Mike wasn’t willing to take that risk.
“I don’t mind lying with you,” Zora said in a tentative, tender voice.
At that moment, he dismissed all the questions ringing in his head. He didn’t want to think about how it hurt like hell when she’d rejected him. His heart wouldn’t let him worry about their history. Right now, the only thing that mattered was getting to lie beside her tonight.
What they shared was real—even if he was the only one who felt it.
Fuck it.
Mike padded down the hall to his bedroom at a glacial pace. There was still time for her to change her mind. He almost hoped she would come to her senses and let him take the couch. He wasn’t strong enough anymore to turn her down.
Gently, he laid her in his bed then took his place beside her. They were facing each other, and he matched her slight smile.
“I want you next to me,” he said.
She shimmied closer, and he let his hungry mouth crash down onto hers. She moaned, sending a wave of spine-tingling shivers through him. He released a low growl.
How did I ever find the strength to walk away? Why didn’t I try harder all those years ago?
Their kiss was deep and full of need as he slipped his tongue into the heat of her mouth, tasting her.
“Mike,” she whimpered against his mouth.
“Don’t say this is no good,” he protested. “I can’t think of anything better than you and me. I’ve been thinking about this all day.”
Her breathing was shallow as she arched her back, pressing her pelvis firmly against his. Mike gripped the curve of her waist and pulled her on top of him so her legs straddled him. With one hand he cradled her behind and focused on her heated gaze then slipped his other hand into her pajama bottoms and beneath the thin fabric of her panties.
She released a sharp cry. Her chest was rising and falling so fast and hard.
She squeezed her thighs tightly around his finger and licked her lips as his cock hardened beneath her. Desire pooled in her eyes.
“Are we doing this?” she panted as her hips writhed and rolled over his hardness.
He could never say no to her.
“I want you, but only if this is what you want, too.”
Please say we’re doing this.
She rolled her pelvis in response, nodding as she pulled her shirt over her head, giving Mike an amazing view of her swollen breasts.
In response, he dipped two fingers inside her wet folds and growled. “Fuck. You feel so good.” He watched as she moaned in satisfaction.
She bucked as he thrust them deeper. The sensation seemed to electrify her.
“Yes. God, yes.” Her eyes were closed and she let her head hang back. “I want you inside me.” Before Mike could say another word, she stood over him and tugged her fleece bottoms and panties off in one motion.
The sight of her beautiful naked body was almost enough to make him come apart at the seams. She was decadent and dizzying with her flawless brown skin and endless curves. She could be his for however long she wanted.
Mike dragged his bottom lip between his teeth and pulled off his pants, exposing his cock. He retrieved a condom from the nightstand, tore it from the foil wrapper, and glided it down his shaft just in time.
When he was finished, she lowered herself down onto his length.
Fuck.
Heat seared through him as he got lost somewhere between the past and the present. The memories of him on top of the innocent girl in the cellar blurred with the vision of the beautiful woman riding him now.
She was at home—controlled and confident.
Together they rocked to a steady rhythm. She rode him slowly and gently, rotating her hips and cupping his hands to her breasts. Her body trembled with need and she moaned, calling out his name.
“I’m close,” Mike whispered sounding strained.
She felt too good. Her slick folds clenched around his cock. It was like he fit inside her perfectly.
“Me, too.” She bucked, and electric shocks seemed to jolt through her body as she rode the orgasm, taking Mike with her.
Zora rolled off of him onto her side. He tucked her tightly into the gap between his arm and chest. Mike was satisfied he’d made the right decision—she hadn’t run or pushed him away.
Within minutes, she fell asleep. It was so cozy and warm, he soon followed suit. After a soft kiss on her forehead, Mike faded into a deep sleep.
He woke in the morning, high from mind-blowing sex and completely happy, until, he noticed Zora wasn’t lying beside him.
A rush of emotions overtook him, but rejection was at the top of the list. Memories of Zora pushing him away vibrated to his core.
He listened…deafening silence. It seemed their history was destined to repeat itself.
Chapter Twenty-One
Zora
Zora peeled her eyes open and checked her watch. It was nearly ten in the morning. Mike was probably already at work, which meant he’d slept like a baby, and her self-inflicted quarantine on the mattress from hell had worked. To think, had she believed less in the homeopathic healing powers of spicy chicken noodle soup and more in the over-the-counter cold medicine, she’d have awakened blissfully happy in Mike’s arms.
“Ugh.” She groaned and winced at her creaky back. She was groggy, stuffy, and only breathing out of one defunct nostril. She was officially a mouth-breather.
She was definitely the furthest thing from the sexy temptress of last night.
It was probably best Mike didn’t see her looking like hell on a stick.
An unmistakable whimper sounded outside her door.
“Aw, Blue.” She grumbled, then released a rare sneeze-cough combo. “I’m coming.”
She swung her feet over the edge of the rock-hard mattress at a glacial pace, cracking her back before padding over to the door where Blue was sitting—almost—patiently with his tail wagging and slapping against the wood floor.
“I know. I’m a bad fur mom. I’m totally slacking. You need to go do your morning business, and we both need to eat if I’m going to be able to take care of the both us.” She mussed his hair and picked up her stride slightly. “It’s not your fault, I feel like shit.”
With Blue outside, Zora made her way to the bathroom to grab the medicine Mike bought. She filled the tiny cup with the purple liquid and downed it before heading back to her dream kitchen. She was going to try every method under the sun to cure her grossness.
It was code blue now—a medical and life emergency.
Monday was here, and she needed to heal herself if she was going to get going on her pages for Leanne. Nobody wanted contaminated food, not even on paper.
Zora opened up the refrigerator and stared blankly inside. Then the cough started up again—a productive cough complete with a gurgling phlegm sound. Ew. Whatever she made, it needed to be spicier—with alcohol. Maybe she could burn and sweat the cold out of her pores. Or, puke it out.
She shook her head, utterly disgusted with herself.
She closed the fridge and grabbed a giant beer mug. Her phone vibrated across the counter. Oli’s face smiled on screen.
“Hey,” she answered in a croak as she brought the phone to her ear.
“Why are you whispering?” The hope in Oli’s voice echoed against Zora’s ear. “Is Mike still lying beside you?” The woman had Spidey senses like nobody’s business.