“I thought I was doing the right—”
I hold my hand up. If he interrupts, I won’t be able to get this out.
“I know you thought you were doing the right thing, and I wish I could say the same. I’ve lied for years, telling myself that keeping Alex from you was the best thing for everyone. I listened to your words that night, not your actions. I can picture it in my head like it happened an hour ago instead of over thirteen years ago. I can see the pain in your eyes, the way your throat worked when you lied to me. I don’t know why I didn’t see it then. Why I didn’t challenge you just a little harder. Your love and devotion to me was in every action, every touch. Every time you looked at me, I felt it to my soul. But I’m stubborn.”
His head cocks to the side as if saying Duh, but he remains silent.
“I convinced myself that Alex would be better off without a man like you, and I know now that was another mistake. I know you would’ve been a great father. I know you would’ve moved heaven and earth to provide for us. I know this now, but back then I was hurt. I can make excuses, repeat the lies I told myself, but it all boils down to me being wrong.”
I pause, knowing what I need to say, what I want to say, but also knowing it has the power to change everything. If I say it, I have to let my walls down. I have to risk my heart, but I don’t think that’s the real challenge because he already owns it.
“I loved you at seventeen, and I love you now, Ignacio. I n-never stopped loving you.”
His eyes flash, bottom lip trembling slightly.
“Say it again.”
“I love you. I love you so much I don’t feel whole when you’re not around. I’m incomplete without you, and I don’t know what that says about my ability—”
His lips crush to mine so quickly, I don’t even register him moving across the room.
“W-wait.” I manage as I push at his chest.
“Tinley,” he growls, his hips pressing against me.
“I want the life you promised. I want to live here, and watch Alex grow up. I want it all, but I’m scared.”
His hand cups my jaw, dark eyes staring down at me. “I know you are, but I want you to know I’ll spend the rest of my life making up my mistakes to you, the rest of my life proving how precious you are to me.”
“You left again.”
“Left?”
“I would have given in to you, but you left, walked right past me and didn’t say a word. I had to find out from Alex that you were leaving Texas.”
He takes a step back, moving his arms to indicate various spots in his condo.
“I came back to pack. Fuck, Tinley. If you weren’t going to move to Missouri, I was moving to Texas. Leaving you, leaving Alex was never an option. Didn’t Alex tell you? I was due back next week.”
“He didn’t. I thought you were gone or working on taking him from me.”
“I would never—”
“I know that now, but I was convinced you were done, that every interaction had become more ammunition to get custody.”
“I love you. I wasn’t giving you up without a fight.”
I bite my lip to keep from smiling because although I was hoping that he’d say it, the confirmation makes my heart swell.
“I’ll prove that I’m not going anywhere. I’ll—”
“Just kiss me,” I whisper, and he does.
His lips press to mine, soft and thorough, the urgency he was feeling earlier slipping away until our mouths are melded together as if they are one.
“Tell me again,” he urges against my lips as he starts walking us backward.
I whisper I love you over and over and over until his bed is at the back of my thighs. My shirt disappears just as fast as his own clothes, and I sigh in relief when he lifts me to the center of the bed and settles between my thighs.
“God, you’re fucking perfect,” he praises, his eyes gliding down my body to where his thick cock slides wetly against my clit.
“Ig,” I groan, his name a plea.
“Patience, sweet girl.”
I moan again, nearly to the edge from him just sliding his cock against my pussy.
“Look at me,” he urges, and my eyes find his dark gaze. “Feel me.”
With a skillful move, he shifts his hips, his cock lining perfectly up with my entrance, and he enters me slowly. My mouth falls open, a soundless cry on my lips.
His perfect teeth dig into his lower lip as he seats himself fully inside of me.
Our eyes stay locked the entire time. We don’t look away when my legs wrap around his hips or when my back arches from one slow thrust after the next. They stay locked when my fingers dig into his back when I get close to coming. As if in a trance, I can’t even close them when they roll back as my body submits to him and the most powerful orgasm I’ve ever had tries to pull me from the earth.
“Tin,” he groans, the muscles in his back tensing against my fingers. “Fuck, baby.”
And he comes, too.
Chapter 37
Ignacio
“This is the best,” I tell Tinley as I pull her naked body closer.
Her head is on my chest, nimble fingers toying with the trail of hair on my lower abdomen, the simple action telling my cock to get ready for round two.
“I’ve missed you like this.”
“We didn’t get much time in a bed before.”
She chuckles, her breaths teasing across my over-heated skin.
“I don’t want you going back to Texas,” I say, chancing her pulling away.
The sex was phenomenal. It always has been, but I need more than just her body.
I’m done with keeping my mouth shut, with expecting her to know where my head is at.
“I hate it there. Alex hates it there.”
“I want
