Talon is my home.
“Can we leave?” he asks as he slowly pulls away from my lips.
“Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t care. I just need you to not leave me tonight; I don’t know if I’m going to ever be able to leave your side now.” Those words are wonderful and beautiful and scary as hell all at the same time. I need to be careful with him. With this. With us. I know whatever this is that is between us is not something new the way it was with Hollister. We have been through so much and we haven’t ever even been an official couple. I don’t know how I’m going to keep this at a slow pace because I get so lost in him each time we’re together, but it has to be done.
“Blaine is my date tonight and he has to catch a plane super early in the morning. So we’ll have to get him before we go anywhere. But Talon, I have to be really careful with you.”
“What are you talking about? I’m not fragile Bay.” He’s looking at me incredulously.
“Not for your benefit. I’ve rushed into the whole relationship thing before and you saw how that turned out.”
“First of all, I don’t think we’re rushing anything at all. In fact, I feel like we have been moving at the pace of a turtle.” He draws out the latter part of his sentence and I have to laugh at his tortured expression. “Second, I never said anything about a relationship Bailey Hayes. That’s being pretty presumptuous of you, don’t you think? Maybe I just want to get you in my bed.” I love when he tries to be serious. His face tells all, all the time.
“Well, if that’s all you wanted then the issue could have been solved aaaa-ges ago!” I throw over my shoulder as I walk back to the restaurant, knowing full well there won’t be many days that we will be apart from here on out.
I hear him groan as he grabs me by my waist and pulls me back to him just as we enter the restaurant. “I’m so happy right now,” he whispers in his deep husky voice. There is just something about a gorgeous man whispering in your ear that gets the attention of the women around you. Suddenly, we seem to be the center of attention in a room full of nosy women. They must have been eyeing him all night while he was without a date and then he comes back in whispering in my ear. I can’t blame them really, I’ve had my own jealous fits over this man and he’s been willing to be mine for a while now.
I slowly turn around in his arms, reach around his neck and give him a tender kiss. “Me too,” I whisper back to him, my breath resting on his lips. My arms are gently pulled down so he can slide my coat off before removing his own.
“Come on, let’s go get the others and see if they want to do something. Oh! How about we go to that sweet little pub you go to?” I grab his hand and walk away from all of the prying eyes.
“Ahhh, don’t call it that, baby. You’re going to ruin the whole man vibe it has going on.” I laugh loudly, he sounds
like I just really pained him.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
TALON
Seeing Bay tonight is unbelievable. I have been telling myself that I am moving on and getting her out of my mind. No matter how often I repeat the words to myself and everyone else, I know that it is a lost cause. Bailey is the lyrics to my music and I knew she would find me again so I could stop being a simple instrument and we could have our beautiful symphony play once again.
After rounding up her friends we go over to Delaney’s for some drinks. We are all way too over dressed for the pub but I’m not going to chance letting Bay go home to change and change her mind about coming with me too. I need to remind her how we are meant to be. That what we have experienced in the past is something unattainable to a lot of people; but we are fortunate enough to experience it and can continue to have it forever.
I see Steve’s eyes light up when we walk in and decide I will get the first round so I can I can talk to him before he tries anything with Bay.
I kiss Bailey as she sits down and head over to the bar. “Hey Steve, can I get three beers on draft, a glass of red wine and a Pendleton on the rocks, please?”
“You got it.” He starts with the beers as he keeps his eyes on Bailey across the room. “I see you brought our girl back, looking damn edible to say the least.”
“Yes. I brought
my
girl back. No funny stuff this time Steve. I’m serious.” I’m making a great effort at reining in my anger towards him. I’m going to have to be careful not to get too crazy possessive over her. Now that I have her, I can feel the possessive Alpha coming back in full force.
“Easy tiger. No funny stuff. Got it.” Steve laughs and tells me he’ll bring our drinks over on a tray for me so I go back to the table.
As I approach the table Bailey stands up and turns to me. She wraps her arms around my neck and leans in to the side of my face. “Will you dance with now? Please? I can’t wait another minute to feel you swaying against me with your arms wrapped tightly around my waist.”
I don’t have a response to that that is appropriate in public. She leads me out to the dance floor by my hand. When we reach the spot where we will be dancing she stops and pulls me to her, but I have other ideas for this dance. I push her out and pull her in backwards so her back is to my chest. She lets her hands fall to my thighs and I place my hands around her mid-section with my fingers resting on her hips. Her head falls back to just below my shoulder and she closes her eyes as we begin to move as one to the music.
“I can’t even explain how much I have missed you Bailey. I knew being friends would have never worked while you were figuring out your life, but I have missed your friendship more than anything.” I kiss the side of her head and she gently rubs my thighs with the tips of her fingers. “I have never met anyone who connects with me the way you do. The way we can talk about anything and make it an interesting topic. The way even holding hands is intimate between us. You are it for me, Bay. I’ll take as much time as you need, go as slow as you want but just know that I’m not going anywhere this time. I’m here, in your life forever. I
will
be your husband one day Bailey Hayes. Do you understand?”
Bailey turns around with tears welling up in her eyes and a sad smile on her face. She reaches up and places her left hand on the nape of my neck. Her right hand is on my cheek as she caresses my bottom lip with her thumb. “I’m so sorry for anything I put you through. But yes, I understand. I don’t want it any other way. I do still need more time, and for us to keep it at a slow pace, but I’m here too. I’m not going anywhere else either Talon.”
I kiss her slowly and thoroughly, soaking in every second that I had missed while she was out of my life. When I pull back she looks up at me and I can tell something has changed since she finished talking and our kiss ended. She looks unsure or maybe nervous.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” We’re still dancing with people all around us. The slow song has ended and something with a much quicker tempo is on but we are still slowly swaying to our own beat.
“Umm…” Her eyes are darting everywhere but to my face. She won’t make eye contact.
“Bay? Look at me,” I softly demand and she does. She’s biting the inside of her lower lip. She’s nervous. She releases her lip and takes a deep breath. Her fingers go still at the nape of my neck and she clears her throat before she finally speaks.
“It’s none of my business, I totally understand, but I’m just curious and I guess I kind of need to know now that you are going to be my husband one day.” Another big gulp of air is sucked in as she tries to calm herself. I can’t help but laugh at how cute she is right now. “Ahhh, I’m rambling. I’m just going to come out with it.”
“Please do,” I say, smiling from ear to ear. I have no idea what has her so worked up but I’m really anxious to find out.
“Ok, so that night at your dinner party, you had a date. Is she someone you’re seeing?” She’s back to darting her eyes around to everything around us and never landing on me.
I have actually kept in touch with Susan. She moved here a few weeks ago and we have gone out on a couple of dates. There is nothing in the way of commitment but she knows about Bailey and I will have to tell her about tonight. Susan is a great girl and I hate to hurt her, but I’ve been very clear with my intentions and just hope she understands.
“Not exactly. Susan is a good friend. We’ve gone out a couple times but nothing serious.”
“I feel bad that I’m walking back into your life when you have moved on. I hate that you moved on, but I get it. I just hate it.” She’s chewing the inside of that bottom lip again. To ease her mind I lean in and kiss her softly before whispering against her lips.
“I’ve never moved on. You are impossible to move on from, love. I may have gone to dinner with her but I never moved on with her.”
“Let’s get Blaine and go home. You can stay with me tonight, right?”
“Yes. I don’t plan on leaving your side until you force me to,” I say with a smile and she finally relaxes her worried expression.
Once we tell the others about our plan, they quickly shoot it down. So we stay and drink and dance for a few more hours. Blaine is actually having a really good time and I notice him watching Drea carefully. I don’t usually pay attention to those kinds of things, but he’s not really trying to hide it and the way Drea giggles every time she catches his eye leaves me to believe there just may be something there.
Spending time with Bailey without her troubles is everything I imagined it would be. She seems to be so happy, laughing whole-heartedly at everything her friends say. The smile on her face has yet to diminish; she gingerly swings her hair from one shoulder to the other to fan the back of her neck. She leans over to place soft kisses on my lips periodically and I just can’t get enough.
Delaney’s closes at two o’clock so we head out just before then. Blaine has to be at the airport at four a.m., so me, Bailey, and Blaine leave to get his suitcase and get him there on time.
Bailey and Blaine say their goodbyes and we leave after Blaine gets called to board. Bailey falls asleep on my shoulder in the cab. I remember that I have to take a conference call in just a couple of hours so I have the cabby keep driving until he reaches my place.
“Bay, wake up, love,” I whisper as her sleepy eyes flutter to the sunlight of the early morning. I have never seen anything more beautiful.
Bailey stretches and yawns as we step out of the cab and I pay the driver. “Where are we?” she asks sleepily.
“We’re at my place, I need to jump on a conference call and I need a few things out of my office for it. You can go to sleep in my bed while I get some work done. Then I can have the rest of the day free.”
“Are you sure? I can just go home and you can come over when you’re finished.”
“I’m absolutely sure. Come on, let’s get inside.”
“But I need to get out of this dress; I’ve been in it way too long.” Just because I can, I sweep her up in my arms. Then I carry her inside and into the elevator. She doesn’t even try to protest.
“I told you to change when we went to get Blaine’s suitcase.”
“I know but I didn’t want to make him late.”
“I’m sure I can find something for you to wear. If I remember correctly, you look stunning in my t-shirt.”
“Please don’t remind me of that morning; that was so humiliating.” Bailey nuzzles her nose in my neck and I revel at the feel of it as I laugh at the memory.
I put her down to open my door and guide her in with my hand at the small of her back. I do realize that I’m being such a girl about this reunion, but there’s not a damn thing I can do about it just yet.
I don’t live in a palace but I am proud of my place. I hold Bailey’s hand as I point out the different rooms until we reach my room. I have dreamt of her being in here with me on numerous occasions. Now that she is actually here, I have to stop and reel in the reality of it. I wrap her up in my arms and kiss her like it’s the only thing on earth I want to be doing. And it is.
“I love your place. It’s beautiful. Masculine, but still beautiful, just like you Talon,” Bailey gushes a little breathlessly as I kiss down her neck. She tangles her fingers in my hair and I find my way back up to her lips and whisper against them. “Thank you. It’s now complete, having you here finally.”
“Will you ever be able to forgive me?”
Shit. That’s not what I was going for, she’s going to cry. Why am I always inadvertently making her cry?
“I have never held anything against you to need to forgive you, love.” I wipe away a couple of tears that escaped their prison before pressing a soft kiss on her swollen lips. “Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll get you some clothes you can wear. Are you good to spend the day here today?”
She doesn’t answer me except with a little nod of her head. So I show her the bathroom and pull out anything she might need.
“Thank you Talon.”
“You’re welcome.” I start to walk out the door before I hear her clear her throat.
“Hey Talon, I have been wanting to come to you for what seems like forever. I really was protecting you by staying away. You believe that right?” She sounds so small.
“Yes love, I believe you. I’m just happy you finally made your way to me.”
Finally she looks happy. Peaceful. “Me too,” she replie
s with a big smile on her face.