He did. In so many ways and with the patience of a man who was nothing like the Zach she’d known years before.

Shauna wasn’t prepared to let Zach leave tonight. They’d both arranged to have someone cover for them at work, a luxury that didn’t always pan out. They knew if there was an emergency, they might be called in, but for now, they had the night and the next two days off.

He held her hand as he walked her up to the door of her condo. Of course, they’d sometimes sit and watch a movie after dinner and make out on her couch. But tonight, she planned for more.

They’d been dating for three months and he’d shown her there was so much more to him. She’d seen him with his niece, saw how sweet he was with her, how much he loved her. She’d seen him hold his own with her brothers when they gave him shit for dating their sister.

And she’d seen in every gesture that he cared for her, respected her. In fact, she never thought she would say it, but she felt cherished when she was with him. He’d never pressured her to take their late-night petting sessions further than they had, despite the fact it was clear they both wanted to. There had been nights she’d watch him all but limp out the door in discomfort, but he’d just grinned and said, “someday.”

“Movie?” He asked, taking the leftovers she’d brought from the restaurant out of her hands so she could get the key in the lock.

Shauna shook her head at him and watched as he took a step back, disappointment on his face.

“Oh,” he said.

She pressed her lips together to hide her smile and took his free hand in hers, pulling him into her living room.

She set the take-out container down and turned, one hand going to the waist of his pants. She tugged and enjoyed watching as understanding and heat flooded his gaze.

“Oh,” he said again, with a decidedly different tone this time. This tone said he fully understood her meaning.

He turned her, pressing her to the wall and pinning her with his long, lean body and this time, the “oh” slipped from her lips. It was breathless and needy.

Zach’s mouth found hers and she was consumed with the fire and heat she knew hadn’t died between them, just because they took some time off.

“Shauna,” he ground out, as her hands slipped up his shirt, finding the muscled abs and then chest she had missed.

“Yes, Zach?” She was all playful as she asked the question and it brought the growl she’d hoped for. Then he was lifting her, her legs wrapping around him as he carried her to the bed.

He sat on the edge, letting her straddle him, but he was anything but passive beneath her. He pulled her shirt over her head, stripping her bra next, and then his hands and his mouth traveled over her, setting her ablaze with his touch.

She was warm, soft, and wet for him by the time he flipped her over onto the bed and covered her.

“I need you naked,” he said, as though he needed to apologize for it as he pulled down her pants and stopped, staring down at her. She was in nothing but the pink silk panties she’d put on at the start of the night.

Watching him watching her was heady in itself. There was something so erotic about seeing the need and hunger in his eyes.

Zach dropped to his knees then, wordlessly lowering her panties and slipping them down her legs to the floor. He ran large warm hands up her legs, spreading her and then he was on her. He licked and suckled and brought her to panting.

“Zach,” she said, burying her hands in his hair.

He rumbled in response, but continued to tease and taunt, before adding his fingers to the mix and bringing her to a startling, sweet, aching orgasm.

She came back to her senses as Zach crawled onto the bed beside her, pulling her close and wrapping himself around her. She turned in his arms, running her hands over his chest and up to his shoulders. She’d always loved the way he felt.

“God, I missed this, Shaun,” he said, and when she looked at him, she knew he meant it.

She brought her hands to the sides of his face and brought her mouth to his, speaking just before she kissed him. “Show me.”

“Everything,” he said in answer as he flipped her, so she lay beneath him. He pulled a condom from his pants pocket and protected them before moving to her entrance.

Shauna bucked her hips, but he lay maddeningly still, just letting the tip of his erection enter her, teasing.

“Please, Zach, please.”

“Shhh,” he soothed. “I just want to remember this.” With that, he sank slowly into her, inch by inch as he groaned her name.

Shauna lost it. She bucked and writhed beneath him, pushing up to meet every stroke of his and within minutes, she was tightening around him, the feel of his hard length within her like nothing she’d felt in the last six years. It was heaven, just like she’d remembered.

Only this time, it was even better. Because this time, there wasn’t just the feel of their bodies coming together. There was the emotional connection, the respect, the caring. And she knew, deep in her heart, there was love forming there, too. Love for this man she’d walked away from years before.

Love for this man she wouldn’t walk away from again.

As he made love to her, bringing her to climax as he found the same within her, she found the kind of happiness she’d given up on long before. She made room in her heart for the hope she’d once abandoned and for the dream of family and future and all she’d not dared dream of for a long time.

She didn’t speak the words to him. Not yet. But when he lay spent beside her, she turned to look at him, and found him watching her, those eyes of his telling her everything she needed to know about where they were headed. Together.

The End.

––––––––

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR reading! I’d love to keep in touch. Please go to to sign up for my newsletter so I can write to you from time to time.

This book is lendable! Please write a review, loan it, or tell a friend if you loved it. Thank you.