Breathe Again
My tongue traced every inch of her heat, my senses tumbling into overload. Her taste, her smell, and her noises were taking over every part of me. I knew she was close. The tightness of her grip on my hair was a clear indication. I moved in closer, my tongue sweeping over every inch of her now soaking pussy. When I felt her gasp loudly, I nibbled on her clit and she shuddered around me with the sound of her moaning my name over and over again falling from her lips.
The warmth and intensity of her orgasm flooded around me and I refused to move until I had enjoyed every last drop. Savannah Rae, could she be any more perfect for me? My breathing increased rapidly as I pulled away from her. I was losing control of this whole situation and I knew I had to pull it in. This wasn’t about me; it was purely about her. Grabbing hold of my wildly growing need to be inside her, I continued sliding her panties up over her thighs and gave her a suggestive tap on the ass, loving the sound of her raspy giggle. I turned on my knees, grabbed the suspenders that were bunched with the bra beside me, and repeated the tortuously slow process.
With every sweep of my fingertips on her reactive skin, she gasped. I dragged my fingers up her legs, skimming over her knees and tracing her thighs, and followed with my lips. This time, I dragged my tongue, sweeping over her skin, tasting the deliciousness of the body wash she had used earlier that night. I leaned in and placed my lips on her panties, the wetness soaking through the lace, and instantly my eyes closed as I was overcome by the scent of my perfect Aussie.
Her hands found my hair again, and she gripped it for dear life. The pain of her grip and the smell of her arousal almost made me forget what I was doing. I pulled my face away, breathing in deeply as I did and shot a look of pure lust at her. The thought of being buried deep inside of her caused my now hard cock to ache.
“Savannah, I never knew perfection until I met you.”
I fumbled around the floor, patting the space for the bra I had left there, not wanting to break the trance her eyes had on me. My fingers brushed across the satin and I grabbed hold. I rose to my feet in front of her, her eyes moving with mine. I ran my hands up the side of her body, a shiver ran down her sides, and her eyes closed under my touch, breaking our contact.
Lifting her arms one at a time, I slipped her arms in the straps of her bra. Moving around her, I didn’t remove my fingers from her skin. My eyes were locked with hers through the reflection of the mirror. I stood behind her, staring at her, drinking in her body. I hooked her bra and my eyes ran the length of her body.
“Stay there,” I whispered before grazing her shoulder blade with a soft kiss. She nodded in response.
I ran out of the bedroom in desperate search of my phone. The ache in my shorts was almost to the point of pain, and I needed release fast.
“Fuck!” I hissed to myself.
I grabbed my phone from the couch and rushed back to the bedroom to find Sav standing exactly where I’d left her. Her eyes rose from the carpeted floor and a shy smile formed on her lips. I could see the faint tint of embarrassment cover her cheeks.
“You are blushing again.” I winked at her and lifted my phone up.
“What are you doing?” she gasped in horror as the sound of a photo being taken echoed through the room. Her hands shot up as she attempted to cover her almost naked body.
“Do you trust me?”
She nodded slowly. Her hands and arms remained firmly over her body and her head dropped, her hair falling over her face.
“Trust me, Savannah.”
Slowly she lifted her head and her eyes met mine. Hesitation greeted me. I took a step towards her, my face millimeters from hers and I spoke against her lips. “Just you and me.”
Stepping back, I lifted my phone up so that she was on full display to me. Like a goddess standing before me, she allowed me to snap away on my phone. There was a point to this. I wasn’t just being some sleazy creep. When I finished, I slid my phone in my back pocket and moved so I stood behind her. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I rested my open palms on her pregnant stomach and we stood before the mirror, our eyes meeting in the reflection.
“You, Savannah, are the only person I want to look at in lingerie. Those photos you were looking at in the living room are nothing compared to what I am looking at now. The way you glow in the candlelight, the curves of your body I cannot refuse to touch, and the taste of your skin on my tongue are all I’ll ever need. If I have to remind you every day, I will.”
“Tate, you need to take me to bed now. I know you have just dressed me but you need to have me naked within the next few seconds. I’ve kinda wrecked the panties anyway.” She grabbed my hand placing it at the front of her thoroughly soaked panties. “That is all your doing.”
As quickly as the words had left her mouth, my hands were unfastening the hook of her bra and I moved to stand in front of her and my mouth gently fell on her peaked nipple. A deep groan escaped her lips as the moment of ecstasy swept over her. Giving her what she wanted was my ultimate pleasure.
“Tate, that is amazing.”
I moved from one nipple to the other, stopping the onslaught on her beautiful tits only when I felt her hand slip in the front of my pants and grab hold of my aching cock. Her fingertip swept over the tip of my cock, and I groaned in a frenzied state of abyss as her hand wrapped around my length, gently squeezing as she ran her hand up and down painfully slowly.
“This is mine,” Sav breathed deeply.
With my cock about ready to show her exactly how much she owned me, I regretfully pulled away and dropped to my knees in front of her. With eager fingers, I unclasped her suspenders and slid them down her legs, throwing them to the corner of the room. I sat back on my heels to take a moment to admire the view in front of me—my girlfriend standing before me in nothing but her panties, with the flicker of light from the candles dancing over her skin, her breathing heavy and her eyes hooded with desire.
“I want you to make love to me tonight, Tate,” her words begged as her eyes craved.
I stood quickly, wrapped my hands around her waist, and lifted her to my hips. A soft giggle escaped her lips as I carried her to the bed. After I lowered her softly, she crawled back, her eyes never leaving me. I slowly started unbuttoning my shirt and slid it over my shoulders, chucking it to the end of the bed.
“Fuck, I love your tattoo,” Sav sighed from the bed. I looked down at my Connors tattoo, and before I could say anything, Savannah crawled to the edge of the bed. Her lips were kissing every letter etched on my skin. Her tongue magnificently slid along every stroke of scripted writing while my hands got lost in the flowing blond mane down her back.
“You are going to have that name one day.”
Just as quickly as she had started caressing my body with her tongue, she ripped her body away from me and sat back. There was no way in the world that I could even attempt to read the expression swamping her face. Was it desire, hesitation, need, or fear?
“Whether it takes a month, a year, two years, or ten, you will become a Connors.”
We were in the room staring each other down, Sav completely at the mercy of the thoughts circling her mind and me completely at the mercy of her. I hadn’t hidden the fact there would be no one else but her. She knew my idea of a future included her and Jellybean, and that meant all of us having my surname. Marriage! Fuck! I was never the guy who thought of marriage. My idea of a future had been full of loose women, booze, and jumping from one bed to another. But that was until Savannah had crashed into my world and made me believe that I could have a different future. Now all I wanted was to run away with her to a chapel in Vegas and put a ring on her finger, buy her our dream house, and spend our days filling it with memories.
The shrill of my phone barreled through the air, and both Sav and I jumped. Who the hell was calling me at this time? ‘Security’ flashed on the screen and I cursed under my breath. “I have to take this.” I held up my phone. “We aren’t finished here though Sav so get ready for me.”
 
; After walking through the apartment in complete darkness after being on the phone for twenty minutes while someone walked through Red Velvet and found nothing, my frustration levels were through the roof and all I wanted was to be in bed. As I stepped through the bedroom doors, I sighed at the sight before me. Savannah lay curled up on my side of the bed, back to hugging my pillow and being sound asleep. She hadn’t dressed and was wearing her panties, the rest of her body exposed. I laughed softly to myself and undressed, slipping in beside her.
She rolled towards me and snuggled in close to my chest. “I fell asleep,” she muttered against my skin.
I wrapped my arm around her. “Go back to sleep.”
Lifting her head from my chest, she opened her eyes and gazed at me. “I love you, Mr. Connors.”
And at that moment, I knew she would definitely become Mrs. Connors one day.
Savannah
MY BODY was his temple, and boy, was I enjoying every second of it. After the events of the night before and then him finally allowing me to satisfy him in the early hours of this morning, I was ready to take on whatever Chelsea could throw at me today. Even though he wasn’t going to be with me, I sure as hell made it so I could feel him deep within me, and now my body was deliciously achy in all the right places.
Pulling a brush through my hair, I looked in the mirror and smiled at Tate as his body filled the bathroom behind me. His hair was all over the place, his eyes puffy from sleep, and the stubble I adored graced his perfect jaw. The man was pure sex.
“Hey.” He kissed my shoulder softly, his arms wrapping around my waist and pulling me close to his chest as he nuzzled his face into my neck.
“Will you be at the club today?” I asked, softly knowing that I had requested Jack run the event.
“I’ll be locked away in my office with a pile of paperwork.” He kissed my jaw before nibbing on my ear. “But I’ll leave the door open for you.”
“I’m working today, remember?”
“A woman needs to have a break though, especially one carrying my prized cargo.”
I laughed and fumbled through my makeup bag, looking for my favorite lip gloss and bronzer. Tate stayed glued to me, watching me in the mirror. “Are you going to stand there and watch me?” He simply nodded with a cheeky grin. “You could be making me vegemite, avocado, and cheese on toast for breakfast. You know, the person carrying your prized cargo is hungry.”
His hands flew off my hips in protest as he began to violently shaking his head. “There is no way in hell I am going anywhere near that devil’s food. I still have nightmares about the taste.”
“I hope your son or daughter loves it and asks you to make it for them all the time.”
“You, Savannah Rae, are an evil bitch.” He winked at me as a short laugh escaped his throat.
“I may be an evil bitch, but god I rocked your world this morning.”
“Oh, and you are cocky.” He took a step towards the shower before looking back at me. “Yes you did rock my world. Pregnancy certainly is befitting of you and your pussy.”
My mouth dropped open in shock at his blatant honesty. “Tate!”
“Savannah!” Tate mocked.
We stared at each other in amusement as I desperately tried to stop the smile that was pulling and begging to be unleashed on my lips. Tate’s unique way with words was what legends were made of. I knew his stubborn arse wouldn’t break our gaze and I knew I would be late for work if I didn’t give in. Damn it.
I dropped my eyes from his and fumbled through my makeup bag to try for a desperate distraction. “Get in the shower. You stink of sex!”
His laughter roared through the room and mine soon joined him.
“Your accent still kills me,” he purred as he put his fingers in the waist of his boxers and pulled them torturously slowly over his hips.
My attention was peaked and my eyes automatically focused on the deliciousness between his legs. I licked my lips in anticipation. I was insatiable. I couldn’t get enough of him. I knew we have a fan-fucking-tastic sex life, but as I got further into my pregnancy, my need for sex was like my need for air. I took a step towards him, still holding my mascara wand in my hand, and my panty-clad body collided with his. His eyes darkened and the familiar Tate Connors smirk filled his lips.
“Easy, tiger. You’ve got to work remember,” he teased against my lips. “And I’m definitely not a two-minute kind of guy. You know I’m at least a half-hour guy and well... You don’t have half an hour.”
“I hate you,” I whined as I pathetically ground myself into him for any relief. I would have taken two minutes right about now.
“By the look in your eyes, you certainly don’t hate me, Savannah.”
He laughed as he stepped into the shower, and soon the sound of the water running filled the bathroom. Deep breaths, Savannah. Deep breaths. As my body came under control, I finished putting on my face and smiled at the sound of Tate humming in the shower.
“I am contacting my father today.” Tate’s voice suddenly bounced off the tiled walls of the shower. I froze on the spot. I’d known this day had been coming, but I hadn’t thought it would have come so randomly. The lip gloss I was applying dropped out of my hands under the shock of his words and I swung around, opening the shower door.
“What? Tate! When? How?”
“I decided at about four thirty this morning when you fell back asleep in my arms. I was happy, peaceful, and completely at ease. I want to feel that all the time and I can’t when I have this cloud over me. I am texting him when I get to Red Velvet and asking him to meet me today.”
“Are you sure?” I whispered, fear creeping slowly through me.
I watched as he swallowed hard, and for a split second, I witnessed doubt flash over his face. “Yeah. I have to Sav.”
I nodded and moved back towards the vanity. I had no clue what to do. No matter what, I would be there for him. I would stand beside him through thick and thin. But what scared me the most was the uncertainty of it all. What explanation was Tate going to receive? What possible lies or truths was he going to be given? Was his heart strong enough for what he was going to face?
Without another word from Tate about his father, we continued our morning ritual. Coffee and Lucky Charms for Tate, hot chocolate for me, and my ‘devil’s blood on toast’ as Tate liked to call it—AKA vegemite on toast. It was domestic bliss at its best. It almost felt too good to be true, and that’s what unnerved me about the whole meeting with Tate’s father. It was selfish, I know, but I didn’t want anything to wreck what we had. I finally had my guy, I finally was able to give him what he craved, and I didn’t want anyone else to destroy that.
Once I had enough food in me to feed a small football team, I grabbed my bag and followed Tate towards the door. Tate dressed head to toe in black, the Red Velvet shirt fitting close to his body and pants snug against his biteable arse. Stop thinking about fucking, Savannah. Seriously, my hormones felt like they were ignited one hundred billion percent. I smoothed out my knee-length grey skirt and played with the collar of my shirt as Tate grabbed his keys and wallet before we moved out of our apartment and through the building to the car park.
After he opened my door for me like the perfect gentleman, it was all shattered as he slapped my arse hard and smirked. “This is the first time we have ever gone to work together.”
“Aren’t we just a couple of business-savvy people?” I laughed softly.
Tate climbed into the driver’s seat, and within seconds, we were pulling out into the morning rush of traffic and heading towards Red Velvet. The unease of the day ahead suddenly filled the space around us. Engulfing, swallowing, and strangling every miniscule piece of hope we had succumbed to our little bubble. For the past twelve hours, we had been using sex, words, and our bodies as distractions for what lay ahead of us—firstly the shoot with Chelsea and now with the uncertainty of Tate meeting his father.
Knowing that Tate was about to open up the wounds he had be
en trying to cover for years scared me. I was frightened about what this could do to him, but I couldn’t let him see my fear. He needed my strength—strength I was fearful I was losing at a rapid rate. I had witnessed firsthand the strong, fearless Tate Connors slowly disappear before me. It had been the way he’d lost focus on everything around him as his mind took him through some of the worst times of his life and the way I’d watched in heartbreak as a single tear had formed in the corner of his eyes that he would quickly swipe away before anyone noticed. I had felt the shakes of his body as a nightmare took over him in the early hours of the morning. He had always been my strength. I had needed him to be my strength, but slowly he had been losing it all.
“Are you okay to come with me this afternoon?” His voice softened as he spoke, shooting a quick look of begging towards me. I shifted in my seat to face him as much as the seatbelt would allow.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
“Thank you for understanding why I have to do this.”
“I just need you to promise me one thing?”
“Anything.”
“Don’t shut me out. If you feel like you can’t talk to anyone, remember you can always talk to me. There is nothing you could say that would push me away. We are in this together, right?”
“I don’t want you to see me break, Sav.” His voice broke under his words.
“That’s what we do. We pick up each other’s pieces when we break and put them back together in our own special way. Let me pick up your broken pieces, Tate. Let me make you whole again.”
THE MOMENT we arrived at Red Velvet, the craziness began. I didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye to Tate before my arm was grabbed and I was pulled to the back of the bar. The space around me was a hustle of models, photographers, makeup artists, and designers. I stood still, letting it all soak in as the enormity of the day hit. This was the first shoot I would manage. The trust Mr. Davenport had in me was almost too much. I opened up my bag, pulled out my iPad, and began scrolling through the schedule.