“Oh, it’s there.” Jen’s hand ran across the tat lightly, tracing the ink. “See how it flows. It starts here and winds around all the way back in a counterclockwise pattern. It’s subtle and very distinct. This man was a true artist.”
“Yeah, well, he’s also a drug dealer and a sadist,” he pointed out.
“Oh my god, the account number for the missing money is on Zane’s chest!” Callie finally caught up. Her eyes filled with fear.
“We need to get you to El Paso first thing in the morning.” Nate was already reaching into his pants, pulling out his cell phone. “At least we have something to talk about tonight. All the town needs to do is keep a watch out for a day or two. Once we get into that account and prove to Ellis we’ve found his cash, he’ll leave Zane alone. This was never about revenge, thank god. It’s always been about money.” He turned away. “Yeah, Worthington, I think I have a solution to our problems…”
Nate’s voice faded as he walked away.
Zane reached out and grabbed Callie’s hand. The Harpers were now quiet and watching him with solemn eyes.
“You going to be okay, Zane?” Max asked.
Not Hollister. Zane. This group wouldn’t use his last name. It wasn’t intimate enough. His heart seized a little. Damn, if he played his cards right, this would be his family. He would even forgo beating the crap out of Talbot if it meant belonging in this close-knit group. He pulled Callie against his chest, needing to feel her close to him. “It’s going to be fine. I’ll give the agency the info they need, and then I’ll be out of it. Once Ellis knows the game is up, he’ll call off the dogs. He’s ruthless but he also knows he won’t have a chance of ever getting out of jail if he kills a former agent.”
Callie wrapped her arms around his waist and held on like she would never let go. He kissed the top her head. If he had his way, she would never have to.
Chapter Twelve
Callie turned the shower to hot, as hot as she thought she could stand. It was only moments before steam started to fill the room. She watched in the mirror as her image faded in favor of a coating of moisture. She was an opaque ghost in the glass. Though she brushed the steam away, it came back immediately. In a way, she was glad she couldn’t see her reflection. It would only show the truth—that she had aged more in the past couple of weeks than in the years before.
Tomorrow, Zane would leave, and there would be nothing here to bring him back. Sure he’d said a lot of stuff about wanting her, but he’d left her behind once. There was nothing to stop him this time. If Zane was safe and happy, then there would be no reason for Nate to return, either. He would, of course. Duty would bring him back until they could find someone to take his place, but he would be counting the hours until he could get back to his real life.
How had she run out of time so fast?
With shaking hands, she placed a towel within reach and stepped into the shower. They were going to El Paso in the morning. She had one last night with them and only two hours before they had to be at the town meeting she herself had called. She’d thought about canceling it so she would have more time with Nate and Zane, but these people were her friends and family. They had the right to know what was going on. The group coming after Zane was dangerous and would be until everything was sorted out. Bliss needed to be vigilant.
She felt sick at the thought of not being with them. For the first time, she really thought about going with Nate. He seemed to truly want her to go with him. Of course, he would probably regret it once she screwed up his career path by being a complete hick, hippy weirdo. Tears swelled in her eyes as she realized she couldn’t risk him coming to hate her when she didn’t fit into his world.
She was going to lose them both. This time it might break her.
“Babe?” Zane’s deep voice cut through her misery. She turned away to hide her face as he pulled back the shower curtain. “Babe, are you crying?”
“How did you get in here? I locked the door.” The cooler air from outside her shower stroked her skin, causing her to shiver. In an instant, the curtain closed, and she was warm again.
Unfortunately, Zane was on the wrong side of the curtain. She felt his hands cup her shoulders. “I spent years posing as a criminal. I can get through any door you put between us. If I can’t pick the lock, I assure you I can kick the door down.” He turned her around to face him. “Now tell me why you’re crying.”
She was too shocked to hide her face now. He was still in his jeans. “You’re getting wet.”
He groaned and lowered his forehead to hers. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t thinking about my clothes. I was thinking about the fact that you’re crying.” His lips touched the tip of her nose. “Please don’t cry, babe. It tears me up.” His voice was rough, as though he was on the edge of tears himself.
He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and Callie’s hands smoothed over his skin, stopping at each puckered scar to run a loving touch over it. She loved his body, every inch of it. Every scar and imperfection made him the man he was. She wound her arms tightly around his lean waist.
“I love you,” she whispered against his chest. It made no sense to hold it back. She would never say those words in this way to anyone but Zane and Nate. When they were gone, she would close off that part of herself. “I love you so much.”
His hand tangled in her wet hair. “Then marry me.”
Her heart lurched, threatening to pound straight out of her chest. Her head shot up to look into Zane’s painfully serious face. His eyes were a dark green, and he seemed to be waiting for her to reject him. “Marry you? I thought you would leave.”
Now a smile curled his lips up. His hands ran down her back, waking every nerve in her skin until he curved his fingers around her backside and gave the cheeks a sizzling squeeze. “Never again, Callie. I will never leave you again. I made a mistake leaving the first time. Nate made a mistake, too, but I can’t force him to acknowledge it. We both love you so fucking much, but I think he’s going to leave. He’s my best friend. He’s my brother, but I’m choosing you this time.” He took a breath. “Do you think you would be okay if it was just you and me?”
The thought of Nate on his own made her eyes water, but there was no chance she would turn Zane down. She would love him and make a home for him and thank her lucky stars that she had a man like this. She managed to nod.
He kissed her, deep and long. His tongue reached out to caress hers. She felt his longing in that kiss. He would miss Nate, too. They would be incomplete, but at least they would have each other.
Zane urged her close, rubbing his jean-clad erection against her belly. “I love you, babe.” He tangled his fingers in her hair and gently pulled her head back so she looked into his eyes, couldn’t miss an inch of his scarred, gorgeous face. “I’ll never let you down, Callie. I’ll try so hard to be the best husband you could have.” His throat worked up and down, choking on some unnamed emotion.
She easily read his face, knew what he was saying. She lifted her hands to cup his face. He would try to be everything to her. He would try to make up for the fact that Nate wasn’t with them. She’d been so selfish. She’d thought only of how much she would miss Nate and not once of how much Zane would miss him. Nate and Zane might never have kissed or had any sexual feelings toward each other, but they were soul mates. Zane’s life would be less for the lack of Nate in it. She went on her toes and kissed him, her tongue licking along his plump lower lip, causing him to shiver. She felt a thrill race through her. She had power over this big, glorious man. It was a good thing because he had so much power over her. “And I’ll work hard to be the best wife for you. I promise. I love you more than you can know.”
“Touch me,” he demanded. His fingers tore open the fly of his jeans. He shoved them down over his hips, cursing the friction the wet denim caused. “Next time I’ll take the damn things off before I get wet.”
She grinned up at him, sliding her hands down over the hard plane of his chest to the well-defined abs. “No clo
thes allowed in the swimming pool. That should make it easier.”
He groaned as her hand grasped his cock. He filled and overflowed her palm. “Oh, babe, this is a great place to visit, but we can’t live here. I’m always hard around you. I can’t walk around with a naked erection. I might get called a pervert.”
He felt so good. Callie let her hand stroke him from the broad base of his cock to the engorged purple head. She was fascinated by the way he shook and moaned as her hand tracked across the silky skin. “That could be a problem. I don’t think there’s any way to hide this monster. It could scare the children.”
His eyes widened in startled dismay. “There are kids here?”
She laughed at his horror. She also noticed that his cock was weeping. She swiped her thumb over the slit of his cock, and he gasped. “No kids. This is an adult community, but there are family resorts if you like the lifestyle. I was thinking about our kids. If you want them, that is. I’m not getting any younger.”
She brought her thumb to her mouth and licked off the bead of arousal she’d found.
“Oh, god, that’s sexy.” Zane groaned. “Babies. You want babies.”
“I do.” She got to her knees. The water from the shower beat a nice rhythm along her spine. On this point, there would be no negotiations. She was going to have his babies. “You want something permanent with me, mister, then there better be some serious impregnation going on.”
She licked the tip of his straining dick, and his head fell forward. “Way to play hardball, babe. Damn, all I can think of now is the fact that I can ride you bareback. I’ve never had sex without a condom.”
She let her hand find his heavy sac. She rolled his balls gently in her palm. She was going to have to have him soon. Her pussy was throbbing, and her thighs were wet in a way that had nothing to do with the spray from the shower. “We can decide on the timing, but it better be soon.”
Zane reached down, locked his hands under her shoulders, and lifted her up. With flawless accuracy, he hauled her up, shoved her back against the tiled wall of the shower, and slammed his cock home.
She gasped as he penetrated her, his cock forcing its way deep into her pussy.
“No time like the present.” His face was strained as he held himself deep inside. “Fuck, you feel so good.”
She felt so full. Callie forced her legs to move, to try to grasp his hips. She steadied herself by placing her hands on his broad shoulders. She could barely breathe he was so deep inside her. “You didn’t even take off your pants.”
“No time. Get used to it. Now that I don’t have to use a rubber, I’ll take you when and where I want to.” His voice shook as he held her in place. She was grateful for the restraint. He was big. It took her a moment to get used to him, to relax. The startling intrusion was quickly morphing into pleasure. Her pussy was wet, and she felt herself soften around him. He slid in another inch, and she felt his balls against the cheeks of her ass. “God, I’ll never stop wanting you.”
She gripped his shoulders, sinking her nails into the flesh there, willing him to move. She was so ready, so eager to feel him. “Then you should fuck me.”
“Your wish…” Zane grunted right before he started to thrust into her.
Every nerve in her body ignited. He held her so tight her nipples rubbed against his chest. His mouth covered hers. His tongue plunged and retreated in time to the rhythm of his cock. She could do nothing but hold on as he pounded into her. She was caught between the tile and him and the pulsing heat of the shower.
It happened suddenly. He hit that perfect spot, and she went flying. She moaned and buried her face in his shoulder as the sensation took her. A second later, he stiffened, every muscle tense. He pumped into her as though he wanted to fuse them together. As he slowed, he leaned over to kiss her again. This time he was gentle, nibbling at her lips as his hips pumped softly.
“Sorry for the quickie. You felt so good, so right. That was amazing. We’re going to make a baby. Nate’s going to freak out. He’s always…” Zane’s face fell.
She let her feet drop to the floor, though she held on to Zane. Her legs were wobbly, her body still pulsing. “He always wanted kids?”
Zane pulled her close. “Yeah. He wanted the whole white-picket-fence thing, though I suspect his fence would have been much more expensive than a plain picket fence. Maybe wrought iron. Don’t take his moving on as a reflection of you. He loves you. But he needs more than this place can give him. He wants things he can’t have here.”
“Do we have to give up on him?” Callie asked, hearing the longing in her voice. “Maybe we should go with him. It’s not like we have jobs we’re married to.”
“No. I don’t want to live in that world. There’s no place for me there. This is my home. I think I started to love it here when Nell welcomed me to her grocery store and I nearly got kissed by a moose.” He kissed her forehead and reached for the soap.
Staying in Bliss was all she’d ever wanted, and she loved that he was getting used to the place. “The meadow. That’s what we call it. It’s technically on James Glen’s ranch, but they don’t fence it. Nell would protest. Besides, it’s kind of Maurice’s home.”
“You named the moose?” He grinned as he soaped up her shoulders.
“Yep, though he actually got his name from Hiram,” she explained. “You honestly want to stay? You don’t think you’ll regret it down the line?”
“I know I won’t. Living here with you is the best decision I’ve ever made,” he replied. “Besides, you like your job. I don’t even have a job, but I know I’ll like the one I’m planning to get. I’m going to take out a loan on the empty building beside Stella’s.”
Callie knew it well. “Oh, that’s supposedly haunted.”
Zane soaped his hands again and then started to clean her back. His fingers rubbed and massaged until she sighed and leaned against him. He was already stirring, his erection coming back to life. “Then the ghost better get used to me. I’m going to open a bar. I’ll go to the bank on Monday. If I can’t get a loan from there, I’ll hit up Stefan.” His voice cheered measurably. “Yeah, maybe I’ll do that. He’s like your brother, right? A family loan. If you want, you can help me run it, or you can keep working with Nate until the new sheriff takes over. It’s up to you. But I want you to know that I’ll take care of us. I’ll provide for you. When I get the bar running and making money, you won’t have to work.”
His hands skimmed along her breasts and down to her pussy, where he rubbed for an awfully long time. “I like to work, Zane. If we can’t convince Nate to stay with us, I’ll help you with the bar. I think I’ll be a good waitress.”
He cleaned her thoroughly. “As long as the patrons understand you’re a taken woman, I’m fine with that. Maybe I should just beat Nate until he agrees to stay.”
There was a loud snort, and Callie jumped.
Zane simply sighed and muttered, “Sneaky bastard. How long have you been out there?” He peeked through the shower curtain.
She stole a glance and saw Nate sitting against the wall of the bathroom. He had one knee up, and his eyes stared at some place below the shower curtain.
“Long enough to know I should leave.”
Nate’s words cut through her. She scrambled out of the shower. She dripped across the tile, but Nate’s arms were open as she kneeled in front of him. He didn’t seem to care that she was soaking him through. She felt his breath as his arms closed around her.
“Zane’s right. I’m not very smart. But I need more than I can get here, Callie. Can you forgive me?”
She felt the hitch in his chest when he said the words and knew how much they cost him. She also knew she couldn’t reject him. She loved him. Zane loved him. Wherever he went, he would be a part of them. “Know that you’ll always have a home with us. You can always visit or come back to us. I love you, Nate.”
His arms tightened around her. “I love you, too, baby.”
She wanted him. For as lo
ng as he stayed, she wanted him. “Come to bed with us.”
There was the saddest smile on his face. “You sure you want me there?”
Zane reached out a hand. He’d shoved his soaked jeans off his body and stood there in all his glory. “Come to bed with us. She misses you. I don’t, but she does.” There was a wicked grin on his lips and a twinkle in his emerald eyes. “Come on, Nate. Stay with us for as long as you can, man.”
Nate kept one hand on her, but he reached the other out to Zane. For a blissful moment, they were connected, and Callie felt complete.
“Look at me, baby.” Nate’s voice was thick as he nudged her head up. He nodded at her, and she stood as he accepted a hand up from Zane. The minute Nate was on his feet he was pulling her into his chest, his arms capturing her. He lowered his mouth to hers, and she marveled in all the ways he was different from Zane.
Where Zane overpowered, Nate cajoled. His mouth moved gently against hers, an invitation to play. She flowered open beneath him, allowing his tongue full access. He glided into her mouth with velvety seduction. Though she’d recently come, she felt herself heating up all over again.
She pressed her body to Nate’s. She loved the feel of him, even through his clothes. Unlike Zane, he’d gotten fully redressed, and now the fabric of his shirt rasped at her nipples. His belt buckle was cool against her belly. Her hands on the strong muscles of his back, she dragged the shirt out of his waistband. She pulled it up so she could get at his warm skin. Nate cursed and pulled himself out of her embrace.
His blue eyes were hot as he tugged the shirt up and over his head, not bothering with niceties like unbuttoning or folding. He simply tossed it away and went to work on his belt buckle. While Nate tore out of his clothes, Zane moved in behind her. His big hands ran up her torso and cupped her breasts. His mouth found the nape of her neck and kissed the supersensitive skin there. Zane’s thumbs circled her nipples, making them ripe and hard.
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