He’d recognized that characteristic in Anat’s home immediately. He’d woken that first night with pain crashing through his head and Zyah’s voice whispering to him soothingly. He’d inhaled her scent, breathing her in, taking her into his lungs. He’d been in her bedroom, and she was everywhere, surrounding him. He’d felt like he was home. From that moment on, he’d known, just as he had the first time he’d laid eyes on her, that his world was about this woman.
Home wasn’t about the structure they lived in. Not the houses they bought. Not for any of them. Home was about the women in their lives. Home for him was Zyah. It always would be. It wouldn’t matter where they were, only that they were together.
He swam to the stairs and looked up. She was already there waiting for him, her dark hair piled on her head. She didn’t have a stitch on.
“Come get in the hot tub with me. I want to feel the jets on my body.” Her voice was husky, and the way she issued the invitation sounded like sin.
Player went to her immediately, removing the lid so that the steam rose. He took her hand to help her in. She settled into one of the deeper seats with a little sigh of happiness. He chose the one opposite her, wanting to see every expression on her face as he turned on the various jets so they would come at her body from all directions.
She gave another sigh and deliberately widened her legs so the bubbles would be directed straight to her pussy. “That feels amazing.”
That was another thing about Zyah he loved. She wasn’t in the least bit inhibited or embarrassed when it came to her sexuality. Watching her gave him tremendous pleasure. She always seemed to live in the moment, just enjoying whatever was given to her.
“I want to talk about what happened, baby,” he said, moving his own body so that the jets could play over his groin, bathing his cock in the sensation of hundreds of tongues.
Zyah’s lashes lifted for a moment, her gaze moving over him and then dropping to watch his hand as he casually fisted his cock beneath the water. “I’m listening, although I have to say, I had no idea hot tubs could be so sinfully distracting.”
Player chose his words very carefully. “You gave me the greatest gift today that a woman could give a man like me. I’ll treasure it, Zyah, and never forget it.”
The bubbles from the jets fizzed around his body, reminding him of the way her tongue had stroked over his skin. He did his best to shove down the memory and keep his cock under control, but there was so much steel in it he couldn’t help a lazy slide of his hand as the bubbles gave the sensation of her mouth devouring him.
“The thing is, that was too dangerous to repeat. I was too rough with you. I didn’t know what I was doing half the time. What you were doing felt so good, baby, and I was too far gone. I could have really hurt you. I’m not willing to take a chance like that with you.”
Zyah’s dark eyes moved over him. “You knew what you were doing. And I knew what I was doing. When I needed to stop for a minute, you stopped.”
He had. True. But it could have gone either way. “I hesitated. You have no idea how close it was. I didn’t want to stop. I knew you could take more. I knew you could hold your breath longer. I even reminded you. I remember that much. I was that far gone, Zyah, and that should tell you something right there.”
He hadn’t wanted to stop. Just talking about that moment where her mouth, her throat, had constricted his cock to the point of paradise and her eyes, all liquid for him, had looked up at him sent fire crashing through his body all over again. His cock jerked and pulsed with the memory.
“It tells me that you stopped and checked to make certain I was all right. You offered to stop. It wasn’t just you, Player, it was me. I was feeding your emotions just as you were feeding mine. I wanted what happened. I took us there. I don’t want you to feel guilty about it.”
“You have a sore throat. Your voice is husky.”
Zyah didn’t deny it. “And hopefully, tonight, when we get really crazy in bed, I’ll be deliciously sore other places as well.”
Player lifted his head, his eyes meeting hers. She had to see him. Hear him. Understand what he was saying. “I’m not like that, Zyah. I’m not that man. I’m not a selfish bastard who takes his own pleasure and doesn’t give a damn about his woman. In that moment I was thinking about myself, how I was feeling, my body, not you or your pleasure.”
“No, Player, you weren’t. You were very cognizant of me the entire time. More than I wanted you to be. That just proved to me more than ever that we were meant for each other.” Zyah sound very complacent, even a little amused. “You were supposed to be wholly consumed with your own pleasure, that was the point, but you definitely were worried about me, and you liked how I looked all laid out in front of you.”
That much was true. She’d looked so sinfully sexy laid out like an erotic offering. He’d never seen anything so sexy as her lips stretched so wide around his cock, or the way it had appeared like a monster in her throat. He had wrapped his palm around her throat to feel the way he invaded, the way she took him. Just the reminder had flames rushing through his veins.
“It’s going to be one of those days, baby. I’m going to need you to stand up and bend over the side of the tub for me.”
She raised an eyebrow as he rose. “Now?” Deliberately she didn’t move as he took the two steps to get to her.
“Right now.” He reached for the mass of hair on top of her head.
Laughing, she rose from the water so it poured off of her. He caught her up, spun her around and pressed her body so it draped over the marble railing. Her breasts hung over the sides, dripping. His foot pushed her legs wider while his hand ensured she was slick and ready for him. She was. Hot. She pressed back with her bottom to entice him.
The sight of her naked body draped over the marble caught at him. She had the most beautiful ass. Everything about her was perfection to him. He loved her shape. Every curve. Her coloring. Her sense of fun. Every damn thing.
His cock jerked hard when she pushed her ass close and rubbed. He swatted her hard and laughed when she yelped and tried to turn her head. It was too late—he was slamming home, driving himself deep, letting the fire consume them both. He’d been sated earlier, so this time he was going to be able to hold out, take more time, feel the burn for a long, long time and give her multiple orgasms. Many, many. He had plans for the day. She didn’t get many of them off, and she deserved to have the best day he could give her.
NINETEEN
Czar stood for a long time studying from every angle the drawing Anat’s husband had given her as an anniversary present. Player had hung it on the wall of the large shed farthest from his house. He’d kept the lighting bright throughout the shed, even spotlighting the drawing. He didn’t want to take any chances that if the visitor appeared—and at some point, he wanted to draw him out—the man would be able to see enough to identify where they were. Already, Player feared he could find Zyah.
Czar wasn’t the only member of Torpedo Ink present. Savage, Ink, Storm, Maestro and Mechanic were there as well. Player, like the others, wasn’t happy that the president of their club had insisted he come. No one knew what they were dealing with, so they didn’t want to risk Czar, Lana or Alena or any of the married men. Czar and Steele were deemed by the club far too valuable, although had they known the others had secretly met and had tried to keep them away, they would have been furious.