Empty Net (41 page)

“Audrey, it’s not what you think,” Tate said, even though he knew it was probably everything she thought.

Shit, this was going to be bad.

“It isn’t? Then what is it? Because from my understanding, you said that you weren’t sure you were okay with not having kids.”

“Okay, I did say that, but baby—”

“You told me I was enough!” she cried. “You said that you didn’t need a child of your own, that we could adopt if it came to that! Was it all a lie?”

“No, Audrey, please, listen to me—”

“You promised!” she screamed. “You made me believe that we were good, that you were the person for me and that this could be forever! You knew how I felt about it, how I hid it from you, how I didn’t even want to tell anyone, and you told everyone!”

“I know, and I’m sorry, baby, I had no one to talk to about it but my friends—”

“You could have talked to me about it! I’m the person it deals with! I’m the problem, Tate!”

He shook his head, coming around the counter. She stepped back, but he took hold of her wrist, bringing her to him. “No, you are not a problem, you are my everything. You are right, I should have come and talked to you, but I freaked, baby. I promise you are enough. You are more than enough.”

“Then why, Tate? I told you from the beginning I couldn’t give you everything you wanted, and now after my heart is totally invested in you, after … after …” She stuttered, then looked up at him, her wide, beautiful eyes pooling with tears. It was gut-wrenching because he had caused those tears. His throat felt like it was closing, and his eyes itched with tears of his own. “After I fell in love with you, Tate, you do this to me?” she finished, putting the last nail in his coffin.

She loved him.

Taking in a sharp breath, he wrapped his arms around Audrey, holding her tight even though she tried to get away. “Look at me, baby, please,” he said, trying to hold on as she bucked against him. “Stop for just a second!” he yelled.

She finally stopped. Looking up at him as the tears poured from her eyes, she said, “Let me go,” through tight lips.

“No, not until you listen to me,” he replied, squeezing his arms around her.

“What is there to listen to, Tate?”

“A lot, actually,” he said, leaning his head against hers. “You are completely right. I should have come to you first, told you what I was feeling, but I freaked, love. I wanted to talk to someone, and the guys were there. I shouldn’t have, I know, but I didn’t want to hurt you, even though I obviously did anyway. But I never meant to. I was confused, and scared, because these feelings I have for you are so strong, baby. My heart is just as invested as yours, if not more.”

“If your heart was invested then you wouldn’t be second-guessing us, Tate. Fuck it, just go, I’m giving you the out. Take it,” she said through tears that were like spears going into his heart.

“No way, I’m not going anywhere, love, nowhere.”

“Go find someone who can give you everything you want!” she screamed, trying to get away.

“
No!
Now stop!” Tate yelled, getting her attention. She took in a shuddering breath, her plump lips quivering as she looked up at him. “Listen to me: I am sorry, so very sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I promise, if I have an issue or a concern I am coming right to you. You are the one I want, I don’t want anyone else. Only you.”

“I just want you to be happy, Tate,” Audrey said. “More than likely I can’t have kids, and if by the grace of God science finds a way for me to get pregnant, it could take years. And what if it doesn’t work then? Adoption? It’s obvious you don’t want that.”

“I want whatever it is you can give me, Audrey,” he said confidently. He wanted nothing more than her for the rest of his life. Looking deep in her eyes, he knew she had to see how she had completely taken hold of his heart. She had to see, and if she didn’t, then he was going to tell her. Taking a deep breath, his heart still beating out of control, he said, “I
love
you, and I will
tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. I will love you for forever, Audrey, and there is nothing you can do about it.” Her eyes pooled with new tears as she quieted in his arms. “I made a stupid mistake, baby, but I honestly do love you, all of you, even the damaged part, and nothing will change that.”

Whispering through her tears, she said, “You’re the first man to say that.”

“And I want to be the last, Audrey. I love you. I’m sorry for telling the guys, I needed someone to talk to about it because I’d been thinking about it. But baby, I know that I am good with everything. I promise. I don’t know why I questioned it, to be honest with you. I know what I want. I want you. I’m sorry.”

She looked down and then back up at him as she shook her head. He thought she was going to say something he didn’t like, but then said, “Tate, you had me at I love you. I just hope that our love is enough.”

He wanted to scream in victory. With Audrey wrapping up in his arms, he pressed his lips to hers as her hands came up to lace together in his hair. When they moved apart, he kept her close, her lips only inches from his. “It is enough,” he said softly. “And if one day when we are married and tired of living life as just us, we’ll find a baby who needs an amazing mother like you and a goofy father like me. It will happen for us, everything will work out because it is meant to. I know for a fact you were sent to me to complete me, Audrey. I love you so much, and you will never have to question that.”

Audrey nodded. “I love you more, Tate, so much.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close as she devoured his mouth with her own. He lifted her up, settling her on the counter, before he moved between her legs, gripping her butt in his hands. The thought that he would never get to do this again, or even
touch her again, had him so twisted inside that he was ready to rip her apart. His hands shook as they moved along her thighs to her lower back, his legs felt like jelly, and his pulse was still at record highs. Audrey moved her hands up his neck to his cheeks, running her thumbs through the coarse hair along his jaw. He loved when she did that with her fingers. He loved her, all of her.

Moving his lips down her jaw to her neck, he held her close, kissing her neck as she let out little spurts of breath.

“Tate,” she gasped breathlessly.

“Mm-hmm,” he said between licking and sucking on the length of her neck.

“Baby, half my ass is in the platter of cupcakes I made for you.” She giggled.

Tate pulled back, looking down at her bright face. He saw nothing but love on her face, and he swore to keep it there for the rest of his life. He would never have her question his intentions again. He wanted her, that was all. A child would be a plus, but his life started when Audrey came into it. He smiled as his gaze locked with hers, and said, “What?”

“My ass has ruined your cupcakes.”

He looked down to see the cupcakes peeking out from underneath her thigh. He grinned at her, and she laughed as she tapped him on the shoulders. “Move, so I can go change.”

“No way,” he said huskily before pulling off her shorts. Throwing them over his shoulder, he grinned down at her, then laid her back on the counter.

“What are you doing?” she gasped, her hands gripping the counter for support.

“Eating my cupcakes,” he said in a low voice. He lifted her leg, licking the length of her thigh. Lemon flavor exploded in his mouth, and he found himself licking faster to get all of the delectable frosting off her. He saw that she was watching him, a lazy smile on her lips, then taking sharp breaths when he raked his teeth along the skin of her thigh.

“Mm, that’s good,” he said, wiping the back of his mouth along her other thigh.

“You didn’t even try the cake yet,” she said, her lusty eyes locked on his.

“I haven’t, have I?” he asked, taking one of the cupcakes and unwrapping it. Tearing it apart, he laid half of the cake on her panties, which were hiding her moist center, while bringing the other half to her lips. She opened her mouth, tasting the cake and nipping at his fingers with playfulness in her eyes. She caught one of his fingers between her teeth and lightly licked the tip. His other hand gripped her thigh as he let out a throaty moan. Through his pants, he pressed his raging hard on against those damn panties that covered her soft core, his dick scratching at his zipper, begging for release. She let out a soft moan, releasing his finger as she chewed on the cake he had fed her.

“It’s good, really good,” she said breathlessly.

“Maybe I should have a taste?” he said, looking down at her body, laid out like his playland. Moving his lips where her moist lips were hidden under her panties, he took a bit of the other half of cupcake, moaning when the blueberry flavor hit his taste buds. It was fantastic, but eating it off the spot he was begging to be inside made it taste a billion times better. He took another small bite, teasing her lips with his tongue, and was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath. When he finished all of the cupcake, he moved her bright green panties over to the side, exposing her moist center, and ran his tongue from the bottom of her lips to the top of her clit, savoring her sweet flavor.

“Oh God,” she gasped as her hands tangled in his hair. “Don’t stop.”

“I didn’t plan on it.”

He dipped his tongue between her lips, tickling her clit with the tip of his tongue. Her legs squeezed his head as he persisted with his assault on her sensitive nub. Pulling away, he
looked down at her as he brought his fingers into his mouth. She watched him suck on his fingers lightly before moving them inside her. She let out a low moan as he filled her with two fingers, pumping in and out of her juicy, tight center. He then moved his mouth back down to her lips, sucking and licking her swollen nub.

It didn’t take long before she was coming undone beneath his tongue. Her body shook as she took in shuddering breaths of gasping completion. Wiping his mouth along her thigh again, he grabbed the crotch of her panties and ripped them away as she let out a little scream. He took her by the thighs, pulling her to the end of the counter, but instead of stopping where he wanted her to, she kept going, until she was on her feet. There, Audrey dropped back on her haunches, and while looking up at him with the hottest, widest, eyes imaginable, unbuttoned his jeans.

She ran her tongue along her lips as she freed him, giving him a lusty grin before holding his hot erection at the base. When she ran her tongue around the head of his dick, a harsh groan left his lips. Then, without warning, she took him to the back of her throat and back out, repeating the motion over and over again. Tate tangled one hand in her hair, while his other went down her back, taking hold of her thin white cami as he slowly thrust into her mouth, hitting the back of her throat with his swollen head. She sucked him hard and fast. It felt fantastic. She had the best mouth ever, and he loved the feel of her plump lips holding his dick hostage as her tongue worked at the tip of his head.

Throwing his head back, he held his eyes closed as he released his semen into the back of her throat while a hard groan left his lips. She sucked him dry, squeezing his balls as he came with a shout, holding onto her hair like a life vest. After a moment, he finally opened his eyes to see her standing in front of him, holding out a cupcake. He smiled, leaned forward and took a large bite. Letting out a groan of appreciation, he said, “I can’t decide what tastes better.”

“Between?” Audrey asked with an impish grin.

“You and the cupcake,” he said, leaning forward again. She thought he was going for the cupcake, but he wasn’t. Her nipples were hard against her white cami. They were teasing him, so instead of the cupcake, he took a bite of her nipple. She let out a loud hiss, her hand gripping the counter as he sucked and bit her engorged peak. When he’d had enough of the cami being in his way, he pulled it over her head, took her sweet rosy nipple in between his teeth and teased it with the tip of his tongue. Pulling back, he smiled at her as he scooped his finger along the frosting and placed it on her nipple. Biting down on her lips, she watched as Tate slowly licked the frosting off. When he had one nipple clean, he smeared frosting on the other and repeated the torture on the other. Her appreciative sounds filled the room, which he loved. She would hiss, then scream, then let out little spurts of air. They were the hottest sounds in the world, and he knew he could live the rest of his life making her make those sounds just for him.

Turning Audrey around, he laid her over the counter, opening her thighs before entering her fully, embedding himself deep within her. Taking hold of her shoulders, he drove into her, his body smacking against hers with each thrust. She started to scream, her body clenching him as he continued to pound inside her in delicious need. Tate closed his eyes as he pushed past his need to spill inside her, wanting to enjoy the feel of her for just a little longer. Slowing down, he kissed up her back, dusting kisses along her shoulder as her body shook under his. Kissing up her neck, he stopped at her ear, biting it softly before he whispered, “I love you.”

She nodded, smiling as she turned her head to look at him. “I love you,” she said back before he took her mouth with his, kissing her with a fierceness greater than he had felt before. He never craved those words the way he did with Audrey. Now that he heard them, he wanted to hear her say them again and again. Moving away from her mouth, he took her hips in his hand,
his fingers digging into her thickness as he started to pound himself inside her harder and harder. It didn’t take long until his toes were curling and his groans were louder than her moans while he spilled inside of her.

He collapsed against her back then, taking in her sweet scent mixed with her sweat as aftershocks of his orgasm shook through him. He moved his hand up her body and then back down, enjoying the feel of her under his hands.

“So,” she whispered.

“So,” he returned, a grin on his face.

“Was the cupcake good?”

He chuckled against her as she giggled. Man, he loved her, and he knew he would for the rest of his life.