Zane (Alluring Indulgence)

by Nicole Edwards

  Turning to face her, he instinctively reached out and caught her chin with his fingers, turning her face so she was looking directly at him. “You think so, huh?” Without asking permission, Zane leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. He had the good sense to wait to see if she’d push him away, but when she didn’t, he sought the inside of her mouth with his tongue.

  When V let loose, kissing him back and leaning into him, Zane wrapped one arm around her, using his tongue to explore the delectable, rich taste of her. She tasted like beer and sunshine, and his dick no longer twitched. It fucking ached. She kissed him back, and the rest of their surroundings disappeared, replaced only by the sultry little breaths she took, and the moans she fought to keep inside.

  “You got any more excuses?” he asked her, pulling his lips from hers, but not putting any distance between them. She stared back at him, and Zane knew exactly what she was feeling because he felt it too. Something strong and persistent and so damn thrilling, he thought his chest might just explode.

  Zane stepped out into the bright sunshine, surrounded by the stench of too many people in one place, frustrated at himself for walking out, but more so for giving in to his thoughts. He’d never chased a woman in his life, never had to. But he’d also never met a woman who filled every waking thought with memories of her. He wasn’t sure how long it would take to get over her, but he knew for a fact it would happen.

  He fucking hoped it would happen.

  Chapter Thirty One

  ♀♂

  “You can’t be serious?” V exclaimed when an incredibly beautiful, if not seriously fake, woman walked up to the table, tapping Kaleb on the shoulder.

  V was sitting between Braydon and Brendon at a table that was filled with friends of both the future bride and groom. They’d been at the club for a good hour, and so far nothing had gone awry. Apparently, someone hadn’t put a leash on the twins and the stripper – obvious by the long, fake extensions, the double d’s that God didn’t bless her with, and the orangish tint to her skin – was proof of that.

  V glanced over at Zoey to see her smiling like a kid on Christmas. She was sitting between Gage and Kaleb, and had been alternating her time between talking with everyone and dancing with one, or sometimes both men at the same time. Her best friend had let down her hair since coming to Vegas, that was for damn sure.

  Since she stepped foot in the club, V had vowed to have a good time. The first thing she did was locate Zane within seconds of entering the darkened room. As far as she could tell, he hadn’t looked at her once, but she hadn’t expected it either. Ever since he’d turned around and walked out of the restaurant the day before, she’d known that whatever had been between them was dissolving almost as fast as it had flared up. Her heart hurt every time she thought about him. Even sitting just fifteen feet away, V missed him fiercely, but she didn’t know what she was supposed to do about that.

  V watched the blonde as she saddled up to Kaleb, smiling sweetly, and obviously enjoying the attention of all the cowboys who were trying to undress her with their eyes. If V had to guess, the woman was seeing dollar signs in every single pair of eyes at the table. The woman/girl – V didn’t figure she could be much over the age of twenty one if a day – stood up, then slowly made her way around the table, teasing and taunting all of the men but never actually touching them. When she stopped in front of Zane, V’s stomach lurched.

  The grin that split his face was profoundly sexy and boyishly charming all at the same time. He didn’t touch the woman, but he didn’t look away either and V just wanted to claw the bitch’s eyes out. It was too loud to hear what she said, but whatever it was made Zane smile even more and when she leaned in close to his ear, whispering something more, his eyes met hers briefly from across the table. He never stopped smiling, but V knew he wasn’t smiling at her. She felt sick.

  Glancing down at her drink, realizing it was empty, V pushed back her chair and rushed across the room, her eyes on the bar and the much needed drink she knew awaited her. There was no way she could do this. Seeing Zane was hard enough, but if he even pretended to hit on another woman, she wasn’t going to be able to hold it together.

  “Hey.” The deep voice startled her, and V nearly fell into the big man at her back.

  Turning, she looked up into beautiful, familiar eyes, and V had to force herself to calm down. Beau. Ever the friend. “Hey,” she replied, moving into the line that extended out from the bar. She wasn’t all that surprised to see how busy a club like this one was, but V suddenly wished she were at home at Moonshiners, where the bartender knew everyone, and there weren’t any lines.

  Or strippers.

  “You ok?” Zane’s voice was both soothing and calm, the complete opposite of her emotions at the moment.

  No. No, she sure was not. “Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Y’all can’t run from each other forever, you know.”

  V glanced up at Beau, wishing he would mind his own business, but at the same time appreciating the fact that he cared enough to check on her.

  “Don’t you have a stripper that would like to experience what it’s like to be the center of an Oreo?”

  “He’s not like that, V. You know it, and I know it.”

  “No?” she questioned, glancing behind him to see what Zane was doing at the moment. To her surprise, he was sitting by himself once again, staring down into his beer. Damn him.

  V spent the last week coming up with all the pros and cons of being with Zane Walker and she didn’t want to admit it, but the list was undoubtedly in his favor.

  As much as she wanted to pretend he wasn’t exactly what she wanted, V hadn’t been able to come up with enough that would convince her. Even the “too young” that she’d put at the very top of the list was bullshit, and she knew it. If anything, Zane was more mature than she was in many ways. Especially when it came to accepting his feelings. She just wasn’t sure why she couldn’t get past that nagging feeling that told her to keep her distance.

  “Dance with me,” Beau said, pulling her out of the line and over toward the small dance floor.

  This wasn’t a country bar, and quite frankly, V didn’t know the music, but at least it was slow. Instead of fighting, because she wasn’t interested in making a scene, V allowed Beau to pull her up against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

  “He misses you, V. He might not admit it, but it’s obvious.”

  V looked up into those endless brown eyes. Beau Bennett was a devilishly handsome man. Had she not been in love with Zane since almost the moment he put his lips on hers, she could’ve seen herself dating Beau. But, she knew that would’ve been all they had. In all of her thirty years, V had never allowed herself to get close to any man. She hadn’t been looking when Zane stepped in her path that one fateful night, but she hadn’t looked back either. Despite her fears – mostly for Zane’s physical safety – V knew she couldn’t keep up this charade. She would have to face up to her feelings sooner or later.

  “I miss him, too.” Maybe she’d get props for admitting she had a problem. Maybe not.

  Either way, V couldn’t deny it. Not with Beau. They’d become good friends in the last few months, and she couldn’t lie to him. She was pretty sure he’d see right through her if she tried.

  “It’s not too late, you know.” Beau held her close, but not too close. His voice soothed her, and she hoped they wouldn’t turn so that she could see Zane. If he decided to hit on that stripper again, she was pretty sure she was going to break down in tears.

  She didn’t respond to Beau’s comment, not quite sure if she was supposed to say anything. Watching Zane with another woman was painful, thinking about not seeing him every day was even more so. However, she couldn’t help but wonder whether she was the right woman for him.

  According to him, at least, by the way he made her feel, she was the right woman. V felt different when they were together, and not just when they were in bed. In so many ways.

  She
didn’t worry about what was to come, didn’t worry about why she was the way she was, and she didn’t worry about who Zane expected her to be. He wanted her for her, and that’s all anyone ever could ask for.

  On the other hand, Zane had nearly lost his life because of her. There were plenty of Jake Sanders in the world, and since she’d always been the butt of the jokes, or the topic of gossip, she knew Zane was going to risk his life any time he decided that someone was in the wrong for what they said or did. V wasn’t sure she could handle that.

  She couldn’t handle losing Zane. Not forever anyway. She’d much rather walk away from him now and know that he was strong and healthy and would make some woman extremely happy someday. If she didn’t, what might happen? That was the question that constantly plagued her.

  If only her brain and her heart could somehow get on the same page. They weren’t working together, and V was so confused because of it. Seeing him tonight, she’d been beside herself with wanting to talk to him. Only he evidently didn’t want to talk to her. At least not until she told him what he wanted to hear. Unfortunately, V wasn’t sure she could. The more time that passed, the more she wanted to, but she also knew that she was pushing him away with each passing minute.

  “Talk to him,” Beau whispered in her ear and V looked up into his beautiful brown eyes. “Now.”

  V pulled back, but she was instantly distracted by the tall, handsome cowboy that took a step closer, successfully inserting himself between her and Beau.

  “May I?”

  Zane’s voice was like creamy, rich chocolate and V craved more of it. Without hesitation, she allowed Zane to pull her into his arms. She settled within his embrace, her face resting against his shoulder, the overwhelming scent of him causing tears to prickle behind her eyelids.

  “Are you having a good time?” Zane asked the question, and V tried to discern the underlying intent. She first thought he was trying to be sarcastic, but she didn’t hear any heat in his words.

  “No,” she said sincerely, not turning her head to look at him.

  “Me either.” His breath was warm against her face, and she wanted to look up at him, to taste his lips, but she didn’t. Knowing that this was as hard for him as it was for her didn’t make her feel any better.

  “Zane,” she began but quickly shut her mouth again. What was she going to say? Everything that was in her heart would likely have him angry with her because, aside from the fact that she loved him, she still didn’t know whether they could actually be together.

  She felt broken. He was finally whole once again. How would that work? She couldn’t even go to her own house without having a mental breakdown. And even Greyson told her that she needed psychological help.

  While she’d been at her mother’s house, V looked up post-traumatic stress disorder, and she definitely recognized some of the symptoms. It just didn’t seem like the right diagnosis though. She wasn’t the one who’d been through the devastating experience. She was just a bystander to the horror. If Zane wasn’t screwed up because of it, why would she be?

  The slow song ended, and a fast one took its place. Thankfully, Zane took her hand and led her away from the chaos that erupted on the dance floor. She expected them to return to the table, but to her surprise, Zane led her toward the back of the club. She noticed a dark hallway and realized that was where Zane was headed.

  God, she only hoped she didn’t do something stupid.

  ♂♀

  No matter what Zane told himself, he hadn’t been able to stay away from V. Watching her as she danced with Beau had been too much. Although he knew his best friend wasn’t hitting on her, he still couldn’t help but think that he should’ve been the one holding V in his arms.

  It didn’t take him long to piss Tessa the Stripper off, and when she finally realized he wasn’t buying what she was selling, she moved on. Hell, she had an entire table of guys willing to give her at least a few minutes of attention, although he’d be surprised if any of them actually intended to pursue her past the little strip tease she was offering. Zane didn’t have any interest whatsoever. When he’d looked over to see V staring back at him, Zane recognized the jealousy on her face. Not that he was happy about it, but it told him everything he needed to know.

  So walking away from him hadn’t been easy for her.

  That made two of them.

  Standing in the darkened hallway, having to dodge people as they moved in and out of the bathrooms at the end of the hall, Zane wished he could sneak out with V in tow. He wanted to talk to her and he didn’t, all at the same time.

  “I missed you.”

  V’s sudden admission wrecked him in ways he hadn’t expected. Quite frankly, Zane figured V was going to blow him off in a big way. To hear her admit that she missed him was something his heart hadn’t been prepared for it.

  Lifting her chin, Zane made her look at him. He stared down at her for a long time, trying desperately to read her intentions. He didn’t want to hear what she had to say if she was going to try and brush him off again. Selfish or not, Zane wanted to move forward with her in more ways than one. Not the other way around.

  They needed to focus on healing each other, not continuing to try and increase the distance between them.

  “Want to get out of here?” He hoped she would say yes, although he knew the party wasn’t over. Considering their moods, they probably weren’t livening up the party much anyway.

  “I can’t leave Zoey,” she stated.

  Zane merely nodded, then took a step back from her. He knew this wasn’t going to go the way he wanted it to and honestly, he was tired of being the one to pursue her. He wanted to be with her. Hell, he’d even considered asking her to marry him, but from the look she was giving him, he was receiving the brush off.

  When he went to walk away, V grabbed his arm, and he stopped. He didn’t turn to look at her. He couldn’t. To hear her tell him it was over would be too much.

  “Can we go back to your room when the party is over?” she asked, her hand still on his arm. “To, you know, talk?”

  Zane did turn that time. “You want to talk?”

  “Yes. There are some things we need to talk about. But, if you’d rather we wait until we get home, I understand that too.”

  Zane knew they’d be on a plane back to Austin first thing in the morning, but he wasn’t sure he could wait that long to talk to her. He needed to though. It wasn’t like he could displace Beau for the night anyway. Not that he couldn’t share a room with someone else, but Zane didn’t want to.

  “When we get home.” Zane found himself saying. “I’ll come to your house when we get back –” Zane held up his hand to stop her when she tried to interrupt. “This isn’t up to you right now, V. When we get home tomorrow morning, I’m coming over. We’ll talk then. But that’s it. We figure it out then, or we both walk away. Understand?”

  He was tired of playing games. As much as he hated to think he could very well be ending this relationship as he knew it, Zane wasn’t willing to continue moving in circles. For the longest time, he’d thought they were moving forward, at least inch by inch. These last few days had proven that he was wrong. They weren’t getting any closer to solving these issues between them. It was time they put the past behind them. Moving forward was his only option from here on out.

  Chapter Thirty Two

  ♂♀

  By the time Zane was on his way to V’s, the day was more than half over. The morning had been hectic, getting to the airport in Vegas, getting on the plane and then finally pulling into his driveway had taken a little over five hours. Truthfully, after the night before, he really just wanted to fall into bed for a couple of hours. After he and V had opted to wait to talk, they’d returned to the party and even though they didn’t talk much, they’d managed to liven things up a little.

  In true twin fashion, they’d had three more strippers come join the party and no one could ever call Zoey sweet and innocent anymore. She’d helped the strippe
rs tease both Kaleb and Gage, which if no one had known that the three of them were doing the deed together, they sure did now. When Zoey kissed one of the strippers, Zane thought the bar was going to erupt. His dick had sure enjoyed the sight, but thankfully, he drowned his hormones with alcohol.

  At one point, Gage and Travis had been talking, and despite the aggressive way they regarded each other, Zane could sense another kind of tension between them. Strange. Very, very strange. He tried to blame it on the vodka, but now he wasn’t so sure. Maybe he was just seeing things. After what happened between him and Beau, it was quite possible his mind was playing tricks on him. Just because he had experimented, didn’t mean everyone was.

  Then again, Zane hadn’t imagined what happened between Ethan and Blake. He’d been innocently on his way to the bathroom to take a leak and lo and behold, right there in the hallway, Blake was pressed up against Ethan, their mouths locked together. Not even a crowbar would’ve pried those two apart. He pretended not to see anything and went about his business.

  What the fuck? Shaking off the thoughts of his brothers with men, Zane focused on driving to V’s. Just as a precaution, he’d called Travis and Beau beforehand. Not that he expected anything to happen, but Zane wasn’t interested in getting his ass handed to him again. He wasn’t feeling one hundred percent at the moment as it was. Being precautious wasn’t a bad thing, he reminded himself.

  He managed to arrive at V’s without incident, making it through her front door without a second thought. When he saw her, his mind blanked, and he could think of nothing except stripping her down right there in the living room and burying himself deep in her body. So deep, she would never be able to run from him again.

  “Hey,” she greeted, slipping behind him and locking the front door. He knew she thought she was being discrete, but it hadn’t worked.

  “Hungry?” she asked as she turned back to the kitchen.