Zane (Alluring Indulgence) (13 page)

“He’s
not worth it, Zane,” V whispered. “Eventually he’ll get bored with this little
game.”

Zane’s
fury slipped free as he turned on V, yelling his point until she took a step
back. “
Game?
You think this is a fucking game? He’s fucking with you, V.
Do you remember what he did to me? He’s not playing a game. The man’s a lunatic!”

Zane
walked away, needing a moment to get his bearings. He was infuriated and ready
to punch something, only he refused to do so with V around. There was no way he
wanted her to see the anger that sparked inside of him.

Zane
knew Jake’s mental health was tenuous at best, and he wouldn’t put it past the
crazy bastard to do something drastic.
Again.
He wouldn’t let the son of
a bitch get the best of him again, that was for damn sure. Bracing his hands on
the edge of the kitchen counter, Zane stared out the small window above the
sink, into the darkness.

When
V’s hand slid down his back, he allowed her gentle touch to soothe him. He
focused on the warmth of her hand as it traveled from his waist up to his
shoulder blades and then back down again. A frisson of heat shuddered through
him. He wanted to feel her against him. Skin to skin. She was the only person
capable of distracting him from this anger that he knew was coming to a head.

Figuring
he would have to be the one to make the move, he removed his t-shirt by
grabbing a handful behind his neck and pulling it over his head. He resumed his
position, dropping his head as he focused on breathing. When V’s hands returned
to his back, he hissed at the feel of her cool, silky fingers against his
fevered skin.

When
she sucked in a breath, Zane remembered all too clearly what she was looking
at. There were scars, some big, some small, some from the assault, others just
normal battle scars from being one of seven boys. If he had to guess, she was
two seconds away from overthinking this.

“Put
your mouth on me, V,” he demanded, keeping his back to her, his eyes closed as
he hung his head, willing the tension to ease from his shoulders. “I want to
feel your lips on my skin.”

Zane’s
entire body lit up like kindling fanned by a gale force wind inside of him when
her lips touched his back. With each gentle press of her warm mouth to his
skin, a shiver ran through him. There was no doubt about it, V could get him
worked up like no one ever had before. His body responded to her touch like
he’d been lured to her by an invisible force. There was no thinking involved
when it came to the way V touched him, her mere presence set his body on fire.

Zane
wanted her, and he would take her any way he could have her. He’d never felt
more broken until the moment he was in V’s arms, knowing that she could heal
every open wound he’d ever harbored deep inside of him. When her arms wrapped
around his torso, her palms flattening against his pecs while her lips trailed
fire across his back, Zane sucked in a breath.

“I
missed you, V,” he whispered.

God,
how he missed her touch, the feel of her smooth skin against his, the warmth of
her breath, the taste of her kiss. For three long months, he’d been deprived of
her and Zane had no intentions of continuing to go without.

This
was just like the other times. The moment their bodies collided, nothing else
mattered. No lingering questions, no annoying issues, no mind numbing fear... Everything
disappeared.

The
only thing that mattered to him was her.

Zane
turned to face her, holding her hands against him so that she couldn’t move
away. Once he turned around and could see her, he cupped her face in his palms
and stared down into those golden brown eyes.

“Stay
with me tonight, V.” Zane was prepared to beg if necessary, and that was
something he certainly wasn’t prone to doing. Yet, if it would allow him the
opportunity to lay down with her in his arms and wake with her beside him,
whatever it took, he was willing to do it.

The
uncertainty in her gaze was disappointing, but the fact that she hadn’t said no
gave him hope. Taking one of her hands in his, Zane led her over to his bed. He
sat on the edge of the mattress and looked up at her, reveling in her beauty.
Just having her there with him was more than he could’ve wished for. He wasn’t
used to feeling like this, but he always knew, once the time came, he wasn’t
going to question it. He felt something for V. Something strong, possessive and
these overwhelming emotions, although foreign, consumed him entirely.

Zane
slid his hands under the edge of her shirt, slowly lifting the cotton as he
moved upward, his palms skimming her satiny skin as he went. “Stay with me.
Tell me you want to stay.”

V
nodded her head, her eyes meeting his. Zane could see the emotions warring
inside of her.

“I
need to hear you say it.” More than he needed to hear it.

“I
want to stay with you,” she whispered.

The
words had him flinching internally, his heart constricting with the emotions
that crashed like a tsunami within his chest.

“You’re
so damn beautiful, V.” She would never believe that he meant more than just her
outward appearance, so he left the words at that. He was never much for verbal
displays of emotion, but with V, he felt as though he had to tell her how he
was feeling. Even if she merely graced him with that skeptical look she’d
perfected so well.

“Take
it off,” he insisted, placing his hands on her waist, feeling the velvety
warmth of her skin beneath his palms. The adrenaline from the abundance of
feelings he wasn’t used to having took over, and Zane needed her more now than
ever before.

V
slowly lifted her shirt, pulling it over her head and holding onto it for dear
life as he watched.

“Drop
it.”

There
was no longer uncertainty in her gaze, in its place, blazing heat. V liked when
he got forceful with her. He’d done it a time or two, and each time he noticed
how she changed. If he had to guess, she preferred giving herself over to him,
letting him take the reins so she could just feel. Something he was pretty sure
V didn’t do often.

When
her shirt hit the floor, he let his eyes trail from her navel up to her
breasts. “Now the bra,” he stated, ensuring he kept the command in his tone.

Her
breath hitched, but she didn’t fidget and she didn’t attempt to pull away from
him. Her hands disappeared behind her back, moments before her bra was
released, sliding down her arms until her dusky pink nipples came into view.

He
wanted to suck them. He wanted to feast on them for hours, making her squirm in
his arms. The urge to clip the perfectly pebbled tips with his teeth was
brutal.

“Move
closer,” he instructed, moving his hands down to her hips.

She
took another step closer, almost giving him exactly what he wanted. Sitting on
the edge of the bed, his mouth was perfectly aligned with her full, luscious
breasts. Not much more than a handful, but perfect in every way.

Allowing
his gaze to meet hers, he paused for a moment as he stared back at her.

“I
want to own you, V,” he whispered the words and witnessed her deep inhale. She
bit her bottom lip, but she didn’t pull away.

“Do
you want that? Do you want me to own you?” he asked, not expecting a response.
“To take you how I want, when I want?”

Zane
had never been more serious about anything in his life. Whatever it was about
her, he found he craved her like a drug. He didn’t want to let her go, and the
more she tried to get away, the harder he wanted to fight to keep her. Only he
got the impression, she didn’t actually want to get away. She was just too
scared to admit it to him.

“Answer
me,” he commanded, pulling her hips firmly until she was forced to take another
step closer. “Do you want me to own you, Vanessa?” he growled the question
again.

“No
one owns me.” Her tone was reserved, but lacked any sort of conviction, and he
knew he had nailed it. Vanessa Carmichael was a submissive at heart. She knew
it, and he knew it. But she obviously didn’t have it in her to say as much.

“I
want to
own
you,” he repeated, his hunger evolving, turning into
something greater than him. “I want to make you mine.
Mine
, V.”

When
she didn’t answer, he slowly slid his hands upward, over the curve of her
waist, over her ribs. He gently cupped her breasts, lifting them as he caressed
them with his eyes. He could see every labored breath she took in the rise and
fall of her chest, but she didn’t say a word.

“Tonight,
V,” he said before using his forefinger and thumb to tweak one nipple at a
time. “Tonight, I own you. I want to show you what it’s like when you give
yourself to me completely.” He lifted his eyes until they met hers once more as
he waited for her response. “I'm living for right now, V. Not yesterday, not
last month, not tomorrow. Right this second. Right here. With you. Tonight.”

He
wasn’t going to push her, he didn’t need to, but he wanted her to understand
the depth of what he was feeling.

V
nodded her head in agreement. “Tonight. But just tonight,” she whispered.

V
wanted this as much as he did. Only Zane knew that this was for more than just
one night. He wasn’t willing to settle for just one night. He wanted more from
her than that, but he wasn’t going to scare her away just yet.

♀♂

V
couldn’t believe the words had come out of her mouth. Not that they weren’t
true. She just couldn’t believe she had stated them out loud. She wanted Zane
to own her. At least for tonight.

It
was so much easier to give herself over to him, to let him control her pleasure
than it was for her to think about it. She spent too much time thinking. Too
much time running from her own feelings. With Zane, she didn’t have to do that
because he was willing to control her. She never would admit that she had submissive
tendencies, but she had realized them after the first couple of times she was
with him.

Zane
was dominant, controlling, protective, and aggressive. She was drawn to him.
She had seen it previously, but he never openly stated as much. She could hear
it in his voice now. See it in the way he was looking at her.

V
wanted to please him by giving in to what they both wanted. She just wasn’t
sure whether she could commit herself fully. Not long term anyway. Never in her
life had she allowed anyone to get close to her. Not close enough to hurt her
anyway. Zane, whether he knew it or not, actually had all the power over her no
matter how much she tried to deny it. If it were possible, he would be the only
one who could break her heart.

She
might not have it in her to commit to forever, but tonight she could do.

Standing
before him in her skirt and heels and nothing else, she expected to feel
exposed. She didn’t. Not with his gaze straying across her skin, or his work
roughened fingers pinching her nipples until she couldn’t hold back the cry
that tore from her throat.

That
was one of her favorite things about Zane. His hands. They were large hands,
proportionate to his size; the skin callused from working with machinery. And
the man knew how to use them to please a woman.

Zane
released her breasts, moving his hands down her stomach, never fully pulling
away, and the rasp of his skin against hers was so damn titillating, she felt
her pussy throb with anticipation. She wanted to feel him inside of her, the
way his muscular body felt pressing down on her...

He
forced her to take a step back when he lowered himself to his knees in front of
her, her skirt being pushed farther down her legs. Zane first removed one shoe,
then the other, his mouth trailing sweltering, wet kisses at the top of her
mound, and she wanted to grab his head and hold him to her. She wanted to touch
him, to taste him, to take him fully into her mouth and make him beg her, but V
knew she would be the one begging soon.

By
the time she was completely naked – which didn’t take long without her panties
in the way because they were still in his pocket – the sun had set almost entirely,
only a shimmer of red and orange banding through the open window that
overlooked a narrow valley at the back of his house. It gave the room an
otherworldly feel; making the moment seem that much more intimate.

There
were so many things about this man that she craved, but his ability to turn her
into a crazed romantic was not one of them. V wouldn’t deny enjoying sex. She
didn’t have it enough as far as she was concerned, which was probably the
reason she’d become so attached to Zane.

He
knew exactly how to play her body, how to make her scream his name. The only
thing she wanted to do was close her eyes and enjoy the sensation she knew
wouldn’t last forever, but she wished it would.

“Spread
your legs,” Zane instructed, still kneeling before her, his hands on her
thighs, those bedroom eyes penetrating her as he peered up at her.

V
hurriedly pushed her legs apart, nearly stumbling when he separated the wet
folds of her pussy, not wasting any time before his tongue slid deep. She
wasn’t going to be able to stand on her own two feet for long. Her thighs
trembled, her knees were like jelly. She gripped his head, holding him to her
as he pierced her with his talented tongue, tormenting her clit with delicious
swipes back and forth, up and down.