She smiles, “I hadn’t realized that.”
“I thought you always color-matched them.”
Tempest laughs the laugh of a woman who is seen. “Guess I was psychic because I had no idea you were coming tonight with those.”
“Lucky psychic.”
Our gazes drop to her bare legs, pussy concealed under the oversized shirt. Is she wearing panties? I need to see for myself.
“This what you’re sleeping in?”
“I was.”
“Take it off. I’ll watch.”
Eyelashes flutter, vulnerable brown eyes staring at me as her lips part, and graceful hands slide down her sides to the hem. Inch by inch Tempest lifts the cotton barrier, naked skin revealing to me a trimmed pussy in its full glory. A woman, not a child.
Her breasts freed hang ripe for the kissing, so I lift one and bring it’s hard pencil-eraser-sized tip and suck, pausing only to moan against the pillowy flesh, “You’re beautiful, Ms. Tuck.”
She threads her fingernails into my hair, gasping, “Thank you, Mr. Arosio,” before moaning and arching breasts for my hungry lips.
“Would you like to dance?”
“Sorry?”
I hold out my hand and repeat the invite. “Dance?”
Tempest’s warm palm slides onto mine, and our fingers hook together as I bring her, naked, up against me. I’m still wearing black joggers from class, but luckily I don’t sweat like I did the first class I took from her. The erection is impossible to hide, but we ignore it for the moment as I hold her close, humming in her ear, slowly dancing with our cheeks pressed together. “You feel like I thought you would.”
She rests her cheek in the nook in my shoulder, “I didn’t dare think of how you would feel.”
We rock and sway and slowly spin to music only we can hear. The pads of my fingertips brush her shoulder blades, naked spine, her sides. I smile at the goosebumps, and travel my curious hands down to cup her ass, clasping tender skin to pull her closer.
Tempest looks at me, and closes her eyes, chin lifted. I kiss her softly, then deeper, showing her how much I want her, bending slightly to pick her up, thighs straddling me, calves wrapping around my ass. Our tongues dance, taste, and devour until my cock is throbbing so bad I can’t wait any longer.
I set her down, tear off my tank top, satisfied by the lust in her eyes as Tempest reaches to touch my chest. She takes a step closer, bends and runs her tongue over my right nipple, biting it, tugging and looking up at me with hunger. Her yellow fingernails scratch my abs, leaving a pink trail behind as she traces my V and slips under my cotton hem, pausing to lock eyes with me before revealing what I can’t wait to show her.
Every man wants his woman to love his cock, and I know mine’s a little different. She stares at it and I smirk, knowing what she is seeing — my cock has a bend, it’s hooked in just the right way that it will hit her g-spot with little effort. Eyelashes rise to look at me, as she wraps one hand around the base, and touches the tip with her other index finger, tracing its mushroom head.
“You’re beautiful, too, Josh.”
I smile, remove her hand, and kick myself free of clothing. Lifting her up, I lay us skin-to-skin on the modest bed to do immodest things. Tempest and I kiss and explore each other until we become feverish. Touching her pussy for the first time, I find it wet, swollen. The breathless moans she gives are what really do it for me. I follow them like a map to where she loves to be touched most, until she covers her mouth to hush her cries of pleasure. Cupping her pussy as she comes on my hand, I watch her breasts heave, her neck become exposed as it arches, her chin reaching high toward the ceiling. Panting as she comes down, Tempest looks shocked, and I don’t need to ask why.
I don’t want to know what happened for her with other men. I never want to know that. Any man who does is a masochist, unless he’s into polygamy. I’m not.
Working hot kisses up her body, I use my knee to open her thighs, positioning my cock’s tip at the edge of her opening. Tempest closes her eyes to receive my kiss, receive me, all of me. I groan in her lips as I’m buried inside of her tight pussy, the inner ridges squeezing my shaft, cock now her slave.
We move, fucking each other slowly, exchanging hungry glances before intensity shuts our eyes for us.
I chew her neck.
She bites my shoulder.
My fingers dig into her skin.
Her nails cut into mine.
I wince at the pleasure laced with pain, tongue reaching for hers to dance with, bending her limber body into every position I choose to put her in, changing them whenever I’m close to cumming so I can stretch this out.
She covers her orgasm by kissing me, gasping into my lips. It’s so sexy I lose myself, but remember at the last second I have to pull out. Tempest grabs my cock and holds it while I’m prisoner to its ravings, kissing my neck as I bite down on my roar, cutting my lip in the process.
Worth.
It.
We take a shower together, to wipe the sweat off, and the past, too. With a sheet of water weighing down her eyelashes, she smiles at me, “Feels strange to be doing this in a place run by nuns.”
I kiss her forehead, my face blanketed by the hot waterfall. Moving down to her ear, I hold our bodies as close as they can get, “Feels more like a blessing to me.”
Tempest laughs, but melts into me, tracing my body under the slippery cascade. “I did see a lot of couples checking in. It’s a place to heal.”
Crooking my index finger, I lift her chin. “It’s a place to fall in love.”
Her breasts lift on a sharp inhale. “Don’t say that if you don’t mean it, Josh.”
I hook her leg around my waist, back pressed against the hot wet till walls as I pin her, hard again. Sliding my cock into her, I watch Tempest’s eyelids flutter in an effort to stay open. “If I didn’t make it clear, let me remedy that.” I kiss her, touch her tongue to mine, and pull back to hold her vulnerable gaze as I confess again, with more clarity, “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you at your party. It was never hate I felt. It was love.” I kiss her nose. “Hidden.” Her eyelashes. “Waiting.” Her temple. “Until I could let it in.” Her lips. “And now I’ll wait until you can Tucking catch up with me.”
Tempest breathlessly laughs, “You did the game!”
I groan, buried deep, our bodies one. Locking eyes with my second chance, I promise her what I already know, “I’m all in.”
Epilogue
We move at a steady clip through glass doors whose sensor must be exhausted from endless foot traffic in both directions. As Josh and I walk out of John F. Kennedy International airport, hand in hand, rolling suitcases flanking us, I feel a little tired myself and confess, “I’m nervous.”
He leans to press a brief but hot kiss on my chewed-up lips. “I told you, there’s nothing to be nervous about.”
We stop to look for where the taxi line ends so we can join it. “At least I’ll have a chance to settle in and talk to my grandparents.” Glancing to his smirk, I laugh, “Hey Grandma and Grandpa! I’m gonna be spending the night at my boyfriend’s house a lot because you know…you’re in the other room! Oh yeah, and I have a boyfriend!”
Josh grins, “Not hot with them next door. At least with Will he’s on the other side of the apartment. But you did get a taste of how it feels to be quiet by fucking our brains out in a hotel like that one.”
With a sexy smile I eye him from the side of my lashes. “Kinda hot being forced to be quiet. What are we waiting for? Let’s stand in line before it gets longer.”
“Dad!”
My head swings left to the entirely unexpected voice of Will, heart leaping into my throat, hand suddenly a vice with Josh’s as he whispers, “You’re gonna be okay.”
He frees himself of my hand and opens his arms for his son, the child of another woman I’ll never be able to replace.
I finally get how strange it must have felt for Christina, that time she first met Elliot as
Bennett’s girlfriend. Zia’s situation is a little different since the mom is still around, so that’s a whole other ball of problems. Am I sweating?
Running into his dad’s arms, Will is lifted, legs dangling and swinging in a love-filled hug.
“Hey buddy, I missed you.”
Will closes his eyes, “I missed you, too, Dad,” tightens his arms, and sniffles.
Josh told me this is the longest they’ve been separated since Leah passed away. I heard many stories during the remainder of our time in Italy, but he was kind enough to tell me about before she came into his life, mostly. They were together for so long, and she’d still be here if it wasn’t for… But when I asked about her, Josh said, “If we’re going to have a beginning, there has to be an end. Let’s just talk about you and me for a while, just us, until we get strong.”
Nax strolls up in his casual way, grin easy. “Hey Tempest!”
I lift my hand in a small wave. “Nax, hey. Where’s my cousin?”
“Working.”
Realizing he hasn’t said hello to me yet, Will opens his eyes and slides down to stand with both feet on the ground, facing me, Josh at his side.
We stare at each other, and it occurs to me that this is the first time I’ve seen Will shy.
My butterflies aren’t alone, and that settles them down a bit. “Hi Will.”
Josh slides his hands in his pockets, watching us, cautious. It’s the three of us, the rest of the world has vanished. It’s just us figuring this out for the very first time.
Like young boys do when acting cool, Will nods. “Hi.”
Having experience since I have a brother, I tease him, “I heard you guys plotted against me.”
The blue eyes he got from his mother glitter with mischief, but his voice is a quiet, “Yeah,” unsure if I’m mad, and hoping I’m not. It’s melting my heart to see him like this, so opposite of every other time I’ve ever spent around him.
I narrow my eyes. “I’m not sure if I should tell you this, but…” I pause for effect. “I think your plan worked.”
Will brightens, “I know! Dad told me!”
“Did he tell you he’s an excellent scooter driver?”
“No!”
“He is.”
Will looks at his dad. “Can we get one?”
Josh smiles, “No.”
With young and intense disappointment, Will frowns. “Why not?!”
“Because New York is too dangerous for one. They don’t even rent them here.”
Nax asks, “That true?”
“I think so.”
“If it’s not, can we?” shouts Will.
Nax jogs his thumb to the garage, “Speaking of rentals, parked mine in there.” He takes my suitcase handle without asking, “Let’s go before traffic gets worse.”
We start walking together, Will on my right between me and Josh, “Dad, Google to see if they rent scooters in New York!” and Nax to my left.
“I’ll Google it later.”
“Why not now?”
“Because we just flew for twelve hours.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
I hold back a laugh, exchanging a glance with Josh as we stop at the crosswalk and wait for our shot. He smirks, “Hey Will, remember when I said I missed you? Can I take that back?”
“Aw, Dad, stop. I know you did.”
“I’m regretting having said it so quickly.”
Will cracks up, body bending over. The light turns green and Josh takes Will’s right hand, suitcase rolling on the far side.
My sneakers hit the asphalt, and I feel small fingers touch my palm, then wrap around my hand while we walk. Cutting a speechless look to Will I’m melted by his smile. “You’ll talk him into it, won’t you, Tempest?”
Without hesitation, I answer, “Yes.”
Josh laughs, “Oh ho! Hold on a Tucking minute! Is this how it’s gonna be?”
Will mimics, “A Tucking minute.”
As we climb into Nax’s car, I ask Josh, “Can I sit in the back with Will?”
A smile lights dark eyes that clouds abandoned. “Sure, if you want.”
On the hour-long car ride back into Manhattan, I do my best to share what Italy was like, with a boy of boundless curiosity. Josh jumps in with details like, “Every meal has bread in it,” and “Most Italians on the coast speak little English,” and “I’m getting pretty good at yoga, don’t laugh,” and “We were talking about how nice it would be to live there.”
We glimpse the city’s famous skyline glittering across the rocky East River, and Will asks, “Are you coming to live with us?”
Josh throws a smile my way, answering for me, “Give it time, buddy. Give it time.”
“How much time?”
I reach over, clasp his hand, “We’re not sure.”
Will squeezes my hand and winks at me. And that’s it, in this moment, I know instantly that I’m in love. Not just with a man who cracked his heart wide open and asked me to step inside, but also with a rebellious, strong-willed but very kind boy, who will come to call me Mom.
Not at first. No, for many years as his stepmother, I’ll be Tempest, and I’ll be happy with that. But right before he follows in his father’s footsteps by attending N.Y.U., Will’s first love will choose a college in Oregon, and in so doing she will break his heart. On that day, when I hug him and tell him how sorry I am, I’ll hear Will for the first time say, “Why couldn’t she stay, Mom?”
Though it will be one of his worst days, it will be for this miracle one of my best, though I’ll never share the irony aloud. Every day after, not just to the two children Josh and I will have together, but also to the boy I was blessed to inherit…I will be called Mom.
As Nax drops me off at my grandparents, Josh climbs out to walk me to the door. I slide my arms around his warm neck, our bodies pressed together. “I’ll tell you how it goes. They’ll probably have you over to dinner immediately.”
He murmurs against my lips, “I’m in,” and kisses me, sending heat into my blood, and making me wish I didn’t have to leave.
Like he reads my mind, Josh frowns, “I don’t want to say goodbye.”
“Me neither.”
“Soon we won’t have to.”
My eyebrows lift. “Oh yeah?”
He kisses me, “Yeah, when?”
“Time…”
Sighing, he presses our foreheads together and we close our eyes, imagining what it will be like when boxes can be packed without feeling like we’re rushing.
How long until we can be together all the time, is in both of our minds as we kiss again, neither of us knowing it will be exactly four months and four days until he kneels and holds up a beautiful diamond ring, “Tempest, will you Tucking move in with me and my son?”
As tears fill my eyes, I’ll say the four words he longs to hear, “Tuck yes, I will.”
The End.
Tuck Yes was born out of Lily and Peter Tuck’s true love (Grandma & Grandpa Tuck). We met them in my novel May Cocker — a 1944 historical romance that I wrote of the grandparents meeting, Book 24, a prequel to Cocker Brothers. Where true love began. Lily and Peter Tuck are May’s friends, and their story was so touching I followed them to New York.
x, Faleena Hopkins
Have you read Book 1? Grab “Single You Out” HERE.
For Nax — Book 2 — CLICK HERE
COCKER BROTHERS SERIES
In Kindle Unlimited
Read them all in the 30-Day Free Trial
THE SIX BROTHERS
1. Jake Cocker
2. Jett Cocker
3. Jaxson Cocker
4. Jason Cocker
5. Justin Cocker
6. Jeremy Cocker
Learn about Free Bonus Scenes for the entire series on my website.
7. A Honey Badger X-Mas
— a side character novella
THE NEXT GENERATION
8. Hannah Cocker
9. Ethan Cocker
> 10. Gabriel Cocker
11. Emma Cocker
12. Eric Cocker
13. Sofia Sol Cocker
14. Sean & Celia
15. Max Cocker
16. Nicholas Cocker
17. Cocker Bonus Scenes
18. Caden Cocker
19. Tonk Jr.
— a side character novella
20. Billy Cooper
— a side character novella
21. Samantha Cocker
22. Jack, Marion, & Troy
— side character novella
23. Wyatt Cocker
24. May Cocker
(Cocker Family historical romance, the grandparents meeting in 1944)
25. Lexi Cocker
Their pack started an architectural firm as a cover. But what drives their inner wolves is their real problem.
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
They’re fighting one evil, the Chicago mafia — a pack of three that will turn to four. One will be unwanted. Love will pull at three. Above all, good must prevail.
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
About the Author
Faleena Hopkins is an author, actress & filmmaker who lives in Los Angeles with her rescue dog Sophia, where she writes every day, drinks too much coffee and not nearly enough wine.
Every Single Thing About You: A “Tuck Yes” Love Story - Book 3 Page 13