And that was not his forte.
So he’d hired someone.
And now he was more grateful than ever that he had, because Jennifer was making it worth every penny Zane had spent on the guy. She took a few tentative steps inside the bedroom bathed in earth tones and let out another “Wow.” She was eyeing the bed…where he hoped they’d be spending their next few hours. Why chicks dug that set up, he’d never know, but if he ever saw his designer again, he’d probably kiss him for it. It wasn’t the usual four-poster canopy. Instead, it was a sheer, filmy beige fabric that hung from three points on the ceiling suspended from two posts created from bamboo that extended over the bed like tree branches, draped behind the head of the bed.
It was the centerpiece of the room and everything else in there was dwarfed by it, so he didn’t know if she even noticed the artwork on the wall or appreciated the Persian rug in front of the picture window on the wall. He was damn sure she didn’t notice the design of the rich cherry wood furniture accessorizing the room.
That was okay, though…her mind was all about the bed. That was good.
She took a tentative step toward it, touching the mattress with the tips of her fingers but looking at the canopy. “So what inspired this, Zane?”
He grinned, stepping behind her and pulling her close so that he clasped his hands in front of her belly while his body cradled hers. “I just figured it was time to grow up, you know?”
Jennifer snickered. “So you’re telling me you make your own bed nowadays?”
“I’ll let you wonder.” He was consumed by desire now, his dream woman so close once again. He bent his head and nuzzled her neck through her hair, breathing in the smell of her locks. Was it the scent of almond or something more exotic? He wasn’t sure, but it was intoxicating, and he was almost able to block out everything else having her so near.
The way she tilted her head and sighed told him everything he needed to know.
* * *
If Jennifer had gone to Zane’s house with any pretension of keeping things strictly hands off, she’d been kidding herself. He was and would be the man for her for all time, and her subconscious desires for him rose to the surface when he put his hands and lips on her. She’d known how powerful her feelings were for him, but knowing and feeling were two different things.
There was no resisting the man.
Just being in his presence was difficult enough, but when he pulled her close so she could feel his warmth, smell his scent, remember his touch…she was done. She couldn’t put up any more of a fight.
What Zane had said earlier in the week was true—that they always ended up fighting—but, until that point, they had great chemistry, every single time. In fact, it was because of her inability to resist his charms that she’d become pregnant last time. The tensions had been building, but they’d tried to hold on just the same, instead having one last night of amazing, mind-blowing sex. It wound up being a last hurrah, because it all came down to Zane not being able to overcome his demons.
The problem was the man couldn’t recognize them for what they were.
But those thoughts lost their hold on Jennifer’s brain as Zane’s lips became more zealous. She felt her nipples grow rigid in response, and she tilted her head to reap the full benefit of the touch of his lips on her neck. She even heard a soft sigh escape her mouth, but there was no stopping it.
Mmm. No one had ever felt as good to her as Zane, as real or as irresistible. There was something about the man—it was almost like he was a part of her. She would have thought that would be more likely to happen with the boy she’d lost her virginity to, but that guy had long left her brain—and it wasn’t because the two of them shared a child together, either. She’d felt this bond for him long ago, long before Zoe had ever been part of the picture. She’d even analyzed the crap out of the notion that maybe it was because he’d given her her very first orgasm.
But that wasn’t it, either. She’d felt a deep connection to him long before that.
Maybe he was her soulmate, if there was such a thing. Yes, if there was, Zane was it, because she’d felt a connection to him from their first date. They’d somehow clicked. What sucked was that they would eventually and always return to bringing out the worst emotions in each other—jealousy, rage, anger, despair. If they could get past that, they’d be perfect.
But Zane would probably have to become a different man for that to happen…and, so far in this life, she saw that he hadn’t been able to change his stripes.
Chapter Twelve
JENNIFER WAS RESPONDING to his advances, but she seemed a little distracted. Zane knew from past experience that her ultimate sexual pleasure depended upon her ability to let go, to let everything just wash away and give in.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Sometimes they’d have angry sex in the past and that too made for some explosive endings.
He brought his lips to her ear and whispered. “Do you want a glass of wine?”
“Mmm…no.”
The tone of her voice was promising. “Some mood music?”
“Hmm-mm.” Another quiet negative…which meant that it was up to Zane to find a different way to transport her. He had two options—one was to shock the hell out of her, pull her to the present. He could do that by changing gears and speeding up the action—throw her on the bed, rip her clothes off, all while kissing her aggressively, so hard he’d bruise her lips. Sometimes in the past that had worked, but he didn’t think that would be a good way to start fresh. She might take it wrong.
The other way was to make her feel so good she couldn’t possibly think of anything else. Yeah, he had a feeling that was the way to go tonight.
So he continued nuzzling her neck, pushing her hair away with his chin so he could begin open-mouth kissing the flesh there. When he was able to touch her skin with his tongue, he heard a light sigh escape her mouth, and he could see her chest begin moving as her lungs filled with air, and she brought a hand up to shove in his hair.
Jesus. That felt insanely amazing.
Even more amazing was when she turned around so she could press her body into his. She started kissing him with force, as if her seeming nonchalance was turning to desperation in the blink of an eye. It was then that he felt his blood rushing to his cock as he was willing to believe that this was no longer a mere possibility or a tease. And somewhere, in the recesses of his brain, all the times they’d ever made love fueled the passion and emotion in him now.
He slid his hands up underneath her blouse, relishing the feel of her smooth, soft skin against his palms. He paused below her bra as he felt her tense up. He was trying to decide if the tautness in her muscles was due to anticipation or fear.
Maybe a little of both.
Because he too had a little fear—he was afraid that this time would eventually lead to ending like all the other times…and he didn’t know that his heart could take it again. Somehow, he knew it was just as hard on her, and it was no surprise. They knew they loved each other, but they just couldn’t figure out how to get along.
Or he couldn’t figure out how to treat her right.
Where the fuck had that come from? Truth found a way of seeping into reality, and it made it hard for him to focus on what was happening in the here and now. But when he felt her nails dig into his neck, pulling him into the moment, all thoughts left his brain then. From that point forward, he was moving on animal instinct. He slid his right hand up over her breast, and he could feel the tight nipple underneath the lacy fabric, where he teased it with his thumb. Her nails dug in again but she paused in her kiss. Good—he was distracting her with pure pleasure, and there was plenty more where that came from. He pulled his left hand out from under the blouse and began using his index finger and thumb to work on one of the buttons.
Jennifer was impatient, though, and she moved her hands to the top of her blouse. He could feel her messing with the top button and then she grabbed the bottom of the shirt, pulling it up. He ha
d to take his lips off hers so she could yank it over her head and off—and he wasn’t sure where it landed.
But he couldn’t resist her bare flesh. Underneath the shimmery pink blouse was a lacy white bra—and why the fuck hadn’t he noticed that before right this second? Her breasts were noticeably larger than the last time they’d been together.
Holy fuck. Had she had enhancement surgery? He wasn’t complaining but he doubted it just the same, because her breasts weren’t monstrous compared to before—in fact, running his hand over the top of one hadn’t revealed to him its larger size. It wasn’t a huge change at all, so he couldn’t believe she’d even bother with surgery? They merely seemed plumper, rounder, and maybe it was all his imagination.
But his cock very much liked them.
As much as he fought to keep the image out of his head, he wondered if it was because he’d been spending far too much time with reedy, strung out versions of Jennifer, instead of the real deal. Maybe it had been far too long that he’d appreciated the real woman in the flesh.
Zane pushed out the images once more and pulled Jennifer close before then dropping them both to the big fluffy bed, but he wasn’t content just having her body touch his. His lips, his mouth needed to feel and taste the beautiful flesh underneath that damned lacy bra.
He licked along the scalloped edge at the top of her left breast, not far from that pointy nipple, and she sighed, once more grabbing his hair in her fists. God, he loved that feeling, because it indicated that she was starting to feel as needy as he was. He could feel his hands grabbing her hips, a little too hard, perhaps, and so he slid the right one up her side until his palm covered the breast just underneath his chin. Delicately, he eased his fingers over the edge of the bra and pulled down on the cup. It got tight, resisting his pull because he hadn’t yanked the strap down off her shoulder, but he got it down past her nipple anyway and, as if he were a hungry man, he lapped at her pointy nipple, eliciting a gasp from her lips as her hands tightened around his hair again.
He let go of the cup then, tracing her skin with his tongue down to the cleavage while he ran his fingers up her strap to her shoulder, pulling it down her arm. He balanced himself on his elbow while running his other hand up, ready to be done with the bra entirely. After pulling the other strap down, he slid that hand behind her back and began working at the clasps while he moved his mouth up, one kiss at a time, to her neck. He alternated between tasting her with his open mouth and licking the flesh with his tongue, and she didn’t seem to have a preference. She was enjoying every sensation he laid on her.
“Mmm, Zane,” she whispered, causing the blood to surge though his veins again. She loosened her grip on his hair and pulled her arms down, squeezing them between their bodies until they were at his waist, and then she began working on the button at the top of his jeans.
Wow.
He brought his lips to her ear. “You are so fucking hot, babe,” he told her, and she responded with a little moan. His cock wasn’t going to get any damned harder, especially with her fingers right there. After she undid the button, she yanked down on the zipper and the vibration made the blood pump harder into his cock. It was all—everything—right there: his thoughts, his sense of feeling, every bit of attention he had.
In seconds, she wrapped her warm hand around his shaft, loosening it from the confines of clothing, and he felt her thumb rubbing against the head, swirling the pre-cum that had oozed out around it, as if getting him ready to enter her. He knew, though, that they’d use a condom—at least the first time. They always started out utilizing caution—she didn’t know where he’d been (and likely wouldn’t want to know) and vice versa…although he knew—just knew—she wasn’t nearly as big a slut as he was.
It was his turn to let out a groan and he brought his mouth to hers, ramming his tongue inside where she took him, all of him, just as she was going to do with his cock in a few moments.
How he had any restraint left was beyond his reasoning.
How they’d waited this long was also beyond his imagining.
She was his other half and it had been far too long since they’d been together. She was the water he needed to drink, the air he needed to breathe, and he hadn’t realized how big a need she’d been until he was taking her in again.
Jennifer pressed against him, urging him to lie back against the bed, and he obeyed. It gave him easier access to her, and he used it as an excuse to unbutton her pants. She removed her hands from inside his jeans and ran them up underneath his t-shirt, her warm palms sliding over his abdomen and then chest. When she got to his pecs, she paused, because he was touching her through her panties.
They were soaked.
Jesus. As he moved his fingers down, creating space between the jeans and panties on his way, he realized he could feel the hardened nub of her clit through the fabric. Shit. He looked at her then and she closed her eyes as he swirled his index finger against that spot. “Mmm.” He wanted to work his hand inside, but he was afraid of ruining the moment. She was enjoying this right now, and to pull away—even for a second—would be to break the spell. The silky fabric was so wet, it was almost like touching her flesh anyway, so he went with the flow. The next groan out of her caused her mouth to open and her palms to squeeze so that he felt her nails against the flesh of his chest.
He kept his finger rotating in a clockwise motion, keeping his eyes on her face. He could see the pleasure there, even though her eyes weren’t communicating with him. He wasn’t going to stop now until he left her a quivering puddle of jelly, melting onto his body. As he continued drawing the circles against her, he heard her breathing quicken, saw her chest swelling with each deep gulp she took. She started grinding against his finger, making him wonder if he wasn’t moving fast enough for her or in the right way, but he kept pushing against her just the same. He felt her leg muscles getting tighter and tighter as she pressed into his pecs harder, her knees mashing into the sides of his body.
Her response to her climax began as a hum in the back of her throat and her grinding slowed, indicating to him that he needed to, more than ever, focus on moving that finger against her. Her knees pressed even harder into him in an undulating fashion as the sounds from her mouth grew louder. She moaned then, wailing what was almost a song and, to him, it definitely was music to his ears. It told him he needed to keep going, continue giving her what she needed.
God, he wanted that pussy wrapped around his cock.
As soon as her orgasm dwindled into nothing and her knees were no longer digging into him, he lifted his ass up off the bed and pulled his jeans and underwear down. He was then going to flip Jennifer onto her back, but she removed one of the hands from his chest—the one that had nails practically embedded in his left pec—and he felt her hand brush against his cock before working her hand down farther, where she pulled the panties to one crook of her leg and positioned herself until she was able to slide him inside.
Ah. Oh, God. That. That was pure bliss.
Heaven…the one place he never wanted to leave.
Chapter Thirteen
“ZANE CARSON! YOU’RE a…a…”
“Aw, c’mon, baby; just listen.”
“…a no good motherfucker!”
“Whoa. Whoa. Listen, babe, I know you’re upset. I know because you never say shit like that. But listen—I…didn’t mean to, honey. It was an—”
“Watch it. If you say it was an accident, so help me God, I’ll rip it off.”
“You’ll—you’ll rip it off?”
“It’s not funny, you bastard.”
“It is, Jen. C’mon. Admit it. Picturing you yanking on my dick, trying to rip it off, and it would just fucking grow, baby.”
“You asshole. I’m outta here.”
“No, wait. Wait, Jen. Honey, I’m so sorry. You gotta believe me. I don’t…I don’t know what came over me. I—believe me. I love you. I would never do anything to hurt you intentionally…”
Jennifer nuzzled her c
heek against Zane’s warm chest, relishing the feel of the smooth flesh against her face, breathing in his scent as deeply as she could. She’d forgotten how much she loved the feel of resting against this man. There was no one else who could compare.
The biggest reason was because he knew her, knew her body in a way no other man ever could. He knew the perfect way to touch her to bring her to climax. For some reason, this time seemed to happen faster than in the past. Was it because she’d felt like she needed him now more than ever?
That made no sense. She’d been ready and willing to let him go for good—for the sake of their daughter’s well-being. And now, all of a sudden, she was ready to just fall into his arms again, able to forgive all his past wrongs?
Yes.
It was stupid—she knew that—but it was testament to how much Zane meant to her. She had never, not once in her entire adult life, met anyone else who had a hold on her like Zane did. It was strange, and she couldn’t explain it. But there it was just the same.
Once more, she found herself deeply in love with Zane, wanting to give her entire life over to him. She was even considering telling him her secret.
She sighed and opened her eyes, watching herself brush her hand back and forth over her chest. She felt his arm underneath her body, his hand cupping her ass, could feel his breath stirring the hair on top of her head. “Zane?”
“Yeah, babe?”
She paused in moving her hand and considered sitting up so she could look him in the eyes, but she decided instead to keep her head down for the moment. She was vulnerable right now and needed that distance. “Why can’t it always be like this?”
Bullet Series Box Set Books 1-8 Page 166