Chapter Nineteen #2
“I don’t want you to jump,” I plead when I realize he’s standing near the cliff again. “Please?”
“Tell me what happened that day, and I won’t.”
“I told you already. Nothing happened. Why won’t you let it go?”
“Because nothing has made sense since I woke up, and it all leads back to you.”
“Well, if you feel that way, then jump. See if I care.” I go to storm back down the path when Zeke snatches my hand and yanks me back. I stumble into him, and Zeke pinches my chin between his thumb and forefinger to pull me even closer.
“Is it me you’re really afraid for, or is it Seth, princesa?”
“Why does it even matter when you clearly don’t care about yourself?”
“I care.”
“Yeah, it really seems like it,” I toss back sarcastically.
“I won’t jump,” he promises.
“What are you telling me for?” I say as I cut my gaze away. “I don’t care.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Zeke smiling at me, and his teasing makes me irrationally angry. “Is this the real reason why you pulled me up here?” I ask. “To interrogate me more and make me feel even more awful than I already do?”
It’s a long time before Zeke answers, and I almost believe he won’t. “No, princesa. I never want to make you feel awful.”
“Could have fooled me,” I grumble.
Zeke takes my face in his hands and tilts my head back. “It’s not the reason,” he repeats firmly.
“Then why? If not that, why bring me up here? Why get me alone?”
“To do this.” Zeke presses his lips against mine, and the roaring in my ears rivals that of the waterfall. I must make some sound of distress because he stops just as abruptly. “I’m sorry.”
“You kissed me.”
“Yeah, princess. I did.”
My hand reaches up and curls around his nape. I feel his dark hair brushing my fingers, and I can’t help stretching them toward the strands. “We’re kissing now?”
Forehead pressed to mine, Zeke nods with eyes closed. “If that’s okay with you.”
“It’s been okay since I mistook you for Seth and you shoved me into the snow.”
Zeke winces at the reminder. “I’m sorry about that.” Eyes low as if drugged, he kisses me again before I can tell him it’s okay. That I understand why.
When it feels like my knees are going to give out, I shove him hard enough that he stumbles over a rock and lands on his ass.
We’re both fighting to catch our breath as Zeke stares up at me with a frown, waiting for me to explain why I stopped him or demand for him to kiss me again. I do neither, choosing instead to fall to my knees and climb on top of him. “Don’t be,” I finally say.
Zeke reaches for my hips and settles me over him at the same time I lean down to pick up where we left off.
Lips fused and limbs tangled, we kiss above the roaring waterfall.
It amazes me how differently Zeke and Seth kiss even though they share the same lips and feel the same.
Seth kisses me like he might never get the chance again, while Zeke kisses me lazily like it’s the only thing he was made for.
And then he shocks the shit out of me when he asks, “Can I touch you, princess?”
I nod, and Zeke kisses me one last time as if he can’t resist before rolling me onto my back. He then curves the front of his body along my side rather than climbing on top of me and trapping me under his weight like I’m craving for him to do.
I don’t realize I’m shaking like a virgin—even though I’ve been fucked and sucked and turned inside out by all three of them—until Zeke slowly runs his palm down the inside of my thigh and back up again.
By his third pass, my trembling stops and on his fourth, he grabs the seat of my bathing suit that’s damp from more than just the pool water and shoves it aside.
The mist and breeze from the falls immediately work to cool the hot flesh between my thighs until Zeke places his palm there and I’m burning for him all over again.
“Now it feels like we’re both playing with fire,” he grumbles as he teases my pussy. “You’re so fucking sweet, aren’t you, princess?” Feeling like I need him close, I whine as I reach for him, but then his eyes suddenly flash and his voice deepens as he rumbles, “Mine.”
“I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself.” Zeke doesn’t answer though because he turns his head away and takes a few deep breaths as if shaking off some dark influence. I pause. “Are you okay?”
After a few more seconds, he finally answers while sounding like he shoved his head underwater and he just barely kept from drowning. “Yeah,” he chokes out roughly. “I think we should stop. I don’t want to hurt you.”
My heart kicks painfully against my chest as I feel my panic rise. No, we’re so close.
I lift my head enough to kiss him, and he doesn’t hesitate to kiss me back, accepting my gift of the air he seems to be fighting for. When I end the kiss, I pull back enough to see his green eyes. “Does it feel like I’m worried, Zeke?”
Curling my hand around his between my legs, I push on his fingers resting against my hole, and Zeke groans and shudders before curling and pushing them deep inside me.
“Fucking hell,” he swears as his shoulders tremble once more.
“You’re so—” He stops as though he’s at a loss for words.
My clit throbs like it has a pulse against his palm, and I squirm for the friction I definitely need.
Zeke’s green eyes become sharper, more focused when he sees me trying to race to the finish.
“If we’re not allowed to stop, you’re not allowed to come yet, princess. ”
I watch with quickening breaths as he plunges them deep one last time before freeing his fingers and bringing them to his mouth. Somehow, I still don’t believe that the man who’s been scowling, taunting me, and wishing I would disappear is going to actually taste me.
And then he does.
I don’t breathe as he slips his fingers between his lips.
With his gaze locked on mine, Zeke sucks them clean and then promptly pushes them back inside, driving them deep and drawing those sounds from me again that make his pupils dilate and nostrils flare.
I’m on the verge of pulling him on top of me and begging him to fuck me when he finally turns those torturous fingers to my swollen clit.
“Zeke…”
“Just let it happen, princesa. I’m here.”
He circles my nub, and I come with a cry that he quickly muffles with a kiss. “Shhh. We have to be quiet, princess,” he pleads against my lips. “Thorin and Khalil can’t hear.”
Zeke continues kissing me even after my body’s settled and I’m quiet.
It goes on and on with the two of us only stopping long enough to catch our breath before we’re drawn back together like polarized magnets.
Weeks of longing and lingering looks have left us hypnotized and powerless to resist now that we’ve given in.
That is until I feel something tickle my cheek.
It’s easy to ignore with Zeke’s fingers still stuffed deep inside my pussy like he’s opening it to draw out another orgasm, but when that light fluttering feeling returns, I frown and lift my hand to slap it away.
Zeke grabs my wrist and I open my eyes to see that his are full of wonder. “Wait.”
Okay, now I’m freaking out. “What is it? What is it?”
He exhales in awe and disbelief. “It’s a butterfly.”
“No, really. What is it?”
Zeke lets go of my wrist and presses the back of his fingers to my face below my cheek. The ticklish feeling leaves me a moment later, and then he pulls his hand back to show me a blue butterfly with black spots balanced on his bruised and scarred knuckles.
“What the—” The butterfly flaps its wings and flies away. Zeke and I follow its flight path to a swarm of them flying under a copse of trees not far away. “Oh, wow.”
“They must have just hatched.” He kisses me one last time and then frees his hand from between my legs and fixes my suit before rolling away.
Zeke makes a pained sound, and I tear my gaze away from the butterflies just in time to see him adjusting his erection inside his swimming trunks. Guilt and desire mix together, creating a swirling vortex of need until I can’t stop the words from tumbling out. “I can help with that.”
Zeke stiffens and then he sits up like he’s already regretting what we’ve done.
But he’s not pulling away, and I realize belatedly that he’s not remorseful. He’s terrified. And he doesn’t want me to see. It raises more questions than it answers, but there’s no time for that like now.
“That’s okay,” I say in an easy tone as I sit up. “I’ve got better things to do anyway. Like reading about sex instead of having sex.”
Zeke turns his head, and I can see the terror fading in the wake of his amusement. “And how are you enjoying the titillating romance of Damien and Willow?”
Surprise flows through me. “You’ve read it?”
“Once or twice.”
“And?” I press when he doesn’t say more.
“Honestly, I didn’t care for the hero.”
“What?” I squeal. I can’t control my snort and giggle as I move to sit closer to him. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. I did not like that guy. Instead of just telling the girl he supposedly likes how he feels, he kept being a dick to her. I spent the entire book wishing he’d just walk into traffic and leave that poor girl alone.”
“It’s a good thing he didn’t, because that would be tragic. Damien is bae.”
“Wait, you mean you liked him?” Zeke raises his brows, and I feel my cheeks warm.
“I mean, yeah, kind of. I guess I empathized with him? I don’t know. Even when he was being an unreasonable asshole, I still wanted to hug him. Actually, I thought—” No, that would be crazy to admit.
“What?” Zeke urges while tipping his head closer to mine.
I inhale deeply, and Zeke licks his lips as if he can still taste me. I can definitely still taste him. “I thought he reminded me a little of you.”
Zeke jerks his head back and chokes out, “What?”
All I can do is shrug when words fail me. I can’t believe I just admitted to thinking about him while reading a romance novel. Silently, I pray he finds it as awkward as I do and changes the subject, but no such luck.