Chapter Sixteen
Zane was glad when they pushed open the bedroom door and stepped inside. He started immediately searching the room for any sort of electronic listening devices. The mob might not be the CIA, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t borrow a few of their tricks.
If he learned anything in his meeting and research, it was that Stefano was much smarter than the playboy personality he showed off. The man didn’t get to where he was without suspecting everyone of foul play.
“What are you doing?” Ellen asked.
He glanced over toward where she stood by the couch. The unfortunate thing about being upgraded was that there was only more room to search than normal.
“Just doing a sweep,” he said.
Ellen frowned. “A sweep for what?”
He ran his hands across the mantel of the fireplace and decided that the heat from the gas fire would only hinder any audio from getting out and likely break the device.
“Listening devices,” he said. “It’s just part of the job. We can’t be too careful.”
After that she sat quietly on the couch and watched as he finished his work. Seconds turned into minutes. If there was one time in his life he was going to be overly thorough, this was it. He couldn’t take any more chances than he already had.
Once he was done, Zane sat beside Ellen on the couch.
“You need to leave,” he said.
After a few moments of silence, he glanced over at her. She shook her head, and her eyes filled with tears.
“Is this about last night? Because—”
Christ, he was such a prick. Zane pulled her to him.
“Of course not, El,” he said softly. “Nothing to do with that at all.”
Ellen leaned against him, and he enjoyed the silky feel of her in his arms.
“I just thought,” she said, “since you’ve been acting weird ever since it might be…”
Zane sighed and closed his eyes. “Last night was amazing,” he said. “I never thought someone like me…”
He wasn’t even sure how to continue. Being with her wasn’t even supposed to be a thing, for her sake.
“Someone like you?”
She pulled her head off his shoulder and stared into his eyes. Her green eyes were now even more striking with the red hair framing her face.
“I’m not a good guy,” he said quietly. “I’ve done some things I’m not proud of. I’m glad I have a job now where I can help people, but that’s not always been the case.”
Ellen frowned. “What do you mean?”
He sighed. This wasn’t what he wanted to get into.
“Look, I know more about these kinds of guys than I care to admit, and they are bad. Very bad.”
Ellen shook her head and placed a hand over his. “I know you,” she said. “I know the sort of man you are, and that’s the man I have feelings for. The man I know you to be.”
His heart leapt up into his throat. She wasn’t supposed to be saying this. She wasn’t supposed to make his heart thump so hard he thought it might break free.
“You shouldn’t be with a guy like me,” he said. “You should be with a good man who deserves you. I don’t deserve you.”
“Don’t push me away,” she said as she brought her face close to his. “It doesn’t matter whether or not you deserve me, because I need you.”
Zane felt his heart breaking. This just wasn’t how his story would end. He wasn’t a happily ever after sort. He pushed past her to stand in front of the couch.
“Don’t you think I want to love you? That I can see the life I want to have, but it’s still just out of my grasp.”
Ellen stood and placed her hands on his chest. He could feel the chaos in himself burn to be set free.
“So love me,” she said softly. “Have that life with me.”
He stared into her eyes again and saw the love there that he always longed to have.
“I can’t,” Zane said and hung his head. “I just can’t.”
She wanted to be sad for him, but mostly Ellen was pissed. He didn’t get to make all these decisions on his own. And she’d be damned if she was going to let him. She’d ached for him for years, and she wouldn’t let him run away under the guise of protecting her.
She poked her small finger into his hard chest.
“Now you listen to me, damn it,” she said loudly. “I’m not listening to any more of this. I love you, and you clearly have feelings for me. That’s all I care about.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but she silenced him with a glare.
“And I don’t give one shit what you did before. I have a feeling anything you did was because you had to, and you’ve left all that behind. You said it yourself that you have a job now that lets you help people. No one can change the past, but we can all change our futures.”
She stared hard at him, daring him to say anything negative. Instead she was surprised by what he said next.
“I love you,” he said. “I’ve always loved you. Ever since I first met you. Pigtails and braces. When I’m near you it just feels like…”
She raised a brow but stepped forward. Her body pressed to his, and in the heels she was wearing, she could nearly reach his face on her tippy toes.
“Feels like what?” she asked.
“Home.”
The word came out just before he claimed her mouth with a searing kiss. One she hoped for but wasn’t sure would ever happen again.
His hands were all over her, palming any and all flesh he could find.
She shivered when he slipped the satin gown from her shoulders, revealing her mostly nude body.
“Beautiful,” he whispered just as he had the night before.
His mouth was back on hers, and she felt them moving back to the couch.
Ellen gasped when he turned her around and bent her over the end, her ass sticking up in the air. The cool air blew over her now hot center.
Zane yanked her panties down roughly before he pressed his mouth against her, lapping at the seam of her opening.
Warmth flared in her center, making her toes curl.
She cried out as his tongue invaded her and gripped the couch as a wave of pleasure passed over her. The pressure already threatened to send her over the edge.
“I can’t wait,” he mumbled against her as he undid his belt and dropped his pants.
Ellen nodded. She couldn’t wait either. All day she’d been so spun up that the ache for release had pent up inside her.
She felt his head slip over her wet folds. The blunt head pressing in just enough to make her insides start to squeeze what she wished was there.
In one quick thrust, Zane was deep inside her and so fully rooted his hips pressed firmly into her ass.
She groaned as he gripped her hips and ground hard against her.
It didn’t take long before he was slapping into her, his rough hands pulling her hard against him.
This time wasn’t slow and sweet. There was a hunger here, and both of them needed the release. To feel that connection once again.
He sped up. His movements became more erratic as his breathing grew hoarser. Ellen could feel her own orgasm mounting. Her insides fluttered hard with each pull, and she knew it wouldn’t be much longer for her.
“Fuck, baby,” he grunted.
He slammed in hard, and that was all it took. Her vision clouded over a bit as the soft glow of her orgasm washed over her body.
She shook hard around him as Zane continued to hammer into her.
He grunted with each thrust now, and it only turned her on more. After a few more thrusts, she could feel the rhythmic pulsing of his cock deep inside her as he came.
Ellen listened to his breathing as he slowly came down from the high of his climax. She waited to see if he was going to run. They hadn’t used a condom again. Each time they had increased their chances of ending up pregnant.
She didn’t care, but she wondered if he did.
Zane pulled out. Then she found herself being swept into his arms.
“I’m going to make up for all the times I didn’t have you,” he said as he carried her to the bed.
She wrapped her arm around his neck. “And after that?”
“After that we deal with some Russians so we can start building a life together.”
Ellen smiled brightly and placed a hot kiss against his lips. Her tongue slipped inside his mouth as she savored his words.
Below her ass she could feel his growing erection and pulled back to stare at him in wonder.
Zane shrugged. “I’m eager to get started on that lost time business.”
Ellen giggled as he dropped her to the bed, just as eager.