“You’re stalling, babe.”

She sighed. “I know.” She took a moment and gathered her thoughts before continuing. “It’s not an unusual story. My father was a violent man. It was worse when he was drinking, which seemed to be more often than not. He did some time in jail, mostly for assault. Bar brawls. Once for minor theft. Did a few months for domestic violence, but my mom took him back when he got out.”

“I’m sorry.” And he was. As poor as he’d been, as hard as his childhood had been, he’d always had the love and support of his mother.

She nodded and he wrapped his arms around her, wanting to drive away the memories even as he wanted her to share them with him.

“I was the youngest. I had an older sister and two older brothers. My sister left when she was sixteen. Got the nerve to go to a shelter. They helped her finish school and get a job. My brothers were like my dad. They liked to drink and hit things when they were mad.”

“Did they ever hit you?” Pure molten fury welled up inside him, almost exploding when she shrugged. That said it all.

“I learned to hide, to stay away from home.”

T.S. kissed her temple and silently offered her his strength. It was all he could do. There was no way to go back in time and change her past. If anyone understood that, it was him.

She took a deep breath and continued. “From an early age I knew what I wanted. A life completely different from my parents’. My mom was like a shadow, always watching my father, trying to figure out his mood so she could do whatever it took not to make him angry. When he wasn’t around she drank to forget how hopeless her life was.”

“That’s no way to live.” T.S. couldn’t imagine hitting a woman. His mother had raised him better than that.

“No,” she agreed. “It’s not. That’s why I studied hard and rarely dated. I saw other girls my age getting pregnant and ending up in bad relationships just like their parents. That’s when the teasing started. I was uppity, cold, icy, frigid. I can’t tell you the number of guys who offered to help me with my problem.”

T.S. wanted to find them all and beat them to a pulp. But that wouldn’t help Missy. “I’m sorry, babe.” His voice was rough with unvoiced emotion.

She shrugged. “It made me strong. Determined. I left home as soon as I had my high school diploma. I worked while I went to college on a scholarship. I put my past behind me and made a new one. I learned how to dress, how to speak properly, how to conduct myself in a business situation. I educated myself about music, art, and theatre. I wanted to be someone.”

The last word was said so fiercely it made his heart hurt. “You are someone.” He adjusted her so she was lying against his shoulder and he could see her face. “You’re a very special woman, Missy Sinclair.”

She smiled through the sheen of tears in her eyes. She hadn’t shed one. Not his tough Missy. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

He kissed her then because he had to. Her grace, her strength of will, humbled him. She opened for him on contact and it made his heart soar. She was his and he’d damn well take good care of her. Not because she needed him to. She was one hell of an independent woman. No, he’d do it, not because she needed him to, but because he wanted to.

He tasted desire and acceptance on her lips. His tongue sank inward and she welcomed him. Their mouths met again and again as soft as a whisper. There was no hurry, no agenda, only the touch of two people who cared for one another and wanted to show it in the most pure way possible.

“You’re a hell of a woman,” he told her when the kiss finally ended.

A light flush covered her cheekbones. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but he knew it was there because he’d come to know her so well. She seemed uncomfortable with the compliment.

“You’re strong and independent. Doesn’t mean you’re weak if you want to lean on someone else from time to time.” He placed a gentle kiss on her lips. A promise. “I have wide shoulders.”

“I know.” Her words were softly spoken. “I have strong shoulders too.”

Her offer warmed him to his core. “I know.” The words sealed the pact between them. The past was just that. The future was ahead of them.

He shifted her so she was sitting on his lap again, his erection pressing against her back. She laughed. “Seems as though you have a slight problem. Again.”

“Nothing slight about it, babe.”

She pushed back against him and he groaned as his cock was trapped between her back and his stomach. “I know.” She sounded smug.

It was his turn to laugh. “Then you have to help me out here.” He lifted her until she was on her knees and spread the globes of her ass wide, giving him a perfect view of her pussy. He angled his cock so it was pressed against her slit. “Are you gonna put me out of my misery?”

“I don’t have much choice, do I? I can’t leave you like this.” She eased back, taking him into her tight channel. The candles flickered as she moved, casting erotic shadows against the walls. The water sloshed as she moved and threatened to overflow before receding.

He sat up higher, pushing her deeper. She gasped and he stilled. “You okay?” Last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her.

She practically purred. “I’m very okay.” She put her hands on the side of the tub and began to move slowly, her movements torturous as she glided up and down his shaft.

“You’re killing me, babe.” But he meant it in the best way possible.

“Want me to stop?”

In spite of the fact he was harder than steel, ready to come at any second, he laughed. Only Missy could make him hard and have him laughing at the same time. “Stop and I’ll have to take drastic measures.”

“Hmm. Do tell?”

He couldn’t take any more teasing. Not now. He gripped her hips and began to move her over his cock. The angle made it more difficult for him to get deeper, but she gripped him tighter than a wet leather glove. “That’s it. So good. So sweet,” he encouraged as she caught the rhythm.

Water splashed and this time it overflowed the side of the tub. Neither of them cared. His balls were pulled so tight they were practically climbing into his body. The lower part of his shaft tightened. The candlelight danced in the air, casting them in shadows.

T.S. reached around her and found her clit, teasing it with his index finger. Her breathing hitched and then became faster as she continued to move.

“Come for me, sweetheart. I can’t hold on.” Even as he said it he knew it was too late. It started in his balls and shot up through his cock. His orgasm exploded and he came inside her.

She cried out, throwing back her head and keening. Her inner muscles gripped his cock hard, milking it until there was nothing left for him to give. Missy fell forward, splattering water everywhere. At the last second, he managed to grab her before she ended up face first. Moaning and laughing, she clutched the sides of the tub and turned toward him. “I love you.”

T.S. froze. He hadn’t realized how badly he’d wanted the words until she’d said them. Those three tiny words filled all the lonely spaces inside him. He somehow felt like more than he’d been only moments before.

“I love you too.” He cupped her face in his hands, leaned forward and kissed her. She shivered and he realized the water had cooled. “Time to take this elsewhere.” He pulled the plug, stood and dragged them both from the tub. He toweled her off before drying himself.

Then he scooped her into his arms and took her back to bed.

Chapter Fourteen

“Do you think she’ll like me?”

It was the tenth time she’d asked him that question since they’d gotten in his truck to make the drive to his mother’s home. It wasn’t like Missy to be so insecure. It was a testament to how important this was to her. To both of them.

“She’s going to love you as much as I do.” He reached out his hand and she took it. As always, she twined their fingers together.

It had been a week since they’d declared their love for one another, but it felt like a lifetime. Both of them had changed so much. Missy didn’t feel the need to be so regimented, so in control. And he no longer felt the need to protect himself behind a shield. In a way, that had been his form of control. Show the world a laid-back guy with good humor and it masked the deeper emotions that bubbled beneath. With each other they could simply be themselves. It was both liberating and scary as hell.

They’d shared the news with their friends. Candy and Lucas had both been pleased. Lucas had insisted they come over for dinner to celebrate. It had been a different experience to kick back with friends and be part of a real, committed couple. He liked the feeling.

“Are you going to tell her we’re moving in together?” For the third time, Missy checked the flowers she’d insisted on buying for his mother. God, he loved this woman so much he could barely breathe, his chest was so damn tight, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Yeah, I am. I’m not ashamed. Are you?”

She scowled at him, wiping away the worried look that had filled her eyes the entire way over. Now she looked more like his Missy. “You know better than that.”

He raised their clasped hands to his lips and kissed the top of hers. “I do.” He released her and concentrated on turning the truck into the driveway. His mother didn’t have a car, didn’t want one. She’d never learned to drive and had told him a hundred times she had no desire to learn at her age. The bus and her two feet did just fine, thank you very much. He worried about her, but she had refused to let him buy her a car.