I love you.
I don’t dare say the words out loud but I hear them with every thrust, every moan, and every beat of my heart.
“Fuck, Deacon, oh fuck, baby, I’m?—”
I wish I could see his face as he rides out his orgasm, the blissed-out expression addicting when I suck his cock. But this…even the small glimpses I get will live rent free in my head. Tanner comes hard and fast, his release making him loud and needy as he continues pushing back into me, my dick caught in a vise grip that has me spilling my load into the condom way before I’m ready.He milks me, pulling every ounce of pleasure from both of us in the process.
Grunting as I keep myself buried deep inside him, I let my eyelids fall shut and savor the perfection that lives in this moment.
Labored breathing fills the room, his cum covering my hand and undoubtedly the mattress while mine fills the condom inside him.
“You’re incredible, Tanner. I’ve never?—”
The words get stuck in my throat, as I try to be as gentle as I can as I pull out of him. Tanner stills, sucking in a ragged breath before rolling onto his back and covering his face with his hands.
“I’ve never either,” he quips and I snort, motioning toward the condom as he meets my eyes and waves me off. “I’ll be here.”
Shaking my head, I make quick work of cleaning up, returning to the bedroom to find Tanner exactly how I left him.
“Are you all right?” I ask quietly, not wanting to startle him as I perch on the edge of the bed.
“Why aren’t you lying down?”
“I was going to ask if you wanted to shower?”
“Bold of you to assume I can stand right now.”
Snickering, I climb over him and pull his back to my front, anchoring him to me with my arm around his waist.
“Is this better?”
“Perfect.”
“You definitely are.”
“No need to butter me up; you already got me naked,” he murmurs sleepily, his legs tangled with mine. He’s adorable, the man I love sated in my arms.
Maybe I shouldn’t tell him, but it feels like too big of a moment to ignore. It wasn’t just about the sex; it was the million little moments that led us here—the push and pull and the abundance of trust and belief that we’d make it.
“Tanner?”
“Hmm?”
“I love you,” I whisper, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. His breath hitches as I hold him tighter. “You don’t have to say it back. I just need you to know.”
“I do; I just need the post-orgasmic haze to lift before I can say it.”
He squeezes my hand, an acknowledgment of his words that are more than I expected.
And for now, they’re more than enough.
38
TANNER
It’s dark when my eyelids flutter open, the clock on the nightstand indicating it’s just after midnight, my body in the same position I fell asleep in as Deacon’s words lulled me into unconsciousness.
He loves me.
