“I want to take you home tonight. But I don’t want to scare you off again.”
“I wasn’t scared.”
"Okay." He chuckles, gathering me in his arms. "Will you come home with me tonight?"
“You have a place here?”
“Yes. I lived here before moving back to Austin. I didn’t sell my house since I always knew I’d come back.” He caresses me before moving us back to the table. Charlee and Darius have kitchen duty.
“And your place in Austin?”
“I have it too. I usually lease it out. But I’m leaving it vacant for myself.”
I wonder if I had anything to do with the decision, but I keep the thought to myself. We finish up, and he's waiting by the patio door for me. I walk over. He gives the area a final passing glance, then his eyes settle on me.
“Ready?”
Chapter 8
Zach
I open the door to my sanctuary stepping back to allow Taylor to walk ahead of me. I inherited my house in Austin from my parents. But this house I entered into it blindly. It was a rebuild, and ultimately, I created a space that whispers home.
She saunters through the entry. I get a good look at her from the top of her faux dreadlocks to her burnt orange toe polish. She's wearing a crop top and a skirt flowing down to her sandals. The oversized colorful flowers look amazing against her brown skin. She is simply beautiful.
Taylor examines my walls. I arranged the front hall to feel like an art exhibit. My paintings line on both sides. I walk over and place a kiss on her shoulder. She tips her head up to kiss me before slipping from my grip.
Taylor takes one step, then another. Her eyes roaming the art. A time or two, her hand brushes over the acrylic paints before looking over at me. The heat in her eyes shoots straight to my cock. I take a deep breath, trying to quiet the riot in my body. This is as intimate as sex.
Most people don’t know these are my pieces.
Taylor does.
She takes a moment to examine each one patiently searching until she finds my name tattooed into the paint permanently marking my presence. The need to do the same to her body fills me. I need to make her mine.
Every time she stops, I slip over and touch her…kiss her. I can't keep my hands or lips off of her until we make it to the living room.
She faces me. "Zach, you are extremely talented. Do you plan to place your pieces in an exhibit?"
“Nah. Here is fine.”
I run my hand across her exposed midriff until the fullness of her butt fills my hands. A soft moan escapes, and I treat it like a green light. I rub, and massage as my hands travel farther south. Her head drops back, and I kiss across her soft shoulder and up her neck until I'm nibbling on her earlobe.
"Let's finish the tour before I forget you're a guest." I step back, and her hand reaches out, brushing my cock. Need shoots through my veins like a drug. "Behave.”
“I’ll try.” She turns to my open living room.
I take her hand and walk her out to my deck. "This plot and structure were originally built in the 1920s. The location is unmatched with views of the downtown skyline, Bay Bridge and the bay. So, after leaving the military, I decided to rebuild it to what you see today."
“This is amazing.”
I stare at her, agreeing. She's amazing. "Would you like anything?"
“Just you.”
Her words end my quest to be patient, to take our time. I've already had her, and I want her again. For the past six months, I haven't touched a single woman because none of them were Taylor, and I'm ready to have all of her.
I kiss her. Not soft but demanding. I'm demanding, with my mouth, all the loving I've missed over these months. The more we kiss, the more I want her. I caress the curves of her body, reaching for the hem of her crop top. I toss it aside, and it lands on the couch, then I slip my hands beneath the waistband of her maxi skirt. I pull it lower to the floor, and her soft gasp fills the quiet room as I remain eye level with her heat.
"Are you ready, baby?" I ask, not taking my eyes off the prize.
"Uh-huh." I look up as I kneel at her feet. She shakes her head, pointing to my mouth. "You can't do that here.”
I lick my lips then kiss the treat between her thighs through the thin fabric of her panties. “Baby, I can do that anywhere.”
“What if I fall?”
I can’t help but chuckle as I stand. “Trust me, I won’t let you.”
I walk us, kissing her until she's against a wall. I lower her orange thong, brushing my fingers down her thighs until I reach her ankles. I glance up, and she steps out, one foot then the next. I reward her obedience with a leisure stroke of my finger over her pearl. She grips my head, and I gather her legs, bringing her up in the air. Her heat parting for me.
“Zach…”
* * *
My back is against the wall, and my thighs are wrapped around Zach’s head as his tongue slips inside me. I can't hold back my moans of ecstasy. My body naturally thrusting into him. I don't last long as I feel release near.
I tell him. My hoarse cries filling the air, and he demands more of my body. His tongue has me pinned to the wall and his skills have me craving for more.
I pull at his hair and fire rips through my body. I see more stars than the clear San Francisco night sky can hold, and my body immediately goes limp. He lowers me, and we're face to face.
Is this what I’ve missed all these years?
My heart is beating at a cadence that makes me want to get up, grab my clothes, and never look back. But his golden eyes won't let me.
I’m learning more about my body in Zach’s skilled hands. I’m weak but eager. I’m tired but thrilled.
I grip his thick shaft in my hand, and he growls with pleasure. I stroke him spinning him around until his back is against the wall. I want him to feel the insane level of desire and passion and love.
I close my eyes tight as my tongue travels the length of his body. I can't love him because I can't give my heart, my love, to another man. This is about pleasure and pleasure only. Pleasure in tasting myself on his lips and the thrill of taking him in my mouth.
“Taylor…”
I take him stroke for stroke, trying to drown out the voice inside. He’s the one. I take him deeper until I feel the veins of his cock pulse in my mouth and hear him scream my name.
We collapse to the floor. Zach shifts and pulls my body on top of his. The only sound in the room is our breathing. It was never like this with Les. I’m so conflicted. How can I remain in a relationship for almost fourteen years and not experience this?
It makes me doubt the love I had for Les. For all of his manwhore ways, I was in love with him once. But not anymore.
How do I even know what love is? I stayed knowing I should have left long ago.
I brush at the tear threatening to spill over. I can't ruin this moment after waiting for months to find Zach. He just gave me the second-best night of my life, and I won't end it by crying over my years of ignorant bliss. But it wasn't bliss. It was hell.
To distrust the man I loved. To distrust him with my body or my heart. And now I'm giving my heart to a man I've known technically for six months, but I don't know him because we've only seen each other twice.
It’s a rebound. Right? That must explain it.
“Why are you so quiet?”
I shake my head. The crazy monologue going on in my head must remain in my head until I get to my guys. They have to help me make sense of this.
Then I feel my body moving. Zach lifts us up, and I'm cradled in his arms. His eyes are beautiful.
“Did I hurt you?”
I shake my head.
“Did I push you too far?”
My eyes water, and I look away. "I'm pathetic."
"Look at me, Taylor."
"I can't." I cover my face, utterly embarrassed. We're moving, and I lay my head on his chest. His head rests on top of mine, and I snuggle my face into the warmth of his neck. He smells li
ke a manly man. I kiss him over the rhythm of his heart.
I look over his shoulder, and we're taking the stairs two at a time. "This man is Superman strong."
“What was that?” His baritone voice rumbles through his chest and mine.
“Nothing.” Now, I’m speaking my thoughts like Hunter, I chuckle.
“I imagine this is overwhelming,” he says. “But I made myself a promise over the past six months. Hold on to my neck?”
I follow his instructions. He pulls back the covers and sits on top of his king size bed. His back is against the headboard and we are face to face.
“What promise did you make to yourself?”
"That I'd let you in. I've been hurt, Taylor. I'd reckon more than my fair share. And it made me hard and ornery. But there's something between us that time and distance couldn’t kill.” He kisses me. “I trust the universe enough to not chalk it up as a coincidence or as merely sexual attraction.”
He has my attention. I lean into his strength. “What do you mean? How can you trust this…this…feeling? We don’t know each other.”
“Hell, I stopped trusting knowing people long ago.” He laughs.
I sit up to see his face transform. I kiss him because I can’t help it. “Keep talking.”
"Yes, ma'am." He pulls the covers over us. "People show you what they want when they want. We all have moments we're proud of and others we despise. And both are usually accurate. So, everyone has the power to do good and evil, to love and hate."
I understand what he means. I’ve seen the good and evil in myself. My father. Les. And I guess one day I’ll see it in Zach too.
“My solution is to sit back and let life give me what life deems I need,” he says with such finality. It sounds like wacko talk to me.
"That takes guts." We share a laugh.
"I guess it does. But only if you sit around expecting it to take a specific shape and form. I don't. Instead, I let life surprise me, and I enjoy the ride." He wiggles his hips under me.
“All right lover boy, then how do you get over hurts? God brings this person into your life, they hurt you, then what? You wait for Him to take that person away?”
“No. I can’t say I have it all figured out. I’m still working out the fine print. But I have a few clear examples, my ex-wife, my career as a Marine, and you.”
“Me?”
“Think about it. I’m in a bar, determined to drown my feelings in booze and a beautiful woman saves me.”
"I didn't save you." I sit up, looking into his eyes.
"You did. You wouldn't let me drink alone. You shared your beautiful body with me. You showed me there is still softness and wonder left in the world." I fall back against him kissing his chest, and Zach tightens his hold on me. I feel loved and cherished. "I could have been pissed. Why give me this amazing woman and let her walk off into the sunset with another man? Instead, we were separated for enough time that you could get over your situation, and I could get over mine. And here we are again."
“Thanks to the universe?” This is making more sense than I’d like to admit.
"The universe, God, fate, luck. I don't care about the title. The Being who is the giver of good things gave me you." He kisses my forehead.
“What if I’m not a good thing?” I don’t fully believe the words. However, my past tells me differently. My father walked away. Les cheated until I had to walk away. Neither cared to look back and assess the damage they left behind.
Zach lifts my chin until our eyes meet. “You’re more than a good thing. Try thinking about it this way, you had to experience that to have this.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we’re here, plus my gut says so.”
"This is some technical stuff," I joke, and Zach laughs.
"I told you, I don't dig into it. I trust myself whether I'm wrong or right. And after six months of only knowing each other's names, I walk into a coffee shop almost two thousand miles away, and I find you."
“Okay. I give us that. But what about your ex-wife and my ex-fiancé and all the other bad things we’ve experienced.”
"We need bad things to help us trust the good things. Besides, what's the point of living if we can't expect good to come our way?"
I sit straight up. “You’re either a genius or crazy.”
"I'm equal parts of both." He laughs, and his golden eyes dance with happiness. "I don't have all the answers, but I'm certain that this is more than sex or attraction. The sex is amazing, and our attraction is undeniable. But together we can do more. Be more."
We talk for hours until the sun comes up. I see the beauty of the sun greet the day through his large bay window over his broad shoulder. We’re lying on our sides facing each other.
His eyelids are dropping slowly. He’s exhausted.
I can’t sleep. My mind is running, running, running. I can’t stop this train until I figure out where my next stop is.
His unwavering words float around in my mind. What if the giver of good things gave me Zach?
I watch as sleep takes him. I kiss him softly, careful not to wake him.
"What about love, Zach? Is it possible that this is love?"
"Yes, baby, it's possible.”
I hold my breath. I can’t believe I said that aloud and his eyes are still closed.
"How, Zach? How do you know?"
His golden eyes open brighter than the sun. His body covers mine. “I know because I love you.”
I lean forward and kiss him. My heart knows he’s right. But I’m scared.
“You’ll see, baby. Just trust that things will happen when it’s time.”
Zach enters me. My body takes him in, riding the wave of the unknown. Kissing and touching and declaring the cloud of truth in our hearts. The bed rocks with every thrust. I scratch my pleasure in his skin and his release echoes to the depths of my soul until I give up trying to fight reason.
“I love you too.”
Chapter 9
Taylor
It's official, I'm a freelance coder. I completed the database for Platinum Prestige and for Delicious Chocolates. Then Zach managed to get me in on his project with Tech Secure. I know it's to keep me in San Francisco, but I've never been happier that I am now, and just when I try to fight it, it gets better.
“Look at you gettin’ thicka than a Snicker,” Charlee teases.
We're practically neighbors. It makes it easier, moving to a new city. We even had a delightful Memorial Day gathering at the house to celebrate Zach's father this year. I can't believe it's been a year since I met him.
“Like you have room to talk,” I toss back watching her waddle down the stairs.
Charlee rubs her growing belly doing the Baby Mama dance, and I laugh following her to the waiting car. Darius makes sure his lady is treated right. He arranges for three attendants to handle our private flight and a car service to drive us around once we deplane.
We are in Austin for our monthly meeting about Platinum Prestige. The guys are moving and shaking, so these meetings turn into a weekend of laughs, food, and catching up.
We climb in the waiting SUV, and of course, we're running late thanks to Charlee. We pull out our phones to call our men.
I smile at the thought of Zach. I’ve learned more about myself and love over the past year. I call him by video because I want to see him.
"Hey, gorgeous." He rubs at his eyes with the pads of his fingers.
“Hey, love. How long have you been on that computer?”
He laughs, leaning back in a cat-like stretch. "Since I dropped you off. How'd everything go?"
“It was a breeze, except we’re running late.” I roll my eyes at Charlee.
"Like they’re starting without me." She sticks out her tongue, and I shake my head.
"Do you see what I'm dealing with?" I ask Zach, and he smiles.
"What you need to do is ask him to add his name to the babysitting list," Charlee adds, pulling a sandwich out of her pur
se.
“What is that?”
“A sandwich. Want a bite?” She doesn’t look my way. She’s focused on peeling back the layers unearthing her snack.
"No. And why is it wrapped in a paper towel?" Zach laughs, and I can't believe she is eating the sandwich as crumbs drop to her much fuller breast.
"Heifas get brand new when they get a man. Like you ain't never ate a sandwich from your purse. And don't you lie, Taylor Mae Wallace, because I used to go to the movies with you." She dots the period with the end of her nasty sandwich. This is seriously some pregnant woman stuff because I can't recall a moment when the sight of Charlee has been more comical.
"And it smells awful." My stomach turns, and I dip my mouth and nose under the collar of my shirt, trying to filter out the aroma.
Charlee bounces her purse cuisine around in my face, and she's dancing. Zach has tears streaming down his face from laughing at the comedy show we're giving him.
"Wanna bite?" She thrusts it in my direction, and I swear I'm about to puke.
"No, thank you. Now please stay on your side of the vehicle." I flick my hand, and I mean it. She's laughing with Zach, but I legit feel awful. "What is it?"
"Peanut butter and jelly. You just tripping. You'd think you're the one pregnant." She turns back to her sandwich, and her words are like a sinking ship in my head. I laugh it off.
I can’t be pregnant. I can’t have kids because my body can’t.
But I’ve never been grossed out by peanut butter and jelly. I look at that damn sandwich and Charlee as I try to dismiss the warning bells in my head. Something tells me they’re trying to alert me of impending doom as a laundry list runs like a cash register receipt.
I've been sick. Sleepy all the time. My boobs…I discreetly brush the side of my breast. They're sore. I turn to Charlee, and her Jedi bestie senses read my mind.
“Get the fuck outta here!” she screams.
“What happened?” I noticed for the first time that Zach isn’t laughing. He’s fully alert looking at me.
“Uh, nothing you know Charlee.” I give her my best, Don’t say another word look. “We're almost at S&J. I'll call you tonight when I get settled in." I try to rush him off the phone. But he's trying to read my mind, and I can't let him.
Chosen Love: A BWWM Romance (Blazin' Love Book 4) Page 5
