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CHAPTER16
Tanner all but ran out of the kitchen, thankful that Emily had told them all to leave. The others had stayed, but he was walking as fast as he could in any direction away from what transpired back there.
Fear spiraled through him like a swirling tornado eating up everything in its path, sending him running from life and all that happened this morning.
Never had he come out of an episode in the arms of a woman and all he’d wanted was for her to make him forget about the battle he’d experienced again. To heal him from the wounds he suffered internally. To make him feel alive and loved. And she’d been right there.
Convenient, accessible, and so damn intoxicatingly sexy that he’d just reacted, seeking his release and to find fulfillment in her arms. Fulfillment at any cost.
Anyone could have walked in on them at any time, but he didn’t care. It was like he’d become obsessed with getting inside her and nothing could’ve stopped him. In some ways, he felt like a bull in heat.
Thank goodness his brother and Desiree had not arrived five minutes earlier or they would have witnessed them doing it right there in the kitchen, with puffs of flour rising as they moved with only one destination, nirvana.
It had not been like the night at the hotel where afterward they’d cuddled and spoken such sweet words to each other. Oh no, this had been nothing but pure sex, and afterward, he didn’t know what to say.
Awkwardwas the only word that came to mind, but yet he’d never felt such relief. Such passion, such enjoyment in a woman’s arms. Pleasure had exploded around them and he’d been whisked away.
Thank you, seemed so cold. But still, he should have said something, and now she probably hated him even more for the way he had used her and walked away.
“Tanner,” he heard his brother’s voice, but he didn’t want to stop. Travis knew what went on in that kitchen and he would expect an explanation.
What could he say? He didn’t know what to say to Emily. And he didn’t want to talk to Travis. All he wanted was to be alone.
Suddenly he heard his brother’s footsteps.
“Wait up, I’m too old to run in this heat,” he said, huffing and puffing.
Tanner stopped and gazed at Travis.
“Go away.”
“No,” Travis said. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” he said, knowing his brother spoke about the episode he’d experienced. Never had one been so short. But Emily had brought him back, and for that he was thankful.
They walked along in silence.
“Where are we going?”
“Don’t know,” Tanner said, realizing he’d just been walking as fast as he could to escape what had happened in the kitchen. To escape the feelings that Emily seemed to evoke in him. The feelings of protectiveness and the way he wanted to shield her from the speculation he feared they would soon face.
Oh, how life would have been so much easier if she’d left the day she arrived, but now, he didn’t want her to leave. But could he learn to live with her here?
“It’s kind of hot to be out taking a walk,” Travis said.
“Yes, it is, but I have to get away,” he said.
“You can’t run from your feelings,” Travis said softly. “I know. I tried.”
His brother had been running from women since his first wife and child were killed in a tragic car accident. But now he was happy with Samantha. And Tanner was so excited for the two of them.
Yet, that didn’t mean he was next. Eugenia could learn to live with the fact that one of her grandsons was not going to be married. Just no. It was time for her to move on to the next appointed grandson.
“How’s Samantha doing? Does she like living at the ranch?”
Somehow he needed to change the topic and get off him and Emily.
“She’s settling in,” he said. “She’s rearranging the house to her satisfaction and I don’t care. If it makes her happy, then that’s all that’s important.”
