Page 7

Zach

The bathroom is filled with the scent of my body wash, a mix of citrus and cedar that lingers in the air when I step out of the shower. I grab a towel and wrap it around my waist before walking back to the room. I’m about to go grab my bag from where I dropped it earlier when my phone vibrates on the nightstand, lighting up with a familiar name.

My eyes stray to the bed where Zoey is asleep, her hair fanned out on the pillow like a halo. I grab the phone and walk out of the room, careful not to make noise that might wake her. I press the phone to my ear, keeping my voice low when I speak.

“Do you know what time it is?” I hiss out, leaving the door half open so my eyes are on Zoey. “It’s not even seven, Howard!”

My brother’s chuckle breaks through the speaker, warm and familiar. “I see you still haven’t fixed that foul attitude that got you in trouble at the airport,” he scolds, forgetting like he always does that we’re no longer the little boys we used to be. “So, how’s your break going so far?”

I glance back at the room and to Zoey, who is soundly asleep on the bed, questioning not for the first time when the right moment to make my intentions clear is. I’ve only been on break for a couple of days, and I’ve already found the girl I want to spend the rest of my life with, but the last thing I want is to confess and send her running. I just found her.

“It was going great until you woke me up at the crack of dawn,” I tell Howard instead, choosing to keep the news about Zoey to myself for now.

“Shut up, you’re as much of an early riser as I am,” he snarks. “Missy, Bear, and I won’t be back for a couple more days so you have the place to yourself until then,” he adds, referring to his girlfriend and their dog.

“Great. I appreciate you giving me the place to myself for a bit.”

“Hey, it’s your house too. Your name is on the deed and everything,” he argues. “Well, that is until you decide to sell your half to me. That’s something I want to discuss with you when we get back in town.”

“It’s yours,” I say quietly, unsure how to bring up the next topic. I wasn’t going to tell him about my plans to move to our old home, but since he called, I might as well lay it all out. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”

“You’re moving back to Valor Springs, aren’t you?”

“I’m not quitting NASCAR, if you’re worried about that,” I deflect.

“It’s not what I asked.”

Fuck! This is harder than I thought to get out. I run my hand through my wet hair and brush it off my face. That’s the problem with having a brother who can read me like a book. “I’m planning on buying our old home,” I manage. “It came back on the market, and I want to work on it during my break. I’ve already spoken to the sellers…”

“I know.”

Howard's words cut off my rambling, taking me by surprise. “You know? How?”

He laughs. “You seem to forget how small of a town Valor Springs is. No one else in town is going to buy that house unless we both decide we don’t want it.”

I should have considered that. Living in a large city for as long as I have made me forget how fiercely loyal and protective small town folks can be. I should have guessed my parents’ house would remain unsold until we both made our intentions clear. “You’re fine with me buying it?”

“It’s yours if you want it,” he says, and I can hear the smile in his voice. “I know how much that property means to you.” He’s been in Valor Springs for five years already, and I imagine he’s come to terms with the past. Perhaps in ways I may never be able to.

My eyes shift back to the girl sleeping in my bed, and I realize that maybe I don’t need to cling to the past so tightly. Or even worry so much about the future. If I can convince Zoey to be with me, then I’ll want for nothing else.

“Thanks, Howie,” I manage through the lump in my throat. “I’m going to see the place later today. The sellers left a key for me to look around.”

“It still looks the same,” he assures me. “The Johnsons haven’t changed much of the place. I’m glad it’s going to you.”

I nod before I remember that he can’t see me. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Oh, but before I go, keep it down for the neighbors, will you?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

A movement catches my eye, and I look up to see Zoey’s stir, reaching out to my side of the bed, an adorable frown marring her features when she finds it empty. Her eyes blink open and she sits up first, smoothing her hand through her hair. The movement sends the sheets falling off her to reveal her naked tits, and just like that, I lose my trail of thought.

“One of my neighbors called, worried about the noises coming from the house since they know I am out of town.”

Zoey turns toward me and pulls the breath right out of my lungs. God, she’s so fucking gorgeous. I could wake up to that face every morning for the rest of my life and never get tired of it. “I’ve gotta go,” I tell Howard.

“Hey, keep it down for the neighbors!”

“Tell them to invest in earplugs.” For the next couple of days at least. They are going to be hearing a whole lot of noise as I teach Zoey everything I know about giving and receiving pleasure. I hang up the call and walk back into the room.

“Good morning” she whispers, brushing her hair from her face. God, she’s a fucking dream. Years in the spotlight have led me to meeting all kinds of people. In my line of work, it’s only natural to run into beautiful women, but none ever grabbed me by my heart the way Zoey has. She’s dug her nails into my chest, and there is no way of parting from her without bleeding out.

Mine!

The smile on her face wavers slightly, and her eyes follow mine to her naked tits. She flushes when she realizes what I am staring at, quickly gathering the sheet back to her chest. “Sorry, I didn’t notice… Zach, what are you doing?” Her eyes go wide when I climb onto the bed, ignoring the towel as it drops from my waist, leaving me as naked as she is under those covers. “Zach…”

My mouth slams down on hers, cutting off her words. I should probably stop and put into words all the emotions swirling inside of me, but I choose to show her instead. She is startled by the sudden move but quickly relaxes, releasing her firm grip on the sheet to wind her arms around my shoulders. I kiss her like a man starved, as if I hadn’t spent last night familiarizing myself with every inch of her body, but still not crossing the line completely.

I want her.

Need her like my next breath, it drives me to near madness. I push off the covers, and her thighs part for me, letting me into the space between her legs. My cock is hard as stone, begging for me to cross the line we’ve been dancing on since yesterday, but I can’t. Not until she gives me the green light to make her mine completely. Until then, I have a million other ways to make her head spin as fast as she makes mine.

I break the kiss to trail my lips down her body, kissing and licking her soft skin. She cries out, her back arching when I slide my tongue over her swelling nipples. My head is filled with thoughts of claiming her—showing her how much I want her with my hands and mouth. “Zach,” she whimpers when I release her nipple with a loud pop before kissing a path down her body. I keep my eyes on hers as I graze her belly with my teeth, fighting the urge to stroke my aching cock, but there is a more pressing matter. Like the need for me to familiarize myself with her taste all over again.

“Oh God,” she cries out when I push her thighs wider, revealing that pink heaven. I spent last night bathing in her taste and scent, giving her as much pleasure as I was capable, and my mouth waters at the thought of getting to taste her again.

My eyes on hers, I run my thumb over the valley of her pussy, teasing with slow, light strokes and feeling moisture pool around my finger. She moans, rocking forward and chasing the friction I create as I tease her clit from side to side until her pussy is wet, and only then do I lean down and worship her folds with a long, deep lick. I groan, the sound deep and guttural, as I feel her grow even wetter against my hungry tongue.

“Oh God…feels so good,” she sobs, writhing on the bed as I bathe her pussy with my tongue, teasing her entrance before flicking my tongue back to her clit. She’s shaking, every inch of her trembling as I worship her with heavy strokes, slowly picking up the pace. “Zach… Yes, oh God!” She fists one hand on the sheets, sliding the other into my hair and yanking hard. Her hips lift off the bed, and she wraps one leg around my shoulders, rolling her body feverishly, and I can tell she’s close.

I don’t take my eyes off her once, drinking in her flushed expression and the way her tits shake with every roll of her body. Her eyes are glazed with lust, and I want to see that look every day for the rest of my life.

I’m in love with Zoey, I realize.

I love this woman, whose existence I didn’t even know of a few days ago, and now she’s my entire world, lying in my bed, crying out my name, and making my heart clench in ways no other woman ever has.

Mine!

With a rough growl, I pull her clit between my lips and draw on it heavily, teasing the swollen bud with the tip of my tongue, and that seems to be all she needs to erupt. She orgasms with a scream, one that will no doubt reach the neighbors, but I don’t think about it, too lost in this magnificent girl coming apart in my arms.

“Zach!” she sobs, her stomach shuddering from the force of the storm, and I keep my eyes on her as it happens, loving every second of it. I wait until the aftershocks have calmed before trailing my lips back up her body, stroking my hard cock as I do so. She pushes up to meet my lips, dropping her hands between us and wrapping her slender fingers around my cock. “Do it. I want to feel you inside me,” she whispers against my lips.

I break the kiss, pushing back to look at her, and I imagine there’s surprise in my expression. I search her eyes for long seconds before I find my voice. “Baby…”

“I want it, with you.”

She’s handing me a gift. I see it for what it is, and fuck, I’ve been thinking about it from the moment I saw her, and now… “Fuck, kitten. You have no fucking idea how much I want you right now.”

“Then take me,” she says, her eyes wild with need, and I am too weak to resist.

“Fuck, you’re perfect,” I breathe, guiding my aching cock to her entrance, eyes locked on her gorgeous brown ones as I work the head of my cock into her tight heat. “So goddamned gorgeous. Every inch of you. Need to claim this pussy and make you mine.”

“Yours,” she whimpers.

I’m panting and grunting, muscles strained as I manage to push an inch into her wet channel, fighting with everything in me to not come. She whimpers, dragging her hands across my shoulders when I slide another inch into her, my balls threatening to explode from the pressure.

Fuck, I need her. I need this!

I slam my mouth down on hers just as I drive my hips forward, tearing through the thin barrier of her innocence. I swallow her gasp, her pussy pulsating around me, and I have to fight the need to spill. I’m so fucking close, it’s a fucking miracle I don’t come on the spot. She’s tight, but of course, she is, I just took her virginity.

My heart is beating hard as I drop my face to her neck, breathing through my mouth as I fight to rein in my control. “Baby, are you okay?” I manage through gritted teeth, pushing back slightly to see her face.

“I’m okay,” she answers, locking her gaze with mine. I didn’t think it was possible to fall for someone all over again, but I find myself doing just that. “It hurts, but the pain’s already going away.”

“I’ll be gentle,” I promise, though I’m not fucking sure how I’ll achieve that.

“No,” she protests, shaking her head. “I need… Zach, I don’t want you to hold back. I need to feel all of you. Please.”

How can she say things like that and expect a man to keep his control? All I can think of now is rutting and breeding her until she’s swollen with my child. Fuck, the thought of Zoey pregnant—the thought of forever—clouds my mind and blinds me until it’s all I can think about.

A deep, possessive growl climbs up my throat with the need to claim her and mark her as mine. I plant my forearm over her shoulder and scoop her hip with the other, bringing it to my waist before I start taking her in rough drives. She moans loudly, wrapping her arms tightly around my shoulder as her pussy flexes around my cock.

There is little that can be said at the moment, so I push everything back and decide to show her. My eyes stay focused on her as I slam in and out of her with deep thrusts, ones that have the bed creaking under us. Our eyes are locked on each other as our bodies slide together in the most erotic dance. Her tits shake with every drive of my cock, and those beautiful eyes grow unfocused.

I jerk her knee higher around my waist and rut her harder, losing myself in her soft body and equally addictive scent. Her pleasured moans ring in the room right along with my grunts. I change the angle of my hips and immediately notice her breathing change, getting choppier with every slam into her tightness.

“Close,” she whimpers, just as her thighs start shaking around me. “Zach…!”

“I’ve got you, baby,” I say thickly, working my cock so the base of my shaft is rubbing against her clit with every move. I grind over the sensitive bud firmly, and that sends her arching off the bed as she orgasms. I slam my mouth down on hers to swallow her pleasured cry, her body shaking violently as her pussy clenches and releases around my cock. I grind hard against her clit and wait until she comes down from the orgasm before pulling out.

She gasps in surprise when I flip her face down on the bed, twisting my hand in her hair as I slam back inside of her. I am an animal as I pound my cock into her from behind, taking her fast and losing all restraint as I finally claim this girl as mine.

The orgasm slams into me with the strength of a firetruck, almost blinding me with its intensity. “Fuuuck!” I bellow, hammering furiously into her as my cock erupts, painting her womb with my seed. Her walls clamp hard around my cock, milking me every drop of my release before my body loses tension. I drop down on top of her, bracing my arm on the bed so I don’t crash her, my labored breathing matching hers breath for breath. For long seconds, neither of us can speak. I brush my lips over her bare shoulder, nuzzling her neck and inhaling her soft feminine scent. “Are you okay, kitten? Did I hurt you?”

“No,” she whispers, turning her head to face me, her eyes telling me everything I need to know about what we’ve just shared. “That was perfect.”

“It was,” I rasp, kissing her lips before starting to get up, but she pulls me back down on top of her. “Hey, I’m just going to the bathroom to grab a wet towel.”

“Later,” she whispers. “Stay for now.”

I want us to stay this way for more than just a few minutes. I want us to stay locked in this moment for an eternity, but for now, I can give her this. I wrap my arms around her waist and turn us so she’s on top of me, my heart clenching with affection when her head drops to my shoulder.

I realize with mirth that I am as far gone as one can get. There is no going back to a life before this girl walked into it. She’s it for me. Zoey is who I want to spend the rest of my life with.