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Zack’s body went steel-stiff against her before he slumped down until his forehead was resting on her shoulder. “You mean—” His voice faded, then he tried again. “Never?”
He didn’t want her. She shouldn’t have said anything. She should have just taken him upstairs and let him do it and hoped he wouldn’t notice that she had no freaking clue what she was doing. Too late now. She’d thrown the truth—a damned inconvenient one, at that—out there. No taking it back now. “No.”
Zack cleared his throat. “We don’t have to—”
“But I want to.” She pressed her cheek against his. He’d shaved, which wasn’t the same as the hours of torture she’d undergone to look like this, but still. He’d shaved for her. She dug down deep and found some courage. “I want you to...to be my first.” Saying it was like chewing glass.
He didn’t do anything right away, which made her belly twist into new and painful knots. What if he said no? What if this was her best, last chance? What if she had to spend the rest of her life watching everyone else find someone who made them swoon and she was stuck riding the line to make sure Royal Gunderson stayed on his side? Why the hell was Royal Gunderson even a part of her thoughts? Was she even having these thoughts, or was she just panicking?
Then Zack pulled her in close against him as he turned his head and kissed her neck. All those painful knots unfurled into quivering jelly. Yes. That was a yes. “Are you sure?”
“I trust you.” Three weeks ago, he’d been a threat. A week ago, he’d been an exception to the rules. Now? He was the first—only—man she was ever going to trust.
In a burst of motion, her feet were swept out from under her. She found herself cradled against his chest, being carried up the stairs like she weighed nothing at all. Her shoes fell off her feet, which was probably for the best. She didn’t think she could have made it up three steps in them.
“I won’t hurt you,” he promised, his voice low and sexy as it rumbled out of his chest. All those sensations got sharper. “But you’ve got to tell me what you like.”
“I don’t know—”
He cut her off with a kiss. “What time is everyone due back?”
Huh? “They’ll get home around eleven. Except for Andy.” Andy wasn’t coming back tonight.
He set her down, right outside her door, and kissed her so hard her knees went way past wobbly and over into buckled. The sensations were more pointed now, almost a stabbing pain low down in her belly. His hands slid over her bottom and cupped her to him. When he pulled away, Sam saw stars.
“Then we’ve got time to do this right.”
For a moment, she didn’t know what he was talking about. “Okay.”
He grinned at her, all his charm taking the stabbing pain and driving it clean up her very center. “I want to make up for all that lost time.” His eyes searched hers. “Oh, Sam, I want to make you come so hard.”
God, he sounded so sincere about it—not crass, not threatening. No, the way he said it—out loud!—made it sound like a point of personal pride. He wouldn’t be happy if she didn’t...well. That.
He touched the side of her face real gentle, almost like she was a china doll. “We’ll take it easy. When I do something you like, tell me. But if I do something you don’t, you tell me that too, okay?”
He kissed her, a little slower this time, but somehow that made her feel even crazier. “Okay.” It was all she could say.
He scooped her up again and took the stairs to her room two at a time. When he got to the top, he paused. Sam looked around and cringed. The place looked like a beauty parlor had exploded in it.
Zack knelt onto the bed and set her down with a kiss. “They did a good job—you look amazing.” His hands found the back of her shirt and undid the single button at the neck.
“Thanks.” She blushed, although she couldn’t tell if that was from the compliment or the fact that she was 1.2 seconds away from being topless.
“But,” he added, pulling the blouse over her head, “I like you better without all that extra stuff.”
The top was gone, and he looked. Oh, how he looked. His hands pushed her until she was on her back and then he took his sweet time looking over every inch of her chest from where he sat on his heels. She began to squirm. Being admired was nice and all, but she needed to do something so she wouldn’t think about what was about to happen.
She managed to get up on her elbows and get a hold of his shirt before he caught her hand. “Not yet,” he said, although it came out as more of a groan. “Let me just—”
The next thing she knew, she was on her back again. But this time, his mouth was fastened to her right breast and he was sucking. Hard.
The things that had been six kinds of tingly were suddenly hot, jagged desire. Everything below clamped down; everything above shivered with the sheer shock of what Zack’s mouth felt like on her bare nipple. The sensation was so instantly overwhelming that her eyes rolled back into her head.
“Good?” His voice was muffled as he licked her skin.
It took three tries before she could get the weak, “Yes,” out.
“Good.” Zack’s mouth moved onto the other breast. Then the touch of his hand on her inner thigh made her jump. “Easy, Sam. Let me do this for you.”
As his lips and tongue swirled around her nipple, sending shockwaves through her body, his fingers circled their way up her thigh until they found her cotton panties. “Already so wet for me,” he whispered as he touched her through the cloth.
The moment his fingers grazed her wettest spot, all the sharp, jagged tingles tore through her body until she felt like she was going to be ripped to pieces in the best way possible. She let out a cry.
“Good?” he demanded, sounding more worried than turned on.
“Don’t stop!” She was begging. Sam Kenady was begging.
“Yes, Boss.” With a satisfied growl, he turned his teeth back to her throbbing nipple as his fingers pressed harder against her. Sam’s hips bucked against him, which felt so good. She was being torn to bits by all the sharpness and she’d never felt so damn good in her entire life.
“Come for me, babe.” His fingers shifted against her panties, and then instead of just the heavy pressure, he was pinching her wettest spot through the cloth, pinching her clit right between his fingers and rolling it back and forth and—
Sam screamed. One hand found Zack’s hair, the other his shoulder. She held on for dear life as the wave of pure pleasure tore her completely, utterly apart.
And then it was over. But instead of feeling like she’d been through the wringer, she felt weak and gooey inside, and all kinds of wonderful. She felt whole.
Zack pulled his mouth away and looked at her. He stopped rolling and instead just stroked her.
She looked down. Heaven’s skirt was bunched around her hips, her nipples gleamed with his moisture, and he looked like he was about to break the zipper on his pants.
“God, Sam,” he said, his voice rough. “You’re so beautiful.”
She opened her mouth to say something—thank him for giving her that, tell him how amazing she felt, anything—but nothing came out. His mouth curled into something that looked more wolf-like than human, and then his fingers slipped underneath the damp cotton of her panties and his bare finger was stroking her and then it slipped inside her, just enough that she could feel her muscles lock down on him and he could feel it and when he smiled, she almost begged for him to stop because she didn’t know if she could stand to be ripped apart again or not. Because he was going to rip her apart. Again.
“Zack—” But what else she had to say died on her lips when his finger stroked into her with a slow, maddening pace. He backed out and then two fingers were inside her, moving with focused deliberation until she was thrashing around on the bed, trying to find something to hold onto while that wonderful, jagged pain tore her apart and made her whole again.
His free hand rolled her swollen nipple, just like he’d rolled her clit. She clung to his arm, something real and solid. Oh, so good with his hands—but that was the last conscious thought Sam had before his fingers were all the way inside of her and she was screaming again as the release ripped through her.
“Please,” she managed to get out when his fingers left her body. She made a grab at his belt buckle.
He caught her hand again. “No. Not yet.”
What was wrong with him? Why was he just sitting there, looking at her like she was a wild animal and he was doing some sort of field study—a report on the undersexed virgins of North America? Why wasn’t he ripping his clothes off, mad with the kind of passion that had left her shaken and exposed? “What do you mean, ‘not yet’?”
“You aren’t ready yet.”
“The hell I’m not. I want you.” Whoa—who said that out loud? Was that her? What had gotten into her?
All that charm turned feral as Zack scooted down, out of reach of her hands, and slid her hips up. The zipper on the skirt gave, and her panties put up no resistance.
The moment she was nude, he ran his hands up and down her legs and let out noise that might have been humming if it hadn’t sounded like he was growling. He even circled back around her, the wolf with his prey cornered. When he took his shirt off, she had to wonder what part of this wasn’t ready.
He kissed her again, savagely biting her lower lip. But before she could make another break for his belt, he pinned her wrists to the bed next to her side. “Impatient,” he clucked as his teeth scraped down her neck.
Impatient? Hell, yeah. She was struck with that weird out-of-time sensation again, where it seemed like Zack had always belonged here, in this room, in this bed with her, and she’d just been waiting for him.
She tested her wrists and found a little give before he immediately took it back. “Does this hurt?” he had the nerve to ask as he pinched her nipple between his teeth and pulled.
A shower of jagged spikes tore through her. “No. Yes. Do it again.”
“Yes, Boss.” He tugged on that one again before moving to the other. “Do you like it?”
He was holding her to the bed, having his way with her, and she was still the boss. A strange power coursed through her veins. “Yes.”
“Do you like this?” He held fast to her wrists as he licked the sensitive skin on the underside of her belly.
The shock of the sensation made her jerk. What was he doing? “Zack—”
“How about this?” His tongue moved lower, lapping against the top of her thigh. Before Sam could say anything, his chin pushed her thighs apart and he bit the inside part, just next to—
“Zack!”
He kissed her inner thigh, a soft, gentle kiss. “Do you trust me?”
What choice did she have? “I thought—you—me—”
He let go of her wrist and trailed his fingers up to her exposed breast. “Let me make you come, Sam.”
“But—I think you already did—shouldn’t we—”
He pinched her nipple, and she lost the words again.
“We will, babe. I promise.” His hands slid down her thighs, around her backside—and then pulled her legs apart. “God, I want you so much. I just want you to be ready so I don’t hurt you.”
The warmth that rushed through her had nothing to do with the closeness of their bodies and everything to do with his searing sincerity.
Right until his tongue found her throbbing clit.
She grabbed his hair—it was the only thing she could reach. A small part of her brain could absolutely not believe he was down there, doing that. The rest of her could not believe how good it felt when he licked her all the way down to where she split in two, when he used his teeth to pull on where she ached the most, when he slipped another finger inside and moved it in small circles while his tongue did matching laps around the outside until the wonderful jaggedness ripped through her with such force she couldn’t scream, not even his name. All she could do was hold onto him.
“Sam,” he hummed into her thigh when the waves let her go again. “You taste so good.”
She lay there, panting as the last spiky wave ebbed, and all she could think was if he liked it, she liked it, because she’d never liked anything so much in her life. And they hadn’t even done it yet.
Yet. He sat back, and she could see his dick trying so hard to be free of his jeans. With one foot, she reached between his legs and stroked his length. He let out a groan.
Then he was out of the bed. She gasped at the temperature change. It may be peak summer heat, but she was suddenly cold. Zack’s eyes caught hers and held them. “Are you sure?”
Was he seriously asking her if she still wanted to go through with losing her virginity? Was he insane? He’d just reduced her to a quivering mess and he wanted to know if she wanted to stop?
Her frustration gave her back her voice. “I’m the boss around here. You do what I say, when I say it. And I order you to make love to me. Got it?”
One eyebrow notched up as he undid his belt. Finally, Sam thought. “Got it, Boss. Have you ever seen a man before?” he added as he pulled a pack of condoms out of his back pocket.
“Sure.” He dropped his pants, and she saw what she’d been thinking about for weeks now. “I watched you skinny dip in my creek.”
***
Zack froze, condom half out of the wrapper, dick straining at full mast. Sam wore a satisfied smile and nothing else. Her hair was plastered to her temples, and when she propped herself up on her elbows, he could see her shaking. But her hesitation was gone; that scared vulnerability seemed to have left with it. Before him lay the same woman who’d shown up at his campsite and told him he made lousy coffee, the same woman who’d gotten him back in the saddle. This, he thought as she took a brazen look at him, was a woman he could love.
She tilted her head to one side as she appraised the full measure of his hard-on. “The water was cold that morning, I reckon.” Then she giggled.
It was the sweetest sound Zack had ever heard. For once, nothing stood between them. Nothing but latex, anyway. She trusted him. That was the single most powerful thing a woman had ever said to him because he knew she meant it, heart and soul.
He wasn’t going to let her get away with poking fun at him. “Did you like what you saw?”
The giggle caught in her throat as her eyes got big. “Yeah.” The tone in her voice was different. She knew what he could do for her—to her—now. And the way her eyes watched him roll the condom on said she wanted to know what else he had to offer.
Lots. He knelt between her knees. She didn’t fight him as he looked. “So beautiful,” he said. Her breasts were small, but high and firm. Those legs—so long and lean and spread wide before him. He couldn’t wait for her to wrap them around his back.
His dick ached at the sight of her sex, so wet and ready for him. How had this woman—beautiful and sensuous—made it this far in life without having a lover? This was a major responsibility, being her first. He had to do this right.
He couldn’t hold back much longer, but he forced himself to take it easy. A promise was a promise, after all. Chances were decent that she’d hurt some, no matter how slow he took it, but it was his job to make this as painless and fun as possible. He slid his fingers over the folds of her flesh. Her body twitched and she let out a little moan. Oh, yeah, he had her warmed up and ready for him.
“Zack,” she said, her eyes fluttering open. She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down. The tip of his dick scraped against her, and she sucked in a hot breath.
“Sorry, babe. I just can’t believe how beautiful you are.” Man, he loved that sunset blush—even more so as he watched it spread all over. He couldn’t hold back. One kiss, one push, and her body swallowed his entire length.
The suddenness of the sensation—her flesh clinging so, so tightly to his, but not so much that he couldn’t move—nearly drained him before he had done anything. Then her hips shimmied. The pressure around his dick got that much more intense, and he forgot about virginity all together.
“Good?” he managed to choke out as he forced himself to breathe. In through the nose, out through the mouth, don’t come before she does. He couldn’t bring himself to think of John Wayne again. All he could think about was the woman underneath him. She trusted him, so it better be damn good.
Sam’s arms were around his neck, holding him close enough to her that he couldn’t see her face. “Yeah.”
She sounded...okay. Not as good as he felt, but not pained or scared, either. Maybe she just needed a little encouragement. “God, Sam, you feel so wonderful.” Which was the absolute truth. The way she clung to every inch of his dick was a kind of heaven he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt before.
“Yeah?” Her hips moved, just enough to tuck him in a bit more.
“Yeah, babe.” To hell with self-control. He wanted her, and he was going to have her. Right now.
He plunged into her, and all of a sudden, he was thrusting and she was writhing underneath him. Every time she moved, she pulled him in deeper and deeper until Zack was sure she was going to swallow him whole. She moaned into his neck, her teeth scraping his skin as her nails tore down his back. Animalistic sex.
So many ways he wanted to take her. With each thrust into her tight center, he thought of a new one. Doggy style, so he could watch his dick slide into her. Draped over the edge of the bed, so he could play with her clit while she screamed his name. Oh, God, her on top, those breasts just begging for him to suck and bite them. He wanted it all.
She made a small noise as his hips crashed into hers. “Sam?”
“God, Zack, don’t stop. Don’t—” Her voice caught as she sucked in a ragged breath.
Her entire body seized up. The next thing he knew, she was biting down hard on his shoulder, screaming the “Oh!” into his flesh as her muscles clenched his dick tighter than anything he’d ever felt before. Her back arched up so far it almost knocked him off balance, but he held her down.
She was coming—he was making her lose all control. He pumped as hard as he could, not wanting her to lose the crescendo of the climax before she’d really and truly let everything go.
Then she collapsed back onto the pillows, her chest heaving with the effort. He could still feel her spasming around his dick, which carried him right over the edge. He came so hard he couldn’t even say her name. All he could do was grunt like a wild dog.
Spent, he sagged down onto her. “Good?” he sputtered, wanting nothing more than to stay inside her and feel each and every one of her aftershocks but knowing he had to pull out now or lose the rubber.
He managed to flop down next to her.
“Is it always like that?” she asked breathlessly.
“No.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Sometimes it’s better.”
They lay there for some time, sated in the afterglow. Zack nestled his hand between her perfect little breasts to feel her heart beating. She didn’t say anything until one hand began to creep up his arm. “Why did you...” she asked as her fingers found the corners of his mouth.
He grabbed her hand and kissed her palm. “Did you like it when I went down on you?”
“It was...” She sighed, like the whole situation was still unreal to her. “Wonderful.” Her hand trailed down his face until she was stroking his chest. “Are you going to stay the night?”
Not what he was expecting. To buy him a little time while his brain scrambled, he kissed her. He almost got distracted by the way her body curled around his, but she broke it off and looked at him. “No—but let me explain,” he quickly added before her face fell any more. “I don’t want the other women to hound you about what happened. You and me, that’s just between us.”
He got a half-smile for that. “Okay.”
He smoothed the damp hair away from her eyes. The gold flecks seemed to stand out even more with her wrapped up in the white sheet. “Besides, spending the night is the sort of thing that people do when they’re dating.”
“We aren’t dating?”
“Right now, we’re friends—with benefits. Very good benefits.”
She managed a small blush. “I liked it. A lot.”
He felt his smile grow. “I’m so glad, Sam. It—you—were amazing.” He’d never meant it as much as he did now.
She leaned over and kissed him, short and quick. “What if I want us to date? Boyfriend and girlfriend?”
The prospect of many more Saturday nights to come made his pulse pick up another notch. “I’d like that a lot. We can go out to dinner or see a movie or just go play pool. Whatever you want.”
Her brows wrinkled together. “Um, we watch movies here a lot. You could watch them with us.”
And there it was again—the Big Secret. Zack was tired of dancing around it. If dating was on the table, he had to know so they could get past it. He flopped on his back and stared at the ceiling. “Sam, why don’t you have a mirror in your bathroom?”