Zander’s seduction plan was simple—get Effie on his private jet, wet her lips with Krug Clos du Mesnil Blanc de Blancs champagne, and get down and dirty sexy for the entire flight to Florida.
“Champagne?” he said, once they were airborne.
As the jet ascended, and they left Seattle behind, his spirit grew lighter. He glanced at Effie and smiled.
She returned a warm, open smile.
A weekend of infinite, pleasurable opportunities seemed to shimmer between them as their eyes locked.
“Yes, please.” She flashed him a minx-like smile from her seat on the white leather sofa flanking the side of the jet.
She looked oh-so-temptingly-hot in her new blue and gold slinky sun-dress.
Zander could barely think straight.
He poured her a fluted glass of bubbly, him a glass, and handed it to her. Then, he settled next to her. “To an amazing weekend of possibilities.” He held his glass aloft and clinked it with hers.
They each sipped.
After he set his glass down, Zander lightly rubbed his fingertips over his parted lips. He savored Effie with his eyes, letting his attention linger as it traveled over her body.
Effie, holding the stem of her crystal flute between her graceful fingers, let a long strand of her flaxen hair fall over her shoulders. She took another sip of champagne before resting the glass on the table next to her. She idly toyed with the lock of hair, glancing at him with a heated gaze.
The air in the jet felt sultry, like a hot August night on a Caribbean beach.
She licked her lips. Her eyes glittered with feral intensity. “Do you want to maybe…?”
“Yes,” he said, not waiting for the rest of the question. He kept his focus on her every move.
Gracefully, she rose to stand. She stroked her shoulder, pushing the slender strap along her upper arm.
Their eyes locked in a feverish gaze.
Her fingers lightly brushed her collarbone, lingering in the hollow in her neck.
He licked his lips, waiting. His cock pulsed in his trousers, swollen and eager.
A flash of hesitation danced across her face, quickly replaced by something darker, more intoxicating.
He could smell her heat and it drove him wild. Still, he waited for her to make the next move. He leaned back against the sofa and parted his legs.
Effie reached down to her legs. Her fingers trailed along the inside of her thighs for a moment. Then, she lightly grasped the hem of her dress and urged it up and over the luscious curves and valleys of her body. Once removed, she held the garment by one of the delicate arm straps. It dangled by her side like gossamer, draped against her silky legs.
Zander hissed in a breath. His arousal throbbed between his legs, hard and heavy. He palmed his cock through his pants. This girl…I could get lost in her.
Clad only in panties, she pivoted and sauntered toward the bedroom, trailing the garment behind her.
He followed along behind her, behaving like a panting dog, his cock as hard and focused as a heat-seeking missile.
But, then, she hit him with a bombshell.
“Take off your prosthesis.” Effie’s face appeared seductively serious as she lay on his bed, at 35,000ft above the Earth, naked, waiting for him.
Zander stood, hands poised at the waistband of his boxers, stunned. The sense of having collided with a truck scrambled his brain cells.
“Excuse me?” he said, blinking like an idiot.
“I want to see all of you. Not just the prettied-up version of you.”
“Uh,” he managed to say. His erection began to flag.
Her lashes lowered, and the most feral expression he’d ever seen on a woman flashed before his eyes. “Zander King. I said I want to see all of you. Not what you present to the public for show.”
Wow. Where did the tigress come from? “I’m, uh…I don’t…”
“Look, you don’t have to keep it off the whole time. Just please let me see.” A wicked angel smile spread across her face.
“This doesn’t seem…” he began.
“Like a good idea?” she said, finishing his sentence. “Like the right time? Maybe this will convince you. I want you to see how much you turn me on.” She spread her legs and moved her hand between her legs. Then, she began to stroke. All the while her hooded eyes stayed glued to his.
Shit. Feeling like a fly caught in a spider’s web, he hesitated.
Effie groaned as if she’d found her sweet spot. Her gaze grew feverish, intense…
Zander turned to stare at his high-tech hand, looking at it like it belonged to a stranger. A sudden memory jolt of Trisha’s response to his stump blinded him like a camera flash. Her utter rejection in the bedroom…followed by the violent fights and the fucking in the dark, always in the dark…the constant shame she ground into him with her actions.
He blinked and turned his attention back to Effie.
Her fierce, passionate gaze seemed to be saying, “You can do this, Zander. Don’t be afraid.”
Her openness compelled him to let her see. The gift she offered felt vast…life-changing. He longed to drop the persistent shame he carried.
Hesitantly, his fingers moving in some slo-mo warp, he brought his hand to the top of his prostheses. His eyes narrowed, studying Effie’s face.
She nodded, encouragingly, as she stroked herself in rapid circles. Her lips parted as she pleasured herself.
He swallowed and gripped the end of the prosthesis. His tongue darted along his lips, as he watched her. Finally, he slid the prosthetic sleeve from his arm.
Effie stopped ministering to her arousal and pushed herself up on the pillows.
“Come here,” she said.
Zander obediently stepped toward the bed, clutching his bionic arm in his left hand. A sharp sense of phantom sensation and the urge to touch Effie with his missing fingers flooded his right side.
“Sit,” she said.
He did so, stiffly.
“Can I touch it?”
The only people who’d ever touched his stump, beside him when he showered or dressed, were therapists, doctors, and nurses. He extended his disfigured arm in her direction, feeling like a fawn about to be slaughtered by wolves.
Effie’s gentle touch met his scarred flesh. “Do you have much sensation here?”
“Some,” he said. “A lot of the nerves were damaged, and there’s numbness throughout. I’m told the nerves will form new pathways over time but…” He shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Does this feel good?” she said, stroking her palm along the end of his arm.
He considered for a moment. “It feels…different. I definitely feel a disconnect between what’s there and what I remember being there.”
“Is it so bad showing it to me?” she asked, a slight frown marring her pretty face.
He hesitated, his breath lodged in his throat. “Are you going to run from me now that you’ve seen it?”
She shook her head. “No,” she whispered. “Why would I run from something tragic that happened to you? You’re still the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. I’m the luckiest girl on the planet to be here with you.”
He let out a long, deep breath and massaged his forehead. Surprised to not be feeling much of anything, save for relief, he regarded her quietly for a few seconds. “You’re an amazing woman. You surprise me, really.”
She scrunched up her face. “I want this weekend to be special for you. I can tell it’s a big deal. I want you to show up, feeling no shame about what happened to you.”
Her eyes glistened.
Zander’s heart surged with emotion. Slowly, he shook his head, stunned to be with such a remarkable woman.
“Effie,” he said.
“Yes?”
“Can show and tell be over? Because I’ve got something else, I’d like to be doing.” His cock began to harden again, as he gazed at her luscious breasts.
“Okay,” she breathed. “As long as you know you don’t have to hide from me.” The sweetest smile curved her lips.
“Good God, woman. You make me speechless sometimes.” He fit his arm back in place and wiggled the high-tech fingers. “Let me show you how much you mean to me.” He slid his boxers from his hips and pitched them to the floor.
Then, he lay beside her. He rolled to the side, lifted on one arm, and angled his head for a kiss. Their lips connected. The sweetness of her mouth overwhelmed him. He pulled her close, wanting to consume her with passion.
Only, his body had another plan.
As they kissed, the full impact of what just happened, cracked through. A shuddering breath rolled through his chest, releasing a tear. He squeezed his eyes tight, not wanting to appear weak. But a few tears escaped.
She gently pushed away. “Zander…what is it?”
Opening his eyes proved a big, fat mistake.
Effie regarded him with fierce tenderness and openness.
An avalanche of emotion pushed through, gathering speed. Every single emotion he’d stuffed away or run from tumbled through his mind, gathering speed. The horror of the accident…the pain of rejection…the stupidity of his actions at the end, and almost losing his life…the long, hard push to reclaim his life…meeting Effie and all the gifts she’d given him…and the searing pain of knowing he’d paid for her time and would likely part with her in a few weeks if they let their contract get in the way…it all came out in a torrent. His body shook with emotion. Silent tears cascaded down his face.
Effie didn’t press him for details. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him, squeezing tight.
And Zander let the past fall free from his soul until the only thing left was overwhelming peace.
In a single act, Effie had restored him. No way Trisha could take him down again…no way. But then a sharp-edged thought slid through his brain like a switchblade.
Trisha would get out of the hospital soon. And she’d be mad as hell.