That was a lie. I knew why. I stayed because I hadn’t wanted to confirm her negative opinion of me. At the club, she’d thought I was a jerk from the get-go, and I didn’t want to give her a reason to go back to those thoughts—if they’d ever left her.
“Come on, Zach!” She ran back toward me, and I could see that she was shivering slightly in the cool night air. I pulled her into my arms as she got closer to me and I rubbed her shoulders. “Don’t you want to feel the water?” She gazed up at me with wide brown eyes and gave me a small smile. “I mean, I think when we left the apartment I said I wanted to hear about you, but we spent the whole walk here talking about how much I want to get a dog.”
“You don’t want to know about me, I’m a very boring person.”
“I think you’re far from boring.” Her arms wrapped around my waist and she rested her head on my chest.
“I’m the most boring man you’ll ever meet.” I stared at the sky for a few seconds. “Look up there.” I pointed to the sky. “See those stars?” I drew a line in the sky. “That’s the Draco constellation.”
“Oh, is it?” She looked up at the sky and I could see her trying to follow my finger.
“Or … maybe not,” I said as I saw one of the stars moving. It was actually an airplane. “I thought it was the Draco.”
“I didn’t know you were into astronomy.”
“I’m not.” I realized I’d fucked up. “I had a friend when I was younger that used to love to stargaze in Florida. I don’t really know much.”
“Oh?”
She looked like she wanted to ask me more, so I grabbed her hand and tugged it. “Come on then, let’s go sample the water.”
“Sample the water? Are we tasting it?”
“No.” I laughed, let go of her hand, and started to run. “Race ya! The first one to the water wins!”
“No fair, you started running before me!”
I heard her gasping as she ran for the shoreline with me. I reached the edge of the water and quickly pulled off my shoes, rolled up my pants and dipped my feet into the ocean.
I quickly took a few steps back. “It’s bloody freezing in there.”
“It is the Pacific.” She grinned as she joined me and then started flicking me with water. I leaned down and splashed her with water and she shrieked as I drenched her.
“I’ve always preferred the Atlantic. So much warmer.”
“Oh, yeah?” She stopped splashing me and stood there for a few seconds. “Have you spent a lot of time there?”
“Yeah. I grew up in Florida, but I think you knew that already.”
“Kinda,” she admitted in a soft voice. “Orlando, right? You and Jackson grew up together?”
“Yes, Jackson and I grew up together. We’ve been best friends since we were eight.” I smiled as I thought of Jackson as a young boy. “We went to school together and actually lived on the same street, but not in Orlando.”
“In Florida, though?”
“You sure you’re not a reporter?” I laughed, but I was half-serious. I found it hard to trust new people and didn’t like opening up. “But yes, in Florida, in a small town called Palm Bay.”
“Sounds cool.”
“It was okay.” I shrugged. “Nothing special, but we were close to the beach.” I paused for a few seconds. “We used to spend every weekend at Indialantic beach and sometimes we’d go down to Stuart. A lot of the pro surfers used to practice there, and we had a friend that was hoping to go pro.” I looked at her face and could see that she was listening to me intently. “Actually, the same friend that liked looking at the stars,” I said and I wanted to kick myself. I was revealing too much.
“Did you surf as well, then?” she asked, and I was grateful that she was taking the conversation in a different direction.
“I tried, but I was never a natural. Jackson and I, well, we were always artsier. You know, he started playing the guitar when he was four. He was a natural.”
“I’ve heard something like that.” She nodded. “Were you in drama at school?”
“You’d think so, right?” I laughed as I shook my head. “But no, I focused a lot on classes. I was in dual enrollment classes at the local community college, Brevard Community College, when I was high school school and studied a lot.” I thought back to my high school days. How long ago they seemed now. “And I had a job to help my mom pay the rent.”
“Oh?” She sounded surprised. “Where did you work?”
“Papa Johns.” I smiled. “Maybe that’s why I love pizza so much.”
“Were your parents divorced?” she asked softly, and I felt my heart hardening as I thought about my parents’ marriage and my early childhood.
“Something like that.” I nodded and then grabbed her arms and pulled her to me. “Too many serious questions have been asked. Can I kiss you?”
She looked like she wanted to ask me something else, but I think she could tell from my tone that I was done answering questions.
“If we kiss, it might lead to something more,” she said, tipping her head back. The moonlight illuminated her face, and when she looked back at me, she reminded me of a beautiful nymph, ready to captivate me and make me hers.
“Would that be so bad?” I asked her softly. I pulled her into me so that she could feel my hardness against her stomach. “I know this isn’t something you normally do, but what’s the harm? I want you very badly, Piper Meadows. I want to please you. I want to pleasure you. I want to show you that I …”
My voice trailed off as she took a step away from me. She slid her hands out of mine, and my jaw dropped as I watched her slowly pull her off first her top and then her shorts. She stood there in front of me, naked, and I’d never been more turned on in my life.
“What are you doing?” I asked her as she started to dance in front of me, her body sensual and glowing in the moonlight. “You are a nymph, aren’t you?”
“I’m just a love machine,” she sang as she danced and then she raised her hands in the air and turned around swaying like a belly dancer. My eyes could not leave her body and I was pulled to her with some sort of magnetic attraction. I was drawn to this woman like a moth to a flame.
“You’re driving me crazy, woman.”
“How crazy?”
“This crazy.” I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Are you trying to bewitch me?” I whispered against her lips as she pressed herself into me and batted her eyelashes.
“I don’t think anyone can bewitch you, Oracle Lion, aka Zach Houston.” Her voice was sexy and seductive and her words mesmerized me. “If anything, you’re the one bewitching me.”
“How much have you had to drink, Piper?” I held her close to me. “I think I should get you home.”
“Don’t you want me?” She grinned as she leaned up to kiss me.
“Of course, I want you, but I don’t think this is the place.”
“I didn’t think there was a place you would say no.”
“Oh, and why is that?”
“You seem to be with a different woman every other week.”
“Oh?”
“I mean, weren't you just dating that one model, what was her name, Cassie Cash?”
“Cassie and I never dated.”
“Oh, okay, did you just have sex, then?”
“Contrary to what you think you know, we never had sex, either.”
“What?” She paused then and I could see her thinking as she gazed up at me. “But what sort of relationship is that?”
“Exactly, there was no relationship. Everything you read in the tabloids isn’t true, you know, Piper. I’m not Casanova.”
“So you don’t get around?”
“Well, I didn’t say that.” I laughed and bent down and picked up her clothes. “Here, put these on and let me take you home. I think the fresh air, water, and alcohol have all gone to your head.”
“But I want to make love.”
“As do I, but not if you’re drunk. Let’s se
e how you feel in the morning.”
“In the morning?” She blinked at me as she held onto my arm with one hand and put her clothes on with the other hand. “Aren’t you going home?”
“No, I think I should spend the night, in case you feel sick and need anything.”
“That’s why you’re staying the night?”
She gave me an impish look that made her look even cuter than before, and I just laughed. It was weird how comfortable I felt with Piper, seeing as I’d never met her before today and I never felt comfortable with anyone. I met a lot of women and a lot of women were into me, but it never felt genuine, not like it did with her. I always wondered if they were into me or if they were into just being with a star. With Piper, that thought never even crossed my mind. I truly believed she was her true self with me. Even if her true self was a bit all over the place.
“Let’s get you home.”
I squeezed her hand as we made our way off the beach. We strolled lazily along the sand, and Piper started telling me a story about when she and Alexa had gone to what they thought was a regular dance club in San Francisco but had turned out to be a bondage club. She was open and free and I listened to her story, chuckling and turned on.
Part of me couldn’t believe that I’d turned down sex on the beach, but I knew I wouldn’t have been happy with myself if I’d let it happen. I wanted Piper to want me when she was completely sober as well. And I was willing to wait until morning for that to happen.
8
Piper
* * *
The sound of light snoring woke me up.
I opened my eyes feeling slightly confused as to where the sound was coming from. Then I froze as I saw the golden-blond hairs on the tan chest directly next to my face. I glanced up and saw the handsome face of a sleeping Zach Houston.
Daaammn, had I slept with him?
I reached down to see if I had my panties on, and when I felt the lacy material, I had to admit I was slightly disappointed. As I lay there, memories of the previous night flashed into my mind. I couldn’t stop myself groaning out loud as I remembered my little naked dance on the beach.
And this was why I didn’t normally drink on an empty stomach.
I’d had pizza later in the night, but obviously, that had been too late to combat the evils of alcohol. I was grateful that I wasn’t feeling hungover, though, and that I was sober enough to appreciate his naked chest and the morning stubble that grew on his face.
“What’s the groan for?”
Zach gave me a wide smile as his eyes opened. There was a naughty twinkle in them, and I wondered if he’d been awake before me. But no, that wasn’t possible, he’d been snoring, hadn’t he? I stilled for a few moments as I realized that the snoring that had woken me might have been my own. I groaned again, thinking that this morning couldn’t possibly be any more embarrassing.
“My snoring,” I said before I could stop myself. I blushed slightly at his grin as he basically confirmed that it had been me after all. “Did I wake you up?”
“Yes, but not because of your snoring.”
“Oh?” I moved over slightly so that I could look at his face properly without straining my neck and wondered if I should move off of him.
“Your hand got me excited.” He winked, and I instinctively moved my hands to see what he was talking about.
My right hand felt numb as I was lying on top of it, but as I moved my left hand, I realized it was placed lightly on his cock. I could feel it growing hard as I moved my hand back and forth.
“And it’s continuing to get me excited.”
“Oh, uh, sorry.” I pulled my hand away, and he chuckled. I looked back into his smiling blue eyes and blinked rapidly, trying to wake myself from what had to be a dream.
“Have you got something in your eyes?” His voice was caring and I stopped blinking. “Also, how are you feeling this morning?”
“Nothing in my eyes and fine. Why?”
“You seemed like you had quite a bit to drink last night when you were shaking your coconuts on the beach.”
Shaking my coconuts on the beach? My face reddened as I stared at his deadpan expression. I could tell that he was totally thinking about a naked me trying to dance sensually in the night air. Oh God, I remembered asking him to take me. Where was my shame? He most probably thought I was bipolar or something with my ever-changing moods. From goofy in the cupcake store, to standoffish in the club, to wanton once he came back to the apartment, to cold when we were going to have sex and then back to wanton on the beach. To be honest, I was surprised he was still here. I was acting like a crazy woman.
“Not that I didn’t enjoy it. You’re quite the dancer.” He grinned, and before I knew what was going on, I felt his hand on my stomach, creeping up under my top. His lips moved to the side of my lips and he kissed me lightly. “In fact, if you’d like to give me another performance right now, I’d be happy to watch.”
“Another performance?” I croaked out. Why was he delighting in embarrassing me?
“You know.”
His lips found their way to mine. His teeth tugged gently on my lower lip, and then I felt his hand behind my neck, pulling on my hair. My scalp tingled a little bit, but I soon forgot the slight pain as I enjoyed the feel of his lips on mine.
“I want you to dance for me again,” he whispered against my lips and then blew gently on my skin.
I swallowed at the intimate gesture and kissed him back lightly. I wanted to grab his hair and pull him against me. I wanted to slide my tongue into his mouth and grab his cock and glide on top of him. Even more than I’d wanted to the night before. I was no longer drunk, but I still wanted him.
The only thing stopping me was the fact that I was pretty sure I had morning breath and smeared mascara, and I didn’t want to be all over him when I wasn’t at my best. At least let me brush my teeth and wash my face. That wasn’t too much for a girl to ask for. I mean, it’s not like I was going to get this opportunity again. He was a hot movie star. And yeah, he was a cocky bastard, but what did I care? And I wasn’t a mistress or cheater or whatever because he wasn’t actually dating Cassie Cash and he never had been. At least, that’s what he’d said the night before and I believed him. I mean, maybe they’d had sex, but I’m sure he had a lot of sex with a lot of women. It didn’t mean much. Just like him sleeping with me didn’t mean much. Well, to him at least.
To me, well to me, it meant a lot. And it wasn’t just because he was a movie star. I’d seen a different side to him last night. He’d been caring and sweet and funny and nothing like what I’d thought he’d be like.
“You don’t want to?” He pulled away and I could see the hesitancy in his face.
“I do, but …” My voice trailed off. How did you tell a guy you were nervous you had bad breath? I mean, it wasn’t like he was my boyfriend. It just felt awkward.
“But?”
“Can I, well, we, brush our teeth first?” I asked him with a small shrug, loving the feel of his hands on my back. I made sure to keep eye contact because I didn’t want him to think I was nervous, even though inside every nerve ending was shaking.
“Are you saying that my breath smells?”
He laughed and then gave me a huge kiss on the lips. I couldn’t stop myself from kissing him back, and I had to admit that the last thing I was thinking about as our lips caressed was his breath. His hand cupped my breast as he rolled me onto my back. Throwing caution to the wind, I grabbed his head and kissed him back hard as my fingers ran through his silky tresses. He nudged my legs open with his knee and then kissed down my neck before pulling my top off in what felt like nanoseconds.
“So beautiful,” he murmured as he kissed down the valley between my breasts and then my stomach. I felt his hands on my breasts playing with my nipples and my body was in overdrive with pleasure. His fingers flicked my nipples as his mouth kept heading lower. I closed my eyes and let my body submit to him and whatever he wanted to do. My fingers played wit
h his hair and I heard him chuckle as my body froze still when his lips kissed me between my legs over my shorts.
“Zach …” I moaned as I felt his fingers on the top of my shorts nudging them down. “Are you …” I stopped talking because my tongue would no longer work. My shorts were now off and he was kissing up the side of my calf and toward my thighs. His lips alternated with his tongue on my skin as he made his way up my legs and I waited in barely conscious anticipation to feel his lips on my sweet spot.
“You taste like the ocean,” he growled against my inner thigh and his eyes glanced up at mine. “That salty-sweet taste is my favorite.”
“Oh?” I reached down and grabbed his hair again, wanting to push his head back between my legs.
“I love the ocean,” he said. “Especially fishing.” He winked and then his tongue lightly licked my clit and my entire body trembled as if an earthquake had just passed through the room. Then he started sucking, and I didn’t know what to do with my hands or my body. Moans flew out of my mouth, but I barely noticed them. All I could feel was the buildup in my stomach and between my legs. His tongue lightly entered me and I could feel the wetness seeping out of me.
With a grunt, he lifted my legs up and over his shoulders and buried his face between my legs, licking and sucking for what felt like forever. Then he moved back up and kissed me on the mouth, sliding his boxers off with one hand as he kissed me. His other hand touched my breast and played with my nipple as I reached down to touch his cock. It felt huge in my fingers and I pressed myself into him. His body was warm and hard next to me, and I kissed him hard.
My fingers moved up and down his shaft and then played with the increasingly moist head of his cock. He muttered something against my lips as I reached farther down and squeezed his balls. I could feel him shaking against me as I made a circle with my thumb and finger and ran it tightly back up his cock. I pushed him so that he was lying on his back and kissed his lips one last time before making my way down his chest.
I lightly sucked his nipples and then kissed down to his stomach. I stared at his abs for a few seconds and then looked down. His cock stood to attention, and while I wasn’t great with numbers, it looked like it had to be at least seven or eight inches long and incredibly thick; not too thick, though, the girth was just about perfect. To be fair, Zach Houston had the most gorgeous penis I’d ever seen. And it went without saying that he was the most well-endowed man I’d ever been with—a part of me wondered if he’d be able to fit all the way. I continued kissing down his stomach, and then because I could help myself, I took the tip of his cock in my mouth.
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