by Carter Ashby
The way she rocked against him, meeting him move for move, he knew he wasn’t going to last long. He hooked an arm around her waist and lifted her so that her back was against him, her head dropped back on his chest. He sat her on her knees on the edge of the bed, thrusting into her hard and fast. One hand stayed on her left breast, the other snaked its way between her legs.
“Oh, God!” she sobbed.
A second later, he felt her muscles contract as she cried out and writhed in his arms. He let her pleasure carry him over the edge. He sucked in a breath, gritted his teeth, and held on through the waves of orgasm.
He dropped her onto the bed and took a step back, breathing heavily. Her back was to him. He disposed of the condom and waited. She rolled toward him. The smile on her face was the sweetest thing he’d ever seen. Until she reached for him, which was even sweeter.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Zoey chugged a glass of water and then dragged her arm across her sweaty brow. She’d stripped down to a tank top and was considering trading her jeans for shorts.
“I know it’s hard work,” Maya said. “You don’t have to do it.”
“I’m halfway there. Just gotta get over this hump.” She had the pieces baked to one of the gingerbread houses. It took three batches to finish them. The dough was stiff, the oven was hot, but she was not giving up.
Besides, it was good distraction. Kellen had brought her back home yesterday and then left. She’d hinted that he should spend the night, but he hadn’t taken the bait. No, he’d dragged her to his cave, broken her in like a wild stallion, and then left her here wanting more. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that was exactly what he’d done. He’d planted his flag. Staked his claim. He’d wanted her to know that she was his girl.
She picked up the rolling pin and started rolling another batch of dough. It helped that out of the corner of her eye she could see the most gorgeous man on the planet sitting on her sofa, concentrating hard on whatever was on his computer screen. He’d come over, as promised, bringing his camera and laptop with him so that he could get pictures of the kids—his Christmas present to Maya. But aside from a quick peck on the cheek, he hadn’t shown any indication of being nearly as smitten as she was.
Maya snapped her fingers. Zoey realized she’d stopped rolling and started gazing. “Sorry,” she said and focused with renewed determination.
“No, I think it’s cute,” Maya said. “I’ve never seen you like this.”
She lowered her voice. “He’s so intense over there.”
“He gets that way.”
Zoey sighed, but it was masked under her heavy breathing from rolling out the impossibly stiff dough. At last she got it where she wanted it and started cutting out the pieces using cardboard templates she and the kids had drawn.
Addy came by. Though she was staying with her parents over the break, she much preferred to be here with her friends. She came in the door without knocking and headed straight for the kitchen. “Kids look like they’re having fun in the snow,” she said. When she approached the counter, she lowered her voice.
Zoey tip-toed up so she could see out the front window. The morning had yielded about four inches of snow, so far. The kids were running around bundled in their coats, hats, and scarves, trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues.
Zoey smiled and then filled a deep bowl with powdered sugar, egg whites, and lemon juice to make the icing. She put the beaters of the hand mixer she’d just bought in the bowl and switched them on.
Powdered sugar poofed in a cloud all over the kitchen. She immediately switched the mixer off and stood there while the sugar settled. Maya and Addy sat there gaping at her. Kellen had fallen to his side on the sofa laughing.
“You can laugh while you’re cleaning up this mess, funny guy!”
He pulled himself together and came into the kitchen. He held up that damn camera and shot a picture of her. “Oh, that’s a good one,” he said. “Captures the full potential of your rage.”
“I’m gonna shove that thing up your ass, Kellen.”
He set the camera down and picked up the mixer, turning it on to it’s lowest speed until the mixture was wet. Then, he kicked the mixer up higher and gestured for her to take over. She did, casting him a skeptical glance along the way.
He went to the sink, wrung out a cloth, and started cleaning the sugar off the cabinets and countertops.
By the time she finished the icing and took out the last of the cookies, he was pulling a mop and bucket out of her utility room. Zoey worked on cleaning up the clutter on her counters and then helped Addy and Maya assemble the first house. Kellen mopped around her feet until she hopped up on the counter. When he finished, he put the mop and bucket away, and then came back in.
He gave her hair a tug. “Your turn,” he said.
“My turn for what?”
“I’ve cleaned your kitchen and your floors. Now, it’s your turn.”
Without warning, he picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder, and carried her back to her bedroom and into the bathroom. He sat her on her feet, turned on the shower, and then started stripping.
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” she asked, even as she peeled off her tank top and started on her jeans.
“Taking a shower. What are you doing?”
“Taking a shower. Do you think you’re going to get lucky in there?”
He crossed his fingers before shoving his jeans off. His boxers went next and that left him totally, gloriously naked. Zoey froze, her jeans halfway down her thighs, and stared. He dug a condom out of the pocket of his jeans. She had no will to fight or tease as he came toward her and finished yanking her jeans down. And then her panties. And lastly her bra, which he unclasped and slipped off of her almost reverently.
Their eyes met for a moment. They both smiled. Their smiles slipped away as they held hands, and climbed in the shower. He turned her, putting her back to the water. Gently cupping the back of her head, Kellen tilted it away from him, into the water. She closed her eyes. His fingers massaged as they threaded their way through her water soaked hair.
When he tilted her head forward, she couldn’t help but marvel at him. His blue eyes, hot and potent, focused on hers. His jaw, strong and tense. His massive erection pressed into her belly.
Touching him was an evolutionary imperative. Without thought of any kind, she reached for him, wrapped her hand around his length, because that was what she was meant to do. It was what he was meant for. He hissed in a breath and the tendons in his neck popped out. He dropped his forehead to hers, his eyes squeezed shut.
He reached behind her for something. The shampoo. He lathered some into his hands and then began working it through her hair. She was lost again. Hypnotized by his power. Lulled by his strong, knowing hands, caring for her. Pleasing her.
He tilted her head back again and rinsed her hair. She closed her eyes as the water sluiced down her scalp and hair and back. His tongue on her neck had her gasping and opening her eyes. He held her against him while he kissed and licked her neck, nipping at her jaw and ears. He grabbed her knee and brought her leg up over his hip.
She panted frantically, already on the edge of orgasm and he wasn’t even touching her there. She arched her hips, seeking more of him.
Kellen lifted her up, turned, and pressed her back against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist, struggling to keep from sliding off of him. He had her, though. One arm braced beneath her ass, the other wrapped around the small of her back. He wasn’t going to drop her.
He dipped his head down and sucked her nipple between his teeth.
“God!” she sobbed. She thrust against him, struggling to quell that insane need.
He took her other breast and she dropped her head back in frustration. Detaching his lips from her nipple and raising his head until his mouth hovered just in front of hers, he whispered, “Say please, Zoey.” His voice was harsh and hungry.
“Please
!” she gasped. The game was over. He could have anything he wanted from her.
He chuckled against her mouth. “That’s getting easier. What is it you want?”
“You know,” she groaned. She lunged at his mouth, wanting to kiss him, but he pulled back.
“I wanna hear you say it.”
“I want you inside of me. God, Kellen, please!”
And then she felt him, the tip of him at her entrance. She thrust her hips, bringing him into her an inch.
“Slow down,” he said.
She shook her head. “I can’t. I want you.”
“Open your eyes.”
She hadn’t realized they were closed. She opened them and looked at him. Into him.
“Say it again,” he said.
Her breath was ragged and shaking. She was shaking. “I want you.”
“Tell me I’m different, Zoey. Tell me I’m not like other men.”
“You know you’re different. You know what you’re doing to me. I’m sorry I never saw you before, Kellen. Come inside of me, please.”
His expression turned determined as he pushed all the way inside of her. They cried out together and then held each other, still and trembling for a long moment. “I can’t get you out of my head. I’ve never wanted anyone like this, Zoey.”
She dug her nails into his shoulder blades, and he began moving into her. Pounding into her. She gave herself up to his control in a way she’d never experienced before. There was nothing for her to do, no need for her to think as he brought both of their bodies to the height of pleasure and then sent them scrambling and gasping over the edge.
The shower spray hissed. Their panting breaths gradually slowed. They were collapsed on the floor of the shower, him on his knees between her legs, her splayed out in front of him with her back against the wall.
He leaned forward and kissed her. Their lips were familiar together now. There was no more tentative tasting. No more discovery. Only blissful ownership.
He leaned in and kissed her again. Then he turned off the shower and helped her to her feet. They dried off and dressed, casting bashful smiles at each other. He tackled her onto the bed, his weight a warm comfort, and made out with her for a few minutes.
When he at last rolled off, Zoey sat up and checked the clock. It was only noon. She stared at the time. “I feel like my whole life just changed. But we’re still in the same day as we were before.”
He stood and pulled her to her feet. “See, that’s about the nicest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It’s weird. I’m actually feeling nice.”
He kissed her on the forehead. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it’ll pass.”
She laughed and took his hand as he led her back into the kitchen.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Kellen propped his chin on his palm at the kitchen table. The kids were decorating their houses with candy, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Zoey. She, Addy, and Maya were all helping with the decorating. Zoey wasn’t even paying attention to him, but he couldn’t stop being aware of her. He’d feel her from now on. Everywhere he went, he’d feel her in his skin, in his bones.
What was this? Not love. Surely not love. Though, he didn’t know what else it could be. She’d completely knocked him out. It was like she’d said, his whole life had changed.
“So what’s changed?” Addy asked. She was lining the top of Sophie’s roof with cinnamon candies, so Kellen wasn’t sure who she was talking to.
“Who are you talking to?” Zoey asked.
“You guys. Maya says you want to be together and that I should relax about it. So, I want to know what’s changed. How do you go from hate and indifference to suddenly gazing at each other like puppies?”
Zoey sighed. “I think we just didn’t know each other before.”
“You had plenty of opportunity, but you were bound and determined to hate him and pretty much every man in existence. Now, all of a sudden he’s made it into your inner circle. It just seems abrupt.”
Zoey and Kellen both covered up laughs at the ‘inner circle’ remark.
“What?” Addy asked. Then she rolled her eyes. “God, you guys are sick. You know what I meant.”
“Having only recently made it into her inner circle,” Kellen said, with a wink at Zoey, “I’d kind of appreciate not talking this to death. It’s still unreal to me and I just want to relax and enjoy it.”
Zoey folded her hands over her heart. “Aww. You’re so sweet. Isn’t he sweet?”
“Alien abduction is the only scenario that makes any sense,” Maya said. “Some sort of bodysnatchers situation. Or maybe she’s turned into Stepford Zoey.”
“The question is,” Addy pondered, “Do we like Stepford Zoey?”
“She definitely doesn’t shriek as much. And she’s got a nice, pleasant aura about her.”
Zoey flipped them both off, and they laughed.
“There she is,” Addy said.
Zoey lowered her fingers before the kids looked up from their houses.
“So what are you doing here?” Kellen asked Addy. “Thought you were going to be with your parents through Christmas.”
“I just wanted a break.”
“Your folks doing all right?”
“Oh, they’re perfect. They’re always perfect.”
Kellen nodded. He knew Addy’s tone. They’d grown up together, all of them, and Addy had been a better friend than most. Certainly better than Zoey up until recently. He knew the power her parents had over her, and the way she simultaneously despised their perfection and wanted to live up to it.
He also knew that when she stopped making eye contact, she was upset about something. Her voice tone didn’t change. Just the fact that she suddenly became highly focused on whatever she was doing. Which, in this case, was piping swirly decorations on the side of Sophie’s house. “Went to dinner in St. Louis last night,” she said.
Kellen caught Zoey’s eye and for the first time, experienced that silent communication that lovers enjoy. She winked at him. “Oh?” she said to Addy.
Addy nodded and kept piping. “Saw the professor, so that was cool.”
“The professor? Really? Did he look hot?”
Addy huffed. “Would you stop? He’s not that good looking.”
But even as she spoke, her cheeks were reddening. Zoey shared another look with Kellen before returning her attention to Addy. “Did he join you?”
“No. He was on a date.”
“What?” Maya and Zoey both shrieked.
This was where Kellen got lost. The facts, as he knew them were: Addy worked for the professor; Addy and the professor weren’t dating; the professor was on a date last night. He couldn’t fathom why the women were reacting so dramatically.
“That bastard!” Zoey said.
Addy shook her head. “He’s not a bastard. He’s a single man who can date whomever he wants.”
“Who was she?” Maya asked.
“I didn’t know her,” Addy said. “She was beautiful.”
“He has no business dating. And behind your back like that!” Zoey’s face turned as red as her hair.
Addy didn’t answer, so Kellen was lost in confusion. Curiosity warred with self-preservation. Curiosity won. “I don’t understand. Why shouldn’t he date?”
Zoey and Maya honed in on him, their eyes round. He got the sudden sense that he’d asked the stupidest question on earth. “They have an understanding,” Zoey snapped.
“Oh,” he said. “I didn’t know. Well, then, he was cheating?”
Addy sighed and shook her head. “There’s no understanding. He’s free to date whomever he chooses. It wasn’t cheating. I don’t even know why I mentioned it.”
“There is, too, and understanding,” Maya argued. “What about that time he acted all jealous when you were dating that soccer player? You broke up with that guy. You could have had a perfectly good relationship, but the professor didn’t like it, so you gave that guy up for him.”
“
He never asked me to.”
“But he didn’t tell you not to. He’s been stringing you along for way too long.”
“No, no, that’s not right,” Addy said. “I mean, yeah, there’s some attraction there, but we both care too much for our careers to act on it. Besides, Joel wasn’t right for me. I didn’t break up with him just for the professor.”
Maya and Zoey shared a look and rolled their eyes. “So what did he do when you saw him?” Zoey asked.
Addy shrugged. “He was his usual, charming self. I introduced him to my parents. He introduced us to his date. Then we went to our table.”
Kellen watched the women exchange glances and grow silent. He didn’t understand. But he felt he’d already treaded too deeply into those waters, so he bit his tongue.
Addy’s phone beeped. She pulled it out, read her text, and turned red. Zoey and Maya were fixated on her.
“What did he say?” Maya asked softly.
Addy could only shake her head.
Zoey snatched her phone. “He says, ‘She was a colleague. It was a work date.’” Zoey’s grip on the phone tightened. “Well, that’s bullsh—crap, and I’m gonna tell him so.” She started thumb-typing until Addy took her phone back.
She typed out her own message, sent it, and pocketed her phone.
Kellen felt like he was watching a soap opera. He was on the edge of his seat, dying to know what Addy had replied. But no information seemed forthcoming and he was left with the somewhat less interesting gingerbread house show.
“When’s your mom coming, Zoey?” Maya asked.
“Christmas day. She’s supposed to stay in town for a couple of nights, but she said she’d get a hotel.”
Kellen thought Maya’s next breath sounded like a sigh of relief. “Do I get to meet her?” he asked.
“Well, big boy, by the looks of it, you’re not gonna have much choice.” Zoey jerked her head toward the window.
He stood and crossed into the living room. He pulled back the sheer curtain. Snow still fell steadily. It reached nearly the top of the tires on his truck. The drifts were much deeper.
