by Chant, Zoe
That statement didn’t make any sense—they’d only just met. How could he have wanted to be with her forever? But Esme quickly forgot the question when her pussy grew tighter around him, and more juices came raining down. His hands on her skin were sheer magic, the kind that left colorful sparks bursting in its wake. Every bit of her was so sensitive, every touch only deepened her pleasure until she’d completely lost track of everything but how good he felt moving inside her.
Zachary thrust faster and faster, and Esme grew closer and closer to the edge. She could feel it like a tsunami on the horizon. Her pulse and her breath sped up together. “Oh, oh, oh!” she cried. “Oh, God, Zachary!”
Then the tsunami crashed over her just as Zachary spurted his seed. She could feel as he shuddered and gasped, and an ocean of bliss crashed over her in a foamy wave of bliss, washing her away. She might drown forever.
Esme was okay with that. She never, ever wanted to swim back to shore.
Not ever, if she could possibly help it.
And here, she thought sleepily, locked in the secure embrace of Zachary’s big, brawny arms, she would never have to.
* * *
Zachary watched Esme sleep. He was exhausted, but he hadn’t been able to drift off all night. His bear was too excited that he’d finally found his mate. Instead of closing his own eyes, he’d cradled her all night in his arms, not caring when his hand went all pins and needles or he needed to change position. He adjusted as carefully, as quietly as he could, intent on keeping from disturbing her sleep.
His poor mate. She’d had a rough twenty-four hours, and he wasn’t about to add to it.
His heart, though, refused to be calm. Just like his bear, it jumped and leaped with excitement every time he looked at her, which was all the time between blinks. He couldn’t believe he’d found her! After all this time, when he’d given up on even believing a match existed for him in this world.
And somehow he would have to tell her the truth about who he was. Not to mention his bear and his own ability to shift and growl.
But for now, none of that mattered. All Zachary could think of was how soft she felt in his arms, how delicious she smelled, a cross between chocolate and that elusive feminine musk that had always driven him to despair with wanting. This time, though, the scent incited a different kind of wanting. A lust that was more. A lust that covered the beginnings of love.
He’d found his mate, and as much as the feel of her supple, curvy body in his arms made his cock harden, as much as he loved her beautiful hair and her ears like little seashells and the way her lips scrunched up as she slept, all he wanted right now was to savor the moment.
He’d made so much money, way more than any one person could ever use in a lifetime, and now he finally had someone he wanted to spend it on. Sure, he always gave to charity and good causes, but he’d never had anyone to spoil directly.
Until now. Ideas raced through his mind, one after another, until he was brimming over. He would give her everything.
How could Esme really not see how her heart glowed with courage and determination and kindness? How could she honestly not see how beautiful she was, from her curly hair to her little hands to her large, steady feet? There was nothing about her not to love.
His bear growled its agreement and wondered why didn’t wake her to start showing her just how much she meant to him. It was only with great difficulty that Zachary pushed it back down. Not yet, he thought. Let her sleep. She needs to recover!
Finally she stirred, and made a couple adorable smacking sounds before her eyes opened. Her breasts squished against his arm, making his cock stiffen again. She felt so good, so soft and like his mate that he wanted to dance.
Instead, he held his breath as she came fully awake. Recognition dawned, and her brown eyes grew wide. She juddered, then settled back into his arms. He shifted just enough to let the blood flow back into his arms, but was careful not to jolt her. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” he teased.
She yawned, her plump lips curving in a perfect O until she covered it with her hand. “Morning,” she mumbled. “Do I smell pancakes?”
Zachary’s bear demanded he take her right then. Her soft skin pressed against his, her heavy, round breasts gleamed invitingly in the late-morning sunlight, and his cock nudged her hip. Zachary did his best to ignore them all. This moment was about caring for his mate.
“Would you like pancakes?” he asked softly, careful to keep his voice modulated so he didn’t scare away the precious woman he was somehow lucky enough to be holding.
Esme beamed. “Pancakes with mixed-berry compote is my favorite. Oh, and lots of unsalted butter, of course.”
“Of course,” he said. She was so beautiful! He gently reached one arm out to the bedside table, nabbed his cell phone, spe e d-dialed his chef, and put in the order, along with freshly squeezed blood orange juice and dark-roasted coffee.
Esme relaxed against him. “I think I should take a shower,” she said reluctantly. “And maybe brush my teeth.”
In a flash, Zachary had set her back against the mound of fluffy pillows and leaped up from the bed. His bed, his bear pointed out, the bed he’d been saving for his mate. And he’d made love to his mate in that bed and should do so again. Immediately. “Stay right there,” he said to Esme before he could give in to his bear’s urging. “I’ll be back.”
He dashed into the master bathroom and to the claw-foot bathtub with its gold faucet and knobs and quickly drew a lavender bubble bath. He’d wildcrafted the lavender himself from a field in France, and had learned from a master perfumer how to distill the essential oil and make his own special bath oil. It worked wonders on the skin, the perfumer had promised.
But again, Zachary had saved it for that special, perfect moment when he could treat his mate to a fine bath in his tub. If he was honest with himself, he had learned how to distill lavender just so he could have this moment. No, so he could have the pleasure of giving her this moment.
Our mate, insisted his bear. Go to her.
The tub filled quickly, steaming and smelling like the fields of Aix-en-Provence. When he rushed back into the bedroom, he found Esme up, a sheet wrapped around her as she curiously studied all the fancy objects in the room. Rich people trappings, and he knew it: a huge flatscreen television embedded in the wall, the marble statues in the corners, the priceless art everywhere. Zachary had earned the money for all of that. It was his, and it even reflected him in a strange way.
But nothing really mirrored his heart the way his bed did.
He tried not to worry. Esme would know that, right?
Esme looked at him then. “Where did you go?” she asked uncertainly.
It took him two long strides to reach her. He swept her up in his arms, and in her shock, she dropped the sheet. His cock warmed even as his heart did. This was how it was supposed to be, him caring for his mate, holding her close.
He brought her into the bathroom and stopped before the steaming tub. Esme inhaled deeply. “This smells like a garden!” she said, grinning.
“For you,” he said, nodding at the tub. “May I set you in it?”
“For . . . me?” Her face grew somber, then awed. “Yes, please—but you have to join me!”
“I will,” he promised. In my way.
Zachary set her into the water with the gentlest of movements, allowing her to slowly sink into the hot water. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes as the bubbles covered her naked body. He glimpsed bits of her damp flesh here and there, and he thought he might explode with desire. Instead of acting on it, he reached for her foot and began to massage it.
She moaned, and his bear commanded Zachary to jump into the water with her and take her. But he continued kneading her foot, silently sending her one message: You can trust me.
Once he’d finished with that foot, Esme lifted her other one out of the water. Soapy suds and water dripped off it, and it was the most beautiful sight Zachary had ever seen. Not caring about the soap, he kissed her b
ig toe and then smiled at her.
She returned the smiled. “Why?” she asked quietly. “Why all this? Why . . . me?”
“Do you still think you’re not beautiful?” Zachary asked, rubbing her instep in a firm, circular motion. “Because it hurts me that you’d think about yourself that way.”
Esme ducked her head. “Believe it or not, it’s not that. I just—well, you’re a pharma executive. You have more money than some small nations count as their gross domestic product. So why me? When . . . when you could have anyone?”
Zachary slowly lowered her foot back into the water and took her hand in his. He stared deep into her dark-chocolate eyes, willing her to see him. “There is no one but you,” he said softly. “It was no accident we met.”
“Well,” she said, laughing nervously, “that’s a lovely thought.” She bit her lip, then continued. “Tell me what you want. You know, if you didn’t have a company to run, what would you want?”
Something in Zachary wanted to tell her the truth, and it wasn’t just his bear’s prodding. He was tired of pretending to be someone he wasn’t. Before he knew it, the words he’d never admitted to anyone were flooding out of him. “I studied pharmacy in college because I saw there was so much suffering in the world on a physical level, and I wanted to do something about it. But later I got my MBA because I realized pharmacists don’t actually wield any power. They just provide the drugs someone else prescribes. I wanted to make a difference.” He stopped, realizing how cliché that sounded.
But Esme watched him with soft, interested eyes. “Go on,” she whispered, gesturing for him to continue. “Please.”
Something about the way she moved her bubble-covered hand made him realize he was still naked, still so close to her, and his cock was of course standing at attention, ready to be of service to her. It felt totally natural to be squatting next to the tub like this wearing only his birthday suit while chatting with his mate, Zachary realized. Even turned on, because his heart was engaged, too. It was . . . nice. Safe.
Right. It was absolutely, completely one hundred percent right.
His bear agreed, making a smacking sound of satisfaction. Our mate, at last.
“I took over this company when it was just a startup because I wanted to get medication to those who need it the most, whether children or people who just can’t afford quality health care. That’s in this country and all around the world, honestly.” Zachary hoped she didn’t think he was naïve. In the years that had passed since he first went to work, he often wondered if, in the grand scheme of things, his company had made any difference at all.
“I think that’s noble and wonderful,” Esme said. She smiled at him, her lush lips parting to reveal shapely white teeth, and his heart glowed like an ember. “I have to confess, I thought all rich people lived in a bubble and had no idea what life was like for the rest of us.”
Zachary sighed and released Esme’s hand. “Many of us are,” he agreed, “and if I hadn’t grown up poor and living in a trailer in the middle of Wyoming, I might be like that, too.” He grimaced. “Unfortunately, my clan—my family, I mean—didn’t have much money, so when my Aunt Sally sickened from the radioactive chemicals dumped in our water supply, and we couldn’t even pay to put her in hospice, I decided I had to do something. There’s no reason anyone should die from preventable diseases, not today, not with all the technology and research at our disposal.”
Esme leaned over the tub, her arms out. Zachary sank thankfully into them, not caring at all that she was dripping. Not caring about anything but how sweet it was to be nurtured and soothed by the mate he’d spent his whole adult life searching for. And she smelled like lavender, his favorite. Their cheeks pressed together.
Esme stroked his hair for a few minutes, the best feeling in the world. “But you didn’t answer my actual question,” she teased finally.
Zachary realized she was right. “You caught me,” he said, shrugging. “I’ve done what I can in the name of donating time and money and supplies, but what do I personally want?”
“Yes,” she said. “Tell me. I really want to know.”
Tell her, his bear insisted. She’s even asking you to.
“I want you to know me,” he said simply. “Without reservation, without me hiding anything. All of me.”
“Show me, then,” Esme urged. She watched him with those rich, trusting eyes that spoke in a language only he could understand. “I want to know you, too.”
The last of Zachary’s defenses crumbled like an old brick wall. How was he supposed to resist the wishes of his mate? He couldn’t even if he wanted to. And he didn’t, not at all.
So the powerful CEO of BNS Biopharmaceuticals knelt on his marble bathroom floor, gazed at his mate’s gorgeous brown eyes, and asked, “Remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears?”
* * *
Esme still couldn’t believe any of this was happening. First, a billionaire had saved her from her boss. Then he’d made love to her with the most intensity she’d ever experienced, never mind how her orgasm had been so powerful, she’d almost exploded out of her body. Now she understood why people referred to fireworks during sex.
But none of that could stop the whole situation from feeling surreal, like a dream she was doing her best not to wake up from. After they’d enjoyed the leisurely pancake breakfast one of Zachary’s valets had delivered to the bedroom suite, Zachary had asked if she would be willing to accompany him into the woods behind his house. “I have something to show you,” he’d said, and he’d spoken with so much seriousness that she worried something was wrong.
“Of course I will,” she said, taking a sip of blood orange juice and trying to keep her own tone light.
And now here they were, just the two of them, out among the gold-dappled trees and dandelions and violets. A butterfly fluttered past, its orange-and-black wings making her smile in spite of herself. If this were a movie about their love story, it couldn’t have had a better setting.
Zachary took her hand and led her into a cave she hadn’t noticed, a little hole in an outcropping of rock in the side of the hill. “This is my little hideaway,” he said, smiling ruefully, “a place I go when I just need to get away.”
Esme stared in fascination. It was just a cave, and dark to boot, but he’d set it up in a rustic style, with a cozy fire pit and a couple logs for sitting. There was zero technology that she could see, nothing in the way of typical entertainment. Definitely not what she would have expected of a billionaire.
But at the same time, it suited Zachary in a way she couldn’t explain. She imagined him coming here when the business world just became too much. Maybe it was a good place to get away from the memories of his departed aunt. Her heart twinged in sympathy.
Zachary gestured for her to sit down on a log near the entrance, but not before he set a blanket there. Esme appreciated the gesture. He was just so . . . so gallant in a way most guys seemed to have forgotten how to be. But with Zachary, it came naturally. She liked it. A lot.
More than she was ready to admit, even.
She sat and waited, wondering what he would have to share with her. Whatever it was, she knew she would accept it with an open heart. How could she not, when this magic link flowed between them? She’d never even dared imagine she might share something like this with anyone, let alone a billionaire who loved her food and wanted to heal the world with his work.
Just outside the cave mouth, the sun shone down, lighting the visible sky an electric blue, the kind that got into Esme’s bones and made her want to climb trees. Or take a nap in the grass. Either one had its pluses.
“So?” she asked at last, trying to hide her curiosity.
Zachary looked like he was fighting an internal battle. But what was being fought, and which side was winning, she didn’t know. It made something inside her ache.
Finally he gave in and shook his head. “I have never shown anyone outside my clan this part of me before. But if you are the o
ne for me, then you need to know.”
Esme’s head spun. The one for him? Really? And know what?
“So I know it was a weird question about Goldilocks earlier, but have you ever considered who the real villain of the story is?” Zachary looked pleadingly at her, like he was begging her to understand whatever it was he wasn’t saying, and though she didn’t know what he was talking about, she just wanted to go to him and kiss his concerns away.
Still, this unspoken thing was clearly bothering him, so Esme set aside the urge to touch him and considered the story. She hadn’t given it much thought since she’d been a kid, and back then, she’d sympathized with Goldilocks and her hunger and exhaustion. But now she tried to put herself in the bears’ shoes, coming home after a hard day of doing whatever out in the woods to find an interloper in the house—who’d wasted their food and slept in their beds! And now they were forced to care for this stranger who had broken into their home and destroyed their day and their sense of safety.
Was . . . was Zachary asking her to have sympathy for the bears? If so, he’d succeeded. But why? What did that have to do with him?
“Do—do you understand now?” he asked, his gaze on her so intense, it almost burned.
Esme wasn’t sure what to say. It was clear he was desperately trying to communicate something, but unless it was that nature mattered, too, she didn’t understand the message. Though he looked pretty great out here in the wilderness, she had to admit. That was nature she could appreciate without a second thought. Her eyes traced the rippling muscles of his chest as he tore off his shirt. “I—”
Wait, why was he stripping off his clothes? She’d already seen him naked, and that definitely was not a problem for her. She thought she’d made that clear last night . . .
Was he . . . were they going to do it right here? In the cave in the middle of the forest, where anyone could just stumble onto them? Slick liquid trickled down between her legs at the thought, and she shivered despite the warm air.
Desire turning his eyes a dark, blustery blue, Zachary ran straight toward her.