Full Circle Love (A Four Part Anthology of Cat & Zach Stories)

by Lori Leger

  All day long she’d prepared for this. She’d hit up her mom and Poppa Doc to babysit so she could have one evening alone with her husband. She’d kissed her babies, sent them off with tons of supplies, including several bottles of milk she’d expressed, and many thanks to her mom and stepdad.

  “Call me if anything goes wrong,” she’d told them as they left with her children. She’d watched them drive off and took the time to utter a sincere plea that they wouldn’t have to.

  Folding back the sheets, she smoothed them out evenly, first one side, then the other. She gave the pillows a liberal plumping and went to watch for Zach. She heard the revved up engine of his truck before she actually saw him. He pulled into their driveway on two wheels and came to a skidding halt on the circular asphalt drive. Within seconds he’d pushed open the door and stood before her.

  Reeking.

  Smelling as though he’d taken a nose dive into a large pile of animal manure.

  She put her hand to her nose. “Oh my God.”

  “I’m sorry. I made a delivery to the LeMaire’s ranch. Their dog got in my way and I tripped. Fell in a pile of horse sh—”

  “Stop. Shower. Now.” She pointed behind him. “And for God’s sake, take your boots off outside.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She waved her hand in front of her face, suspecting all efforts to transform the master suite into a tropical paradise for their “first time” would be for nothing. Then she heard splashing from the shower in the mudroom.

  Oh the sweet, considerate man.

  Rather than bring the stench inside the rest of the house, he was using the shower relegated to hosing down their huge golden retriever, Zeus.

  In less than five minutes, he appeared, with a towel wrapped loosely around his hips. He held up his finger. “That was just to get the stench off. Now I’m going to have a real shower.” He whisked by so quickly he practically blurred. “Oh yeah,” he said. “It’s about to get real up in here.”

  She followed him down the hall into their suite, heard his low whistle as he caught sight of the effort she’d put into the scenario.

  “Oh, hell yeah.”

  The comment came a second before he closed himself up in their bathroom, and three seconds before she heard the shower taps.

  After another fifteen minutes, Cathryn was ready to take a sledge hammer to the door. She’d suffered through his longer than usual shower, and a couple of minutes of a blow dryer running.

  “Zachary, what is taking you so long?”

  The door opened immediately and he emerged in a cloud of pure, male sexiness. All traces of horse manure replaced by Tom Ford’s Extreme. His torso fully exposed—traps, abs, and pectorals all tanned and perfectly toned from years of hard work, oftentimes shirtless. His coal black hair squeaky clean and glistening, his face completely free of a five o’clock shadow. God bless him. He was fully aware she found his clean shaven face irresistible to the touch. Her gaze lowered to the navy blue towel tied loosely around his lean hips, but exposing the pads of muscle on either side. The towel dipped dangerously low in the front. She sucked in her breath as the front of the towel lifted of its own volition, visibly tenting his prominent arousal. “Oh. My.”

  Yeah … that’s the look he wanted to see on his wife’s face. Cat’s eyes widened, obviously appreciating his efforts. Her lips parted, pink and panting, her skin flushed, and eyes bright with need. He could see her pulse, its rapid beating visible at the sexy hollow of her throat.

  His beautiful Cat, standing there and wanting him, wrapped in the skimpiest robe she owned. She reached up to release the sash. His heart pounded, nearly exploded in his chest as the robe slipped off her arms, to fall in a puddle of aqua colored silk at her pedicured feet.

  And there she was—completely bare and more beautiful than ever—all long legs, slender arms, and svelte body, with the tiniest bump on what used to be a perfectly flat belly. In his opinion, it made her sexier than ever. One hand made a slow trail to her hair, released the clip, allowing luxurious brown locks to cascade over smooth as satin shoulders.

  “My God, you are beautiful.”

  The slight lift of her brow, the twitch of her mouth, the hitch in her breath—all clues he’d grown accustomed to—a veritable road map of her wants and needs. He knew what she wanted. His right hand moved to the corner of his towel and pulled, giving her an unobstructed view.

  Her already pink cheeks flushed an even deeper pink as her mouth rounded in a taste tempting “O”.

  “So are you.”

  They came together in an instant—fell to the bed, writhing in need, both anxious to fulfill the aching in their bodies, all thoughts of romance and taking it slow wiped out with their intense needs. Just as he was ready to slam into her, he came to a screeching halt, suddenly remembering all she’d been through. “Is this safe? I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She groaned, pushed him onto his back and straddled him. “I sure as hell don’t have a problem hurting you.”

  Ten minutes later, they lay there panting and struggling to catch their breath.

  Zach kissed his wife’s neck. “Did I do it for you, babe?”

  “Mm, hmm, that was every bit as good as our first time.” She snuggled into his embrace.

  “Next time I’ll last longer,” he panted.

  She rested her hand on his chest and purred. “Good to know, because next time I’ll last longer, too.”

  “Who’s got the kids?”

  “Mom and Poppa Doc.”

  “For how long?”

  “Until tomorrow morning.”

  “Remind me to do something special for them.”

  “Like what? Flowers or taking them to dinner?”

  “I was thinking more along the lines of season tickets to LSU or Saints games—or both.”

  She laughed. “That good, huh?”

  “Absolutely.” He turned, looped his arm around her to pull her close. Using the back of his hand, he ran a trail down the length of her side, stopping at the barely visible Caesarean scar. “I love this scar.”

  She released a hopeless sigh. “It’s not going anywhere.”

  “It gave us our children.”

  She began a slow trail along his bare hip with one fingernail, and stopped at his groin. “I think you played a part in that, too.”

  “I may have had a supporting role, but you were the superstar.” He reached for her hand, brought it to his mouth and kissed it tenderly. His heart expanded, choking him up, as it always did when he thought of those intense minutes in the delivery room. He swallowed the lump in his throat. By some tacit mutual agreement, neither of them had ever spoken of those traumatic moments. “We’ve never talked about what happened, Cat.”

  “I know,” she said.

  “Do you want to know what happened during the surgery?”

  “No, I mean, I know. I already know what happened.”

  He frowned, as though wondering how that came about. “Did Dr. Brown tell you?”

  She shook her head slowly. “No. I saw. I was aware that I was dying. I don’t know how, but I was.”

  He frowned, more fascinated than curious about her admission. “What did you see?”

  “I only saw and heard what went on in that room from my own body’s point of view. I wasn’t floating above or anything, the way some people describe it. But I knew I was leaving. I just didn’t know where I was going. I wasn’t worried, though. It was all so easy, so inviting.” She slipped her arm around his waist and hugged him.

  “And then I heard you, calling my name, telling me, begging me to come back to you, to fight for you and our babies. I heard lots of voices in that room—doctors, nurses, technicians―all of them loud and demanding. But when you spoke, it sounded almost like music that I could see as well as hear. Your voice was so soothing to my soul, and I knew neither of us would ever feel complete without the other. I knew somehow, I couldn’t leave you.”

  Zach smiled, remembering something E
llen had said after that awful episode, when he was still shell shocked from nearly losing his wife. “That’s how much she loves you.” He met his wife’s curious gaze. “That’s what your mom said when I told her what happened. That you … left us.”

  He still couldn’t get himself to say the word.

  “But I called you back and you listened, you came back to me. When I told your mom that, you know what she said? She said, ‘Of course she did. Cat would do anything you asked her to do, Zachary. That’s how much she loves you.’ And I could only agree with her, because I knew it was true.”

  Cat propped herself up on one elbow and gazed down at him, her long lashes framing those liquid brown eyes, glistening with tears. “As long as I have any choice in the matter, I will always come back to you. That’s how much I love you.”

  He rolled over, pinning her beneath him and kissed her, long and leisurely. “I adore you. And now that I’ve caught my second wind, I’m about to show you how much.”

  Note from the author: These Cat and Zach stories were so much fun to write. If you’re wondering about the gaps between the four parts, it’s because they are taken from four separate seasonal anthologies. So, the story timelines are also separated by seasons. Spring, Summer, Winter, and Summer again. Since Louisiana has very little Spring and Fall weather, I thought it was fitting to include two Summers in the series.

  If you enjoyed these stories, please consider leaving a review with your favorite e-book retailer and/or Goodreads. I’d appreciate all feedback and rely on it to produce a better reading experience for all you readers out there. You are my bread and butter and I appreciate every purchase or borrow, and everyone who’s taken the time to read one of my books cover to cover.

  Thank you!

  Lori

  About the Author

  When Lori Leger isn’t being a wife, mom, doting grandmother, and Mistress of Procrastination, she’s writing stories set in her beloved state of Louisiana.

  She has nine novels published in two series: La Fleur de Love and its spin-off Halos & Horns series. She has also contributed to, as well as published, short stories in each of the five Seasons of Love anthologies, a collaboration with several other authors. Full Circle Love combines four of her “Cathryn and Zachary” stories from the anthologies into one four-part book. It is a companion book to book one of her new Prime of Love series, RUNNING OUT OF RAIN. All of her books are available in both electronic book and print formats, and all set in her home state of Louisiana.

  She’s a contributor to the Sweet & Savory Cookbook of Authors, published by Top Ten Press.

  Lori also has an article published in the non-fiction book Writing After Retirement: Tips From Retired Writers, published by Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, and edited and compiled by Carol Smallwood and Christine Redman-Waldeyer.

  Lori’s Prime of Love Series is dedicated to mature characters finding love and laughter through the everyday twists and turns of growing older. She has a second planned for a fall 2015 release date, and a third set for the summer of 2016.

  Several of her books have attained best-seller ranking and continue to earn good reviews from readers and review websites.

  Email: cajunflair@lorilegerauthor.com

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