Sunny

We pulled up outside a tall set of corrugated iron gates, Zeke hit something on the dashboard, and they juddered into action, swinging open. It was dark so I couldn’t see much, but there was a large building, maybe a warehouse, just beyond.

I turned to Zeke. “You live here?”

He nodded and drove in. The gates closed behind us and when we were close to the building, he hit the button again and a wide garage door rolled up. The lights inside instantly came on as he drove into a massive space. There were another couple of cars at the back, some weights, a treadmill, and a boxing bag in the far-right corner. A laundry area was set up just down from that. Zeke climbed out and I did the same, following him to a door on the right. He punched some numbers into a security pad, unlocked the door, and pushed it open, motioning for me to go first. Lights automatically came on in here as well and I watched as he shut the door, punched more numbers into a security pad on this side, then turned to me.

I took in his place. “Wow.”

The space was huge. There was a large rug in the middle of the polished concrete floor, two leather couches arranged on it, a massive flat screen across from them. The only other piece of furniture in that area was a chunky, rustic-looking coffee table. Behind that, set against the wall, was a galley-style kitchen. All new shiny cabinets and appliances.

I turned to Zeke, who was watching me take his place in, and smiled. “This is amazing.”

He shrugged. “I don’t like cramped spaces.”

“You certainly don’t have to worry about that here.”

“Nope.” He started across the floor, and I noticed he was carrying a bag, one of mine.

“What’s that?” I said following him.

He turned to me, eyebrow raised in question.

I motioned to his hand. “The bag.”

“Before I headed to Alfonso’s, I grabbed some clothes and shit you might need.” He looked a little uncomfortable.

My smile widened. I couldn’t help it. “That was extremely thoughtful of you. Thank you.”

He shrugged again and headed toward a steep set of stairs.

I followed him up. They led to a huge mezzanine. His bedroom. The bed was in the middle, the head of it against the steel wall. The bedding was navy blue and he had matching wooden bedside tables, both chunky and rustic, like the coffee table downstairs. One side had a lamp. I guessed that was Zeke’s side. The only other piece of furniture up here was a dresser against the wall beside the bed. There was a large sky window above it and another smaller one on the outside wall. The whole place was extremely masculine, but I liked it. A lot. The odd time I’d tried to picture what Zeke’s home looked like, it had definitely not been this, but it suited him.

“Bathroom’s through there,” he said pointing to a door just along from the stairs “There’s another one downstairs, both have showers.”

“Did you do all this?” I asked, genuinely curious. This was another glimpse into the man in front of me, a man who’d peaked my curiosity far too much for my own good.

He nodded.

The light was dim up here and his eyes glittered through the shadows.

I stood there, suddenly unsure. “Right, I’ll just use the shower.” I held my hand out for my bag.

He gave it to me, but didn’t let go right away. “It’s going to be okay, Sunny. I promise you that.”

I tipped my head back and smiled again, not letting insecurity stop me. Zeke had that effect on me. He didn’t talk much, but what he did say packed a punch.

“I don’t doubt it.” I believed him, and I wanted him to know that. So I breathed past the nerves starting to swirl in my belly, and said, “When I’m with you, I know I’m in safe hands.”

I didn’t look at him when I said that, and I didn’t wait for a response. Maybe, those words gave away more than I wanted to about my growing feelings for him, but I wanted him to know that I trusted him. That whatever was going on, the guy he saw hanging around my house, the break-in, it wasn’t his fault.

I closed the door behind me and let out the breath I’d been holding, put down my bag, and turned on the shower. Stripping off, I checked the water temperature and climbed in. It should feel weird, being here with him, in his domain, but it didn’t, it felt right. As soon as that thought filtered through my mind, nerves tried to creep in again, and not the excited kind, the oh-shit-you’re-in-trouble kind. Tilting my head back under the spray, I shoved those thoughts back down. We were spending another night together and there was no point pretending I didn’t want that. Zeke certainly wasn’t.

So when I heard the door open and close, the sound of his heavy boots on the tile, I wasn’t surprised. No, I was excited. My heart started beating faster, harder as I straightened and looked at him through the glass shower wall. He didn’t say anything, just stared at me, his gaze sliding over my naked body. I didn’t try to cover myself this time and watched him back. His nostrils flared and he reached back, dragging his shirt over his head. I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he stripped bare, revealing every hard, honed, scarred inch of his body to me.

He opened the door and stepped in, backing me against the shower wall. It had been so long, so damn long since I’d been with him. I’d missed his touch, his scent, his taste. Missed everything. God, the feel of all that hot, solid strength pressed against me had me shivering. His chest slid across mine and I gasped at the contact, my nipples insanely sensitive.

“Want to hear you scream my name again,” he said, all husky and gritty. His gaze dropped to my lips and he licked his own, then his eyes were back on mine. “The way you did when you touched yourself thinking of me. That’s what you were doing, weren’t you, Sunny? Touching yourself, thinking about me?”

The room was steaming up around us and the rumble in his voice vibrated through his chest, and right through mine. “Yes,” I said, not even trying to pretend otherwise.

He cursed, then his mouth came down on mine and he kissed me, hard and deep, those big rough hands sliding down my sides, to my hips, gripping on. I cried out again, into his mouth when he ground against me, his hard, thick length trapped between our bodies. I wanted him. I wanted to taste him, make him squirm, make him call my name. I lifted my hands and pressed against his chest. He took a small step back on a growl, looking down at me. I grinned up at him then dragged a hand down his chest, lower, following with my mouth, working my way down his body, sucking the rock-solid dips and valleys of his insane abs as I went. Finally, dropping to my knees.

He croaked out my name, thick fingers thrusting into my hair when I tilted my head back, looking up at him.

I leaned in and flicked my tongue across the head of his cock. “I love the way you taste,” I said, not holding back, not even trying to keep my cards close to my chest. Why bother? The end result would be the same. This thing between us would reach its end. Why pretend, why act like I didn’t like him as much as I did? I got the feeling Zeke needed that, that the brutal man standing over me, needed someone to tell him, show him, how amazing they thought he was.

I licked along the underside, sucking his hard flesh, the ridge, not fully taking him into my mouth yet. I curled my fingers around him, looking up at him again. “You’re beautiful, Zeke,” I whispered.

The muscle in his jaw jumped.

I slid my hand up and back. “I think you’re kind of amazing.”

He said nothing, just looked down at me, eyes so dark and deep, seeing everything, seeing the truth in my words. I didn’t need him to reply. Zeke didn’t need to say a damn thing to broadcast how he felt. My words had affected him, there was no mistaking that. His chest was pumping harder, every muscle in his body tight, so tight his thighs and abs looked carved from stone.

I didn’t say anymore after that. I leaned in and wrapped my lips around him, taking him deep, as deep as I could manage. He barked out a curse and his fingers tightened in my hair. I loved it, being the cause of this warrior of a man to lose himself. That I could make him lose control. I got the feeling that didn’t happen often. Sliding my hand up the outside of his thigh, I dug my nails into his ass and sucked harder, deeper. His growl echoed off the tile walls and his hips jerked forward. My back was to the wall and I had nowhere to go. All I could do was take his shallow thrusts, revel in the fact that I’d driven him past the point of holding back.

He cursed. “Fuck, that fucking mouth of yours.” He hissed. “You suck me so good, Sunshine.”

Oh God.

Hearing him talk like that was a major turn on, insanely hot.

I cupped his heavy sack, squeezing gently. Another curse. “Jesus Christ.” His harsh breathing filled the small space. “Gonna come, darlin’.”

He tried to pull back. I didn’t let him. I dug my nails deeper and held him where he was. He got the message and his hips came forward again, pushing deeper as he growled out my name, filling my mouth. I swallowed as best I could, taking everything until he finished. His arms were braced on the wall above my head now, head hanging down. I looked up at him, his eyes closed, panting, face fully relaxed. I loved looking at him when he was like this. It only ever lasted a few seconds, that’s all, before the intensity was back. My breath got stuck in my throat when his eyes opened and locked on me.

He reached down, and I took his hand, rising to my feet. As usual he didn’t speak, didn’t try to fill the silence. Instead, he cupped the side of my face, thumb sliding over the corner of my mouth, wiping him off me. I took his hand and slid his thumb into my mouth, licking it clean.

He growled again.

I smiled.

His big chest expanded suddenly, sharply, and when he pulled his thumb free, his fingers gently slid over my cheek, the scar there. “This, it sure as fuck hasn’t lessened the impact of that beautiful smile.”

Now it was my turn to suck in a breath. But he wasn’t finished.

“It’s crooked now, different, but it’s still breathtaking.”

Every word out of his mouth had the ability to slay me. Zeke didn’t say things like that, not the man I knew. The parts he’d shown me of himself, anyway. Thank God his body was pressed against mine. I needed help staying upright. “You really think so?” I whispered.

He reached around me and turned off the water. “Sunshine, it’s spectacular.”

I’d felt a lot of things since the burglary and attack. Spectacular was not one of them.

Then it happened, something I never thought I’d see. Zeke smiled. It was small, just a subtle curve of lips, but it . . . devastated me. Zeke didn’t smile. I knew that. And he’d just smiled for me. It was a gift. My eyes started to sting over his kind words, how sweet he was being, and I blinked rapidly.

I was not going to cry.

He watched me, taking in my reaction. “Shit,” he muttered.

I couldn’t help it, I smiled again.

He didn’t, not this time. Instead his eyes got darker, his stare heavier. “That smile, it also makes me hard as fuck,” he said.

Then he lifted me up and carried me out of the bathroom.