by Thianna D
“Never,” Char assured her, hugging her back. “They don’t protect my ass when needed.”
Lorelei laughed and her dark brown eyes turned on Zinnia. “And who do we have here?”
“This is Zinnia Loraine.”
“Ooh, Corbin’s girl.” Lorelei nodded as if satisfied for some reason. Zinnia flushed. It felt good to be called Corbin’s girl. Far better than the names she used to be called. “Are you here for cuts, styles, or…?” She looked between the two of them.
“I’m just here for a trim and a cookie,” Charmagne said in amusement.
“My hair needs help,” Zinnia admitted. “I used to get my hair done weekly but it’s been several months now. It’s getting out of control.” Which was an understatement. It was much longer than she was used to and the dead ends were driving her nuts.
“Well, unless you’re keen to, I wouldn’t cut too much off the length,” Lorelei said, running her finger through Zinnia’s hair. “Maybe give you some layers. How about some highlights?”
Another new experience. Zinnia had never been to a salon like this. Usually people came to her. It was utterly delightful. In no time it was obvious everyone knew everyone else and when a woman walked in, looking a little stiff, Lorelei instantly offered her a cushion without asking.
“So,” Kirsty, her hair dresser, said after washing her hair and getting her in the chair, “Some layers and highlights.”
“Sounds good.” Zinnia’d had the same haircut for over a decade. It might be nice for something new. “But don’t cut off too much of the length.”
“Oh, we rarely do,” Lorelei said, walking past them. “The men tend to love having a handle to hold, don’t they?”
“Tell me about it,” a thin blonde woman said, a soft Irish brogue in her voice. “Jim loves grasping my hair. I keep telling him he’ll make me bald one of these days.”
Char laughed. “Ah, come on, Ange, tell me you don’t love it.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t,” Ange replied in amusement.
The talk was loud, boisterous, and rather raunchy at times. Zinnia received two safe calls during the experience but was feeling too relaxed to really care about it. When the entire group went silent, she looked over to see what had caused it. Standing just inside the door was a short man with white blonde hair, looking absolutely morose.
“Ah, Alan, honey,” Lorelei said, walking up to him and putting an arm around his waist. “What’s wrong?”
“Zen left me.”
Instantly all the ladies erupted around her, giving him encouragement while lambasting whoever Zen was.
Kirsty leaned in as she finished putting the last foil into Zinnia’s hair. “Alan’s a sweetie. He moved to Corbin’s Bend a few years ago and has been trying to find a partner ever since. Zen and he have been dating for six months. Poor guy. He’s so nice. I don’t know why some great guy doesn’t snatch him up.”
Once Alan was settled in a chair with Lorelei working on him, things went back to their previous buzz and by the time Kirsty said, “Voila!” and Zinnia looked up into the mirror, several hours had whizzed by.
“Wow.” Her hair didn’t even look like hers. Instead of all over the place, it was straight and yet had an incredible amount of body. The highlights were just a brighter shade of red. “Kirsty, this looks amazing.”
Kirsty beamed. “Glad you like it.”
As she and Char paid, Charmagne’s phone rang. “Hey, honey,” she said as she answered. Her eyes flashed to Zinnia. “Yeah. She’s right here… Okay… Sounds fun… Bye.” She hung up and grinned. “Just my hubby making sure everything’s all right.”
* * * * *
By the time Zinnia arrived home, she felt like a new woman. Well, maybe not a new one, but definitely one with a great outlook on things. And tonight Corbin was taking her out for a nice dinner and a movie. It might not be the big city, but she decided to go all out in getting ready. Not wanting to shower and muss her new hairdo, she took her time picking out a deep purple minidress she had bought but never worn. Ken had told her it just made her look too fat, but Corbin liked her curves. Holding it up in front of her, she looked into the mirror.
Her eyes sparkled and Zinnia realized she was actually happy. True, she came to Corbin’s Bend to escape and it was up in the air as to whether or not that had worked, but she didn’t remember ever being this happy except for when she’d been on stage. “Moving here was the best decision ever,” she murmured as she placed the dress on the bed. “Who’d a known? Leave my career for the middle of nowhere and find myself safe, secure, and spanked in Colorado.” Adding hose, a garter belt, and heels to the ensemble, she glanced at the clock. She had about thirty minutes before Corbin should be here. Just enough time to make his jaw drop.
The purple velvet dress was even more beautiful than she remembered, but her eyes were instantly drawn to her wide hips and abundant chest. The dress didn’t allow for a bra so the girls were free. Thankfully the bodice was tight enough that it at least somewhat held them in.
The sound of the garage door opening made her grin. She loved that Corbin had a remote to her garage. It felt… like a relationship.
“Hey, baby,” he called from the door to the garage.
“In here,” she called back, slipping her toes into five-inch heels. Turning to the bedroom door, she leaned against the wall, jutting one hip out.
He walked in. “How was yo—” Dressed in a button-down shirt and slacks, he was a wonderful sight. Especially when his eyes widened and his shaft tented the front of his pants. “Zinnia, holy shit. You need to wear that every day.” Blue eyes darkened as he stalked toward her, looking more like a mountain lion after his prey than the gentleman she had become used to. Ooh, yes, let the animal loose, she thought. His firm hands slid over her arms and up to her shoulders before sliding down over her waist to her hips. “Oh, yeah,” he said, a soft growl in his voice. “This dress is a keeper.”
“I’m glad,” she said, smiling at him. With her heels, she was closer to him in height and she rather liked the fact she could almost look him in the eye.”
As if he couldn’t stop himself, he yanked her hips to him and pressed his lips to hers, nibbling on the lower one. “Damn,” he grunted against her mouth, “I’m trying to decide if I really want dinner.”
Giggling, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him back. As she pulled away, she winked. “Dinner’s a great idea. A movie? Well, we’ll see.”
Groaning he took her hand in his and led her out of the bedroom and the house. “I’m one lucky son of a bitch,” he murmured as he opened the passenger door and held her hand as she slid inside.
She couldn’t wait to tell him the best part. Well, actually she could. Zinnia felt a little wild herself tonight and hoped to drive Corbin to his animal side so much he wouldn’t hold back at all. There was a part of her that truly wanted to be ravaged by the man.
Amore was a beautiful restaurant with one whole wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the development. They were shown to a corner table in a small alcove with a flickering candle in the middle. “Nice ambience,” she said as he held her chair for her. Once she was seated, he took the chair to her right. The way the restaurant was angled, nobody could see them except for their server when he arrived.
The wine was good, as was her lasagna, and his cacciucco was divine. Zinnia looked forward to the next time they came to try more of the dishes. As they ate, he would feed her food from his plate and hers and they leaned closer and closer together, his lips touching hers more often than not. The heat within her was already jacked up and now it was pumping. Her core unfortunately was a little wet and for a little moment she was embarrassed. Until his hand, which had been rubbing over her smooth leg, slid between her thighs and found her surprise.
“No panties?” he asked in a husky voice.
“None,” she whispered back.
“Check,” he called to their waiter, making her giggle. After paying, h
e took her by the hand and hurried her out of the restaurant and to his car. Amore sat toward the northern most part of the community, so there wasn’t much above it. He must have figured that out as well, as instead of turning the car toward the development, he turned left and drove to a dead end where there were no houses but there were plenty of trees. Turning toward her, his eyes slid down her dress. “I need you. Now.”
“Yes.” She expected him to ask her to go into the backseat. Instead, he unzipped his slacks, letting out his thick, throbbing cock.
“Climb aboard, Zinnia.”
Thrilled, she undid her seatbelt and somehow got across his car and over his lap. As she lowered herself, sliding down his length, she moaned. His hand grabbed the back of her head as his tongue pushed its way between her lips. There wasn’t much further in the way of thinking. His hands grabbed her hips and pulled her up and yanked her down, using her body to fuck with. Growls and grunts left his throat as his tongue fucked her mouth with just as much ardor as his dick was showing her cunt.
Grasping his head rest to hold on, she arched her back, loving the feeling each time he yanked her down over him, the sensation of his cock thrusting inside her pussy, filling her up, making her feel as though he would burst her wide open.
Fingers dug into her hips as he sped up, his hips rushing up to meet her as he pulled her down. “More,” she grunted, her body climbing toward release.
“Touch yourself,” he grunted. “Rub your clit. Make yourself come, Zinnia. I want to see it.”
Turned on, as she had never touched herself in front of a man before, she held on to the head rest with one hand and dipped the other between them. He yanked her skirt up high enough she was able to slide her fingers between her legs, rubbing quickly over the nub as he continued to push her up and yank her back down.
Vaulting into ecstasy, she cried out, arching as she came. Not a moment later, he called out as well, his shaft throbbing inside of her. Gasping, she flumped forward against him, trying to catch her breath. Strong hands slid up her waist until he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. “Zinnia,” he murmured against her lips.
“Hmm?” She was utterly content.
“I forgot to wear a condom.”
Her eyes flashed open and she pulled back. “Oh.” Instantly her mind tried to figure out when her last period was.
“You don’t have to worry, though. I’m clean. The only woman I’ve had sex with besides you in eighteen years was my wife and the last time for that was several years ago.”
“I’m clean, too,” she admitted. “But… um, my period was two weeks ago. I could get pregnant from this.” She hoped that didn’t freak him out because at least one of them needed to be sane right now and she deserved to freak out. Pregnancy wasn’t on her list of things to do. Zinnia had never wanted children.
“No problem there, either,” he said gently, leaning forward to kiss her. “I was snipped a decade ago. I’m shooting blanks.”
“Oh.” Relief flowed through her, and strangely enough a little disappointment. “Shame. No Cary juniors ever,” she teased lightly, sitting up on her knees and climbing her way back across the car.
Chuckling, he shook his head as he grabbed a tissue from a box that sat between them and cleaned himself up. “Lena insisted. She didn’t want to get pregnant, but didn’t want me to use condoms either. As neither of us saw children in our future, it seemed the prudent thing to do at the time.” Putting the tissues into a bag and putting his dick back in his pants, he pulled out a few more tissues. “Spread your legs.”
Slightly embarrassed, she did so. It was strange to have a man want to take care of her like this. “Why didn’t she want you to use condoms?” she asked, trying to ignore the act that was happening between her legs. This felt more intimate than sex.
He grimaced. “She was afraid someone would see me buy condoms and gossip that I was having an affair.”
“That’s rather silly,” she said quietly as he tossed the tissues in the bag. Zinnia wanted to ask about his deceased wife, but didn’t know how. She still wasn’t sure how to measure up against a dead woman.
“Honey, if you want to know, just ask,” he said kindly, turning up the heat in the car. She realized she’d been shivering.
“What was she like?”
“In the beginning while we dated, she was vibrant, lively, loving, and passionate. Then, she changed. Turned out she married me for the money she assumed I would make.”
She stared at him in shock. “Was she a total idiot?” she exclaimed before realizing what she’d said. Before she could apologize, he chuckled.
“I’m not sure what she was. To be honest, Zinnia, I’m not sure I ever truly knew the woman. Sad, isn’t it? I spent eighteen years with her and never truly knew her.”
Leaning forward, she hugged him, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Well, I’ve only known you a few weeks, but you’re the best man I’ve ever met. She must have been crazy.”
“Thanks, sweetness,” he said, reaching up to rub her chin. “But I don’t believe in placing the blame on one party. I had to be at fault somewhere in there.”
Silence filled the car and Zinnia wondered just how horrible it must have been to live with someone for eighteen years and be total strangers. Then she thought back on the last twenty-three years of her life. Did she know any of the people she had interacted with at all?
Chapter Seven
“Enjoying the view?”
Corbin turned and shrugged at Brent as he walked up the stairs. He had been waiting up on the third floor of the dome for over an hour for his friend and had spent most of it thinking. “It is nice,” he amended, though for the life of him he couldn’t remember what the scenery actually looked like outside the windows. “Got a minute?”
“Sure.” Brent unlocked his office and Corbin followed him in, sitting down on one of the chairs facing Brent’s desk. “Char says she adores Zinnia,” Brent commented as he walked around his desk and sat down. “In fact, she’s a hit with all of our wives.”
Nodding, Corbin only half listened.
“And of course the acid rained down terribly last night, singeing all of our trees. We’ll have to replant. Though the unicorns were a nice touch.”
“Mmhmm,” Corbin said, when his friend paused.
A deep chuckle made him look up. Soft gray eyes, eyes that had always seen too much, watched him. “Zinnia isn’t Lena.”
Grimacing, Corbin did the most childlike thing he could imagine and stuck his tongue out. “I know that.”
“Do you?” Brent asked kindly. “Jason said Lena never truly changed, she just intensified. She just bowled you over, Corbin.”
“Yeah, and I feel totally bowled over by Zinnia,” Corbin admitted. “The woman is… Fuck. Brent, she’s everything I’ve always dreamed about in a woman. But I thought Lena was when I first met her.”
“Corbin, there’s a huge difference between the boy who moved to the big city, straight out of the swamps of Mississippi, and the man you are today. You didn’t know what you wanted back then and Lena danced around you with smiles on her face and waving her almost naked form at you. Any man that age would have fallen. If you were to meet her today, what would your reaction be?”
“I’m not sure that’s a fair question.”
“Fair doesn’t exist in life or love, my friend. Now, just answer the question.”
“I wouldn’t even have given her a second look. She’s not what I want.”
“So what do you want?”
“Zinnia. She’s fun and loud and crazy and sexy and by god the best sex I’ve ever had. Not to mention the fact she’s completely into spanking. But…” Corbin shook his head. It was difficult to describe his own doubts about himself. He had been an equal partner in that relationship, thus some of the fault must have been his.
“If you’d gotten divorced the first time you wanted to, this wouldn’t have been an issue. It’s the fact the bitch led you on for eighteen years only
for you to find out she didn’t love you.” The words were harsh but the tone wasn’t. Brent never believed in shirking one’s thoughts and that’s one of the reasons they were such good friends. He always made Corbin look the facts in the eye, whether he wanted to or not.
“I don’t want to fuck this up.”
“Corbin, you’re gonna fuck up from time to time. Would you like me to ask Char to make you a list of the amount of times I’ve done so? No, never mind. She’d enjoy it far too much.”
Corbin snorted making Brent smile.
“Look. Bottom line. You want Zinnia.”
“Yes.”
“For more than just sex.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell her. The woman adores you. Her eyes light up whenever she looks at you, Corbin. Don’t leave her in any quandary as to how much you like her.”
“Can someone fall in love this fast? I mean, we’ve only known one another for a few weeks.” That was his worry. He’d fallen for Lena so quickly and Zinnia almost as fast.
“I knew there was something about Char the first time I saw her. By our first date I knew I wanted her for longer than one night. By the second month, I couldn’t see life without her. Look. I’ve never seen you so unsure of yourself. Lena did a real number on you. We have a couple therapists in the community. Maybe you should—”
“I don’t need a fucking shrink.”
“True. You need a good swift kick in the ass and a job. What the hell are you doing besides spending time with Zinnia?”
“Not much. I have a few ideas, but haven’t acted on them yet.”
“Want to bounce them off me?” Brent leaned back in his chair and waited.
Taking a deep breath, Corbin nodded. They used to do this when Brent lived in New York. Bounce ideas off one another, usually creating a bigger and better idea in the process. Case in point, Corbin’s Bend.
“There are two main ones. The first, I could start a consulting business online. I have tons of contacts that would bite at the opportunity to work with me again.”