by Zara Cox
But would the same thing happen to her when he met someone else? Would she also receive a visit from Zachary, informing her he now belonged to someone else? There was integrity in his action but also a cold bloodedness that struck a vein of terror in her heart.
“Don't overthink this, Bethany. My confrontation with Sadie was a long overdue thing. I’m sorry I had to do it after I met you rather than before but once you came into my life, there was no question that it had to be done. Do you get that?”
“I’m trying to…but…” Her brain whirled with a flood of thoughts but the most disturbing was knowing he’d been with another woman, one who’d known him intimately. That thought made her gut knot with acrid jealousy.
“What are you thinking, Peaches?” he murmured, drawing his hot body closer as if sensing her weakening. The hands that had been clamped on her waist now braced the wall on either side of her head, making her feel truly caged in, surrounded by him.
When his ripped torso leaned in closer, she fought to remember what her answer was.
“I’m thinking she didn’t look like she was expecting the news you delivered yesterday…”
Beautifully sexy lips firmed. “I can’t help that. Once I saw you, there was no prolonging this any longer. The two days I had to wait to have you were the longest of my life,” he growled in that sexy baritone that shivered all the way to her toes.
“I’m also thinking I’m not sure whether I want you more for displaying such nobility or whether to claw your eyes out for leaving me here while you went to dump your old girlfriend.”
He caught a swathe of hair in his fingers and brought it to his lips. Watching the mouth she was dying to devour work its way over her hair was so curiously erotic she could only stare.
“I would much prefer it if you wanted me more.” His mouth dropped to graze along her jaw, sending a thousand sparks of desire racing across her nerve endings.
“I think that’s near impossible right now.” Not with that mouth moving so close to her mouth. Not when she could sense the barely leashed sexual predator prowling close, intent on consuming her.
His soft laugh tickled her earlobe. “But you can try harder.”
“Maybe. Wait.” She pushed at his shoulders until he leaned back from her. “You said that wasn’t all you did. So where were you for the rest of the time?”
“I attended a three-hour meeting and finalized the deal I’d been working on.”
“Oh, right.” She made a quick calculation. “But that still doesn’t make up for how long you were away.”
He let loose that hot smile again. “You were counting the hours?”
“Answer the question, Zach.” She didn’t want to be that girlfriend who needed to know where her man was at every moment but Zach had thrown the door wide open on this one. Besides, after being blindsided by Chris, her trust had taken a deep-sea-diving excursion for the foreseeable future.
“No, I wasn’t just at the meeting.”
She looked into his eyes, saw the expectancy. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
“Clever girl. I was hoping you’d ask me that.”
“Really? Why?”
She held her breath as he reached into his back pocket and withdrew a sheet of paper.
“Because I also stopped at my doctor’s.”
She jerked back so fast her head slammed against the wall.
He frowned. “Hey, watch it.” He cradled the back of her head and rubbed gently where she’d banged it.
“Your doctor’s? Why? Are you sick?” She couldn’t disguise the slight panic in her voice. God, what was wrong with her? Three days ago, this man had been an enigma on a piece of paper, as far out of her reach as the stars were to man. Now all of a sudden, the thought that he could be suffering made her heart lurch alarmingly.
“No, I’m not sick. I can confirm that with one hundred per cent certainty because I went to get some blood work done.” His grey eyes held an extreme intensity, much more than usual that made her heart skip several beats.
“Why would you need blood work done?”
“Because, while I don’t mind using condoms and will continue to do so if you wish, I wanted to prove to you that I was healthy. Even before we touched I knew you had the power to shred my control with the minimum of effort, Peaches.”
She sucked in a breath. “I…do?”
“Yes. And that message has been confirmed a hundred-fold since we fucked. Are you on birth control?” he asked.
She nodded. “Quarterly shots to regulate my period. My latest dose was three weeks ago.”
His gaze darkened and his mouth curved in a wicked smile. “Good.” He thrust the paper into her hand. “This is for you.”
With him this close, it took several minutes for her to read the health report. Zach was clean, a healthy, rampantly sexy male.
“You did this for me?”
“For us. I needed you to know that if I ever slip up and don’t use protection that you’ll never have to fear for your health. And also that we can indulge whenever we want without the fearing any repercussions.”
The paper fluttered from her hand and landed on the floor, unheeded. “So you mean…we can…I can…” she licked her lips, unable to convey the depth of emotions coursing through her at the images that bombarded her brain.
He caught her to him with a jerky, needy movement, as if having her so far away physically hurt him. His hands curved over her ass, pulled her into sharp contact with his body. His cock was hard. Dear Lord, when wasn’t his cock hard for her?
The knowledge sent yet another potent rush of powerful arousal through her. The knowledge that she, the woman whose boyfriend had dumped her for another man, could affect a guy as hot and sexually on top of his game as Zach, thrilled her and infused her with much needed confidence.
Leaning down, he bit on her earlobe. “It means you can have me whenever and wherever you want. Instant satisfaction. We don’t have to wait. All you have to do when the mood takes you is to hop on and ride.”
He laughed at the full-bodied shudder that went through her and bit harder.
“Zach!”
He soothed the bite with his tongue. “Does that notion please you? Does it turn you on? Because that’s what I want. You, turned on for me twenty-four seven. The idea of that blows my mind, baby. Does it blow yours?”
“You know it does.”
“Good. I’m glad.” He pulled back slightly and glanced down at her, his eyelids heavy with a dangerously erotic look. “Hey, I believe we’ve just had our first fight.”
“Hmm…I believe we have.”
“So can we now progress to the making up sex?” He grinned.
Her breath hitched. “Right here?”
He caught her hand from around his waist and placed it on his cock. Her fingers curled around him. His groan was immediate and so heartfelt, she grew even wetter.
“This is as good a time as any, Peaches. I’m dying for you. I crave you the moment I walk out of your presence. Imagining your tight little cunt around my dick can only keep me going up to a point. Then things start to unravel for me.”
Even as her insides melted at the thought of having him, hot and thick inside her, a part of her still dwelled on their conversation.
“Was she…Sadie…was she devastated that you ended things with her?”
Zach hesitated for a moment. “Yes, but it was the right thing to do. It was the only way I’d allow myself to be with you.”
As someone who’d been dumped in favor of another, she felt a twinge of pain for the other woman. Getting dumped was most definitely not fun.
Impatient, his mouth started to descend again. She stopped him with a hand on his chest. “One more thing.”
He growled. “Jesus, my fucking balls are on fire and you want to keep talking. Fine. One last question. That’s all you get.”
“Do you do this with all your girlfriends? The medical report thing?” she blurted before she could chicken out.
/> He froze then blinked slowly. “No. You’re the first one I’ve wanted to do it with. It never even occurred to me to do it with anyone else.”
Her shocked exhalation made him smile. “Really?”
“Really. Do I get brownie points for that, baby?”
“Like you have no idea.”
“Oh, one more thing you need to know, Peaches.”
She loved that nickname, more than she would ever admit to him. “Yes?”
“From here on in, panties are banned. I want nothing to come between me and that fine, sexy ass of yours.”
“It’s that an order or a request?”
“It’s whatever you need to convince yourself it is to make that reality happen. Disobey me and there will be consequences.”
She knew he was being playful but she couldn’t stop the shiver of delight that went through her at his masterful tone.
“What do I get in return?”
“You can name when and where next time.”
“That’s it? I get to choose the place where you have your way with me?”
“Yes. It’s a great deal. You should take it.”
With deft hands, he pulled the robe free of her body and stared down at her for so long and so hard, her nipples ached and her sex clenched and unclenched with needy pulls.
Strong, blunt-tipped fingers cupped her breasts and squeezed. “You’re so beautiful, Peaches.” Lowering his head, he feasted on her breasts until her fingers clawed desperately through his hair.
He took a condom out of his back pocket and tore it open with his teeth.
Surprise made her eyes widen. “But…I thought…”
Taking a step back he yanked his joggers off and stepped out of them. Gloriously naked, heavily aroused, he hesitated, his eyes hopeful and eager in a way that made her sway towards him.
“Nothing would please me more, Bethany. But you get to say when that happens, okay?” he rasped.
She nodded. She’d never taken such a risk before, never even contemplated it with Chris. And yet here she was, almost on the verge of…of…
He reached out and cupped one cheek in his large palm. “It’s okay to say no if you’re not ready.”
“I’m not ready.”
His eyes dimmed a touch but he nodded and held out the condom.
She took it from him and slid it on with sure, sexy strokes.
He stepped forward and his cock nudged her entrance. “Take as long as you need, I can wait. As long as you're not fighting me or holding me back from this, I can wait. Jesus, I'm just grateful I get to have you any way I can get you. Are you ready for me?” One finger brushed past her clit and speared her tight sheath. Then it was swiftly joined by another. He fucked her with his fingers until stars dances behind her lids.
Desperate for more, she clawed at his shoulders. “Now, Zach. I’m ready. Please…”
With a hungry grunt, he kicked her legs wider apart and positioned the thick head of his cock at her entrance.
At the first thrust, she screamed.
Rough hands bit into her hips as he held her still for his penetration. She didn’t last long.
Within a minute she was unraveling. “Oh God! Oh—”
“Shit! Oh baby, I love the way you squeeze me when you come. Fuck, yeah. Just like that. Just like…ah!”
He buried his face in her throat and let out a loud keen as he pumped inside her.
Bethany held on as his release prolonged hers.
When the thought danced in her head, she let it in. Just how would it feel to take Zach Savage skin to skin?
Chapter Eleven
“Bethany, thank God! What the fuck is going on?” Keely screamed in her ear the moment she answered the phone.
“Why? What’s happened?” Bethany’s eyes darted to where Zach sat next to her, his fingers swirling dangerously up her thigh. Even through the fabric of the white Capri pants she wore, his touch electrified her.
There were several other seats on the plane, but he’d chosen the seat right next to her. And of course he knew his proximity was playing havoc with her thinking abilities because he was wearing a smug, sexy smile.
“I had a case of vintage Dom Perignon and the most gorgeous purple calla lilies delivered to my apartment this morning,” Keely all but yelled.
“And that’s bad, why?”
“It was signed, ‘Thanks for my Peaches.’ I have no idea where they came from or who the fuck Peaches is. But it was signed with a Z…so…?”
Bethany’s eyes widened at Zach, and his smile grew when she mouthed, WTF? When her gaze promised hell, he answered by moving his fingers higher until they grazed her mound.
The lack of panties made his touch extra sensitive. Her breath caught and she bit her lip hard to stop from groaning. He’d just taken her, with a condom, in his luxury bedroom at the back of the plane barely half an hour ago, and yet she burned for him more intensely than ever. The depth of the consuming need was terrifying her, hence her need to connect with Keely. Her best friend brought a refreshing dose of sanity that she’d felt slipping from her ever since she’d clapped eyes on Zach Savage.
“Hey, you there?”
“Yes, Keel, I’m here, but I’m on a plane so I don’t know how good the connection is—”
“The connection is perfect,” Zach volunteered loud enough for Keely to hear.
“Right…can someone with a good command of English please tell me what’s going on?” Keely demanded, her voice crackling with impatience.
Zach calmly held out his free hand for the phone. Bethany raised a brow and pursed her mouth. He retaliated by pressing his fingers harder between her legs. She quickly relinquished the phone.
He tapped the speaker button and propped the phone on his knee. “Keely, it’s Zachary Savage.”
“Hey.”
Zach’s mouth did that one-side tilt thing that made her clit throb. “I wanted to show my appreciation in getting Bethany to sign up for The Indigo Lounge tour and for getting her to Newark on Sunday. I understand you had a big role to play in that.”
“Yep, it was all me,” Keely replied smugly.
“I hope you like the champagne and flowers.”
“A case of vintage Oenothèque champagne worth ten thousand dollars? What’s not to like? But what’s with the Peaches?”
He turned his head and watched her, still with that smile. “Do you mind if I don’t divulge that?” His eyes raked slowly over Bethany. When they reached where his fingers rested, they darkened a touch before they rose to meet hers again.
He was aroused. Deeply, erotically, hungrily aroused just by looking at her.
Bethany couldn’t wrap her mind around that.
“Well, okay, sure. But promise me one thing?” her friend demanded.
Zach rasped, “I’ll try.”
“Whatever you do, don’t fucking graduate to calling each other Honey Boo Boo. I don’t want to puke into my Dom P.”
“You’re welcome, Keely.”
She grunted. “You’ll keep, Zachary Savage. Just look after my girl, or I’ll come after you with a blunt instrument. Dom Perignon or no Dom Perignon.”
His grey eyes danced with merriment. “Understood.” He took the phone off speaker and passed it back to her.
“You’re okay?” Bethany asked.
“As long as you are. I’m keeping Iron Balls updated with news of Aunt Mel. She’s getting worse by the day.”
Bethany laughed then sighed. “As long as you make sure my Aunt Mel makes a miraculous recovery before I come back, I’ll let you run with it. Karma can be a bitch, and I’m not having my aunt’s life toyed with.”
“Don’t worry, I told you I’ve got your back. Umm, am I still on speaker?”
Her gaze flickered to Zach. He’d leaned his head against the headrest but his eyes were still trained on her. “No,” she said.
“So everything okay with you? Is he treating you well? Are you having fun?”
“Yes, yes and yes.”
“I will. Bye, Keely. Love you.”
She rang off. Zach continued to watch her. “What?”
“I like her.”
She looked a little closer to see if that it was superficial like then berated herself for trying to read too much into his words. “Good. She’s important to me.”
His gaze turned speculative. “How important?”
“Are there categories of important?”
He shrugged. “I just want to know if I have to compete with her for your attention once we return to the real world.”
About to answer in the negative, she paused. “She’s been there for me every time I’ve needed her.”
His eyes bore into hers. “And how badly have you needed her?”
“Very badly six months ago. And a lot since then. She’s been my rock.” Despite her effort to not sound shaky, he heard the slight tremble in her voice. His nostrils flared slightly, a sign she’d come to recognize meant he was seriously pissed about something.
“Tell me what that asshole did to you.”
“Who, Chris?” She shrugged but the burn of humiliation seared her insides. “He decided he preferred other assholes. Literally. And of the male persuasion.”
Zach’s eyes widened. Then his jaw tightened. The hand on her mound slid lower, gripped her harder, possessively. That hold centered her, made her think of no one else, nothing else but him.
“He told you he preferred men?”
“He didn’t just tell me. He called me after work one Friday night and asked me to meet him. I thought we were going for our regular drinks and dinner. Instead he introduced me to his gay lover at a bar we normally went to. Then said gay lover came with him to the apartment we shared and helped him pack his belongings. Turns out they’d been apartment-hunting for a few weeks—weeks I thought he was away for work. They decided they wanted to make it official once they’d found a place to live. They’re living together in a loft in Soho.”