Shelf Awareness: Green Valley Library Book #4

by Romance, Smartypants

  “Yes, I’m a big fan of clothed foreplay.”

  Zeke furrowed his brows. “Clothed foreplay?”

  “Yes. That’s how I refer to it.”

  “I see. I assume there’s also the hybrid when you dry hump through your clothes?”

  I giggled. “I suppose so.”

  He grinned. “I look forward to checking every brand of foreplay off the list.”

  Fighting to catch my breath, I replied, “So do I.”

  Zeke dipped his head and placed a surprisingly chaste kiss on my cheek. I must’ve been wearing my feelings on my face because when he pulled away he winked. “I didn’t want to go overboard with our audience.”

  “Good thinking. I appreciate that.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Finley.”

  I couldn’t fight the smile that curved on my lips. “Good night, Zeke.”

  As he walked off the porch and into the night, I couldn’t help feeling like I was floating along in a dream. Sure, the part where I thought Zeke had a girlfriend and was somewhat cheating on me was more of a nightmare, but thankfully, it ended on a happy note. And one that also promised another happy ending in the bedroom.

  Chapter Twenty

  The next morning I woke up deliciously achy between my legs. It had been a long, long time since I’d felt anything of the sort down there. The old gal’s out-of-order sign had been officially torn down and was now fully operational. A new day had dawned, and it was a beautiful sight.

  I was brought out of my thoughts by my phone chiming. As I shifted in the bed to reach for it, I groaned. Because of my midnight gardening mania, the muscles in my arms were screaming in agony along with the ones in my vag. When I glanced at the screen, I saw the text had come from Zeke. Would you do me the honor of accompanying me on a date today?

  A goofy grin stretched across my face—one I would have been horrified for Zeke to see in person because I’m pretty sure he would have run for the hills at the sight. I quickly typed back. Sure. When and where?

  The details will be a surprise. Just be ready at noon.

  Kicking my legs furiously against the mattress, I squealed, “Yes, yes, yes!” I also then texted Zeke back that was fine.

  After taking a long, luxurious shower, I headed downstairs in my robe for some coffee. I found the house quiet except for Estelle, who was in the sunroom on her yoga mat. “Morning,” I called from the kitchen.

  “Morning.”

  After I poured coffee into a giant mug, I walked over to the doorway. “GramBea and Dot at church?”

  “Yes. They prefer a physical structure to get in touch with their spirituality where I can do it right here.”

  “Works for me.”

  Glancing at me over her shoulder, she asked, “What are you up to this morning?”

  “Zeke’s coming by at noon to take me on a date.”

  With a wicked grin, Estelle asked, “Is he taking you out, or will the two of you just be fucking?”

  I spewed out the sip of coffee I’d just taken. “I can’t believe you just said that!”

  “Why not? It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

  Nodding reluctantly, I replied, “He wanted me to go back to his hotel last night.”

  “I can’t say I’m too surprised. He seemed very smitten last night.”

  “It was probably just a post-sex haze.”

  She shook her head. “I think you don’t give yourself enough credit. Especially when it comes to Zeke. He’s been enamored with you for a long time and not with just your vagina.”

  I snorted. “Of course, you’d say that.”

  “You know me well.”

  “He did request I accompany him on a date.”

  “Ah, so he’s planning on romancing you a bit before he gets you back into bed.”

  “While I’m touched, I wouldn’t mind if we bypassed that and went straight back to bed.”

  “That good, huh?” Estelle asked while wagging her brows.

  Since there was no one else in the house, I could have this conversation, and I nodded. “It was amazing.”

  Estelle grinned. “I’m so happy for you.”

  And I knew she was. “I think our conversation helped too.”

  “Ah, so you’d taken my advice to heart.”

  “Yes, I had.”

  “Glad to hear it.”

  When the clock on the mantel chimed ten times, I shook my head. “All right, I gotta start getting ready. I wasn’t exactly ladyscaped as much as I would have liked for our escapade last night.”

  Wrinkling her nose, Estelle replied, “I’ll never understand why you young women today insist on being bare. The hair is there for a purpose.”

  “Yeah, well, we’re going to have to agree to disagree on that one.”

  After taking my time getting ready, I was downstairs just in time to hear the doorbell ring. When I answered the door, Zeke stood before me with a pair of hiking boots in his hands. He thrust them at me with a beaming smile. “These are for you.”

  My gaze flickered between him and the boots. “You really shouldn’t have. I mean, I wasn’t even expecting flowers.”

  “They’re for our date.”

  I cocked my eyebrows at him. “Do you have some weird lumberjack fantasy you haven’t told me about?”

  “I’m taking you on a date, not a booty call.”

  “I wasn’t entirely sure,” I replied honestly.

  “Did you assume I was taking you somewhere nice to get busy?”

  “Perhaps. I also thought you might be going to romance me a little before we went back to your hotel.”

  “I was thinking the same. I imagined romancing you a bit through the beauty of Green Valley, which is where the boots come in.”

  Oh sweet Lord no. He wanted to take me into the outdoors? “You’re planning on taking me hiking in the woods?”

  “Since you said you weren’t a fan of camping, I imagined you hadn’t seen some of the breathtaking views the town has to offer.”

  My old self would have been horrified at the prospect of tromping through the hot-as-hell woods with bugs and snakes for company. But I realized I was never going to grow if I stayed within the confines of my comfort box. Sweeping a hand to my hip, I teasingly asked, “When you told me I needed to get out more, you really meant get outdoors.”

  Zeke grinned. “Sort of.”

  Even though I knew I would regret it later, I nodded my head. “Okay. Let’s go hiking.”

  I suppose I should’ve been grateful I’d chosen a pair of light capris and a top to wear. It would’ve been problematic had I put on a dress. After grabbing the boots from Zeke, I sat down on one of the chairs in the hallway to slip them on. When I had them on, I glanced at Zeke. “What do you think?”

  “Sexy as hell.”

  Snorting, I replied, “I still think you have a lumberjack fantasy.”

  “You never know.”

  I grabbed my purse, and Zeke and I headed out the door. After driving out of the city limits, we parked on the side of the road near a hiking trail. As I gazed up the pathway, I turned to Zeke. “How far are we planning on going?”

  He tilted his head at me. “To the top, of course.”

  I swallowed hard. “Oh my.”

  Zeke laughed. “I’m joking, Finley.”

  “Thank God.”

  “I wouldn’t do that to you. I do want you to try hiking again.”

  “I’ll try keeping an open mind.”

  “Good.”

  Zeke and I started up the trail together. But as time went on, I started falling slightly behind. I wanted to think it was less about my physical fitness level and more about the fact I was keeping my eye out for bugs and snakes. Thankfully, Zeke didn’t make a big deal about it. Instead, he kept the conversation flowing.

  With sweat careening into the crack of my ass, we came to a clearing. The stream we had been following leveled out into a clearing. Shielding my eyes from the sun with my hand, I did a double take.

 
A tent was pitched.

  I jerked my gaze over to Zeke. “What’s this?”

  “It’s a mix of romance and a booty call.”

  I giggled. “I see.”

  With the flap opened on the tent, I could see there was a large air mattress inside. In front of the tent, rose petals littering the ground as well.

  Zeke walked over to the cooler. After opening it, he produced a bottle of chilled champagne. “Would you care for a glass?”

  Later I would blame my actions on the heat overwhelming me. Honestly, I would have never thought myself capable of such wanton behavior. But how else was I supposed to react to such a romantic gesture? I stalked across the clearing to Zeke before launching myself at him. It was so forceful that he dropped the bottle of champagne, sending it exploding and spraying over our legs. I didn’t even bother apologizing. Instead, I continued feverishly attacking his mouth.

  Zeke dipped down to where he could sweep me into his arms. Without breaking our kiss, he somehow managed to carry me into the tent before laying me down on the mattress. What proceeded next was another free-for-all when it came to ripping off clothing. When we were finally naked, Zeke loomed over me with a hungry look burning in his eyes. I shivered in anticipation of just how he was going to devour me.

  His mouth started at my collarbone. He feathered kisses across it before licking and nipping at the flesh. He then trailed kisses down over my breasts. His mouth covered one of my nipples, sucking it inside his warm mouth. I moaned and brought my hands to tangle through the strands of his dark hair. With his mouth occupied, he brought a free hand between my legs. I cried out this time instead of moaning.

  After licking and sucking my other breast, he kissed a trail down my abdomen. Just before he got to my pussy, he pulled away, causing me to huff in protest. “Patience,” he murmured with a grin.

  He settled between my legs and kissed my inner thighs before nudging my legs farther apart. Staring up at me, he held my gaze as his tongue flicked out to lick across my folds. Oh, sweet merciful heavens, this man intended on killing me slowly. I sucked in a breath and let my head fall back against the inflatable pillow as his warm tongue worked over me. He lapped and suckled at my clit until I was rocking my hips against his face. He took one of my feet and pulled it up to rest on his shoulder, giving him better access. The moment he thrust his tongue inside me I came apart and cried out his name.

  Once I came back to myself, I figured he would move away from my core, but instead, his head remained below my equator. He pulled away momentarily to tease my opening with one finger before pushing it inside. He added two and then three to swirl and move within me. With his free hand, his fingers skimmed over my stomach before coming to cup one of my breasts.

  I was on sensory overload as my nipple peaked under his attention. His hand snaked over to the other breast to bring it to a hardened nub as well. All the while he kept plunging his fingers in and out of me while his thumb made my clit feel like it was going to explode.

  Gripping the strands of his hair, I cried out his name over and over again as I came. If it were possible, I had experienced an even stronger orgasm that time.

  When I gazed down at Zeke, I so eloquently murmured, “Holy shit.”

  “I’ll take that as a thanks.”

  “Yep. That pretty much sums it all up.”

  “You know, after those masterful orgasms, I think you’re more than owed a little oral attention.”

  With a lazy grin, Zeke replied, “I won’t argue with you.”

  I took Zeke’s erection in my hand. Bending down, I ran my tongue along the main vein on the underside. When I got to the head, I swirled my tongue teasingly around the tip before I sucked the head into my mouth. Zeke groaned and fisted my sweat-soaked hair as I began sliding up and down on his dick. He was the biggest guy I’d given a blow job, so it took a few seconds to get used to his size. I bobbed up and down, hollowing out my cheeks. After a few minutes, Zeke began lifting his hips to work himself faster in and out of my mouth. One of his hands fisted the inflatable mattress while the other stayed in my hair.

  His groans of pleasure fueled me on. Just as I felt him tensing up, he eased me away. “Don’t wanna waste it,” he mused breathlessly. He helped me off my knees and sat me down next to him on the bed before reaching for his pants. This time when Zeke dug a condom out of his wallet, he came back with a strip of three.

  He crawled up my body to where we were once again face to face. He kissed me tenderly before plunging his tongue into my mouth. As he ravaged my mouth, I felt moisture once again growing between my legs. Zeke’s hands managed to be everywhere all at once. They were kneading my breasts, caressing my buttocks, or slipping between my legs to stroke me. I shivered in spite of the beads of sweat breaking out along my skin from the heat building within me.

  Zeke guided his erection to my core before slowly pressing his way in, inch by inch. He kept his eyes on mine the whole time. Their intensity caused me to shudder. Within the depths of his dark eyes were all the emotions a lover would want to see reflected. He began moving his hips, his cock gliding in and out of me. He dipped his head to bring his lips to mine. After kissing my lips, he feathered tender kisses across my cheekbone over to my ear. His whisperings soon became my undoing. “God, you’re so beautiful, Finley. Your lips, your eyes, your smart mouth. I could stay inside you all day long, giving you orgasm after orgasm.”

  As if he could sense that I was questioning his sincerity, he pulled back to where I could see his eyes again. The truth shining in them told me everything I needed to know. He wasn’t just shooting me a bunch of bullshit to inflate my pummeled self-esteem. He meant every single word.

  When he suddenly slipped out of me, I whimpered at the loss. He rose to sit on his knees. Then he lifted me, wrapping my legs around him. His hands came to rest underneath my buttocks while I brought mine around his neck. He gently worked me on and off of him while he kissed me deeply. As we moved in perfect sync together, Zeke brought his lips to mine and began to kiss me passionately. His tongue plunged into my mouth and mimicked his movements inside me. A hot flush ran over me from the top of my head down to my toes, and I couldn’t help tearing my mouth away from his to pant and moan with pleasure.

  Just when I was about to go over the edge again, Zeke gripped me by the hips and pushed me back. He then flipped me over to where I was on my stomach. After I rose up on my knees, he slammed back into me from behind. The depth caused me to scream with pleasure.

  With each thrust, the inflatable mattress shimmied across the slick material of tent floor. I had to white-knuckle grip it to keep from being screwed off of it. As my orgasm built, Zeke slammed especially hard into me. The exertion of that epic thrust sent the mattress careening into the back side of the tent. With my walls convulsing, I began to go over the edge. Unfortunately for me, that was the moment the walls of the tent also underwent their own convulsions. I realized I was literally going over the edge. I guess I should say we were as in Zeke, me, and the tent. Talk about the earth moving!

  A fear-filled scream erupted from my lips as we began to roll down the hillside. I barely felt the absence of Zeke’s cock before he was pushing me down and covering me with his body. The fact he was trying to protect me momentarily broke through the intense fear that we were about to be killed. I couldn’t imagine the look on Jackson James’s face when he found our naked, mangled bodies. With all the gossip about Zeke and me dying in flagrante, GramBea would probably succumb to a heart attack. Death would be merciful so she never had to show her face in town again after her fornicating granddaughter brought such shame to the family.

  Yes, those were my thoughts as the tent flipped and flung about. I’m not sure how long and how far we fell, but finally, the tent came to a rest. As I fought to catch my breath, I realized Zeke was somehow still on top of me. “What the fuck?” he muttered, his breath warming my ear.

  Once I realized we weren’t dead, I began to laugh. Like belly rolling laughter.
It continued as I flipped over onto my back to stare up at the top of the tent, which was actually what had been the bottom.

  “Hey, Nature Boy, I have a question for you.”

  “Yeah, what?”

  “Did you not stake this bad-boy down before inviting me?”

  Instead of scowling at me for questioning his camping manhood, Zeke merely grinned. “I did. Apparently, I didn’t get them far enough in the ground.”

  “I would say so.”

  “I would say that was extreme fucking, wouldn’t you?”

  Giggling, I replied, “I would say so.”

  “The one thing to be thankful for is the fact we stripped down in here rather than outside. Otherwise, we’d be hiking back naked.”

  “Yes, let’s be grateful for small mercies,” I replied.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Hello, my name is Finley, and I’m a Zeke Masters addict.

  Well, maybe I should say I was an addict of Zeke’s dick. Sometimes you never know what you’ve been missing all your life, and I had seriously been missing some epic, mind-blowing sex. Thankfully, Zeke was a ready donor to the cause of bringing me said sex. Once we crossed the line into friends with benefits, we could barely keep our hands off each other.

  After weeks on end of sexlessness during the last year of my marriage, it was quite the ego trip to have Zeke desire me so much. He didn’t seem to care I still had a few pesky pounds around my hips and abdomen I wanted to lose. Every time he saw me naked, a reverent expression came over his face. Every time we had sex, he worshipped my body from head to toe. He was a god among men when it came to using his hands, tongue, and dick.

  Of course, there were times we had to keep our hands to ourselves. For example, we tried not to show too many displays of affection around the girls. It wasn’t necessarily they were too old-school to handle our behavior—it was more about how I didn’t want to constantly answer their questions about Zeke’s and my relationship . . . if it was a relationship at all.