Page 75 of Badd Ass
We drew it out, held off our climax until we couldn’t wait any longer. Mara trembled beneath me, her thighs wrapped around my waist, her hands cupped around the back of my head to pull me closer, to clutch me into a kiss.
I felt her orgasm burst through her, felt it in the trembling grip of her fingers, in the crushing squeeze of her thighs, in the clamping tightness of her channel around me, and I lost myself then, giving in to the climax, pouring myself into her.
We came together, our eyes locked, groaning in unison.
“God, I love you, Amarantha,” I whispered as I quaked and thrusted through my climax.
She sobbed against my shoulder, clinging tightly to me. “Zane…god, Zane. I love you.”
I lost track, then, of how many times we breathed that phrase to each other, over and over and over again that night, into dawn, until we collapsed together, exhausted and sated and deliriously happy.
Chapter 14
Mara
“Areyou sure this is what you want to do?” Claire asked, for the tenth time. “I mean, I know you love the man and all, but this is a big step.”
For the second time in three months, I was packing my life into boxes. I had ten full size moving boxes already packed and taped, and was working on the last one. My clothes were in suitcases and giant black contractor bags and I was leaving Claire all my furniture, so everything should fit nicely into the cargo hold of Brock’s seaplane.
I sighed and stuffed the last newspaper wrapped mug into the box. “Yes, Claire. For the ninety-five thousandth time. I’m absolutely, positively, unequivocallysureI’m ready to move in with Zane. It’s long past time. This past month has been hellish, only seeing him on the weekends or whenever Brock can make it down here.” I folded the flaps in and rolled the packing tape across the middle of the box and then along the opposite edges. “And besides, Seattle never really felt like home. I mean,youfeel like home, but Seattle doesn’t. That job wasn’t right for me either. They would have wanted me to advance, and eventually I would’ve been a department head or something, and maybe once upon a time that would have been what I wanted, but it’s just not anymore.”
“So what are you going to do in Ketchikan? Play housewife?”
I shrugged, not quite able to look at Claire. “Yeah, I guess.”
Claire sighed and slumped down to sit cross-legged next to me. “I’m sorry, honey. That was a bitchy thing to say.” She sniffled. “It’s just that…I just got you back. And this whole thing with Zane feels fast, and—I’m gonna miss you, and…”
I hugged her to me. “Listen, whore. You’re gonna see me like every week. You’re dating Zane’s brother, remember? Who also lives in Ketchikan? Something tells me we’ll see each other more this way than if we lived together, especially with the weird-ass hours you keep.”
“I know, I know.” She sighed. “I’ve actually been thinking about doing some telecommuting from Ketchikan myself, just so I can see him more.”
“That bar, those boys, the city…it all has a way of growing on you, doesn’t it?”
“It sure does. Like fucking tentacles.”
I laughed. “Exactly. But in this case, the tentacles are attached to a really hot, sexy, amazing man.”
“And a beautiful city,” Claire added.
“And a really kickass bar.”
“And a shitload of sexy, funny, loyal brothers.”
“It’s kind of ridiculous, isn’t it?” I leaned my head on Claire’s shoulder. “How much awesomeness one little town in Alaska can hold?”
“For real, though,” Claire tugged on my hair. “You’re not really going to sit around and twiddle your thumbs all day, are you?”
“No, I’m gonna make him sandwiches and shuffle around the house in fuzzy pink slippers vacuuming with my Hoover.” I slapped her shoulder. “No, dumbass. I’m gonna work at that marketing firm. I can manage the office in my sleep, and then I’ll have the baby, and eventually I’ll go back to work. Maybe eventually I’ll buy in as a partner. For now, it’s something to keep me busy until the baby gets here, and then I can take some time off. I’ll need to learn how to be a mommy, and besides, the whole HR thing was just how things happened. It was never something I really wanted to do as a career for my whole life. I never reallydidknow, to be honest. It was a job I could do, and it paid the bills, but it wasn’t, like, my dream.”
“That makes sense, I guess.”
I labeled the box with a Sharpie, and then toyed with the cap, trying to formulate my thoughts. “But what’s funny is, Icansee myself being a stay-at-home mom and wife. It’s weird, because I nevereverthought that would be me, but I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and it doesn’t sound so bad.”
Claire stared at me. “Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Oh, shut up. I know I’m not some, like, domestic goddess or whatever, but…I can learn. I’m not gonna force myself into a career I don’t love just because society says that’s what the modern woman is supposed to want. What if I’m discovering that Iwantto stay home and take care of my husband and baby? What’s wrong with that?”
Claire stood up, carried the box to the stack of boxes near the door, and then sat back down beside me on the floor. “There’s nothingwrongwith it, but I just…I can’t fathom it for myself, that’s all.”