“I’m sorry, Tamara.”
Tamara looked at Dave, and saw that he took no pleasure in bringing her this.
“I wondered if I should just not tell you, really. But it felt like you ought to have all of the truth.”
“The truth. Yes, I suppose I should. What else is there? We’ve got to have the truth.”
Tears ran down her cheeks as she let the folder drop to the floor. She buried her face in her hands and tried to stop them, but she couldn’t.
Strong hands on her shoulders, sliding down her arms, pulling her closer, until she was held in a hug that had her leaning on him.
She could lean on him.
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m glad you gave me the truth. I’m just... such a fool. For years, for decades, I’ve been a fool.”
“Tamara.”
A soft kiss on the top of her head.
She held on to him because she needed the warmth.
“Will you forgive me?”
“Already done,” he promised her, and she sighed as he held her, and her tears dried.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Don’t say that again.”
“But I am,” she insisted.
“Then make it up to me.”
“How?”
“A kiss.”
Her heart turned over in her chest when he said that. She’d thought he’d never want her like that again, after what had happened.
A little uncertainly, she raised her head, and he smiled.
“You have to kiss me.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled his face to hers, and kissed him. He might have expected hesitation, but what he got was intense, raging demand.
Tamara let it all free, everything she felt, the frustration, the longing, the regret, and turned it all into need as she kissed him fiercely, her mouth moving over his as if she would never stop, her body pressed against him, curving into his until he cupped her and squeezed her closer to him.
He didn’t need more urging. His tongue delved into her mouth and found hers, stroked it, teased it into a dance that they knew would lead to more. To so much more.
“Tamara. Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she managed to say before dragging his head down to hers and kissing him again.
Need for him rose again. So it hadn’t just been a one-time thing. It was even wilder than before, stronger than before. She tugged at his shirt, and this time she didn’t bother with undoing buttons. She gripped, pulled, and sent buttons scattering along the floor as she got his shirt open, spread it open and stroked his chest, feeling his muscles ripple under her hands, his heart pounding at her touch.
“Touch me. I need... Show me. Show me this is real. Show me this is the truth.”
“Tamara,” he said, and swept her into his arms, carrying her into the bedroom, setting her down on her feet long enough to undress her, his mouth still on hers.
“Don’t stop,” she said again as he pulled off her dress, as he undid the clasp of her bra and pulled it down and off her arms, as she stroked his back, her hands sliding down under the waist of his trousers to cup him and press him closer to her too.
He was hard, so hard for her.
That, at least, was still the truth.
She would take it.
She was gasping for breath by the time he let his hands close over her breasts, teasing her nipples until she gasped in pleasure.
She tugged at his pants, fumbling in her efforts to get them open, and she growled in triumph when she finally managed to push them down and off him.
“Tamara, I...”
“I want this,” she told him and pulled his briefs down, dropped to her knees in front of him, and pressed her face against his erection.
He gasped, his hands in her hair as she pressed her lips against his tip, used her tongue to stroke him gently, swirled around him, tasting him.
“Don’t stop,” he said, his voice hoarse as she took him in her mouth and used her lips and her tongue to please him, desperate to please him, to have him please her.
He moaned for her, his hips moved for her, as she pleasured him with her mouth.
He whispered encouragement, praise, told her how good he felt, how good she was making him feel, as she moved back and forth, letting his thick length fill her as she took as much of him in as possible, as she held on to him and invited him to use her if he wanted to.
When he pulled away, she whined in protest.
“Not like this. I want you, Tamara. I want to be inside you,” he told her, and Tamara’s heart beat even faster.
Still, he still wanted her.
It wasn’t lost.
“Take me.”
She slithered out of her underwear and stood there, naked for him, before getting on the bed and lying down, spread her legs for him, inviting him to move over her, to slide home inside her.
“Fuck.”
She watched as he let his control snap and he moved over her, his manhood more than ready to slide deep inside her, where she was so wet, so ready for him, so desperate to be filled by him.
“Please.”
Dave kissed her again, and again, until she shuddered under him, her hips arching as she reached for him.
“Inside me. I want you inside me.”
“Yes,” he promised, and he pushed her legs up, held them up as he slowly pressed inside her, entering her as she sighed and trembled for him.
He gathered her close to him as his hips rocked, and she wrapped her legs around him, taking more and more of him inside her with every thrust.
“Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”
“I won’t. Tamara, I...”
He didn’t say more. He couldn’t.
But he showed her, with his kisses as he took her mouth ardently, again and yet again. He showed her with his body as he took her higher, and higher with every thrust.
“Don’t stop. That feels so good, don’t stop. Dave, please, I... I need you. I need you so much.”
He took the words she gave him, even if he wanted more, and he gave her everything he had as he made love to only the second woman who had ever touched his heart enough to make him forget his pride for her sake.
He kissed her desperately as he made love to her, as he drove deep inside her and let her chip away at every defense he had built around his heart.
Tamara cried out as she let pleasure take over, as she let it drown out the betrayal, the sadness, the uncertainty, even the bitterness. She let it all drown in the pleasure that Dave could pull from her as he kissed her, as he took her with his body, as if she belonged to him.
As if she would belong to him.
She held on to him as his urgent mouth found her breasts and nuzzled them, as he slowed his hips until she tried to urge him on again, taking her to the edge of her climax and keeping her there for so long that she nearly cried in frustration.
“Please, Dave, don’t stop.”
“Tell me you need me.”
“I need you. I need you, please, don’t stop. Please don’t stop,” she begged, and he kissed her again, keeping them connected as he took her to the edge again, and kept her there for long, shuddering moments before he finally let her have the pleasure she sought so desperately.
He held still as she trembled under him, trembled for him, because of him, and he pressed soft kisses to her face as she held on to him, kept him deep inside her as if she couldn’t bear to let him go.
“I need you, Dave.”
How could he hold on after that? He groaned and gave her the surrender she needed, until he too found the pleasure he’d given her, and he spilled his seed deep inside her.
Chapter 12
“You weren’t kidding about the boxed mac and cheese, were you?”
Tamara grinned at Dave.
“Nope.”
“And you weren’t kidding about taking your time, either,” he grumbled.
God, he was adorable wh
en he was sulky like that.
He was adorable all the time.
“I wasn’t. Besides, you know it was right. I needed the time.”
“I’m still surprised you decided to make it all legal.”
Tamara shrugged.
“I was tired of it. There’s been so much misery all around, except for my father and my ex. Apparently just my ex, not my ex-husband. They’ve made so many people so miserable. At least my father seems to have finally stepped up a bit and Tricia is truly sweet, but as for Terry... Well, it’s about time he paid the price. I needed to do it my way.”
Dave nodded.
“By the way, did Meg tell you? She won that competition you got her to enter. She’s very good, isn’t she? She wants to try weaving and spinning. We’re converting the sewing room into a full craft room for her.”
“I know. She’s happy about it.”
“You know it’s her birthday in two weeks.”
Tamara smiled.
“I know. I’ve already got her gift. I’m going to win gift of the evening.”
It was a lie. Tamara had no idea what to get. Something about arts and crafts, but other than that...
“So you'll come?”
Tamara looked up in surprise.
“Of course I will. She told me I was required to come.”
“Did she tell you that we’re holding it in the gazebo?”
Tamara did a double take.
“I... No, she didn’t. She didn’t tell me that.”
“She wanted me to tell you that. And she wanted me to tell you that... hold on, let me read this out right.”
Tamara watched on, amused, as Dave dug his phone out and read it out.
“Please do finish your date in the gazebo, preferably at breakfast, after the party.”
Tamara had to laugh.
“The cheeky little brat!”
“She is, isn’t she?”
Tamara’s eyes glowed as much as her heart did when he said that, in surprise, in wonder, with so much love in his voice.
This was why she'd chosen her profession, because she could make this difference. Meghan had been coming to her for four months, and Tamara was ready to recommend that she cut her sessions down to whenever she felt she needed one. All the girl had needed were tools to deal with grief and somebody to help her keep her memories, and remind her of the ones she was afraid were slipping away.
She had all of it now. She was blooming.
“You’re doing well with her.”
“I nearly cut my little finger off because she wanted to try fretwork. She’s been talking about trying out metal, too. It involves blowtorches. I think she might burn the whole place down and call it art.”
Tamara laughed.
“Are you telling me that you’re not proud?”
“I am, but I’m also very afraid. Meg said, and I quote, ‘Be very afraid'.”
Tamara giggled as she tossed the salad. The mac and cheese was ready. The sausages had been grilled and cut up into it. The salad was pre-bagged, but she had made the vinaigrette herself, and had possibly gotten the balance of it all wrong.
It wouldn’t matter.
It had been nearly two months since she’d seen Dave like this. They'd met a couple of times, and he'd helped her with whatever information his team had found, but she'd asked him for time to get her life on track, and he'd given it to her. He’d grilled her to make sure that she meant it when she said she was going to do something about having drifted along and been a doormat for so long, but once he’d been convinced, he'd given her everything she needed.
Everything she’d asked for, and more.
That also meant it had been two months since she’d had more than a kiss from Dave, and to be honest, she was beginning to feel like she was going to explode.
Felicity had been having a field day with her situation. Tamara had confessed how she felt and how frustrating it was, only to be met with some wild cackling and teasing.
Of course, it was probably payback considering that Tamara had always been amused by Felicity chasing her toy boys with the stamina, but it was still beginning to be a bit much when she’d expected some sympathy.
But now, as Dave sat at her kitchen table and poured them both the wine that he'd brought, with the flowers he’d brought for her sitting in a lovely vase—which, apparently, Meghan had picked out—beside the wine, she was beginning to wonder.
Dave had been willing to wait as long as she wanted.
What if he didn’t want her anymore?
She’d never really been with anybody who'd made her feel like this, not for so long. It was beginning to make her second-guess everything, including how Dave felt about her.
Surely... Surely a man didn’t wait that long for a woman and then come over for her rather unappetizing cooking unless he was really interested in her!
“You’re killing the salad. I don’t think you have to.”
“What? Oh! Oh, I’ve bruised the lettuce.”
“You were beating it up instead of tossing it. Is there something wrong?”
Tamara shook her head.
“No. No, of course not. Everything is going well. Even my mother is beginning to get better. She finally agreed to go on that cruise her friends have been wanting to go on for so long. It will be good to get out and meet new people. Well, it will be good for her, I can’t be entirely sure about the people she’ll meet.”
Dave grinned.
“At least she can’t call you and ask you to go over and fix things this time.”
Tamara grinned.
“Wouldn’t be too sure about that, I really wouldn’t put it past her to demand that I hire a chopper and go anyway.”
“I happen to have a chopper and a pilot’s license if it turns out you need that,” offered Dave.
Tamara stopped murdering the salad and looked at Dave seriously.
“Really? You would do that for me?”
Dave sighed.
“Tamara, do you really not get how much I would do for you? I don’t know what I need to do to convince you of that.”
“I... What do you mean?”
He smiled.
“You’re not ready to hear it yet.”
Tamara’s heart beat faster, and faster.
“To hear what?”
She wanted it to be what she hoped for. She wanted it so much that she could taste it.
“Are you sure? There are words that once said cannot be unsaid.”
“I know. I... I’m sure.”
“I’d do anything for you, Tamara, give you whatever you need, whatever you ask for, because I love you. I love you enough to let you grind my pride to dust.”
“I... Dave, I...”
“You don’t have to say it. I would’ve waited, but you knew what I would say and asked for it anyway. So I gave it to you.”
That simple, thought Tamara. She had asked, and because she'd asked, he had given.
Could everything really be that simple?
“I... Dave.”
He smiled, but she could see the tension in it.
“You keep doing that.”
“What do I keep doing?”
“You keep saying my name like that.”
“I...”
Tamara took a deep breath, met his eyes.
She put everything she felt, every bit of longing, every bit of desire into her voice as she said it again.
“Dave.”
He rose to his feet and moved to her, slowly, giving her all the time she needed to move away. But she moved towards him, sure now that it was right, that this was what she wanted.
That maybe she even deserved it.
They came together in a kiss that had her curling her toes as she reached for him, as his eager mouth found hers with all the desperation she felt, his hands moving over her body as if he wanted to memorize everything about her.
As if he needed her.
He did need her.
“Do you know how hard it’s been
to keep my hands off you?” he asked when he finally raised his head, his eyes on hers, his fingers trailing up and down the side of her neck.
“I want you. Will you make love to me?”
In reply, he kissed her again, undressing her slowly right there in the kitchen, pulling her apron off, then the dress she wore, until she stood there in her sensible low heels and her bra and panties, her skin gleaming under the harsh lights of the kitchen.
“Dave. I... Bed.”
Dave chuckled as he kissed her again, his hands roving over every inch of skin he'd exposed, as if he couldn’t stop touching her, as if he could never get enough of her.
Tamara didn’t bother with buttons this time. She tugged his shirt up from the waist of his pants and slid her hands up, pushing the fabric up as she stroked up his chest.
“I love how your heart beats faster when I touch you.”
“Just getting started,” he told her as he picked her up and carried her to bed.
She reached for him but he ducked out of reach.
“Watch me.”
She watched as he undressed, her heart pounding as she saw him again. She'd missed having that beautiful body on hers, having his hands on her. She loved his hands, wide-palmed, with long, strong fingers that could drive her mad with pleasure.
She shuddered as he moved to her, naked, his desire evident.
“I want to taste you. I want you drive you as wild for me as I was for you.”
Before she could figure out just what he had in mind, he pulled her panties off and spread her legs, kneeling down between her legs and bending down to bury his face between them.
She cried out in shocked pleasure as his tongue made contact, as he licked, and nuzzled, until she was nearly sobbing in desperation. Every rough stroke of his tongue had her whimpering. Her hips moved under him, pressing closer to his face, demanding more from his mouth.
She cried out as his tongue found its way inside her, as he spread her open and teased her with his fingers until she could hardly breathe.
“Don’t stop. Don’t stop, that feels so... Please don’t stop.”
He hummed in appreciation as he licked her, as he tormented her by stopping just as her fingers tightened in his hair, only to start again and drive her mad, stopping again before he gave her what she needed.
She begged, pleaded, let him see how much she needed him without inhibition.
Over 40 And Head Over Heels: BWWM, Over 40's, Billionaire Romance (BWWM Romance Book 1) Page 13