Taming Tanner (3 page)

 Sophia looked at him as if he’d grown a second head. Confusion and hope laced through her voice when she asked, “Why would you have wanted me to come find you? I don’t understand.”

“I’d been trying to get your attention for three summers straight. I was in the best shape ever, and since all the other girls were fawning over me—figured maybe you would, too.”

By the time Tanner finished his little confession, Sophia was both embarrassed and pissed. She gave his hair a sharp tug.

“You ass. Why didn’t you just say something?” she asked as Tanner lowered her to the ground in front of the porch steps. “I nearly broke my ankle.”

“Well, if you hadn’t run away, I would’ve said something. By the time I finally caught up to you, your ankle was swollen bigger than all outside and you were trying so hard not to cry. Then when we got to the house, your mom went on a rampage about how you weren’t able to help with all the cleaning and the cost of doctor bills and on and on and on.” Tanner finished his statement and leaned back against the hand rail.

“Yeah, things pretty much sucked for the rest of that summer. I didn’t see you when you left for college.” She gave a shrug.

“I spent the rest of that summer working your morning shift at the cafe and helping your mom. You’d already gone south with your aunt before I left for school.”

“You—wait, huh? You did what?” Sophia couldn’t hide her obvious confusion. Tanner sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

“I figured it was my fault you’d hurt yourself and your mom was so pissed about it. I went down to the café and ask them to let me work your shift for you. At first, they were against it. It’s illegal to work under someone else’s name, but being shorthanded wasn’t a good option either so she gave in.”

Sophia felt the hot prick of tears burning her eyes. Other than when Jeramy loaned her the money for her apprenticeship, no one had ever done anything so nice for her. Outside of Jeramy, Tanner was probably the only person in the world who knew what it had been like for her growing up. Her parents weren’t cruel, but like most poor working people, they’d relied heavily on their oldest daughter to help support the family. While they loved her, they’d also heaped the weight of their world on her shoulders from a very young age. Her adolescence hadn’t been the happy-go-lucky existence of fairy tales. That Tanner had done something so selfless for her was astounding.

“I had no clue,” she whispered, tears threatening to fall.

“Hey…shit! It’s okay. I didn’t tell you that to make you cry. Granted, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping it would make you feel all mushy and invite me in.”

Sophia sighed. “Tanner, to be honest, the moment I saw you pull up to the ranch without a date, I knew I was going to invite you in tonight. I’ve grown up a lot since we last saw each other. I’m not the same bashful girl.”

Sophia extended her free hand to Tanner and smiled. “Won’t you come in and have some…cake?”

A wide grin split Tanner’s face. “I’d love to come in and have some cake and more importantly…some Sophia.”

Sophia shot him her best seductive smile. “When you put it like that, I’m sure you can have more than just some, Tanner.”

Chapter Two

Sophia was nervous. Hell, if she were honest, she was downright scared. For all the sass she’d been giving Tanner the entire weekend long, she honestly didn’t know how to proceed. She stood next to the big bed and watched him as he leaned against the doorway. With his bow tie undone and the top few buttons on his dress shirt opened, Tanner was more than wreaking havoc on her nerves. He was flat out plucking them like a hillbilly on a banjo.

Her hand trembled so badly that she nearly dropped the cake when she attempted to place it on the night stand. As it was, she ended up with her fingers in the icing.

“You seem to have a habit of dipping yourself in sweet things around me. Is that an invitation to lick it off?”

Sophia let out a small squeak when she realized Tanner had moved to stand before her. She nearly fainted when Tanner grabbed her hand and suckled the butter cream from her knuckles before winking at her.

“Listen, Sophia. I’m not going to lie. I want you, but I would never make you do anything you aren’t ready for. Whatever we do or don’t do tonight is completely up to you.”

The soft way he spoke, and the gentle way he lifted her chin so that he could stare into her eyes, gave Sophia such a sense of peace that all the butterflies seemed to melt away.

“I’ve wanted to be with you like this since I realized you were a guy and I was a girl. I’ve had a crush on you forever, Tanner, and being here right now seems like a cruel dream…like if I pinch myself I’ll wake up and it will all be gone.”

Tanner slowly closed the distance between them. Her heart stuck in her throat; she knew it was now or never. He’d extended the invitation and all she had to do was accept it. Leaning forward, she placed her hands carefully on his chest. He stiffened at her touch, and somehow it made her smile. Adrenaline and excitement made her bolder. Looking for permission, she glanced at Tanner’s face.

“Right now, this is your show. Get it out of your system because when it’s my turn, I won’t be stopping.”

Sophia nodded. Tanner wanted her, but he also wanted her to participate. Running her hands over his shoulders, and down his chest, she paused at his pecs, feeling his nipples pebble in her palms. She felt him catch his breath and it spurred her on.

“I’ve always wanted to watch you rip a shirt open. Will you do it for me?” she asked shyly.

The corner of Tanner’s mouth tipped up and he took a step back. He waited while she sat on the edge of the bed and leaned back on her arms.

“Are you comfortable there?” he asked.

All Sophia could do was nod her head. Her throat was painfully dry, and all she wanted was for him to open his damn shirt. Squirming a little, she bit her lip and arched an eyebrow. Tanner gave her a short laugh and ripped the shirt, sending buttons flying and exposing his massive chest and abs to her gaze.

“Jesus!” Sophia muttered, letting her eyes take in all of him.

“Sophia, are you done because I’m about to take charge.” Tanner couldn’t help the pride that washed over him as he watched Sophia watching him. The sheer lust on her face—knowing that he was the focus of her desire—called to the primitive man in him. He wanted to thump his chest, but settled instead for just flexing the muscles there and watching as she licked her lips in response.

When she scooted back on the bed and slightly parted her thighs, Tanner took that as an affirmative. With a shrug, he let the torn shirt fall from his shoulders. He kicked off his dress shoes, undid his pants and walked out of them as he made his way to stand between her legs at the edge of the bed.

He ran his hands up the side of Sophia’s thighs, pushing the silky material of her skirt up to rest on her ample hips. The sight of her thigh-highs and garters made him growl deep from somewhere far down in his being. “Nice.”

Giving a sharp tug, Tanner ripped her panties and exposed her womanhood to his hungry gaze. The feel of her sex on his fingers almost did him in. She was silky.

“Does that feel good, baby?” he asked, as he dipped first one, then two large fingers into her heat. When she moaned and fell back on the bed exposing her neck and cupping her breasts, Tanner snatched her to him, her core perfectly aligned with his probing cock.

The first graze of heat against his penis made his knees tremble, but the feel of her opening around him and taking him in caused his heart to stop. His heart contracted painfully behind his ribs, as if it lost the knowledge of how to beat when he was fully seated and she wrapped those thick dark chocolate thighs around him and pulled him deeper still. Beginning to beat again, this time it felt as if his heart was trying to leap from his chest into hers.

Clenching both his eyes and his jaw, Tanner forced himself to hold still. He breathed deeply and felt tears at the back of his eyes; the joy of being inside Sophia was almost more than he could bear. When he’d first seen Sophia flitting around the ranch kitchen he’d thought maybe he’d do a little flirting and see if there was any spark there. However, when he’d spoken to her, all his old emotions had rushed back. Now, here in this moment, wrapped in her heat, he knew there was no way in hell he was ever letting her go.

“Mine,” he whispered on a breath.

Sophia wiggled beneath him, and he stilled her with a firm grip on her thighs.

“
Mine
,” he said again.

Opening his eyes, he stared deeply into hers, willing her to understand. She stared back with a look of both fear and hope shining in her eyes.

Tanner had been afraid Sophia wouldn’t see that this was something deeper than just sex for him, but then she’d reached up and caught the lone tear that trekked down his cheek with her lips.

She whispered the words that set him free.

“Always yours, Tanner. Forever.”

When Sophia leaned up to whisper in Tanner’s ear, she thought her heart would grow wings and fly away. He was so deep inside her. Literally and figuratively, she’d never felt so full in her entire life. She wanted him, and knowing it wasn’t just about sex made her want him even more. He’d claimed her and she’d accepted it, and now she was basking in that claiming.

Tanner moved within her and the feeling was so much that she couldn’t hold on. Falling back to the bed again, she grasped at his shoulders before letting her hands fall away limply. Tanner didn’t leave them empty for long. He leaned into her and grasped her hands in his one large one. He pinned them above her head as he continued to pound into her, branding her with his heat.

Her orgasm was building rapidly. But she couldn’t seem to let go. She needed something. Opening her eyes, she was shocked to find Tanner’s face so close to hers.

“Need something, baby?”

She nodded. The words locked in her throat.

“Tell me what you need.”

“Come with me.”

“All you had to do was ask.”

Sophia gasped as Tanner doubled the force of his already powerful thrusts; he released her hands and once again gripped her hips. Stars began to dance behind her eyes and her scalp tingled with the impending explosion.