Chapter Ten
Emma
"Tell me something."
"What do you want to know?" Zayne asks.
"Anything."
His slow grin heats my blood to boiling. Lord, he's gorgeous, especially when the only thing he's wearing is a carefully arranged sheet. I'll never tell Bets, but this sight is definitely worthy of a book cover.
"You want me to tell you how good you sound when you're moanin' my name?" he asks, gliding one hand up my side. "Or would you rather hear how fucking hot you are when you're coming all over me?"
"I meant, tell me something about you, Zayne," I say, rolling my eyes at him. I can't fight a smile, though. If this is what heaven is like, I definitely need to go there.
"Something about me, huh?" He taps his lip like he's thinking. And then he grins. "You want to know a secret?"
"I'm a girl. We always want to know secrets."
"Come here, and I'll tell you." He hooks his arm around my waist, hauling me into his arms. Once I'm where he wants me, which is apparently sprawled across his chest, he brushes my hair aside, putting his lips against my ear.
"You weren't the only virgin in this bed tonight, lamb."
I scramble up, staring at him in shock. "You're lying."
"I'm not."
"You're a virgin?"
He casts a wicked glance down my naked body. "Not anymore," he says, deadpan.
"Zayne!" I smack him across the chest. "Stop messing with me."
He grabs my hands, holding them hostage in one of his. "I'm not messin' with you, lamb. You're my first and only, too."
"I " My mind spins. "You're serious."
"Yep."
I stare at him for a moment, truly at a loss for words. I never even considered that tonight was the first time for him, too. I guess I just assumed that he's had plenty of chances, so he had to have taken at least a few of them. But Zayne isn't like anyone I've ever known before. He's just Zayne.
I didn't stand a chance of not falling for him.
"Were you saving for marriage?" I ask.
He makes a face at me. "No, smartass. I was saving myself for you."
"Zayne," I whisper, my expression going soft as my heart flutters.
"I've spent my entire fucking life preparing for you, lamb. I just didn't know it until the day you wobbled into my office." He grins at me. "Now, you're here, and it all makes sense."
"What does?"
"Everything." He rolls me underneath him, nuzzling my throat. "This right here is what I've been waiting for my whole life."
I swallow hard. "I'm done keeping you waiting."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," I whisper. "I'm so done."
"Good," he grunts, hooking my leg over his hip. "Because I've got a whole lotta time to make up for now that I've got you where I want you."
"You mean naked in my bed with my grandma and aunt right down the hall?"
"Pretty much," he breathes.
My laugh fades to a moan as he gets busy making up for lost time. For a recent virgin, he's awful good at it.
"What is that sound?" I grumble, trying to bury myself under the blankets as if that'll make it quit. But whatever it is, it's not that easily deterred. Even with the blankets over my head, it continues blaring as if trying to warn me that a catastrophe is imminent.
Warn me?
I fly upright on a gasp, flinging the covers back. It is trying to warn me that a catastrophe is imminent. It's the security system I had installed after Gran and Bets ran off to Tunica.
I don't bother getting dressed or explaining the situation to Zayne. I simply grab my robe from the back of the door, shove my arms through it, and dash out into the hall, hoping I make it in time to stop whatever they're plotting this time.
I skid around the corner into the living room just in time to see the front door close. Except Gran and Bets aren't on the other side of it. They're standing in the center of the room, removing their coats as if they just got home.
Zayne isn't in the bed where I left him or thought I left him, anyway. He's coming through the door, chuckling at something. He crosses to the security system, punching in the code.
Silence rings throughout the house, infinitely louder than the alarm.
"What is this?" I blurt, trying to figure out if I'm even awake or not. Gran and Bets haven't escaped, and the man of my dreams is still here, looking even better than he did on top of me a few short hours ago.
My cheeks heat at the reminder that he was on top of me a few short hours ago. Neither of us slept very much. We spent the night alternately making love and talking. It was, hands down, the best night of my life.
I'm done running, and I'm over fighting to resist him. I'm all in, no matter where it leads. I choose him. How could I not when he's everything I ever dreamed about?
"Shit," he growls, his eyes coming to me. His expression goes soft, those gray eyes eating me alive. "We woke you."
"Good morning, dear!" Gran says cheerfully.
"I was beginning to wonder if you were getting up today," Bets says.
"What's going on?"
"We went shopping." Zayne hefts the shopping bags I somehow missed. He's loaded down with them.
"You went shopping?" I ask, trying to process again.
"Mmhmm. Gran needed supplies." He strides across the room, brushing his lips across mine as if we're completely alone. Heat unfurls in my stomach, rippling outward in a slow flood.
Jeez. How is it possible that I want him again already? Every muscle in my body is deliciously sore from last night.
"For what?"
"Your wedding dress, dear. It's not going to sew itself."
"I'm making your cake," Bets adds.
Dress? Cake? I gape, convinced I'm still in bed dreaming.
Gran sees the look on my face and grins, one of those bawdy, mischievous grins that guarantee I'm going to regret whatever comes out of her mouth.
I'm not wrong.
"You can't be making all that racket you were making last night if you aren't married to the boy, dear. It's unseemly."
I blanche as Zayne barely contains a laugh.
"Gran!"
"I'm just saying. It may be a new millennium, but times haven't changed that much," she says. "Marriage before babies, Emma. Marriage before babies."
Zayne isn't even trying to hide his laughter now.
"I'm going back to bed," I say weakly.
"No can do." Zayne snags me around the waist before I can make an escape. "Unless you intend to drag everyone down to the courthouse, you've got a weddin' to plan."
"What?" I gape at him. "You aren't serious." Except I can already tell that he's completely serious. This crazy man fully intends to marry me immediately.
I glance at Gran and Bets, just to find them beaming at us. They're fully on board with this plan.
"How did I become the lone voice of reason in this house?" I mumble up at the ceiling.
"Because you're dramatic, dear," Gran says. "Just tell the boy yes and get on with it already."
"You're supposed to talk me out of rushing into things."
"I'm eighty, Emmaline. The only way to do things at my age is in a hurry. Otherwise, you're liable to wake up dead."
"You can't wake up dead, Gran."
"Oh? Are you an expert then?"
Zayne chuckles.
"Don't encourage her."
"She has a point," he says with a shrug.
"You're only agreeing with her because she's taking your side."
"Maybe, but that doesn't negate the fact that she has a point." He smirks at me. "Stop overthinking and start plannin' your dream wedding, lamb. My rules, remember?"
"Your rules didn't say anything about me marrying you, Zayne Carmichael!"
"It was in the fine print."
"You always read the fine print, girl," Bets cackles.
"Are you really going to fight me on this, baby girl? We both know you want it as much as I do," Zayne murmurs. "You wouldn't have let me lie my way through your front door if you didn't."
I cast a furtive glance at Gran and Bets.
"We're old, not stupid, Emmaline. The only thing that boy is protecting you from is anyone trying to steal you out from under him."
"At least I don't have to worry about either of you trying to buy a gun to protect the house," I mutter, relieved we're not pretending anymore. I don't think either of us was very good at it. But we were both willing to do it anyway. Maybe Gran and Bets aren't the only crazy ones in this room.
"Why in the world would I need to buy a gun?" Gran asks. "I already have one in the closet."
"You don't," I groan.
"Of course, I do. You think the only thing your grandpa left me was money?" She tsks at me, her poufy hair bouncing with the force of her head shake. "You should know better than that, Emmaline. Really."
"Do you know how to shoot it?" Zayne asks, finally worried about something. It's about time! I mean, honestly.
"Not a clue," Gran says cheerfully. "But I've got a box of bullets and know where to put them. I also know where the business end of the thing is located. I can figure it out from there."
Zayne pales slightly. "Maybe I should hold onto the gun."
Gran shrugs like it doesn't matter one way or another who has the gun so long as it shoots.
"Are we planning this wedding or not?" Bets wants to know.
All eyes turn in my direction, patiently waiting for my answer.
"You didn't ask me," I hiss at Zayne.
"Is that why you're dragging your feet saying yes?"
"I can't say yes if there isn't a question, Zayne Carmichael."
"In that case " He drops to his knees right there in the middle of the floor, one arm still loaded with shopping bags. He carefully sets them aside before reaching into his pocket to retrieve something.
Tears well in my eyes when he holds his hand out, and I spot the ring resting in his palm.
"You gave him your ring," I whisper to Gran.
"Of course I did. It's been yours since your grandpa died. I've just been waiting for you to find the man worthy of you. Now that you have, it's time for that old ring to be shining on your finger where it belongs."
I sniffle, trying and failing to fight tears. She's giving me her ring, and she thinks Zayne is worthy of me. Her judgment may be faulty most days, but it's impeccable today. There is no one more worthy of me. I don't think there ever will be.
This crazy man is it for me and that's not nearly as terrifying as I let myself believe it was. For the first time, I realize it's not terrifying at all. In fact, it's the complete opposite. Nothing would make me happier than spending the rest of my life loving this crazy man.
"Zayne?"
"Yes, lamb?"
"I have to fire you as my bodyguard."
He cocks his head to the side, eyeing me curiously. "Why is that, lamb?"
"Apparently, I have a sudden opening for a fianc . I was kind of hoping you'd want to fill that position instead."
His smile is bright enough to light up the entire room. "Oh, yeah?" He grabs my hand, slipping Gran's ring into place on my finger. "I think I can make that happen."
"Are you sure? I hear the wedding is soon."
"Real soon," he growls, rising to his feet with fire in his eyes. "As soon as humanly possible."
"Yeah? You sure you're available?" I tease. "Maybe we should check and make sure I don't need to ask your broth C"
I squeal with laughter as he scoops me up into his arms.
"Finish that sentence, and I'll be spanking you right here in front of Gran and Bets," he growls, earning cackles from both of them. His lips slant down over mine, stealing my laughter and my breath.
I cling to his broad shoulders, happy, in love and surrounded by the best kind of crazy. The kind steeped in love and forged within the bonds of family.