Coming over her, he didn’t waste any time. He slid a finger through her slick sex, and finding her wet for him, he positioned himself at her entrance.

“I just need to be inside you.” Foreplay could wait for another time. “I just want to make you mine.”

She chuckled beneath him. “Silly man. I’ve always been yours,” she said as he began to slide himself into her.

Her tight walls spasmed around him and he groaned, thrusting all the way home, until he was as deep as he could get, until they were as close as they could possibly be.

And when he began to move, rocking into her, taking her slowly, he felt every slick glide and every flutter of her sweet pussy. He wasn’t going to last. It was going to be the quickest yet most intense orgasm of his life. And he was taking her along for the ride.

He came at the same time she cried out his name, and the emotions that swept through him were potent. Because he was with the woman he loved and he’d finally opened himself to believe in forever.

Epilogue

The Dares knew how to throw a party, Tanner Grayson thought, as he loosened the bow tie now that the wedding of his best friend and partner Jason Dare was over.

He’d never seen so many siblings in one place before. Being close with Jason since college, Tanner had been introduced to the many factions of the family. The New York Dares mingled with the Florida Dares; the Florida Dares no longer separated themselves by who their mother was. Glancing around, he had to admit that despite the designation of half brother or half sister or cousin, they’d become a tight-knit unit.

The only unit Tanner had was with his best friends and partners, Jason and Landon Bennett. Ever since Landon’s twin, Levi, died in a hazing incident they’d been unable to prevent, Tanner had lost his ability, what little he’d had, to trust others. And despite his years-long relationship with Jason and Landon, Tanner always felt like the outsider.

The troublemaker. The one who grew up as a have-not, unlike his friends, who, despite their emotional drama or problems, had financial stability and a close family throughout their lives. This gathering was proof of what Tanner lacked.

As they celebrated Jason and Faith’s wedding, Tanner stood with Landon, neither one of them with a date, both happy to keep to themselves.

“I have to admit I never thought Jason would settle down,” Landon said, tipping his head toward the man under discussion, who held his bride close as they danced.

“Agreed. But the minute he met Faith, he opened himself up to her.” Tanner didn’t want to allow anyone to pry him open. He might be a hothead, he might have a rough past, but he knew who he was and he knew better than to think a woman would accept him as is.

“Some would say love changes you for the better.” Landon shrugged and picked up the glass of soda he drank. None of the men overindulged in alcohol anymore. Not since Levi.