Chapter 24 Dare
TWENTY-FOUR
DARE
He looked so ethereal, sleeping in my bed, naked and vulnerable, so close I could feel the heat of his body as if it were my own.
I'd forgotten what it was like to be in this position.
To have another warm body next to me. A body I knew up close and personal.
Someone who'd seen me at my most vulnerable as I'd seen them.
I watched him for what felt like hours. I couldn't get enough of him.
The memories of our night together poked at me, unwilling to let me forget how intimate we'd been, unwilling to let me forget how good he felt to hold and kiss, or the fact that his load was still inside me.
The thought alone made me hard, but I distracted myself by running my fingers in circles all over his body and watching his skin react under my touch.
It felt almost alien. This. Here. Him. It had been so long since I'd been with someone, it felt like a part of me that had been sleeping was just starting to wake up. A part of me I'd forgotten existed altogether.
It was so beautiful to be reacquainted with that side of me, but I couldn't help the terror pulsating in my gut ready to pounce and debilitate me. I couldn't help it.
This was exactly why I'd avoided personal relationships all these years.
To keep the fear that had eaten me when Wyatt abandoned me at bay.
Somehow I'd still ended up in one. But I couldn't back away now.
I couldn't walk away. I didn't want to. I needed to see this through.
I was already invested. Try as I might to deny it, I was in love with him.
Not just the idea of him. Not just the fantasy.
Him. The real him. Scars, imperfections and all.
Walking away now would make me no better than Wyatt, especially if Zach was in love with me too.
Walking away was no longer an option.
His eyes flickered and he stretched his hands with a yawn before he turned to me with a smile.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," I said back.
He narrowed his eyes and put his hand on my cheek before leaning into me for a soft, tender kiss that made me breathe a little easier.
"You okay?" he asked.
I nodded.
"I'm still here," I said. "I didn't run."
Zach pursed his lips into a sad smile and stroked my cheekbone with his thumb before kissing me again.
"You didn't," he whispered.
I took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes.
"I hate that I ran out on you. That I gave you the cold-shoulder."
He shook his head and took a deep breath.
"It's okay. You've more than made up for it. You did."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." He planted a kiss on my forehead and fell back on his pillow. "Have you been up long?"
"A while," I said.
"What time is it? Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked.
"You're very pretty when you sleep." I shrugged.
Zach's eyebrows knotted in the middle, and he leaned back to glare at me.
"Only when I sleep?"
A chuckle escaped my lips before I could stop it and I leaned into him. It was my turn to kiss him.
"You're pretty all the time. Every waking moment," I told him, practically growling, and pulled him into my arms.
He laughed and climbed on top of me, sitting on my limp cock and setting me on fire with a simple touch and a chaste kiss that promised more.
"You keep saying stuff like that and I may just have to fuck you again," he said.
I bit my lip and grabbed him by the back of the neck, pressing him onto me.
"Yes please, sexy. I need you inside me again. And again, and again, and again."
Zach touched my forehead with his and nuzzled his nose against mine.
"That can easily be arranged," he whispered and dragged his hand across my chest and belly, stealing my breath away with every inch he covered.
He gazed into my eyes and drove his lips to mine. His tongue immediately probed for access, and I opened my mouth to give it to him as he wrapped his hand around both our cocks and rubbed them together.
My stomach clenched at the first stroke and tightened even more the more he stroked us. Something rumbled inside me and crawled out of my throat into a guttural moan, like a desperate plea or a secret prayer that Zach consumed with all his might.
With each tug, I got a little more primal, a little more needy, a little more uncontrollable and it wasn't long before I was sweating and groaning, hungry for more. Hungry for him. Hungry for release.
Just when I thought I couldn't take anymore, he let go of my lips and descended on me, planting kisses on my chest and stomach until he trapped me in his mouth.
His fingers slipped down my taint and between my ass cheeks and I was so out of breath, so close to coming undone that all I could do was try my darndest to breathe and stare at the ceiling.
The tips of his fingers breached me at the same time he swallowed my cock.
I stilled, unwilling to let anything break this moment.
Wanting it to last for as long as physically possible.
As he curled his fingers inside me, I clenched my hole tighter and he groaned.
I reciprocated when he nudged my prostate with the tips of his fingers and I braced myself for a mind-blowing orgasm when there was a loud knock.
It sent Lookah into a barking frenzy, and I sank back into the bed, all tension and promise of a pleasure gone in an instant.
"Whoever it is, I'm killing them, no questions asked," I groaned and Zach pulled himself off me.
His absence felt like a blanket getting yanked away from me, exposing me to the freezing cold. I wanted to pull him back into bed and let him work his magic on me, but he was already pulling his pants up by the side of the bed, so I begrudgingly followed suit.
"To be continued," he stated before leaving the bedroom.
"It better be," I shouted after him and sighed.
I tried to find my sweater from last night, but it seemed to have disappeared, so I grabbed another one from the drawer, put my pants on and joined Zach in the main room.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Autumn said from the kitchen, pouring coffee into a mug that she passed onto Zach, then filled one for herself.
"Hey," I grumbled.
Autumn was taken aback.
"My, my, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." She giggled and when I reached for the mug of coffee she'd just poured, she pulled it protectively close to her chest.
"I didn't, but not giving me my morning coffee won't help matters," I told her and she stepped away from the coffeemaker.
Everyone stared at me as I poured a cup, added some sugar and cream and took my first sip.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing. We're just waiting," Zach said.
"Waiting for what?"
"For the coffee to do its thing and make you less of a grump," Autumn said.
I frowned.
"Well, that won't happen any time soon, Autumn, considering you interrupted the best morning sex session ever known to man."
"Dare!" Zach exclaimed.
Autumn gasped.
I simply shrugged.
"What? I'm just saying. Don't expect any miracles."
"Oh my God!" Zach planted his face in his hands, and I took some pleasure in seeing him get all shy and embarrassed when moments ago he was about to pound me like a champ.
"Oh wow," Autumn said. "Is this the real Dare? Because if so, I like him."
"The real Dare?" I huffed.
"Yeah. You've been friendly but monosyllabic since I've known you. I assumed it was your personality. Now I realize you were just sex starved."
I chuckled and took another sip.
"I want to kill myself," Zach mumbled into his hands.
I ignored him and turned to Autumn.
"What brings you here?"
She raised an eyebrow.
"I came to pick up the pies. Don't tell me you forgot about the pies?"
I grimaced.
"I did forget about the pies. So sorry."
She smirked.
"It's okay. You were busy. Clearly." She wiggled her eyebrows and Zach groaned.
"Stop it. Both of you," he said and his face reemerging to glare at us.
Autumn approached him and put her arms around him. She gave him a squeeze and said, "I'm just glad you finally got some. You've been lusting after Dare for months now."
"How do you know he's the one that got some?" I mumbled in my coffee cup and Zach gasped.
And was it my imagination or did his cheeks turn a slightly darker shade.
Autumn stared at me and pressed her lips together.
"That was TMI but also, congratulations guys. Regardless of who's getting dicked down."
I raised my hand and the evil glare Zach gave me made me choke on my coffee.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
Autumn inhaled and shook her head.
"Still can't believe that's the same Dare I've known for a year and a half now," she mumbled. "So. Pies? When?"
"I'll start working on them now. I'll drop them off later."
"No need. I'll pop by again when they’re ready. I've got it."
"It's fine. Really."
Autumn forced a smile on her face and let go of Zach.
"No. Really. It's okay. I'll come pick them up. No need to go you out of your way."
I frowned.
"Why are you being weird?"
"No reason." She shook her head.
Zach looked at her and narrowed his gaze.
"I can come by. I mean I'd love to get out of the house and have a nice Joey burger," he said.
"Honestly, guys. I am fine picking them up. You don't need to worry," Autumn insisted.
Zach bit his lip and raised an eyebrow.
"You know, don't you?" he asked her.
"Know what? Me? Know anything? I don't know what you're talking about." She giggled. "Ergo, no. I don't know a damn thing."
It was my turn to glare at her. She was being awfully weird about it. And now she was babbling.
"She knows," I huffed.
Zach nodded.
Autumn burst into an awkward laugh and tried to deny it again.
"Me? What would I know anyway?"
"About Wyatt and me," I said.
She laughed again. Then she stopped abruptly and pressed her lips together.
"Yeah. I know."
"That's weird. Did he tell you? He doesn't tell anyone."
She shook her head.