“Ready?”
Channing blinked at the sensations twirling around in her stomach.
They could have been caused by the deep, husky timbre of Zane’s voice or by the way he leaned in her doorway, dressed in a pair of jeans and a chambray shirt, with his Stetson riding low on his head. His navigator sunglasses finished off the package, and she was convinced he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen.
Why did his smile seem so luscious and sexy this morning?
“Yes, I’m ready. Come on in,” she said, stepping aside. “I just need to grab my purse. I figure we can come back here later and eat dinner. I still have a lot of leftovers.”
He took off his sunglasses. She could tell he was surprised by her invitation. “All right. Sounds like a plan to me.”
She was about to walk off to get her purse when he touched her arm. “Not so fast.” He pulled her into his arms and let his gaze move up and down her body. “You look pretty.”
“Thanks.” She had taken great pains to look nice today. From the appreciative look in his eyes, she knew it was worth it. His desire caused goose bumps to form on her arms. “And you look nice yourself.”
They stood for a moment, staring at each other. Channing could feel the heat and the charged air between them. She couldn’t help but remember what had happened last night at the drive-in. Those same memories were what had kept her up most of the night as primal needs ripped through her.
She absently licked her lips and heard Zane’s breath catch. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Instead of answering, he held her gaze. She felt the fire in every part of her body.
“Nothing’s wrong, baby. In fact, everything is right.” He drew her close and lowered his mouth to hers.
If he thought she would resist, he was wrong. Channing even stretched up on tiptoe to meet his mouth. His hands went around her waist, and she grabbed his massive shoulders, pressing her body against perfect abs and muscular thighs.
But what made her breasts throb was the engorged bulge pressing hard at the juncture of her thighs.
If he needed to be pushed, then she would push with all the strength she could muster.
She hoped she wasn’t making a mistake.
Nothing, and she meant nothing, was better than the way Zane’s mouth mated with hers. He relished her with a hunger that made her moan deep in her throat and made her wet between her legs simultaneously. A sense of intimacy that she’d fought for the past day overtook her, had her needing sexual fulfillment as much as she needed her next breath.
When her body began to quiver, he slowly pulled his mouth away and stood holding her until the last shiver left her body. As if to satisfy her one last time, he licked his tongue across her lips before nibbling the corners of her mouth with his teeth. Tingles swept through her.
“If we don’t leave now, we’ll never get out of here,” he whispered against her lips. “My self-control is slipping, and I’m tempted to say to hell with your ‘no sex’ rule, lift up this sundress and ease inside of you.”
She could imagine it happening. Her body was ready, aching for the feel of his shaft thrusting in and out of her. She was intensely aroused and knew there was no way he hadn’t realized it. He was very acute when it came to that.
“Um,” she said, backing out of his arms. She needed to put some space between them. “Excuse me for a minute.”
“Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”
She moved toward her bedroom, but before opening the door and stepping inside, she paused and glanced over her shoulder. He stood there, looking so incredibly sexy that the sight was an assault on her senses in every way.
“If you prefer that we spend the day here doing nothing, our plans can be changed, Channing.”
She was tempted. Boy, was she tempted. But she wanted to go with him to Richmond and do something with him she’d never done before... She wanted to see a part of his life he’d kept from her. “No. I’m looking forward to going to Richmond with you.”
“All right.”
Lust surrounded them, but she was determined to change all that lust into love. More than anything, she wanted to believe that she could.
“Need my help, Channing?”
She blinked upon realizing that she’d been standing there staring at him like a dimwit. She had wanted to change into new underwear, a special pair just right for the heat building between them. Suddenly, she could see him kneeling before her and easing her panties down her legs, helping her into a new, lacy pair. She opened her mouth to tell him that she didn’t need his help but then decided it was time she tested his control.
“If you like.”
She saw the heat that flared in his eyes. “Yes, I would definitely like.”
Channing nodded before continuing to her bedroom, and he followed. She moved to the dresser and pulled out a pair of black lace panties. She held up several. She knew that was his preference.
A smile curved his lips.
She closed the drawer and brought the pair of undies to him. He took them from her fingers and slowly knelt down in front of her. Reaching out, he ran his calloused hands up her dress and between her legs. The contact with her skin had blood rushing through her veins.
Channing met the dark, heavy-lidded eyes gazing up at her, saw how his control was being stretched. His jaw clenched tight, and his nostrils flared while he eased her plain panties down her legs. She could hear the intensity of his breathing, and her breasts felt tight. When her panties were down to her knees, his hand paused, and then heated fingers inched back up between her legs to caress the folds of her womanhood. She drew in a quick breath when he slid two fingers inside of her.
“Zane...” His name eased from her lips. An intense desire stirred in the pit of her stomach when he stroked her. Automatically, her inner muscles clenched as his fingers gave her a sensuous workout. Then, as if he’d merely wanted to remind her of what gifted fingers he had, he withdrew his touch. She watched as he took those same fingers, wet with her moisture from her body, and inserted them into his mouth. He sucked hard, as if relishing the taste of her nectar.
Watching him made her weak in the knees, but before she could sink to the floor, he returned his hand to her thighs to complete the task of removing her panties. He was slow, taking his time, and the feel of the skimpy fabric easing down her legs set off primitive urges within her. The eyes staring up at her held such a fierce hunger in their dark depths that she felt drawn to him more than ever before.
“You can step out of them now.”
His words floated up to her, and she lifted her legs to step out of her panties. Her breath lodged in her throat when he took the fresh pair from her and slid them up her legs. He rubbed his face against her thighs before inhaling deeply.
“I’m convinced I’m addicted to this,” he said. “It always amazed me how wet you can get for me,” he said, his dark eyes glinting with heated lust.
It always amazed her, as well. When he lifted her dress and took his hot tongue and drew a circle around her navel before pulling her panties the rest of the way up, she swore she felt the floor shake beneath her feet.
Sensations swamped her. When he stood and gave her backside a playful smack, those sensations vibrated something fierce, sending tremors running through her.
“Anything else you need help with before we leave?”
She took a step back and eased down her dress. “No, that’s it. I would not have wanted to change my underwear if you hadn’t kissed me the way you did.”
He chuckled. “Do you want me to promise not to kiss you again?”
She thought about his question and immediately knew the answer. “No, that’s not what I want.”
Zane stared at her intently, and she felt his uncensored look. “Good, because I doubt I could do that, anyway.” He reached out and took her hand. “Come on, baby, let’s go.”
* * *
Sipping the beer Morris Holder had given him, Zane thought the same thing now that he had thought last year when he, Derringer and Jason had met with the man. This was a pretty nice spread. But as far as he was concerned, nothing was more beautiful than Westmoreland land, and he had a special affection for Zane’s Hideout. His spread was the best with the lake and the mountains surrounding it. Now that Bailey’s spread was next to his, he wondered if Ramsey and Dillon meant to punish him when they’d given her that parcel. Lord, help him. At least it was still undeveloped land, and Bailey wasn’t showing any interest in building anything on it.
Instead of taking the interstate, he had driven the scenic route to Richmond, making various stops along the way and enjoying lunch at a café in Jamestown. What would normally have taken two hours had taken more than three, but he hadn’t wanted to hurry. He preferred spending quality time with Channing.
Turning his thoughts back to Morris, Zane took another sip of beer. A self-made billionaire at fifty-eight, Morris was in great physical shape. He had his own workout room with every piece of exercise equipment imaginable. And then there was his stable of horses, which Zane knew Morris rode often.
Zane moved his gaze to the view of the meadows, and his stomach clenched when he saw Channing. She was walking beside Morris’s wife, Lisa. Lisa was a beauty in her own right, but no one, he thought, was more beautiful than Channing. He loved her yellow sundress. It looked damn good on her. Sexy.
“Channing’s a nice woman, Zane.”
He glanced back at Morris. “Thanks.”
“Any plans for the future?”
Zane wasn’t surprised by the man’s question. The last time he was here, Morris had been a bachelor for more than twenty years, and Lisa had been his live-in lover. Now the two were married. “Yes, I plan to marry her as soon as I can convince her that I love her.”
Morris nodded. “Good luck, and don’t give up. I woke up one morning and decided I had been a single man long enough. Over breakfast, I asked Lisa to marry me. For the longest time, she thought I wasn’t serious because I’d never mentioned marriage before. There was the issue of the twenty-five-year difference in our ages. That issue used to concern me, but on that morning, it no longer did. Age is nothing more than a number, and I refused to go another day without making plans for a future with the woman I loved and cared about most.”
Zane nodded and took another sip of beer. “She didn’t have a problem with your sudden change of heart?”
He chuckled. “Not sure she had a problem with it, but she was skeptical at first. The subject of marriage had never come up between us, so I think she thought I was dying or something. Convincing her that I wasn’t was hard, but I did it.”
Morris took a sip of his own beer and then added, “Women don’t understand that men might be slow, but when we make up our minds about something, that’s it.”
Zane released a deep breath. “Yeah, that’s it.”
But it seemed he was having a harder time convincing Channing than Morris had convincing Lisa. A small smile stretched across his mouth. He wouldn’t give up.
Morris stood. “Lisa and I would certainly love it if you and Channing stayed and had dinner with us.”
Zane stood as well, an appreciative smile touched his lips. “Thanks for the invite, but Channing and I have made dinner plans already.”
What he wasn’t saying was that he couldn’t wait to get back to Channing’s grandparents’ home to be alone with her.
* * *
“I like Lisa. Did you know she used to be a pharmacist? That’s how she and Morris met,” Channing said. “He happened to drop by the drugstore where she was working one day.”
She and Zane had left Richmond and were on their way back to Virginia Beach. While Zane and Morris had talked business, she and Lisa had gotten to know each other, and Lisa had given Channing a tour of their beautiful ranch. Lisa had also told her about the twenty-five-year age difference between her and Morris.
Channing had been surprised when Lisa had said she and Morris had been married only a little more than a year after being lovers for five years. Five years! It was hard to believe that Lisa had been willing to wait five years for Morris’s affections. Channing had bolted from Zane after nine months, telling herself that had been long enough.
“Yes, Lisa is a nice person, and Morris did mention how they met.”
Channing’s gaze shifted to look out the car window. Lisa and Morris’s story was something Channing couldn’t get out of her mind. She shifted her gaze back to Zane. He was hot, and she could feel the heat radiating from his body to hers. His eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, were on the road, which was fine since she wanted to watch him.
There was no way she could have remained Zane’s lover for five years without knowing for certain how he felt about her. Her makeup was totally different from Lisa’s. Her parents and grandparents had always claimed she had a low tolerance for some things, that she lacked patience. She wondered if her impatience had worked against her where Zane was concerned.
They came to a stop at a traffic light, and she could feel the dark depths of Zane’s eyes staring back at her behind his sunglasses. Her heart thumped hard in her chest, and her breath stopped from the intensity of his gaze.
“Is anything wrong, Channing?” he asked her.
“No, but I have a question for you. Lisa and Morris were lovers for five years before Morris asked her to marry him. Had I not left Denver for Atlanta when I did...had I remained there as your lover, where would we be now?”
She watched as a frown of concentration marred his forehead. “I honestly don’t know,” he said softly. “I want to think I would have come to my senses and you and I would be married, or at least engaged. But I can’t rightly say. It took your leaving a second time to make me realize what you meant to me.”
Channing nodded. What she meant to him... Even now she wasn’t sure what that was and had only a limited amount of time to find out.
The car moved again, and Zane shifted his gaze back to the road. Behind the sunglasses, he tried to keep his eyes from blazing in frustration. When would she ever believe that he actually loved her? What if she never believed it?
For the first time in his life, he was dealing with the fear of losing the woman he loved. The thought that no matter how hard he tried he could still end up without her as his wife sent a rush of irritation flowing all through him.
Hey, don’t even think of losing her, man. You got yourself in this mess, and you can get yourself out. You got to make her feel as if she’s the most important person in the world to you, because she is.
He brought the car to a stop again at another traffic light. He glanced over at Channing to find her still looking at him, and he drew in a shaky breath. The air between them was charged.
She absently licked her lips and tucked strands of her windblown hair behind her ear. At that moment, all he could think about was just how delicious the area around her ear tasted. He’d used his tongue there a number of times.
He was a man with a healthy sexual appetite, but he knew she equated his desire with lust. How could he get her to understand that his sexual need for her was an extension of his love? He was fully aware she was fighting her own deep attraction to him.
“Got any plans when we get back to your place?” he asked when traffic began moving again.
She shrugged. “I thought I’d grab something out of the freezer for a quick meal and then I’ll let you come up with ideas for ways to spend the rest of the day.”
He wasn’t so sure she would want to do that. If she left it up to him, they would be making love all over the place for the rest of the day and well into the night. “I guess we can spend time on the beach,” he offered.
“Yes, I guess we can do that.”
When traffic slowed up again, he gave a quick glance over to her. She hadn’t sounded enthused about doing that. “Any other ideas?” he asked holding her gaze.
“Anything you want to do is fine with me, Zane.”
His erection began throbbing again. He quirked an eyebrow at her to make sure they were on the same page. “Anything?”
“Yes, anything.”
Shivers of anticipation raced through his body, and he broke eye contact with her to return his gaze to the road. If she thought he didn’t intend to hold her to what she’d just said, she had another thought coming.
He glanced at the clock on the car’s console. At that moment, he decided to discontinue driving the scenic route and hit the interstate. She had been sending out some pretty strong vibes today, vibes that all but declared that she was now in the driver’s seat. And he couldn’t get back to Kindle Shores quick enough to find out just how she would drive him over the edge.
* * *
Channing watched the endless stretch of two-lane road ahead of them. She’d told Zane what she wanted, and knowing him like she did, he would take full advantage of it.
And she’d be ready when he did.
Her body had been attuned to him since he’d changed her panties that morning. At the Holders’ ranch, she had caught him staring at her more than once, pinning her with his dark gaze. Other than when Lisa had invited her to take a tour of the ranch so Morris and Zane could talk business, he had been there by Channing’s side.
She had been fully aware of him every time his arm had snaked around her waist, every time he’d taken her hand in his, every time he’d brushed a wayward curl back from her face. Those looks and impromptu touches had ignited a flame inside her, one she hadn’t been able to put out yet. So here she was, probably as aroused as Zane, and it didn’t matter that he knew it.
“Did skipping out on that symposium cause problems for you at the hospital, Channing?”
She looked at him, finding it oddly gratifying that he cared. “No. I have a really good relationship with Dr. Rowe and the other top hospital administrators. I had only committed myself for three weeks, although I’d taken a six-week leave from my position in Atlanta.”
“But you would have considered staying all six weeks.”
She noted he said it as a statement more than a question. She could tell him that she had been leaning toward not doing the additional three weeks because being back in the same town with him hadn’t been easy. She had even considered visiting her brother and his family in San Diego for a week or so. But Zane didn’t need to know any of that.
“Maybe. Maybe not,” she said. “I hadn’t made up my mind yet.”
“But what happened at McKays that night made you decide to leave.”
Again, he had presented it as a statement. “Yes,” she said. “It helped me to decide.”
“I’m sorry I drove you away from Denver. But I’m not sorry for coming after you, and I’ll do so again if I have to, Channing. To be quite honest, my real mistake was not coming after you that first time.”
His words gave her pause and reminded her that the Zane she’d known had been quite the ladies’ man. He would have no reason to run behind any woman, no matter how much she had wanted to be his exception.
“Just think how different things would be now if I had come after you,” he added.
Channing smiled at him. “And how different do you think things would be, Zane?” she asked and noticed he was pulling off to the side of the road.
Zane brought the car to a stop, cut the engine and turned to her. “I want to think we’d be married with a baby.”
“A baby?”
Seeing the startled look on her face, a smile curved his lips. “Yes, Channing. A baby. My baby. Don’t you like children?”
“Yes, but...”
“But what?”
“We never discussed children,” she said softly.
No, he thought, they hadn’t. Mainly because he’d never wanted to discuss a future with her. “We’re talking about them now.”
“Are we?”
“Yes. I like kids. What about you?”
She nodded. “Yes, I like them.”
“How many do you want us to have?” he asked her. “I want several since I’m used to a big family. Hey, we can be like my cousin Quade and have three in one day.”
Channing’s mouth dropped open, and she simply stared at him. She knew all about Quade’s babies. Triplets. “Are you crazy?”
He chuckled. “Yes, I am. I’m crazy about you.” He brushed a kiss across her lips. “If you don’t want triplets, I’ll settle for twins.”
Zane laughed at her shocked expression as he straightened in his seat. Turning the car’s ignition back on, he maneuvered the vehicle onto the road knowing he’d given Channing something to think about.
Channing didn’t say anything as she watched Zane switch from the two-lane road and take the ramp that led to the interstate. What could she say when her mind was spinning? Zane had just implied they had a future. With children. She wasn’t mistaken about that. She knew he liked children. She’d seen him around his cousin Dillon’s son. But Zane had never brought up the subject of children they would have together.
But today he had.
Channing stole another glance at Zane. She had to admit that over the past two days she had detected changes in him. Positive changes. He wasn’t as inflexible as he once had been, and he came off as less guarded. He was letting her into his private world. A small stirring of pleasure rippled through her and warmed her insides. They were making progress.
A good twenty minutes or more passed. When she saw they were taking the exit for Kindle Shores, anticipation nipped at her heels. Although Zane’s expression was well hidden by those navigator sunglasses, she knew he was just as eager as she was to get to their destination.
Within five minutes, Zane pulled the car into her driveway as all kinds of emotions churned inside of her. As he cut off the engine, she saw his fingers tap the steering wheel while he focused desire-drenched eyes on her.
“Are you hungry?” he asked in a low, sensuous tone.
His question had a mouthwatering effect...but it wasn’t for food. “No. You?” The sun was shining brightly overhead, but Channing knew that wasn’t the reason the interior of the car felt so hot.
“A meal isn’t what I have an intense hunger for now, Channing.”
Her breath caught. His words, spoken in a quiet voice, compelled every single cell in her body to ignite in an overaroused state.
She swallowed. “And what is it that you want?”
His fingers stopped tapping the steering wheel. Instead, those fingers brushed across her wrist, making every erogenous zone in her body come alive with a need she couldn’t deny.
Holding her gaze, he leaned toward her and whispered, “I want you every way I can have you.”
Channing felt as though every nerve in her body was on fire. She drew in a deep breath. “Then maybe we need to take this inside.”
A sexy smile touched his lips. “I agree.”