by Tina Donahue
Some days they might forget to eat, too exhausted from working hard and loving even harder to bother.
Toni’s smile blossomed into a wistful grin even as her eyes clouded with foolish tears.
As luck would have it, Zach looked over, catching her staring at him.
His gaze sapped Toni of strength and the will to resist another moment of separation. Blinking quickly to clear her eyes, she joined him on the patio. With the lowering sun, the heated air had transformed from unbearable to temptingly soft. Long shadows flowed from the vegetation on the surrounding hills. A startling quiet surrounded them, noise from vehicles, people, civilization gone.
Toni heard the rush of blood in her ears, the fierce pounding of her heart. Doing her best to sound casual, another act she’d perfected, she glanced at the grill, then Zach. “Smells good.”
He took in her hot pink tank top and white cutoffs, the best clothes she had outside of her leather pants and jacket. His expression grew preoccupied, the same as his voice. “I haven’t cooked anything yet…I just lit the grill.”
Nodding, she followed the line of his sinewy arm to the long serving fork he held. Eyes dipping down, she looked at his fly, the thick bulge behind it. “Are you divorced?” Her gaze lifted to his.
Instantly, she caught caution or irritation, perhaps a bit of both, crossing his face. He glanced past her at the cedar picnic table. Sirloins, ears of corn and foil-wrapped potatoes rested on a tray. “I’m not married, if that’s what you’re asking. How about you?”
She continued to study the food, chiding herself for asking him anything personal. “Never been close.”
“So, Lucky’s not an ex-husband? He’s just an ex-boyfriend you’ve been running from?”
Toni’s first reaction was to dodge his questions. One always led to too many, which she wouldn’t be willing to answer. And yet, something inside urged her to respond truthfully, to share a bit of her history with him, as though they did live here together, as if she weren’t a barely invited guest.
“I’d never run from Lucky or Belle.”
Curiosity shone in Zach’s eyes. “Belle?”
“My people. My family,” Toni added with a gentle shrug.
“Your mom and dad?” he asked, obviously confused.
“Here.” She slipped her fingers beneath her tank top and into her bra cup.
* * * * *
Zach stared, uncertain as to what she was doing.
Before he could think to ask, she pulled out a small rectangle of laminated paper, the size of a drivers’ license, and offered it to him.
The fragrance of her freshly washed hair—lavender like her cologne—and her clean, soapy skin surrounded and embraced him.
Locking his knees to keep steady, ignoring the pain it caused his leg, he took the item from her. Her body heat had warmed the plastic. Zach fought an insane urge to press it to his nose to see if it also bore her scent. Gaze lowered, he saw it was a picture of a man and woman, arms draped around each other’s waists. Zach guessed them to be in their early fifties.
The man—surely Lucky—had long brown hair streaked with gray that he wore in braids, ala Willie Nelson. Belle’s auburn hair hung over her right shoulder, the ends reaching her waist. Her lingering beauty told Zach she must have been a knockout when she was young. With a muscular build and a broad smile, Lucky was still a handsome man.
Both of them wore turquoise-and-silver Indian jewelry. They stood in front of a group of motorcycles. Behind them, the storefront sign read Starr’s Shop.
Zach’s gaze jumped from the picture to Toni and back again. Not seeing any resemblance between her and them despite the same last name, which was apparently real, he asked once more, “Your parents?”
“My family.” Toni reached for the photo. “I adopted them.”
With that strange answer, he looked at her. “You mean they adopted you?”
Not answering, as he kept failing to answer her personal questions, Toni took the picture from him.
Zach wondered what kind of loneliness would cause a woman to carry a photo close to her heart of two people who weren’t even related to her. “Where are they? Where do they live?”
Toni slipped the picture back into her bra, adjusting the edge of her tank top. “Arkansas.”
He’d expected her to say Texas. On her job app, she’d listed a town he’d never heard of and general delivery as her home address. “If they’re in Arkansas with their own shop, what are you doing in Arizona looking for work?”
Backing away, Toni went to the edge of the pool, regarding the gently lapping water. “Mind if I put my feet in it?”
“Of course not. Go ahead.”
She kicked off her flip-flops and sank to her ass, dangling her legs in the water. With her hands on either side of her body, bracing her torso, she lifted her chin toward the sky, letting her head loll on her shoulders. “Nice.”
The purr of her throaty voice drove away Zach’s next questions. Desire licked his groin, scattering his thoughts, until a rush of air brought the scent of smoking charcoal to him. Remembering their meal, he placed the already baked potatoes on the grill to heat them up. Reaching for the corn, he studied Toni’s narrow back, her blue-black hair. Still damp from her shower, it clung to her pale neck.
“It’s new,” she said.
Not following, Zach shook his head. “What’s new?”
“Belle and Lucky’s shop.” She spoke on a sigh, her voice relaxed, throaty, sensuous. “They can barely pay themselves, much less me.” She lifted her right leg out of the water.
Zach stared at the droplets sparkling on her narrow foot and slender toes. His quick hard-on became painful at the sight of her polished toenails and that tiny silver ring. He imagined taking it off, really stripping her bare, having her pale, naked flesh beneath his.
“When I can,” she said.
Realizing she’d been speaking and he hadn’t heard a bit of it, Zach asked, “What? I didn’t catch that.”
Toni lowered her leg into the water and lifted her other foot, wiggling her toes. “I send them money when I can.” She inhaled deeply, releasing her words on a new sigh. “I can really help out when I return to the circuit in a month from now.”
Although it shouldn’t have, her words aggravated Zach. A wave of possessiveness gripped him…stunning and ruthless.
Shoving his emotions aside, he told himself he was being ridiculous.
She should be on her way in a month. Hell, she shouldn’t be here at all. Giving her a job and a place to stay had been a huge mistake. She wasn’t his to care about. They’d never be anything more to each other than what they were at this moment—employee and boss, polite acquaintances, lasting strangers.
No way would he allow anything else.
Chapter Five
Naked, Toni shoved the bed’s top sheet to the footboard and spread her legs, running her fingertips over her cleft.
Pleasure gurgled in her throat.
She had no idea the exact time, but knew it must be late. Even the boisterous crickets had finally settled down, along with any breeze, bringing an unwelcomed silence.
For hours, she’d slept fitfully, and now she stared into the darkness, focused on Zach in his bedroom at the end of the hall.
Not wanting to dwell on him any longer, needing something to calm her down, she ran her fingertips over her vaginal lips, already plump and damp, her clit fully erect.
A breath caught in the back of her throat, her back arched as she stroked her rigid nub. Exquisite sensations rippled through her, bringing with them memories of her meal with Zach.
No. Don’t go there.
Toni tried to push the recollection away, along with her images of his face and body, scent and touch, but could not.
She recalled them seated at the cedar table, no different than couples anywhere else, eating their meal, discussing work at the garage, the crappy economy, the continuing decline in real estate, making certain they didn’t veer toward anyth
ing personal.
They behaved like an old married couple burned by too much intimacy.
It was when she’d been bitching about the networks’ stupid reality shows that she’d noticed a bit of sour cream on the side of Zach’s mouth. Still speaking, she’d reached over and wiped it off with the tip of her finger, bringing the stray bit of food to her lips.
Only then had her hand stalled as she realized what she’d done…the effortlessness of her actions.
She’d fallen silent. Zach hadn’t said anything to break it.
Their eyes remained on each other, imprisoned in the moment, the same as too many other times today in the garage and at the diner. Brute lust and animal need flooded Zach’s face. Her heart thudded. Not daring to take a breath, Toni waited for him to haul her close for a merciless kiss, to acknowledge their hunger for each other.
Seconds dragged by.
At last, Zach forced himself to look away. She saw his reluctance to do so, his inner turmoil. And yet, he continued eating as though she hadn’t touched him. Uncertain what to do, Toni watched him cutting his steak, taking a bite, chewing, swallowing, finishing with a long sip of beer. He pretended not to notice her scrutiny, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence with more personal questions.
He’d wanted to know which cities she’d been to, which she liked most, where her friends lived, where she’d gone to school.
She’d danced around each one, while continuing to ache for his touch, heat and strength.
Her orgasm neared.
Pressing her face against her shoulder to muffle any wayward sound, Toni rubbed her clit fast and hard. Too quickly, the pleasure died, not even coming close to sating the emptiness inside her life, heart and body.
Arm draped over his forehead, fist clenched, Zach regarded the fading shadows on the master bedroom’s ceiling, then chanced a look at the clock.
A muttered oath escaped his lips. Only ten minutes to go before the alarm went off and he’d barely slept.
Each time he’d managed to drift off, he’d awakened in a start from dreams he couldn’t recall. Tension knotted the muscles in his neck and shoulders. He couldn’t relax his arms or legs. An hour ago, he’d finally given in and stroked his rigid cock, masturbating like an out-of-control teen, releasing his cum on the sheet rather than in a warm, soft female body.
Toni’s.
Uh-uh. No fucking way. Even if she did stir him as few females had, she was a complication he just didn’t need.
Rolling over, Zach punched his pillow and buried his head in it. Instantly, his knee and leg hurt. He adjusted his weight and squeezed his lids tight.
Images of Toni arrived without pause, snatching his breath, overwhelming his resistance. He saw the ends of her hair swinging against her smooth cheeks, her plump lower lip shiny from the steak’s juices, her eyes searching his, her expression guileless, wanting, receptive.
He could have taken her on the picnic table and he knew she wouldn’t have protested. Hell, she probably would have encouraged it and more…a lot more. Anything he wanted, no matter how crazy or lewd.
Like tying her wrists to the bed and playing pirate or whatever the hell women fantasized about. Having her willingly submit to his dominance and beg for still more. Playing those games in fun and for mutual pleasure.
Unlike Meg, Toni hadn’t been sheltered. She seemed to expect such behavior from a man, practically encouraging it from him. And yet, despite her gutsy personality and the brave front she kept putting on, she had a world weariness about her, a forlornness that kept pulling him near. Telling him he could ease whatever hurt she’d once known. They could comfort each other.
Until she left, and she would. She had Lucky and Belle to support.
Who in the fuck were they? Where in the hell had she met the couple? What did it mean that she’d adopted them, rather than they’d done so with her?
At dinner last night, after she’d kept dodging his questions about her past, Zach had finally surrendered, asking her about Lucky and Belle’s. Toni’s answer was to tell him about their shop, how excited they were to have it up and running. It had always been their dream.
While they’d done what exactly? What were their previous jobs?
He hadn’t asked. Instead, he’d listened as she’d recounted how Lucky taught her to repair vehicles. Her love for the man and Belle transformed and relaxed her, allowing Toni to smile freely, laugh recklessly, turning her into one of the most interesting and surely most desirable women Zach had ever known.
And he didn’t know her at all.
Sighing deeply, he pushed up on his elbow and looked at the clock.
Shit. Five more minutes and his day would begin. A day filled with Toni easing his emptiness over losing Meg, crowding out his memories of her.
Unsettled, Zach rolled off the bed and yanked on his jeans. T-shirt in hand, he left his bedroom to go downstairs and start the coffee.
He got as far as the hall bath.
His steps paused and his heart lurched as the door clicked, then swung inward unexpectedly. Plumes of steam drifted out.
Unaware of him, Toni looked behind herself at something in the bath. Her skin, more pink now than ivory, glowed from her shower and smelled of soap rather than lavender cologne. Her stretchy blue camisole and plaid boxer shorts clung to her damp flesh.
Zach’s heart beat violently. His limbs went limp. The tee slipped from his hand.
He told himself to pick it up and keep moving before she saw him, to go downstairs.
His legs refused to move.
A bead of moisture freed itself from her freshly washed hair, rolling down her temple to her cheek. Her camisole’s thin satin strap fell over her shoulder.
Ignoring it, Toni lifted a hairbrush to the side of her head, turned and froze as their eyes met.
Her gaze slipped down his naked chest, pausing at his fly, lingering on his erection. Desire quickly replaced her surprise. Her lips parted. A gentle breath spilled out. Her eyes darted back to his.
In a rush of movement, Zach slipped his fingers around the back of her neck, using his body to push hers into the door.
The wood smacked against the doorstop, then vibrated, matching the sounds of his sprinting heart.
Toni dropped her brush. It made brief taps as it bounced across the hardwood floor.
Her skin was so ungodly hot, a pleased groan tore from deep within Zach’s throat. Head lowered to hers, he captured her mouth and drove his tongue inside, filling her as much as he could, his kiss savage, uncivilized, punishing…for making him wait, for making him want.
Unaware of his turbulent emotions, simply obedient to their desire, she suckled him deeper, her mouth tasting of peppermint toothpaste and female lust. She ran the heels of her palms up his pecs, then wreathed her arms over his naked shoulders and dug her nails into his back to pull him even closer, keeping him there with one leg wrapped around his.
Roused beyond control, Zach ground his stiffened cock into her mound and angled his mouth for greater penetration.
They made sloppy, lewd, joyous sounds, telling each other and the world they were alive, they deserved this, necking brazenly for minutes. When the fury began to ebb, their kiss turned tender, exploring, stoking even more of Zach’s passion.
Toni melted in his arms, her chest rising with her strangled breaths, her ribs pushing against his.
Obsessive need sliced through Zach. Tearing his mouth free, heaving air, he stepped back, forcing her leg from around his. With a look of disapproval, Toni glanced at their separated bodies. Her gaze shifted to his hands on her forearms, pulling them from his shoulders.
She protested, “What are you—”
Her words halted as he imprisoned her wrists in one hand, lifting her arms above her head, holding them to the door. The wood shimmied again. On a strained growl, Zach pushed her camisole up with his free hand, exposing her right breast.
A faint mewling noise rose from Toni’s throat, sounding like pure pleasure.
His legs went rubbery. A wave of dizziness hit so hard Zach had to lower his head to stop it. He stared at her nipple, a paler pink than he would have guessed, tight and puckered, waiting for his mouth.
He made his first lick unhurried, the tip of his tongue skimming the hard bud. His next was hungered, his laps exploring the bumpy surface of her areola, the creamy skin beyond it.
A rush of air whooshed from Toni. She sagged against the door.
Tightening his hand on her wrists, Zach’s free hand went to her breast, cupping its weight and warmth in his palm. He drew her nipple inside his mouth, suckling hard, soft, hard again, incapable of settling on either. He wanted to fuck her raw on the bathroom floor, then take her to the guest bedroom, tie her to the bed and do things with her that he’d done with no other woman.
Releasing her nipple, he slanted his mouth over hers, accepting her tongue, sucking it deep. His free hand slipped to her boxer shorts and over her mound. Desire shuddered through him. He could feel the heat of her skin through the thin cotton fabric.
Toni moaned indecently, encouraging him to do more.
Zach’s fingers crept up her thigh, beneath the hem of the shorts, to her damp curls.
She spread her legs.
The alarm went off. She flinched at its sound and so did he. Forgotten until now, its piercing wail assaulted the quiet, demanding his attention.
Pulling his mouth free, Zach panted, his head swinging to his bedroom, then back to Toni. He stared at how he’d trapped her wrists, not quite remembering it. Forcing himself to release her, he stepped back, gulping air.
Toni’s arms fell at her sides. The edge of her camisole hung limply over her bared breast. With what seemed to be great effort, she opened her lids, her eyes glazed with desire.
When he said nothing, when he didn’t head for the alarm to shut it off or move back into her, Toni reached out and touched his hand, her expression saying she desired more.
Zach’s breath hitched. He looked at her slender fingers, wanting to suck them into his mouth, needing them on his balls and cock.
