Love Delivered (23 page)

“That one’s my favorite,” I heard over my shoulder.

When I stood up straight and turned around, I saw Zoey across the room, tucking her feet underneath her as she sat on the couch. She took a sip of her
Mauve
as she stared at me placidly. She was killing me in that thigh-length ivory robe.

“I can see why. It’s beautiful,” I muttered as I ambled over to my seat.

I caught Zoey’s shrug. “It’s Jordan’s family.”

It’s our family. My family.

A few moments passed before I heard Zoey making that sound in the back of her throat. I put my drink down.

“What, Zo? I hear that fucking throat clicking sound,”
It’s turning me on and I need to know before I fuck you…
“What the hell is running through your head?”

She turned to me again. I heard a sigh that preceded, “Stenton, you never answered my question earlier. Are you okay?”

“I’m feeling like déjà vu here. This is the same position you were in when you asked earlier at the party, just a lot closer,” I teased with a salacious grin.

She sighed again and scooted closer. Zoey straightened in her seat before lowering her tone, being very sober in her inquiry. “How are
you
? I know things didn’t go well for you during the spring. I know you were hated on more than Mayor Nutter—and possibly by him, too. I heard about the breakup with Erika. I worried. And I always wanted to call—”

  “But you never did.” I was being a bitch, but couldn’t help myself after seeing the collage of pictures. “You never called. You never reached out. You totally disconnected from me.”

Zoey’s head collapsed and I felt her breath hit me, clogging me was the miscellany of brandy and her body fragrance, all of which I wanted to taste, even in my sudden state of self-pity.

“Because it’s hard,” she whispered.

“Why does it have to be so fucking hard? Why couldn’t we continue to be friends? We have a child together and separately are devoted parents to him. Why the fuck does it have to be so hard?” I asked from the top of her head.

Zoey’s head popped up, she met my blank face and studied my eyes.  “You know why.”

“Why?” My tone was soft, but I felt my eyes about to pop from my head.

“Because we don’t know how to
just
be friends, Stenton. You know this. We tried to be best—were best friends until I screwed that up by seducing you in Alpine.” 

“You did
not
mess it up. And if anything we were equally responsible.” Feeling frustrated and the burning need to clarify, I shifted my body and pinned my eyes to hers. “Zoey, I have no regrets…about how and when we connected. None. I would never change a moment of knowing you. There are only a few things that I’d modify on my part, but certainly making love to you back in Alpine or any of the other times I’ve made love to you, and especially when we created my child I will never take that back. Those are some of my best decisions and most valued accomplishments.”

Especially when I…

Zoey’s shoulders collapsed as if she’d been carrying that guilt on her shoulders all this time. I was happy to accept the onus. I had to carry that alone.

After a few seconds of considering what I said, Zoey nodded solemnly. I’d only hoped she fully received what I said. I watched as she chewed the inside of her lips and noticed a glimpse of the old Zoey; the one I’d initially met. The one unafraid to be vulnerable. We somehow managed to continue our conversation about the bakery and her desire to expand it to various locations throughout Philly. It was fascinating watching her dream. I sat quietly while she caught me up on almost everything in her world.

“So, are you dating anyone?”

Zoey rolled her eyes. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s hard, and not to mention when you’re
Stenton Rogers
’ baby’s mother, getting an honest date is almost impossible.”

“Why?” I felt my brows crease.

She took another sip of her drink. “Either they’re
your
groupies or they’re intimidated by all of this,” she waved her arm across the room.

“Do you have men over?” I measured my tone to not give away my jealousy.

“Absolutely not,” Zoey shook her head. “Hopefully, one day, but I’m not ready for that. And Jordan is, by no means, ready for that.”

I felt relief like no other time in my life, rivaling what I found when Zoey opened the door to the suite in Dallas.

“And what about you?”

I snorted. “Nah. I think you would’ve heard about it by now. I can’t take a damn piss without it being plastered all over the Internet and gossip mags.”

She chuckled softly. “I saw you didn’t want to participate in Erika’s show.”

“I didn’t. You know me, Zo.” I stretched out, feeling comfortable with the mood of our chat.

“Yeah. A very private being,” she muttered.

“Which is why I knew it would never work.”

Did I really just cop to that? Out loud?
To Zo?
I needed to stay on target here.

“What do you mean?” her brows narrowed.

Shit.

“Just that I should have thought harder before getting into that with Erika. There were signs that I didn’t see ahead of time.”

That was a lie. I knew exactly why I’d fucked with Erika. I simply could do it no longer when my family became an issue for her.

“Oh,” Zo exhaled while staring straight ahead. Things got quiet for a while. Then she asked, “So, have you…ummm…dated since her?”

She was asking about my sex life, being cute as hell.

I shook my head. And that was the truth. Frustrated with all of the bullshit on my plate, I hadn’t fucked anybody since April.

“You?”

Her eyes shifted to her lap as she shook her head. Then her heavy eyes rose slowly again to my mouth. They got closer. When her lips touched mine, I sucked in a breath. I saw them coming—hell, I wanted them—all over me. But something felt unusual, something was different. Maybe because, as I would soon discover, I wasn’t about to engage in foreplay with Zoey, my pretty Niña. I was about to experience Niña the seductress who knew what she wanted sexually.

She must have sensed my hesitation. Zoey withdrew.

Her eyes smiled, her mouth not so much. “You can’t tell me you only came over for that sippy cup, Stenton.” Then she glanced down at my lap. “He’s not corroborating your story.”

What she said next shocked the hell out of me.

“I’ve never had sex without a condom. Ever, Stenton.” Her eyes slowly raked up to mine. “I’ve only had sex once
without
you.”

Although it was painful to recall that gloomy winter morning from hell, I somehow felt a weight being lifted from my shoulders with that disclosure. I grabbed her by the back of her neck, serving her mouth to me, devouring her. Zoey let me take her, suck on her tongue and bottom lip, then repeat it all over again. I needed to savor her, commit her smell, touch, and feel to memory, though Zoey was an experience I’d never forgotten.

I untied the strap of her soft silk robe and saw it immediately fell open and her round breasts came perfectly into view. A volt of electricity shot through me. Zoey was fucking breathtaking. As much as my mind wanted to wonder what that fucker Moreau experienced with her, my body wouldn’t allow me to. I physically needed Zoey, and all too suddenly. My fucking dick and limbs ached for her.

With my index finger, I pulled down the right cup to her bra and watched as her breast spilled out. Her chocolate stained nipples were rock hard, similar to my rod. My mouth itched to taste it, so I did. Before my mouth reached her skin, a growl unfamiliar to me shot from the back of my throat. And when my lips touched her, I could hear her breath catch. But when my tongue flickered it, Zoey’s head fell back. As I worked her left breast from its holding, I couldn’t help my desire to suck in the left like a baby desperate to nurse from its mother. I wanted to inhale her. She tasted of honey and felt like heaven. 

I felt her go for the buckle of my Hermes belt. I knew she wouldn’t be familiar with it, so I assisted her in detaching it. She pushed on the waist of my pants for me to assist with lowering them and I did the rest. Before I knew it, Zoey stretched out over me and down to the floor between my legs. The time was here and I wasn’t prepared. I knew she’d heard about the tat, the way I memorialized her, thanks to that attention-loving Erika. But she was now seeing it in the flesh for the first time. I didn’t want how she learned of it to detract from the fact of it being for her. For us. I’d gotten it to remind me to whom I belonged in every sense. It was a sexual gesture…and more.

With parted lips, Zoey studied the font. She adoringly grazed it with her soft fingers, almost deifying it. She applied a chaste kiss then regarded me with eyes full of expression.

“I’ve wanted this since the night of my graduation party,” she whispered, clearly caught up in lechery.

Fuuuuck
…

Zoey took me into her warm mouth. My entire fucking frame shivered. She went right to work with sucking me in and teasing with intermittent licks on the crown of my wood. Her head bobbed and my back collapsed and jerked until I stabilized myself. I felt like a damn kid getting his first blow. I knew Zoey was good, but when her eyes slowly worked their way up to mine, I knew as well as did she that it was over for any kind of control I struggled to have.

My hands found their way to the back of her neck as I worked with her to develop the most powerful rhythm of her strokes and draws. Zoey gripped the base of me and pulled up in a strong yet delicate clutch. It pleasured and made me nervous all at the same time. This was happening too fast. She was working me like a skilled seductress. Her eyes implored my orgasm. My head hit the back of the sofa, narrowly missing the edge of the table behind it with my height.

“Fuck, Zo,” I drawled out.

“Mmmmmm,” she moaned over my stick.

When my balls tingled the first time, my head shot up and I grabbed Zoey underneath her arms and pulled her rather roughly to my lap as I hugged her like my fucking life depended on it.

“Why did you stop me?” she asked breathlessly, as though her climax had been interrupted.

“Because I don’t want my first orgasm with you to be in your mouth,” I breathed in her ear. “Hang on…let me calm down before I fuck you senseless.”

I felt her shiver against my chest.
Goddamn
. I reached between us for her lower lips and found them covered in panties.

“Stand,” I growled as I went for my wallet. Luckily, I had a rubber, something that I never left the house without, and I pulled it out.

Zoey quickly did as I asked. She placed her legs astride mine and stood in front of my face. After peeling her panties from her legs, I swiped my tongue between her pliant lips rapidly, ending at her tight bud and swiveling there just seconds before grabbing her at the waist back down to my lap before I slammed into her. 

“
Uhhhh
!” she yelped and fell into my chest.

“You okay?” I felt my cock throbbing inside her quivering walls.

“Yes,” she whispered, grasping my shoulders almost into a pinch.

I assumed this would be an adjustment for her body after going without for so long, but my need of her wouldn’t allow me to be gentle, which was why I rammed into her. Besides, I didn’t want to spend too much time, considering it hadn’t been
that
long for Zoey. That shit would fuck with my head and ruin this.

“I’m going to move. Ready?”

Again, she breathed, “Yes.”     

I wrapped my arms around her small back and started to thrust upward into her. She felt magical. It didn’t take long before she joined me in movement. Then Zoey reached back and released her bra, pulling it off as she rocked on top of me. She gathered her hair to the side and pulled it over her shoulder, inviting me to her bountiful breasts.

It wasn’t too long after I took her into my mouth, suckling while pushing up into her soft hips that she trembled from her release. The sound and feel of her first orgasm was when I knew I wouldn’t be going home that night. There was no way I could separate from her after connecting with her in the most intimate way.

Hell no
. I needed more. I needed my Zoey.

                                                                                                                             
~
Zoey
~

As we lay in bed, spent and completely exhausted, my legs intermingled with Stenton’s, his warm breaths hitting my neck; I felt a sense of jubilation. It was quiet, peaceful and nice. He hadn’t spoken since he uncuffed my wrists and ankles, only curled into me so closely that I studied his breathing. I mused over my decision to not succumb to my urge to discard the restraints several times over the years. I didn’t speak, didn’t have much to say other than
when will I awaken from this dream
. He’d been so attentive, so tender, and so needy.

Out of nowhere, I heard his stomach growl.