Chapter 30

thirty

Olympia

I feel like I’ve been put through the emotional ringer. After Tav woke to find the second Laurier on his porch in as many months, he surprised me by inviting my father inside. I numbly drank coffee and Tav made French toast as I listened to Dad talk about what he hoped was a bright future with me in his life, and at Laurier Lines. I’m not sure how I feel about everything, even now, as I sit tucked next to Tav on the couch. Honestly, I still feel a little numb. A lot shell-shocked.

I want to forgive my dad but…

I just don’t know. As Tav would say, there’s a lot of water under that bridge. It’s murky and toxic and potentially not worth it.

But it’s also potentially worth it…

I just don’t know.

After a very long, emotional, and exciting day (my new car was delivered—yay), Tav sweet talked me into teaching him how to make stovetop popcorn, a bowl of which now sits on my lap, Tav’s hand digging for a fistful before he shovels the whole dang bunch into his mouth. A movie plays on the screen—but I haven’t been watching it. I haven’t really been eating the popcorn, either. My mind is on a reel. It’s spinning like a top.

I still don’t quite know what to make of the revelation Dad dropped.

Tav’s chest expands with a deep breath. My whole body moves with the magnitude of it, because when we sat down on the couch, Tav made sure I was sitting close. So close, I feel his deep inhale, and the sigh that follows on its release.

“Talk to me, Princess.”

“About what?” I ask innocently. Am I really being so obvious?

“You haven’t watched any of this movie, and if you think I’m watching this for my own entertainment, you’re dead wrong.” He shovels another fistful of popcorn into his mouth, and I can’t help but smile because my man loves my popcorn.

“I’m just thinking about everything Dad said.” I shift against his chest. “It’s hard not to. He info dropped hard.”

“Do you believe him?”

I’m silent as I think about that. Really think about it. And then I say, “Yeah, I believe him.”

“Do you want him in your life?”

Again, I think about my answer. Again, I answer, “Yes.”

“That’s all that matters, then.”

“Do you believe him?”

Tav shovels another fistful of popcorn into his mouth, this time, I think to avoid answering. Finally, after what feels like an age, he nods. “I believe him.”

“I sense a but.”

He nods again. “But I don’t like the way he went about getting you free of your mother and Darius. And, fuck, your sister, for that matter.”

Pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, I agree, “I don’t like the way he went about it either. I—” I pause. “I suffered a lot while he lost himself. And then I suffered more as he tried to get us free.”

“I know, Princess.” Tav kisses my temple, and I feel my eyes drift closed at the warmth and safety I feel in his arms. “You’ll never hurt again.”

My eyes open to find his are hard with his promise. “Because I’m safe with you?”

He dips his chin. “You are safe with me. You’ll be safe with me until you take your last breath if you’ll have me.”

Blushing, I whisper, “That sounds an awful lot like a proposal.”

“It’s preparation for a proposal, Olympia.” Tav’s voice is serious, and it wipes away the teasing humor I’d had in mine only a moment ago. “I will propose to you, and it won’t be long before I do. So, think about your answer.”

“I don’t have to think about it.”

His eyes heat as they drop to my lips at my reply. Before I know it, the T.V. is off and the popcorn is on the table. Then, I’m swept up in my man’s strong arms and he’s carrying me to our bedroom. With everything else that happened today, Tav also made me move my things into his room. Now, my clothes are next to his in his closet. My toothbrush next to his in his bathroom. And my side of the bed is the side furthest from the door, because in the event of an invasion, Tav will shield me with his body, protecting me, as he vowed he would, until his last breath.

God, can I love this man any more than I already love him?

I expect him to take me to the bed, but Tav steps into the bathroom instead. When my brows draw together in confusion, he explains, “You’ve had a stressful day. Let me pour a bath.”

I blink up at him, doing my darndest to blink away the tears of emotion that sting my eyes. “Will you join me?”

“You want me to?”

God, yes.

“Yes.” Why did my voice have to croak?

Tav crooks his head as he kisses me softly. “Then I’ll join you.”

The smile I offer him wobbles as he bends to set the temperature. I add my favorite sweet pea bath and body oil and catch Tav’s smirk as he mutters, “This is why you always smell so damn good.”

“I have matching cream.” I smile a stronger smile now. I love that he loves the way I smell.

“Of course you do.” Tav reaches for the hem of my shirt, and as he lifts it, I raise my arms. The material falls to the floor before he works at the button of my shorts. When my underwear join my clothes on the floor, I watch as Tav undresses.

I don’t look away as he bares his body to me, even though I can’t stop the blush that stings my flesh. “You’re beautiful.”

He smirks. “I can think of a million words to use to describe a man’s naked body, Princess. Beautiful is not one of them.”

I huff. “You can not think of a million words.”

His smirk widens to a full grin. “Damn close.”

“You are beautiful, Tav. Every part of you, inside and out, is so beautiful.” I step closer to him, pressing a kiss to his naked chest where his heart thunders under his flesh. “I’m so in love with you.”

“I’m in love with you, Olympia.” I can hear the thick emotion constricting his throat before he urges me into the bath with a palm to my ass.

Laughing, I sink into the water, watching as Tav follows. His tub is big enough for us both to sit in our own space, but I don’t want my own space right now. I want the hard cock I saw as he undressed me, inside me. I want to feel as though I’m home—and I’ve never felt more at home as when I pulled him inside me.

Crawling onto his lap, I straddle him. His throat works with a hard swallow as his hands come up from the water to grip my hips. He pulls me tighter to him as I lean down to kiss him, my tongue licking at the seam of his lips before he takes over, devouring me. Need pulses between my thighs as I reach down between us to grip his length, guiding his tip to my entrance, and pushing down onto him.

His groan ignites a fire deep in my core that can be doused only by our release.

My hips shift and I sink down on his thick length, gasping as he bottoms out inside me with a thrust upward. His answering groan to my moan is the best sound I’ve ever heard in my life. Slowly, I begin a tender rhythm as I rock my hips back and forth, up and down, again and again. Throughout the whole time, I don’t break eye contact with Tav. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much love, so much adoration, as I see in the dark abyss of his eyes.

When we come apart, we do it together. And I know that this is exactly how I’ll fall apart, the only way I’ll fall apart, for the rest of my days.