He did the same with my panties.
“Okay,” he said, raking his fingers through his hair. “Don’t move. I want to stare at you for a minute.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t think I’d ever get to see this again.”
My cheeks burned, and my heart swelled. He still made me feel like the most beautiful woman on the planet.
Zach soaked in the sight of my naked body for a good two minutes before he’d had his fill, and then he went to his knees, where he was conveniently chin level with the edge of the counter. He lifted a hand and curled his fingers, beckoning me to move closer to the edge. “Come here, sexy girl.”
I inched toward him until I was nearly hanging off the edge. He put his hands on the inside of my thighs and held them apart as he rolled his tongue over my clit.
The sensation shot jolts of pleasure through me. I let out a nearly delirious giggle and gripped the edge of the counter.
“Stay where you are,” he warned, his voice muffled as he ran his tongue down to lap at my juices.
“I can’t,” I breathed, letting my head fall to the counter and closing my eyes as he ran a finger along my opening.
“Yes you can, baby girl. Trust me. Just relax.”
I listened to him. His voice soothed my tense muscles, and I turned to butter on my kitchen counter.
He pushed his finger inside me. I moaned, and he let out a deep sound in the back of his throat, a wild, primal sound. It turned me on.
He slid another finger inside me. Fresh wetness bloomed between my legs, and he must have sensed my need because he pumped his fingers in and out of me while sucking on my clit, drawing it between his lips and rolling his tongue over the super-sensitive swollen tip.
I cried out with pleasure. He didn’t stop.
He kept pushing me for more, even after my legs seized with my first climax. I gasped for air, and he still didn’t relent. Instead, he worked harder, faster, and pushed his fingers up toward my G-spot.
I screamed his name.
He licked me clean and then got to his feet. He pulled me down from the counter and turned me around to walk me forward.
“Do you have a condom?” I asked over my shoulder.
“No, I didn’t think this was going to happen.”
“To the bedroom then?” I asked. He knew where my stash was in the nightstand. I veered off to go down the hall toward my room, but he caught my wrist and pushed me forward into the living room.
“We’ll get there when we get there,” he murmured. “I want to take my time with you.”
I giggled when he bent me over the armrest of the sofa. “Zach.”
He nudged my legs apart. Then he ran a finger up and down my pussy, tracing my opening with deliberate slowness until I couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Please,” I whimpered.
“As you wish,” he said, his voice hoarse with desire.
He eased both fingers inside me once more, filling me up. I moaned. “Yes.”
He worked me over and kept me bent over the couch in front of him. He whispered naughty things in my ear and left a trail of kisses across my back. He paid particular attention to my lower back and sides.
I came again and again, and he still wasn’t through with me.
Zach grabbed me by the upper arm and pulled me up to my feet. I was out of breath, and I knew my cheeks were bright pink. I put my hands against his chest and went to the tips of my toes to kiss his throat and jaw.
“Your turn,” I cooed.
Zach stayed in place as I took his shirt off. Then slowly, I undid his belt and his pants and pulled them down. He stepped out of them and then his boxers, and he stood naked before me.
I licked my lips.
“What?” he asked.
I drooled over his tattoos and his muscles. “If you got two minutes to stare, I do too. Stay still.”
He chuckled. “Tease.”
“Shh, you’re ruining it.”
Zach held his tongue and watched me watch him. I could feel his eyes rolling over my body, and I traced his muscles and lean lines like I was reading a map.
A map that led right to the prize between his legs.
I went to my knees.
He watched, and when I leaned in close, he tucked my hair behind my ears and gathered some of it in his fist. It was too short for him to get it all, but he got enough to get a good hold on it and guide me to his throbbing cock.
I rolled my tongue over his tip and then rolled it down his shaft, following the hard tendon.
“Fuck,” he groaned above me.
I stared up at him and took him in my mouth, sealing my lips over his thickness and pushing forward until he hit the back of my throat.
He held my hair tighter and guided me up and down.
I sucked him off and worshipped every long inch of him. He was glorious, and the view from down there was wonderful. His muscles rippled as he strained with pleasure, and I loved how he clenched his jaw and squared his shoulders when I brought him to the edge of his climax.
“Fuck woman, enough,” he growled, pulling me off him. “To the bedroom. Now.”
He yanked me up to my feet, spun me around, and bent down to scoop me up in his arms. He carried me with one hand under my knees and the other around my back.
I hooked my arms around his neck and kissed him as he carried me. We bumped into the doorframe of my bedroom, laughed at our own clumsiness, and then pushed into the room.
He dropped me on the bed and went to the nightstand.
I laid on the bed on my side, watching as he opened the drawer, plucked a condom from the assortment of bookmarks, notebooks, and knickknacks, then quickly tore it open. He rolled it on and set his hungry gaze on me. I patted the bed.
He climbed up and joined me. I didn’t resist as he rolled me onto my back and then braced himself above me to trail kisses along my jaw and neck. He leaned back, sitting on his heels, and pointed his cock down toward my pussy before rocking forward again.
I gasped as he entered me. He pushed my knees back, and I moaned as he thrust all of his length inside me.
Zach let go of my knees and leaned over me, rocking his hips nice and slow and then rolling them, grinding himself against me. He kissed me. His tongue slipped between my teeth and explored my mouth, and our breaths were joined as we made love. His strokes were deep, his kisses urgent, and I lost myself beneath the weight of his body and the warmth radiating off him.
I hooked my legs around his waist as if it could somehow bring me even closer to him.
He pushed in deeper.
“Yes,” I breathed as my toes curled.
He stroked my hair and nudged my cheek to the side with his own. I clung to him as he pinched my earlobe between his teeth and then made up for the pain with more sweet kisses along the side of my neck. His hot breath pushed me over the edge.
So did his naughty taunt. “I can feel it. Come for me, baby girl.”
Then it happened just like that, like he was turning on a light switch.
I held him tighter as I came. He bucked against me, and I cried out with pleasure. He groaned and trembled, and we both cascaded into euphoria together as our orgasms ebbed away and left us feeling warm and full.
We stayed joined together in my bed long after the sex.
He held me to him and stroked my shoulder with his thumb as I snuggled into his side and rested my cheek on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.
I ran a finger down the middle of his stomach. “You didn’t have to do this, you know?”
Zach kissed my forehead. “I know I didn’t, but I wanted to. I promised I would come back. A job is just a job, but family? Family is everything. And you and Lily are my family.”
I gazed up at him and let myself get lost in his green eyes. “You mean that?”
He nodded and stroked my cheek. “I do.”
I licked my lips. “I’m going to say something crazy.”
“Please do.�
�
I cupped his cheek in one hand. Stubble grazed my palm. “I’m in love with you, Zach Hammel. Completely and utterly in love with you.”
His smile was warm, and it lit up his eyes. “I love you, too.”
Chapter 39
Zach
Four Months Later
The courtroom in Orlando was silent as I took the stand and vowed to be honest while being questioned. I took my seat and faced the packed courtroom, resisting the urge to adjust my glasses to have something to do with my hands to distract myself from my nerves.
The place was at max capacity.
When Senna and I had arrived nearly two hours early, there was already barely any space left to sit. Over the past two hours, more and more people arrived, most of them the small business owners I’d been in contact with over the last four months about the lawsuit against Woodbury. They took places all around the room and anywhere they could stand once all the seats filled up. Some people had to wait out in the hall.
Those that had managed to score a place in the courtroom stood shoulder to shoulder and one person in front of the other. If one person moved two inches to the right or left, it shifted the whole row like a wave. Everyone learned quickly that they had to remain still, calm, and quiet.
The judge was a no-nonsense woman. She had dark brown hair cut short, thick black-framed glasses, and a severe scowl that made you tremble when she turned her attention toward you.
I tried to keep my cool as she addressed me.
“Mr. Hammel?”
“Yes, your Honor,” I said, meeting her gaze and feeling the eyes of the hundred others in the room upon me.
“It says here in my records that you were the whistleblower against Woodbury Enterprises,” she stated.
I nodded. “That is correct.” My gaze slid to Woodbury himself, who sat with his defense attorneys at a table at the front of the courtroom. On the other side were the lawyers for the people and small businesses Woodbury had screwed over.
The judge, Elizabeth Stewardson, leaned forward and pulled her glasses down her nose. “You know. I like a case like this. Simple. To the point. And I like a man who doesn’t let money stand in the way of what is right and what is wrong. I think you are owed a debt of gratitude, Mr. Hammel, for catching a crook red handed and doing the right thing by exposing him.”
The courtroom murmured in agreement. The small business owners shuffled anxiously.
This was not the first court appearance I’d had to make in this case. I’d been on the stand more than once with this judge, but she hadn’t spoken to me. I’d been questioned by Woodbury’s lawyers who tried to make a case that I had only exposed Woodbury because I was in a relationship with one of said business owners that was never paid.
When they stated this, I laughed out loud in front of the whole courtroom, which caught everyone off guard, and I admitted to being with Senna Camden. I also made sure to point out that my relationship with her did not negate the fact that Woodbury broke binding contracts and put hundreds of people out of business with his shady tactics.
The judge aligned with me, and the plaintiffs’ lawyers ate Woodbury for breakfast when it was their time to interrogate the big man himself.
Judge Stewardson pushed her glasses back up into place on the bridge of her nose and looked over the notes in front of her. “I see no reason to prolong this tedious mockery of the judicial system any longer. Mr. Woodbury and company, it is very clear where laws were broken here, and to be quite honest, I’m shocked you weren’t sued earlier. All those impacted by your shady business dealings will be reimbursed the costs agreed upon in their contracts with the company. Furthermore, they will receive an additional two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for displacement and all other negative impacts on their livelihoods. Each.”
Woodbury’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull, and the small business owners in the courtroom celebrated with whoops and hollers of victory.
The judge slammed the gavel and dismissed the court before leaning over one more time to say to me, “You did the right thing, Mr. Hammel. We need more people like you to catch the big cats like Woodbury. You should consider a career in infiltrating corporations.”
“Are you suggesting I become some sort of corporate spy?” I asked.
Judge Stewardson scoffed. “I suggest no such thing. Besides, spy is too strong a word. And a childish one. I’m merely suggesting you consider a new career path that plays to your particular skills. It feels good, doesn’t it? Catching the bad guys?”
I couldn’t deny that as I watched Woodbury’s lawyers and bodyguards surround him to escort him out of the courtroom.
It was a miracle the bastard hadn’t been sent to prison. He was lucky he had so much money and was able to bail himself out and pay all the hefty fines he’d incurred by all his unsavory business deals. Turns out, he’d been pulling this shit for a lot longer than I thought—ten years to be exact. His rise to success had happened so quickly because he literally didn’t have any costs. He never paid anybody out. He kept everything for himself and was truly ignorant and self-involved enough to think he wouldn’t get caught.
Fool.
He never saw me coming.
After court let out, it took me a good fifteen minutes to find Senna in the crowd. She was waiting for me outside on the front steps of the courthouse, and Edith and Lily had joined her. They were all celebrating, and a few other small business owners stopped to say hello as they passed.
I put my hands on Senna’s shoulders when I caught up with them.
She turned to me and threw her arms around my waist. Then she leaned back and held my face in her hands. “You did brilliantly up there, as I knew you would. I’m so proud of you.”
Lily hugged my leg and beamed up at me. “You did it! You won!”
I laughed and stroked her hair. “No. We won, kiddo.”
Edith was all smiles too. “It felt so good to finally have this behind us. Now we can move on and not have to think about Woodbury ever again. And, you know, the extra cash is something worth celebrating.”
“That’s a good idea, Edith,” I said, looking around at the three girls. “How should we celebrate? Lily, any ideas?”
She peered up at me and pursed her lips. Then a devious little smile washed over her face. Senna laughed. “Uh oh, I know that look.”
“What are you thinking, kiddo?” I asked.
Lily clasped her hands in front of herself and rocked back and forth on her heels. “It would be fun to go back to Disney World together.”
I grinned. “I can’t think of a single thing that would be more fun than Disney World. What do you ladies say? You up for it? It’s not like we don’t have the money.”
“I’m in,” Senna said, reaching for Lily’s hand.
Edith grinned. “Me too.”
We hurried down the steps and up the block to where Donovan was waiting for us at the curb. He was reading the paper in the driver’s seat when I opened the back door and lifted Lily up to buckle her into her booster seat. Senna and Edith got in beside her through the other door, and once she was clipped in, I got in the passenger seat.
Donovan looked at me expectantly. “Where to, sir?”
“Disney World.”
“Again?” Donovan blinked dubiously. Then he cast a glance into the back seat at Lily. “Is this your doing, Miss Lily?”
She swung her feet. “Maybe,” she said, almost bashfully.
Donovan folded up his paper and straightened up in his seat before turning on the ignition and putting the car in drive. We pulled out into traffic and crept away from the courthouse. In the side mirror, I could still see people celebrating on the steps. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars was going to make a big difference in their lives.
It was about time they got what was owed to them.
We were halfway to Disney World when my phone rang. I answered the call, and Jonah’s voice flooded the line. “So you’re out of the courtroom and haven’t call
ed to tell me how it went?” he barked.
“Sorry, Jonah. Everything happened so fast.”
“Where are you now?”
“In the car. Donovan is driving us to Disney World.”
“Sounds like you had time to call,” Jonah said defensively.
I chuckled. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“So? What’s the verdict? Did the scumbag get the kick to the balls he deserved?”
“He absolutely did. Victory is ours, my friend.”
Jonah whooped and hollered on the other end. “Dude! Congratulations! I know it’s been a stressful few months for you guys. Must feel fucking awesome to finally be done with it. Are you coming back to Austin soon? We should celebrate. I’ll cook us a feast.”
“Yeah, we’ll be back in a few days. I have to book our flights, but I’ll let you know when we’re flying in. How are things going there?”
“Oh, you know, couldn’t be better. My muse isn’t tired of me yet, and she still likes cooking for me. Among other things.”
“When are you going to quit calling her your muse and start calling her your girlfriend?”
Jonah snorted. “Dude, I don’t do labels. Come on. You know that.”
“Yeah, but maybe she does. Ever think about that?”
“Why did I call you again?”
Jonah and I both laughed, and I shook my head. “All right. You go and spend time with your muse. I’m going to go on some rides and hang out with Mickey Mouse.”
“You do that, bro. Say hi to everyone for me.”
Jonah hung up.
His muse, also known as Claire, the girl whose place he’d been crashing at for almost three and a half months now, was a charming young woman who owned her own bakery. Jonah was smitten with her but was in denial that it was anything other than a writer’s infatuation.
“Jonah says hello,” I told the others in the back.
“Is he at Claire’s?” Senna asked.
“Of course he is.” I chuckled. “Where else would he be?”
Senna laughed in the back seat. “We should go on a double date with them some time. You know, really seal the deal for her. She’s totally into him, but he’s too afraid to admit out loud that he wants to be with her. Which is funny. As a writer and an artist, you’d think it would be easier for him to put into words what he wants or how he feels.”
Good Luck Charm: A Single Mother Romance Page 23