Moments in Time (22 page)

“And that’s why you love me.” Wendy stuck out her tongue, then handed glasses to me and Tanner. She raised hers. “To Collin. Cheers.”

We clinked them together and all drank. Sweet, icy coldness filled my mouth. Liquid Popsicle.

“God, I love Sex on the Beach.” Wendy giggled as she slammed her empty glass down on the bar.

The bartender winked at her. “My kinda customer.”

I finished off what was left of my drink and grabbed the beer bottle just in time to see Dex come up behind Wendy and nibble her neck. She shrieked and turned in his arms. They were making out in under ten seconds.

The look on Tanner’s face told me he was less than 100 percent pleased to see Dex. He took a few gulps of his beer, then looked at me. His expression changed as soon as we made eye contact. Mischief sparkled behind the darkness.

“Finish that beer. I want to dance.”

“Yes.” Wendy chugged her beer, then nearly knocked it over setting it back on the bar. She grabbed my hand and Dex’s and dragged us both out onto the dance floor.

Tanner followed close behind. Closer to the speakers, the music was so loud it shook the floor. Between the thumping bass, the flashing lights, and the mass of gyrating bodies, it was impossible not to move. One song seamlessly blended into the next as the videos on the huge screens shifted to match the songs.

Song lyrics echoed through my brain along with the beat as I watched Wendy swiveling her hips. Dex had a beer in one hand and swayed more than danced. Tanner moved in a way that electrified me more than all the other sights and sounds combined. I’d never seen him dance before. The smile on his face made my stomach spin faster than the turntable.

Ricky Martin blared through the speakers, and Tanner and Wendy danced closer, shimmying together in a routine they’d clearly done before. Laughter bubbled out of them, and I couldn’t help but join in. I had no idea dancing could be so much fun.

The beat changed again, and the crowd started jumping. Tanner mouthed the words at me.

My cheeks hurt from grinning—yes, he was sexy and I knew it, very well. Tanner’s hand rested on my hip as he rocked in toward me. I don’t know if it was the booze or the song or a mix of everything, but I moved with him, our bodies finding the rhythm and totally in sync.

Our eyes met, locking for a second, and then Tanner kissed me. The panic I felt was fleeting as his lips pressed against mine, making me forget what I was nervous about and focus on what was right in front of me. The guy I loved was kissing me in a room full of people, and it was okay.

It was better than okay. It was amazing. It was my birthday. This was my life. And at that moment, I had everything I wanted.

W
E MADE it less than halfway up the first staircase at the house before we started kissing. By the second landing, Tanner’s shirt was off. By the time we made into our room, our pants were undone and en route to the floor.

Tanner shoved the door shut and flipped the lock while I kicked off my shorts. We fell into the bed, naked, attached at the mouth, hands roaming everywhere. His cock rubbed against mine, and I reached my hand between us, needing to feel him. I stroked up and down, feeling his wetness against my fingers.

“Stop.” He grabbed my wrist. “I don’t want to come yet.”

I let go reluctantly and shifted to my side as he climbed over me and fumbled in the drawer. The snap of a lid popping open made my dick twitch with anticipation. We’d left the lights off, but there was enough moonlight in the room to see pretty well. The clear stream of liquid glistened as he poured it onto his hand.

My heart raced, then skipped a beat as his slippery fingers slid over my balls and then over my asshole. I rocked against his hand, wanting more. He drizzled the lube over my cock and stroked as silky liquid ran down the crease of my leg. His finger slid inside me.

I arched my neck against the pillow. So good. “Fuck.”

“Do you want to?”

It took a second for my brain to register what he was saying.
Do I want to fuck?
Hell yes.
We’d talked about it a few times. We’d both been tested—him twice, me once, for insurance exams. We were clean. We were monogamous. And we both wanted to try it. I nodded and took the lube from his hand, then squeezed some over his erection. He groaned as I stroked. Yes, I wanted to fuck.
Now.

I rolled to my side, and Tanner stretched out behind me, his fingers still inside me. He withdrew them, and I groaned in protest, but he reached around and stroked my cock instead.
Jesus.

He pressed against me, rubbing back and forth against my ass, between my legs, sliding against my balls. The head of his cock pressed against my hole, and I tried to relax. He slid inside the tiniest bit, and I tensed.

Tanner stopped and stroked my cock until I relaxed more, then tried again. I gasped, and he stopped immediately, pulling away.

“Get on your back.” Tanner’s voice was thick and low.

I rolled over, feeling the cool sheets under my overheated skin. Had he changed his mind? Were we not going to try anymore? I didn’t care. Well, that’s not true. It just didn’t matter to me what we did. Being with him was all that mattered.

“Sorry,” he said. “If we’re going to do this, I need to see your face.”

His eyes were dark and serious as he stared down at me. Looking at him was one of my favorite pastimes. Looking at him now, with that expression on his face, was beyond hot.

I reached for his cock, but he locked his fingers with mine, leaned forward, and pressed my hand into the mattress alongside my head. He shifted so he was between my legs. The heat and weight of his body felt amazing as he moved on top of me. His cock rubbed back and forth against mine, drawing moans from deep inside my chest. Tanner nipped at my lips, then kissed me full-on, his tongue exploring my mouth. God, he tasted good. My body responded from head to toe until I was sure I must be glowing. When I opened my eyes, the room looked shimmery, like I could actually see the heat rising off our bodies.

Tanner raised his hips and slipped a hand between us. My cock twitched, expecting him to start stroking, but his fingers moved lower. Lube coated them again. When did he do that? The silky, slippery liquid coated my ass, and Tanner slid in one finger, then two. I groaned into his mouth and felt him smile against my lips. He scissored his fingers, opening me more. Need took control, and I bucked against his hand, wanting more, wanting him.

Tanner’s other hand was still locked with mine, clutching my fingers. I squeezed back, trying to let him know everything was okay. We could do this. I knew it. I wanted it. I needed it.

Moving slowly, Tanner slid back and forth against me, painting wetness on my skin. His cock caressed my balls, then stroked against my taint. The slow passes of his fingers deep inside me became like torture. The best possible type of torture. When his fingers withdrew, I cried out, but before I had a chance to speak, the head of his cock replaced them.

“Breathe, Collin.”

My eyes fluttered open and locked with Tanner’s. His expression was serious, forehead furrowed, lips parted. If every fantasy and wet dream I’d ever had were spliced into a single image, that would have been it—Tanner’s face as the tip of his cock pressed into my ass.

He was always hot, but he’d never looked sexier. I could have come just from looking at him, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, feeling my muscles start to relax. Like magic he inched inside me. Not much, but enough to make me moan again, with pleasure this time. No pain.

A smile twitched at his lips. “Good. Again.”

Breathing deeper this time, I tightened the muscles deep inside me, then released them. As I felt them relax, my body drew him deeper. This time it was Tanner who groaned. I loved the sound. Loved knowing I made him make it. Loved the feel of him sliding inside me. Filling me.

“Pull your knees up, to your chest.”

I did as he asked, flinching for a second as he pushed deeper. I clenched and released the muscles again, and Tanner sighed. His warm breath passed over my sweaty skin like fire. He moved so slowly it was barely noticeable on the outside, but inside my body, every nerve ending ignited each time he did so much as breathe.

The intensity made me shudder.

“You okay?” His voice shook.

“Better than okay.” I hissed as he rocked in deeper. “You?”

“Fucking awesome.”

My heart soared at his words. My vocabulary failed me, so I let the sensations wrap around me instead.

Tanner let go of my hand and shifted so he was kneeling between my legs. Swallowing hard, I hooked my hands under my knees, drawing them up as close to my chest as possible. Tanner’s cock throbbed, stretching me more as he sank deeper, nudging the spot inside me that seemed to have swollen to five times its normal size.

Spikes of pleasure rushed through me so fast my eyes rolled back in my head. White lights flickered in my peripheral vision like flashing Christmas lights. I forced my eyes open, needing to look at Tanner, needing to see him as much as he needed to see me. It took a minute for my brain to process the image, and when it did, it took my breath away.

Tanner’s gaze was locked on me, filled with heat and lust and something that looked almost like wonder. His lips were puffy from kissing and hung open as breaths rasped out in short gasps. Strong hands gripped my hips, dragging me closer, so my ass rested against his firm thighs. There was control in his movements. Slow. Steady. In and out and in and out, but the tremble in his arms made me think he was about to lose it.

“Good?” he asked, his voice a whisper.

My mind scrambled, looking for any words, but there were none. I nodded.

“You okay?” He sank into me again, and we both groaned, but I managed another nod.

Tanner’s hips pressed against my ass, and his cock twitched deep inside me. Spasms shook through me as precome pooled on my abs.

Warm fingers closed around me, and my eyes drifted closed as I lost myself in all of it. The whole world slid back and forth. The bedsheets, bunching under my shoulders. Tanner’s cock as he rocked in and out of me. My dick as his hand pumped up and down.

Pressure built inside me. Not just in my cock and balls. Everywhere. My chest felt tight. My brain felt like it was about to burst. Tanner’s thumb rolled around my swollen head as he pumped faster.

“Fuck,” he whispered.

I couldn’t agree more.

His hips moved faster. He was close. So close I could feel him swelling, feel his balls pebbling as they rubbed against my ass.

“In you or on you?” Tanner asked.

“What?”

“You want me to come in you or on you?”

The thought of either pushed me to the brink. “In me.”

He changed his angle, bumping the spot inside me that tipped me over the edge. I groaned long and low as thick ribbons of come shot out of me.

“Jesus,” Tanner moaned.

I came so hard everything went black. My ass clamped around him so tight I could feel every fucking ridge of his erection, every swell, every curve. Then he moved again, grunting out a sound I’d never heard him make before—the sexiest noise in the history of sounds. He pulsed inside me, followed by a burst of liquid heat. My body clenched along with his as the last of my orgasm drained out of me and the first burst of his shot through me.

His hips slammed against me so hard my hands lost their sweaty grasp on my thighs. My legs fell to the sides and Tanner leaned forward, his chest hot against my slick stomach, his breath hot against my face, until our mouths found each other.

We kissed hard and fast, inhaling the air out of one another’s lungs like each breath might be our last. My ass shuddered as his cock slowly withdrew.

I couldn’t kiss anymore. Giving his lower lip one last suck, I pulled back, wondering if the tingling sensation in my extremities was permanent. Not that I cared. The rest of my life could stay exactly like this moment and I’d be happy. The weight of Tanner on top of me was the only thing keeping me from drifting away on a goddamned cloud.

His fingers raked through my hair, pushing it off my forehead. I understood why dogs liked to have their heads rubbed. It felt good. Somehow I’d managed to live twenty-one years without anyone ever running their fingers through my hair. Now I couldn’t get enough of it. My head rolled from side to side, prolonging the feel of his fingertips massaging my scalp.

He cupped the back of my head and kissed me one more time before easing off me. Without his heat the air in the room felt thick and cool.

Tanner’s breaths were still coming fast.

“You okay?” I asked.

He nodded.

Role reversal. He was always the one checking to make sure I was all right. I was the one who could never find words. It unnerved me a little that he didn’t have a verbal answer.

Propping myself on my elbow, I reached over the edge of the bed for something to wipe up what was quickly turning sticky on my chest. I grabbed a T-shirt, but it was pointless. Between the humidity and the sweat, all I was doing was pushing the mess around.

“You think I’d wake anyone if I took a shower?”

A lazy grin curled Tanner’s sexy lips. “Not if we use the one outside.”

We.
My new favorite word.

I
T WASN
’
T until I woke up the next morning that I realized my birthday had come and gone without a word from my mother. I wanted to say it didn’t matter. That I’d expected as much and it didn’t hurt. But it did. A lot.

As I scanned my e-mails, my heart sank further with each message. At least the letter from the university said my loans had been approved. That was something. It meant a shitload more debt, but it also meant I could attend my senior year. And we could keep our room in the dorm.

Tanner had said that if my loans didn’t go through, he’d have paid, but I couldn’t have let him do that. Enough things seemed to be working against us without letting something weird like money come into play in our relationship.