Zook

by Bex Dane

  My no danced on the tip of my tongue. There was no way this could end innocently like he'd promised. But darn, when a man as insanely gorgeous and wickedly funny as Zook Guthrie holds out his hand for you, it's impossible not to take it.

  His fingers closed around my palm like he'd done it a million times before. Firm, warm, comforting. Walking out of the library, the watching eyes made me nervous, but also proud and excited. Because the hottest cowboy on the planet was holding my hand and guiding me toward the door.

  My phone. I needed to leave it here, or Maksim would see I'd gone outside my approved radius. Without Zook noticing, I slipped it between two books on the shelf closest to the exit. I'd have to come back tonight before the library closed to retrieve it.

  Zook continued to hold my hand as we walked across the lawn to the library parking lot. He stopped at the first space, which had a motorcycle parked in it.

  "That's our ride." He pointed to the bike. The navy-blue fuel tank and fenders reflected like they'd been recently shined.

  "You bought a bike?"

  "No, I bought a piece of crap Harley with a busted transmission and fixed her up." The bike wasn't like the shiny new crotch rockets you'd see around Hale in the spring. It was low to the ground, long, and wide. Zook detached a helmet from a lock under the seat and held it up between us. "This is gonna mess up your do."

  Hmm. Having my body pressed up against Zook's? If I got away unseen, I could have the thrill of my life riding a motorcycle for the first time with a hot guy.

  I grabbed the helmet and gripped it tight to my chest, feeling my pounding heart vibrate inside it. Glancing around, I didn't see Soraya or anyone who knew me. Would it be worth the huge risk to sit behind Zook and ride this bike?

  He chuckled and swung one leg over the bike. Raising it up like a tripod, he looked at me. "Put it on then and get on." He angled his chin to the smooth passenger seat behind him. His charming smile, his pretty blue eyes, his wide back in his leather jacket. The decision was easy. Totally worth every second and any potential danger.

  I shoved the giant helmet on my head. It felt heavy and swiveled loosely as I surveyed the cars in the lot again.

  "Is there a problem?" he asked me.

  "No, um. You don't have a helmet?"

  "We ain't gonna crash."

  "It's the law here. You must wear a helmet on a motorbike."

  "Motorbike? Is that fancy talk for hog?"

  "I think so. Whatever you call it, you are required to wear a helmet, or you'll be ticketed."

  He glanced out of the lot to the street. "Are you sayin' you won't ride with me if I don't wear a helmet?" He grinned again, thinking he was sharing an inside joke with himself, but I was beginning to understand Zook's personality. He liked to tease and do it mercilessly.

  "No. I'm saying it would be wise if you wore a helmet, even if the risk of crashing is minimal."

  "Hmm-mmm." His tone made it clear we were talking about much more than head protection. "Is there a place in town I can get a helmet?"

  "I believe there's an Army-Navy surplus. We might be able to purchase one there."

  "Get on, then. We'll stop at the surplus and purchase a helmet for safety." He mocked my accent, but still, he had acceded to my request.

  "Very well." I awkwardly swung a leg over and perched my fingertips on the outside of his jacket, making sure to keep an inch of distance between our torsos. Thank goodness I was wearing pants and boots today. My feet found the foot pegs and the soles of my boots slid around, finding a secure spot.

  He rose up and I stared at his butt in his jeans as he cranked the kicker. God, what a beautiful view from right here.

  The bike sputtered but didn't start. "Dammit." He jumped on it harder, giving it a full-strength kick. The engine rumbled to life against my legs. He settled in his seat and pulled my knees in so they hugged his hips. "Hold on!"

  I gripped his sides more tightly.

  "No. Like this." He took my wrists and yanked me forward. My chest hit his back, and he folded my hands over his belt buckle. "It's for your own safety." Heat from his body seeped through me like a newly lit match. My legs were forced open wide. The rough fabric of his jeans mashed against the crotch of my suede pants. I held back my groan at the wonderful sensations it caused. "Hold on tight, CeCe. You're going for a ride."

  Bright sunbeams breaking through the trees forced me to blink. Zook's massive body warmed me against the chill. Gravity tried to pull me from my spot, but it failed. I'd never let go of my hold on Zook. We rolled out of the lot and out into the city, leaving Hale and all my worries behind.

  Chapter 6

  After an hour on the back of Zook's bike, my arms melded around his waist. My cheek found a resting place on his shoulder that put my mouth dangerously close to his ear. Good, so we could talk if we needed to—which we didn't often because we both got lost in the ride—but bad because each time he turned back to talk to me, our helmets crunched in a fiberglass kiss.

  Zook handled the bike with the same precision as his lettering. I felt safe and secure pressed against his back. And free.

  Free like the wind.

  Zook could turn north and ride us to the Canadian border and I wouldn't stop him.

  We reached Province Bluffs, home of America's most wealthy celebrities and politicians. Magnificent modern colonial estates passed us by in a blur. At the top of a sandy trail, in an area cleared of trees and bushes, he parked the bike and helped me off.

  An enormous wooden frame of a house—no a mansion—rose from the ground, climbing up to the sky, but I couldn't look at the structure because the view mesmerized me. At the base of a steep cliff, the ocean crashed on the shore. I removed the helmet and crisp sea air assaulted me. "Wow."

  "Welcome to mi humble casa."

  We walked past a pile of supplies stacked in a corner and I stared up at the tall wooden spires. "It's so big."

  "It is, and I'm not even hard right now."

  "Huh?"

  "Nothin'."

  I ignored his teasing to take in the grand entrance. Raw stairs climbed up to the sky like an Escher drawing. "Did you construct all this?"

  "It's not done yet but yeah, what's here, I made."

  "Is it going to be like the homes we saw on the way up?"

  "Nope. Better. Let's sit." He moved aside a blue tarp hanging across one wall and revealed a small bedroom-like space with a twin mattress on the ground. He pulled a plaid blanket off from under some papers. He spread the blanket on the floor and motioned for me to sit next to him.

  "So you're studying to be a teacher?" he asked as I settled next to him, leaving a safe distance between us.

  "Yes."

  "How many years you got left?"

  "This is my last year. I'll earn my masters degree in June."

  "And then you'll get some high-society teaching job?"

  "Well, I'll try." Actually, I'll return to my prison of a home, and Maksim will brag about my degree. Most likely, I'll never teach a student apart from Zook and the kids in my student teaching program. I'd miss them all dearly.

  "It's gonna be rough on your students," he said as if he was in my head.

  "How so?" I said, testing him. There's no way he could know what I was thinking.

  "The boys are gonna have crushes on you. They'll be hiding their boners behind their desks."

  I laughed to shake off the thought he'd read my mind. Time to turn the attention back on him. "So, how'd you learn to build things?"

  His teasing smirk flattened. He picked at a piece of fuzz on the blanket. "Not sure I'm ready to share the details with you."

  Hmm. If he didn't want to tell me, I wanted to know. "You can trust me."

  "Can I?" He looked up at me again with his sterling blue eyes. "Haven't trusted anyone since Van… Tessa."

  "Why did you call her Van?"

  "Oh man. See, that's why I can't talk about it. 'Cuz if I tell you where I'm from, Tessa's from the same place, and I'd be giving up her
secrets too."

  "Please." His gaze moved to my hand when I placed it on his. "I won't discuss it with anyone. I want to know more about you."

  "Why?"

  "You're interesting. Where does a man like you come from? Why were you never taught to read and write? Yet, you can build houses like this, and you make me laugh with a flick of your cowboy hat?"

  He shook his head like I had it all wrong. "You do realize, after I tell you, you'll be so repulsed, you'll run down the streets of Province Bluffs screaming there's a wacky dude building a house up there!"

  "I won't. Tell me. Don't I seem like someone you can trust?"

  "You do. Alright then. You asked for it. Ever heard of Jebediah Barebones?"

  "No, I don't recall hearing that name, but I heard you talking about someone named Jeb that night in the alley."

  "Jeb Barebones is serving three life sentences in federal prison for murder and rape. He's Tessa's father."

  "Oh." My hand flew to my lips to cover my open mouth.

  "He was the leader of a break-off sect of a fundamentalist church. The man had thirty wives before the FBI took him down. Jeb Barebones dished out a doctrine of nutbag and his followers ate it up. He promised my parents eternal life, and they sacrificed their own children for it."

  "You?

  "Yes, me and my brother."

  "Is his name Destry?"

  "How did you... Oh that's right. Tessa asked me about him that first night. Destry's my only brother. Jeb cast him out and labeled him an apostate. He banned my dad from the church for supporting Destry. He split up my family. We never made contact again."

  "What was it called?"

  "The Brotherhood of God Church."

  "So why'd you go to prison?"

  "Federal jury convicted me of sexual assault."

  My gasp came out louder than I intended. Zook didn't look like a violent man. More the opposite. His eyes were gentle, his movements slow and purposeful. "And um, was this related to the nutjob doctrine you mentioned?"

  "I had sex with her. She didn't want it. Circumstances don't matter."

  "But there were extreme circumstances?"

  "Yes."

  "Tell me."

  "I did it because Jeb Barebones forced me to do it. He said he'd cast me out like Destry. He'd take me on a drive and drop me on the street with no money, a stupid kid who couldn't read."

  "You're not stupid."

  "That's not what he told me."

  "So that scared you enough to make you do it?"

  "Well that and his constant threats to kill my mother. Mom only produced two boys, so she was useless to him anyway. I fully believed he'd kill her like he murdered his own brother. I followed all Barebones' commands."

  "Including raping a woman?"

  "Yes. I spent a lot of time trying to earn his approval. By the time I did, he wanted me to spread my seed among the women of the church. I did everything I could to make it comfortable for her. Damn. It's pointless to talk about this because no matter what I say, I'm guilty. I'm not trying to justify what I did. I regret it. The worst mistake of my life. I'll never make it up to her." I could tell from the edge of desperation in his voice, this was torturing him.

  "Have you spoken about it with anyone?"

  "No. I plead guilty and they locked me up. End of story."

  "It might be good for you to tell me. I promise I'll keep it between us, but you need to let this out."

  His eyes considered me. He looked resigned, like he'd already told me so much, he might as well tell me the rest. "I was twenty-three. Old enough I shoulda had the balls to say no. There were rituals. Jeb had convinced the women they should cooperate. I always knew he was talking shit, but I was buying time, collecting evidence against him. My brother and I knew her. She was a nice girl. She did as she was told. I did as I was told. It was fast and I hope painless for her." He pulled on his hair and groaned.

  "Zook. I understand. It happened to—I mean—I've read about this. When evil people have too much power, it's impossible to stand up to them. They threaten you with your worst fears."

  "I shoulda let him cast me out. You know why? Because it happened anyway. Three weeks ago, the prison released me on the street. No money. No family. Threw me on a bus out of town. My worst fear came true. The kicker of it all? It's not that bad. Least I'm free. I learned from serving time. Fear makes a man weak. I'm not afraid of nothin' now, and I'm not weak anymore."

  "No, you're not. You're very strong. I can see it. I feel it when I'm around you."

  He nodded and stared over my shoulder like he was reliving the whole nightmare. "I provided evidence that got Barebones convicted of murder. Computers, pictures. When the trial came, the FBI had everything they needed. I nailed him. Doesn't make up for what I did, and the time I served doesn't take away the pain it caused her. I gotta live with that forever, but I did what I could to make it right."

  Ocean waves cracked against the steep cliff below. The water receded with a sizzle, taking fragments of the cliff away with it, reshaping the shoreline one particle of sand at a time. Zook had been battered like a rocky bluff at the edge of a tumultuous sea. If only I could be half as brave as him and face the storms ahead of me.

  The talk of his past was upsetting us both. A change in topic was needed. "So how is this a field trip for our tutoring sessions?"

  "Hmm?" He snapped out of it and turned his attention back to me. A small smile grew on his lips, like looking at me made him happy.

  He reached back and grabbed the oversized roll of papers from the top of his bed. The edges of the plans curled into his palm like he'd spent hours looking at them.

  "You read plans?"

  "I can read the numbers or guess close enough." He pointed to a small boxed area of notes in the bottom left corner of the front page. "What's this say?"

  "Gunmetal gray Tuscan marble tiles supplied by Neptune Rock Quarry, New York."

  "Ah, see, the owner said all my materials would be in the yard. I'm sure there's no Italian tile in my supplies. I need to order it."

  "Can you call him?"

  "I'd rather solve problems on my own as they come up. Trying to prove myself. He gave me a credit card."

  "Do you have a phone?"

  "Yeah. He gave me a business phone too. Nice guy. Not sure why he took a chance on me, but I'm not gonna let him down. I need to get that stone here pronto if I'm gonna have this place finished on time."

  "How long do you have?"

  "Till June. Nine months. Three of those are winter months, which is more like one regular month if Mother Nature cooperates, which she usually doesn't."

  "You'll have strong winds up here on the bluffs when the nor'easters blow through."

  "Wind and rain are my enemies. And snow. Shit. I need to get a plow. No way I can shovel a lot this big and get the work done. If I miss the deadline, I'm fired. My first chance at making my first mil ruined."

  "Your first mil?"

  "See, I gotta plan. One million my first year out of prison."

  "Wow."

  "Been poor long enough. My turn to be rich. Looks like my boss Torrez has the means to get me started. Then I'll take it from there."

  "I believe in you." He smiled and my stomach flipped. Time to change the subject again. "How many bedrooms is this place going to have when you're done?"

  The papers crackled as he flipped through them again. "Fifteen bedrooms, all with en suite baths, grand dining room, restaurant-grade kitchen. The whole basement will be set up as a gym. That's just the interior. Outside there's tennis courts, pools, stables, and a mother-in-law's quarters. It'll look like a huge castle on a cliff. Turrets and everything."

  "Sounds fantastic."

  He closed the plans and set them aside. He gazed into my eyes with his lips in a slight smirk. A breeze blew through the open space, tightening the air between us and raising little bumps on my arms. Zook's intention showed in his eyes. No more talking. He inched his head closer to mine, leaning forwar
d on his palm. I had no choice. He was too beautiful to fight. The universe wanted me to kiss him.

  He slanted his head and pressed his lips to mine. A flurry of sparks ignited in my tummy and between my legs. His fingertips scrunched the hair at my nape. He felt it too. Pure fireworks. We opened our mouths at the same time, our lips racing to get closer. More. More. More.

  He needed it. I had to have it. What was this foreign feeling inside me? I knew.

  For the first time in my life, I felt wanted.

  All I ever wanted.

  Desired. And being desired by a man as gorgeous as Zook made it so much better than I'd dared to dream.

  I whimpered because it hit me too deep. It felt so good, I never wanted him to stop. He grunted in response, and with his hand supporting my neck, he lowered me to my back on the blanket. When he moved on top of me, we fit together like lock and key. Hot trails scorched my skin where his hands skimmed my sides, over my breasts, and into my hair.

  Our hips rubbed together and I moaned. "Oh my god!"

  "Amen," he murmured into my neck. His hips pressed against my core through our clothes and I could feel how much he wanted me. I was losing control. This could easily escalate to hot, naked sex in seconds. But that couldn't happen. Platonic. Too risky.

  I tore my lips from his and gasped. He stared at me with question in his hooded eyes. Man, Zook's eyes glowed an even brighter blue when he was turned on. "We should stop."

  "We should go. You ever had a kiss like that before?"

  "Not even close."

  "Then we shouldn't stop. We've barely scratched the surface. Let me show you."

  Oh god, yes. I wanted that. More than anything. But… "I haven't… I mean…"

  He raised up on his elbows to stare down at me. "Are you a virgin?"

  "No."

  "Why stop?" He pulled his torso away and oxygen flowed back to my brain. What should I tell him?

  "I'm not experienced." This was true. Not the reason I was stopping though.

  "But you're not a…" His eyebrows rose. "Have you ever had an orgasm before?"

  I shook my head. "No. I don't think so. And the way you made me feel… This is very overwhelming."