by K. M. Scott
While he fucked me first with one finger and then with two, I opened his pants and slipped my hand inside his boxer briefs to palm his thick cock. Already hard, he moaned into my mouth when I began stroking him slowly from the base to the thick, swollen head.
“I was going to go down on you, but if you keep doing that, I’m going to just skip straight away to fucking you,” he said in a low voice next to my ear.
Gripping him tightly, I pumped his cock to encourage exactly what he said. “As much as I love your mouth, I want you inside me more.”
I didn’t have to say another word. He pulled my skirt and panties down my legs and tossed them on the floor before stripping out of his pants.
He stood there looking down at me as I wriggled out of my top, and when I was naked, he grinned and flipped me over on my stomach. Leaning down, he pressed his cock against my ass and groaned in my ear, “Up on your knees. I’m going to give you exactly what you want.”
I did as he commanded and got up on all fours. Wiggling my ass, I turned around to glance at him at the very moment he pushed his hips forward and filled me up completely in one hard thrust that took my breath away. I hung my head and closed my eyes, reveling in the feel of him possessing me, fucking me with abandon as I tightly grasped the bedspread in my hands.
His fingers sunk into my skin and his hands held my hips tightly as he fucked me as perfectly as I’d ever been in my life. I loved the feel of his cock filling me, and knowing he controlled our lovemaking entirely excited me more than I wanted to admit.
Whatever this man had, he possessed me body and soul. As terrifying as that had always sounded, at that moment when he grunted behind me and moaned my name, I wanted nothing more in life.
My body careened toward the edge, and I tumbled over as an earth-shattering orgasm overtook me, making my legs buckle beneath me. I only remained on my hands and knees because Zane snaked his arm around my waist and held me tight. I pushed back against him while my body surrendered to him completely.
“Oh, God…oh…baby…” he groaned as he came hard, filling me up.
Dropping my head, I rode his release until he moved back away from me and I crashed to the bed, exhausted from being thoroughly fucked. When I finally caught my breath, I rolled over and saw him collapse onto the bed next to me.
I lay breathless and in awe once again at the effect Zane had on me. He kissed me lightly on the neck, and it felt tender and open, something I wasn’t entirely accustomed to when it came to him. He spent so much time maintaining that visage of a confident and cocky guy that open felt strange.
Although he still retained some of his cocky self, sex had been different than the time we slept together at the inn. I didn’t feel so much like a conquest or a booty call. This time he gave as much as he took. Zane had made an effort to seek me out and pursue me, and that felt good, especially since while he excelled at the pursuing, he’d never been very good at the giving part.
His hands moved to my hips, and I smiled at him. “You’re going to have to give me a second there. I’m still recovering from what you just did to me.”
He playfully pouted before he nodded and rolled over, pulling me onto his chest. I didn’t feel the same need to be guarded and distant with him like I had back at the inn.
“Fine, fine, but I thought maybe a change of position would make you see things my way,” he said, winking at me as I looked up to kiss him.
Against his lips, I whispered, “I promise as soon as I regain my strength I’m all for whatever you have in mind.”
We lay there in blissful happiness for a few minutes, my head on his chest gently rising and falling in time with his breathing, before he broke the silence. “You know, my mother left me the inn in her will with one specific provision,” he said.
I waited for him to continue as I ran my hand up and down his chest. I sensed what he had to say troubled him.
“If I want to collect my inheritance, I have to leave the inn in the same or better condition than it was operating at when she left it to me. I have one year to get through, and then that’s it.”
I nodded and wondered if that meant after a year he’d been leaving to go back to California.
“It scares me, you know. I don’t know if I can keep it at the standard she did. She really loved that place. She loved it like you love it, Becca. I wish I could love it that much too. I just don’t think it’s for me. I mean, I just can’t seem to find the allure in like you do. Maybe it’s because I grew up there. I don’t know,” he said before trailing off, lost in his own memories.
I watched his expression darken, not knowing exactly what to say as a new worry cropped up in my mind. Was the inn the only thing holding us together, or was there something between us that hadn’t been there before?
Finally, after a long pause, I said, “Zane, I think you’re capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for. Your mother believed in you, and I do too. I’ve already seen a marked difference from when I first saw you there. I think you’re doing a great job and you might not know it, but your staff does too. I’ve talked to them, and they see the change in you too. You can do this. I know you can.”
He didn’t say anything in return, and for a long time, we just lay there. Unfortunately, that question in my mind pressed its way forward, and the bliss couldn’t last forever. I tried my best to push it away, but the curiosity got to me.
“Zane, all those years ago, why didn’t you say goodbye? Why didn’t you actually break up with me?”
His body tensed up against mine, and he eased me off him as he muttered something about needing to go to the bathroom. I pointed him in the right direction, but when he came back, I decided I needed to press the issue. I deserved an answer, even if it was ancient history. I couldn’t truly move forward with him if I never got an answer, and the longer we put that conversation off, the longer it would stay in my mind.
“Zane, I want to talk about this.”
“Well, I don’t.”
He climbed back into bed next to me, but a noticeable distance existed between us. I wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily. I could understand not living in the past, but some things simply needed to be answered and accounted for.
I shifted the sheets off me as I sat up and looked down at him. “Zane, you need to talk to me. It isn’t fair of you to do this, and you and I both know it.”
He shook his head. “I just wasn’t ready for anything serious back then, okay? I was young and stupid. We all were at one point.”
His words stung since I had thought that we were headed somewhere serious back then. It was amazing how old wounds could be opened so easily, and my pride hurt, despite him clearly wanting to move past the issue.
“Is this going to just be a repeat of what we were back then, and what we weren’t, apparently? Are you just trying to sleep with me until I show some real interest only for you to back away? It hurt enough the first time, you know.”
He stood up out of my bed and pulled his pants on as he crossed the room to the armchair in the corner. Running his hand through his hair like he always did when he was frustrated, he sat down and said, “Are you kidding me? Why the hell would I drive all the way from Vermont just for a lay, Becca? Is that what you think of me?”
I pulled on the white silk robe that I kept on the side of my bed and stared him down. “How else should I think of you? What evidence, other than a few tanks of gas, have you given me to support your claim that you’re really any different? I know you’ve been better with the inn, but that inn isn’t what we’re talking about right now. You have to be open and honest with me, even about the stuff we don’t want to get into. It’s important, and you have to know that.”
His eyes flashed with anger as he pounded his fist on my window sill, startling me. “Damnit, Becca. What do I need to do to show you that I’m trying to be a better man for you? I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Yes, but for how long this time, Zane? Until you get bored
of me or too scared to commit to anything real and run off to California again with that blonde you like so much?”
I usually didn’t go for the catty and jealous comment, but he deserved it. I wasn’t entirely wrong, after all.
The anger in Zane’s eyes turned to sadness, though, and he took a deep, steadying breath before saying, “You want the truth, Becca? You really want to know why I ran away?”
“Of course, I do. You owe me that much at least for breaking my heart. I can’t trust you fully if I never really know why you left the first time.”
Hanging his head, he said quietly, “You were out of my league. You were in college going for your degree. I wasn’t. I didn’t even have the prospect of one since school wasn’t in my plan. You had a perfect future mapped out, and you succeeded at all of it. I would have held you back. I was just some dumb guy with no plan and no prospects other than my mother’s eventual inheritance. I was a nobody, and you were set to conquer the world. I couldn’t handle it.”
As he finished, I stood there stunned. I had never considered anything like that could have been the reason why he hadn’t wanted me.
I padded across the room and knelt down in front of him, placing my hands on the top of his thighs. “Zane, I never thought of you that way. You weren’t some loser with no degree to me. I was falling for you. Hard. I never cared about anything as silly as all that. I was crazy about you, and when you backed away from me with no explanation, it broke my heart.
He took my face in his hands and looked deep into my eyes. “I can never take back what I did, Becca. I wish I could. I’m so sorry that I ever made you feel anything but adored and cared for. I swear to you, though, I’m a different man now, and I cannot wait to prove that to you.”
“I want to believe you, Zane. I do. I always have.”
“You can. I promise. You’ll see.”
He punctuated his pledge with a deep and passionate kiss, and without another word I was back to being wrapped in his arms and under the sheets with him. For the first time in a long time, I felt we were back to where we had been years ago, and I couldn’t have been happier. He’d truly opened up to me and told me the truth in his heart, and just like that, the pain of the past seemed to evaporate into the bliss of the present.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Zane
Before long, our time in bed had to end since the real world demanded both of us return to it. I would have been able to stay with her naked between the sheets for the rest of time, but her advertising business and the inn made that impossible.
As Becca rushed around dressing in her work clothes, I sat on the chair and marveled at how incredible this woman truly was. Even hopping across the floor trying to get her shoes on as she ran a makeup brush over her face, she couldn’t have been more beautiful.
“You know, I think you might kill yourself if you don’t slow down.”
She twisted her face into a grimace that didn’t diminish her beauty one bit and stopped moving for a moment. “I have a nine-thirty appointment with a company that could be a huge campaign for me, and as much as I’d love to slow down and take in the very appealing scenery of you sitting there in a towel, I’m trying not to be distracted by your pecs and abs, so how about you get dressed?”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” I joked.
Becca walked over to me and leaned down so our faces were just an inch away from one another. “I’d stay here and ride you like a wild woman if I could, but I can’t, so if you don’t want to help me ruin a chance for me to land the biggest account of my career, please put some clothes on.”
Since I didn’t want to ruin her career, I stood up and kissed her long and slow. Pulling away, I saw the smile on her face and liked how it felt making her happy. “Your wish is my command. I’m not insulted at all that the woman I just spent the last day with pleasuring her now wants me to cover up. Not insulted in the least.”
She giggled and pushed me toward the bed where my clothes lay. “I promise I’ll make it up to you at a future date. You have my word.”
I grabbed my pants and slid one of my legs into them. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
At the front door, we kissed goodbye, and I didn’t want to leave. For the first time in my life, I wished I could stay right where I was.
The whole drive back I couldn’t get her out of my head, and I wore a grin a mile wide. When I arrived, the staff walked around like on eggshells, probably because I was so quiet. However, it wasn’t anger that was keeping me silent when I came back.
It was determination.
I arrived in Vermont with a newfound drive and a laser focus to make the inn succeed in a way my mother had never dreamed of. I wanted Becca to see my actions matched my words, and the best way to do that was to throw my weight behind the ad campaign and make the place take off.
* * *
Throughout the winter, I watched as Becca’s ideas made The Gilford House Inn the destination everyone wanted to go to in New England. I watched as the inn became booked solid for months. Even a travel magazine came to do an article on how the place had taken off, calling it “world renowned.” I didn’t know if I’d ever describe the inn like that, but its success felt good.
And I had only one person to credit for that.
My staff knew that too. Although they seemed to like me more than before, they loved seeing Becca whenever she came to stay.
Before I knew it, winter gave way to spring. I awoke one day and glanced at the calendar only to realize that I had less than four months left in my year-long stint at the inn. I smiled as I rolled over and looked at Becca, who stayed at the inn with me every weekend for months now. Tired from the drive up the night before, she brushed me off when I nudged her awake and fell right back asleep, her eyes not even opening as she mumbled into her pillow that she wasn’t ready to start the day yet.
I left her lying there, her dark hair splayed out on the pillow as she slept, and walked downstairs to check on the inn. As had become the new norm, the dining room bustled with people getting their breakfast and others in the check-in area getting ready to go on the nature tour or the downtown tour Becca had organized for the warmer weather.
The tour guides waved at me, and a couple of the guests on their way into the dining room stopped to talk to me. It took me a moment to realize that it was my mother’s lawyer, Mitchell Worthington, and his wife standing before me.
“Mr. Gilford, I must say things are looking quite splendid here! My wife and I saw your ad in the local paper, and we’re glad we booked early.”
I smiled, happy to once again hear that Becca’s efforts had done so well. “Hello, Mr. Worthington. I’m so happy to see we were able to fit you in. The advertising campaign has really done wonders.”
He shook my hand and nodded. “Your mother would be so proud. I don’t think I even saw it this busy when she ran the place, and those were what we thought were the salad days of The Gilford House Inn. You certainly have defied all of our expectations. Congratulations, my boy.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
They walked into the dining room, and I immediately turned to Mandy standing at the check-in desk. “I want to make sure the Worthingtons’ meals are comped. Please make sure you handle that before they get their bill at the end of their stay, okay?”
“My pleasure, Mr. Gilford,” she answered with a big smile.
I didn’t know if she liked me any more than she ever had, but lately it seemed she liked how I ran the inn more than when I first arrived. That wasn’t a huge challenge, though. I had pretty much been public enemy number one for a while there.
It still felt a little strange when guests waved and smiled at me as they passed by. Becca had come up with the idea that The Gilford House Inn name needed a face put to it, so now because of the campaign, people recognized me all over the place. It wasn’t just at the inn either, where at least it made sense.
One day shortly after the ads started running
, I drove into town and everywhere from the grocery store to the shops on Main Street, people walked right up to me and asked if there were any bookings available at my inn. My inn. I didn’t often admit it, but I loved it.
A crush of guests stood in front of Mandy at the check-in desk, so I hopped on the second computer I had installed and took charge, helping her through every one of them and clearing out the lobby.
When we finished and the crowd left, she smiled at me and said, “Thank you so much, Mr. Gilford. I didn’t mean to start falling behind, but when they all start talking at once like that, it just gets so crazy!”
I nodded my understanding, happy to help. “Don’t worry, Mandy. You were doing just fine. I think maybe I should look into hiring another front desk clerk to assist you up here.”
Instantly her smile faded, and worry settled into her eyes. “Would I lose my hours? I just started some college courses, and financial aid isn’t going to cover all of it. I need my hours, Mr. Gilford. I promise that I won’t fall behind like that again. Just please don’t take my hours away.”
“Mandy, no need to worry. You wouldn’t lose any hours, and besides, as the front desk manager, you should be getting a raise anyway for all you do.”
She beamed at the news, and for a moment I thought she might just hug me.
“Oh, my God, Mr. Gilford! That would be amazing. I…I can’t even… That would be so great! I could afford my rent easier and still have money for school. That would just mean so much to me!” she said, bubbling with joy.
“We’ll talk about it next week and nail down some of the specifics. Get me your class schedule so I can have that in mind when looking for someone new, and let me know what you think your salary should be and we’ll negotiate from there. Sound good?”
“Yes. Thank you so much, sir.”
I waved her off and left the lobby area pleased with myself. It would be good for a young girl like that to start getting some managerial experience. As the only one in the place who’d had the guts to stand up to me, I knew she could handle people working under her. I hadn’t forgotten that talk we’d had months before, and I doubted she had either. She might not have known it, but she’d motivated me to get Becca back that day. For that alone, she deserved a raise and a promotion.
