All In: Playing to Win (Gambling With Love Book 5)

by Hart, Lane

  "Wow."

  "Please don't say anything to anyone. If it got out that the baby might be mine the media will lose their shit, then everyone would figure out that Lacy's been with several guys. I don't even think her father knows."

  "So when?" I ask.

  "When will I know?" he asks, and I nod. "After the baby’s born in February."

  "Holy shit."

  "I never really thought about kids before, but in a way, I want this baby to be mine. It's crazy and illogical, and probably mostly just egotistical to want a bunch of little Zacks running around, but like you said, the idea of holding my own child? Yeah, I think I want that someday."

  My chest seizes up and I can't get any air. "Then you...you shouldn't waste time with me," I tell him, pushing my palms against his hard, unmoving chest trying to escape before I break down in front of him.

  "Natalie, no...that's not...God, woman! I want to be with you and only you! Quit trying to find reasons to push me away!"

  Zack grabs both of my hands and holds them above my head on the pillow with one of his. "I'm not going anywhere," he says before he nips at my bottom lip. "I sure as hell don't deserve a second chance with you, but I'm taking it anyway."

  Using his lips and tongue, he silenced me for the rest of the night, until we fell asleep together with all of our clothes still on.

  ...

  The next night when Zack came over I decided he should be rewarded for his patience with me. After I give him a kiss hello, I shut my apartment door before I drop to my knees and reach for his zipper.

  "Whoa! Natalie, what are you doing?" he asks in surprise.

  "I'll give you three guesses," I say quoting his line from a few weekends back when he went down on me. Now it was time for me to finally return the favor.

  "You don't have to…" He groans when my lips seal around the tip of his cock. He wasn't hard when I pulled him out of his pants, but that changed real quickly. “Oh, fuck!”

  Holding him around the base I lean forward to take as much as I can, knowing it won't be his entire long length. Keeping him in my mouth, I work up and down his thick shaft, stroking him in my fist at the same time to make up for what I can't swallow.

  "God, Natalie," Zack mutters, his hands reaching down to move the hair from my face. I look up into his chocolate eyes and see his lids lowered as they watch me. "I'm not going to…oh shit…stop."

  I grab his ass with my free hand, showing him I'm not going anywhere. A few more trips up and down his shaft, sucking him hard and cupping his balls, he comes with a shout of nonsensical curses. When he finishes he leans back against the door, breathing heavy with his jeans and boxers still around his ankles.

  God I want to see him naked so bad it hurts.

  I stand up and push his Wildcats' coat down his arms, then pull his sweater and undershirt over his head in one swift motion while he gives me a sexy, crooked smile. I run my hands along his unshaven, golden jaw, then over his broad shoulders, down his biceps, across his pecs, and lower to his chiseled abs.

  I go to my knees again and pull off the first shoe and then the other to get rid of his socks, pants, and boxers. Running my hands up his legs, around his powerful thighs I stand, feeling small and delicate in front of so much masculine strength packed into one amazing man.

  "You're beautiful," I tell him.

  "You're gorgeous," he replies, with a smile spreading across his face.

  I lean against his chest and shake my head. I was once one of those shallow, self-absorbed girls. Back in college I knew I was attractive and that men wanted me, but now…now I'm damaged goods.

  I don't have any more time to mope in my pity party before I'm hefted into strong arms.

  "You look like you need to relax," Zack says with a devious grin. "Let me help you with that."

  He heads for my bedroom, laying me down gently and pulling off my pajama bottoms and panties, without my protest. He presses kiss after kiss on my sex, his warm breath teasing me until I'm ready to explode and beg him for more. Finally his tongue snakes out and licks my flesh, making my hips bounce off the bed.

  "Oh shit!" I exclaim unable to stop the words. I feel Zack's answering chuckle rumble through my body before he goes back to work. It doesn't take long before he sends me soaring.

  I blink my eyes open when the mattress shifts, and then I watch his incredible backside walk out of my bedroom. What the hell?

  Thankfully he comes back a second later, rolling on a condom.

  He climbs on the bed with the purpose and determination of a man on a mission. That mission being getting inside me as soon as possible. He wedges himself between my thighs, spreading them wider to accommodate his big body.

  "This okay?" he asks from above me, holding most of his weight up on his forearms. My shirt and padded bra are still on and I'm glad he hasn't tried to remove them.

  "Yes," I reply, and then his mouth crashes down on mine. His hard length pushes forward, seeking entrance.

  My hips rise to meet his, then he's sliding in, thick and hard, completely filling me.

  "God, Natalie," Zack groans before pushing his chest up. His muscles are tight and tense and I'm pretty sure he's holding back with his thrusts, trying to be gentle with me for whatever reason.

  "Take me," I urge him.

  "You sure? It's gonna be hard and fast."

  "Yes."

  Suddenly I'm being pulled across the bed. Zack stands at the edge, raising my legs straight up against his chest before he pounds into me. I'm so tight it feels like his thick shaft is even bigger than usual.

  "God, yes, Zack," I moan as the pleasure grows again to astronomical proportions. "So close…fuck me harder."

  I hear his answering growl and then he's slamming into me, sending me over the edge.

  "Fuck, Natalie," he curses when he stills inside of me.

  Breathing heavily, he pulls out and my legs fall weakly over the edge of the bed. Zack heads for the bathroom and my heart stops as I watch him leave and return naked. I'm unable to figure out what a gorgeous man like him is doing here with me.

  Zack tugs me up to the pillows with him until I'm lying across his broad naked chest while we both recover.

  "You're so smooth," I tell him as my fingertips make rounds on every available inch of his upper body.

  "Requirement for the underwear ads," he replies with a chuckle.

  Holy hell, I'm with a man that is so hot people pay him to take pictures without his clothes on.

  "I bet it's not easy, having to turn down all the woman who are constantly trying to fuck you."

  His chest rumbles with his laugh. "It's a tough burden to have to carry. That's why I like being with you."

  "What?" I ask.

  "Why do all those women want to fuck me? Because I'm rich, famous, hot? Any or all of the above? I can be a complete asshole and it doesn't matter to them, because they're after my money, or fifteen minutes of fame, or bragging rights. It gets really fucking old after a while."

  "How do you know I don’t just want those things?"

  "Because you've never asked me for anything of monetary value, you hate having the spotlight on you, and even if you do think I'm hot, it wasn't enough for you to put up with me being an arrogant asshole."

  "Yeah, I guess all that is true," I agree.

  "So who was that guy?" he asks.

  "At the game? That was Dr. Blake Andrews, Rachel's friend from high school and her eye doctor. The hussy threw me under the bus, asking him if he wanted what was supposed to be her ticket to the game."

  "And you went out with him Friday night, too?" Zack asks.

  I push myself up to look at him. "How'd you know about that?"

  His eyes cut away before he answers, like he's embarrassed. "I may have come by here that night at the same moment you were leaving with him."

  "Oh." He'd come by? He'd wanted to see me even after I blew him off? I couldn't help my smile.

  "Don't look so damn smug," he says, pulling my head b
ack down against his chest, and kissing the top. I keep silent but my smile remains in place. "I thought you'd stopped seeing me for that fucker."

  "I went out with him to try and forget you. It didn't work," I reply truthfully.

  "Did you fuck him?"

  "No."

  "Good," he says, squeezing me tighter to him.

  I've wondered the same thing, and even though I'm almost certain of his answer I ask him anyway.

  "Did you...I mean it's okay if you did since we weren't together..."

  "No. I swear I didn't fuck anyone else. I couldn't stop thinking about you," he replies, surprising me. Maybe I really do mean something to him.

  "So can I stay here again tonight?" Zack asks. "I like sleeping with you, and getting to see you in the mornings."

  "Sure. On the condition that you have to remain naked," I tease.

  "Oh, baby, that's a given after what we just did. There's no way I'm going to let you sleep all night without having my way with you at least one more time."

  I shiver from the instant influx of arousal just a few words from him can cause.

  …

  Zack asked me to come over to his place the next night, and surprisingly, camera crews were still set up all along the gated entrance of his neighborhood.

  Lovely.

  I guess now they'll know we do more than kiss.

  "Hey, sorry about the front," Zack says when he opens one of the double doors of his two-story, European style, stone mansion. From the outside it looks like two beautiful houses were crammed together to form one gigantic one.

  "It's okay. No more secrets," I say with a shrug as I walk in and look around. After a second I realize the foyer I'm currently standing on is actually made of marble, which doesn't seem all that out of place with the expensive and artsy light fixtures, wall hangings, and stone columns. "Nice place. It's just a little bit bigger than my Polly Pocket apartment." Like ten-thousand more square feet.

  "Thanks," he replies, sounding distracted.

  "Have you watched any of the coverage on TV?" I ask when we enter a living room. There's a huge tan and brown plush sectional containing a dozen pillows or more and one massive leather recliner positioned in front of the biggest flat screen television I've ever seen. Everything he owns makes me feel tiny.

  "No, but my manager says it's been great. The media loves you, of course. Everyone's surprised I've settled down, for real this time," Zack tells me, his back to me while he faces a wall of windows. Windows that look out into a beautifully lit backyard, complete with an inground pool and hot tub.

  "That's why the paparazzi is out front. They keep following me around everywhere I go, hoping to catch me with another woman since they aren't convinced that I've given them all up. I never did when I was with Lacy," he says and then he turns back around to face me, his thumbs hooked casually in the front pockets of his loose fitting jeans. Barefoot and dressed casual, he looks mouthwateringly good. I don't feel worthy of being in his presence.

  "This is all still hard for me to believe, too," I tell him honestly.

  "I have given them all up," he says. "You know that, right? I don't want anyone but you. I'd be a fool to want anyone but you."

  "I know. I trust you," I assure him with a smile.

  He takes three of his giant steps forward and grabs my face with both hands to kiss me softly. "Come to bed with me?" he asks when he pulls back.

  "Okay," I exhale nervously.

  Leading me by my hand, Zack takes me up the gorgeous suspended spiral staircase until we finally come to an enormous, high ceiling bedroom with an equally large wooden sleigh bed in the center.

  He grabs me around my waist and sits me up on the edge of the mattress to remove my black boots, then my socks. His shirt comes off next and I think I may have drooled a little. My hand comes up to the side my mouth, and yep, I'm drooling.

  The man is pure perfection. Muscle definition like I've never seen on another human being before stretches from his chest and shoulders all the way down to his freaking eight pack. I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing him this way. Next comes his jeans and boxers, and I begin to feel light headed. It's too much sexiness for one woman to withstand.

  Even with my blatant ogling, Zack's face remains serious. No cocky grins or witty remarks.

  Standing naked between my legs he begins working on the button and zipper of my jeans. I lift my hips so he can pull them and my panties down and off.

  His lips meet mine to gently coax me into the next part. Slowly, his hands push my shirt up my sides until I raise my arms for him to remove it. That leaves me in only my black padded bra, and I'm still reluctant to let it go. Seeming to understand, Zack shifts me higher up the bed and covers my body with his while our tongues meet and tangle.

  Moving lower, he kisses my chest, and then my stomach before spreading my thighs wide. Moans flow from my mouth, one right after the other when his tongue starts teasing my sensitive flesh. My fingers comb through his thick blonde hair as he builds the pleasure within me. I cry out his name when I come, shattering into a million wonderful pieces.

  Oh, he's good. Now my body is so relaxed and carefree I'll do anything he wants. And he just wants all of me.

  Zack places a kiss on my hip and a few trailing up to my stomach. I close my eyes when his hands go underneath my back and release the clasp of my bra. Slowly he pulls the straps down, first one arm, and then the other, before removing it all together. I clench my eyes shut to hold off the tears threatening to fall when I feel his lips softly kiss one side of my chest and then the other.

  His mouth finally returns to mine, and I begin to relax knowing it's done and over with. He's seen all of me, including my scars, and the world hasn't ended. Zack is still here, his body warm and comforting above mine. His erection brushes thick and hard against my entrance, assuring me that he still wants me despite my flaws.

  "Thank you for trusting me," he says against my lips. "You're gorgeous, every single inch. And I'm grateful for your scars. They're a visible reminder of your strength, and the path you fought to stay on so that you could find your way back to me."

  Tears overflow from my eyes as I wrap my arms around his back, holding him tightly. I’d put my faith and trust in Zack to not hurt me while I was so vulnerable, and he somehow managed to put me at ease and take away my insecurity with just a few words.

  With a shift of his hips he enters me, nothing between us, but I trust him, even knowing his long history of lots of women. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me. I know he just wants to feel all of me, and that's exactly what I want, too.

  "This okay, baby?" he asks softly against my ear.

  "Yes."

  After his lips cover mine again we kiss with a soul deep desperation. Soft and gently Zack takes his time making love to me. There's no other word for it, and it's like nothing I've ever felt before. It's right and perfect as our bodies move together as one. His warm skin presses against mine from my lips all the way down to my toes.

  Even after we both come together we don't let each other go. Shifting us to our sides Zack holds me against his chest until we both fall asleep.

  Chapter Twelve

  Zack

  Making love. I'd always thought it was a ridiculous and unnecessary synonym for "fucking" that women prefer and men use just to appease them. Now I know how absolutely wrong I was about that.

  Last night, Natalie and I made love.

  No shit.

  Fucking’s a physical act that’s only about finding a release. Making love almost felt…spiritual, and I'm anything but religious. It was like the joining of not just our bodies, but also our souls. A declaration of our emotions that there simply aren't words adequate enough to describe how we feel about each other.

  It's apparently not something you can have with just anyone either. It has to be with someone you're completely head over heels in love with, otherwise it's just fucking. Plain, boring, same old shit, fucking.

  Maybe I'm a pus
sy for getting all deep, but after living my entire life missing out on what I have with Natalie, I can't help but reevaluate my disgusting past.

  I may be in heaven with her, but I'm still suffocating on my guilt. I shouldn't be allowed to make love to Natalie with the lies I'm keeping from her. It seems so wrong, tainting what should be, and could be perfect if not for the fact that I'm an asshole. But I'm too damn scared to tell her the truth. I just can't bear to lose her again.

  The alarm clock on my phone goes off, causing Natalie to wiggle and stretch her arms over her head.

  "Good morning, beautiful," I tell her with a kiss to her temple.

  "Mm," she responds, still groggy.

  I ease gently out from under her to go take a shower and get ready to start the day. After I'm dressed I grab the box from the closet and take it to wake Natalie up before I have to leave and she has to go to work.

  "Wake up, sleepy head. It's seven-thirty," I tell her. Sitting down on the edge of the bed I ease my fingertips up and down her naked spine.

  "Morning," she says when she finally turns her head and blinks her beautiful eyes open to look at me.

  "I've got to head out but I wanted to give you this before I leave," I tell her, sitting the box down on the mattress.

  "Holy shit!" she exclaims, rolling over to face me. "That's like...a really nice camera. And really expensive. I can't...that's too much," she says, pushing the box back toward me.

  "This is non-negotiable, woman. I know photography is important to you, and I want you to have it and use it. I bet I can even get you down on the field if you want. Maybe take some pictures? Mostly of me, of course," I tease her.

  "Really?" she asks with a smile.

  "Yeah, if you want. But you have to keep the camera or no deal."

  "Thank you."

  Getting to her knees she wraps her arms around my neck. I hold her small body to mine, hugging her back and wishing I didn’t have to let go.