He could feel her pussy clamping around him from the pleasure, and it was making everything a thousand times more intense. Now he was a lot more motivated with his touch. He rubbed her clit in firm, tight circles, and soon Tabitha’s breath was bursting out of her in sharp, hard pants of bliss, and he could feel her quivering both inside and out.
Wyatt had never been more turned on in his life.
When Tabitha climaxed with a shout, milking him from the intensity of it, he couldn’t help but move. He pulled out and pushed back in while she was coming, and instead of ruining the orgasm, it seemed to prolong it. Her fingers dug into his shoulders; her legs wrapped around him. She moved her hips with his as if compelled by that same hard driving force to reach for pleasure, to ride the tide for the next high that they knew instinctively was stronger, sweeter, and infinitely more intense.
Wyatt buried his face in the curve of her neck. He fisted the sheets and fought not to completely lose his head and take her as hard as his body was demanding. He wanted to claim her. Own her. Leave his mark on her. It was a raw, primal moment for Wyatt. He’d always known he loved her, but until now he hadn’t understood just how desperately he wanted to push her down on the bed and fuck her until he went blind from the pleasure of it.
It completely hazed his thinking, so much so it scared him.
Rather than give in, he just promised himself soon. Tabitha said they could do this whenever they wanted, and Wyatt hadn’t been joking when he said he was going to want this all the time.
If he hadn’t already been plotting ways to get Tabitha naked and under him as much as possible, the feeling of Tabitha coming a second time would have done him in. The shock of it tore a shout from Tabitha before she bit down hard on his shoulder to hold back the choking sobs of pleasure.
She dragged Wyatt down with her. He couldn’t have held himself off for all the money in the world, not when Tabitha was quivering and moaning from the bliss of his cock in her. It was enough to drive him insane.
Wyatt had to stop himself from biting like she did when the ecstasy sprang free, flowing into his arms and legs as he moved over her and his cock pulsed to the rhythm of his release.
He never came so hard in his entire life.
The two of them were shaking and panting for a long time after it was over. Pleasure that intense took a long time to wane, and they rode out the storm together. Wyatt eventually had the common sense to support some of his weight on his arms, but he wasn’t ready to pull out and leave her.
When he did open his eyes, he saw a small line of sweat rolling down the curve of her neck, and he licked at it, hungry for the salty-sweet taste of adrenaline on her.
Tabitha shivered, but she still teased, “Weirdo.”
“You love me.” He licked at her neck again, dragging his tongue all the way up to her ear and then whispering, “Don’t ya?”
“So much.” She stroked her hands down his broad back that was a lot sweatier than she was.
“You wanna take a bath?”
She winced. “That’d probably be best.”
Wyatt was careful with pulling out of her, but still she winced. Tabitha was embarrassed she was bleeding, but he was more concerned with her being hurt than the rest of it.
He left her on the bed and then turned on the faucet for the tub in his bathroom. He cleaned himself while he waited for it to fill up, because he didn’t want to alarm her. Then he carried her to the bath despite her protests against it. Tabitha eased into the warm water with a sigh. Her head rested back against the rim, with her hair floating in the water in red waves.
“When we buy a house together, I’m gonna make sure we have a tub we can both fit in.” Wyatt sat down on the bathmat and leaned against the rim. “Bathing with you sounds like fun.”
“It’d have to be a pretty darn big tub.” Tabitha turned to him with a smirk. “You probably can’t even fit into this one by yourself.”
“I haven’t tried in a long time. I usually just shower.” Wyatt shrugged. “So the prom…”
Tabitha snorted. “I was wondering when you were gonna remember that.”
“I’m gonna get a limo and—”
She swatted his arm. “Oh hush, we don’t need all that.”
“I’m gonna make it a night you’ll never forget.”
“Like tonight.” She ran her fingers up his arm, smoothing the place she hit. “It was perfect, Wy. Thank you.”
“It was perfect, wasn’t it?” Wyatt leaned in and stole another kiss.
She gave him a wide, pleased smile. “It really was.”
Part Six
The End of Innocence
A good fighter usually knows, to within a very few seconds, when a three-minute round is going to end.
Chapter Twenty-One
July 1999
After that one amazing night, life fell into a comfortable and pleasant routine for Wyatt and Tabitha. Things were easy and uncomplicated, and for the most part Wyatt entered into his early twenties as a very happy man.
Once they graduated, Wyatt went away to the police academy, and Tabitha stayed in Garnet, but fortunately for them, it only took him four months to finish. That had been a long, hard time for both of them, and even having his sister there with him didn’t make it any easier to be separated from Tabitha when they had been inseparable for years.
But he made it through and was able to go back home to his girl.
Then Wyatt worked, and Tabitha worked, and in between they found time to do it as often as possible, just like she had promised. The one downside was they had made such a habit of keeping their relationship secret, they still hadn’t told her mother or his father that they had been madly in love for years now and were likely going to get married one of these days.
“Are you actually gonna watch the fight tomorrow?” Wyatt asked as he came out of the bathroom in the Chicago hotel room they had rented for the next three nights.
“I’ll be there. Peeking at it through my fingers.” Tabitha grimaced from her place on the bed where she sat reading. She set her book on the nightstand and frowned at him. “Why can’t you go back to boxing?”
“MMA is more challenging. Anyone can dominate a boxing ring, but it takes a real athlete to rule the cage.” Wyatt shrugged. “And Clay loves it. If ever there was a sport for a man who loves their ground game as much as him, MMA is it. You know, Jasper thinks we could both get UFC contracts by next year, maybe sooner. Wouldn’t that be something? Those fellas make so much money. I’ll buy ya a house. A big one and—”
“Wy, I don’t need a house. Why are you always trying to buy me things?”
“Fine, I’ll buy me a big house and then force you to live in it.”
She rolled her eyes. “And what’s your daddy gonna think of you living in a big house with me?”
“I think I’m twenty-one years old, and it don’t really matter what my daddy thinks ’bout it,” Wyatt said sarcastically. “And it matters even less what your mama thinks, ’cause between you and me—”
“Don’t.” Tabitha cut him off. “She’s sick, Wyatt. You have to remember that.”
“So you’re just gonna waste away in that place, taking care of your mama until she drinks herself to death? Is that what you really want for yourself?”
“Please.” There was a wild thread of desperation in Tabitha’s voice that was common whenever the subject of her mother came up. “Don’t ruin our night. You rented this fancy hotel room. I wanna enjoy it, not fight with you.”