while we both caught our breath.

  “Fuck, Tess,” he said, raining soft kisses along the corner of my lips. “That was . . . incredible.”

  His fingers slid into my hair and he pulled my head down to his chest, holding me there while his free hand stroked up and down my back. His heartbeat still pounded an erratic rhythm in his chest, in time with my own.

  It was . . . amazing.

  I knew that it was only that way because it was Ryan, because I . . . I choked on the word, but my relaxed brain filled in the spot . . . because I loved him.

  I buried my face in his neck and hoped the moisture from the steam would hide the tears. I loved him with all my heart and I had to leave him. Again.

  Why the hell was my life so messed up?

  Didn’t I deserve to be happy after everything I’d sacrificed?

  I wanted to tell him so badly, but that would only make the pain of leaving him a hundred times worse. Let him think that we parted as just a casual hookup. That hearts were not involved this time.

  I kissed the spot right over his heart, then slid off the counter.

  As far as goodbyes went, I already knew this one was going to be the best and worst of my life.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  ryan

  Tess had fucking rocked my world.

  I wasn’t prepared for how much it would affect me, but I knew the reason why. All those other girls were just sex. With Tess there was something else. Something that should have freaked me out to the moon and back, but it didn’t.

  I loved her.

  I fucking loved her so much that all I could think about was her. Her smile. Her laugh. Those fucking ponytails she wore to work. I loved every single part of her. And as soon as Avery’s father let me know everything was taken care of, I was going to tell her.

  Me. The me who swore he was never settling down with one woman, wanted to do exactly that. And with a kid in the picture to boot. The craziest part was none of it freaked me out. I was looking forward to this new chapter.

  I was actually excited about being a one-woman man.

  Seth was going to give me shit about this for years.

  I didn’t even care.

  My phone buzzed Friday morning and Avery’s name popped up on the screen.

  “Hey, Ave.”

  “Ryan. So my father sent all the paperwork to Tess’s father’s attorney and he heard back from him about five minutes ago.”

  My heart stuttered and slammed into my chest. “And?”

  “And . . . he took your offer. He signed everything and all my father has to do is file it with the courts and the adoption will be all set. Tess will be Noah’s permanent guardian.” The happiness in her voice made me want to jump in the air.

  “How long does the filing take? When will Tess find out?”

  “He’s sending everything over now, so she should get the official paperwork this afternoon, since I made sure that they would be delivered via courier. I know how anxious you are to get them to her.” If Avery were standing next to me I would have hugged her.

  “God, Avery, you are amazing. I couldn’t have done any of this without your help. I owe you big-time.”

  “I’m glad it worked out and that little boy will have a good life.” Avery had changed her major from corporate law to family law to help people in just this way. “What you did was selfless, Ry. Not many people would have done that.”

  “Anything for Tess.”

  “Are you going to tell her what you did?” she asked.

  I didn’t know the answer to that yet. “I’m not sure.”

  Avery was quiet for a minute. “Are you going to tell her that you’re in love with her?”

  I chuckled. “That I can and plan on doing very soon.”

  I could hear the smile in her voice. “Good.”

  “So by this afternoon Tess should know?”

  “Yes.”

  “I guess it’s going to be a pretty eventful day, then.”

  Avery just laughed. “You bad boys always fall the hardest.”

  Tess usually left for work around four, so at two thirty I called her. It went straight to voice mail. I left her a quick message, that I was thinking about her, and waited.

  Maybe she was celebrating? But why wouldn’t she call me first?

  Getting custody of Noah would be a huge deal for her.

  Without making it obvious, I couldn’t just show up and ask her if she got some good news today, but I could get off work early and show up before she left “just because.” After last night, I could say I couldn’t get her out of my mind, which was the truth. God, I fucking loved her so much.

  I was grinning like an idiot when I pulled into her parking lot just before four.

  Her car wasn’t there. I knew Louisa lived in 4C and she usually looked after Noah when Tess worked, so I got out of the truck and went to her door.

  When Louisa pulled open the door, she looked surprised to see me. A feeling of dread started creeping into my gut, but I tried to push it away. “Hello, Ryan.”

  “Have you seen Tess today?”

  Confusion crossed her face. “She came by earlier and said that she and Noah were spending the night with a friend. I thought she meant you.” Louisa’s eyebrows drew down. “She put some boxes in her car before they left.”

  It felt like I’d swallowed a brick. “Do you still have a key to her place?” I had to see for myself if what my gut said was true. Because it couldn’t be. Not when I was so close. Louisa handed me a key. “Did you see anyone go to her door today?”

  “I was gone all morning and came home around two. That’s when Tess came down to tell me I had the night off even though she paid me for the whole week already.”r />
  Shit. I turned and jogged to her steps, then took them two at a time. Maybe she had to do laundry? Maybe she was out celebrating with Noah? Maybe . . . no, she could not be gone. I jammed the key into the lock and pushed open the door.

  She was definitely gone.

  Not that her place had a lot to start with, but it was the little things. The striped pillow she loved that was always on the couch. Noah’s blocks that never left the living room. I walked to the bathroom. There was nothing in the shower; no shampoo or body wash or even soap. The candles were gone too.

  I sent Avery a text. Did the papers get delivered today?

  Because if they were, this made no sense at all.

  I was going through empty drawers in the bedroom when my phone rang. Without thinking I hit Accept. “Tess?”

  “It’s Avery, Ryan. What’s going on?”

  “Tess is gone. Her place is cleaned out. Did she get the papers today?” I paced up and down the hallway. She was definitely not here anymore.

  “I called my dad right after you texted. The courier brought the papers back to his office. He said that when he tried to deliver them, a woman slammed the door in his face. I assume that must have been Tess?”

  “That makes no sense.” I made my way into the kitchen. A last-ditch effort to try to convince myself she was coming back. The fridge was empty but a slip of paper on the table caught my eye.

  The note was short, but it was to me. She knew I’d come looking for them.

  Ryan,

  I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye, but maybe it’s better this way. I’m afraid I can’t stay here any longer. I think my father is going to try to take Noah before the hearing and I can’t let him.

  For what it’s worth, the last month has been the best in a very long time. Don’t shut yourself away from love. You deserve to be happy.

  All my love,

  Tess

  “Ryan?” Avery’s worried voice came over the line. I heard Seth in the background asking what was wrong, and then Avery whispered she didn’t know. “Ryan? Are you still there?”