Page 59 of The Curse of Redwood

“That is yet to be determined.” His hand slid to my nape. “All I know is the thought of never seeing you again pains me. However, the pain of losing you now would be much less than if I lose you later, for you and I will always be too different. What we have now cannot last forever.”

“Nothing lasts forever. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it while it does.”

“You’re wrong,” he softly said. A strand of his blond hair fell into his eyes, and I brushed it aside. “Iwill forever be like this. Frozen. While you grow older and change, I will stay just as I am.”

Ben and Theo faced that challenge too, but they’d come to terms with it. Wasn’t love worth the risk? Not that I loved Z… but I felt strongly for him. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

“Would you rather I be with Taylor?” I asked, intentionally trying to get a rise out of him. Z—Zeke—needed a small push to embrace his true feelings.

“No.” He growled and slammed a hand on the wall beside my head. “I do not want his hands on you.” Zeke glided his lips up my ear, giving me chills. “I do not want his lips on you. I wish for you to be mine, yet such a wish is selfish of me.”

“Why is it selfish?”

Zeke took my face in his hands. “Because you’re alive. You have a world of possibilities, a whole life to live and explore. If you stay with me, I will only take those possibilities away from you. And you will grow to resent me for it.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one making that decision?” I asked, tired of being treated like a child. “I’m perfectly capable of knowing what I want.”

“And what is it you want?” He fisted my hair, angling my head up. “To waste away in this mansion like the rest of us? That’s what kind of life awaits you, little dove, if you venture down this path. Darkness. Misery.”

“Nowyou’rethe one who’s wrong,” I said, staring at his mouth before meeting his steady gaze. “I don’t feel either of those things when I’m with you.”

“Then what do you feel?” His grip in my hair relaxed, though he continued holding me.

I tried to form an answer. But how could I explain something I didn’t even understand myself? My feelings for Zeke went beyond my level of comprehension.

“I feel…” I searched his face and lightly touched his cold cheek. “Like I’ve come home.”

Surprise flickered in his eyes, closely followed by a gentle gleam that caused a pang in my heart.

“You’re such a pest,” he said, before tugging my face to his and kissing me.

I slipped my arms around him as he pushed his tongue into my mouth. He had me pinned against the wall, but I felt him yield tome, as if everything he’d held back over the weeks was finally bursting from him with nowhere else to go but out. He kissed me with a newfound freedom, one without reservations.

And god, I kissed him back just as hard.

“I should push you away,” Zeke murmured against my lips between hot kisses.

“Don’t you dare.” I grabbed his vest and held him as close as our bodies allowed. “I want this. I wantyou.”

“I want you too.”

Zeke picked me up and carried me over to the couch. The sun coming in through the many windows lit up the parlor, chasing away the shadows. As he settled on top of me, I stared up at him, tracing the sharp line of his jaw with my fingertip.

“Why do you stare?” he asked, wrapping his slender fingers around my wrist and holding my hand in place.

“Because you’re beautiful.”

“As are you.”

Our lips met again, soft and slow. Not as eager as the kiss when he had shoved me against the wall, but it was just as powerful. Maybe even more so.

The intensity of my feelings scared me. The closest thing I’d ever had to a real relationship had been with a man named Rob about a year and a half ago. He’d been a preacher of all things and deep in the closet, but we’d had several months of amazing sex, a lot of genuine laughs, and great conversation. It all had ended when he’d come out to his dad, got kicked out of the church, and left Ivy Grove.

Yet, my feelings for Zeke went deeper than what I’d ever felt for Rob. Zeke was like the moon on a dark night. When I looked up at him, I didn’t feel so alone. I knew he’d guide me where I needed to be.

“Fuck me right here on this couch,” I said, pulling at his pants.

He chuckled. “So vulgar.”