Taking His Victory: (The Men of River City book 4)

by Nola Marie

  When he’s out of the room, I grab a pair of jean shorts and blue boho top. I fishtail my hair so that the braid hangs over my shoulder. I run back to the bathroom to do some quick makeup. A little winged liner and some red lipstick is all I want today.

  I check my reflection once more to make sure the lust is out of my eyes. I look more pissed than aroused, so I guess that’ll work.

  I slide on a pair of wedged red sandals then make my way downstairs.

  “Are you still holding out on her?” I hear Jax asks but I don’t miss the humor in his voice.

  I knew that fucker was doing this shit on purpose.

  “Can we not talk about my brother’s sex life?” I hear Zoey remark.

  “You’ve heard worse, Angel,” Jax chuckles. I make it to the bottom of the stairs just in time to see him pull her closer to him.

  Something inside me stirs at the sight. I’ve always loved seeing Jax and Zoey together. From that first day I saw them together, I knew they had something special, but it wasn’t anything I ever wanted for myself.

  When my eyes meet Zane’s over them, the butterflies I have refused to acknowledge for months turn into warring hummingbirds fighting for their last meal. I look back to Jax and Zoey quickly, not able to handle the intensity of the feelings Zane’s eyes emit. Not able to handle the emotions I’m feeling.

  Zoey turns to meet my gaze with a bright smile crossing her too pretty face. Yin and Yang are what Zoey and Zane are. Dark and light. But they are both ridiculously, impossibly beautiful despite looking nothing alike. To me, they are the perfect set of twins.

  She climbs carefully off the stool and makes her way to me with her very pregnant belly leading the way. “Tori,” she says wrapping her arms around me, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  I return the hug with a smile. I am so glad to see her doing so well. I remember a year ago she didn’t look anything like this – happy and healthy. “You look great, Zo.”

  “I look huge,” she groans. “I can’t see my fucking feet.”

  “You look great, Zoey,” Zane tells her with a roll of his eyes which I assume means he’s had to reassure her a few times lately.

  She drags me to the island where they are all gathered. “Good to see you, Tori,” Jax says pulling Zoey back to her seat. I watch as he helps her onto the stool then pulls her feet into his lap.

  Another stab stirs in my belly, and I realize it’s jealously. I can’t believe I’m fucking jealous. What the fuck does that even mean?

  I cast a quick glance Zane’s way, and the hummingbirds in my stomach turn into vultures dive bombing me when I see him staring at me over the top of his coffee. My heart begins to pound erratically, and my head begins to swim. I realize my quick glance is actually a lingering stare when Zane begins to smirk, and I hear Jax clear his throat loudly.

  “Are you okay, Tori?” Zoey asks with a hand to my arm.

  “Pregnancy is affecting your brain, Baby,” Jax tells her.

  They communicate silently for a second before Zoey’s mouth forms an O. Jax snickers at her with a kiss to her lips. And that damn stirring becomes a hurricane.

  A strange feeling washes over me. Emotions I can't quite decipher attempt to take over. Suddenly the room is too warm and crowded. The air is too thick. “I think I’m going to take a walk for a bit,” I tell them as I make my way to the door. The urge to get out of there and away from all this I’m feeling as quickly as possible is all consuming.

  Zane calls out to me, but I ignore him. I grab my bag from the table by the front door as I practically run out the door. I’m in the elevator, the doors closing, when I see Zane running for the elevator. I quickly press the door close button praying it works before he gets to me.

  He makes it to the door just as the final few inches close. The look in his eyes floors me. They’re full of confusion, frustration, and hurt. It nearly knocks the breath out of me.

  By the time the elevator reaches the ground floor and opens, I’m nearly hyperventilating, and it pisses me off. I don’t react this way. I don’t feel things like this.

  I walk out the front door of the lobby of his building to be grabbed by the arm. Acting on nothing more than instinct, I turn with a fist flying out then a knee to whatever I can make contact with.

  “Were you attacked a lot growing up?” I hear that sexy voice wheeze out as I realize I’ve just put my knee into Zane’s family jewels.

  “Shit,” I hiss. “You can’t sneak up on me.”

  “I forget you don’t have normal reactions,” he says as he tries to straighten up with a wince.

  “They are perfectly normal reactions for a person to have from unwanted physical contact,” I defend myself then start to walk away from him. I can’t be near him right now.

  But I keep forgetting how damn fast he is. His hand is back on my arm, pulling me to him. “Let me go,” I demand trying to knee him in the balls again.

  “Stop, Tori. Just fucking stop,” he demands looking more pissed than I think I’ve seen him since the night he punched Maddox in the face.

  I take in a deep breath then exhale it in an attempt to calm myself and whatever the hell is going on with me. I have no idea what the hell is wrong with me. I feel like my I am on the verge of a panic attack.

  I’ve never had a panic attack before. Even when I was a kid trying to get away from creepy foster parents or bully kids, I never once had a panic attack.

  “Zane, just let me go. I just want to take a walk.”

  “Will you stop lying, Tori?” he barks. I reel back.

  “I’m not lying about anything.”

  “It’s written all over your face. You’re lying and not just to me but to yourself as well.”

  “What the fuck am I lying about, Zane? I just want to take a fucking walk.”

  His jaw clenches and his face hardens. He lets go of me which makes me stumble a bit and takes a step back. “Then go, Tori. Go take your walk.”

  He turns to go back in the building. More panic floods me with each step he takes away from me. Each step feels like distance he’s putting between us when he’s always been the one closing the gap.

  My throat feels like it’s closing. My chest squeezes tight. My heart pounds so hard I can hear it in my ears.

  I want to yell for him to come back, but my voice doesn’t work. I want to run to him, but my legs are turning to jelly.

  I don’t know what is happening to me. I’ve never felt like this in my life. I’ve spent years in the foster care system, never letting anyone or anything get to me. I fought in the ring with girls – and guys – bigger than me without an ounce of fear.

  But right now? Right now, I am terrified. I’m terrified of all these damn feelings I’ve been feeling for months that I’ve pushed down and to the side. I’m terrified every step that is put between Zane and me is a step I’ll never get back. I am absolutely scared to death if I let him keep walking that I’m going to lose him because I never admitted to myself or him that I wanted him.

  But my fucking feet are glued to the ground where I stand. I wrap my arms around my waist in an effort to hold myself together. I bend over trying to find the ability to speak or breath. I feel like I’m about to pass out.

  I have the vague understanding that people are beginning to gather around me. I feel the stares and concerns being sent my way, but the more I try to focus, the more my lungs refuse to work.

  “Breathe, Tori,” I hear whispered into my ear. I feel a pair of strong arms wrap around me as my legs collapse from under me. “Breathe. Focus on my voice. I’m here, Baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

  When I can finally breathe again, I find myself sitting on the ground next to Zane’s building pulled in his lap. He never let go through the entire melt down on the busy sidewalk. I almost expect to see people stop to take pictures of him or paparazzi everywhere, but it’s just he and I.

  I wipe my face from tears that have fallen. They would normally piss me off, but I don’t have it in me to
get angry at my own weakness right now.

  “It’s not weakness, Tori,” Zane tells me. I look at him in wonder because he always seems to know exactly what I’m thinking. “It’s not weakness to feel things for people. It’s not weak to let someone in. You let Dane and Cara in. Even Maddox and Zoey.”

  “It’s not the s-.”

  I don’t get to finish the sentence before he cuts me off. “I know it’s not the same, but it doesn’t make it a bad thing.”

  I shake my head refusing to believe what he’s saying to me. “It does for me.”

  “Why?” he asks me without a hint of anger or judgement in his tone. Only the desire to understand.

  “Because I don’t do serious. I’ve never had a real relationship with anyone or even an example of what one should look like. Except for the few times I’ve seen Zoey and Jax that is. And I’ve never wanted one either.”

  “Until now, I hope you mean,” he gives me a coy smile.

  “Watching Jax and Zoey made me – jealous,” I admit with a sigh. He throws his head back with a loud cackle. “Everybody gets jealous of those two.”

  “You don’t.” It’s a statement – an observation. I’ve never seen Zane look at them once with any type of longing.

  “You’re right. I don’t. How could I be jealous of them when I’ve seen firsthand what they’ve been through? Yeah, their love is on another level, but so is Rory and Layla’s and Bastian and Verity's.” I recognize Rory's name. And Sebastian Delrie too, of course, but I have no idea what he’s talking about. “My point is that every love – real love is on another level and just as powerful and consuming as Jax and Zoey. The only difference is the backstory.”

  “What if I try this whole relationship thing and screw it up? What if I fall ass over feet and you break my heart? What if -.”

  “Tori, you will drive yourself insane with what ifs like that. What if you don’t screw it up or get your heart broken? You can’t predict the future, and neither can I. Are you going to let it stop you from finding out what life – love – has to offer? What if you walk across the street and get hit by a bus? Will you stop leaving your apartment?”

  “How do you do that? How do you just say everything that seems to make perfect sense when I can’t even form a coherent thought?”

  He presses his lips against my temple. “Because I watch and observe. I don’t get caught up in what ifs. I see what I want, I take it.”

  “But I never wanted this, Zane. I didn’t want any of it,” I say through the threat of more tears.

  “I just told you, Baby, when I see what I want, I take it, and I wanted you.”

  I shake my head with a very soggy snort of a laugh at his confidence. “I still don’t know how to do a relationship, Zane. This could go very, very wrong.”

  He turns me to face him. The look in his eyes has never been so serious. So, focused and intent. “Tori, you don’t even see it, do you? You been in a relationship for months now. This? You and me? It’s a relationship.”

  “Some relationship,” I can help but snark. “You leave me panting at the door so that I have to find BOB every night.”

  “If you must know,” he teases with a little tickle to my ribs, “I was trying to prove to you that there is more to a relationship than sex. I didn’t want you to think you were another number in my book, and I damn sure didn’t want to be another one of your fuck buddies.”

  I scoff, a little insulted at the fuck buddies statement. “I don’t sleep around a lot, Zane.”

  “Never said you did, darlin’. But I did. And if you think you’ve been the only one tortured, I promise you’re not. It’s not easy to go from getting laid every night to not at all. I haven’t just been proving something to you. I’ve been proving it to myself too. Now can we go back upstairs so everyone passing will stop taking pictures.”

  “Oh shit,” I put my hand over my mouth. “Have they really been taking pictures?” I assumed they had a couple of time but never saw anyone actually do it.

  “A few,” he shrugs.

  “Then I guess we should get inside.”

  Zane

  I sit back in the low club chair with Jax and Calvin, the Raptors newly signed running back, watching Tori dance with my very pregnant sister. Dance and laugh like they’re having the time of their lives. Watching her with my sister further solidifies the feelings that have continued to grow for a while now. And she’s so damn beautiful as she lets go. She’s a free spirit and carries the weight of the world all at once.

  She probably thinks I don’t notice how she’s checked her phone half a dozen times tonight waiting on texts from her brother and sister. Or how she practically leapt to answer the phone call from Pete, who I am dying to meet. She worries about the people in her life that are special to her, but all the while thinks she doesn’t know how to be in a relationship.

  “You two are kind of making me look bad with my girl,” Calvin says drawing my attention away from the dance floor.

  “You don’t need help with that, man,” I taunt good naturedly.

  “I knew McCabe here had it bad for his wife, but the way you keep staring at your girl, you’d think you hadn’t seen her in years.”

  Jax gives a little chuckle. “You’re not going to last much longer,” he tells me.

  With a grin I agree. I’m not going to last the rest of the night. I’m doing all I can to make it back to the apartment, but there is no way in hell I’m having her for the first time in the bathroom of this club.

  “How the hell can you two look so – whipped?” Calvin asks. “I can’t imagine looking at one girl the way you two are.”

  “Jax has looked at one girl like that his entire life,” I smirk drinking the rest of my drink.

  Calvin just shakes his head. “I can’t imagine settling for the same pussy for the rest of my life. Not now at least. I’m young and healthy and like variety.”

  I shake my head with a laugh and Jax smirks. “You do you, man,” Jax tells him.

  “Anao’I just walked in,” Calvin tells us. “Going to say hi.”

  Once he’s gone, Jax turns his sights on me. “She it?”

  “You know she is.”

  “I knew the minute she walked into that hospital room, but I had to ask anyway. Does she know?”

  My eyes move back to where she is dancing around in that sexy little red dress. “She fighting it, but she’s figuring it out.”

  I throw back the rest of my drink then stand. I jerk my head the way of my girl to let him know that’s where I’m going. His eyes find Zoey and face splits in two as he stands too.

  “She’s come a long way, Jay,” I acknowledge just how much my sister seems like my sister.

  “I don’t care if she never finds the old Zoey. I love whatever version of her I get. She’s my life.”

  I know that. I’ve known it our entire lives. Jax will never want or love another girl. I get it. I’ve always gotten it but now I get it a little more.

  All I’ve fucking thought about for months is Tori. That beautiful wide smile that seems to light up a damn room. That feisty, zero bullshit attitude she has. The way she’s not afraid to knock a guy down a few pegs both literally and figuratively. It’s the way she wanted to be friends with Zoey even when she didn’t really know her. It’s the way she loves the brother and sister she never she had until a few years ago. She is definitely no damsel in distress in need of saving. She saves herself.

  I walk up behind her wrapping my arms around her waist just as a song I’d never listen to on my own comes on but fuck if I don’t feel every word as he sings about stopping time to live in right in the moment forever with the girl. Her arms wrap to my neck as I run my mouth down her neck. We sway to the music until there is no one else but us.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I whisper in her ear.

  She looks at me over her shoulder with hooded eyes. She draws her plump bottom lip into her mouth with a nod.

  I lead her by the small of her back to
ward Jax and Zoey who are so caught up in each other they can’t see anything else. I let them know we’re leaving to which Jax grins at me knowingly. “We’re heading out too,” he tells me.

  We make the ride back to my place in record time. When we step through the door, I grab Tori planting my mouth directly to hers. Pouring into that kiss everything she has been making me feel tonight and for the last few months. I grip her hair, angling her head back to deepen the kiss further as her hands grip the front of my shirt. My mouth travels down her jaw behind her ear eliciting a low moan from her.

  I run my hands down her tight body until I grip her ass, hoisting her in the air.

  “Zane,” Tori moans again as I begin to make my way upstairs.

  I enter my bedroom, carrying her all the way to the bed. “Fuck, you’re so goddamned beautiful, Tori.”

  “You’re not going to leave me like this are you?” she pants as my mouth continues to nip and suck at the long column of her neck.

  I hold back a chuckle. “Like what, baby?” I feign innocence.

  “Turned on. Wet. Needy as fuck.”

  “Is that all you are?” I ask as I run my hand up her leg until I reach her thigh as I look her in the eyes. “This just sex, Tori? Because I’m not in this just for the sex. I can get that anywhere.”

  She stares at me for what feel like an eternity. I can see the war in her eyes. The fear of the unknown – of not knowing how to handle her feelings. I see her struggling with wanting to run away from things she thinks she knows nothing about. From the lack of control these emotions invoke. I also see the moment she realizes fighting if futile. The moment she knows that I’m not giving up until I take her heart like she’s taken mine.

  She reaches up to my face, stroking the light scruff there then brushes a thumb over my lips. “Not just sex, Zane.”

  I lean down to kiss her again. This time it’s slow and purposeful. I run my hand to the inside of her thigh until I reach her panties that are damp with her arousal. I brush a finger over her pussy through the thin cloth until she’s moaning. “Zane, please.”