Page 51 of Wildest Dreams

“Yes ma’am,” he rumbles, immediately reaching forwards.

I release a squeal of delight as his large palms grip my hips, and he smiles back at me with a quiet chuckle as he hauls me to the foot of the bed. He helps ease me up onto my knees so that I can reach him better, and one of his palms moves to my cheek, stroking me gently.

I go to lift my arms so that I can wrap them around his shoulders but the movement catches his eye and he frowns, gently holding my wrist.

“What’s that?” he murmurs, bringing my arm closer to his face.

I peek around his fingers so that I can see what it is that he’s looking at.

“Oh, that,” I say, breathing out a light laugh, and rolling my eyes at myself as I take in the purple smudge. “Before you came to save me I tried to move the bed on my own, but it wasn’t having any of it. It’s just a little bruise.”

It’s actually a really big bruise, which probably occurred somewhere between me trying to shove the fifty-thousand tonne bed-frame solo and me falling onto the gravel when the most attractive guy in the state cowboyed up behind me, but Tanner is so distractingly handsome that I hadn’t even noticed it until now.

“Shit, baby,” he murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to my skin.

My breathing catches in my throat.

He’s kissing it better.

“Oh,” I whisper, when he presses another reverent kiss to my wrist. “When I asked you to kiss me, I didn’t expect you to kiss me there,” I admit.

It’s not a complaint though and, from the way that he’s smiling, Tanner can tell.

Somehow this is the sweetest kiss of my life.

Tanner eases my arms back around his neck and presses his warm chest down on mine.

“There are a lot of places that I would love to kiss you,” he murmurs, a dimple appearing in his cheek.

“Oh my,” I whisper, dreamily fanning myself. “You have, like, such a way with words.”

He laughs at that, his molten eyes sparkling with amusement. “Yeah?” he asks. “I’ve never been much of a talker.”

“Oh?” I ask, my heart pounding wildly. “So you’re more of, like… a physical person?”

His smile turns into a full-on grin and he pushes my chest more firmly into his – well and truly answering my question.

“You could say that,” he says quietly, the tip of his nose gently brushing over mine.

His hand slides from my hair to the side of my throat.

“You sure that this is okay?”

I nod my head quickly. “Yes, this is–”

His lips meet mine in a warm, gentle kiss, and my arms tighten around his neck, making him groan quietly and hold me closer.

It’s soft and sweet, the way that a first kiss should be, and his lips move gently against mine as his hands tenderly squeeze and caress me.

I make a breathless sound as he licks his tongue against mine, and the strong palm holding my lower back roams down to squeeze my behind.

I squish my chest hard against his and suddenly I’m no longer on my knees.

I yelp in surprise as I’m lifted from the bed, my thighs naturally hitching around his abdomen as he uses one forearm to heave my body upwards.

“Where are we going?” I ask breathlessly as he begins carrying me toward the bedroom doorway.

He grunts quietly and shuts me up with another firm kiss.

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