by Emma Salah
“I really wanted to get you jewelry, but I remembered how much you were looking forward to this. A friend of mine works in the company and was able to give me an advanced copy. It’s yours.”
With shaky hands, she took it from him. It was the latest Future Fantasy game and it wasn’t due in the shops for another month at least. She couldn’t believe he got it for her. It was ridiculously the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her—definitely better than the non-perfect perfect dates that had happened at the beginning.
“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted. What the hell did he mean by this? Even as she told herself not to, hope ignited inside of her. “I, um, thank you?”
“So grateful,” he teased.
“I’m just glad it’s not flowers.”
He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up as per usual. “I should apologize for that, but I’m not going to lie. I loved seeing how irritated you got.”
She slapped him on the chest. She couldn’t stop the smile on her face, even if she tried. He stared at her. Self-conscious, the smile slipped off her face.
“What?” she asked.
He cupped her cheek, tracing her skin with his fingers. “I missed you, Reagan. You have no idea how much.”
“Stop.” I’m going to cry.
“I fucked up. I hurt you.”
“It’s okay.”
Zac covered her mouth with his hand. His eyes were fierce and stern. “You need to learn to stop taking less than you deserve. You deserve it all. No more half measures, Reagan. All or nothing.”
She breathed out. He was right. This whole two-week proposal was nothing more than half measures. Praying that he would come around and see what she had always seen. Fuck that. She needed to stop dipping her toes in and just cannonball in. It was all or nothing. She moved his hand gently from her mouth, his arm falling to his side.
This was it.
“I don’t think we can be friends, Zac,” Reagan told him.
There was dark amusement on his face. “Yeah, and why not?”
“Because I’m in love with you.”
“Thank god,” he growled.
And then Zac kissed her.
“I love you, Reagan Thomas. I’ve been in love with you since the moment we kissed when you were fifteen years old. I loved you when you made me help you move into your apartment. When you came to every game I played whether it was college hockey or the pros. When you looked at me with those fuck-me eyes like the vixen you are. When you were fighting dirty to get me to see you as more than my friend with benefits or my best friend’s little sister. I loved you in every single one of those moments and I will love you in every moment from now.”
* * *
Reagan stared at him. She stared for so long, Zac would have wondered if something was wrong, but he could see the effect of his words on her face.
“Say it again,” she told him breathlessly.
Gladly. He planned to tell her every day for the rest of their lives.
“I love you,” he whispered against her mouth.
He nibbled her bottom lip, before sucking on it. Her eyes dilated.
“Again.”
“Love you, Vixen.”
She buried her hands in his hair. “More. Give me more.”
“I. Love. You.” He punctuated every word with a hard kiss.
“I love you too,” she sighed.
He wrapped his arms around and pulled her in close. She ran her nose over his shirt, breathing him in deep. Finally. Finally, that small ball of fear at the bottom of his gut was loosening. Zac wanted to stay holding Reagan forever, right next to her front door in her living room, but there was one main reason why he eased back. She stared up at him, blinking. He grinned. Fuck, she’s cute.
* * *
“Now, let’s get to the fun part.”
Reagan was definitely ready for some fun.
“The fun part? What’s that?”
He waggled his eyebrows. “Makeup sex.”
He lifted her up the wall. Grinning, she wrapped her legs around his waist.
“I hope this makeup sex involves spanking.”
She squealed when he tipped her body over his shoulder, fireman style. He slapped her ass as he walked them over to her bedroom. Her laughter filled the room as he dropped her onto her bed and dove on top of her. He stared down at her. No barriers.
“I love you,” he said, kissing her softly.
She sighed. She didn’t think she would ever get used to hearing him say that.
“Me too. I love you too.” She deepened the kiss, helping him strip off his jacket.
“Do you know how much I’ve missed the taste of you?” he murmured as his mouth traced down her chest, to her stomach, then bit her belly button. “Touching you? Kissing you?”
“Probably as much as I’ve missed you.”
He hovered over her pussy but found he didn’t have the patience to tease her. He sucked her clit into his mouth. She moaned.
“I can’t go slow,” he admitted to her, as he pulled down her panties roughly. He needed to fuck her.
She grinned at him, reaching for his jeans. “Good. I don’t want slow.”
They undressed each other, until they were both naked, skin to skin, kissing. Reagan ripped open the condom he had thrown onto the bed and sheathed him. He fisted her hair and tilted her head back, licking and biting her throat. Her hands tightened around his cock and he bit down.
“Hold on,” he murmured to her. He pulled her arms back and cuffed her wrists. Her fingers found purchase around the headboard. She held on. She had a feeling it was going to be a wild and dirty ride.
Zac gripped her knees and pulled her further apart. She watched him as he watched his cock enter her pussy. Despite his early words, he went slow. Achingly slow. She could feel every inch of him. It felt so good. Pleasure had her panting, wanting to move.
“Zac. Oh god.” She lost her train of thought. He needed to move faster. To fuck her harder. But she was lost in the moment, unable to say anything beyond his name.
He still watched where they were joined, his face intense. He pulled out of her slowly and then thrust into her a little faster. She shuddered. He did it again. Oh god. He pushed her knees further up so her ass was slanted higher. When he thrust, he slid in deeper. Guttural groans were torn from both of them.
Zac leaned down towards her and pressed his lips to hers, his blue eyes now on her. It was so sexy, she couldn’t help but wiggle under him.
“Don’t move,” he ordered.
“Then, you move!” she snapped back.
“Such a bossy vixen.” He rubbed his nose against hers, an affectionate move that made her heart melt. And then he fucked her faster and she was focused on nothing but the all-consuming pleasure.
It only took a few more thrusts for her orgasm to crash over her. Her pussy tightened around him and he couldn’t hold on any longer either. He came with a deep groan, collapsing on top of her. They both fought to breathe. Her arms came down and wrapped around him, holding him to her.
“You okay?” he murmured into her hair.
She nodded. “I love you.”
He rolled onto his back and took her with him. He held her chin in his hand as he smiled at her.
“Love you too.”
* * *
For the rest of the night, they took only short breaks, making love over and over again. Finally, they fell asleep exhausted sometime around 3:00 am. Reagan closed her eyes with a happy feeling in her heart and woke up to that happy feeling when she was met with bright blue eyes.
“Watching people sleep is creepy, you do know that, right?” she said, even as she snuggled in.
“I like watching you sleep.”
She sighed. Who am I to deny the man the pleasure of watching me sleep, then? Bu
t...
“You can’t not sleep, Zac,” she told him, tentatively.
“I know,” he said. “I’ll...figure something out. Maybe speak to someone about it. You don’t have to worry.”
“Okay. What time is it?” she asked, changing the topic.
The curtains were closed in her bedroom, but there was some light. Zac turned his head.
“10:00 am.” He paused. “You’re not doing anything today, are you?”
Reagan was shaking her head, even before he finished the question. “Nope. I’m all yours today.”
He bit her lip and growled, “You’re always mine, Ree.”
Yes, yes, I am.
“Okay. I need to use the toilet,” he said as he loosened his arms from around her. She pulled back. “Be right back.”
He kissed her softly.
She smiled at him. “’Kay.”
He hopped over her and disappeared into the bathroom.
Reagan closed her eyes and let her mind drift. Until a random thought had her giggling softly. I have to call Letty and let her know that Project Make Him Fall in Love with Me worked. It actually fucking worked. Or better, maybe I should—
“Reagan!”
The front door slammed shut.
Reagan’s head popped up. No way, she thought. That couldn’t be...
A second later, her bedroom door was thrown open and Dean walked in, followed closely by Aidan, who was rolling his eyes.
“What did we say about knocking?” Aidan chastised.
Dean waved his hand. “It’s fine. Hey, baby sis, what are you doing still in bed at this hour? Did you forget everyone was coming over?”
She opened her mouth and tried to say words, but all that came out was a jumbled mess. Shit, shit, what do I do? What do I do?
And then bad went to worse when she heard the toilet flush.
Aidan’s eyes narrowed on her face. “Who’s here, Reagan?”
“Um...”
“Do you have a boy over?” Dean grinned.
And worse went to colossally fucked up when the bathroom door opened and Zac walked out. In nothing but his boxers. At least he wasn’t naked, right?
Chapter Twenty-Six
“This isn’t what it looks like,” Reagan said, desperately.
She held the covers to her chest as she got to her knees.
“You’re naked, he’s naked, are we missing some kind of new game that doesn’t involve fucking?” Dean glared.
“Get dressed,” Aidan said quietly.
“Aidan—” Zac started.
“Get fucking dressed,” Aidan snarled. “And then we can talk.”
“I can’t believe it,” Dean said, shaking his head.
They closed the door, leaving Zac and Reagan alone together.
“Fuck. Fuck,” Zac cursed as he put on his jeans.
Okay, she thought, maybe this was going to be okay. Things were never as bad as you thought them to be, right? Shit, was she kidding? This was definitely bad.
She got out of bed and tried getting dressed as fast as possible. Where the hell is my bra? Oh, fuck it, she didn’t need one anyway. Dressed, she looked at Zac. His hands were in his hair and he was staring at the door with a strained expression.
“I’m so sorry, Zac,” Reagan whispered.
She completely forgot that the family was coming over. And I haven’t even cooked anything, a small part of her wailed. Or more like ordered something since she hated cooking. So stupid and careless to forget that brunch was happening and almost let them catch her with her pants down.
Zac turned to her, slowly dropping his hands.
He frowned. “What are you sorry about?”
“I know you didn’t want to tell them. I know you never wanted to hurt Aidan or my dad or any of them and now they’ll all know. And I have no idea what’s going to happen, but I promise I won’t let them get angry at you for this. It’s not your fault. If they make us choose, I’ll—”
He pressed his hands to her cheek and stopped her rambling. He tilted her face up to meet his.
“Stop. I’m not going anywhere, Ree,” he told her. “I meant what I said last night. I love you. Did I want to tell your family that we were together by having them practically walk in on us? Fuck, no, but it happened. And I wasn’t planning on keeping us a secret. Never again. If this wasn’t going to happen today, it was going to happen sooner rather than later.”
She stared up at him. She released a deep breath. She hadn’t realized that was exactly what she needed to hear.
Zac ran his hand down her arm, until he reached her hand. Their fingers tangled.
“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
They walked out of the bedroom together.
Her step almost faltered when she saw all her family sitting in her living room, including her dad. They all stared. I can do this. Oh shit, maybe. 50% sure.
“Okay, if no one wants to say this first, then I will. This—” Dean pointed to the two of them “—is fucked up.”
Reagan gasped.
“Watch yourself,” Zac snapped.
“You’re on thin ice, Zac, so you watch yourself.” Dean bared his teeth. “And yes, I just made a hockey pun. I’m pissed, but I’m awesome too.”
She really wanted to smack her older brother but resolved to smack him verbally instead.
“What you are is a small-minded dipshit. I don’t know why you have a problem with this, because we’re not doing anything wrong.”
“You guys are like brother and sister.”
“Eww, no.” She wrinkled her nose.
“Fuck no,” Zac said, just as vehemently. “I’ve never thought of Reagan as my sister and I’m damn sure she has never thought of me like that.”
Dean made a gagging sound. “I just thought of something—was this the girl you asked me about a couple of weeks ago? The one you were banging and shouldn’t be dating?”
Zac groaned as the room went on high alert.
“You were talking about my sister. Not cool, dude! Not cool!”
“Is that how long this has been going on for?” Malcolm asked, eyes narrowed on them. “Or have you been lying and going behind our backs for longer?”
She swallowed under her big brother’s stare. “If you’re asking about our physical relationship, then it’s only been these last two weeks, but if you’re asking how long I’ve felt like this, I would say since I was fifteen.”
“Son of a bitch!”
Reagan closed her eyes at both Dean’s and Malcolm’s outbursts.
“Enough,” her dad said quietly.
Everyone fell silent. Reagan opened her eyes.
“Sit down, Reagan. Zachariah.”
* * *
The way he called him “Zachariah” and his tone of voice made Zac want to squirm. They sat down on the couch facing Reagan’s father, still holding hands. Zac rubbed his thumb over her racing pulse at her wrist as if he could physically calm her down. He watched her, not her family—his family—because he meant what he’d said: I’m not letting her go. She’s mine, no matter what.
“Dad—” Reagan began, but her voice died when Lincoln held up his hand.
“Reagan, you have been in love with Zachariah since you were fifteen years old,” he announced suddenly. “And you, Zac, have been in love with her for just as long, even if you didn’t see it.”
Zac’s eyes shot to Lincoln’s.
“I may not be able to walk the way I used to, but I can still see,” he said, mildly. “I told you, Zac. You are like a son to me and I never said those words in jest. I meant them. I love you and I trust you, so why wouldn’t I trust you to love and honor my daughter?”
With his other hand, Zac disheveled his hair, ignoring the rock in his throat.
“You can’t be se
rious, Dad!” Dean said, leaning forward.
“You want your sister to end up with a guy who you know nothing about or to continue dating random men. Is that what you want?” Dean instantly quietened at Lincoln’s words. “That is what I thought.”
“Dad, I’m really grateful you’re taking this so well,” she said, cautiously. “But FYI, you taught your girl to be able to take care of herself and I can.”
“She definitely can.”
“I can also date whoever the fuck I want. With as many people as I want.”
Zac squeezed her hand hard enough that she looked at him. “I’m cool with that, babe. I hope you’re cool with me doing the same thing.”
His amusement grew when his comment sparked her indignation. Laughing, he kissed her.
“You’re an asshole,” she murmured against his mouth.
“I’m your asshole,” he purred, forgetting for a moment who else was in the room.
That was until Dean yelled out, “Get a room!”
“We had a room!” Reagan retorted. “But you had to ruin it.”
Dean sniggered.
“So, you’re not mad, then?” Zac asked Lincoln, hesitantly.
“Oh, I’m mad.” Lincoln tapped his cane. “I’m mad that you guys thought you had to hide your relationship from us and I take some of the blame for that.”
“And we’ll have to take some of the blame for that as well.” Malcolm leaned forward.
“Malcolm,” Aidan snapped, the first word he had spoken in the last few minutes.
“We didn’t want you messing with Reagan, because we didn’t want you using and hurting her. But that is an insult to you, Zac. I’m sorry.”
Aidan looked at Malcom, anger etched on his face. “We have nothing to apologize for. Or have you forgotten that Zac is the one who broke his fucking promise to stay away from our sister?”
Zac tried not to flinch. “You’re right. You have nothing to apologize for. I should be the one saying I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Aidan. I didn’t deliberately set out to break my promise, but I did and I can’t be sorry for that. Because I love Reagan. I’ve always loved Reagan.”