Chapter 25
“She says I don’t know her. Funny, I know exactly how she sounds when she comes.”
Zane
What’s wrong? Is she seriously asking me what’s wrong, as if she didn’t run away from me? What the fuck?
“We’ll discuss this at home.”
I capture her wrist and start for home.
“It’s not my home,” she mutters.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You live there. It’s your home.”
“Only until I can find somewhere else to live.”
“Are you…”
I trail off when I realize there are several people listening to our conversation. I notice one or two reach for their phones. I do not want to be the talk of the town. And I don’t want Sloane to be embarrassed.
“We’ll discuss this at home.” I emphasize the word home. I’ll keep emphasizing it until Sloane realizes my house is exactly where she belongs. My house with me. And my daughter. Our little family.
We arrive home within minutes. It’s a good thing the walk wasn’t long, as my anger grew with each step we took.
“Where’s Adele?”
“She’s at my mom’s while we sort this out.”
“Sort what out?”
“Why you ran away.”
“I didn’t run away. I was walking my dog.”
I stalk toward her and she retreats until her back hits the living room wall. I slam my hands on the wall, caging her in.
“You didn’t tell me you were leaving. My brothers were all here and you snuck out the back door.”
“I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Stop lying to me,” I grit out.
“I’m not lying.”
I inhale a deep breath and get my temper under control. Being mad at her is not helping things.
“Sweetness.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and palm her neck. “I know you. I know when you’re lying.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I know you always glance to the left when you lie.”
“I do not.”
“You’re doing it now.”
She huffs. “Well, give Mr. Raider a cookie. He knows my tell.”
“I know more than your tell. I know how much your mom hurts you when she’s dismissive of you and your life. I know you long for a family. I know you’re keeping your distance from me because you’re afraid I’m the same as your dad.”
She gasps, and her jaw drops open.
I chuckle and use a finger to lift her chin to close her mouth. “What did you think? I didn’t pay any attention to you?” I lean close to whisper in her ear. “I’ve had my mouth on you. I’ve tasted your sweetness. I know how you sound when you come.”
Her eyes flare and her breath hitches. “You’re not playing fair.”
“Never said I would. Now, tell me. Why did you run away?”
“I…” She glances to the left and I growl. “I don’t want to tell you.”
At least she’s being honest. “Why not?”
“It’s private.”
I should respect her privacy, but I can’t. Her reason for running away involves me. I know it does.
“I guess I’ll have to tease the truth out of you.”
“Tease?”
I press my hard length into her belly. “Tease.”
“How are you hard right now?”
“I have the woman I want in my arms. Of course, I’m hard.” I’m not telling her she’s the woman I love. She’ll run straight into the ocean, screaming for the mermaids to adopt her if I utter those words.
“The woman you want?”
“Why are you confused? I’ve made it perfectly obvious I want you.”
“We never discussed what happened. I assumed…”
“You assumed?”
“I was merely a body for you to use.”
I growl. “You are not merely a body to me. Did it feel like I was using you when I had my mouth on you?”
“No.”
“Does it feel like I’m using you now? After I spent an hour driving all over the island to find you. I had to activate the Raider family tree to search for you.”
“I wasn’t gone an hour. I would have come back eventually.”
“I wasn’t waiting for you to return. I wasn’t leaving you out there alone to stew on whatever’s bothering you.”
She practically melts in my arms. “You weren’t?”
“Nope. Now are you ready to tell me what’s bothering you?”
She studies me for a moment before shaking her head.
“I guess I’m teasing it out of you.” Her eyes flare, but I need her verbal confirmation before I go any further. “If you don’t want me to touch every inch of you, to taste every inch of you, to bury myself deep inside you, say the word now and I’ll walk away.”
“You’d walk away?”
“Yes.”
“But you’re hard.”
“Doesn’t matter. I need your consent before I proceed. Do I have it?” She bites her bottom lip. I wait. Finally, she nods. “I need your words.”
“Yes, Zane. I’m saying yes.”
“Thank, fuck,” I mutter before throwing her over my shoulder and carrying her into my bedroom. I dump her on my bed and scowl.
“What’s wrong? Did you change your mind?” She inches toward the edge of the bed but I stop her with a hand on her leg.
“I did not change my mind. I just realized I need to buy a new mattress and bedding.”
“What? You’re thinking about mattresses and bedding?”
I don’t want to fuck her on the same mattress I fucked other women on. Sloane is special. She’s my end game. She deserves more.
But I’m not discussing other women with her. She’s skittish enough. Considering her father, I don’t blame her.
“Never mind. I’m an idiot.”
She giggles. “You said it.”
I lay on top of her. “Are you making fun of me?” I tickle her ribs and she bats my hands away.
I grasp her hands and place them above her head. “Hands on the headboard.”
“Why?” she questions, but she does as I ask.
“So, I can do this.”
I grasp the hem of her sweater and pull it off. I throw it over my shoulder.
“I love this lacey number.” I trace a finger along the edge of her bra. Her breasts strain against the material. “But it has to go, too.”
I flick open her bra. “Gorgeous.”
I massage and plump her breasts. Her nipples harden but I don’t touch them.
“Please.”
“Please, what?” I ask.
“Touch me.”
“I am touching you.”
She grunts and I tuck my chin to hide my grin.
“You know what I want.”
“And you know what I want. Are you ready to give it to me?” My hands still as I wait for her answer.
“You don’t own me. I’m allowed to have private thoughts.”
Someone’s stubborn. I’ll tease the answer out of her eventually. I blow air over her breast and watch as her nipple tightens further. She moans and thrusts her chest into my face. Who am I to deny her?
I lick and nibble her flesh until she’s writhing beneath me. I latch onto her nipple and she moans hard and long.
I continue to tease her nipple with my teeth and tongue while my hand massages her other breast. She wraps her legs around my waist and rubs her core against my cock.
I still.
“Why are you stopping? Don’t stop. I didn’t tell you to stop.”
I push her legs off me. “You are not getting yourself off by rubbing against me.”
“You’re too slow.”
“Are you ready to tell me why you ran?”
She scowls. “No.”
I sigh. “Too bad. I was having fun.”
I get to my knees. She opens her mouth to complain but I press my finger against her lips. “Unless you’re telling me why you ran or moaning my name, I don’t want to hear it.”
She glares at me.
“I promise to sink deep inside you and give you at least two orgasms if you confess.”
Her eyes narrow. I guess she’s not ready to share yet.
I glide my fingers down her body until I reach her jeans. I don’t waste any more time. I unsnap her jeans and slide her zipper down.
“Up,” I order.
She lifts her ass and I drag her jeans and panties down her legs. She’s now gloriously naked for me. I pause a moment to memorize how beautiful she is. Her face is flushed, and her chest is heaving. Damn. She’s glorious. I can’t wait to watch her face when she climaxes.
I stand. As quick as I can, I remove my clothes. Sloane bites her lip. To her credit, she doesn’t speak.
I grab a condom from my bedside drawer and don it.
When I crawl back onto the bed, she opens her legs to accommodate me. “Are you ready to confess yet?”
She shakes her head.
I draw my hands up her legs. How does she get her skin this smooth? Is it her lotion that smells of strawberries?
I avoid her clit and go straight for her pussy. I sink two fingers inside and her walls convulse around me. I plunge in and out of her until her walls shake and tighten around me. She’s close to coming, but I’m not letting her come until she tells me why she ran.
I remove my fingers and she scowls at me.
“Ready to confess yet?”
She glares at me. “You’re an asshole.”
“I’m an asshole who was worried sick when you disappeared.”
“Fine. I was scared. Are you happy now?”
Not yet. But I will be soon. We both will be. “Why were you scared?”
“I realized how much I want you and it scared me.”
My heart hammers against my chest. This woman I love wants me. I knew she wanted me. We’re in this bed together after all. But she’s frightened of how much? This can only mean one thing – she cares for me.
Good. This is a start. I’ll get her to fall in love with me. But first. I’m going to show her how much she means to me.
“Hold onto the headboard,” I grumble.
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to fuck you now.”
She lifts her hands and I notch my cock at her entrance.
“Hold on,” I demand before slamming into her.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. My balls are heavy and my lower back tingles. I’m ready to come, and all I did was bury myself inside her.
Her walls ripple around me and I grit my teeth. I refuse to be a one-pump wonder. Not when I’m trying to show this woman how much I care for her.
I inhale a deep breath to get myself under control. And then I go about showing Sloane how much she means to me.