The waiting was almost unbearable. Zach took my hands in his and pulled me to my feet, where he once again pinned me between his body and the wall. The warmth radiating off of him made me want to wrap myself around him; made me want to be as connected to him as possible. His palms were calloused and rough, and his grip was strong, a stark contrast to the softness of his lips as he kissed me with an insatiable need.

My dress was still gathered messily around my waist. The crinoline was itchy, and I wanted it off. I wanted it all off. As Zach kissed me, I shimmied it down my hips. It fell in a heap around my ankles. The wall was cool against my bare ass.

Zach’s hands slipped between my ass and the wall. He lifted me up like I weighed nothing, and I hooked my legs around his waist. His cock rested between my legs, and the sensation of him rubbing against my pussy had me squirming in his arms to take him inside me. He chuckled deeply as I lifted up. I lowered myself back down on his dick, and he slipped inside me.

It was pure bliss. My body screamed sweet hallelujahs as he bounced me slowly, up and down, up and down. I clung to his shoulders and pulled myself to him, crushing my breasts against his chest as we once more gave in to our desire to kiss one another. I’d never been so turned on in my life. I’d never felt so sexy before, either. Zach made me feel like a goddess. The way he made me feel so safe made the pleasure even more intense. I wasn’t worrying about a damn thing, which was probably the most refreshing part of the whole thing.

With Brett, I was always concerned about how I looked. I was worried about the loose skin around my midsection from my pregnancy. I hoped he would never look at the silver stretch marks on my hips or lower belly. I worried that my breasts weren’t perky enough, that I wasn’t thin enough, that my legs were too thick, too soft, too—

Zach crushed me against the wall and buried himself deep inside me. I let out a euphoric cry and buried my fingers in his hair as I came. He smiled and nibbled at my neck. Then, when I had recovered, he lifted me off the wall and carried me down the hall to the bedroom.

I squeezed his waist tightly with my legs and kissed him the whole way there. We bumped into the doorframe, giggled like idiots over how clumsy and horny we were, and then proceeded deeper into the bedroom, where Zach slowly lowered me to the bed. I kept my legs around him the whole time. At this point, there was literally nothing that could have separated me from him. We were one.

He began thrusting slowly, and I pressed my heels into the backs of his thighs to urge him on. He stroked my hair off my face as he hovered over me and then lowered his face to rest his forehead against mine. Our breathing synced, and I grabbed his wrists, my grip tight as each thrust plunged deeper and deeper inside me.

After another body-shaking, heart-pounding climax, he pulled himself off of me and straightened. He grabbed me by the hips and tugged me to the edge of the bed, where he lifted my legs up and dropped to his knees.

I let my head fall back as he licked me. His hot breath between my legs and his tongue swirling around my clit were wondrous. Every lick had me moaning, and when he eased two fingers inside me and began flicking my G-spot, I came undone. I heard him chuckle between my legs when I came.

Soon, I wouldn’t be able to take much more of this. I was incredibly sensitive. Zach got to his feet between my legs and stroked himself. “You have any of those condoms still?”

I nodded. I couldn’t speak. My brain was mush.

He grinned at me and walked around the bed to my nightstand. He pulled open the drawer, found a condom, and came back to stand between my thighs. He tore it open, threw the wrapper playfully at me, and then rolled the condom on as I tossed the wrapper over the side of the bed.

He was sliding inside me again. I gripped the sheets as he gave me all of his length. His thumb pressed down on my clit, and he began thrusting. He was slow at first and then worked his way up to a faster pace that made it impossible for me to do anything besides sigh and moan in ecstasy.

When he grabbed my ankles and pulled my legs together, the pleasure intensified. As my fists tightened in the sheets, he pushed my legs back. His thumb still played with my clit as he buried himself deep inside me over and over.

I screamed his name like I knew I would, and it seemed to shatter his need to hold in his own orgasm. He came when I did, and both of us rode out our climax together.

When we were done, Zach patted the back of my thigh, and I shimmied up higher on the bed, where I collapsed to stare up at the ceiling as I tried to catch my breath. Zach didn’t lay down. Instead, he went to my bathroom where I listened to him clean himself up after taking the condom off. When he came back, he stood by the side of the bed, and I rolled to face him, propping my head up in one hand.

He was smiling at me.

“What?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Nothing.”

I sat up and raked my fingers through my hair. It was damp with sweat at the roots. “You want a glass of wine?” I asked. “I have a nice bottle of red I was saving for a special occasion. A Merlot, I believe.”

“I won’t say no to that,” Zach said, and he offered me his hand. I took it and rolled off the bed, then skipped ahead of him to grab my robe off the back of my bedroom door. Zach clicked his tongue. “Don’t cover up.”

I paused with my hand just inches from the robe, from my security blanket. I looked back at him over my shoulder and let my hand fall. He wanted to look at me longer. I smiled and slipped out of the bedroom.

He followed me to the kitchen where I grabbed us each a glass and set to opening the bottle of wine. He offered to help me get the cork out, and I raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m a pro. Bartender, remember?”

“I know. Just trying to be a gentleman.”

I smiled as I poured us each a glass and handed him his. I swirled mine around in my glass for a minute, and he followed suit. Then we both took a sip. I nodded appreciatively. “Not bad.”

“Not bad at all.”

“Want to sit in the living room for a little while?” I asked.

Zach nodded. We left the kitchen to make ourselves comfortable on the sofa in my living room. I made sure the blinds were closed on the big window that looked out on the dark street out front. We left the lights off, but the darkness wasn’t thick. It was easy to see one another. Zach got comfortable in his corner and lifted his arm for me to get cozy against his side.

It was so nice to sit like this with him, naked and sipping wine in my living room.

Was this the kind of thing I’d been missing out on for five years, or was this just the beginning phases of a new relationship? Was he always like this?

Brett had been sweet too in the beginning.

“What are you thinking about, pretty girl?” Zach asked, tracing a thumb along my cheek as he looked down at me.

I didn’t want another relationship like the one I had with Brett. Even though he was an ass, I knew there were things I could have done differently to make sure I didn’t end up too deep in a relationship that was bad for me. So I opened up fearlessly to Zach. “I’m thinking about us.”

“Us?” He sipped his wine and pulled me to him tighter. “I like the sound of that. What about us?”

“Everything,” I said. “What I want. How good this feels. How scared I am.”

“Scared?” he asked. He seemed genuinely surprised by this confession. “What are you scared of?”

“That this is too good to be true,” I admitted. He didn’t answer me right away. He considered my words, digesting them, and I appreciated that. I let him sit and think and continued. “It’s been so long since I felt this good and since I cared about someone the way I care about you. I don’t want anything to ruin it.”

“The only thing that can ruin it is us,” he said.

The statement was so simple that it surprised me. “I know.”

“And I don’t plan on ruining it. Do you?”

I shook my head. “Of course not.”

“Then you are afraid for no reason. I’ve wanted this for a long time, Jo. A really long fucking time. Now that I have you—and a son—I won’t jeopardize it. I won’t take you for granted. I won’t forget what it was like before you.”

“Where did you come from, Zachary Flynn?”

He blinked at me.

I laughed, and it felt damn good to laugh with him after being so vulnerable. He had completely put my mind at ease with just a few words, all because I had been honest with him. I made the commitment to myself right then and there that I would always tell him how I was feeling. I would not keep things inside to let them build and fester and grow. I would share openly. “Thank you,” I said.

He didn’t seem to know what I was thanking him for, but he smiled anyway and rubbed my shoulder. “So,” he said slowly. “Thursday nights are always like this?”

I glanced up at him and grinned brightly. “Yep, unless Ryan has a scheduled session with a client who can’t make his normal office hours. But that only ever happens once every few months. Thursdays are my lonely nights.”

“Not anymore,” Zach mused as he sipped his wine.

“Oh? You had a good time, did you?”

“Thursdays are date nights now, woman, whether you like it or not. Maybe next week we’ll go to a movie.”

I giggled and twisted around so I could rest my legs in his lap. He placed a hand on my knee and watched me as I took a few mouthfuls of my wine. “I don’t know. Sitting beside you in a movie theatre sounds dangerous.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Would you keep your hands to yourself the whole time? I’m not doing any funny business in the middle of a show, surrounded by people.”

Zach chuckled. “Come on, that’s half the fun of it. Just wear a skirt. Then I can reach up there any time I—”

“No!” I said, and the two of us burst out laughing.

“A drive-in theatre, then?” Zach suggested when he had his laughter under control.

I paused. I hadn’t considered that as an option.

“I’d take my truck, and we could park in the back where no one can see us. Watch a movie. Eat some shitty concession stand food. And then fool around like teenagers.”

I rolled my eyes and shoved him in the chest. “You’re such a horn dog.”

“You like it.”

He was right. I did.