He pulled her panties off completely then moved her leg, not hesitant but careful all the same. That spread her open further, easing the way for his touch. And touch her, he did. There wasn’t an inch of her pussy he didn’t explore. Fuck, this was nothing like when she touched herself. This was next level.
And she wasn’t sure how she would ever recover.
Finally, he zoomed in on her clit. Circling it, playing with it, lightly pinching it.
“Zeke, Zeke, please!” She wasn’t above begging. She would do whatever she needed to in order to get him to send her crashing over into oblivion.
He slid one finger lower and she figured his intent as he circled her entrance. She tensed slightly; would he know she was a virgin by penetrating her? She had put a finger inside herself many times without a problem. He slid his finger inside her slowly. She was so wet and she clamped down on the digit immediately.
She needed him. So much.
“You’re so tight. Fuck,” his voice was a rough groan as he started to drive his finger in and out of her passage.
More. More.
She couldn’t vocalize the thought, though. She was too far gone to do anything but feel. When he drew his finger out of her passage, she groaned in protest. But he moved his finger back to her swollen nub. This time, he didn’t mess around. He flicked at her clit. Hard. Fast. Her need grew. She was close, so close.
Then he backed away.
“Zeke, please, no, don’t stop.”
“Did you get permission to come yet?” he growled at her.
Her breath heaved in and out of her lungs. “N-no.” She’d been so close.
“Then you have to wait, don’t you?” He circled her nipple with the fingers that were damp from her juices.
Holy hell.
She fought for control of her breath as he moved his hand down her stomach. He cupped her mound.
“So hot. So wet. All for me. You want to come, don’t you, baby?”
“Yes.”
He lightly circled her clit with one finger. “My poor baby. Just think, if you hadn’t lied you could have come already.”
She whimpered.
“Luckily for you, it’s late and I want you to get some sleep. So I’m not going to keep this up too long.”
Thank Christ for that!
He slid that finger along her slit then thrust it deep inside her once more. They both groaned. He pumped it in and out of her passage.
“Do you need to come, Eden?”
“Y-yes!” she cried out as he moved his finger to her clit once more.
“Then ask me nicely.”
Bastard.
“Please, Zeke, may I come?”
“Very nice,” he said approvingly, moving his finger harder. Faster. “Come for me, princess. Come for me, now.”
She screamed as she came. She soared. Then she crashed. And every second of it was glorious.
When she finally found her way back to reality, he’d already pulled her panties back up and moved her leg so it was over the body pillow in front of her. He’d also crawled in under the blankets, and was once again was spooning her. Holding her protectively against him.
“Zeke,” she murmured. She should do something for him. She could feel his hardness nestled in against her ass. But this was more relaxed than she’d been in years. Her eyelids were so drooping. Her body heavy and slumberous.
“Sh,” he said to her. “Just sleep, princess. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
3
Eden awoke, feeling surprisingly rested.
She never felt rested. She glanced over at the clock, shocked to see it was nearly nine. Had she slept most of the night? She must have gone to sleep around two. Holy hell. She’d gotten seven hours sleep?
That was unheard of. Her insomnia started soon after the accident where her parents died and she hadn’t slept properly since.
She pulled herself up so she was resting against the headboard. Her last memory was of Zeke wrapping himself around her, surrounding her in his heat and strength.
Making her feel safe. Special.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Where was he now? Had she slept because of him? That couldn’t be right. Why him? Why did he have to be the one she felt something for? He was the last person she should want. He worked for her brother. He was always around. He watched her as though he could see beneath the person she presented to the world to the girl who lay beneath.
Vulnerable. Scared.
She took in a deep breath to stave off the panic. Nothing that bad had happened last night. Sure, he’d coaxed her Little out. But not for long. And not fully. He’d brushed her hair, braided it, put her to bed.
Taken care of her. Shown her what it would be like with a kind, attentive daddy. And then he’d proceeded to give her the only orgasm she’d ever experienced other than by her own hand.
And he’d shown her the man. Sexy. Rugged. Delicious.
Fuck. Shit. God.
Why did she let that happen? Why had she let any of it happen?
Because you were weak. He’s your weakness. He could be the one to destroy you.
Sometimes, she hoped for that. Sometimes, she figured she deserved it.
“One night, that’s all it was, Eden. Stop freaking out. He’s not even here, which says everything right?” she muttered to herself. He’d obviously snuck out.
Leaving her here alone, wondering what came next. She sighed then looked across the room to where her chair sat. Shit. Normally, she’d leave it next to her bed. She often used her crutches to move around her room, but she liked her wheelchair close by. Clint had a bar installed on the wall above her bedside table that she could use to pull herself up and grab the crutches that leaned next to the bedside table.
Nothing is impossible.
Except she didn’t really believe that.
Clint also had panic buttons placed through the house in case she slipped or hurt herself. When pressed it would call through to his cell. Then if he didn’t answer, it went to Kent’s phone. Finally, if he didn’t answer, 911 was alerted. She also had a necklace she wore with an emergency button that went straight to a 911 monitor. She’d never had to use any of them, though.
See? This is what you get when you let someone else close. When you allow them to try to care for you. You’re just better off on your own.
She didn’t really believe that, either. Although God knew she tried to convince herself.
It was better this way. That he was gone. Last night, she’d been too vulnerable. Too open. Him pulling back was perfect because it saved her from having to push him away. As she moved, preparing to get out of bed, the scent of mint and leather hit her senses.
Crap. Her sheets were going to need washing. Comforter too. She couldn’t go to bed with that scent surrounding her, reminding her.
She took another steadying breath. She’d lowered her guard for a short time and let him in. . .
And it had felt right. Too right.
Such a mistake. She’d made herself vulnerable to him. If she let him in again, there was no telling what would happen. Or how badly she would get hurt.
You can’t become his burden.
She knew that. She’d just been stupid last night. And she couldn’t blame it on the champagne. Even though she rarely drank, she hadn’t been drunk.
She rubbed her pounding temples. Shit. Shit. Shit.
A knock at her bedroom door startled her. It had to be Clint or Charlie, although she hadn’t expected them home until later.
“Come in,” she called out as she frantically looked around to make sure that Zeke hadn’t left any sign that he’d been here. Not that anything had happened and she was a grown woman, but hell, she wasn’t ready for anyone to know.
She didn’t just guard her privacy, she hoarded it.
To her shock, it wasn’t her brother or his girlfriend who walked in the door, but Zeke. He was wearing different clothes, had he gone back to his cabin to get changed? Today he wa
s back in his normal uniform of plaid shirt and jeans. He wore brown scuffed boots and a wide leather belt. He looked the part of a rancher even though he wasn’t actually a ranch hand.
He carried a tray which he set down on her lap.
“Good morning, princess.”
“Zeke.”
“Zeke, huh? Well, I expected as much.”
He gave her a warm look and it nearly broke her heart because she knew what she had to do. She’d hoped he would stay away. Last night had been magical. And she knew it had only touched the surface of what she desired.
But you can’t do that to him.
“You need to leave.” She couldn’t look up from the tray of food he’d brought for her. It was filled with her favorite things. A chocolate Danish, coffee that looked like it had just the right amount of creamer, and a small glass of apple juice.
How did he even know that? They’d never had breakfast together. Yet he knew exactly what she liked.
“Excuse me?”
Don’t look at him. If she looked at him then she couldn’t be certain she would go through with this. And she had to. Because this couldn’t happen again.
Why? Because you liked it too much? Because you wanted more?
So much more. And once she took more how did she go back to nothing?
You’re being a coward. So, what if it’s not forever, why not take what you can get?
Because he would break her. Or she’d break him. And she couldn’t do that.
“It was just one night, remember? Nothing more. Clint and Charlie will be home soon so you can leave.”
There was silence then he sat on the bed facing her. Fuck. She knew he wasn’t going to make this easy on her. Not Zeke.
“Look at me.”
She couldn’t refuse him. Refusing him would show weakness and right now, she needed to be strong.
Because kicking him out was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. So, she raised her gaze to meet his serious gaze.
“We agreed, Zeke.”
He snorted. “You set the boundary. That doesn’t mean it can’t shift.”
“It hasn’t shifted.”
“Oh, it has,” he drawled. “You’re just too scared to admit it.”
“I am not scared,” she shot back. “You can’t take rejection. I told you last night what I could give you. You’ve had it. End of story. Now you’re trying to act like I owe you more. I don’t.”
She glared at him fiercely. Please leave, Zeke. Please leave before I lose it completely. Before I cave and beg you to never let me go.
“All right. I’ll go.”
Shit. Shit. Part of her hadn’t wanted him to give in. Had wanted him to fight.
Jesus, Eden, you are screwed up.
Like she didn’t already know that.
It’s better this way.
“Good. I mean, this was nice for one night, but it was never going to go further. I can’t do that again.”
He leaned in, staring at her. “Why? Enjoy it too much? Did you wake up this morning and realize just how far you’d let me slip by those shields of yours? Did you realize just how much of yourself you gave to me?”
Fuck. Shit. Crap. How could he read her so easily?
“I thought so,” he murmured. “Remember this, Eden. I see the real you. All of you. I know when you’re scared. And I know when you’re running. Right now, you’re afraid. All of these feelings are frightening you. I get that. I’ll give you some time. But my patience only goes so far. I was willing to go slow. To give you time. But at some stage that will all come to a head. You are going to be mine. And you won’t be able to say I didn’t warn you.”
4
Six weeks later
Sweat, tobacco, and sex.
At least it didn’t smell like piss and blood.
Then again, the night was still young.
As Eden rolled her way into the bar, she ran her gaze over the inhabitants, pretending a bravado she definitely didn’t feel.
But then, wasn’t that her life? Pretending to be something she wasn’t? Pretending to be normal. She hadn’t been normal for years. Not since before the day her life changed forever.
The day she got her parents killed.
She’d had years of perfecting this mask. Of pushing deep emotions and feelings that were entirely too messy to deal with.
You let him in. You let him see more of you than anyone has seen in years. You let him touch you. Tease you. Take care of you.
And now he doesn’t even want to be near you.
It had been six weeks since that night. Since she’d shown Zeke parts of her she’d never shown anyone. For a few hours, she hadn’t held onto that mask. She hadn’t pretended that she could do it all on her own. That she didn’t need anyone. She’d relied on him, just for a little bit.
And he hadn’t let her down. He hadn’t run screaming.
Well, you didn’t exactly show him the dark bits. He’d run then.
Didn’t matter what she’d shown him in the end. He’d still left.
You told him to go, idiot.
And he’d told her that she was his. And then he’d barely said two words to her since. Which had just pissed her off.
Fuck. Totally messed up. She told him to go, yet she got angry when he did what she said. This was yet another reason for her to stay away from men. All men. They messed with her head and she didn’t need to get any more messed up than she already was.
She forced herself to concentrate on the problem at hand. She’d spent the last twenty minutes sitting in her car, trying to call Keira. But she’d never picked up. Which had left Eden with two choices. Leave or enter the scary-looking bar to find Keira. Of course, she’d chosen option two. Lucky for her, there were no steps and the door was nice and wide.
Who knew a biker’s bar would be disability accessible?
She stared at the name of the bar. Reaper’s. It seemed fitting.
This was where Keira worked? Was she here tonight? Was she all right?
Shit. This is exactly why she tried not to make attachments. So she didn’t have to worry over people. That was the reason she’d tried to keep her distance from the women who lived at Sanctuary. Not that she’d really managed that.
She adored those women. But none of them really knew her. Even her brothers didn’t know everything.
They didn’t know how damaged she was. If they did then they’d want to fix her.
And that could never happen.
Because Eden didn’t want to be fixed. She deserved to be broken.
Still, for some stupid idiotic reason she’d let herself get close to Keira. It was sentimental, really. She’d met Keira in the hospital. She’d made ties to the other girl before she’d figured out that it was safer not to let people close.
The message she’d left on Eden’s phone earlier played over in her mind.
Eden, I’m so sorry. I’m scared. . .please. . .
Then the message had been cut off. Please what? Please help me?
After trying to call her back only to get a dead signal, Eden had come here to Reaper’s Bar, where Keira told her that she worked.
If she wasn’t here then Eden wasn’t sure what to do. She had no idea where the other woman lived. She wasn’t sure if Keira was truly in trouble or if this was a ploy to get Eden to give her more money.
She rolled her chair into the middle of the big, dimly-lit room. By now, everyone had stopped what they were doing to stare at her.
She pulled her shield around her like a cloak. She shouldn’t have reconnected with Keira. She needed to remember that it was easier not to get attached, not to feel. If you didn’t care then you couldn’t get hurt. You couldn’t lose people.
Uh-huh and how is that working out for you?
It didn’t mean that she didn’t love her family. She’d lay down her life for them. But then, that was kind of the point, right? She’d risk anything for them. Because of her love for them, but also because she didn’t care that much
about what happened to her. You actually had to value something in order to care about it.
She paused in the middle of the room and looked around at the mix of people. Most of the men wore black jackets. They ranged in age from what she guessed was around twenty to seventy. Hmm, that was a surprise. As she looked, she couldn’t see many that might be underage.
Didn’t mean anything.
Reaper’s was owned by the Iron Shadows. The patch on their cut was a skull with flames. Parts of it in shadow, the mouth almost smiling.
Suddenly, she realized she was surrounded. She stood out like a sore thumb. It wasn’t just the chair. It was her. Unlike the majority of the women in the bar, her skin was mostly covered. She wore dark jeans and a bright pink tank top with a black blazer.
Yeah, she could have dressed to blend in better. But that wasn’t why she was here.
“You lost?” A tall, cut man stepped forward. Wide shoulders that pushed the limits of the black tee he was wearing. Denim jeans. Mid-thirties. Strawberry blond hair that together with his deeply tanned skin might have given him a surfer look, if you didn’t look into his eyes. Then you saw that he wasn’t a man who spent his days catching waves.
“I’m here looking for someone.”
She should have stayed at home. But she’d been itching to get out of the house and off the ranch even before she’d listened to that message. Charlie was having a sleep-over tonight. Jed and Kent were away on business so Abby and Daisy were staying the night at the big house.
She hadn’t been able to stay and listen to them having fun without feeling that pang of longing to join in. So, she’d told Clint she was off to stay the night at a friend’s. Luckily, she’d caught him when he’d been distracted by Charlie and he’d let her go without an interrogation. Her oldest brother could be a mite bit overprotective. Kent was easier to get around, but she didn’t live with Kent. Clint took his head of the family status pretty seriously.
If he knew where you are right now. . .
Yep, she’d be fucked. Totally and utterly.
Didn’t matter that she was in her mid-twenties and old enough to make her own decisions. That wasn’t the way her family worked. She was certain Clint would be attempting to boss her around until they were all old and gray.
Daring Daddy (Montana Daddies Book 5) Page 5
