His mouth curved into a slow smile.
Oh, God. Zack rarely smiled, and whenever he did it put her senses into overdrive—causing her nipples to ache, her belly to flip, and the place between her thighs to throb.
Sky’s face grew even warmer. “Told you it was silly.”
“Cinderella.” His voice was a husky murmur as he stroked her shoulder, drawing lazy circles on her bare arm with his fingers. “Does that mean if I find your glass slipper, you’ll be my princess?”
His touch was sensual and hypnotic, stirring her blood, igniting flames throughout her body. She shivered, so acutely aware of him. Wanting him.
Her nipples tightened more, pressing against the taut silk of her dress. Her naughty stockings and garters felt erotic, and she wanted Zack to explore her body and discover exactly what she wore beneath her dress. She needed his touch, his kiss.
“Watch out,” a voice said, breaking Sky’s lustful trance. “It’s hot.”
I’m hot. So hot.
Sky blinked, reality seeping in as she realized the waitress was setting their plates in front of them. Zack gave Sky a look like he knew exactly what she was thinking and how she was feeling. He eased his arm from around her shoulder and started eating his combination platter of enchiladas, tacos, and refried beans.
Oh, God. Oh, God.
Being around Zack was so not a good idea.
Ignoring her own plate, Sky picked up her margarita and took a long draught, peeking at Zack from beneath her lashes.
It wasn’t food she was hungry for.
Zack’s groin tightened as Sky climbed into his Silverado and scooted next to him. Her orange blossom and rain scent mingled with the smell of his leather upholstery.
As he backed the truck out of the restaurant’s parking lot, Sky rested her head on his arm, her body snug against his. The next thing he knew, her hand was on his thigh. Slowly tracing patterns with her fingernail down to his knee, and then higher. Not quite up to his hip, and then back to his knee again.
His heart punched his chest as he guided his Silverado through Douglas, his body on fire, his cock so hard he could use it as a gearshift. He drove with one hand and captured her exploring fingers with his other. Fuck, yeah, she wanted him. And he sure as hell wanted her.
She sighed and snuggled closer. “Thanks for the wonderful dinner.”
He glanced from the road to her. “You hardly ate.”
Sky’s voice came out in a husky purr. “I’m not hungry for food.”
Zack was so hard, he was seeing stars. He wanted to bury his cock inside her more than anything. He wanted to touch her and taste her, and make her scream when she came.
Damnit, this whole evening was going straight to hell, along with all of his carefully laid plans.
When Sky couldn’t dislodge her hand from beneath his, she shifted in her seat, pressing her breasts against his arm. He groaned as she started an erotic assault, nipping at his shoulder through his shirt. She moved her other hand to his chest, sliding her fingers down to his belt.
“Sky,” he grumbled in warning and desire combined.
Pausing, she looked up at him. “What?” she asked in an innocent voice.
He had a hard time forming coherent words. “If you don’t stop, I’m liable to have an accident.”
“Mmmm.” She ran her finger over the bulge straining against his zipper, lightly stroking his cock. “Now that would be a shame.”
Zack wasn’t sure how he made it to the ranch without coming in his jeans. Sky hadn’t let up and his cock was so hard for her that the minute he reached her house he wanted to shove that tiny dress to her waist and take her in the cab.
As soon as he parked his truck and killed the engine and the lights, Sky laced her hands in his hair and pulled him toward her. She kissed him with such hunger that he felt it straight to the soles of his boots.
Lust consumed him as she thrust her tongue into his mouth. God, but she tasted good. Her own unique taste, combined with the citrus of the margarita she’d had.
He wanted her to straddle his lap. Now. With a little seat adjustment, there was plenty of room between him and the steering wheel. Hell, yeah.
Sky tore her lips from his and rose up on her knees, putting her breasts at the same level as his mouth. “Touch me,” she whispered.
Zack couldn’t think straight. He bit her nipple right through the silky fabric of her black dress. She moaned as he bit, licked, and sucked the nipple and it hardened even more against the now-damp material.
His hands roamed her body, learning her curves all over again as he moved his palms from the swells of her breasts down her waist and on down, down.
Dear God.
He shoved her dress up and groaned when his fingers discovered her garters and the tiniest wisp of panties that were tied with small bows on either side of her hips.
“I need to feel you,” he murmured as he caressed her hips through the silk underwear. “I’ve got to taste you.”
“Please, baby,” Sky moaned as he moved his mouth to her other breast, nipping at it, soaking the thin material. He slid his hand over the cloth covering her damp folds and she gasped as his fingers stroked her.
While he caressed her, Sky clenched her hands in his hair and rocked her hips. “I want you inside me again.”
“Sky,” he groaned. He had a wild woman in his arms, and he wanted to drive his cock into her now.
If she pushed him any further, he didn’t know if he could hold on to his so-called good intentions.
She squirmed against him and squeezed his erection. “Fuck me,” she demanded.
Shit. He was a goner.
Chapter 18
The rumble in Zack’s chest was deep, untamed. He made her feel wild. Crazy. Dizzy with lust.
He captured both her wrists in his hands and held them between his and Sky’s bodies.
She squirmed on his lap and he groaned. She tried to free her wrists so she could touch him, reach between them, and unfasten his jeans and wrap her fingers around his cock. God, she had to have him.
“Hold on.” His voice was rough, almost feral. “Before we go even one step further, you have to answer one question. And you’d better give the right answer, sweetheart.”
Sky stilled. She wanted him so bad she could barely comprehend what he was saying at first. Then she realized it had all come back to the question he’d asked her every time she’d invited him into her house over the past week.
She swallowed and couldn’t move.
Zack released her wrists and slipped his fingers into her hair on each side of her head. “I want you to be mine. Not just for sex. I want all of you.”
He brushed his lips over hers and she shuddered from need—the feelings racing through her were only desire and lust, right?
“Give me another chance,” he murmured against her lips, then drew away so that he was looking into her eyes. “Give us another chance.”
Sky held back a groan as she felt the hardness of his jean-clad thighs between hers, the stiffness of his cock pressing against the little bit of material covering her folds. “You so do not play fair, Zack Hunter.”
He brushed his thumb across her cheek, his eyes and expression dark in the cab’s light. “No, sweetheart, I don’t.”
All of the time they’d spent together over the last week flowed over her in a smooth wave. She’d enjoyed being with him every moment. It had been more than lust she’d felt when he was near. Comfortable companionship and a feeling that grew deep in her belly every single day just knowing he was on his way to her home to work with Satan—and to be with her.
With a sigh, Sky leaned her forehead against Zack’s chest. The intensity of his masculine scent heightened her arousal as she breathed in deep.
“You win.” She rubbed her face against his shirt. “I’ll give it a try.”
“Hey.” He caught her by her chin with his fingers and forced her to look at him. His expression was hard, serious. “I don’t want some
half-assed attempt at this. All or nothing, Sky.”
“Just how serious are you?” she asked as she looked up at him, wanting to see it in his eyes.
“I told you,” he said. “I want it all.” Zack reached behind her head and pulled out the clip, setting her hair free and letting it fall around her shoulders. He tossed the clip onto the seat next to them and nuzzled her hair. “I want that sweet body and I want your heart again, Sky MacKenna.”
“Oh, God.” She let her breath out in a rush. “You don’t ask for much, do you?”
He kept his fingers in her hair as he drew away. “Yeah, I do.” His expression looked more serious than she had ever seen it. “I made the biggest mistake of my life when I walked away from you, from us, ten years ago. I intend to make up for every lost moment.”
“I missed you so much.” She brought her hands to his face and traced the scar with her fingertips. “I’m scared, Zack. What I went through—it was like a nightmare. I don’t want to have you and then lose you all over again.”
Zack’s throat threatened to close off. Goddamn. Every time they talked he found he’d hurt her even more than he’d realized.
“You’re not going to lose me.” Zack wrapped his arms around her, brought her tight into his embrace, and buried his face in her hair. The ache in his throat grew even more intense as her orange blossom scent filled him. “I promise,” he murmured while he rubbed one of his palms in a circle on her back.
She gave a shuddering sigh against his chest, then drew back from his embrace. Her smile was a little shaky, but it was a smile.
“Okay.” She moved her mouth closer to his. “I’ll give us another chance.”
Relief rushed through Zack like he’d never felt before. Relief measured with something more. More than triumph and more than hope that he’d win Sky’s heart again.
Rain had begun to drizzle lightly on the front windshield. He helped her out of the Silverado, handed her the purse she’d left on her seat, and locked up his 4x4.
Her hand felt small and delicate in his as he took it before walking side by side through the misty rain with her toward her house.
The crazy pounding of his heart grew and he almost didn’t notice the difference between the blood thundering in his ears and the rumble of thunder over the mountains.
Sky glanced up at the dark clouds as lightning brightened the sky, and her face was wet with moisture. The air stirred with the scent of a serious oncoming storm. “Damn, but we need the rain.” She sounded a little nervous, as if she was trying to think of something to say as they walked.
Zack squeezed her hand and she looked up at him, this time with a more confident smile that made his heart flop over like an egg, sunny-side up.
Fat drops of rain burst from the sky and wind whipped around them in a sudden rush. Zack scooped Sky up and she laughed and clasped him around the neck, almost hitting him in the face with her purse.
They were drenched by the time he’d hurried up the steps and reached the porch, before setting Sky on her feet. She shook her wet hair out of her face as she handed him the key and he unlocked the door before guiding her through the doorway and into her home.
Zack closed the door behind him and Blue greeted them with enthusiasm. Sky paused to rub the Border Collie behind his ears and tell him hello before she straightened and focused her eyes on Zack.
His blood stirred hot as Sky’s gaze met his. She took a deep breath, then looked at Blue long enough to order him to go to his bed by the fridge in the kitchen. If dogs could glare, Blue did, but he did as she ordered. His toenails clicked across the kitchen floor and then were silent once he curled up in his bed.
Zack’s heart pounded harder as he held Sky’s hand again while she led him to her bedroom. She flipped a switch by the door, and twin lights came on to either side of the bed. She tossed her purse on a chair beside the doorway. In the distance the sound of thunder rolled over the desert, and a gust of wind rattled the windowpanes.
For endless seconds they held each other’s hands and stood face-to-face, just looking at each other. Her rain-soaked hair clung to the sides of her face, and the water had plastered her dress to her body.
She’d never looked more gorgeous than she did at that moment.
Sky kept her gaze focused on him as she reached up with both hands and pulled the straps of her dress over her shoulders. The wet material whispered down her body as it fell to the floor. All she wore were black garters, those tiny panties, stockings, and a bra, along with high heels.
Zack felt like a fist pressed against his Adam’s apple and a thousand strong hands held him in place. He couldn’t move. He could only watch as she reached behind herself and unclasped her bra and it landed by her feet, too.
It was like he was in a daze as she untied each side of the tiny black panties and dropped them, too, baring the copper curls of her mound.
Jesus. His knees were going to give out.
He tried to swallow. Tried to touch her. But still he couldn’t move.
A dream. It was a goddamned dream, and he was going to wake up and pump several hundred pounds of iron to get control over his mind and heart.
Her clear green eyes were wide, drinking him in the same way he was watching her. Her lips parted and her nipples were hard as she took a step closer to him. His gaze slid over her fair skin. The sprinkling of freckles across her bared shoulders. The patch of copper curls on the mound between her firm thighs.
“Damn.” He swallowed, the fist pressing into his throat making it hard to speak. “You’re so beautiful. I don’t know if I can breathe anymore.”
“Come to me, Zack.” Her voice was a caress and a demand all in one.
He finally found the strength to take a step forward, meeting her so that they almost touched.
The fog stayed in his mind as she helped him undress. He shed his boots and every last bit of his clothing. He surprised himself by actually remembering to pull out his wallet and drag out a foil-wrapped condom that he tossed on the nightstand beside the bed.
She stroked his cock, wrapping her fingers around it and looking at it almost in fascination. Zack groaned, grasped her by her waist, and forced her to release his erection by picking her up and placing her on the bed.
She smiled as she lay back on the bed and held her arms out to him. Her wet hair was a shade of auburn against the white of her pillowcases. He eased onto the bed beside her, trying to catch his breath.
Zack propped himself on one elbow as her gorgeous face mesmerized him. Looking at her was making him insane. At the same time, animal instinct to take her hard and fast warred inside him with the desire to make love to her and cherish every bit of her body.
He smiled and allowed himself to caress her cheek, then brushed his lips over hers. She sighed, her warm breath fanning over his mouth. He ran his tongue along her lower lip, then caught it gently between his teeth.
Soft cries rose from her throat as he released her lip and his tongue moved into the warmth of her mouth. Just the taste of her was enough to set off a thunderstorm in his mind.
As Zack kissed Sky, he trailed his fingers down her shoulder and arm to her waist and over the curve of one hip. His fingers skimmed her flesh, light brushes that caused her to shiver and goose bumps to roughen her soft skin.
In turn she stroked him, her nails lightly raking him from his back to his hips. “Make love to me,” she murmured as her hand slid up his back and into his hair.
He pushed a strand of wet hair from her face. “I am, sweetheart.”
Slowly, Zack kissed and licked, and explored every part of her body he could reach, using his lips and tongue and hands. Sky’s palms continued to stroke his muscles and his cock as he kissed the tender spot below her earlobe, then moved to the hollow at the base of her throat where her hand always crept when she was nervous. His tongue found the soft skin of her shoulder, the mole above her breast, the curve of her waist, and her navel.
Lower and lower he worked downward until
he reached the copper curls of her mound. He nuzzled the soft hair of her folds and drank in the scent of her musk.
Zack looked up to see her watching him, her eyes so green with passion, her chest rising and falling.
He kept his eyes focused on her as his tongue dipped into her folds and he tasted her. Her eyes widened and her body jerked at the contact. “Zack!”
Oh, God, she tasted better than he remembered. He slid two fingers inside her warm core and moved his mouth over her clit. He licked and sucked it, enjoying her flavor on his tongue and breathing in her scent.
When her body tensed, he slipped his hands under her hips and pressed his mouth harder against her, driving her toward her climax. Her body arched up off the bed and she cried out as her orgasm tore through her.
Even then, he didn’t stop. “Zack. Baby,” she moaned. But then she was too helpless to do anything more than ride the next wave sweeping through her.
Rain pattered on the windowpane, a distant sound that somehow made their joining even more intimate.
Before she had completely come down from the summit, Zack rose above Sky, somehow managed to sheathe his cock, and thrust into her. He fought for control as he took her slow and easy, reveling in the sensation of being inside her and wanting to prolong it as long as possible.
Sky wrapped her legs around his waist, her hands clenching his hips, her eyes closed.
“Look at me.” Zack’s voice came out in a rough growl. “Watch me while I’m inside you.”
Her desire-filled green eyes met his. He couldn’t hold back any longer. He pounded into her, like the rain that was now pounding down on the house. She begged him for more, urging him on, like parched earth begging for moisture, until she cried out with another orgasm.
Zack shouted Sky’s name as he climaxed, buried so deep inside her that he never wanted to find his way back.
Chapter 19
Sky reveled in the feel of Zack between her thighs, the weight of his big body pinning her down, his sweat-slicked skin against hers, the feel of him inside her.
Zack (Armed and Dangerous Book 1) Page 14
