One of Channing’s favorite spots in her grandmother’s beach house was the window seat. She remembered when her grandfather had knocked down the wall to build it—a huge bay window with a padded seat long enough to stretch out on. One night in her teen years she’d even slept here. She’d woken up staring out at the ocean.
So here she sat with her legs stretched out in front of her while reading a book. The story had held her attention for the past two days, and she planned to finish it later tonight. After reaching a good stopping place, she placed her book aside, stood to stretch and decided to go to the kitchen to get something to drink.
Her brother hadn’t called, which meant her grandparents hadn’t mentioned anything to him and she appreciated that. The last thing she needed was for Juan to call wanting to know why she wasn’t in Denver when she’d told him she would be there awhile. He was five years older and could be overprotective at times.
Although neither her parents nor Juan had met Zane, she had mentioned him on a number of occasions, so there was no doubt in her mind that they were aware she’d fallen in love. Just like there was no doubt in her mind that they knew the relationship had ended. No one had asked, but her family was astute enough to know her decision to leave Denver two years ago had something to do with Zane.
She was heading back to her window seat with a cold glass of lemonade when there was a knock at the door. She smiled, figuring it was the six-year-old girl she’d met yesterday on the beach. The youngster, Sandy Farmer, was an absolute doll. She and her parents and her adorable nine-month-old baby brother had rented the beach house next door for the entire summer. The parents were probably in their early thirties, and it was easy to see that they were in love.
Jennifer Farmer had let Channing hold her son, and the moment she had held the baby in her arms she recalled a time when she’d dreamed of marrying Zane and having his child. But then, in that same dream, she had fooled herself into thinking he loved her. The Farmer family was beautiful, and seeing them together made Channing realize just what she might never have.
But she’d decided not to take men or relationships seriously, she reminded herself, as she placed the glass of lemonade on the table and moved toward the door. Sandy had paid her a visit a few hours ago to see if Channing wanted to build sand castles on the beach.
Ready to tell Sandy she couldn’t go out on the beach with her just yet, she opened the door.
“Hello, Channing.”
* * *
From Channing’s expression, Zane knew he was the last person she’d expected to see. She looked amazing with bare feet and wearing a short denim skirt and a lavender T-shirt. While she was still standing in the doorway, stunned, he figured he would ease inside before the shock wore off.
When he closed the door behind him, shock was replaced with anger. “Hey, wait a minute! I didn’t invite you in. What are you doing here, Zane?”
“I came to apologize, Channing,” he said, leaning back against the closed door. “The reason I did what I did that night at McKays was because I thought you were engaged to Hammond, and I didn’t want to see you get hurt.”
She gaped at him. “You didn’t want to see me hurt? So seducing me just for the hell of it, to prove a point, wasn’t going to hurt me?”
Zane crossed his arms over his chest. “I did not seduce you for the hell of it, Channing. I did it to make sure you would break off your engagement. At the time, I thought it was a good idea. Hammond was screwing around on you. How was I to know the two of you weren’t really engaged?”
Channing clenched her jaw before saying. “That’s beside the point! How Mack was treating me wasn’t any of your business.”
“The hell it wasn’t. Was I supposed to stand around and let him mess with you?”
She looked livid. “Yes, that’s precisely what you were supposed to do. It wasn’t your business, Zane. I’m not your business. You didn’t want me, remember? Who I became involved with after leaving Denver wasn’t your concern. You can’t have it both ways. You don’t love me yet you didn’t think twice about sabotaging what, for all you knew, was my happiness with another man.”
Zane shook his head at their senseless argument. “I do love you.”
Channing froze. And then seconds later, when he leaned in closer, she blinked. When he grasped her chin to tilt her face up to his, the only thing she seemed able to do was stare up at him. Did he really think she would believe that he loved her after all the times he’d denied it? No, Zane didn’t love her. He just didn’t want anyone else to have her. Hadn’t he all but told her that very thing at McKays?
“I’m sorry I made you mad at me, but I’m here now, and everything is going to be fine, baby. You’ll see.”
Before she could respond, he licked his tongue across her lips slowly with deliberate strokes. He toyed with her mouth by sliding his tongue in and out between her parted lips. Her traitorous body let out a moan.
There were some things a woman couldn’t get over, and that was how skilled a man could be at seduction. Zane was an ace. He could kiss the panties off a woman, and she of all people should know since he’d proved that skill on her a number of times.
Moments later, he lifted his head from her mouth, and she could hear his heavy breathing. But what made her breath catch were the dark brown eyes fixed on hers. He was staring at her in a way that made her insides melt.
“I want you,” he whispered huskily against her lips.
Channing tried to ignore how quickly he had gone from loving her to wanting her. It was obvious Zane Westmoreland didn’t know the difference between love and lust. And, for now, she didn’t want to know, either. There was no denying she wanted him, and as long as she knew that love wasn’t a part of the equation there was no reason she couldn’t enjoy him.
Hadn’t she told her grandmother a few days ago she was locking up her heart and throwing away the key? Zane showing up like this didn’t change a thing. As far as she was concerned, his declaration of love was nothing but words. Words she refused to believe in.
“Channing, say you want me, too,” he said throatily, holding her gaze with his dark eyes.
What he was asking of her was easy. “I want you, too, Zane.”
A smile touched his face, and he drew her closer, putting his hands on her rounded bottom, cupping her in a way that placed an arch in her back and made her press tight to his middle.
She felt him, the heavy bulge of his erection through his jeans. Even through the denim she could feel him throbbing. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and they stared at each other as sexual heat surrounded them, stimulating them, charging the air. Erotic tension vibrated between them, and a gigantic craving rushed blood through her veins.
Then, soundlessly, he lowered his mouth back down to hers.
* * *
Zane felt his world rocking the moment their mouths locked. Tongues touched, entwined, twirled with a hunger that tugged mercilessly at his groin. Damn, he had missed this. He had lain in bed plenty of nights remembering. Channing had a mouth that was made to be kissed, and he had taken great joy in doing so. She had a taste that was unique, and his tongue was greedy ready to make up for lost time.
She was kissing him back, tangling her tongue with his in a heated duel, a sensuous motion that made his erection throb harder. There had never been a time when she hadn’t met him on a primal level. There had never been a time when she hadn’t both fueled and satisfied a need within him. Even now, his stomach muscles quivered as raw desire took control of him.
He shifted his stance so the apex of her thighs made better contact with his erection. He wanted her to feel it, to know what she was doing to him, to know just how much he wanted her.
Zane deepened the kiss, and the moan that came from deep within Channing’s throat told him all he needed to know. He wouldn’t have to grovel as he’d thought he would have to do. Like he’d been prepared to do. Like him, she was ready for them to move into the future together.
He pulled his mouth from hers and stared down into eyes glazed over in passion. How could he not have known he loved her? How could he have missed the truth when all signs pointed to those emotions he hadn’t wanted to acknowledge? She had been the one even when he’d convinced himself that she was not.
He loved her. He needed her. And he never intended to let her go again. Derringer was right. The thought of not having Channing in his life far outweighed the fear of losing her to some tragic event.
Filled with love to a depth that was mind-boggling, he cupped her face in his hands. She looked absolutely beautiful, staring up at him with hazel eyes. Suddenly, something clenched in his gut. He saw desire in her eyes, but where was the vibrancy that was always there when she looked at him? He recalled seeing it that night at McKays. Perplexed as to why he would imagine such a thing, he asked softly, “You okay?”
She nodded. “Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”
Good question. Zane grew thoughtful. But before he could dwell on her response any further, Channing placed her hands on his shoulders. At her touch, his heart pounded furiously in his chest. Needing to have his mouth connected to hers once again, he leaned down and feasted on it like a desperate man. The only times he’d ever been this hot for a woman had always been with Channing.
He moaned deep in his throat when he felt her hips grind against his hard length, sending rapid sensations rippling through him. The sensual pull between them was too strong, more overpowering than ever before, and he needed her now.
She released a startled gasp when he swept her off her feet and into his arms. Glancing down at her, he asked, “Where’s the bedroom?”
“Straight ahead on your right.”
He walked at a brisk pace, feeling the urgency in every step. When they reached the bedroom, he placed her on her feet beside the bed. “Do you have any idea how I feel?” he asked, letting his fingers tenderly stroke the side of her face.
“No.”
Zane paused. She’d given him a quick and simple answer. “Then let me show you.”
The one thing he’d always enjoyed during their time together was his ability to pleasure Channing. Her body would respond to him in the most sensuous ways. She loved the taste and feel of him as much as he did her.
He murmured gently, telling her in plain terms just what he planned to do to her. He heard how breathless she became with every explicit detail.
He removed several condom packets from his wallet and tossed them on the bed. Then, without wasting any time, he quickly shed his shoes and socks before yanking his shirt from his jeans and removing the rest of his clothing.
“Now for you to join me,” he said, laving his tongue across her jaw. He then stripped her of her T-shirt, pulling it over her head and tossing it aside. He cupped her breasts through her lace bra, and his entire body felt an electrical charge. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the front clasp was undone and gorgeous twin globes were free, making his mouth water with heated male appreciation as he gazed at them.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, heat stirring in his gut. Her breasts were perfectly shaped, enticing to the eyes and delicious to the mouth. Lowering his head, he buried his face between them and inhaled the luscious scent of her flesh.
Breathing thickly, Zane’s mouth latched onto a swollen nipple and licked it with the tip of his tongue before sucking greedily. He felt and heard her body’s response when she shivered and moaned, which triggered a similar reaction in him. Blood pulsed through the veins of his engorged shaft, making it ache that much more.
A thrill of intense pleasure ripped through Channing, and she held Zane’s head to her breasts as his mouth had its way with them. Her nipples throbbed while being devoured by his tongue, and her belly quivered with intense arousal that moved lower, to the apex of her thighs. It was only a matter of time before he took note and gave her the kind of attention that only he could give.
Moments later, he lifted his head and inhaled deeply. She watched how his nostrils flared as they picked up her scent. In anticipation of his next move, thunderbolts of pleasure consumed her.
“I need to get inside you, bad,” he said softly, reaching behind her to ease down the back zipper of her skirt. He gave it a little tug, and the denim slid down her thighs to pool at her bare feet. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest when he lowered to bended knees and removed her panties, easing them down her legs.
Instead of standing back up, he remained on his knees. He touched the curly hair covering her femininity. His fingers slid back and forth through the curls before parting her folds and easing inside of her.
Desire shifted into an urgency that Channing felt all the way through her bones. And when he added another finger and began working inside of her, stroking her with mindless precision, she threw her head back and moaned. She wasn’t just wet; she was soaked—exactly the way Zane liked.
“I can’t wait to taste you again,” he whispered, his voice reaching her just moments before his tongue slid inside of her. Then, with his ardently skillful and proficient mouth, he licked, sucked and nibbled her right into an explosion.
But he didn’t let up. All through her orgasm, he swirled his tongue inside of her, lapping her greedily as he held on to her with his mouth.
She cried out, screaming his name while bucking her hips, holding on to his firm, broad shoulders. She thought the same thing now that she’d thought the first time he had taken her this way. Zane Westmoreland’s tongue should be outlawed and his fingers shackled.
It was only when the last spasm had left her body that he got to his feet, cupped her face in his hands and held her gaze. “I love you.”
Channing’s mind blocked out his words. She didn’t want to hear them because they weren’t true. He didn’t love her; he loved this. He wasn’t in love with her; he was in lust with her.
He kissed her, and she tasted herself on his lips while his engorged length pressed hard against her stomach. Licking her lips, she pushed Zane down on the bed with the intention of savoring every inch of him. It had been two years, and she’d missed his taste.
He lay flat on his back as she eased over him, using her tongue to lick all the way from his ankles to where his shaft lay thick and swollen in a dense bed of curly hair. She used her fingers to stroke him before lowering her lips to his throbbing erection.
As soon as her mouth took him in, he let out a guttural groan. The sound sent heat surging through her. Her mouth tortured him, and she enjoyed the feel of him pulsating against her lips. Blood raced through her body when she felt him swell even more. He jerked, bucked and arched off the bed, but she refused to let go. This was what she wanted, what she craved, what she’d missed.
“Channing!”
Her mouth stayed locked on him even when he screamed out her name and his release flooded her mouth. She felt his hands in her hair, trying to pull her mouth away, but she refused to let go. His taste was setting her entire body on fire, preparing her for what was coming next.
She slowly eased her mouth off him, and before she could catch her breath, he had pulled her up and flipped her gently onto her back. Parting her legs with his knees, he looked down at her before reaching for one of the condoms he’d tossed on the bed earlier. He opened the packet with his teeth and quickly sheathed himself.
“I need this,” he whispered before easing into her. He then thrust hard, and she wrapped her legs around him. He rode her, moving in and out, using powerful strokes, sensuous thrusts and a steady pace that had heat drumming through her at every angle.
The room filled with the scent of hot, sweaty bodies. Hard, gritty sex. And Zane was relentless. She responded by lifting her body to meet his downward spiral over and over again.
And then she went crashing over the edge, taking him with her. His body continued the steady strokes until the last remnants of climax had left her body, leaving her totally drained. She was convinced that what they’d shared today felt different from all those other times. She’d never experienced anything like it.
Moments later, Zane slowly pulled out of her and then eased out of the bed to go to the bathroom. When he returned, Channing lay stretched across the bed with her arms thrown over her eyes, pulling in deep breaths.
She lowered her arms so she could look up at him. He had put on his jeans but not his shirt. The woman in her couldn’t help but appreciate his muscular chest. When he made a move to sit on the edge of the bed, she said, “You need to leave, Zane.”
His brows rose in surprise. “Leave?”
“Yes. I enjoyed the sex as much as you did. We both got what we wanted, so there’s no reason for you to stick around.”
A dark frown settled on his face. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the reason you came here.”
“I told you why I came. I wanted to apologize and to tell you I love you.”
She shook her head as she eased out of bed and began putting on her clothes. She glanced over at him as she tossed her hair aside to slide her T-shirt back over her head. “I don’t believe you.”
He watched her every move. “What don’t you believe?”
She eased her skirt up over her hips. “That you love me.”
Zane was taken aback by what she said. “And why don’t you believe me?”
“Because,” she said, pulling her hair back and fastening it with a clip. “If you tell someone something often enough, eventually they’ll get smart and believe it. You didn’t love me a few days ago. I got that admission from your own lips. So why on earth would I believe that you love me now, Zane?”