Bound by Their Kisses(35)

Neither one of them moved from their spots across the room from each other. Tessa figured she needed to make the first move. She’d been the one to freak out. She’d overreacted and could admit it now that she’d thought about it. Maybe not about the basement thing, but that was an entirely different conversation that all three of them needed to have.

“Tag. I’m sorry,” she said, taking a step toward him.

His head jerked down so that he met her eyes at last. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, baby girl. I came on way too strong. I knew better, but having you here in our home, one we built with you in mind, went to my head. I’m the one who’s sorry.”

“What? You built this house while you knew me?” she asked, blown away by the idea.

“Yeah, I guess we forgot to mention that, just like we forgot to talk about everything else. Zander and I drew up the plans and went to an architect to get it perfect for you.” He moved closer until his body was only inches from hers. “We knew you were for us the first time we saw you, Tessa. It just took you some time to figure out that we were all yours. And we are.”

“I–I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe that you built this place expecting me to move in with you and we weren’t even seeing each other at the time,” she said, her head still reeling.

“But we were, baby. We saw you most every day, making sure you were safe and drinking in your beauty. We could tell by the way you were around us and other men that you’d been hurt in the past. We just didn’t know the particulars. I guess we should have asked before we built the damn playroom in the basement,” he said with his signature half grin. “But we can change that.”

“Don’t,” she said. “I mean you don’t have to change where it is. It really isn’t going to make that much difference in the long run. I’m the one who has to change, or at least get a handle on my reactions.”

Tag cupped her face between his hands and leaned down to kiss her. She relished the feel of his lips as they brushed hers then pressed harder for a deeper kiss. Tessa relaxed into him and opened her mouth, accepting his tongue as he tentatively, almost shyly tested his welcome. God, he could kiss. He knew just how to tease her into pressing closer to him. A moan surprised her when she realized it had come from her.

When he slowly pulled back, she had to gasp for air. To her surprise, he was breathing just as heavily in an effort to catch his breath. The most amazing thing happened. He smiled, really smiled. Both sides of his mouth curved up for a brief moment before he pulled her fully into his arms to squeeze her.

“No more jumping the gun. We take things slow and easy. I can’t stand seeing that look on your face again, baby girl. It broke something inside of me because I knew it was my fault you had it.”

“Tag—” she began

“Shh, Tessa. It’s behind us now.” He shifted and suddenly she was in his arms. “Let’s go to bed. I’ll bet you twenty dollars Zander is pacing in the bedroom and is going to try and dive into the bed when he hears us.”

Tessa could just see the bald tattooed hunk doing just that. She giggled. “I’m not taking that bet ‘cause you’d win.”

“Don’t make a sound. We’ll catch him at it,” Tag whispered as he carried her out of the kitchen.

He eased down the hall, making sure to stay as quiet as possible. When they reached the doors to the master bedroom, Tag carefully set her down and held one finger to his lips for her to remain quiet. She smiled, enjoying this playful side of Tag she hadn’t seen before.

The big man carefully eased the door open and they both peeked inside to find Zander standing in the middle of the room with his back to them. The sight of his naked body had Tessa’s hormones kicking up. When he started pacing, she nearly gasped at the way the muscles in his ass tightened and released. She actually caught herself with her mouth open starting to drool. Snapping it shut, she looked up to see Tag smirk down at her. Then he held up two fingers and nodded. They were going in on the count of two.

She barely had time to prepare herself before he shoved the doors wide, catching Zander in midturn as he headed for the big bed. He made a flying leap, landing face-first on top of the mattress where he’d already turned back the covers. Tessa couldn’t hold back her laughter at the site of him trying to climb under the covers. It was obvious that he hadn’t realized they were already in the room when he’d made his swan dive.

“Told you. I’d be twenty dollars richer if you were a betting woman,” Tag said. “Look at him rolling around like a juicy earthworm trying to scoot under the ground before the hungry robin catches him.”