Emme
With my eyes closed I smiled to myself as Zane’s morning voice quietly sang in my ear and served as my wakeup call that morning. This was, by far, the best rendition of a birthday song for many reasons. First, when you are woken up by someone singing a birthday song to you on your birthday, it tends to put you in a good mood right from the start. Secondly, when that someone who was singing to you was Zane, who had the world’s sexiest voice, that put you in an even better mood. Lastly, and probably most important, when it was Zane delivering that song to you on the morning of your birthday in his sexy voice and he did it while running his fingertips gently over the skin of every part of your body, it took your mood from better to the best ever.
I was pulled against Zane’s body, his front to my back. He was tracing his fingertips over every inch of my skin and I was seriously turned on. I’m not sure if it was the touching or his voice singing in my ear that did it, but either way I was feeling really good. I considered my options at this point and realized morning sex on my birthday was the way to go. I arched my back and pushed my ass into Zane’s lap. He groaned, tightened his grip on my hip, and gently bit the skin between my neck and shoulder. I pushed my body back the slightest bit so that Zane had no choice but to fall back a bit. Parting my thighs, I reached my hand down between them, wrapped my hand around him, and positioned him at my entrance. He pushed himself inside and I moaned as he filled me.
“Drenched,” Zane growled.
“It’s the voice,” I rasped, my voice a breathy whisper.
Zane had one arm underneath my arm and body and wrapped it around the front of me across my chest. He used his other arm and gripped my hip as he thrusted in and out of me. I turned my head to look back at him. His blue eyes were smoldering as he looked back at me. I felt the hand he had at my hip move to rest in the middle of my abdomen.
“Want to help get you there, Em,” he started. “You good with me touching you there?”
I nodded at him.
He slid his hand south and found my clit. As he continued giving me the goods his fingers worked me. I was definitely close to finding my orgasm. I brought one of my hands up to caress my breasts.
“So fucking sexy, Emme,” Zane’s guttural voice said as he picked up his pace.
Hearing his voice again did me in. “Oh fuck, baby, I’m gonna come.”
This motivated Zane who powered his hips harder into me. I shattered, coming apart around him and in that same instant heard and felt Zane find his release.
As I tried to come out of my post orgasm bliss I affirmed, “That was the best birthday present ever.”
I felt Zane laugh behind me. “Love that you enjoyed that, but I’ve got a real present for you.”
I brought my eyes to his and in a shock-filled voice, I asked, “You do?”
He looked at me like I had three heads. “You serious?”
I shrugged my shoulders and bit my lip. “You bought me a dress earlier in the week. You also gave me an engagement ring the next night.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “Go get cleaned up and then I’ll give you your present, unless of course, you need more of the first gift…” he said, trailing off.
I was so excited.
“No. No. I’m good for now,” I said as I moved quickly out of the bed and made my way to the bathroom. I heard Zane laughing as I walked out of the bedroom.
I did my business and got myself cleaned up in record time. When I came out of the bathroom, I saw that Zane had set out a pair of sweats, a long-sleeved tee, and a pair of panties for me. I got dressed as fast as I could while Zane stood at the door to the bedroom waiting for me.
When I finished getting dressed I looked to him and I’m sure he felt the excitement rolling off of me. He smiled at me and reached out his hand. We walked downstairs together and when we came to the kitchen I saw a small wrapped box sitting on the island.
“Is that for me?” I asked, overly excited.
Zane chuckled. “You’re so fucking adorable, Em. I can’t take it. Of course, it’s for you.”
He picked up the box and handed it to me. I stared down at the box that easily fit into the palm of my hand and took a moment to appreciate just how great of a man Zane was. Damn, was I one lucky girl. I pressed up on my toes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You don't even know what it is. You’re thanking me and you might not like it,” he said.
I stared at him a moment before I explained, “It doesn’t matter what it is, Zane. The fact that you thought it was special enough of an occasion to give me any gift is what matters to me. I would have been happy with a simple card signed by you that wished me a happy birthday.”
Silence a moment. “Gold, sweetheart. Fucking gold.”
I smiled back at him and asked, “Can I open it?”
He nodded.
I tore open the package and I’m sure I looked like a little kid at Christmas. Once I removed the wrapping paper I pulled the lid off the box. Sitting inside the little white box was what looked like a key. It wasn’t a car key, which I had to admit would have been a bit overkill, but I knew for certain it was a key. I looked up at Zane, confused. “What does this go to?”
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and said, “Come with me.”
We walked toward the man door to the garage. Zane opened the door and let me step out ahead of him. When I looked up my jaw dropped. Sitting there in the middle of one of the garage bays with a big red bow on it was a snowmobile.
I whirled my head around to him and with the biggest grin on my face I asked, “You bought me a snowmobile?”
“Yeah. I remembered how excited you got when we went to Yellowstone asking if you could drive the one I brought there that day. Told you then that I’d show you how to ride one someday…figured you should have your own.”
I jumped into his arms. Literally. I threw my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. Thankfully, he caught me. With his hands at my ass supporting my weight I kissed him good. Real good. When I finally pulled my mouth from his he looked me in the eyes and said, “If that’s the way you say thank you, I might need to buy you a present every day.”
I nuzzled my face into his neck. “Thank you, Zane. I really love it.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”
“When do I get to try it out?” I asked.
“I was kind of hoping I could take you out today if you’re feeling up to it. There’s plenty of land here so we don’t need to go anywhere to ride it. Thought we could ride for a couple hours, or for as long as your body can tolerate since I know you are still not one hundred percent healed, and then we’ll go out for a later lunch with your parents. We can come back here after lunch and get ready for tonight’s festivities at Lou’s.”
My eyes got big and I said, “Ok, put me down. Let me get my sneakers on so we can try this out.”
He laughed.
“What is so funny?”
“You need to change and put your snowboarding gear on, Em. You won’t be warm enough in this.”
“Oh,” I said. “Ok.”
Zane walked me inside, set me down, and then we went upstairs to change into our snowboarding gear. My phone had dinged several times indicating I had received text messages. I checked and saw that there was actually a missed call from Nikki and then texts from her, Charley, and Monroe. Apparently, they must have tried calling when Zane and I were downstairs. They followed up with messages wishing me a happy birthday and that they couldn’t wait to see me tonight to celebrate. I took my phone with me as Zane and I made our way back downstairs. As he opened the garage door and pulled out his snowmobile, I snapped a quick picture of my birthday gift and sent it off to the girls in a group text. I then put the phone back inside and walked back out into the garage.
Zane stood next to the new snowmobile and asked, “Got your key?”
I held it up and shook it.
“Hop on.”
I walked over and got on the snowmobile. Zane gave me a quick lesson on how to start it, where the throttle and brake were, and gave me a few pointers for riding it. I hopped off and Zane moved the snowmobile out of the garage and into the snow next to his.
“Stay alongside me as we ride. If you need to stop it’s no problem. I’m not going to go anywhere too crazy until you get a bit more experience, ok?”
I nodded.
He bent down, pressed a kiss to my lips, and said, “Be careful.”
“I will.”
Zane and I spent the next few hours riding. I can’t remember ever having so much fun, especially on my birthday. I was seriously disappointed when we had to head back to the house to get ready for lunch. Considering I thoroughly enjoyed food, it was at least a testament to how incredibly enjoyable my morning had been.
After bringing the snowmobiles in and changing out of our snowboard gear, we got ready and took off to meet up with my parents. I was in the mood for Mexican food, so Zane took us to the city’s best Mexican restaurant. Everything looked so good and I was having a hard time deciding. When I told Zane I couldn’t decide between the beef nachos or the chicken tacos he told me we’d order both and could split them. I had to admit…the man knew how to make me happy. Lunch was absolutely delicious. The only snag at lunch occurred when the bill came. Zane insisted on paying for it, but so did my father. After a bit of back and forth, Zane finally gave in and allowed my dad to pay the bill. My parents weren’t going to be leaving to go back to California until tomorrow afternoon. They knew I had plans with my friends tonight, but they said they’d stop by Zane’s house tomorrow before they went to the airport. Zane and I thanked them for lunch and we made our way back home.
Following another love making session, I spent the next two hours getting ready for our night out. Zane was happy to leave me to it and didn’t seem to mind that I had taken over the bathroom. Thinking back to when Zane told me his favorite dress I wore was the one from the Christmas Eve party at Lou’s, I decided on a similar style dress when he took me shopping for one earlier in the week for my birthday. I took a bunch of dresses into the fitting room with me, but he never saw it on me. It was a blush colored form fitting, sleeveless, deep-v plunging neckline dress that showed just a hint of cleavage, and had a sexy open back. The material cinched together at the middle of my booty, which filled out the backside of the dress nicely. I threw on a pair of matching sandals that had a three-and-a-half-inch heel. After putting on a pair of earrings and a bracelet (I refused to take away from the ring on my finger by wearing too much jewelry), I walked out of the bedroom to go in search of my man.
In an effort not to fall, I carefully made my way down the stairs. I heard Zane talking in the kitchen so I walked out there to meet him. As I stepped into his view Zane’s eyes immediately heated and traveled the length of my body. He had the phone held up to his ear, so I decided to tease him a little. I gave him a sexy smile and turned around to show him the back of my dress. I glanced over my shoulder to look back at him.
My plan worked. He was seriously turned on.
“Hey man,” he said into the phone. “I need to run. Emme just walked in. We’re heading out of here shortly so we’ll see you at Lou’s.”
He didn’t even wait for a response; he disconnected the call and slid the phone into his pocket.
“That’s the dress I bought you?” he asked as he started stalking toward me.
I nodded, turning toward him. “Do you like it?”
“Christ, Emme. I don’t really think I want to take you out now. You look fucking hot.”
I smiled up at him. He was wearing a pair of jeans that fit him incredibly well, a black short sleeved tee that fit snug around his muscled arms and chest, his black leather jacket, and his motorcycle boots. “You’re looking pretty damn fine yourself,” I shared.
“This is my new favorite dress,” he admitted as he wrapped his hands around mine.
“I love it, too. It makes me feel pretty. Thank you for buying it for me.”
“Sweetheart, you always look pretty. That said, you pick out ones that look like this I’ll buy you a new dress every week.”
“That’s crazy, Zane. Where would I wear a new dress every week?”
“I’ll find places to take you. And if I don’t, I’m completely content with you putting one on and staying in,” he said, giving me his sexy grin.
We stared at each other for several moments before Zane broke the silence.
“Fuck,” he began. “I don’t know how I’m going to get through the night, Emme. You look beautiful.”
“I feel beautiful and it’s because of you. This is, by far, the best birthday I’ve ever had. I love you, baby.”
I reached my hand up to wrap around the back of his neck so I could pull him toward me. I pressed my lips to his as one of his hands went to my hip, the other splayed across my back. We kissed for quite some time before I pulled away and said, “We’re going to be late.”
He brought both of his hands to my ass, pulled my body toward him, and asked, “You feel that?”
I nodded.
“That’s what I’ll be dealing with all night. And yet, despite this torture I still consider myself to be the luckiest man alive because you’re officially mine. I still don’t know what I did to deserve you.”
“You loved me,” I said, even though he already knew that was the answer that I’d given him a week ago. Then I brought my hand to the front of his jeans and squeezed him.
He groaned. “You don’t want to be late, you’ve got to stop.”
I didn’t stop.
“Em…” he warned.
“Maybe we could be a little late,” I said against his lips.
With that, Zane moved me so that I was positioned in front of the island. He slid the back of my dress up over my ass, pulled my panties down my legs, and gave it to me.
Twenty-five minutes later he pressed a kiss to my forehead and said, “Alright, Em, let’s get you to your party.”
I did a little happy dance and shook my hips as I started walking toward the garage. I heard Zane groan as he followed behind me telling me I needed a jacket.
Zane pulled the Raptor into Lou’s parking lot about fifteen minutes later. He hopped out and rounded the truck after parking and came over to my side to help me out. His hand wrapped around mine as we walked up the steps to the restaurant.
The moment we walked through the front door Lou greeted us.
“Emme,” he began as he pulled me into a hug. “Darlin’, I can’t apologize enough for what happened the last time you were here.”
“It’s ok, Lou. It wasn’t your fault.”
He pulled back and wrapped his hands around my shoulders. “Happy to see you back here and I’m honored you wanted to celebrate your birthday with us. The rest of your friends are already here. Have a great time tonight. Happy Birthday,” he said.
“Thank you.”
Lou held his hand out to Zane as he greeted him before we made our way over to the table where our friends were already seated. Two chairs in the middle of the table were left unoccupied for Zane and me.
The second Zane helped to guide my jacket down off my shoulders, I heard Nikki.
“Happy birthday, you sexy bitch,” she started as she walked over from where she was sitting between Luke and Stone to pull me into a hug. “Seeing this dress, now I know why you’re late.”
I couldn’t help but laugh and roll my eyes at her.
“Oh, ignore her,” Monroe said, as she approached from her spot between Stone and Charley. “If you’re late because your man wanted to love you, that’s quite alright. We can’t all be as lucky as you. Happy birthday, babe.”
She pulled me into a hug before Charley stepped in next. “You aren’t that late, Em. Wes and I just got here, too. Happy birthday, honey.”
Nikki chimed in again. “Yeah, you two just got here because I’m sure you were getting the goods, too. And here we thought you were right behind us.”
Charley shook her head and said, “Fuck, she needs to get laid. Hey Luke, if you don’t have any plans for later tonight, I think Nikki might need a place to stay.”
Everyone laughed and Luke gave Nikki a look that said he was completely fine with having her spend the night.
“Wish I had a reason to be late,” Elle said walking up to me, clearly frustrated she made it here on time. I glanced quickly to see Levi’s jaw clenching.
“No you don’t,” Wes said, his voice a touch lethal.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Happy birthday, Emme.”
I was then given a round of hugs, kisses, and birthday wishes from Luke, Stone, Wes, Levi, and Cruz. After, we all sat and ordered drinks followed by dinner. From there the conversation flowed well. I couldn’t remember the last time I laughed so much. It felt so good to be surrounded by such an incredible group of people. These were my people now. Each and every one of them meant something to me and I realized that having them in my life was the best present, second only, of course, to Zane and his gifts.
When we finished dinner and moved onto dessert, which was a cake the girls got for me earlier that day, Zane leaned into me and said, “Cake is good, but doesn’t come close to touching yours.”
I turned toward him and smiled. He pressed a sweet kiss to my lips. “I’ll bake you my cake anytime you want,” I said.
Everyone finished dessert and we all made our way up to the saloon. Lou’s staff had pushed together a bunch of tables and reserved them for us right up front.
“So, who else in this group sings?” Elle asked.
“What?” I asked.
“Tonight’s karaoke night. I am not going to be the only one from this group up there. Who else sings?”
Before I could give any death glares to anyone, Charley answered, “Emme does.”
I felt Zane’s hand tighten around my waist. “You do?” he asked.
No way was I going to sing karaoke in front of not only all of our friends, but also everyone else in the saloon. I shrugged my shoulders.
“I want to hear you sing, Emme,” Zane said.
I shook my head.
“Oh, come on just do it,” Nikki added.
“I can’t. No way. Besides, the real performer in the group is Monroe. She’s got the voice and the moves.”
“I like your moves,” Zane said.
I rolled my eyes at him.
Monroe added fuel to the fire when she said, “You do it, I’ll go up after you.”
I shook my head again.
“What if I do it?” Zane asked.
My head swung to his and I asked, “You sing?”
“I will if you will,” he said, nonchalantly.
Shit. I wanted to hear him sing.
“Damn. I really want to hear you sing. Ok, if you sing, I’ll go after you.”
“This is awesome. Maybe I’ll have the night off and all of you will have the guts to go up there and sing something,” Elle chimed in as she looked around the table.
Sadly, nobody else volunteered.
“Alright, Zane,” Nikki said. “You’re up.”
“I can’t believe you are doing this,” I said to him as he pushed his chair back and stood.
Zane winked at me and walked up on to the stage. He got the microphone in his hand and I sat there with my eyes fixed on him. His voice was absolutely amazing when he spoke; I could only imagine what he sounded like when he sang.
I was sitting there looking at him when I was thrown into a fit of laughter as the music flowed through the speakers.
“Oh my God,” I said, under my breath, the smile plastered across my face.
“Is this why he is saved as Barry in your phone, Em?” Nikki shouted at me.
I nodded.
Then, Zane started singing Barry White’s Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe. The entire time he sang his eyes never left mine. I was mesmerized by him and couldn’t believe the ease with which he sang the song. Best of all was his incredible voice. I fucking loved every single second of it. He finished the song and we all cheered for him. When he made his way back to the table I stood, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him good.
“I love you, baby. That was fantastic,” I said as I pulled my mouth from his.
He grinned, gave me a wink, and tapped me on the ass before he said, “Your turn. Do me proud.”
I knew immediately what song I was going to sing. It would definitely be a change from Zane’s more upbeat melody, but it was important to me to sing this song. I wanted Zane to hear it. I walked up on stage, entered my selection, and waited for the music. As the sound of the piano filtered through the speakers, I knew the girls all realized what song I had chosen. Then, I started singing Jessie J’s Flashlight. Much like when he was singing, I didn’t take my eyes from Zane. His elbows were resting on his thighs as he leaned forward to watch me. I was no professional, but I’d always had a good voice. This song meant a lot to me in this moment so I went big with it. I made sure that in the spots where Jessie would be belting it out, I did, too. When I sang the last note, the room erupted in cheers. I looked around to see most of the room standing, clapping for me.
Holy. Crap.
I looked at my friends to see that our entire table was standing either cheering or whistling for me. Everyone, that is, except Zane. His elbows were still resting on his thighs, his head had dropped down, and his thumbs were pressed against his forehead. I went to him. The second I was in front of him I was about to kneel down, but he stood, wrapped his arms around my waist, and lifted me up.
He brought his mouth to my ear and said, “Pure fucking gold, sweetheart. Fuck, I love you.”
I smiled inwardly.
Zane pulled his head back to look me in the eyes. I could see his were a bit glassy. He felt that song and I loved that he got it. It was important to me that he knew just how much he changed my life.
It was then his turn to kiss me good. We didn’t care that we had an audience. When I was with him, nothing else mattered.
Zane set me back down on my feet and our friends all gave me loads of praise. I didn’t know what to say so I said, “Well, if you think that was good, just wait until Monroe gets done. You won’t know what hit you. Nobody does karaoke like Monroe; she always leaves an impression.”
“You’re turn, mama,” Nikki shouted. “Get your ass up there!”
Monroe strutted up in her super short, black sequined mini-skirt and four-inch red bottom Christian Louboutins that made her already incredible legs look even more incredible. She had a spaghetti strap, black satin top that showed off the top swells of her breasts. I knew the second I saw her walking up to the stage that she planned to leave her mark. She made her selection, turned around, brought her eyes to Nikki, Charley, and finally me. She gave us a wink and then directed her attention to Stone. Instead of holding the microphone in her hand, she put it in the stand. Yep. This was going to be good.
As soon as the music started Nikki, who was sitting between Luke and Stone, said, “Oh shit.”
I watched as Stone glanced at her a minute, his brows drawn, before turning his attention back to Monroe. The first thirty seconds or so were instrumental. A very sexy instrumental. Monroe used those thirty seconds wisely. She then started singing Toni Braxton’s You’re Making Me High. I was grinning from ear to ear. Monroe was no fool. She knew exactly what she was doing and when I chanced another glance at Stone he was transfixed on her. The song was so sexually charged and Monroe did it justice. Her hands roamed her body, sliding up her thighs, hips, and over her breasts as she delivered the sensual lyrics. Stone’s jaw was clenching. If he felt any sort of attraction to her I knew he had to be at least a little turned on. Heck, I was feeling slightly turned on by her performance. Monroe finished the song and got a standing ovation, with many more hoots and hollers than I received.
We all stood as she walked off the stage. I looked over to Stone and saw that he was no longer in the spot he had been in all night. When I looked back to Monroe I saw she was no longer smiling and her eyes were following Stone who was now walking out of the saloon.
We heard a drunk guy somewhere behind us yell out, “If he doesn’t want a piece of that, I’ll take you home with me and show you a good time!”
Zane, Levi, Cruz, Wes, and Luke all turned to look at the guy and he shrunk down in his seat.
When my eyes came back to Monroe I saw that she now had a single tear falling from one of her eyes. She was humiliated. I immediately ran up to her and wrapped my arms around her.
“I’m sorry, mama,” I whispered in her ear.
“I am mortified,” she said as she held on to me. “Am I that awful? What is wrong with me?”
“Nothing,” Zane said from beside us as he put his hand to her back. “Told you yesterday, don’t settle for less than what you deserve. I meant what I said; someone will be very lucky to have you. It’s just a shame that Stone’s being too much of a jackass right now to see that he could be that person. I’m sorry he walked out like that.”
I looked to Zane and gave him a warm smile. I mouthed a thank you to him.
“We need some drinks,” Nikki said.
“We’ll get them,” Luke and Cruz answered in unison.
Elle walked up to Monroe and me and said, “I know what just happened kind of sucks, but you both totally kicked ass. I might want to have you join me for a few numbers from now on when I’m performing.”
“That would totally rock,” Nikki said.
“I’m never getting on a stage again,” Monroe said.
“You teach dance for a living, honey. You will. Come on, let’s go get you cleaned up,” Charley said as she reached out her hand to Monroe and walked her off to the restroom.
I turned back to Zane. There was a look of disappointment on his face. I tilted my head to the side and pulled my brows together. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I’m sorry he ruined your birthday celebration.”
“He didn’t ruin it, Zane. I hate that Monroe put herself out there like that and got hurt, but I understand where Stone is coming from. I don’t know his reasons, but I know what it’s like to feel like you can’t go after something you might really want. Give it some time; maybe things will change.”
“This heart,” he said, pressing his fingertip to the middle of my chest. “I love it.”
“That’s good, seeing how it’s yours forever now.”
Zane grinned a sexy grin at me and pulled me in for a deep kiss. It was true. This man had my heart in his hands and I never doubted that he’d always protect it with everything he had.
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