I lock my legs tighter, crossing my ankles behind his back and begin moving with him, matching his thrusts, sending him deeper inside me.
I feel my walls clench around him, I’m close. “Come for me. Come on my cock, baby.”
His words send me over the edge, and I scream my release, not giving a shit who hears as my voice bounces back and forth off the walls either side of the alley, echoing down the narrow path. My head falls back as wave after wave crashes through my body, making me a quivering mess as I ride out my orgasm.
Zach’s thrusts become rough and hurried, his jagged breaths quickening as he chases his own release. His head tips forward to rest on my shoulder, his face buried in the crook of my neck and comes, roaring through his orgasm, sinking his teeth into the flesh of my shoulder, his cock throbbing and twitching as he empties himself inside me.
He eventually begins to slow, edging out of me gently and setting me back on my feet before tucking himself back into his underwear and buttoning his jeans back up. I readjust my panties, feeling his release trickle out of me.
He takes my face in his hands and kisses me deeply, unhurried, his lips gentle against mine.
“You’re gonna be the death of me, Red,” he pants against my lips.
“God, I hope not.”
∞∞∞
We head back towards the bar, just as the door swings open and Mason comes out, his nose dripping with blood.
“Mason? Are you okay?” I ask.
He looks up at me and gives me a weak smile, wiping his bloody nose on the back of his jacket sleeve. “Yeah, I’m good. Look, I’m sorry about him, for what he said. He's an asshole, I’m just sorry it took me so long to finally stand up to him. I just want you to know I’m not a part of that anymore, and I never thought badly of you. You were wasted on him.”
“Thanks, Mason. You're a good guy.”
“Take care, Gwen.”
“Yeah, you too.”
He glances to Zach and give him a curt nod before continuing down the sidewalk away from Terry’s.
Zach takes my hand in his, clasping it tightly as we make our way back inside. Josh and his army of goons are just leaving, by the state of the bar I assume a fight broke out between him and Mason and Terry kicked them all out.
Josh glares at both of us, shoving Zach's shoulder as he passes.
We make our way back to our friends who have moved to a booth at the back of the room, our old booth, the same booth Hayley, Aaron and I used to eat at every week. We spend the rest of the night eating, talking and reminiscing about old times. It feels so good to be back here with Hayley and Aaron, along with the new additions to our little clan.
Chapter 35
Zach
I march through Kyle’s office door and sink down into the chair opposite his desk. “Tell me you’ve got something on Josh.”
The other night at the bar was the last straw. That prick is gonna get what’s coming to him and more when I’m done with him. I can’t stand him. He needs to be dealt with before I do something I’ll live to regret.
Kyle reclines in his seat and heaves out a deep breath. “I was going to come and talk to you when you got in. My guy got back to me late last night with some information.”
“And?” I prompt.
“It seems our boy Josh isn’t as clean as he likes everyone to believe. He has a little side business… dealing coke.”
“Are you shitting me?”
He shakes his head. “Straight up. William, my Private Investigator’s been following him for the past few days, saw him meet with a couple of guys down a side street in Brooklyn.”
“Do you think he uses too?”
“Yeah, it would explain his mood swings, his sudden outbursts of anger, make him want to hurt Gwen.”
“Fuck,” I say, leaning forward, elbows resting on my thighs as I scrub a hand over my face. “So how do we use this new information? How do we get rid of him?”
“William seems to think he’s got a meeting set up next week, and I know a guy who can get us some gear, all we’ve got to do is make sure he’s carrying when the police pull him over after an anonymous tip was made. Should be pretty simple, Josh really isn’t very bright.” He smirks.
“Gwen can’t know about this.”
“Agreed. The less anyone else knows about this, the better, especially her. For now, we keep it between us and carry on as normal,” he says. “Speaking of, are you going to Hudson’s retirement party on Saturday?”
“Yeah I am, I’m taking Gwen.”
“That’s nice to hear. I’m glad you finally took heed of what I said.”
“Took heed? What are we, in the middle ages?” I joke.
“Well my wife is always telling me what a caveman I am,” he replies with a smirk.
“Asshole.” I shake my head, fighting back a smile.
Chapter 36
Gwen
The bar is quiet tonight, it’s mid-week and the only people in here are the regulars that practically live here. Although it’s largely empty, it’s unbelievably stuffy in here, moisture mixed with the smell of stale beer that I’m so accustomed to, hanging thickly in the air.
Like most nights, Lucas is with Rose while I’m at work, probably forcing her to watch Toy Story for the hundredth time, but if I know Rose, she’s no doubt brought one of her books along with her like she always does.
Tonight, I’m just not feeling it. I’ve been in a slump all day since Hayley and I got back from the Airport where we waved Aaron and Eva off as they head back to Chicago. I love it when Aaron comes home for visits, but I hate the part where you have to say goodbye. I want things to be how they were, when the furthest we were apart was the ten minute walk between our houses, not hundreds of miles.
I pull it my phone and check the time, it’s just gone ten, another half an hour or so and I can get out of here. My feet are killing me, and my head is throbbing.
“Hey babe, can we get a pitcher?” a blonde guy at one of my tables in the center asks.
“Sure.” I smile.
A few minutes later, I return with a pitcher of beer and four glasses for him and his friends. They’ve been here for a couple of hours already and they’re starting to get a little rowdy, their voices and their laughter getting gradually louder as the night progresses.
“Here you are,” I say, placing the pitcher and the glasses down on the table. I feel a hand clamp down on my ass, squeezing, and I straighten up, expertly spinning out of his grip and his hand falls away.
“Hands to yourselves, boys.” I warn with a smirk, laughing it off, attempting to keep the atmosphere light.
“Come on, babe, you know we’re just having a little fun.” He winks, placing his hand on my waist pulling me gently into him.
I smile, shaking my head. To be honest, it’s easier just to humour them, nothing bad will happen in a place so public and open. I don’t particularly like it when guys get a little handsy, but as long as it stays on my waist, then I don’t have a problem.
The door to the bar swings open and I turn to see Zach, who’s eyes are transfixed on the guy’s hand on my waist.
Shit.
“Zach.” I unwind myself from the guy’s grip and make my way over to him. “Hey, I didn’t expect you to come by tonight.” I press a kiss to his lips, but he doesn’t kiss me back.
“Clearly,” he deadpans, not meeting my eye. Instead, his eyes are boring into the back of the blonde guy’s head.
“Zach, that was nothing, okay?”
“Then why did he have his hands on you?”
“He’s just a regular, he does it all the time, he doesn’t mean anything by it.”
“Gwen, you know as well as I do that when a guy touches a girl, he definitely means something by it.”
“Guys touching me... it comes with the job, eventually you get used to it. What matters is that I don’t act on it, and I wouldn’t. Ever.”
“He shouldn't have been touching you.”
“You
don’t trust me do you?” I ask.
“What? That’s not what this is about.”
“Of course it is. This isn’t really about that guy, this is about me. What you’re implying is that you don’t trust me. Don’t you trust me, Zach?”
He doesn’t say anything. We’ll I guess that’s my answer.
“I don’t have time for this. I finish work in twenty minutes, we can talk then.” I turn and walk away without another word and continue my work.
“Everything okay sweetheart?” Terry asks.
“Yeah, thanks Terry.” I give him a weak smile. He squeezes my arm comfortingly as he passes me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Zach taking a seat in one of the booths by the front window. I begin collecting empty glasses from the tables and place them in the dishwasher, and before I know it, my shift is over.
“I’ll see you next week Terry,” I call as I throw on my jacket and pick up my bag.
“Have yourself a good weekend, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, you too.”
I walk through the bar towards Zach, who’s standing by the door waiting for me. As I near him, he pushes open the door as holds it open for me, without saying anything. He holds open the car door for me and allows me to get in, before touring the front of the car and sliding into the driver’s seat beside me.
∞∞∞
The drive home, although short, is the longest drive ever, the atmosphere between us is as thick as the air in the bar tonight, and it’s equally as uncomfortable. We spend the entire drive in silence, I glance at him every now and again out of the corner of my eye, but he continues to stare straight ahead, his gaze unwavering. I see his fists grip the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles turning white.
I turn my head and stare out of the window as we pass through the quite streets, and before I realise it, we are outside my apartment building. Zach puts the car in park and switches off the engine.
“Are you not going to talk to me?” I ask, and I’m met with total silence. “Fine.” I grab my bag and swing open the car door, slamming it shut behind me as I head towards the building.
I hear a car door shut behind me and footsteps approaching. “Gwen, wait.”
I stop and turn as Zach comes to a halt a few feet away from me. “I'm sorry, okay? I'm fucking sorry. I don’t know how to do this. After what Carly did to me, I’m paranoid about everything. I can’t help it. I’m not used to feeling this, I’m not even sure what this is... jealousy... distrust... I don’t fucking know, and I don’t know how to stop it.”
It’s only now that I’ve realised that it's the first time he's said her name. Carly. So she’s the bitch that has him so screwed up, so untrusting of everyone.
He's scared of trusting someone and getting hurt again.
He's scared of trusting me.
“I’m sorry too, Zach. I promise you, I would never do that to you, I’d never go behind your back, I’d never cheat on you. You’re not the only one who’s been cheated on remember? I know as well as you do how that feels.” I step closer to him, taking his hands in mine. “For so long I've been used to guys touching me at work, I'm sorry it hurt you. But I’m asking you to trust me. I want you, only you. Do you understand? I’m yours.”
He crashes his lips to mine and lifts me off the ground, backing me into the wall of my apartment building. He towers above me as he traps me between his body and the wall.
“I'll try. I promise I’ll try, baby,” he rasps. “You’re mine and I’m yours.”
I smile against his lips. “You’re mine and I’m yours.”
Chapter 37
Zach
I walk out of my bathroom, fiddling with my tie to find Gwen dressed in a floor-length black silk dress, the shape of her body silhouetted against the sunlight that shines through the floor to ceiling windows of my bedroom that looks down on Manhattan. Her deep red hair cascades down her back in loose thick curls. She turns and smiles sweetly, almost self-consciously when she sees me watching.
I clear my throat. “You look so beautiful, Gwen.”
“Thank you,” she replies shyly. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
“I know.” I smirk.
“Idiot.” She laughs, shaking her head.
“Are you ready?”
“Yeah, just need to grab my shoes.” She heads over to the bed and reaches into her bag, pulling out her shoes, black suede heels to match her dress. She perches on the edge of the bed and slips them on.
I feel like such a dick for what happened the other day at the bar, but seeing that creep with his hands all over her filled me with pure rage. I admit, seeing it at first did spark up those old feelings of distrust, feelings I thought I was passed, but I guess it’s not a quick fix, it’s something I’m gonna have to work on.
I don’t want to feel like that anymore; the jealousy… the paranoia… deep down I know I can trust Gwen, but there will always be a little voice in the back of my head telling me the opposite; the voice of doubt, the voice that Carly planted in my brain all those years ago, a voice that’s still there.
“Okay, all done.” Gwen stands, adjusting her dress, and I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around her from behind.
I pull her into my body so she’s flush against me, before burying my face in her neck, the sweet scent of her perfume hitting my nose. I lick and suck on the sensitive skin behind her ear and she giggles, squirming in my arms, her ass grinding against my dick.
“Zach!” she yelps, spinning around to face me.
I run my hands up and down her body, squeezing her ass. I press a kiss to her lips. “I can’t keep my hands and mouth off you. I want to devour you inch by fucking inch,” I rasp, tugging her bottom lip between my teeth. I feel my dick beginning to swell in my pants as the thoughts of everything I want to do to this woman swim around my mind.
“As much as I’d love that, I spent the whole day getting ready for this party so I at least wanna make an appearance.”
I step back and offer her my arm, and she seems surprised at my action. “What? I can’t be a gentleman?”
“There’s nothing gentle about you.”
“I take that as a compliment, and admit it, you love it.” I wink.
“Idiot,” she mutters, shaking her head as she fights back a smile. She links her arm through mine and we leave my apartment.
∞∞∞
“Gwen, you look gorgeous,” Kyle says, pulling her into a hug.
“Thanks.” She smiles. “Where’s Hayley?”
“She wasn’t feeling too good, so she stayed at home, but she insisted I still be here.”
“I’ll go grab us some drinks.” I squeeze Gwen’s waist, pressing a kiss to her forehead before heading to the bar.
I return a few minutes later and hand Kyle and Gwen their drinks before taking a sip of my water.
“How’s Hudson?” I ask.
“He’s good, he’s talking with my dad. Christ, you should see the woman he brought with him, she’s young enough to be his granddaughter,” Kyle scoffs.
“Can I have your attention, please.” The music fades away and voices die down as Richard Hudson addresses the crowd. “Hello everyone. I would just like to say a huge thank you to you all for coming this evening to celebrate my retirement. It has been a privilege to know and work alongside all of you. When Nathaniel and I started this company all those years ago, we had no idea it would become what it has today. Each and every one of you have had a part in that, you should all be immensely proud.”
He begins to applaud and the whole room joins in.
“But tonight is a double celebration, we are here to celebrate not only my retirement, but also my recent engagement. I have the pleasure to introduce to you all, my beautiful and wonderful fiancée. Come up here, darling.” He motions to her to come up on stage and when she does, all of the air leaves my lungs.
I stand in shock, my heart clenching painfully as I look up at her, wearing the fake smile that I
know all too well.
Carly. My ex-wife.
Richard continues to speak but I’m fucked if I know what he’s talking about. This is the first time I’ve seen her in four years, and it hurts just as much now as it did back then.
“Zach, are you okay?” Gwen asks, but I say nothing.
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