Chapter Twenty-Nine
Zach stared down at the gorgeous woman spread out beneath him. Her brown hair fanned out across the pillow with the golden highlights catching the light and shining. The beautiful green of her eyes was deeper than usual, darkened by lust and something else. Openness, vulnerability.
For the first time, Toni was truly open to him. She was giving him her full trust and had dropped all her defenses. He wouldn’t let her down.
Zach had never made love before. Fucking was as far as it went, even with Toni. But tonight felt different. Significant in a way it never had before.
His brothers would rib him to his death if he admitted this out loud, but it had to do with the way he felt about her. He wanted to protect her, make her laugh and smile, make her moan and scream, but he also wanted to wake up with her, share coffee with her, listen to her complain about a rude tourist making everyone at the diner miserable.
He wanted a life with her.
And that meant more than wild sex.
It meant forging a bond that was more than just physical.
For now, he would honor her wishes to avoid talking about what went down with Shark, but they would revisit it.
And soon.
“Eyes open,” Zach said as he rubbed his unshaven cheek against the plump curve of her breast. She shivered and he kissed her breast to soothe away the slight rough sting of the stubble.
His cock was so hard, it hurt. The skin felt stretched and so sensitive, just the brush of her thigh had precum beading at the tip. Every primal instinct he possessed was screaming at him to shove into her and fuck her until she couldn’t crawl out of bed.
But the rest of him, brain included, wanted this to last. Wanted her just as out of her mind with need as he was. So, he bit the inside of his cheek, hard, to try and regain some control over his cock. The squirming Toni was doing didn’t help anything.
“Zach,” she said in a breathless voice as he briefly sucked a nipple into his mouth then blew across the damp skin.
He held her hips, anchoring her to the bed to keep her from rubbing all over his aching cock. Then he took a slow journey down her body, pressing an mouth kiss to each rib. Toni threaded her fingers into his hair and gave a little tug each time his lips landed on her body.
Did she even realize she was doing it? She seemed so lost in the sensation, it was probably an unconscious reaction. Regardless, he loved it. Even more if it wasn’t done on purpose. Just showed how caught up she was.
He licked his way over the slight swell of her stomach, pausing to circle her navel. With a soft gasp, she breathed out his name again. The entire time, she was trying to move, writhing against his hands, but he held her still. When he reached her hips, he sucked on the prominent bone that jutted out and Toni cried out.
“Shit, Zach. You’re killing me. Please. You’re so close to where I need you.”
“Hmm,” he said against her skin. “Where exactly do you need me? Here?” He pressed a kiss to her inner thigh.
“Very funny.” She sounded hoarse.
“Not it? Let me try again.” He kissed right in the crease of her groin. Her tangy aroma hit his senses. “Here?” If he wasn’t careful he’d be done in by his own game.
“No, damn it,” she said as she slapped a hand against the sheets.
He chuckled. “Okay, give me one more chance.” This time his mouth landed on her pubic bone, directly above her mound and she growled, eliciting a laugh from him.
“Zach! I swear to God…” Still gripping his hair, she shoved him down and lifted her hips. “There,” she said. “No more guessing. This is where you belong.”
Zach couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing. This was what it was like, being with someone he cared about, respected, someone who was a friend and lover instead of just a release. They could laugh, tease, have fun as well as hot as fuck sex. “I get it now. Thanks for the help.”
Toni giggled but it quickly turned into a gasp when Zach licked directly over her clit. He didn’t bother teasing her anymore but set out to blow her mind. He sucked, nibbled, fucked her with his tongue until she was straining so hard against him his arms actually grew tired holding her down.
“Zach,” she said on a moan after he’d felt the first quiver of impending orgasm around his tongue.
She tugged on his hair. “Zach, I’m so close. I don’t want to come until you’re inside me. Please.” She tugged again.
Far be it for him to deny his woman begging for his cock. After one last flick over her clit, he rose over her and planted his hands on the sides of her head. Toni needed no instruction. She wrapped her small hand around his dick and immediately guided him to her soaking wet entrance.
They stared into each other’s eyes as Zach pushed in one agonizing inch at a time. Toni gasped, then bit her lip, giving her sexy-meets-innocent look that drove him wild. He wanted that mouth against his but couldn’t bear to break their visual connection.
Somehow, the blistering heat and strangling tightness of her surprised him each time. Even though he remembered it was fucking amazing, that first thrust was still a shock to his starving system.
Their usual was a fast, hard, almost brutal fucking, and while they both loved it, this night was different. Zach pulled out and pushed back in keeping the same slowness he’d started with.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
The pace was leisurely, and after a few seconds, there was almost a hypnotic quality to it. Toni’s knees were bent and her hips rose to meet his every thrust. He’d assumed it would take awhile this way, without the hard pounding they were used to, but it wasn’t long at all before she squeezed him with trembling thighs.
“Oh, God, Zach.” She grabbed his ass, digging her nails into his skin. Fuck, he hoped she’d leave marks. Branding her man. Claiming him.
“I’m coming,” she whispered. “Oh, my God, it’s so intense.”
Her body bowed and her pussy clamped down so hard on Zach’s cock he saw stars. Needing an even deeper connection, he captured her mouth and absorbed her cry of completion. The next time her pussy pulsed, Zach was lost. He hooked his hands under her shoulders and held her tight against him as he plunged in as far as he could and shook with the force of his orgasm.
Ripping his mouth away, he cursed and stared down at her. Satisfaction was written all over her face.
“Jesus,” he said, dropping his forehead to hers.
“Well said.” She chuckled. Their chests rose and fell against each other as they tried to calm themselves.
Zach dropped to his side and wrapped his arms around her, turning her to face him. After a few minutes of just gazing at her beauty, when he felt able to speak without panting, he brought them both back to reality.
“No bullshit, baby. Tell me how you’re doing.” There was no point in delaying it. The longer they avoided talking about what happened, the longer it had the opportunity to grow and fester in Toni’s mind.
He certainly didn’t give a shit that she’d killed Shark. Well, not beyond the fact that it would upset her. He only wished he’d been the one to do it. And after a few hours of alone time with the shithead. And he fully meant to speak ill of the dead.
“I’m…” She paused and shook her head. “No bullshit?”
“No bullshit.”
She traced over a tattoo on his chest, remaining silent for a long moment. “I’m processing. All of it. I know he wasn’t a good man. Even more than that, I know he was an evil man. And if I’d have been left there with him, it would have been really bad for me. And Stephanie. I don’t regret what I did. It’s just… I don’t even know what I’m trying to say.”
“It’s just that you killed someone and that’s not something you ever imagined would happen in your life. Regardless of the fact that he was a scum sucking bastard who actually got off easy.”
“Yeah. I think that’s it. My brain just isn’t sure what to do with that yet, and I’ve alternated between being okay and freaking out.”
“He was never going to survive, Toni.” Zach stroked his hand up and down her back. The repetitive motion comforted him as much as he meant it to soothe her. “After seeing that video, I was going to be the one to take him out, and trust me, it would have been a lot less humane than the way he went.” It was a risk, admitting such premeditated violence to her, but he wanted her to know him. Because if anyone ever hurt her again, he’d let his beast free and she had to come to terms with that. It was who he was and that part of him would never change.
Toni fell silent, still rubbing her soft fingertips over his chest. At one point, she raked a short nail over his nipple and his cock sprung back to attention. The damn thing was going to have to be a little patient, because this conversation needed to be had.
“Do you feel like I robbed you of the chance to go after him?”
He considered that question for a second. “No. To be honest, you had the right to kill him more than I did. I just wanted to make him suffer. I regret that you have to live with it.”
“I think I’ll be okay, eventually. Just bear with me if I have the occasional freak out, okay?”
He kissed her. “Baby, I’d worry if you didn’t freak out. Just promise you’ll keep me in the loop. I can’t help you get through this if you don’t tell me what you’re thinking.”
Toni kissed his chest, then his jaw, his chin, and finally his lips while she pressed her hips against his erection. “I promise. Now what do we do about Chris?”
Christ, he loved hearing the word we fall off her lips with such ease. Loved that she wasn’t pushing him away but turning to him in her time of need.
He rolled until she was on top of him and she sat up, straddling his stomach. “How about we limit the discussion to one asshole per night, huh?”
Toni shimmied her hips until she was over his once again throbbing cock. No one would ever believe he’d come hard only moments ago.
“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all night.”
With a raised eyebrow, Zach reached up and thumbed her nipples. “The best?”
“Well second best. Hey, Zach?” She lowered herself onto his shaft while he played with her tits.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Thanks for making me your ol’ lady,” she said as she swiveled her hips and rose up and down on his cock.
“Shit, Toni.” His eyes rolled back in his head. “Best thing I’ve ever done.”