by Tia Wylder
He starts to increase his speed, and eventually, we are moving in perfect rhythm, the lyrical music of the ocean and the warm summer breeze a soundtrack to our love.
Zachary is hovering over top of me, but I am desperate to feel as much of his strong, muscled body against my own as I am able. I grasp his powerful arms and encourage him to lay down on top of me. His sinewy chest presses onto mine, and I wrap my entire body around him, hoping we can stay like this for the rest of our lives.
I feel my breath becoming more labored, and I know I am approaching a peak. Zachary seems to feel it coming too because he increases his speed, then leans over, his mouth close to my ear, and he whispers into it enticingly.
"I love you, Ava. I’ve wanted you since the first moment I saw you walk into my office," he said. "I’m never going to let you go now that I have you. I love you more than you can possibly imagine."
He loves me, I think as I open my eyes and look up at his perfect face. I am nearly drawn out of the moment by the weight of what he is saying, by the realization that he well and truly loves me, but he keeps going…
He turns my neck so he can rain kisses up and down my jaw, then he runs his tongue along the side of my neck. "I’m going to make you come, Ava. And I want you to come while I’m buried inside of you."
And that is all it takes to push me into a place even more out of the reality than I could have imagined. His words send me falling over an edge of bliss, and I am dissolving into a cloud of pure ecstasy. I grab on to him and hold on for dear life, as my mind feels like it is drifting off into another plane of existence altogether.
Zachary kisses my neck and my forehead and whispers honeyed reassurance as I continue to drift off in pleasure. He keeps thrusting in and out of me as my inner channel throbs around him. He seems entirely focused on only my pleasure, and I’m not even sure how long I have been riding these peaks and valleys when I finally start to come down.
"Oh, god, Zachary," I choke out when I finally find my words again. "You are… That was…” I find that I’m not actually able to form coherent thoughts, but I'm quite confident that look on my face is more than making it clear how I feel about him in this moment of pure elation.
"It definitely was," he agrees. He brushes my sweaty hair away from my forehead, then rolls off me, pulling me on top of him, so I’m looking down at him. He holds me steady on top of him and reconnects, pushing his rock-hard shaft into my waiting sex. My body is still completely sensitive from my last orgasm as he begins to pump inside of me again. Each movement sends another wave of desire through me.
Zachary wraps his large hands around my hips and looks deep into my eyes as we move in unison. Then his eyes close, and I watch his face, the most gorgeous face I’ve ever seen in my life, as he loses himself to pleasure and comes deep inside me…
* * *
I’m not sure when exactly we fell asleep, but I am woken up by the call of a seabird as it flies overhead. I roll over on the beach towel and see Zachary, curled up, still asleep. His lithe, beautiful body is bathed in moonlight, and he is snoring ever-so-gently. I still can’t believe he wants me, that he loves me. It’s a concept I can’t entirely wrap my head around yet.
I don’t want to wake him, so I grab a towel from the cabana stand and wrap it around my naked body as I begin to walk down the beach.
I look out over the sparkling teal of the ocean, and I think about Zachary. And Josie. Josie would have loved it here. I remember all of the time we spent at the beach with my parents when we were little, how my mom and dad used to call her a mermaid because she would never come out of the water. I think about how lonely she must have been at the end, how she didn’t have the support she needed, and how different her life may have been if she had been given that support. I think about Zachary, and how much I love him for trying to be there for her, even if she couldn’t accept his help.
I love him. It seems crazy to consider, after so little time, after everything that has happened. But I think Zachary was right. When you know, you know. When I look at him, I’m not afraid. I feel joy at spending my life with him, of building my future, of cultivating a career. My body delights at waking up next to him every morning, and I can’t imagine ever wanting anyone else by my side.
I make my way back to where Zachary was sleeping, and find him awake, yawning and stretching as he looks out over the water. When he sees me, he smiles and winks.
“I thought maybe you’d started swimming for home.”
I laugh. “Hardly. I’m barely a good enough a swimming to make it to the next island. Did you have a nice nap?”
“It would have been better if I’d woken up with you beside me. Where did you go?”
I sit down next to him and wrap the towel around his shoulder, so we’re both inside of it. He moves closer and snuggles up next to me, then gives me a kiss on the cheek.
“I was just taking a walk. Thinking about you, and Josie. Everything that’s happened these last few days.”
Zachary lets out a sad sigh. “I’m sorry for everything I had to tell you tonight, but I didn’t want to move forward without a clean slate. And I thought it was only fair that you know the truth, the whole truth. I hope you can believe that I only want the best for Josie.”
I nod and set my head on his shoulder. “Of course, I believe you. And I’m glad you told me. Because of that, I need to tell you something else.”
Zachary pulls back and looks at me with panic in his eyes. “Oh, god. You’re not still planning to dump me and break my heart, are you?”
I chuckle softly. “No, no. Of course not. Zachary… I don’t want to be an entertainment lawyer.”
Zachary’s jaw drops. For a moment, I think I’ve said the one thing that will be too much, that this will be the thing that pushes him over the edge. His face is a blank slate. And then, he starts laughing. He starts laughing so hard, he doubles over, and I think he might stop breathing. I cross my arms over my chest and huff.
“Well. I didn’t think it was that funny.”
He sits back up and wipes a tear from his eye. “After everything we’ve gone through today, you thought this was going to upset me? Ava, I don’t care what kind of lawyer you want to be. You can practice whatever kind of law you want! I know why you came to me initially, but what exactly are you looking to do?”
“Well, my goal was to go into some sort of non-profit work, helping a charity or a civil rights cause. I want to do good when I get out of school, find a way to help people.”
Zachary squeezes my hand under the table and gives me a grin. “You know, you can do that while you work for us. And probably have better access to money.”
I scrunch up my face. “That’s what Bethany said.”
“She’s a smart girl,” he says with a smile. “Listen, I would never presume to tell you what to do with your career, my love. I think no matter what you do, you’ll be brilliant at it. But if you come work for us when you get out of school, you can head up your own division of the firm, focusing on aiding our clients with their charitable causes, and forcing our attorneys to do pro bono work. Lord knows most of them don’t do enough to give back to the community. Is that something you’d consider?”
I am quite sure that I am not doing a terribly good job of hiding my shock. “Zachary, are you sure? That’s crazy. I need to graduate, pass the bar. And even then, giving a whole division of a huge law firm to a nobody? Is anyone going to be happy about that?”
“Screw ‘em. Donovan hired his last girlfriend to man the main switchboard, and she couldn’t pronounce our last night properly. If I want my brilliant, accomplished, skilled girlfriend to do something amazing at our firm to help people, then it’ll happen.”
I throw my arms around him, and the towel falls off both of us, leaving us naked in the moonlight. When I pull back, Zachary raises his eyebrow and smiles.
“Miss Webber, you make a man think such thoughts…”
I barely have time to register his movements before he
whips me on to my back and starts kissing me.
I don’t know much about heaven, but if it exists… this could be it.
Chapter Ten
Morning arrives before either Zachary or I am ready to welcome it, yet we had no choice but to get out of bed. After the second round of glorious lovemaking on the beach, we had to find a gold cart to “borrow” to get back to the house. We crawled into bed, covered in sand and ocean salt, and fell into a deep, exhausted sleep…
That is until the alarm went off at 7 am, forcing us to crawl out of our pleasant slumber. The day will start early, and record executives will be clamoring to sign Bethany, so Zachary doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. That means getting back to the main hotel before anyone else has a chance to approach and try to talk her into anything without his guidance. We’re in the shower, getting ready for the day, and I can see the stress in Zach’s forehead.
“What’s on your mind?” I ask as I hand him the shampoo. He glances down at my soap body and smiles.
“Well, now that you mention it…”
I smack him with a loofah. “Be serious for a second.”
“I just want to make sure we get Bethany hooked up with the best possible label. Someone that can find her a better producer. I feel like shit for sending her to that Sam asshole, and I want to make sure nothing like that happens again.”
I give him a quick kiss and brush some soap off his nose. “You are a sweet man, Zachary Graham. And I love how much you care about Bethany’s well-being. But you never could know anything like that would happen. And you can’t protect her, or me, or anyone else from the world outside. All you can do is be there for people when the worst happens. Because it does happen sometimes.”
Zachary sweeps me up in his arms and gives me a long, slow kiss. “You’re really amazing, Ava. Did you know that?”
I wink. “I know.”
We may be in a rush, but that doesn’t stop Zachary from pressing me up against the shower wall and taking me right there. If things keep up like this, I’m not sure we’ll ever get anything accomplished.
An hour later, we’re rushing back to the hotel in the golf cart, our hair wet and both of us starving.
“Breakfast should be getting started now. It will be the perfect place to gauge interest, and hopefully, Bethany slept in so no one will be vying for her attention,” Zachary says as we pull up to the hotel. When we get inside, the back patio that overlooks the ocean has been converted into a dining room, with a huge breakfast buffet set out. Delicious pastries, fresh fruit, bacon, sausage, and eggs fill every corner of the buffet, and the record executives are already attacking the buffet like they haven’t eaten in years.
Zachary gave me a grin and gestured for me to go get food. “Before it disappears. I want to start talking to a few specific people. I’ll grab something at the end.”
I nod and make my way to the buffet, ending up behind a tiny woman with platinum pixie hair, huge earrings, and wearing a bright pink sun dress. Her sunglasses are almost as big as her whole face, and I instinctively want to be her friend. She turns around and looks me up and down.
“You look like you had the kind of night I did.”
I blush and smile. “I mean, I don’t know what kind of night you had, but mine was pretty great. I’m Ava Webber. And you are?”
“Kate Peters. Executive VP of Development for Shoreline Records. You’re Bethany’s friend, right?”
I fill my plate with everything I can manage to get on it while nodding at her. “Well, you could say that. I’m… I mean I’m here with… I guess I… Well, I work for Harper, Graham, and Graham. So, what did you think of Bethany?” Smooth. Really smooth, Ava. But Kate just smiles at me.
“She’s fantastic. Really fantastic. In fact, I’ve spoken with the head of Shoreline, and he’s willing to pay literally whatever you guys want to get her on our label.”
I almost drop the ladle of eggs I have in my hand. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. We have an entire division focused on developing the careers of up-and-coming female singer/songwriters, and we’ve been on the hunt for really unique new talents. We’d love for Bethany to be the artist that we launch the offshoot with. Just something to consider.”
I set my plate down and turn to Kate. “Out of curiosity. When you say you’ll pay anything literally? What exactly are you talking about?”
Kate reaches into her pocket and pulls out a slip of paper, then hands it to me. When I open it and look, I think all of the blood in my body stops flowing. Kate gives me a sly wink.
“Like I said. Just something to consider.”
Kate walks off and leaves me, and I stand there staring at the piece of paper with shaking hands. I scan the crowd for Zachary and spot him talking to a group of men on the corner of the patio, laughing and smiling, but looking annoying. I can see in his eyes that he’s not pleased, and he’s just pretending to save face with the executives. I abandon my food on the buffet and, casually, rush over to him, almost tripping over my own feet.
When I get to his side, the men all turn and look at me like I have three heads, probably annoyed that I interrupted. I don’t care. I take hold of Zachary’s arm, and he turns, startled.
“Ava! What’s up?”
I put on a syrupy sweet grin. “I am so sorry for interrupting your conversation, but Zachary. Something has come up that needs your immediate attention. Can I borrow you for a minute?”
Zachary looks confused, but he nods. “Yes, of course. Gentlemen, pardon me for a moment.”
Zachary follows me off of the patio and back into a corner of the hotel where no one can hear us. I’m practically jumping up and down once I’m sure we’re alone.
“Good lord, Ava. What’s going on?”
“Zach, have you ever heard of Shoreline Records?”
He laughs. “Yeah, of course. They’re one of the most respected boutique labels in Los Angeles. Why?”
“Well, Kate Peters just approached me. They said they’d do literally anything to have Bethany front a new female-focused branch of their label. And when I say anything, I mean anything.”
I had Zachary the piece of paper that Kate gave me, and he looks at it, confused. “What is this? Her phone number?”
I shake my head until he catches on. Then his eyes go wide. “No shit.”
“YES, shit.”
He grabs my hand and drags me out of the hotel lobby, down the path that leads to Bethany’s bungalow. After tripping twice, I have to yell at him to stop so I can take off my heels. When we finally get to Bethany’s door, Zachary slams on it, excited. After a few more knocks, the door finally opens, and Bethany is there, looking disheveled, and still half-asleep, with a sleep mask hanging off of her neck.
“What the hellllllllll?” she mumbles through a yawn. “You said I could sleep as late as I wanted!”
“You can sleep later,” Zachary almost shouts excitedly. “Bethany, have you ever heard of Shoreline Records?” he asks, mimicking my question.
Bethany squints, blocking the sun from her face and stifling another yawn. “Of course, I have. They represent Ruby Davis. She’s my idol. Why?”
Zachary looks at me, beaming, then back at Bethany. “Do you want to be on their label?”
“What?” Bethany asks, rubbing her eyes and clearly still not getting it. “Are you messing with me?”
We both shake our heads at the same time, and she shrieks at the top of her lungs. The executives at the buffet probably can hear her.
“Yes! Of course, yes! Oh, my god! I’d work for them for free!”
Zachary grins and hands Bethany the same piece of paper I gave him. Bethany looks at it, not sure what she is seeing.
“What is this? Someone’s social-security number?”
We both shake our heads again until she catches on again. The second shriek lets loose?
It sends the birds scattering from the trees.
EPILOGUE
Six Months Later
It’s a week after Bethany Day’s performance debut at the biggest music awards show of the year, and she was a massive hit. Despite all of the on-stage antics, and the outlandish outfits, and random slap-fight in the audience during a commercial break, all anyone could talk about the next day was the new singer with the gorgeous voice and the bright pink hair. Pre-orders for her album were through the roof in an era where no one bought albums anymore, and listens to her debut single on streaming services had already broken records. Things were going even better for Bethany than Zachary or I could have ever dreamed.
It’s the perfect precursor to our wedding day.
Barely a month after we got back from Turks & Caicos, Zachary took me out for dinner, and instead, we ended up in Seattle. I had mentioned a few times how I had never been and had always wanted to go, and suddenly, we were on his private plane headed to the Pacific Northwest for a meal. We walked around Pike Place Market, had coffee and ate pastries on the water front, and then he took me to the top of the Space Needle for dinner. When dessert came, he got down on one knee, and gave me the most perfect teardrop diamond ring. After I basically passed out for a second, I threw my arms around him and said, of course, yes.
