Emme
“We did it, baby.”
Zane turned to look at me, let out a sigh, and agreed with me.
“Yeah, sweetheart, we did it.”
We were currently sitting in the Raptor and had just pulled into the garage at his house. The last two days sent the two of us through a whirlwind of emotions and I’m certain we were both grateful at this point to be back.
The morning following the flower delivery left everyone feeling a bit on edge. I tried to remain as calm as possible, particularly around Zane because I didn’t want him more worried that I was actually completely freaking out about what would happen that day. He had enough on his plate and needed to focus; I refused to add to the stress I knew he was already feeling.
Everyone was up and ready to go early that morning. Cruz and Luke were with me while Lorenzo was spending his day covering Zane. Zane and Stone had quick practice sessions just after lunch and the finals started immediately afterward. The competition was tough, but as was typical our guys were leading the pack. I took photos throughout the entire session and knew the moment I saw Zane land his final trick that he had done it. Of course, I was biased in my assessment, but I wasn’t wrong either. When all was said and done, only a tenth of a point separated Zane and Stone. The next closest competitor was two full points off.
Throughout the entire competition neither Cruz nor Luke left my side. When it was over, we all wasted no time in heading out and making our way back to the house. After arriving back at the house and having dinner, everyone called it an early night. We were leaving early in the morning to head back to Wyoming so Zane and I got our stuff packed back up. When we got into bed roughly two hours later Zane wrapped an arm around my waist and held me, but never tried to make love to me.
He was pretty quiet and this was unusual, which made me begin to worry. “Zane?”
“Yeah, Em.”
I rolled over in the bed so that I was facing him, pressed my hand to his cheek, and asked, “You ok, baby?”
“Yeah, I’m ok. Why do you ask?”
“You aren’t trying to get in my pants. Not that I’m wearing any, but I’m guessing you know what I mean.”
He laughed. “You need it, Emme?”
“No. I mean, well, of course you know I love being with you. It’s just that I’m surprised you don’t want it.”
“Honestly, I just want to hold you. Not sure how I kept it together long enough today to do as well as I did. Couldn’t get you off my mind and was constantly looking over to where I knew you were standing just to make sure you were still there. Now that we’re here in bed together I just want to feel your body pressed up against mine and know that I have you safe in my arms.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, letting out a sigh.
“For what?” he asked.
“I hate that you have to feel this way. I hate that this is even part of our lives right now. And I’m sorry that it’s consuming so much of your mind. Is there anything I can do to make it better?”
“You’re already doing it, sweetheart. Just let me hold you,” he answered.
“Ok. Good night, Zane. I love you.”
“Love you, too. Good night,” he said as he pressed a kiss to the top of my head and tightened his arms around me.
When we woke up this morning and left the house I noticed that not only Zane, but also Cruz and Lorenzo were on high alert. Their bodies weren’t relaxed and every moment we were outside their eyes were constantly scanning their surroundings. It was beginning to freak me out a bit. We boarded the jet and they all visibly relaxed once we were up in the air. Three hours later, we were back in Wyoming and the moment we were on the tarmac it was back to business for all of them. Cruz and Lorenzo saw Zane and I safely to his truck and then Cruz followed us back to Zane’s house. He waited at the end of the driveway until we were safely inside the garage and then he took off.
The moment the garage door shut I felt the relief sweep through me and that’s why I had expressed my excitement over it to Zane.
“I’m proud of you,” I said.
“For what?” he asked.
“For fighting. For staying focused and doing what you went to Vail to do. Even though it would have been easy to give up with everything that was going on you pushed through and did it.”
“No thanks to you. Seriously considered not riding in the finals, Em. I did it for you.”
I gave him a small smile before I leaned over the center console and pressed a kiss to his lips. Zane snaked an arm around my waist, lifted me up and over the console, and settled me into his lap. He kissed me for a long while before he moved to get us out of the truck.
“We should probably get the suitcases,” I said as Zane started walking toward the door into the house.
“Fuck the suitcases; I’ll get them later. Right now, I’d like to have you. You good with that?” he asked.
“I’m great with that,” I whispered back.
After letting us inside the house and dealing with the alarm, Zane and I went upstairs so he could have me. I was ok with it because in return, I got him.
A couple hours later, after having made sure that we were both sufficiently sated, Zane brought in the suitcases and bags. We unpacked together before we had dinner. I absolutely loved it. Such mundane everyday tasks of laundry and dinner, but I enjoyed every single second of it.
The two of us took in the time with each other without the need to worry about any outside issues. We did take some time to talk about our plans for the next couple of weeks. Zane told me that he wanted to take at least the next two weeks off from riding and after my birthday he’d get back to it. I wasn’t going to fight him on it. If this is what he needed to bring himself a little peace surrounding the whole situation with Seth, I’d let him have that. I did let him know that since Nikki and Monroe were going to be back out in Rising Sun by the middle of the week that I was hoping to have them over on Thursday to work on a special project with me. I wanted to make sure he was alright with me having them come over. Of course, he had no issues whatsoever with it, but was also curious as to what the project was. I told him it was a surprise for him, but that he’d be receiving it on Saturday and he might find his patience was well worth it.
Before heading up to bed Zane and I decided to finally have our pool game tie breaker. I won, but I’m certain Zane purposely missed a couple of balls. He was in such a mood to make me happy with everything lately that it was hard to miss. Plus, I knew he wasn’t as bad at pool as he had been during this game. After the tie breaker game, we took off up the stairs and went to sleep, only after Zane made sweet love to me again.
*****
Thursday morning rolled around and I was super giddy. I couldn’t wait for Nikki, Monroe, and Charley to show up and help me pull off this boudoir session. I knew they’d all be able to help contribute something useful to it. Oddly enough, I was always on the other side of the camera so while I could coach others through something like this I had never considered doing it on my own. Thankfully, my girls were the best around and would get the job done.
“Love this, Em,” Zane said as he sat at the barstool at the island while I made breakfast.
“What?” I asked, confused.
“Seeing you like this, so happy and carefree. It’s beautiful, sweetheart.”
I tilted my head to the side and smiled at him. He winked back at me. I took the last pancake off the griddle and put it on the plate. After turning off the griddle and taking the plates over to where we were sitting I stood next to Zane and framed his face in my hands.
“You are the reason I’m in the light today, baby. I can’t tell you why and ruin the surprise, but trust me, it’s all because of you.”
“Emme…” he said, trailing off and seemingly at a loss for words.
“You don’t have to say anything, Zane. I already know.”
He put my hand in his, brought it to his lips, and kissed the back of my hand.
“Ok. Sit and eat breakfast with me then,” he said.
I sat and we ate breakfast together. Two hours later, the doorbell rang. Zane went to answer the door. Charley, Nikki, Monroe, and Wes all walked in. I ran over and gave all my girls hugs. And since I was feeling extra happy I even gave one to Wes.
“Alright boys, you have fun down here. I’m taking the ladies upstairs,” I announced.
“Please…take your time,” Wes insisted.
“Oh, hush. You act like you’ve been tortured,” Charley said.
“The three of you for the last fifteen hours or so has been worse than torture,” he told her.
“But you love us,” she said.
He nodded and kissed her on the forehead before he said, “Yeah, I do.”
“We love you, too, honey,” Charley called as we walked upstairs.
The girls followed me down the hall to the bedroom.
“This place is seriously fucking amazing, babe,” Nikki said.
I looked to her and said, “I know. I love it here. I don’t know how I’m ever going to go back to our condo once Seth is caught. The bedroom and the kitchen — my two favorite rooms in this house.”
“So, Em, I didn’t tell Nikki and Monroe what they are doing here today. I figured I’d let you give them the good news.”
My eyes rounded. They were going to freak.
“Ok,” I began. “So, a couple of months ago Charley was wracking her brain for the perfect Christmas gift for Wes. She finally came up with the idea to do a boudoir photo session and give him a framed shot from the session. It was incredibly beautiful and apparently, Wes loved it. When we were out in Vail last week, I decided I wanted to do a boudoir session and give Zane some sexy shots as well.”
Nikki and Monroe looked to each other before looking back at me and jumping up and down squealing with delight. I couldn’t help but laugh. Charley laughed right along with me.
“Alright, what are you wearing?” Nikki asked.
“Well, I have a couple ‘outfit’ changes, but here they are,” I said, pulling the box I had put them in out from under the bed. I opened the box and showed the girls what I had selected.
“Ok, sexy hair and makeup first,” Nikki said.
“I’ll get some music going to get you loosened up and when you’re ready I’ve got some killer poses,” Monroe added.
I followed Nikki into the bathroom where she went to town on my hair and makeup. The girl was a miracle worker. An hour later I had to admit that she had done me proud. I had the most incredibly sexy hair and makeup and I knew Zane would love it.
“Ok, honey,” Charley said. “Monroe and I have been doing a bit of research out here on the laptop while you were getting prepped. We know you do this for a living, but we’ve got a ton of ideas. One question, though, is Zane more of a boob man or an ass man?”
I smiled coyly and looked away from them.
“Oh boy, I know that look,” Nikki said. “Let’s face it, ladies…Emme’s got it made in both departments. Zane, I’m guessing, is equally appreciative of those parts. Am I right, Em?”
I nodded as I bit my lip.
“Perfect,” Monroe said. “We’ll just have that much more fun with this. Alright, go get your girly bits covered with your first scrap of material and we’ll go from there.”
I changed into my first outfit, not that it could ever actually be considered one, and gave Charley a quick lesson on using the camera and where she should take shots from depending on where I was and what she was photographing. Monroe turned up the sultry tunes a bit and I started feeling a little more like a vixen. I could only pray that the pictures would turn out as well as I had hoped. For the next three hours, my best girls snapped photos, put me into positions, and encouraged me to go that extra mile in some cases. In fact, knowing how much Zane appreciated when I touched myself I went completely topless in a few shots and used my hands to cover my breasts. I had a feeling those shots would be some of his favorites. After we had gone through all of my outfit changes and then my non-outfit I removed the memory card from the camera and loaded the photos onto the computer so we could review them. I was absolutely blown away by the shots Charley captured.
“Oh my God,” I said, my voice a hair over a whisper. “These are incredible.”
“I’m not normally one to toot my own horn,” Charley teased. “I’m just kidding, Em. They’re incredible because of you, honey. You are beautiful.”
“You might usually be the one behind the lens, babe, but you know exactly what to do when you’re on the opposite side. You look smoking hot,” Nikki added.
“My girl,” Monroe bragged, as tears welled in her eyes. “I love this for you. I love that you did this and that Zane has put that sparkle back in your eyes. You are exquisite in these photos, Em. I can’t wait to hear how he reacts.”
I took in a deep breath after hearing the wonderful words my friends had just given me. “Thank you,” I began. “And you’re right, Monroe — Zane has put the sparkle back in my eyes. But before I met him I had you three and I’m so lucky to have you all in my life. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”
My girls pulled me in for a hug and we let that love between us settle a moment before I decided it was time to put my clothes back on and take the makeup off my face. I wasn’t going to be able to tame my hair, but I didn’t want to give Zane too much on the off chance he figured out what we were up to for that many hours. After I looked a little less sexy we all made our way back downstairs to find Zane and Wes hanging in front of the television in the family room. They each had a beer in their hands and were completely chilled out. When we entered the room their eyes came to ours. Actually, Wes’ eyes went to Charley while Zane’s came to mine.
“Was that a long enough break for you, Wes?” I asked.
“It’ll do.”
“Did you guys eat?” I asked.
“Sweetheart, you were up there for four hours. We had to eat something. Found some of your leftovers in the fridge and heated them up. That was two hours ago and served really only as an appetizer. We didn’t want to overdo it figuring you all would want to eat when you finished.”
“Ok, I’ll whip something up quick. Any requests?”
“Anything that’s quick works.”
I nodded and made my way back to the kitchen. The girls followed me. We spent the next couple hours cooking, eating, laughing…a lot, and catching up. Even though Wes acted like it was a struggle to be around all of us I don’t think he was serious. He knew how happy Charley was now with having all of her girls around and he’d never want to take that from her. When I took a moment to think about it, I realized that Zane was the same way. He would do whatever he had to just to see me happy, even if that meant letting four women take over his house for a day.
“You had a good day,” Zane concluded, as he locked the front door and set the alarm on the house again.
It was late and our friends had just left.
“Yeah, I had a very good day,” I said. “Though, I’m kind of hoping you’ll help me turn it into a very good night.”
Zane eyes heated and he immediately picked me up and carried me up the steps. He made sure I had a very good night.
*****
Kisses were being peppered all along my neck and shoulder.
Saturday morning had arrived. I spent the day yesterday working on the final touches of Zane’s surprise. I had cut it close and wasn’t sure I’d finish it, but luckily, I got it done just in time. He knew I had been working on it and left me to it.
Now, we were snuggled up in his bed spooning and he was kissing me. I needed to get up and get his surprise before he teased me any further.
“Can I get it for you?” I asked.
“Didn’t realize I’d be getting it first thing this morning. Had I known, I would have done what I needed to do to wake you up much sooner,” he joked.
“I’m horrible at keeping stuff like this a secret, Zane. I’m surprised that I didn’t give it to you yesterday.”
“Alright,” he said, as he pulled his arm from around my waist. “Go ahead and get it.”
I hopped out of the bed and bent down to pull out the two boxes I had put under the bed. I stood and placed them on the bed next to Zane.
“Are you telling me that these were under the bed all night?” he asked, with a smile on his face as he sat up in the bed.
I nodded.
“Does it matter which one I open first?”
I pointed to the box I wanted him to open first and said, “That one.”
He pulled the gold satin bow open and lifted the lid off the box. He pushed the tissue paper out of the way and looked down at the framed photo in front of him. I saw him take a deep swallow before he clenched his jaw. His knuckles were beginning to turn white his grip on the box was so tight.
I stood there waiting for him to say something…anything, but he just stared at the picture. I couldn’t take the silence any longer so I finally spoke up. “Do you like it?” I asked.
Zane’s eyes came to mine and that’s when I saw that his were a bit glassy. “Emme,” he said, his voice rough. “I’m the luckiest fucking man on the planet. You are perfect. This is perfect. Worth every single minute I sat downstairs without you two days ago. Do I like it, Em? I fucking love it.”
I smiled at him and reminded him, “You have one more box to open.”
“I’m not sure if I can handle one more, sweetheart.”
“It will be worth it, baby.”
He struggled with it, but eventually put the first box down and moved to open the second one. He took his time opening the bow and taking off the lid. He removed the tissue paper and saw the black leather-bound book, nothing indicating what was inside. Zane pulled the book out of the box and opened it. It was then he realized I had made an entire book for him with all of the best shots from the boudoir session. The problem was he couldn’t bring himself to turn the page past the first one. I didn’t want the framed photo to be something so explicit, but I knew the photos of me with my hands on my breasts would be his favorite. The first picture in the book was that one. It was a black and white photo of me on my knees in the middle of his bed wearing only a pair of lace panties, my hands over my breasts, and my eyes focused right at the camera. It was ultra-sexy. I wanted him to look at this photo and know that it was his…that I was his and I did this only for him.
“Em,” he said, his voice the sexiest I had ever heard it.
“You have to turn the page, Zane. There are more,” I said.
“I can’t.”
It was then that I climbed back on to the bed and crawled over to my man. “I’ll help you,” I said.
I put my hand to the top corner of the page and turned it. Zane’s eyes scanned the pictures on the next two pages.
“Fuck,” he whispered.
I gave him a minute before I asked, “Ready?”
He nodded.
I turned to the next page.
We continued this same process until we reached the end of the book.
“Can you turn it back to the first one again, please?” he asked.
I turned it back to the first page. He sat and stared for several minutes saying nothing. His eyes finally came to mine and he admitted, “All my life, Emme. I’ve never dreamed I’d ever meet someone like you in all my life. You’re beautiful…in every way that matters. You know me. And when I say that I mean, you really know me. You trust and believe in me. You always have my back. And your heart is pure fucking gold. Tell me, Em. How’d I get so lucky? What did I do so great in my life to deserve someone like you?”
I searched his face a moment before I said, “You loved me.”
Zane’s hands dropped the book and came to my face. He brought his lips to mine and took my mouth, unapologetically. After several minutes of kissing he tore his mouth away to rest his forehead against mine. Our breathing was heavy and we both struggled to regain some sense of control.
“Sorry,” he said, as he pulled away and moved off the bed. “Not going to risk ruining these.”
Zane then took the picture frame and the picture book and moved them off the bed. After, he came back to the bed and settled himself over me. He brought his lips back down to mine and kissed me deeply before he moved his mouth toward my jaw and down my throat.
“I love you so fucking much, Emme,” he said with his mouth at the base of my throat.
“I love you, too, Zane.”
I pressed my foot into the bed and lifted my hips. Zane rolled to his back and let me straddle his body.
“I had a feeling you’d enjoy the first picture in the book, but I want you to get a view of the real thing right now. That is, if you want it…” I said, trailing off and giving him a coy smile.
Fighting the tightness in his throat he said, “Already told you I’d never turn you down. Whatever you want, whenever you want it. That includes whatever you want to give to me.”
We had slept naked so with nothing in the way I pressed one hand to his chest to steady myself as I lifted my hips and used my other hand to position him at my entrance. I slowly slid down on his shaft and moaned at the fullness I felt with him in me. Zane’s hands came to rest on the top of my thighs while my hands went to my breasts. I’m certain it was exactly like it was in the picture, other than having him underneath and inside me now. Catching his heated eyes with mine, I began riding him. His hands moved up and down my thighs for a bit before coming to grip my hips. He held me steady while he thrusted his hips up into me.
“Oh, baby,” I moaned.
Zane’s hands began traveling from my hips up my sides. When they reached the spot just beneath my shoulder blades he pulled me toward him as he lifted his head. Zane’s mouth captured one of my nipples while my hands went to the bed on either side of his head. I felt Zane’s fingertips gently pinch and squeeze one nipple while his teeth and tongue tortured the other one. He did all this and continued to thrust himself into me. My body was being assaulted by all of the sensations Zane was delivering that I was seconds away from an orgasm.
Teetering on the edge I rasped out, “Baby, please.”
Zane dropped his head back from my chest, brought both hands to my hips, and gave it to me harder, knowing that’s what I needed.
“Oh, fuck…Zane,” I screamed out as my body exploded around him. When my eyes came back to Zane’s I saw that he had watched me come apart on top of him. He was still thrusting into me and seconds later he gave me the opportunity to watch him find his pleasure. It was a thing of beauty.
I collapsed on Zane’s chest and tried to catch my breath.
After several moments Zane asked, “Why did you do it, Em?”
I picked my head up and looked at him before asked, “Do what?”
“The pictures.”
I took a deep swallow and answered honestly when I shared, “It was a year ago I was beaten to within an inch of my life, after enduring years of abuse. I lost someone I loved that day and never thought I’d ever recover. As time went on I found a way to exist, but my life was terribly dark and lonely. Then, I meet you and you refuse to accept the plans I’ve already put into place for the rest of my life. You give me beauty every single moment we’re together and in doing that you brought light into my life again. There’s still darkness, but when I’m with you it’s so bright sometimes I think I’ll go blind. I made the decision to do the pictures when we were out in Vail. After the flowers were delivered and that whole situation happened I saw a bit of that darkness creeping into your life. I wanted to do something that would squash the darkness out for you. I don’t want you to end up where I was only a few months ago. Giving them to you today only seemed fitting for how far I’ve come in this last year thanks to your love.”
“Sweetheart,” he began. “As long as I have you my life could never be dark. Shit happens and we’ll deal with it. I worry about you and sometimes I struggle to remain in control when it comes to your safety. But never Em, my life will never be dark as long as you’re in it.”
I smiled at him and rested my head back on his chest.
“Should’ve listened to Wes,” he said.
My head snapped back up and I asked, “About what?”
“When you and the girls were up here putting together my surprise and I began bitching to him about how long you were taking he told me to relax and that it’d be worth it. Just kept telling me to trust him.”
My eyes rounded. I never thought that Wes would have known what we were doing here. “Charley told him,” I said.
“Does that bother you?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Did him telling you it’d be worth it help calm you down?”
“Not exactly. Though, now that I think about it I’m wondering how he knew what the result would be…” he said, trailing off.
“He has his own photos, that’s why,” I said, nonchalantly.
Zane’s body went solid and I realized he misunderstood.
“Of Charley,” I added. “I did a boudoir photo shoot with Charley before Christmas because she was struggling to come up with a gift to give Wes. Her photos turned out beautiful and she said that Wes said it was the best gift he’d ever gotten. I’m guessing he knew you’d appreciate the photos of me at least as much as he enjoyed his of Charley.”
Zane rolled us in the bed so I was now on my back and he was hovering over me. “I guess that’s one thing I can say that Wes and I have in common. We know what constitutes a good gift. Sweetheart, they were fucking beautiful pictures and I love them. I have to amend an earlier statement, though.”
My brows pulled together.
“This place ever bursts into flames I won’t give a shit if everything I have burns to the ground as long as I have you and those pictures safely outside of it with me.”
I giggled and said, “I love you, baby.”
Zane pressed a kiss to the tip of my nose before he said, “Love you, too, Em.” His eyes searched my face before he continued, “So, you feeling ok about tonight?”
Tonight was our Tribute-to-Taj night. The guys, meaning Zane, Wes, Stone, and Luke, had agreed to join my girls and me out for a nice dinner where we’d reminisce about Taj and the goodness he gave to all of us. Then, we were going to go to Lou’s where Elle was going to put on an impromptu show to honor Charley’s late brother. We figured a few drinks would be part of the festivities as well so Lou’s was the perfect location.
“Yeah. I mean, I’m sure it’s not going to be easy, but I think it’ll ultimately be really good for all of us. I am actually very much looking forward to a night out with everyone.”
I paused a moment before I said, “Zane?”
“Yeah, Em?”
His voice was gravelly and so very sexy.
“Fuck, I love your voice when you answer me like that.”
Shit.
I slapped my hand over my mouth and pulled back from Zane.
“I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” I mumbled with my hand still over my mouth.
Zane chuckled.
“You wanted to ask me something?” he said, a full-blown grin spreading across his face.
I shook my head. “I can’t now. I’m mortified.”
“Sweetheart, why are you embarrassed? You just gave me those gifts over there, which required a whole hell of a lot of courage to pull off, but telling me you like the sound of my voice sends you over the edge?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“What did you want to say to me before?”
I looked away from him and admitted, “I was going to ask you if you wanted more.”
“More what?” he asked, as he used his fingertips to push my face back to his.
I swallowed hard and bit my lip. “Love.”
“Emme…do you need more?” he pressed, his voice gentle.
I nodded and quietly added, “I’d like it.”
“Then you tell me. I’m your man, Em. It’s my job to take care of you, in every way that you need me to take care of you. Told you I would always do that. You want more, sweetheart, I’ll always give it to you.”
I stared at him a moment before I confessed, “I want more, baby.”
With that, Zane picked me up and carried me to the shower, where he gave me more.