by Rhian Cahill
“You call this fucking me?” She chuckled.
Freddie wasn’t sure why she was pushing him. Why she needed more. Whatever more was. But she wanted him to lose control. Wanted to break him. Needed to connect in a way no other woman had and she knew she could. If he’d just let her.
“Red.” He nipped her cheek. “Don’t push me.”
Laughter burst from her throat. “You don’t think I can take you? Think I can’t handle what you’ve got, Zac?”
“Red,” he growled right before he bit her chin.
“C’mon, Zac.” God, what was she doing? He was taking her hard enough to bruise now, and still it wasn’t enough. “Gimme more.”
“Damn you.” Zac gripped her face in his hands. “No more talking.”
Freddie gasped when he pulled out of her. Before she could get her breath back he dragged her off the bed and spun her around. He pushed her to her knees and bent her over.
“Lie on the bed.” He pressed his hand between her shoulder blades and moved in behind her. “You want me to give it to you, Red?”
God. The gravel in his voice vibrated over her skin. She whimpered. Actually whimpered.
“Think you can take me, do ya?” He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her head back. His lips brushed her ear. “You know what I want, right? I want your arse, Red. Are you gonna give it to me?”
Oh God. “Y-yes,” she hissed between her teeth as his cock probed at her back entrance.
He laughed. The rumble of his chest shuddered along her spine. “Not tonight. In spite of the fact you want it, you’re not ready and I won’t hurt you, Red.”
“But—”
Zac angle his hips and drove his cock into her pussy. “Shh…” He licked along her neck, nipped at her jaw. “I’m gonna give it to you now.”
He gave a slight tug on her hair before letting her go. His big hands gripped her hips and Freddie curled her fingers into the bedding as he slowly dragged his cock out of her clenching pussy. She thought he was going to torture her with gentle slow thrusts, but the second only his cockhead remained inside her, he slammed back in again.
He took her hard.
He took her fast.
And all she could do was hold on. He gripped her hips, his thumbs pulling her cheeks apart as he continued to drive into her.
“God. I’ll never get enough of watching you take my cock.”
“Zac.” She pushed back as he plunged forward. “Please. I need…”
“Yeah, I know.” He leaned over her again, his chest pressing her deeper into the bed. “I’ve got you.”
Working one hand under her, Zac slipped his fingers between her legs and found her clit. He circled and pressed. Thrust. Circled and pressed. Thrust.
“Please,” she cried. Freddie couldn’t take much more. She was twisted and tight and burning up from the inside out. “Zac. Please.”
He skimmed his teeth over her shoulder. “Almost. There.”
Picking up the pace with his maddening fingers, he took her up. His hips pounded faster.
“Almost,” he panted. “C’mon, Red. Come with me.”
He pinched her clit and sank his teeth into the corded muscle of her neck as he powered deeper.
She shattered.
With a muffled cry, she buried her face into the bed and exploded.
Zac growled in her ear as he followed her. His cock throbbed inside her as he emptied spurt after spurt of come. It seemed as though he came forever, each pulse sending ripples of pleasure cascading through her.
Her hands and feet tingled. Breath sawed in and out of lungs too weak to keep up with the rush of blood in her veins. And her heart… It beat against her sternum like a battering ram. At any moment, she expected to crack a rib.
“Fuck.”
“Mmm…” Freddie couldn’t manage a word.
“Maybe we should keep talking.”
“Huh?”
“Every time we shut up you kill me.” He pulled from her body with a groan before falling to the bed beside her.
“You’ve got it wrong.” She turned to face him and opened her eyes. “You’re the one doing the killing.”
Zac grinned and rolled to his side. He brushed the hair from her face. “I think the killing is mutual.”
“Maybe.” Freddie knew he killed her body and heart. She wasn’t so sure she did the same to him.
“C’mon. Let’s shower.”
“Jesus. What is it with you and showering after sex?”
He waggled his eyebrows. “I like you all wet and slippery.”
Freddie groaned.
Zac laughed. “C’mon.” He grabbed her arm as he sat up. “I’ll carry you.”
Without effort, he scooped her up and carried her across the room to her en suite. For a lawyer who spent all his time in an office or the courtroom, he certainly had muscles. She’d let him carry her anywhere, because once this thing blew up in their faces—and it was bound to, they flashed too hot and too fast for this to last—he’d probably never talk to her again, never mind touch her.
Zac held a sleepy, damp woman in his arms and he never wanted to let her go. He’d never felt this way. With every other woman who’d passed through his life—his bed—he couldn’t have cared less if they stayed or went. This one…
Red.
Jesus. He wanted so much from her. He wanted so many things he couldn’t get them straight in his head. She turned him inside out and upside down without effort, and she didn’t even have a clue.
He’d expected them to go at it again in the shower, only once he had her in there, all he’d wanted to do was to take care of her. They’d washed each other. The gentle strokes of soaped hands a sensual caress that neither had felt the need to take farther. And now, they were cuddled together in her bed.
And it was enough.
He couldn’t recall ever lying in bed with a woman and not wanting or having sex. Sure they’d already gone at it a time or two or fifty in the last twenty-four hours, but he wasn’t sated. Not by a long shot. Except what he wanted didn’t fall into the fuck category.
For the first time in Zac’s life, he wanted to love a woman. Wanted to make love to her in slow, soul-touching ways so she’d never leave him.
Fuck.
He was in love with Red.
In love with his best friend’s little sister.
She stirred beside him as his grip tightened around her.
How the hell was he going to deal with this?
Lust he knew. He could handle wanting to fuck her. Hell, he had handled it.
But loving her?
How the hell was he supposed to do that?
“What’s the matter? Is your nose hurting?” Red murmured.
“Huh?” Zac latched on to the excuse for his sudden tension. “Yeah. A little.”
“I’ll get you some more pain meds.” She slipped out of his arms and off the bed.
Without a stich of clothing, she left the room. Left him alone with his jumbled thoughts and the rush of panic flooding his veins. He was going to screw this up. He’d already screwed it up.
His best friend was going to kill him.
He’d betrayed West over and over again from the minute he’d thought about getting Red naked. And now he’d gone and done the unimaginable. He’d fallen for the one woman he shouldn’t have.
He had to go.
Had to get out of here and think. He couldn’t do that with Red in his arms. Throwing back the cover, he’d swung his feet over the side of the bed when she came into the room.
“What are you doing?” She walked towards him. A naked temptation no man should be forced to resist.
“I should head home.”
“Oh.” Her mouth turned down at the ends.
“We’ve both got work tomorrow.”
/>
“Okay.” Red chewed her lip and Zac wanted to kiss her to make her stop.
“I’ve got an early meeting.” He didn’t.
“Right.” She put two pills and a glass of water on the bedside table next to him. “Take the meds before you go.”
“Thanks.”
She shrugged and turned away. “No problem.”
Zac wanted to kick his own arse. He was being a dick, but he couldn’t stay with her another second. Not when he knew he couldn’t give her more than he already had. There were so many reasons why being with her at all was wrong. He’d been a selfish prick to touch her at all.
“I really do have an early meeting,” he lied. He’d say anything to take that look off her face.
“Sure.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes, and his gut twisted tighter.
“Red—”
“It’s fine, Zac. I’ve got a full day tomorrow too. Make sure you lock the door on your way out.” She slid beneath the covers on the opposite side of the bed and faced the far wall.
He blew out a breath. Standing, he looked around for his jeans. Scooping them up off the floor, he looked at Red one last time. She’d dismissed him, and it was nothing less than he deserved, but he didn’t know how to fix this. Didn’t know how to give her what she wanted from him. How to get what he wanted.
Or even if it was possible.
Chapter Seven
Zac opened the front door and wished he hadn’t.
West charged past him. Coop stood with his hands shoved into his front pockets on the porch.
“Mind if we come in?” Coop asked with a half grin.
Zac moved aside. “No. By all means, come in.”
“At least he didn’t punch you,” Coop said.
“There is that.” Considering Zac’s nose still hurt a week after Red’s muscle-bound crusader had thumped him, it was a good thing West hadn’t taken another swing at him.
He followed Coop into the living room where West paced. He’d known to expect his friend, but he’d figured the guy would at least go home from the airport before arriving on his doorstep.
“How was the honeymoon?” Zac asked.
West grunted.
Okay. No chit-chat. “Say what you have to. But if you take a swing, it won’t be a free shot like last time.” Zac crossed his arms and braced his feet shoulder width apart.
“Relax, Zac. West isn’t going to hit you,” his brother said and chuckled. “Not if he wants to have sex with his wife ever again.”
Zac raised an eyebrow.
West stopped pacing and turned to stare out the window. “Meddling woman,” he grumbled.
Quiet settled around them, and Zac gave it a minute before his patience got the better of him. “As much fun as this silent treatment is, you could have done it from your house.”
West shot him a glare.
Coop laughed.
Zac failed to see what his brother found so funny in this shitty situation. He sighed. “Look—”
“No.” West turned to face him. “Do you love her?”
What the fuck?
“I know you wouldn’t mess with her if she was just a quick fuck, Zac.” West dragged a hand down his face. “I know you. You’ve never used a woman like that and you certainly wouldn’t do that with Freddie. At least the guy I know wouldn’t, and your brother assures me you haven’t changed your morals to those of an alley cat.”
Zac glanced at Coop. “I don’t use women, no.” He turned back to West. “Why are you here exactly?”
West sucked in a deep breath and let it out. “We were talking.” He indicated Coop.
“When? You’ve been on your honeymoon.”
“Let’s just say I spent a lot of my week away on the phone,” West said. “Not all of it pleasantly.”
“Huh?”
“Not only was I copping a mouthful from my lovely wife, who by the way held out because of what happened last week. But I also copped it from my sister.” West rubbed his fingers back and forth on his forehead. “It seems I’ve been a little overzealous in my big-brother role, and according to her, I owe you an apology.”
“Wow. Red told you to apologise?” So she didn’t hate him then. Zac had thought she’d be sending her brother around to finish off what he’d started last week, not to say sorry.
“Red?” West’s brow wrinkled.
“Freddie,” Zac clarified.
West’s eyebrows shot up into his hair. “Oh my God.” He laughed.
Zac didn’t get what was funny and a look at Coop didn’t enlighten him. “Why are you laughing?”
“You call her Red.”
“Ah, yeah…”
West laughed harder. “To remind yourself to stay away.”
Zac jolted. “How the hell do you know that? Did she tell you?”
West shook his head. “No.” He finally got his humour under control and took a deep breath. “It’s so you.”
Okay, so West knew him.
“Which means Kelsey is right.”
“What?” Zac was lost. “What has Kelsey got to do with it?”
“You’re in love with my sister.”
Oh shit. “Ah…” He wasn’t going to deny or confirm. If he was going to acknowledge the emotion he held for Red out loud, it wouldn’t be to her brother before her.
“You’re a dick, you know that?” West asked.
Zac didn’t take offense. He figured at this point he was a dick. He was certainly fucked like one.
“I’m only going to say this once and then you’re on your own.” West walked over to him and clamped a hand on Zac’s shoulder. “Don’t let her get away. Don’t let who her brother is cost you the woman you love.”
Zac opened his mouth but nothing came out.
“I know what I’m talking about. Don’t let other people get in the way, Zac.” West squeezed his shoulder before moving past him.
Coop slapped him on the back. “You should think about who that advice just came from. If anyone knows about letting something go for all the wrong reasons, it’s West.”
Zac stood frozen in place until the front door banged shut. Jerked out of his thoughts, he spun around to find West and Coop gone.
He’d known before they arrived that he wasn’t going to walk away from Red. He just hadn’t figured out how he was going to approach her.
Okay, he hadn’t worked out the best way to grovel.
He also hadn’t had a clue how to tell West that he was chucking out the friend-code book and going after his little sister. Now he didn’t have to worry about that part of his dilemma.
The one thing Zac did know was that even if it took every day for the rest of his life, he was going to convince Frederica Mann that she was meant to be his.
Freddie got off the couch with a sigh and the echo of her doorbell. She’d expected to see West sometime today. His plane had landed a few hours ago, and if she were honest, she was a little surprised he hadn’t shown up before now.
She unlocked the door without looking through the peephole. Pulling it open as she turned away, she said, “How was your week?”
“It sucked.”
Freddie froze.
Zac.
She closed her eyes and hoped she could get through the next few minutes without dropping to her knees and begging. Forcing her mouth into a smile, Freddie turned and faced the man who’d walked out with her heart last weekend.
“Hello, Zac.”
“Can I come in?”
Sucking in a deep breath, she nodded. “Suit yourself.” Did her voice wobble a bit? Did it sound like she didn’t care either way?
“Can we talk?” he asked as he stepped inside and closed the door.
Freddie laughed. “Talk? I seem to recall you telling me not to on a number of occasions.”
He flinched.
Good. At least he felt something.
“I’ll never tell you to stop talking again.”
She raised one eyebrow. “I doubt we’ll find ourselves in a position for you to want me to shut up ever again.” Her heart ached. She wanted more than anything for him to tell her to stop talking. Freddie still didn’t have a clue what had happened to make him leave and not call—not come round. She’d never understand his hot-and-cold behaviour.
“I deserve that.”
Freddie smiled. He deserved that and more. She just wasn’t sure why he did or why she should give him the cold shoulder.
Everything inside her wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him tight.
No doubt about it. The man had a hold on her but good.
“Do you want a drink?” she asked as she turned and led the way to the kitchen.
“No, thanks.”
So polite. She perched her hip against the counter and waited.
Zac stopped a few feet away. He shoved his hands in his back pockets. Pulled them out. Pushed them into his front pockets. Pulled them out again.
Nice to know he was nervous. He probably thought her brother would be hunting him down. She decided to set his mind at ease on that score.
“West isn’t going to come after you. I’ve spoken to him and reminded him that who I sleep with isn’t his business.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
He ran his hands through his hair. “He came to see me.”
Freddie didn’t think she’d ever seen Zac so frazzled. Even when she’d pushed him until he’d lost control, he hadn’t had this…tattered, unraveled look. “When?”
“About an hour ago.”
“Oh.”
“It’s not what you think.”
Freddie laughed. “Zac, with you I never know what to think.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Everything.”
Air hissed through her teeth as she sucked in a breath. “Everything?”
“No.” He took a step forward. “Not that. Never that.”
He ran his fingers through his hair again. “God. Sleeping with you was the only good thing I did.” He rocked back on his heels. “I’ll never be sorry for touching you. I’m sorry for all the rest.”
