My back falls hard against the side of a tree as he blocks me in.
“You came back twice. Why were you here?” he asks.
I have to swallow, the emotions running deep and raw. “I came for my grandmother’s funeral.”
“Before that,” he demands, and the heat in his eyes turns midnight. “Why didn’t I know you were here?”
I can see the flames of the fire reflecting in his eyes. It feels like they’re burning their way right into my soul. If I’m going to hell, I might as well let go of all my secrets.
“I was a year into flying full-time. I was tired. Exhausted and … lonely. They had me stationed in St. Louis, and everything around me was changing too fast. I thought I’d made the wrong decision. I thought about quitting, so I came back here. Back to Dixon, and that’s when I heard. Monica told me you had gotten a girl pregnant.”
“And you left again?”
I look up and tame the feeling of that day from bubbling up inside me. Hearing that he’d met someone else and put his baby in her belly. He was starting a family. A family. I’d lost my chance.
“I was broken,” my voice cracks out.
His hand rises to my cheek. His thumb caresses my jaw as his chest pushes up against mine. I can feel his heart pounding against my skin.
“Jo,” he breathes, “don’t you understand? I was broken too.”
I close my eyes and feel his jagged breath on my lips. His words echoing in my entire body.
“What would you have said if you hadn’t found out about Luke? What were you here to tell me?”
I open my eyes and lose my heart and soul in the only man I’ve ever loved. “I was coming home to you,” I whisper and then add even more silently, “I chose you.”
With those words, his mouth comes crashing down to mine.
His hands grip either side of my face, holding me tightly as he inhales my lust for him. I fall into him, wanting every inch and willing to give him all of me.
His tongue sweeps out to rub against mine, and I instantly wrap my arms around his broad shoulders, needing them to help me stay on my feet.
His fingers move to the nape of my neck, deepening our kiss and making me fall even more. I can’t breathe, yet I don’t care. I don’t need oxygen. I only need his lips, his body, him all over me.
When his arms move to pick me up, I help by jumping into them, holding him tighter as he grips my ass and pushes me harder against the tree.
The roughness along my spine is nothing compared to the need I feel right now for this man.
I need him to rip my clothes off.
I need him to touch me like he did last night.
But most of all, I need him to finally finish what we started less than twenty-four hours ago—or rather ten years ago.
Too much time has passed since I’ve felt this man so much in my soul that I don’t know how I’ve ever functioned without him there.
He breaks apart from me, and I whimper from the loss.
He drops me to my feet and places his forehead against mine, inhaling before reaching up to entangle my fingers with his and leading me back to the house.
After he slides the door open, there’s an exhilarating feeling, just as it was years ago when we snuck away. On instinct, we remove our shoes, keeping our movements silent, not wanting his parents to hear two sets of feet heading in the wrong direction down the hallway.
His room is dark, but my sensory memory goes into play, making my way to the bed against the far wall. Rubbing my fingers over the same quilt I used to lie on years before does funny things to my insides.
Zack reaches for my hands, locking them in his and pulling me toward him that extra inch. I go willingly and am rewarded with a kiss so intense my knees go weak.
He holds me up, running his fingers up my sides and sliding my shirt over my head before dropping it on the floor next to me.
Tingles run up my spine when his large hands engulf my stomach, moving up my sides and cupping my breasts through my lace bra.
The simple growl that escapes his lips entices me even more, and I waste no time in showing him what I want. I remove his shirt and let it fall to the floor. With his chest bare, I run my hands over the thick, corded muscles of his body and take in the fine work of art he’s become.
With the streetlight casting light through the window, I see words etched into his chest. I rub my thumb over them as I read out loud, “My family is my strength and my weakness. Through them, I rise, and only through them shall I fail.”
Our eyes meet, and I want to ask questions about the meaning, but I know it’s not the time. Instead, I work his belt loose and then his button, slipping my fingers down his pants until they’re completely off.
“It’s like that, huh?” he teases me at how fast I’m moving things along.
I nod, pulling him down to the bed to be on top of me.
He kicks his jeans the remaining way off before thrusting his body against mine, making me bite my lip so I don’t moan out too loud.
“Shh,” he whispers playfully in my ear, and I have to try not to laugh.
It’s been years since I’ve had to hide any part of me when it comes to what I want sexually.
He quiets my noises with his lips, and I fall right into his trap, loving the sensations he’s sending through my body with his tongue, his touch, and his thrusts.
He’s taking his time, and I only want more.
I start to slide my pants down my legs, and he stops me. Keeping my hands on the sides of my hips, he holds them there while making his way down my neck to my chest and then my stomach.
My body lifts off the bed when he nuzzles into my jeans. He’s close, but I only want him to be closer.
I feel his laughter on my stomach, and I kick him with my leg.
“Ouch.” He chuckles under his breath even more. “So impatient.”
“Yeah, if you don’t remember, you got me all worked up last night and then left me hanging,” I whisper to him.
He looks up at me through his lashes, and he has a huge grin. “How could I forget?”
Finally meeting my needs, he yanks my pants down my legs, taking my panties with them. The smile that covers his face as he takes in my body fills me with pride. I’ve never felt so sexy in my life.
Keeping his eyes locked to mine, he reaches up and removes my bra, moving it down my arms before reaching behind me to unclasp it.
When I lie back down, I realize just how wrong I was before. Now, I feel the sexiest I’ve ever felt.
His features are dark, but I see all I need to see. He’s just as hungry as I am, and I’m more than his prey; I’m his prize.
His lips crash into mine with the frenzy he had last night. Our breathing intensifies as our desires spill over.
I slide my hands down his back, into his boxers, and start to yank them down his sides. When I feel his cock spring free, I reach around to wrap my hand around his length, loving the vein I once knew so well.
His breath hitches as I run my finger over his tip, feeling the pre-cum moisten the top.
I place him at my entrance, digging my heels into his ass, wanting him inside me. He sits up, reaching for a condom from his pants pocket, ripping the foil with his teeth and rolling it down his length.
When he slides in, my head falls to the pillow, and my back lifts off the bed. I forgot just how well he fit inside me, but my body definitely hasn’t.