Zane

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She was gorgeous. Perfect. Sweet. Vulnerable. Strong. Everything.

Valerie.

She was also snoring lightly and adorably while using his chest as her pillow. This was not what he’d planned on his path to greatness in Grand City. It was so much more.

There were times that Zane felt like he’d lost it all. There were times that he’d almost died. But he came back. He’d always thought it was for his sport. Now he thought, maybe it was for also for this, for her. Shit. What had she done to him? Who was this woman who could alter his view of the world like this?

Zane slowly got up and carried Valerie to his bed. She didn’t stir when he tucked her under his covers. Zane gathered her dress and everything else and brought it into his room.

As far as he was concerned, she was his to protect, and you didn’t let your bros get a laugh at your woman’s expense because her g-string was hanging from a lampshade. That flash of memory made him hard all over again.

Shit. They’d gotten a little wild. But it was just the beginning of what he wanted to do with this little honey.

Zane climbed in next to her, and she purred. Even asleep he couldn’t stop looking at her. Her hair nearly glowed in the moonlight coming in the window. Her skin looked like cream poured over his sheets. He was riddled with battle scars, and she was smooth perfection. His skin almost seemed too rough to be next to hers.

Yes, Zane Diggs, your luck is on the uptick for sure.

He laid down, and she instinctively slid closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

“You’re so sweet to me. I thought you were supposed to be a badass cocky asshole.”

“That’s what I let everyone think. Don’t tell them I’m your slave.” He squeezed her tighter. Valerie laughed and he felt her lips trail little kisses on his chest.

“I’m awake now.” She said though it was a sleepy-sounding declaration.

“And that means?”

“It means I want more.” She said and was now straddling him. Zane looked at her again, her breasts were full, way more than a handful. It was surprising because she was a petite little thing. He’d called her baby doll for a reason. Her hair, so controlled before, pulled back or arranged in careful waves, was a tousled, sexy mess around her pretty face. Zane knew he’d see her this way anytime he saw her from now on.

“I’ve got more.” He said to her, and he was hard as a fucking rock again. He’d just come like a bullet train, and here he was again, ready to fuck her however she wanted and a few ways she probably didn’t know about. He smiled at the thought of the fun they would have.

“Where?” She said, and he knew what she meant.

“Drawer.” Valerie leaned down and over him to his night table. Her breasts were at mouth level for him. So fucking convenient. He tasted her again, smelled her skin. Her smell drove him crazy too. This was perfection on every level.

Valerie slid a condom on him this time. Her hands rubbing up and down. He gasped at the way it felt. She guided him to her, and he felt his hips move to meet hers.

He watched as she let the feelings take her. She was free of shyness now and was letting herself experience everything. He was going to be sure she didn’t forget this night.

As she swayed up and down on his cock, he watched her breasts. He couldn’t go too long without reaching out for them and for her. He slid his hands over her hips and to her round ass. He pushed her closer but still let her have her rhythm.

“God, Zane, it’s so so…” She was there now feeling it right where she needed. He felt himself get swept up in her hot as hell gyrations on top of him. Her lips trapped him in a velvety heat that he didn’t want to escape.

She came hard this time, even more explosively than the first time and watching her come had him losing it too. She’d taken him over the edge this time at her pace instead of his.

It was a pretty fantastic pace.

She collapsed on him.

“You must think I am, well. I don’t know what you think.” She smiled and covered her eyes with her hand, and it squeezed his heart

“I think you’re the most amazing sex I’ve ever had.”

“Yeah? Well, you too. This was. I don’t know the words for it.”

“I think we said a-fucking-mazing?” He reminded her.

“Yeah, that was it.” She laughed, shit he loved it when she laughed.

“Can you stay?” He asked her. He hoped she could.

“I should try to get home before sunrise.”

“Why’s that?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t want my aunt to worry.”

“Gotcha.”

“But I don’t have to go right yet.” She said, and it was music to his ears.

He leaned in again and kissed her. She moaned, her little sounds, they drove him almost as crazy as her hands on his body.

“Good, let’s just be,” Zane said. He didn’t know what was going to happen next. He couldn’t plan life, that was what he was trying to remember in all his meetings. Shit happened, and you had to roll with it no matter what your original plans were. Sometimes life came up and bit you on the ass, but sometimes, well sometimes, like tonight, you won the fucking lottery.

He hoped that whatever was next Valerie Colson was now a part of his life. Valerie fit in his arms like they were made for each other. He wondered if they could fit in each other’s lives for a long haul.

He hoped they could. He closed his eyes and felt the contours of her body on his. The here and now, the moment, this moment couldn’t get any better.

“I like just being with you. It’s not my normal thing. But I could get used it I think.” She said, and they both dozed off.

She’d said that she meant to leave, she’d wanted to sneak back to her mansion on the river before the sunrise. But the sunrise woke them both up and they were still in his place, together.

Valerie’s eyes flew open.

“Shit.”

“What?”

“I spent the night.”

“Yeah, best sleep I’ve had in years. You’re going to have to just get used to it.”

“My aunt? My clothes?” She said, and he could see a distressed wrinkle in her brow.

“It’s all good. I’ve got sweats you can wear and eggs on the way. I’ll drive you home. It’s not even seven a.m.”

“Wow. You must think I’m easy right?”

“Yep. Total slut. Just like me. The shower’s over there. My clothes are your clothes. Meet you in the kitchen.” Zane popped out of bed and got to work on getting her some food. Zane’s life revolved around proper nutrition and exercise. He’d noticed that for Valerie, forgetting to eat was a thing. He couldn’t imagine forgetting to eat.

Valerie came into the kitchen a few minutes later, her hair was damp, and she smelled like his body wash. He was making eggs, and she came up behind him and put her head on his shoulder, her arms circled around his waist.

“I borrowed a few things.”

He shuffled the eggs in the pan and then rotated to take her in his arms.

“Let’s see, my t-shirt looks very good on you, but this sweatpants situation, that’s gonna be hard to keep up.” She’d rolled up the waistband a few times to keep them from sliding down. But she still swam in all of it. It was adorable nonetheless.

“Scrambled eggs?” She peered over his shoulder. She felt so good up against him like this. He started to miss her at the mere thought of taking her to her back to her uncle’s.

“Yep, protein. That’s key in my life.”

“I’m not really a breakfast eater.”

“From what I’ve seen you aren’t a lunch eater or dinner eater. I’m here to be sure you eat a healthy diet.”

“Oh really, I didn’t really think that’s exactly why you were here, but that’s nice too.” She had a dirty mind. Just like he did. Zane leaned down and kissed her. This time she tasted a little like his toothpaste, she was just fresh everywhere, and he wanted to take her right back into the bedroom.

The door opened and in walked Knox.

“Hello, sorry to interrupt,” he said, and Zane saw Knox’s look of amusement.

“Yeah, not as sorry as I am,” Zane whispered it into Valerie’s ear, and she swatted his shoulder.

“Hi, I’m Valerie.” She walked forward and put out a hand to shake Knox’s. She was confident and not shy in the least. Her unease at the fancy affair last night did not transfer to the real world he wasn’t surprised to learn.

“Hi Valerie, Knox Paroni, sorry this place probably isn’t up to the standards of the mansion you grew up in.” Knox looked around and seemed genuinely embarrassed.

“I think it’s awesome and I didn’t grow up in a mansion. They don’t have mansions in the Point Place section. Nice ranch houses though.”

Knox looked a little confused and Zane wasn’t sure how much Valerie liked sharing.

“What are you now a private detective?” Zane said to change the subject and give Valerie an out if she needed it.

“No, it’s okay. My parents passed away recently, and that’s why I came to live with the rich relatives. I’m the poor relation.” She smiled and made Knox feel at ease. She may not have been raised in the Meyer Mansion, but she was graceful as hell. Zane wasn’t anywhere near her level of smooth.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You’re a fighter too?”

“Yep, they brought me on to spar with this Hooker.” She looked confused, and so Zane flashed his left hook at her.

“Oh, the hook.” She was amazing at adapting to new things, he thought, learning the sport, her uncle’s construction business, and how to make her way in this new landscape. Zane realized his world was narrow. His education was zoned in on his fights and how to win them. And here Valerie was, open to tons of new things. It was inspiring.

“He’s next though. Your uncle will be offering him fights before you know it,” Zane said and put the eggs on two plates.

“Hey, let’s get you through your next fight first, okay?” Knox said.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“So, your big fight… what do we know?” Valerie asked.

“Well, I’ve got to show your uncle something good, so I get the NEXT big fight.”

“When does it end?” Valerie asked.

“It ends when I have a belt or three and a movie deal.”

“Just like Craddock Flynn,” Knox chimed in, and Valerie’s eyes widened.

“Pretty ambitious,” she said.

“Indeed,” Knox said.

“Hey, it ain’t bragging if you can do it,” Zane bragged.

“You can!” Valerie said, and Knox nodded to her.

“Yeah, well I better get you fed and home, all under your uncle’s nose, or he’ll finish me himself.” They all laughed, and Zane was struck by how easily the boss’s niece fit in with him and Knox. Like she’d known them both for her whole life.

He drove her back to the River Road behemoth, and it was still early in the morning.

“You want to come in and see my little apartment over the garage?”

“I don’t think I should push it.”

“Oh, you mean with my uncle?”

“Yeah, your uncle, my boss.” He couldn’t help it. Even at the risk of Meyer Thompson walking out of the house with a shotgun he had to kiss her. Zane pulled Valerie in and held her face in his hands. He drew her lips into his and inhaled.

“I hate to drop you off, but I’ve got to go babe. I want to see you tonight.”

“Okay. And maybe lunch?” She said. It was a little easier letting her go knowing they worked in the same place.

“Yeah, for sure.” He dipped his tongue in, and she responded. How easy it would be to do it again, here, in the car. She was so fucking dangerous. His control around her was zero.

“See you later.” She slipped out of his arms and out of his car.

Zane watched to be sure she got safely into the door on the side of the garage. He took in the size of the Meyer house. Dammit. If all his plans went as he hoped someday, he’d buy her something like this.

Zane sent up a little prayer. He knew the things that could get in the way, and he had to do everything right from here on out, so nothing derailed him again.

He ignored the growing pain in his shoulder.

He’d gut it out. There was no way he was going to risk going down that painkiller hole again. It was too fucking hard to climb out. He had more reasons than ever before to stay clean.

He listed the reasons in his head. It used to be title, money, records, his crew, but this time as he listed his reasons for staying clean Valerie popped into the list. He didn’t plan to even add her, she was just there, and Zane found himself putting her before the other reasons.

The mind was a funny thing, he realized she’d become important. Maybe the most important reason to stay clean.

And still, the need for relief was there. He knew he could have it and it was only one call away.