Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Damn, they needed to talk, but he didn’t want to ruin their evening. She leaned forward and ran her lips over the skin above his collarbone, just exposed by the V neck of his shirt. She followed the line of the fabric to the right while he doodled circles on her back, following her spine, vertebra after vertebra until he could dip his hand beneath the waistband of her jeans. He squeezed one globe of her ass—hard. She whimpered. He didn’t enjoy hurting someone like a sadist might, but he loved using pain to heighten a woman’s pleasure until he drove her out of her mind.
Asha roamed her hands until they found their way under his clothing and onto his chest. Her touch on bare skin was almost electric, and his cock sprang to life. He widened his feet to alleviate some of the pressure and let Asha pull his shirt over his head.
“I love your sleeve.” She stroked his right arm that sported intricate swirls, strong animals like a lion and a dragon, and dancing fire from his shoulder to his elbow in bold black lines.
“You do, hmm.” He unbuttoned her jeans and urged her to lift her butt.
“Yes, I do.” The last word morphed into a drawn-out moan when he ran his hand down the inside of her thigh—grazing the back of his hand over her dampening panties. Fuck she’s responsive to my touch!
“I want to see your pussy. Take off your panties.”
She obeyed instantly. His cock twitched and precum soaked into his jeans.
Using his body weight, he urged her to lie back. He gripped her by her right ankle and draped her leg over the back of the couch, spreading her open for his view. Not satisfied, he planted her left leg on the floor, opening her even more. Her pussy lips were a beautiful dark brown, glistering and puffy enough to expose the pink inside of her cunt. Fuck!
“You’re so gorgeous. Your greedy pussy is calling for my cock. Isn’t it?”
She nodded.
“I want to bury myself deep inside her and fuck you until you milk me dry. Will you scream for me when you get off? No one will hear you. There’s no need to hold back any sounds you want to make.”
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “I don’t scream.”
“Oh yeah, baby. You do, and you will.”
He scooted back on the sofa. It was a tight fit, but he made it work and lowered his mouth to her pussy.
Unlike the previous time, he didn’t tease. He drove her fast to her orgasm and grinned when she gripped his hair and pressed his face against her crotch when she came. There is the vixen in her.
He nuzzled her folds as she came down from her climax, inhaling her spicy scent as he waited for her to release her hold on him.
When she did, she mumbled, “Oh my god, I’m sorry.”
He licked his lips and teased her entrance with two fingers. “I’m not. I don’t want you to restrain yourself.” He pushed his fingers inside slowly, pulled them out and spread her juice over her lips before plunging in again. “If I don’t want you to touch me, I’ll do the restraining.” Her pussy clenched around his fingers. “She likes that, though.”
He frowned. “Sadly, I didn’t bring my toys, so we’ll take a raincheck on that bondage.” He rose and repositioned her until she was on her knees on the seat and her upper body was leaning against the backrest of the sofa.
Zane unzipped his jeans and groaned in relief when his cock sprang free.
Looking over her shoulder, Asha watched as he covered himself. As he positioned himself behind her, she pushed out her ass in invitation. Her clit burned with the aftermath of her orgasm, but it didn’t matter, she wanted him inside her badly. He gripped her hips and pulled her against his groin, rubbing his cock between her lips. She flinched when he bumped against her clit.
Asha lowered her head and rested her check against the couch. “Please,” she begged, unsure of what she was asking for.
Letting go of one hip, he swirled his cock through her folds, spreading her pussy juices around the tip.
She braced herself when he drove into her in one hard thrust. Holy mother of … He was thick and long and filled her to capacity. Like the first time, he gave her a moment to adjust, stroking her back and sides. Closing her eyes, she let the sensations take over until she softened beneath and around him. Leaning forward, he cupped her dangling breasts with both hands and started to thrust inside her.
Her nipples puckered and hardened in his hands, and her body perked up again. It didn’t take long for her to meet his hips thrust for thrust as his grip on her breasts tightened and his cock seemed to grow impossibly thick until he bottomed out, held himself rigid for a moment, and she could feel his cock spasm as he came.
His warm, wide chest settled against her back for a moment before he rocked them and flipped them over. She whimpered as he slid his cock out of her. He pulled her against his side and pressed her head in the crook of his neck.
“I could stay like this forever,” she murmured against his skin, before tilting her face to meet his gaze.
Zane’s lips curved into a soft smile before he lowered his head, capturing her mouth in a kiss. It was slow, deliberate, and full of promises. The world around them disappeared.
As she slid up her hands to frame his face, a loud alarm shattered the tranquility. Zane stiffened, sat up straight, and pulled back with a muttered curse. “Sorry baby, it’s the station calling.”
Asha sighed, the intimacy of the moment splintering as he reached for his phone. The glow of the screen lit his face.
“This is Zane.” His tone was clipped, professional, the shift in his demeanor unmistakable.
Asha stayed silent as she tried to make sense of his side of the conversation.
“What? Another one?” His voice sharpened. “Arson?” He rose to his feet, pacing near the fireplace’s edge. “Where this time?”
The person on the other end must have responded because Zane let out a low growl, raking his hair with his free hand. “A fisherman’s lodge? Dammit.”
Asha straightened, her heart picking up pace. She could only imagine what was being said, but the tension radiating off Zane was evident.
“No, it’s too dark to head back now. We’ll be down first thing in the morning.” He paused, his jaw tightening. “Yeah, I know. One time’s an incident, two is coincidental, but three? That’s a damn pattern.”
The firelight flickered across his face, highlighting the strain in his features as he listened. “Got it. I’ll touch base as soon as I’m back.” He ended the call and dropped the phone on the coffee table with a sharp exhalation.
Asha stood and rested her hand on his arm. “What’s going on, Zane?”
He shook his head, his lips pressing into a thin line. “It’s… complicated.”
She stepped closer and kept her voice soft but insistent. “You’re upset. Talk to me. What happened?”
For a moment, he didn’t respond, his gaze fixed on the dark woods beyond their small circle of light. When she figured he wasn’t going to share with her and was prepared to admit to herself that the realization stung, he sighed. His shoulders sagged as he turned to face her.
“Brace yourself, baby,” he warned her, his tone filled with a gravity that made her stomach tighten. “This is going to hurt.”
Asha’s breath hitched as he began to explain, his words unraveling the story of the recent arson cases. The dumpster behind the high school. The car. And now, a fisherman’s lodge.
Her chest tightened with every word, her pulse thundering in her ears. But it was the next part that sent a cold wave of dread washing over her.
“It’s all connected to Mr. MacCready.” Zane’s statement was heavy with disbelief. “Someone’s targeting him. Lou’s trying to piece it all together, but we don’t have much to go on. However, it has to be him. The school where he works, his car, now his lodge. It’s all just… too connected.”
It was as if the ground shifted beneath her, his words pressing down on her chest. She turned away, her hands clutching her belly as a sob built in her throat. The world blurred as tears filled her eyes, spilling over before she could stop them.
Zane wrapped his arms around her from behind, his hold firm but gentle. “Asha?” he murmured. “I’m sorry, baby. I know what he means to you. Hell, to all of us!”
She couldn’t speak, couldn’t form the words. The secrets she’d kept buried for so long threatened to consume her, the walls she’d built around herself crumbling under the weight of her guilt and pain.
Zane held Asha tightly against his chest, trying to provide a solid anchor as her sobs wracked her small frame. She clung to his arms, digging her fingers into his skin as if letting go would shatter her completely. He didn’t speak, didn’t ask questions. He simply held her, his chin resting on her head as the firelight flickered around them, casting long shadows that danced against the cabin’s rustic furniture.
He rocked from side to side in slow, steady motions, hoping to soothe whatever storm raged inside her. Her pain pressed against him like a living thing, and though he didn’t know its source, he felt it as acutely, as if it were his own.
He could only guess what had set her off—maybe the weight of everything they’d been through, maybe compassion for a man they both admired, now inexplicably a target of someone’s rage. Asha had always been empathetic, her heart too big for the world’s cruelties.
“It’s okay, baby,” he soothed. “Let it out. I’m here.”
Her tears didn’t abate, spilling freely as if years of grief and guilt were finally clawing their way to the surface. Zane’s chest ached as he continued to hold her. Her trembling began to subside, but she still didn’t loosen her grip.
When she spoke, her voice was so small, so broken, he almost didn’t catch the words.
“I thought he was trying to help me…”
Zane stiffened, the red-hot fury he’d been suppressing over the arson flaring to life again—this time for a reason he couldn’t yet place. He pulled back just enough to look at her face, scanning her eyes for answers. “Who, Asha? Help you with what?”
Her lips quivered, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. “MacCready. It started just before the finals. I— I thought he wanted to help me get into the university.”
Zane froze, instinctively tightening his grip. A tidal wave of disbelief and confusion crashed over him. “What are you talking about?”
Asha shook her head and turned in his arms. Her hands trembled as she pressed them against his chest. “It seemed so innocent at first.” Her voice cracked. “Hugs after study sessions, rubbing my shoulders when I was bent over my books. I thought… I thought he cared, that he believed in me.”
Zane grew cold, the pieces of a puzzle he hadn’t even realized existed snapping into place. His mind reeled, trying to reconcile the man he’d admired with the predator Asha was describing.
“He was grooming you,” Zane said, his voice low, laced with fury he barely kept in check.
Asha flinched but nodded, her tears coming faster now. “I didn’t see it at first. I was so focused on school, on making my parents proud. He told me I was special. That I had a bright future. And then—” She buried her face in her hands.
Zane’s jaw tightened as he made fists at his sides. This was it—her secret, the reason she’d run from Peaceful, from him. The goddamn bastard. He wanted to roar, to throw something, to tear the man apart with his bare hands. But Asha’s pain kept him grounded, kept him focused.
“How far did he take it?” Zane’s voice shook with the effort it took to stay calm.
Asha sobbed harder, her words coming in fractured pieces. “He—he cornered me on prom night. I was returning from the bathroom, and he… he said I owed him for all the help, that I shouldn’t waste his efforts. When I said no, he—he wouldn’t stop…”
Zane closed his eyes, his breath hitching as a fresh wave of rage tore through him. His chest felt like it might explode, but he kept his grip on her steady, cradling the back of her head with his hand. “You didn’t owe him anything,” he said fiercely. “Not then. Not now. Never.”
Asha’s sobs quieted, but she still trembled in his arms. “I ran,” she whispered. “I ran, and I never looked back. I couldn’t—I couldn’t face anyone. Not after that.”
Zane’s stomach churned, and he ground his teeth as he forced himself to stay present. “That goddamn bastard,” he growled under his breath. “How many others, Asha? How many girls did he hurt the way he hurt you?”
Asha shook her head. “I don’t know,” she whispered, “but if he did it to me…”
The unspoken words hung between them, heavy and damning. Zane’s mind raced, the full weight of the revelation crashing over him. MacCready—the man he’d trusted, admired, respected—was a goddamn rapist. And the thought that others had suffered the way Asha had, that some might still be suffering, made his rage incandescent.
He tilted up her chin with his index finger, meeting her gaze, fierce with conviction. “You’re not alone anymore. We’re going to make this right. For you. For anyone else he’s hurt. I promise you, Asha.”
Her tears spilled over, but this time, she nodded, clutching his shoulders as if drawing strength from his words. Zane pressed his forehead to hers, his own tears threatening to fall as he whispered, “We’ll get through this. Together.”