Barefoot Bay: Flying High (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Omega Team Book 6)

by Desiree Holt

  He stroked his tongue across her lips, sipping from them, tracing the seam before pressing harder and forcing her mouth open. She welcomed the intrusion, letting her tongue duel with his in a dance so erotic she had to clutch his arms to keep herself steady. He was eager yet, at the same time, gentle.

  Lips still fused to hers, he undid the tie of her ponytail and let her hair fall loose, sifting his fingers through it. The kiss went on and on, his tongue rubbing the tender skin inside. Her breasts felt swollen, her nipples so hard she was afraid they’d poke through her T-shirt. Zack slid one big hand down her back, cupping the cheeks of her ass and pulling her tight against him, the thick length of his erection pressing hard against her.

  It was still there, the magic she’d never felt with anyone else. Not that she’d tried to, of course. Whenever she looked at another man, all she ever saw was Zack—his masculine body, his square-jawed face, the dark curly hair, and blue eyes the color of the morning sky. The curve of his lips when he smiled.

  Oh god!

  The walls of her sex throbbed, and she knew her panties had to be soaked, just from this contact. She pressed herself against him as hard as she could, every nerve and particle throbbing with hunger for him, a hunger that had never faded in all these years. Someone moaned softly. And she didn’t know which one of them it was.

  How had she ever thought she could walk away from him, shut him out of her life, and never want to be with him again? He owned her heart, and it was time she admitted it to herself. She realized she’d done a terrible thing, something she’d have to finally admit to him. But not right now.

  She broke the kiss but not his hold on her. “I-I thought we were going to talk.”

  “Talking is highly overrated.” He took her mouth again, this time with a hunger she couldn’t mistake.

  In that moment, passion gripping her and her heart thundering, she made a decision. If she was only going to have these couple of days with him, she was going to make the most of it. Then she’d face the difficult decision of whether to tell him about Michael. She wasn’t sure if she even had the courage to face that day of reckoning yet.

  I may go to hell for my sins, but if this is all I’ll ever have with him, if it all falls apart afterward, I want this, and I want it now. Call me selfish but I don’t care.

  She melted into the kiss, opening her mouth even more, sliding her tongue across his, the taste of him intoxicating. She was sure she could keep kissing him forever, but Zack seemed to have other ideas. He lifted his mouth from hers and looked hard into her eyes, desire burning in his.

  “For what I want to do, Bailey, we need to take this inside. If you don’t want this, now’s the time to tell me.”

  “I want this.” She whispered the words.

  Zack lifted her in his arms. “Then point me to the bedroom.”

  She hadn’t forgotten the feel of his body against hers, and the contact letting loose a cascade of memories. When he stood her on her feet beside the bed, she reached up to touch his cheeks, tracing the familiar line of his jaw and his cheekbones.

  “I shaved.” There was the tiniest bit of uncertainty in his voice, as if he hadn’t been sure what to expect with her. “Wanted to put my best foot forward.”

  “I like your stubble, too” she told him. Then her face heated as new memories hit. Memories of the times they’d made love early in the morning, the scruff of beard dusted on his face rubbing against her cheeks, her breasts, the skin of her thighs. The pulse between her legs started to thunder.

  “You have no idea how many nights I dreamed about being with you like this.” His voice was rough with hunger. “Nights when it was so cold it could freeze my nose off, I’d lie in my bed and keep warm by thinking of you. Of being with you. Of touching you.”

  He tugged up the T-shirt hem and stroked the smooth skin of her midriff, easing his hands up the satin of her bra. She drew in a breath as his fingers found her nipples through the fabric and gave them a gentle squeeze. The shot of electricity went straight to her core, and she had to squeeze her thighs together to control the pounding of the pulse in her sex. More than two decades faded away, and the desire, the hunger was back as strong as ever.

  He took her mouth again, fusing his lips to hers and sweeping his tongue inside. Devouring her. Claiming her. His fingers were hot on her nipples. She wanted to jerk off her bra so there was nothing between his touch and her skin. A faint moan drifted on the air, and she realized it was coming from her.

  Zack lifted his mouth from hers, giving her lips a gentle sweep with his tongue.

  “You have no idea how many nights I dreamed about this,” he murmured. “Just like this. Us. You and me. All the things we did to pleasure each other.” He nipped her lower lip while still teasing her nipples. “Did you dream about us, Bailey? Don’t lie to me.”

  “Yes.” She breathed the word.

  “Let’s make some of those dreams come true right now.”

  When she nodded, in seconds, he had her bra off and tossed to the side, his lips replacing his fingers on her nipples. His mouth was hot and wet, searing her skin and releasing a flood of desire. Bailey arched into his touch, grabbing the waistband of his jeans to steady herself. Her breasts had always been sensitive, and Zack had learned early on just how to tease them to make her hotter than hot. If he kept this up, she’d come while she was standing here, just like this.

  She rocked into him, thrilled at the feel of his thick erection through his jeans and wanting more.

  She tugged on his jeans. “Take these off.”

  He gave a rough laugh. “Not yet, sweetheart. If I do, this show will be over before it starts. You always just did it for me, Bailey. You know that.”

  “But—”

  “Hush. Just feel, okay?”

  His gaze locked on hers, he unsnapped her jeans and pushed them down. Bailey wriggled her hips so the jeans fell down to her ankles. She kicked off her shoes and stepped out of them, kicking the jeans to the side. When she stood there, naked except for the tiny scrap of bikini panties, Zack stared and sucked in his breath.

  “Gorgeous. Still totally gorgeous.”

  “I’m a lot older.” She swallowed. “The body’s not quite the same.”

  “It’s still beautiful to me.” He stroked his palms down her hips and over her tummy. “It will always be beautiful to me, no matter how old you get.”

  She swallowed and closed her eyes, not sure she wanted to see his reaction as he took in every inch of her skin, every dip and swell and curve. When he didn’t move his hands again or say anything, she forced herself to open her eyes and look at him. The mixture of acute hunger, desire, and lust she saw burning there nearly did her in.

  “Gorgeous,” he repeated again then dropped to his knees. “A taste. I have to have a taste.”

  He nudged her thighs apart, coasting his thumbs gently over her skin before pressing his mouth to her core, panties and all. He stroked the length of her with his hot tongue, pressing the flimsy fabric into her heated, wet flesh. She balanced herself with her hands on his shoulders, fingers digging into muscles harder than granite. She rocked back and forth into the contact, every nerve sparking, pushing herself into his scorching touch.

  Without any warning, a tiny orgasm broke over her, barely enough to take the edge off the need bubbling inside her. Zack made a humming sound of satisfaction as he pressed his tongue harder into her slit then sucked the fabric into his mouth.

  She was still quivering, still aroused, when he rose, lifted her, and placed her gently on the bed, disposing of her panties and tossing them to the side. He bent her legs at the knees and pressed them apart, staring at her with such hunger it nearly made her heart stop.

  “You’re still overdressed.” Her voice sounded so foreign to her, as if someone else was speaking. “Turnabout is fair play.”

  “Okay, but don’t blame me if this is over before it barely gets started. I’ve waited too many years for this.”

  Bailey shocke
d herself by saying, “That’s okay. We have all night.”

  The look on his face was almost savage. “Yes. We do.”

  He shucked his clothes off, and Bailey was mesmerized by the sight of him. His tall frame was packed with sinewy muscles, not the least bit softened by age. The soft curls of dark hair on his chest were still as thick, only now they were sprinkled with the same silver as the hair on his head. Flat stomach, lean hips, and long legs completed the mouthwatering picture. Almost. The finishing touch was the very thick erection jutting from his body and the heavy sac beneath it.

  Bailey sat up, pushing herself back against the pillows, and reached out a hand.

  “Let me touch, okay?”

  “Only a little.” His lips curved in a rueful grin. “Like I said, I’m right on the edge here, Bailey.”

  “But you also agreed we’ve got all night. Please, Zack?”

  He moved onto the bed, situating himself between her legs and rocking back on his heels. When she wrapped her fingers around his cock, he sucked in a deep breath, and all his muscles tensed.

  “Careful,” he warned again.

  But it had been so long, she just had to feel him, taste him. His shaft pulsed in her hand as she brushed her tongue lightly over the darkened head, the tip of it catching the bead of fluid sitting right at the top. She hummed in satisfaction as she closed her mouth around his hot flesh, her own body right at the edge again.

  “Stop.” Zack thrust his fingers into her hair and tugged her head back. “I can’t wait, Bailey. I have to be inside you.”

  He reached over the side of the bed to where he’d dropped his jeans, dug into one of the pockets, and pulled out a string of three condoms.

  Bailey’s eyes widened. “Optimistic much?”

  “Hopeful.”

  He tore off one packet, ripped it open, and, in seconds, was fully sheathed. Positioned between her thighs with the head of his shaft just at her opening, he took one long hard look at her and eased himself inside her.

  Oh god!

  He filled every one of those spaces that had been empty and craving him for so very long. Her heart pounded, and she clenched her inner muscles around him as tightly as she could, as if she could permanently hold him in place.

  Zack braced himself on his forearms for a long moment as they lay there so intimately connected, his blue eyes now darkened to almost navy. She was struck with the sudden thought he could see deep inside her, and it both thrilled and frightened her.

  Then he began to move, slowly at first, gaze locked with hers as he kept his in-and-out movement steady. Bailey wound her legs around him, locking her ankles together behind his back, holding him to her as tightly as she could. Their bodies moved together in a rhythm learned long ago but never forgotten. Close to her orgasm, Bailey wanted to hold on to the feeling as long as she could, to perch on the edge of anticipated release. It seemed she had waited so long for this.

  But Zack had other ideas.

  “I’m barely hanging on here, Bailey. I feel like I’ve been ready for this since the minute I laid eyes on you today.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I can feel how close you are. Let it go, sweetheart.” Strain etched lines in his face. “Let it go now.”

  The orgasm had been steadily building inside her, deep in her body, and spiraling outward. She was shocked she was so close so soon, but it seemed her body had ideas of its own. Zack rocked into her, again and again, each thrust a little harder and deeper until everything inside her rose to the surface.

  The orgasm broke over her, shaking her with its intensity, and Zack was right there with her, throbbing hard inside her as if he’d barely been able to wait for this. They clung to each other, hearts thundering, in the aftermath of the shared orgasm. It went on and on until they were wrung dry and the last shudder faded away.

  And still they held onto each other, as if letting go was too symbolic. Zack lowered his head to place soft kisses along her jawline and her neck before finally lifting his head.

  “Back in a minute.”

  He eased himself from her body and climbed off the bed, heading for the bathroom to dispose of the condom. Then he was back, sliding in beside her and spooning his body around hers. She wiggled her rear against him, feeling his cock now soft and limp, nestling against the cheeks of her ass.

  He laughed, a low, husky sound. “It’s going to take more than a few seconds for me to be ready to rock and roll again, sweetheart. I’m not the young stud I used to be.”

  “You’re not an old man, either,” she teased.

  “Still and all, I think I need a little longer to recover.”

  So did she, but she wasn’t about to admit it.

  Zack banded his arm around her and cupped one breast in a warm palm, the way he used to every night when they climbed into bed. Memories came flooding back to her, memories she’d been doing her best to keep locked away all these years. Memories that made her conflicted again.

  She felt the pleasant lassitude that claims you after really, really good sex. It definitely was really good. In the past, they’d sated themselves with each other in an intense orgasm that always left them gasping. Then, refreshed, they would indulge in the long, slow sex that was so intimate she always felt they were one person.

  Will that happen here?

  Zack had clearly arrived planning to spend the night. Bailey had no idea what came next, with all the challenges swirling around her, but she knew one thing. She’d finally decided to take this one day at a time. She’d probably never see Zack again after his short trip to Florida, so she was going to take every minute with him she could get.

  Because she still had no clear idea of what she’d do next.

  “Bailey?” He murmured her name against her hair, hugging her closer to his body.

  “Mmm?”

  “Think about this tomorrow while you’re in your meetings. I love you, and I’m pretty damn sure I always will.”

  I love you, too, Zack.

  Say it, Bailey.

  But she couldn’t get the words out.

  “That’s okay. Your body did the talking for you tonight. But before this weekend is over, you’ll say the words out loud.”

  And then what, Zack?

  It took a long time for her to fall into a troubled sleep.

  Chapter Five

  Zack was lying naked on the massive bed with the ornate headboard carved from Moroccan wood, watching Bailey getting ready to leave. He hoped she’d get through the day okay since they hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. As certain memories cascaded in his mind, his cock woke up from resting and made a nice tent in the sheet covering him to his waist.

  For more than twenty years, he’d imagined what it would be like if they ever saw each other again. What would they look like with the passage of time? Would the magic still be there? Would they still want each other with the same desperation? Would they still generate enough electricity to light up the sky?

  Last night had certainly answered those questions. In spades. It also underscored the reality of the emotions that still existed between them, even if Bailey didn’t want to acknowledge it. Oh, yeah. It was definitely there. Before their stay at Casa Blanca was over, he’d get her to admit it. Then he’d ask her why she’d shut him out twenty-four years ago and, hopefully, plan a future with her. It was never too late, right?

  “So what’s on your agenda today?” he asked, keeping his voice as neutral but friendly as possible. “What’s on the retreat schedule?”

  “This morning we’re doing some open-end brainstorming,” she told him. “The senior partners are talking about making some changes in the way we operate and the role everyone plays. Then, this afternoon, we’ll do some role-playing.” She grinned. “That ought to be fun. Maybe I can get some of the juniors to take the collective stick out of their asses.”

  “They don’t sound like a lot of fun people to me,” he commented.

  “They can be, when they aren’t being impr
essed with themselves.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “You sure you like working at that place, Bailey?”

  “I do. In spite of having a tendency to believe in their own publicity, they’re a good group of people. There’s hardly ever any jealous infighting, and the senior partners are great about giving credit and sharing the mega clients.”

  “What did you say the name of that firm is? I’m sure you told me, but—”

  “But the last thing you were paying attention to was the place where I work, right?” Her lips curved in a familiar smile, and he wanted to bite them and suck them into his mouth.

  “Busted.”

  “It’s Blake, Rothbart and Padilla.” She picked up her messenger bag and slid her purse, her tablet, and her laptop into it. “And now I really do have to get going.” She looked around. “Feel free to take a swim in the pool if you want. Junonia serves great breakfasts, or you can order room service. If you—”

  He was out of bed then, ignoring his nudity, and pulling her into him.

  “I’m a big boy, Bailey. I can take care of myself.”

  At the hurt look that came over her face, he could have bitten off his tongue.

  “Forgive me, I—”

  “No, forgive me. I misplaced my manners for a moment.” He touched her chin with the tip of one finger and tilted her face up. “I just meant that you have more important things to worry about than me. I’m good. I need to get to my room and shower and shave and change my clothes.”

  “I didn’t mean—” She shook her head. “I didn’t mean to presume. Of course you can take care of yourself. And I need to get going.”

  “Not so fast.” He closed his fingers around her shoulders to hold her in place. “Let’s start over here. I hope you enjoy your meetings today. I know you’ll do a bang-up job. Can we meet for drinks when you’re done, and do you have dinner plans again?”

  “There’s another group dinner.” She wrinkled her forehead. “I can’t get out of it, Zack. We’ll be reviewing all the things from today. I won’t be finished for the day until about the same time as last night. Maybe a half hour earlier at best.”