Long Time Coming Read online

  Tom could think of one thing that was.

  “All you can do now is wait. I know it’s not easy, but the advice I give my patients is to try not to think about it if you can. Terrorizing yourselves will not change the outcome.” He looked around the room. “It looks like you’ve got the most important things already. Take advantage.”

  “I plan to.” She tapped her finger on her lush lips. “So, there are no restrictions on what I can or can’t do then, right?”

  The doctor grinned. “Nope. I wouldn’t recommend tackle football or anything like that, but…”

  “How about a more relaxing full-contact sport?” Willie asked.

  “Doctor approved.” Dr. Rotman flashed them a thumbs-up.

  “Momma!” Amber put her hand over her eyes.

  Tom indulged her playfulness with a fist pump despite how raw his insides still felt.

  “Tom! Gross!” Nola groaned.

  “Payback, kids. It’s a bitch.” He winked.

  Dr. Rotman grabbed his belly and boomed out a laugh at their antics. Then he said, “We’ll call you tomorrow, as soon as we have more information. Of course, if any of your symptoms worsen, have one of these folks bring you back immediately.”

  As if Tom would take a chance with Willie’s safety. “I’m on that.”

  “Good.” Dr. Rotman squeezed Tom’s shoulder then headed for the door. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Brown. I sincerely hope that I do not see you again tomorrow.”

  Willie giggled at that, making the doctor Tom’s hero.

  He quit fooling around since everyone—himself included—had been properly distracted, helping Willie sit on the edge of the hospital bed before gathering her clothes from the chair beside it.

  “Hey, Amber?” Tom dug in his jeans pocket for Alanso’s key. “Want to put that motorcycle license to good use?”

  She’d recently gotten hers, claiming it was only fitting for a part-owner of Gavyn’s sister-shop to Hot Rods, Hot Rides.

  “Hell yes.” She grinned.

  “Oh, here we go. I’m never going to hear the end of how awesome this is.” Nola rolled her eyes. “I’ll see you at home.”

  “Not until tomorrow morning. Go play with that baby of yours and give her a kiss from Nana.” Willie called to her daughters as they headed out, “Come for breakfast. Knock first.”

  “Momma!” This time Amber and Nola both shrieked it.

  Earlier in the day Tom never would have imagined leaving this place laughing when everything still hung in the balance. Maybe he was a different man than he’d been thirteen years ago.

  Instead of dreading the future, he wanted nothing more than to enjoy the now.

  Especially if it was all they had.

  Chapter Fourteen

  They drove home in a companionable, if uneasy silence.

  Sure, Willie was terrified. How could she be anything else?

  If the worst happened, her daughters would go on without her. That didn’t mean she didn’t wish she could stick around to see them blossom beneath the love and attention their guys showered on them. Then there was baby Ambrose. Who would teach her how to sew or what the names of all the pink flowers were or bake cute birthday cakes for her each year?

  That was supposed to be her job.

  The injustice of it threatened to overwhelm her. Not only for herself, but also for the man beside her, who drove with one hand on the wheel, his fingers drumming madly, while he used the other to cradle her fingers as if they were the most precious things in the universe.

  “What’s that big sigh for?” he asked her.

  “I’m still not sure I’m doing the right thing here,” she admitted as they rolled into the Hot Rods lot. “For you, I mean.”

  “I’m a grown man. Let me worry about myself.” He kissed her knuckles then came around to her side of the car. A gentleman spoiling her with politeness was a luxury she hadn’t indulged in much since her youth. So she waited for him to open her door. Not because she couldn’t do it herself, but because she appreciated the false sense of security it lent her at the moment—reassurance that he would take care of her if she let him.

  Before she climbed the stairs and walked into his home again, she had to be absolutely sure that was okay with him since she couldn’t imagine ever having the strength to peel her soul away from his if they linked any tighter.

  Who was she kidding? It had nearly killed her to leave him in the apartment that morning. It was already too late.

  “What if it’s bad news?” she whispered to him.

  “My heart will be broken.” The raw agony in his bright eyes tore at her. “But Willie, if you leave me now that’s guaranteed pain. So really, my odds are better with only the chance of getting hurt. And even that wouldn’t happen for some unknown amount of time down the road.”

  When she thought about it like that, she figured she couldn’t argue.

  “We’re not dumb kids anymore, honey. No matter what we do from here on out, one of us is going to go first. Hell, I’m kind of surprised I didn’t stroke out last night when I came inside you.” He put his hands on either side of him, opening his arms wide. “Nothing is guaranteed in life. Which is why I want you to be sure. Can you dedicate your time to something between us? Something real and lasting? For however long we might have? Tell me now if you can’t, Willie. It’s fucking with my head not knowing where I stand with you.”

  “The only thing I’m certain of right now is that no matter how much time I’ve got left—a minute or fifty years—I want to spend it with you, Tommy.” She kissed him gently, though the brush of their lips quickly evolved into something a heck of a lot more sensual. “Does that clear it up?”

  “That’s good enough for me.”

  “Well, you heard the doctor.” Her fingers flexed on his abdomen. “He told me to take advantage of you.”

  As she hoped, Tom laughed, full and loud. Like he had often before this week had tested them in every possible way. His eyes twinkled. “I’m pretty sure that’s not what Dr. Rotman really meant, but I’m willing to go along with your intentional misinterpretation.”

  “That’s very kind of you, sir.” She poured her accent on thick.

  “Have I ever told you how fucking hot that southern belle factor is?” he growled then hoisted her over his shoulder, palming her ass and trapping her knees to his abdomen as he sprinted inside.

  Willie couldn’t stop laughing, not even when he set her on the kitchen table then stepped between her knees. “I’ll have to remember that.”

  “Then again, pretty much everything you do turns me on,” he admitted when he buried his face in her cleavage. “Like these pretty dresses you wear. They’ve been teasing me by showing off your curves. I can’t wait to get my hands on them again.”

  “What’re you waiting for then?” She rocked from one side to the other to lift the skirt of her dress from beneath her then pulled it over her head.

  Tom took it from there, unhooking her bra by feel alone faster than she could have herself. He whisked it away then worked her panties off her legs. Before she knew it, she was perched on the kitchen table, entirely nude.

  “You going to keep standing there licking your lips, or make a meal out of me, Tommy?” She couldn’t help but tease him when he stared at her like a starving man about to feast.

  “Tell me if it’s too much.” He paused. “If you start to feel unwell…”

  “Not possible when I’m with you like this. Don’t you dare be delicate with me now. I may be broken already. There’s nothing you can do to damage me. Ever.” She held her arms out to him.

  Only leaving her hanging long enough to strip, Tom pounced, shoving her backward until she was spread out across the table for him to thoroughly enjoy. Suddenly she had a wicked inspiration.

  “You never did eat that chocolate pie I made for you.”

  He blinked a few times. “That’s not what I’m hungry for right now, Willie.”

  “Maybe I want some…licked o
ff of you.” Glad he wouldn’t be able to see her blush, she added, “I’ve never fooled around like that before and I don’t want to wait anymore to try everything I’ve ever dreamed about. I’ve got you and I’ve got a pie. Sounds like the perfect time to me. Bring it over here. Get me dirty, Tommy.”

  “I like it when you sass me, Ms. Brown.” He lunged for the neatly covered dish on the counter then set it on the bench seat of the table, tearing into it.

  Fear instilled some desperation in their lovemaking.

  She found she enjoyed the edge it lent to her thrill.

  Never before had she been able to fully let go and surrender to the moment without thoughts of what would come beyond the now. Today, that might be all they had.

  It was freeing and terrifying.

  Tom skipped utensils entirely. He gouged his fingers into the chocolate pudding and whipped topping she’d arranged in layers. Scooping the first dollop onto two fingers, he offered it to her. She ate it, greedily.

  Before she could swallow the large helping he’d fed her, not so neatly, he swooped down for a kiss, licking the sweet cream he’d left on her lips. He moaned into her mouth as he tasted the combination of her and the confection she’d baked for him.

  “I definitely like it better this way.” He grabbed another blob, this time smearing it along her chin and down her neck. “You’re brilliant…and delicious.”

  Laughter spilled from her as he tickled her with his mouth, then set her ablaze with its skilled attack. When he went to the pie again, he didn’t mess around. Tom grabbed two handfuls of the filling then smooshed them onto her breasts.

  The shock of the unwarmed confection was lessened by his mouth, cleaning her off again. He must have really liked it. He didn’t leave a single morsel on her skin. “Tommy. My turn.”

  “No way. I’m not full yet.” He grinned, chocolate smeared across his handsome face.

  So she took matters into her own hands. Literally.

  Willie spun around on the table, dipping into the pie herself before continuing her rotation until she sprawled on her back with her head near his body. Now she had a much better view. Tom’s cock hung thick and heavy right above her. She reached up and slathered him in pudding, loving the way his shaft twitched in her palm.

  He hissed. “Fuck, that’s kind of cold. You should have told me.”

  “Liked it.” She didn’t bother to argue, instead nibbling along his length then opening her mouth so he could feed her his delectable, chocolate-covered cock.

  Tom groaned, flexing his hips a few times to give her more of himself. He left the pie to her, so she occasionally added more sweetness to his natural spice. Instead, he tipped forward, bending at the waist.

  Bracketing her hips with his palms, he settled for a different sort of treat.

  Willie moaned when his tongue flicked across her clit.

  Wishing he had another hand to prop himself up so he could push a few of his thick fingers inside her, she groaned and walked her heels outward until they rested on the very edges of the table, giving him as much leeway as possible.

  Pleasure built inside her rapidly, driven by the incessant massage of his mouth on her most sensitive bits. When she flew apart, the orgasm seemed brilliant but fleeting compared to those she’d achieved while he was buried balls-deep inside her the night before.

  Dessert forgotten, she began to beg. “Fuck me, Tommy.”

  “No more waiting, Willie. Not tonight. Never again.” He didn’t disappoint. He collected her from the table, helping her cling to him so that her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his waist. The nudge of his cock against her pussy as he began to climb the stairs had her squirming.

  “Whoa.” He tipped forward a little, putting one hand on the stairs above her head as he steadied them.

  Except the position had them aligned so perfectly that the tip of his cock prodded her entrance. “Right here, Tommy. Right now.”

  He seemed like he might argue. Instead, what came out of his mouth was, “What the fuck? Why not?”

  His tight, high ass clenched, thrusting his cock forward and into her clinging sheath.

  They both moaned at the reintroduction of his erection into her body.

  He pushed into her more, but couldn’t quite fit them together as well as she would like since she kept slipping without a good handhold.

  “Hang on.” No way could she go as far as the bedroom. She could make things easier on him, though.

  A frustrated, impatient sound left his chest when she separated them. Only long enough to turn over. His hand steadied her, ready to catch her if she slipped as she got into position, kneeling on the stairs, bent forward, her forearms braced higher up.

  The position shoved her ass out at Tom.

  “Fuck, yes.” He didn’t ask for permission before he spanked her once, twice, then a third time, infusing heat and a rousing tingle in her cheeks.

  Tom stood behind her, ringing the base of his shaft as he got situated, then sank into her pussy. She screamed, and he paused, just for a moment to let her adjust.

  “No. Go. Fuck.” She didn’t care that her desperation was evident in the total shutdown of her mind. “Now, Tommy.”

  He put his hands on her waist, curling his fingers around to her belly while his thumbs rested at the top of her ass. Using the grip, he slid her back as he leaned forward then reversed their motions. He drove into her, harder and faster than he had dared the night before.

  Willie locked her arms to hold herself steady, proving to them both that she was capable of accepting anything he could give her. Grant both of them, really, though sometimes loving this wildly could be terrifying.

  Before long, rapture started to spiral higher in her. Her breasts rasped against the carpet of the stair treads and her knees had rug burn that would be hard to explain to the doctors. Taking control of her own ecstasy, she transferred her weight to one arm then slid the other one between her legs.

  “God, yes.” Tom pumped into her, reaching deeper with each stroke as his cock opened her up and eliminated the last of her resistance. “Rub your clit for me, Willie. Make yourself come on me. I love to watch you unravel.”

  It was an easy enough request to fulfill when he possessed her as if he never intended to stop or let her go. Thrilled to be alive and participating in this new, raw, exhilarating experience with the man she loved, she couldn’t deny him her pleasure.

  Willie’s spine arched, her head snapped back, and Tom gave her the last push she needed to fly when he took one hand off her waist to wrap it in her hair and tug as he continued to fuck within her.

  Her fingers flew over her clit, rubbing in her favorite pattern, one she’d discovered in the lonely nights she’d spent before meeting the sexy garage owner. She shattered, her pussy drawing at Tom’s cock as if to keep him from retreating even a fraction of an inch as she pulsed around him.

  Slowing though not stopping entirely, Tom rode out her climax. He kept her from collapsing or losing the spark of her arousal with his periodic thrusts.

  When she felt need building inside her for more friction, more force, she whimpered.

  “Shh, honey. I’ll give you more.” He wrapped his arms around her middle then lifted, climbing the rest of the stairs. His heavy erection slipped from her as he moved, making her moan at the loss.

  Not for long though.

  Because when they got to the top and only a few more feet down the hall, halfway to his bedroom, Tom cursed. “I have to have you.”

  He picked her up, facing him again, and she did what she could to facilitate as rapid a return of his cock to her pussy as possible. She locked her legs around his trim waist and hooked one heel over the ankle of her opposite leg.

  With her weight resting on his hips, Tom concentrated on getting his thick hard-on back where it belonged. Inside her.

  He reached down and guided himself to her clutches. They joined once more, both of them gasping at the delight. It surprised and surpassed me
mory each time. With that accomplished, Tom shifted his arms, putting his palms flat on the wall. His forearms absorbed the pressure of their mass as he fucked into her.

  She put her hands on his shoulders and used him to push off of, allowing gravity to pull her onto him over and over. They fell into a rhythm that was faster, shallower, and more urgent than the pace they’d set previously. The change meant he never left her much, but when they came together it was as fully as possible.

  Her clit knocked the pad of muscle above the base of his cock with every pass.

  By grinding herself on him, she was able to find that seductive place where everything fled her mind and left only rapture instead of fear or worry. Why would she ever want to stop when it felt so good?

  “That’s right, Willie.” He bit her lower lip, staring into her eyes for a while before kissing her ferociously. “Make me yours.”

  Only fair since she’d been his since about three seconds after they’d met a year ago.

  His mouth slid over hers, eating at her as eagerly as he had the tastes of her ruined pie.

  Their tongues speared between each other’s lips, twirling around as he lapped up the frenzied sounds she made and surrendered some primal groans of his own. Each one spurred her on.

  When their exertion made their skin slippery with light perspiration, she had a harder time keeping him right where it felt best. He switched his grip to her ass, holding her up as his shoulders pinned her to the wall. A groan of frustration turned instantly to one of satisfaction when the change in position made him far better able to deliver the full length of his cock to her pussy, plunging within her with slaps of his hips hard enough to knock a photograph off the wall beside them.

  She would have laughed at their exuberance and impatience to have each other, except she was far too needy to find it amusing. The angle of his pelvis altered slightly as one or the other of them shifted in their precarious perch.

  It made his blunt tip strike the wall of her pussy in precisely the right spot to steal her ability to resist a moment longer. Combined with the tap of his body on her clit and the adoration in his eyes as he ravaged her, she surrendered.