by Box Set
All the moms applauded and the dads who were present slugged him in the arm or gave him a pat on the shoulder or back. It was all so very primitive. Who am I kidding? Charity may have perched on the bleachers to watch the kids play, yet she had a great view and couldn’t take her gaze off him.
Need coiled in her belly, a ripple of sensation both alien and familiar. He’d always been so good looking, and she’d always been proud and tickled that she was his girl. None of the others got to kiss him or hold him. They’d even lost their virginity together. The first few times had been fumbles, as often as full of mistakes as it was pleasure. It took time, but they’d learned what each other liked, and they’d gotten better.
Something to be said for a man who believed in practicing everything until he understood how to make it work every time. Suddenly flushed, she used a hand to fan herself and caught him watching her from across the field. Her hot blush didn’t do much for her temperature regulation. Shifting in her seat, she contemplated fleeing for her apartment and making some excuse about fixing dinner when the other moms descended.
The women fluttered about, sharing gossip, hopes, and dreams. Thankfully, they hadn’t noticed her far from platonic reaction to her former boyfriend. Well, most of them hadn’t. Tina Hunt definitely noticed, but Tina and she had been become friends after high school both pregnant and both foregoing college to find careers at home as single moms. Her reaction was a wide smile and two thumbs up.
Emboldened by the support, she waited until Andie and Zeke were ready to go then suggested they stop at Uncle Ricky’s on the way back to the apartment. Uncle Ricky’s made the best tacos in Sherwood Point. Andie immediately started chanting about tacos and bean burritos. With a slow, gentle smile he’d agreed. Idling at the order window, he seemed almost indulgent as Andie placed the order for them.
Her heart swelled at how patient and encouraging he behaved towards their child. In truth, he’d been that way towards all the kids on the team. Though he filled the order for them, he only ordered a fajita salad for himself.
“Are you sure that’s enough food for you?” He used to be able to eat his body weight, more often than not they doubled their orders and he ate all of his and a good portion of hers.
“Training starts in a week, I should watch what I consume, and we had burgers earlier.” The reminder of the ticking clock on their reunion sobered her simple joy at the day. “Salad will be good, so is the steak fajita meat.”
All the way through dinner, she watched him interact with their daughter. Her gut ached with the idea of him leaving, again. The first time he’d gone, she’d been the one pushing him and encouraging him every step of the way. This time, the last thing she wanted was to say goodbye. They’d just said hello. A perfect gentleman, he’d done the dishes and cleaned up while she gave Andie her bath. He’d even put on the coffee before scooping Andie up to carry her into her bedroom. Her daughter’s squeals of laughter accompanied his deeper baritone. It was music to her ears. Music she’d never allowed herself to long for or miss, but now she’d heard it. How could she ever go back to a life without him in it?
“Hey,” he said. His warm hand on her cheek pulled her from her reverie. “Are you okay?”
She glanced around for Andie then frowned at the time. “Is she asleep?”
“Passed out cold. You weren’t wrong about her being asleep before her head hit the pillow.” He stroked his thumb over her cheek and she leaned into the contact. In truth, she had no business wanting the things she wanted. Telling him had been about his relationship with Andie—a relationship they both deserved. “It’s late…”
“It’s only eight.” Hardly late for adults.
The corner of his mouth kicked a fraction higher. “Well, later than I’ve been here all week. You’ve usually sent me away when it was time for her bath.”
Had she sent him away? “I think we all kind of found that a natural stopping point.” Yes, she’d made other decisions for them, but she’d been working hard to make sure they were working together.
Surprise flickered in his blue eyes, and she dropped her gaze to study his very kissable mouth. On that thought, she pushed out of the chair and he let his hand fall away. For a moment, hurt turned down the corners of his mouth and fresh regret stung her. She hadn’t meant to react so badly.
Catching his hand before he could walk away, she searched for the buoyant mood she’d had earlier. “I’m sorry. Maybe I am tired. I didn’t mean to snap. The coffee smells good…care to have a cup and watch me eat one of the cupcakes I made?” They’d been a final surprise of the day, Andie had adored hers but, based on his earlier comment regarding his diet, it hadn’t surprised Charity when he’d declined one of his own.
His tongue swiped over his lower lip. “Watch you eat a cupcake?” When he repeated her offer, it carried a far more suggestive tone than she’d intended.
Heart fluttering and belly in knots, she bit her lip. Perhaps the sharp sensation of pain would quiet the sudden need to kiss him. Instead, his gaze zeroed in on her mouth, and she wanted to groan. Heat licked those gorgeous blue eyes. Blowing out a breath, feeling more awkward seventeen-year-old than nearly twenty-six-year-old single mom. “Adulting is hard,” she admitted.
His devastating dimple appeared as his cheeks creased. “Adulting, eh? Is that what we’re doing?”
The tension holding her captive burst, and she laughed. “Yes, it’s what we’re supposed to be doing.” After all, she’d admitted a long deception, which kept him from his child and tried to find a way to fold him into her daughter’s life. “I mean, we’ve handled everything with maturity, right?” Did she want confirmation that they were simply two parents stumbling into the direction of working together or did she want him to deny her charge and…
“Sometimes you think too much.” The drawled observation didn’t carry a tone of insult, but at the same time…
“Sometimes I don’t think everything through,” she admitted. “Like the inherent danger in kissing you.”
Nostrils flaring ever so slightly, he turned his sharp arresting gaze from her lips to her eyes. Raw passion scorched her. “What are you afraid of?”
“I think a better question would be what am I not afraid of?” Eight years ago, she would rather have melted into a puddle than admit her fears. That was then, she reminded herself. “We’re not in high school anymore, Zeke.”
“No,” he agreed, too easily. “We’re not.”
“Any attraction we’re feeling…it’s normal. We know each other so well.” Then she amended hastily. “I mean we knew each other well.”
“Yes, to both. Though I like to think we still do… You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.” The creases in his cheeks reappeared. “More beautiful now than then…and smart, determined, funny.”
Hearing the list of traits he recited had her belly fluttering once more. Damn butterflies. She wasn’t a teenager. She wouldn’t be overcome by a pretty compliment. “Zeke…”
“Charity?” An element of challenge underscored her name.
Get it together... “Did you want that coffee?”
“I’ll take it, if you want to share.” Another emotion, indefinable and fleeting passed over his expression. “I’ll go if you want me to, as well.”
Want? No. She didn’t want him to go anywhere, and that was the problem. What she truly desired… “Some days, I wish I could turn back time.”
With a tip of his head, he seemed to study her, or maybe he simply waited for her to continue. Regardless, Zeke said nothing more.
“I’m nervous.” She exhaled on a ruffled laugh then beckoned him with a crook of her fingers. In the kitchen, she set the single-cup coffee maker to brewing one cup for him, then she’d make one for herself. Having something to do with her hands meant she might not drag him in for… Stop going there. Berating herself silently didn’t help either.
When she offered him the mug of coffee, he accepted it, but instead of drinking he just
set it aside. Her heart seemed to lodge permanently in her throat.
“You don’t want the coffee?”
Trapped by the dark invitation in his eyes, she forgot to return to the coffee maker and start her own cup. When he glided his palms against her cheeks, she almost forgot how to breathe.
“You’re going to kiss me.” Why was she babbling?
The corners of his lips curved into a hint of a smile before he dipped his head. He brushed his thumb to the corner of her mouth. She opened obediently to him. The press of his lips to hers was a light thing, butterfly wings or a silken stroke of a fast ball breezing across her senses. The second kiss took her by storm before her surprise could take root. Subtle, soft, hot and hard all in the same moment as he tested her with a dart of his tongue. She wanted to gasp, then her hands were in his hair and his arms were around her.
Zeke had been the first man to ever kiss her. She knew his kiss. The way he stole her breath, invaded her mind and captured her heart. That had been when they were not much more than children themselves. She hadn’t kissed him in eight years, denying them both out of the desire to see him pursue his dreams. Reason flitted across the surface of her mind, a stone skipping across still waters. The ripples radiated with her pulse. Need bubbled through her.
The heat of his hands on her hips steadied her, but her hunger, now aroused, demanded more. She thrust her tongue out to twine with his. The heavy weight of him pressed into her and she couldn’t seem to get close enough. Despite the clothing separating them, her nipples beaded tight and the nervousness in her blood turned to raging desire.
A sense of belonging she hadn’t experienced in years had her clinging to him. When his mouth left hers to spread nibbling kisses along his jaw, she could only hold tight to him. It was as though she feared drowning if she released him, or worse…waking to discover the man holding her was only a dream.
“I never forgot your taste,” he told her in a rough voice. The rasp of it cascaded over her. The callouses on his fingers caressed her cheeks then her throat as he traced a path with his lips to her ear. “I never forgot you.”
The declaration took her out at the knees. She would have fallen if not for the way he dropped his hands back to her hips. One moment she was falling, the next he had lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. It was the most natural thing in the world. Holding Zeke. Being held by him.
“I never stopped loving you,” she confessed, the admission tearing free despite her wish to remain sensible. “Letting you go was the hardest thing I ever did.”
One moment he kissed her throat, the next he’d pulled his head away enough to stare at her. His deep blue eyes seemed to pulse with fresh heat. “Don’t ever do it again.”
“What?” Confusion clouded her. Don’t do what again? Don’t kiss him?
“Don’t let me go again. Promise me.” He squeezed her hips, and the hardness of his erection rested against her core. It didn’t matter that denim separated them, she could feel the stiff length bulging in his jeans. Her insides melted, and a rush of liquid warmth throbbed through her. The need to be out of their clothes, to wrap her body around his as he pounded into her.
“I don’t want to trap you…” The words came out halting, almost desperate. The last thing she wanted was to let him go, but she hadn’t confessed her sins to hold him hostage.
“Why the hell not?” His growl sounded so delicious, it chastised and excited her in equal measures.
“Because I love you…”
“Woman,” he snarled, and then he kissed her. The hard press of his lips robbed her of coherent thought. Somehow “woman” sounded a declaration, and her body and soul capitulated to the demand within it.
When he let her up for air, she gripped his chin. “My bedroom is close to Andie’s.” A warning. A caution.
“Then we’ll just have to be quiet.” Determination stroked her with a thrill. Abandoning their coffee, he carried her to her room. It was everything she’d ever desired in her heart of hearts, the place where she kept her secret longings hidden away. One moment she was in his arms, the next standing by her bed.
The room with all its pretty pale pinks and creams reminded her of the girl she’d been. He should have seemed so out of place, tall and lean, but dense in his muscles. He stripped out of his clothes while she watched dazed at the thick, ropey muscles along his arms and the breadth of his shoulders.
When she would have begun shedding her own clothes, he stopped her. “Let me…” It was a request, but the gleam in his eyes asked for so much more than just to strip her naked.
Raw. Hungry. A tinge of desperation. They were all there in his gaze, but more—devotion she’d never thought to experience again. The last of her reluctance crushed beneath the love in him.
“Yes.” The whispered word took flight, and she shuddered at the release of it. “Yes, Zeke.”
Chapter 7
Addicted to the sweet taste of home—all warm spice and decadence—Zeke captured Charity’s mouth again. Beneath his touch, she quivered. Aware of her nerves, he sought to soothe as much as to seduce. He wanted her hot and slick with need. He wanted to bury himself inside of her and feel her pull him under. He never wanted it to end. Peeling away her cotton top felt like stripping away the long years of separation. Every layer of clothing he divested her of helped him bridge the distance of years. The dig of her nails into his biceps made him smile. She swayed on her feet, as overwhelmed as him.
How the hell had he stayed away from her all these years? Dipping his fingers between her legs, he teased her while he licked and kissed a path along her jaw to her throat. The spill of her hair as she tilted her chin back and bared her throat to him caressed his forearm. Softer than satin and far more luxurious than anything other than her skin…
“You’re still so soft,” he murmured against her flesh, more to himself than to her. His blood pounded in his veins, all of it seeming to flood south to his cock. He ached for her, the thrumming of his heartbeat a primal cadence. The hollow between her breasts beckoned him and he nudged her back toward the bed. When she sank down, he followed her, cupping her breasts. She’d always been curvy, but they were heavier now and more than filled his palms. The tease of his fingers across her nipples had her gasping. The dark areolas were almost red-flushed, perfect ripe raspberries atop her creamier flesh.
“Zeke!” Her gasp, the unbridled passion cresting in her voice, sent another wave of demand along his spine. He wanted to splay her wide and thrust into her, balls deep, and stake his claim. Charity was his, she’d always been his, and he’d always been hers. No other woman ever proved alluring to him. He’d earned his wholesome reputation quite by accident, a byproduct of his disinterest in women who were not her.
Every stroke of his fingers earned him another jagged breath from her. When he slipped a finger between the damp, heated folds of her sex, he also closed his lips on her swollen nipple. He lavished her with contact, filling his need for her in the same instance. She bucked against him when his thumb circled her clit and he drew on the nipple, tensing his lips so the suction had her arching her back.
“Too much,” she protested, and he released her nipple to take possession of her mouth. So open and abundant in her responses—he eased another finger inside of her. The tenseness of her inner muscles pulsed against his invasion and his cock ached. Half-blind with the want of her, he devoured her lips in a kiss so hungry he thought he’d never be sated.
She scraped her nails across his scalp, half pulling and pushing him as though she didn’t know what she wanted, but her body collided with his. The softness of her thigh seemed a caress against his heavier leg. He could practically smell her arousal.
When he would have trailed a path between her legs, she fisted his hair and jerked his head up. “I need you,” she managed, her eyes so dark he could drown in them. “I need you.”
Needing no further encouragement, he eased between her thighs, his cock as eager to sink into her as he was,
but he hesitated. “Fuck me.” He managed to hiss out between clenched teeth, pained beyond measure.
“I’d love to.” Was that a note of teasing in her voice? She bumped her hips against him invitingly, and his cock quested too close to her damp heat. Dammit, he wanted to be inside of her.
“No. Condoms.” He managed to fire the syllables out between clenched teeth. Frustration raked along his spine. If he could survive dragging on his jeans, he’d head over…
“I’ve got an implant,” she said, like a clarion bell of the heavens. “And the last lover I had was you…”
His heart fisted in his chest, wonder spearing him. “I’m clean,” he promised her.
“Of course you are,” a hint of teasing darkened the desire her words provoked. “I’m about to defrock the Friar…”
Laughter rumbled through him, bursting the frustration and unease. She was so magnificent, his Charity. His perfect woman. What the hell had he been so afraid of? She owned him, body and soul whether she understood it or not. “Again.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“You’re going to defrock me, again.” He nudged at her entrance with his cock, little pushes to tease her with each word.
Tease her? Torment him. The heat threatened to burn him alive with each shallow stroke.
“I think we defrocked each other—” A gasp and then she wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him off balance as he sank into her. So open, so unrestrained in her passion, she took him all the way until they both hissed out a breath.
She rose up to meet him, arms wrapping around his shoulders, mouth slanting open under his for a kiss that threatened to short-circuit his good intentions. She rolled against him, wild, wanton, and free. He wanted to savor the lush feel of her body against his, but her eager hands rubbed over his back to clench at his bottom.