by April Hunt
“Well, duh.” Zoey fought to keep the smile off her face. “And we should add some small print.”
“Meaning?”
“We keep it simple. If it becomes more than a mutually agreed upon sexual arrangement to either one of us, we end it. No hard feelings going either way. Simple. Clean.”
Zoey held her breath waiting for his answer. The little voice in her head urged him to agree, but the one in her heart screamed at him to toss her small print into the fire and burn it to ash.
“Deal.” Knox hauled her onto her toes and slanted his mouth over hers. Their tongues collided before he pulled back to nibble her bottom lip. And then he did it again, only retreating when breathing became an issue.
Eventually, he unlatched his mouth and trailed it down the length of her neck, alternating soft bites with caressing kisses. While his mouth feasted, his palms ran over her hips and beneath her tank top.
Already braless and without constraint, her nipples hardened, throbbing for contact as his hand drifted closer. She pushed her chest toward him, eager for his touch. The second a large palm brushed the lower swell of her breast—less than an inch from her scar—Zoey froze.
It was a testament to how much she wanted this—wanted Knox—that she’d forgotten about it. It was probably the first time in forever, or at least as far back as she had cognizant memory.
But now, his close proximity to those six inches of darkened flesh was all she could think about.
Sensing the shift from need to panic, Knox immediately stilled his hands beneath Zoey’s shirt. Her body, previously lax and molded to his, stiffened. Fear lightened her eyes, widening them to saucer-like disks.
He wouldn’t push her into anything, and he didn’t want to scare her. In any way. “Talk to me, angel. Do you want to stop?”
When she didn’t answer immediately, he ripped his hands away.
Shaking her head, she grabbed them and locked them into position with her own. “No.”
“Then tell me what you want to do, sweetheart.”
Zoey’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. “I want to leave the shirt on.”
“Your shirt?” Confusion muddled his brain until she reflexively rubbed the center of her chest. It clicked.
He’d seen her do it before, a mindless action in the same vein as him scratching his jaw. Or hell, cracking his knuckles.
Her scar.
He knew she had one even though it had been close to twelve or more years since he’d seen it. She excelled at keeping it hidden, and last year when he’d visited her in the hospital, layers of gauze had prevented him from catching a glimpse.
Part of Knox wanted to argue the point. That scar was part of her, a symbol of how strong she was. But the other part knew it would take more than a well-written speech to convince her to shed the barrier. He sure as hell had no right to demand transparency.
He released the shirt and slowly slid his hands down the base of her spine. “All right, angel. Shirt on.”
For now.
“Is there anything else you don’t want me to do?”
She shook her head. “Besides not take too much longer? No.”
He nibbled on her lips and, tucking his hands behind her thighs, urged her legs around his waist. “Bedroom?”
“Please.”
Knox took them there in record time, easing her onto the edge of the mattress and following her down with a hot, searing kiss that he felt straight to his gut. She rolled her hips, arcing up to his, and brushed her body against his already aching cock.
Afraid he’d shoot off prematurely, he dropped a hand to her waist. “I need to taste you.”
Zoey’s unfiltered blue eyes, heavy lidded with desire, filled with excitement. “You mean…?”
A naughty smirk twitched his lips. “Hell yeah, I mean…unless you changed your mind.”
“No. No mind-changing.”
She lifted her bottom off the mattress, and they worked in tandem, easing both her duck shorts and silky panties down her legs. His eyes fastened on every inch of her body they revealed together. “You’re so fucking gorgeous.”
Zoey’s chest rose and fell, and when Knox eased her legs over his shoulders, she trembled. “Knox. Please.”
Brushing his nose along the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh, he relished the sight of her already wet and ready pussy. “Please what, sweetheart?”
“Please don’t make me wait.” Zoey squirmed as he hovered over her.
Fisting her fingers through his hair, she arched her hips toward his mouth. At first contact, she fell back to the mattress with a pleasure-filled groan. He loved that sound. And as he stroked his tongue through her folds, he heard it again.
“Have mercy.” Zoey’s eyes drifted closed.
“Eyes on me every step of the way, angel,” Knox demanded her attention with little more than a growling whisper.
Their gazes fastened on each other over her mound.
Witnessing Zoey unravel in his hands turned him on like nothing else, and her taste, honey and sweetness, transformed his cock into granite. He tormented them both, skating through the folds of her pussy with long, firm licks before hovering over her hardened clit.
Her blue eyes watched as he caressed the little nub with the tip of his tongue. “Oh, my…that feels…oh.”
Her breathy moan, a sign that she was close to coming apart in his arms, quickly became an addiction.
Knox pulled her tighter against his mouth and alternated his pace. Slow and then fast. Hard and then feather light. He devoured every ounce of sweetness, doubling his efforts as her hands fisted in his hair.
Her legs, on either side of his head, trembled as she fell into the throes of a powerful climax. “Knox! Oh my God!”
He kissed her body through every gentle quiver, and as the hand in his hair slackened, he dragged his mouth to hers. “You’re amazing.”
“No, that was amazing. Please tell me we’re going to do that again.”
He gifted her a self-satisfied grin. “That and a lot more, angel.”
Propping an arm by her head so he wouldn’t crush her into a pancake, he enjoyed the sight of her breathless state and knowing he’d caused it. He couldn’t stop touching her, skating his fingers over her bare torso and down her hip.
Zoey took advantage of the small space between them and slipped her hand beneath the band of his pants. His cock jumped as she wrapped her fingers around his girth and squeezed.
He caught her hand, gently pulling it away.
“You don’t want me to reciprocate?” Her blue eyes peered at him in uncertainty.
“Fuck yeah I do. There’s nothing I’d like better. Trust me. But I want this to last a hell of a lot longer than the two seconds I’d survive with your hand, or your mouth, wrapped around me.” Not to mention he wanted her so damn bad. If he let himself go, he was afraid he’d scare her and that was the last thing he wanted to do.
Knox left her lying naked and gorgeous on the bed, and slowly stood. He ripped his shirt off from the back of his neck and quickly tossed it aside. Next, he chucked his pants. With every piece of clothing he removed, Zoey’s gaze feasted even more intently.
She licked her lips, nearly making him come on the spot.
“You like what you’re seeing, angel?” he asked, voice gruff. His cock jutted out from his body, throbbing with the need to be inside her.
“You would too if you were me.”
Knox quickly grabbed his wallet and the condom tucked inside. Gritting his teeth, he rolled it into position and then slowly lowered himself back over Zoey’s waiting body.
Despite being sheathed in a T-shirt, her nipples poked against the fabric, searching for attention. He took the left one in his mouth, cotton and all, and when it hardened even more, did the same to its twin.
Zoey squirmed beneath him, shifting her body until her legs anchored around his waist. She swiveled her hips, coating the tip of his erection with her slick heat. “I don’t want to wait anymore, Knox. I
don’t want slow and soft.”
He groaned, dropping his forehead to hers. “I don’t want to hurt you, baby.”
“You’re not going to.” She cupped his cheek and stole every ounce of his breath with a slow, leisurely kiss he felt right down to his toes. “Please.”
He couldn’t deny her. No way in hell. Gently dragging her to the edge of the bed, he planted his feet firmly on the ground, and tightened his hold on her hips. She kept her eyes on him, anticipation dancing in their blue depths.
Her legs tightened around his waist, silently urging him onward.
Knox thrust, and they both groaned together. He’d barely made it two inches when her body flexed around him like a fist. “You’re so tight.”
Zoey’s fingers latched on to his arms and squeezed. “Don’t stop.”
An expertly executed hip swivel had his dick sinking another three inches.
Knox pulled out and sank back into her wet heat. He didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. The second his cock slipped into her body, taking his time ceased to be a possibility—and it had nothing to do with living like a monk for the last two years and everything to do with the woman beneath him.
Zoey Wright was addictive—her scent, her breathy moans and little sighs. Knowing that he’d caused them spurred him on like nothing else—except the need to hear her scream his name.
Already feeling the telltale throb of his cock, Knox brushed his thumb against the bundle of nerves above her mound. “I’m not coming until you do, angel.”
“Knox.” Her fingers dug into his ass and tugged him closer, meeting him thrust for thrust.
“That’s it, baby. Let go.” Thrust and rub, he set a brutal pace that, before long, had them both drenched in sweat.
Knox dropped his mouth to hers, kissing her as if their lives depended on it. That extra contact, the feel of her skin against his, conjured a release that had them each crying out the other’s name.
Pleasure rippled through their bodies, Knox nearly losing sight of all time and place…losing sight of everything except Zoey. They stayed locked together, both panting as the last waves of orgasm slowly ebbed.
Knox dropped his mouth to hers in a searing kiss, and when he reluctantly pulled away, Zoey’s big blue eyes caught his. Through the heavy desire, he glimpsed the same realization that had come to him before they’d even shed the first article of clothing.
This entire arrangement suddenly got a lot more complicated.
He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t fathom it. Yet the two naked forms on the bed, legs and arms entwined as they writhed together in a lust-filled haze, were crystal clear.
His Heart.
And Knox Steele.
He’d asked around, discreetly, to be told of the circumstances of Steele’s absence. Questionable morals, weak familial bonds, and unreliability had been the three characteristics mostly uttered. And now, after years away, he swooped back into Her life, and between Her legs, as if he had the right.
He didn’t.
Splinters dug into his hands. His knuckles, wrapped tightly around the edge of his seat, cracked as he battled the urge to throw his computer across the room.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
She was supposed to come to him. She was supposed to see him. Instead, She’d drifted further away.
Rage burned his gut as he stood, knocking his chair to the ground, and crossed the room.
To anyone else, the table in front of him was covered in insignificant trinkets. To him, they were treasures, gifts His Heart left for him to find and enjoy: a brush, Her silky tendrils woven through the prongs; an aged photo, taken from the time he first recalled Her entering his life; and the lingerie.
He picked up the blue silken panties and held them to his nose. Her scent temporarily subdued the heat that had started to burn through his veins. His heart rate lowered. His breathing eased. His thoughts, slowly settling, cleared long enough for him to grasp the edges of another plan.
Focus on the goal, and steer toward the path that will get you there. Do whatever needs to be done to make it happen.
His father’s advice had never held so much meaning.
His Goal: show His Heart that She has always, and will forever, belong to him.
His Path: clear all obstacles that could hinder projected success.
His Plan: make sure Knox Steele no longer posed a threat to His Heart.
It was already set in motion. Once he dealt with Knox Steele, She’d come to him. She’d ask for his help and he’d be there to give it.
And he’d be the only one who could.
Chapter
Sixteen
Zoey stood in front of her mom’s fireplace and picked up the photo that caught her eye whenever she visited. Zoey and Cade, aged seven and eleven, filled the frame, both with wide smiles despite the dreary hospital background.
Going by the beaming grins, you’d never guess that her mom had taken it three days after pulmonic stenosis sent Zoey to Georgetown Med. That hospitalization had led to her third surgery performed by Dr. Samuel senior, and from what reports said, hadn’t been without setbacks.
At the time, she’d been too young to wrap her head around the complexities of Tetralogy of Fallot. All she’d known growing up was that she’d been unable to participate in gym class like most of the other children…that her days revolved around medications and doctors’ appointments. That even a slight case of the sniffles was cause for alarm.
Her mom knew. When she’d taken a sick four-year-old and her brother into her home as fosters, she’d been given full transparency of the possible challenges, and hadn’t batted an eye. Just like she’d never once, even before formally adopting them, made them feel temporary.
“It’s times like this when I wish I had the power to read minds.” Her mom stepped up beside her, the only person Zoey knew who was shorter than herself. “I can’t tell if these are good thoughts, bad thoughts, or naughty thoughts.”
Zoey laughed and leaned her head on her mom’s shoulder. “Mostly good. Just thinking how lucky Cade and I were to have you in our lives. If it hadn’t been for you, things could’ve been so different.”
Her mom pulled her into a full hug. “Oh, honey. I’m the one that’s thankful. That’s why I send Maria flowers on the anniversary day of when she brought you to my doorstep. You and your brother gave an old lady a purpose.”
“You were not old, Mom.”
“Well, not then, but my frequent trips to the salon nowadays say otherwise.”
“How did you do it?” Zoey gestured to the long line of family pictures. “How did you do it all by yourself? I mean, the expenses alone would be too much for most people to handle.”
Her mom brushed aside a stray lock of hair. “I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t at all easy, but I was lucky. Cindy and the boys were right across the street. And our medical angel handled pretty much all of the hospital costs. All I had to do was love you, and that I could do. When you have love, nothing’s impossible.”
Zoey strived to be like her mom every day. Strong. Resilient. Fierce. Not afraid of the unknown. It was one of the main reasons why she’d left the lab, a job she’d gotten so used to that she could do it in her sleep, for something that made her heart pound.
Knox almost made her feel the same way…except more.
It had been nearly a week since the night at her apartment and their first night together, and she was still riding high. She grinned, thinking about the third—or fourth—sexual romp before he’d left that next morning. She’d lost count.
Her mom studied her a few moments, the scrutiny making Zoey self-conscious. “What are you looking at?”
“You look…different. Lighter.” A small smirk pulled up the corners of her mouth. “Almost like you and I should be having a talk.”
“Gah! No. Please. I barely survived the talk the first time. Those stick figures haunt me to this day. Let’s just go with you’re right, I do feel a little lighter, and call it
a day.”
“Just once I would like to hear about my children’s love lives. Not details, mind you, but anything that could give an old lady hope for grandchildren someday.”
“Cart way before the horse, Ma.”
“So there is a horse?” Mischief perked up her mom’s hopeful expression. “Is he a…stud?”
Zoey laughed so hard tears came to her eyes.
She and Knox hadn’t sat down and talked particulars, but they both knew whatever was happening between them had a shelf life. He had no intentions of staying in DC, and this was her home. There would be no Wright-Steele babies popping out anytime soon. Or ever…unless Cade and Grace got their act together.
“The cavalry is here!” Loud laughter and the opening of the front door saved Zoey from an embarrassing sex talk. Cindy Steele strutted her stuff, filling the simple one-level ranch house with her short stature and big personality. “I already sent the boys around back to fire up the grill…and keep them out of our hair for a bit.”
Grace lagged behind her aunt, glancing around as if expecting a clown to pop out at any second. Zoey couldn’t help but chuckle.
“He’s not here. Yet,” she murmured to her best friend.
Grace gave her a defeated look. “I tried everything to get out of this. I begged. I bartered. I bribed. My aunt could’ve had a lucrative career as a spy because she’d never crack under pressure.”
“Sorry, my friend. But I figure you have an hour or so of freedom. Cade got stuck at work and said he’d be by a little later.”
“Zoey, sweetheart. You look beautiful as always.” Cindy gave her a loud kiss on the cheek, her hands filled with bowls. “I have meatballs and something chocolate. We need to get these out of the boys’ line of sight pronto because I’ve had a time and a half keeping their fingers out of them.”
Zoey took one of the bowls off her hands and led the way into the kitchen. She busied herself rearranging the fridge. “You’d think we were feeding an army instead of less than ten people.”
“Each of the boys counts as three regular humans. Right, Knox?”
“At least.” Knox’s voice sent a wave of heat down Zoey’s spine.