He wanted to give her pleasure. He needed her to feel as he did, desire spiraling out of control.
He didn’t understand why he felt like he belonged here with this woman. Like he’d come home. Like he’d been lost in the wilderness and now she'd rescued him.
“Zane, please,” she cried.
He reached over to the nightstand and pulled out a foil packet. Quickly he ripped it open and rolled the protection over his penis.
When he turned back, she wrapped herself around him, centering his penis at the opening of her womanhood. And he didn’t hesitate. He pushed inside her, reeling from the tightness that surrounded him. His blood pounded from the need to possess her, to push into her womanly sheath over and over until she cried out his name.
Why couldn’t he rid himself of the need for this woman? Their hips moved in sync with fierceness, intensity and a rhythm that surprised him. With each stroke, she raised her hips to meet him, driving his pleasure closer to the edge. Passion filled him until he thought he would burst from the desire only Skye seemed to evoke.
With no other woman had he ever experienced such desire--such need. Like a cliff rushing toward him, he burst over the edge, carrying Skye with him as they came crashing down to earth together.
For a moment they lay, stunned, their breathing harsh and noisy as they recovered.
“That was nothing like I’d ever dreamed about,” she finally said, her breathing fast. “It was better.”
Zane lay spent, wondering what in the hell he’d just done. How did he tell her goodbye, when she’d clearly imprinted herself onto his heart? Yet she’d left him once, who was to say she wouldn’t again?
*
Skye awoke the next day with sunshine streaming through the curtains, wrapped around Zane's hard male body. She glanced at the clock and sat straight up.
“Crap,” Skye said, jumping out of bed and searching for her clothes. "I have to be at the church in an hour to do the bridesmaids hair.”
Zane rolled over and watched her as she threw on her clothes.
“Get up. You have to drive me to the bed and breakfast,” she said, pulling on her pants.
There was a moment of silence before he sat up in bed, his gaze fixated on her.
“You can walk to the B&B it’s only three blocks over,” he said, his voice chilly.
She glanced at him. The warm lover of last night was gone. He sat in bed, a sheet pulled to his waist, his eyes colder than a Texas norther.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, a strange sense of impending doom coming over her. Last night she'd had hope, but this morning that seemed like a dream that the sunlight burned away.
He smiled. “Thanks for last night. Anytime you're in town, call me and we can get together for a quickie."
She stopped, shame spreading through her like a wildfire. He'd used her and this morning his true colors were no longer hidden. "What about last night? It was like old times. What about us?"
"There is no us. You ended that ten years ago when you left without saying goodbye. At least I'm saying goodbye." He smiled and crossed his arms across his chest. "Hurts doesn't it?"
She stared at him wanting to kick and punch him, but determined not to let him see how much his words knifed through her.
“You don’t think the day I left Cupid and moved to Dallas wasn’t the hardest thing I’ve ever done. You don’t think that every time the door opened, I hoped it was you coming to get me?”
She stood and walked over to his side of the bed, fighting the tears that threatened to choke her. “You don’t think that after you completed your veterinary training, I felt so proud of you and prayed you would show up at my door.
For eight years, I waited for you. And then last night after what we experienced, I thought you would realize that what we have is special. But you’re too stupid.”
“You didn’t have to leave town.”
“Oh no, I could have stayed and then you would never have gone to college and become the vet you dreamed of since you were a boy. We would have been two kids, broke, trying to raise a family, and get by with nothing. Instead, I left so that you could achieve your dream. So forgive me for putting your needs first. Forgive me for knowing that eventually you would have hated me for keeping you from going to school. Forgive me for dying inside while you went to college and I worked two jobs, to go to beauty school.”
It was no use. She stopped for a moment and he lay there staring at her, a frown on his face.
“I’m done. I thought maybe we were given a second chance to get it right, but instead you just wanted revenge. I hope your revenge keeps you warm at night.”
She turned and ran out of his bedroom hurrying down the stairs.
“Skye, wait!”
She heard him call after her.
“Go to hell!” she cried as she slammed the door behind her.
Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she ran the three blocks to the B&B.
No hope of reconciliation. No hope of forgiveness. They were done.
*
Zane stood at the door and watched Skye running down the street. He closed the door and glanced around the room. The silence was deafening as he walked into the kitchen and saw their ice cream bowls sitting on the sink. Last night they’d shared the last of his cherry vanilla ice cream, laughing and giggling as they’d deliberately dropped spoonfuls on each other’s naked bodies, licking the melting cream off of strategic body parts. They'd laughed and played just like they were kids again. The night was one of the best of his life, yet this morning he'd deliberately hurt her, wanting her to experience the pain he'd felt.
But was she right? Would he have hated her for getting in the way of him becoming the only thing he’d ever dreamed of being in life? What if he wasn’t a vet? What would he have done in this small town that he’d never wanted to leave?
He’d planned on becoming a vet since the time he was ten years old. Since the day he’d brought home his dog, Rusty, with a broken leg and nursed him back to health. Since that time, Zane had known he loved animals and wanted to heal them.
Was she right to let him go off to college? Did she really think he would search for her?
But he hadn't looked for her. He'd gone to college and blamed her for his heartache. Why hadn't he skipped school to go after her, unless he knew she was right? Unless sub-consciously he wanted to achieve his dream.
After her parent’s death, she had nothing, no home, no college fund, no money, nothing but her clothes. He’d wanted to shelter and protect her. He'd promised her they’d get married and she’d argued against it until finally he’d worn her down. But when he arrived to pick her up at Michelle’s where she was staying, Skye was gone.
Michelle told him that Skye's aunt had taken her home to Dallas. That Skye needed time to grieve and heal.
Had he been so stubborn he couldn’t see that Skye was right? She’d been shell shocked at the sudden, unexpected death of her parents. He wanted to go to college and become a vet. She needed time to grieve.
Marrying Skye straight out of high school would have kept him from his dream. And though they loved one another at the time, would it have been enough to keep them together?
Young marriages had a high-rate of divorce. Especially when neither of you had a job that could support the two of you.
He’d never considered for a moment that she might have been hurting when she left without saying goodbye. And then when she called to explain, he wouldn’t talk to her.
Had she sacrificed their relationship so that he could become the man he was today?
Damn! No matter what, there would always be a place on his heart with Skye’s imprint. Last night had proven the chemistry between them was just as explosive today as ten years ago. And today of all days--Valentine’s Day--the day of hearts and flowers and weddings and forever after, he’d just fucked up any chance of them exploring if that love from their teens could grow into something that could last forever.
Zane Calhoun w
as Cupid’s biggest idiot when it came to love and relationships. Skye had sacrificed their love for his dream and he'd gone off to college, blaming her for his heartache.
*
“Hey Skye, where did you and Zane disappear to last night?” Jennifer, one of the bridesmaids asked.
Skye smiled. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
Inside her heart was breaking, but she was determined to make certain that her part of Michelle’s wedding was perfect. Still, every so often, she’d stop and wipe the moisture from her eyes.
Skye had not returned to Cupid to fall for Zane all over again, but seeing him and tumbling into bed with him, had reopened the wound that had taken so long to heal. And the worst part was that he thought she’d gone to Dallas and never mourned the loss of them.
Well, he could kiss the southern side of a northbound donkey heading for Amarillo for all she cared. As soon as she could pick up Putz, she was out of this one-red-light town and heading back to where she fit in. Where no one commented on her wild hairdo and appreciated her artistic talents.
She sprayed hair spray to hold the style she'd created for Michelle. Skye held up a mirror for Michelle to see the way her hair cascaded over the top of the veils crown.
“What do you think?” she asked, knowing her friend had never looked more beautiful.
“Huh?” Michelle asked, looking up with a dazed expression on her face.
“Are you okay? I mean, I’m sure you’ve got pre-wedding jitters and all that, but are you feeling all right?”
“I don’t know,” Michelle cried. “I just don’t know.”
Skye patted her friend on the arm. "What's wrong, Michelle?"
She blinked her eyes rapidly. "I'm sorry, you've done a great job. It's perfect, just like I planned. The whole wedding is perfect, just like I planned. It's just pre-wedding jitters."
A knock sounded on the door.
“Who is it,” one of the bridesmaids asked, while Michelle retreated back into herself.
“It’s Zane. Is Skye in there?”
Skye shook her head vehemently. What the hell did he want now? She didn’t want to talk to him. There was nothing left to say.
"She's not here," a bridesmaid lied for her.
“Do you know where she's at?”
Again Skye shook her head.
“No,” they called.
They heard him walk away and Skye sighed a huge breath of relief.
Michelle came out of her stupor to stare at her. “Why didn’t you talk to him?”
She shrugged. “This is your big day. He can wait.”
Michelle frowned at her. “I thought after last night things were good between the two of you.”
Skye smiled. “You’re getting married in an hour. Any last requests before I start packing up the goods?”
“What happened?”
“Nothing,” Skye said, blinking to keep the tears at bay. “We’re supposed to be happy. You’re about to marry the man of your dreams.”
Michelle frowned. “Yes.”
A pounding came on the door again. “Skye, I know you’re in there. Your car is out front. I've searched the entire church. You have to be in there.”
Silence filled the room as everyone looked at her for direction.
“If you don’t come out, I’m coming in,” Zane said.
Skye didn’t say anything. The girls giggled. Everyone was sitting around in robes, waiting until the last moment before they put their dresses on.
“I mean it. I’m coming in there,” he yelled.
Skye rolled her eyes. She stepped away from Michelle, crossed her arms and waited for Zane to make an ass of himself.
It didn't take long.
The door was locked, so he kicked it, causing the lock to break and the door to swing open.
Skye stared at him as he almost fell into the room. “That’s quite an entrance you just made.”
“You could have opened the door.”
“Why? We said everything this morning.”
“No, you said everything this morning.”
“After you let me know that last night I was just a fuck. That you hoped I hurt the way you hurt when I left. I think we said it all this morning."
The room reeked of silence. The air so thick with tension Skye could hear the other girls in the room breathing. Now everyone knew he'd used her.
She turned away, fighting the tears and the embarrassment of everyone witnessing her humiliation on Valentine’s Day.
“Skye,” he said, his voice choking up. “Please look at me.”
“I can’t,” she said wishing the darn tears would stop flowing.
“I’m the biggest damn fool in Cupid, Texas. I was young and stupid and I never considered before this morning that you sacrificed our relationship to help me achieve my dream. You knew how much I wanted to become a vet.”
He walked up behind her and placed his hand on her arm. At his touch her heart nearly exploded. He was so near and yet so far. Slowly, he turned her to face him. With his thumb, he brushed a tear that ran down her cheek. “I’m sorry for what I said this morning. It wasn’t until you left that I realized you were right. We wouldn’t have made it if I hadn’t gone away to college. I love what I do and I would have been miserable doing manual labor. Though, I would have done it at the time if it meant you stayed beside me.”
“I wanted you to be happy. But I thought you’d forgive me and come back to me,” Skye said, hope beginning to fill her. "But you never returned for me."
Zane hung his head for a moment and then raised it to meet her gaze head on. “I’m not too bright when it comes to relationships of the heart. Otherwise I wouldn’t be standing here apologizing on Valentine’s Day. I don’t know if we’re meant to be together. I’d just like for you to give me a third chance for us to explore this thing between us. Even if it means me moving to Dallas.”
Skye felt her heart soar. She couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. “Does this mean you don't hate me?”
“Yes,” he grimaced. “I never truly hated you. I missed you so much I didn't know how to live without you.”
"I waited for you for so long."
"I wasn't smart enough to realize you would wait. I want another chance for us."
She smiled and stepped into his embrace. She threw her arms around his neck. His mouth covered hers in a kiss that expressed his feelings the way words couldn't.
The room erupted in ahs from the bridesmaids.
Visit www.Sylvia.McDaniel.com
~~********~~
Resisting Cupid
by Carol Rose
Even after ten years, Tucker looked good enough to eat.
Leaning against the piano on the church dais, he laughed with a guy Emma recognized as a friend of his from high school, while she quietly had a heart attack at the church door.
The rows of empty pews between them seemed to telescope and she made herself take a deep breath.
Dammit, this shouldn’t be so difficult. So what if they’d been married to one another for four months and had decidedly hot carnal knowledge of one another? Up against her daddy’s old pick-up, at the stock tank, behind the drive-in where she’d worked in high school. And lots and lots of hot nights in the full-sized bed in their tiny apartment.
She needed to kill this ache for him, needed to make herself move on and stop breathing funny whenever she thought about her ex-husband.
Emma took another shuddery breath, trying not to remember. Not to turn tail and run. As her reporter friend, Allison, had reminded her, she was an adult, a TV news correspondent, for heaven’s sake. She could handle this.
Pirates in Somali, riots in London and Christmas at the Mall of America.
She’d been all over the place and she sure wished she were anywhere else right now. Anywhere she didn’t have to face him, the one guy who always made her feel loved and desired…until he made her crazy.
Only because Michelle had been her best frien
d since third grade had she returned to Cupid, Texas. A wedding on Valentine’s Day no less. What the heck was Michelle thinking, asking her to come back now?
When Emma had heard that she’d have to spend the special lovers’ day with her ex-husband, she’d nearly cried.
Pausing just inside the chapel, Emma knew she needed to plunge ahead. The man she’d married at eighteen might be Michelle’s groom’s best-man, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be supportive of her best friend. She’d waffled on it back and forth, telling Michelle that she couldn’t get away from her hectic job at the network. But her friend’s tears had decided Emma. She had to do this. Deserting her childhood friend at this pivotal moment wasn’t really an option.
Surely the ten years that had passed since her leaving Cupid, Texas, would provide enough of a buffer. Tucker had probably married by now and popped out three kids. She had nothing to worry about. Really.
Just her own stupid heart that had refused to let go, that held on still to the memory of his smile, the sound of his voice.
For a brief moment, she wished she hadn’t been so adamant about not hearing anything regarding Tucker. At least she’d have known what she was heading into. She’d thought not knowing about his life would make things easier. Now she was heading blindly into the situation.
Shifting her focus to the scene at the end of the aisle, Emma lifted her chin and walked as casually as she could down to the altar.
Michelle and Ryan, her groom and Tucker’s step-brother, stood under the altar lights, deep in conversation with a rattled women who seemed to be in charge of the chaos. People milled around, chatting in small knots and generally acting as if they had no other agenda besides socializing. Emma counted six people she knew and several she thought she ought to have recognized, but didn’t.
“Well, there she is.” From next to the piano, Tucker’s drawl jolted down to the soles of her feet and rubbed up against Emma’s spine. Even after all these years, the familiarity set her heart to pounding even harder. “Little Missy all grown up and wearing her television reporter shoes.”
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