8. Zane
Chapter 8
Zane
W atching Tessa eat pasta should not be this erotic. But every twirl of her fork, every delicate bite, every time she licks her lips—each action drives me insane.
"More wine?" Our waiter appears, and I nearly growl at the interruption.
"No." My voice comes out rough. "The check."
Tessa raises an eyebrow over her glass, making sure the waiter hears her loud and clear. "But we haven't had dessert."
The way she says it—all innocence except for the wicked gleam in her eyes—snaps my last thread of control.
“We're getting dessert somewhere else." I throw down my credit card without looking at the bill.
"Are we now?" She takes another deliberate bite, letting the fork slide slowly from her lips. "And where might that be?"
"You know exactly where." I lean forward, keeping my voice low.
"Taking me home so soon?" she teases, but I catch the breathiness in her voice that betrays her attempt at composure.
"If I don't get you out of here right now," I growl, watching with satisfaction as she shivers at my tone, "I'm going to do something that'll get us both banned from this restaurant.”
"Like what?" Her eyes sparkle with challenge as I help her from her chair. Always pushing, always testing my control.
I slide my hand to her lower back, pulling her close enough that my lips brush her ear. "Like bend you over this table and show you exactly what those little glasses of yours have been doing to me all night.”
I feel her knees weaken slightly against me. "That's… quite the visual," she manages.
"Just wait." I let my lips ghost across her ear, loving how she trembles against me. "I have so many more things I want to do to you."
Her sharp intake of breath is deeply satisfying.
I sign the check blindly, already sliding the card back into my wallet. I extend my hand out toward her. "Coming?"
"Not yet," she murmurs, and I nearly choke. She slowly slides past me with deliberate grace, brushing against my body. "But I have high hopes for the evening."
The drive to my penthouse is torture. She keeps crossing and uncrossing her legs, letting that dress ride up. Keeps adjusting those damn glasses. Keeps testing my limits.
I break at least three traffic laws getting us there.
"Nice place," she says as we enter the elevator. I barely even give her time to glance around the lobby… She squeaks as I push her against the wall.
"Enough games." I brace my hands on either side of her head. "You've been driving me crazy all night."
"All night?" She hooks a finger in my belt loop, pulling me closer. "Try all decade."
"Tessa—"
"No more talking." She rises on her toes, breath warm against my lips. "Just?—"
I kiss her before she can finish, pouring ten years of pure unadulterated desire into it. She responds instantly, wrapping her arms around my neck as I press her harder against the wall. When her legs come up around my waist, I groan into her mouth.
The elevator dings. I carry her to my door without breaking the kiss, somehow managing to get my key in the lock. As soon as we're inside, she's pulling at my sweater.
"Off," she demands. "Now."
I comply, then reach for her dress. "You too."
"Do it."
The challenge in her voice hits me low in the gut. I spin her around, slowly lowering her zipper. "Last chance to run, baby girl."
She turns back to face me, letting the dress fall. The sight of her in a black lace thong and matching bra steals my breath. Her heels remain on her feet, her pink nipples visible through the lace design of the bra. "I'm done running." She backs toward the hallway. "Bedroom?"
Instead of answering, I follow, catching her around the waist and pulling her close. "You have no idea how long I've wanted this." I trail kisses down her neck. "Wanted you." We stumble down the long hallway, her back against the wall, my lips desperately trying to cover every inch of her warm skin.
"Show me." She pushes me onto the bed once we enter my room, climbing into my lap. My hands slide up her thighs, grabbing two handfuls of her perky little ass. "Show me everything."
I slide her bra straps down her shoulders, pulling the cups from her body. Her hands tangle in my hair as she gasps, her head falling back as my lips wrap around her nipple.
“More,” she groans, her hips beginning to slowly grind back and forth. My cock strains against my slacks.
“Fuck, baby, I want to give you more.” I reach down between us, unzipping my pants. Her gaze drops down, her hands reaching for my belt to assist. But before I can free myself fully, she’s sliding down between my thighs, her hands resting on my knees.
“Allow me.” Her voice with those big eyes right now, she could make angels weep. Her delicate fingers reach inside, wrapping around me and pulling me free. “Ohh,” she gasps when her fingers fail to touch around my girth. Her eyes look up at me, her lips parted in surprise and it makes me chuckle.
“You had to have known a man like me was going to have a big cock, sweetheart.” I reach my fingers beneath her chin. “Think you can handle the challenge of a big, thick cock down your throat?”
“I think the question is, Mr. Mercer,” she says, leaning forward to slide her tongue slowly up my shaft, swirling it gently around the tip and making my thighs start to shake as I moan. “Can you handle lasting longer than thirty seconds when I put your big, thick cock down my throat?”
What follows is better than any fantasy. And no, I didn’t last more than thirty seconds because after about twenty seconds of her taking me deep and slow while doing that thing with her hand, I’m tearing her panties from her body.
“I’ll buy you new ones,” I grunt at her protest when the thong falls into a shredded pile of thread on the floor. I know I should be gentle, make sure she’s ready, but ten goddamn years are pulsing through me right now and I can’t wait another second.
“Oh God.” She winces, her eyes squeezing shut as her hands dig into the flesh of my ribs.
“Too much?” I keep my movements small, her pussy stretching slowly to accommodate me.
“Don’t fucking stop,” she pants, her wetness growing by the second. “Kiss me.” She claws at my chest like she can’t get close enough to me and I know the feeling. Before long, our fingers are intertwined, my hands pinning hers above her head as I move in and out of her.
It’s intense… too intense. I can feel my chest beginning to tighten, emotions I’m not ready to deal with rearing their head. The reality of Tessa—her taste, her sounds, the way she says my name—puts every dream to shame.
“Need to fuck you,” I grit, pulling out and flipping her to her belly. I grab her hips, tugging her backward until she’s up on her hands and knees. I don’t bother easing her into it. I slide my cock right back into her, gripping her hips as I begin to quicken my movements, pulling her back hard onto my cock over and over again.
Our moans and the sound of our flesh slapping together fills the room as her walls begin the clench around me.
“Oh yes, Tessa. Milk my cock, baby. Just like that. I want to feel you come,” I bark. My hand grips the back of her neck, her body convulsing as she orgasms. It sends me over the edge with her. My body stiffens as I collapse on top of her, emptying myself inside her.
When we finally collapse together, breathing hard, I can't stop touching her. Can't believe she's here, in my bed.
"You okay?" I brush her hair back from her face, taking in her flushed cheeks, swollen lips.
"Better than okay." She snuggles closer, pressing a kiss to my chest. "Though I think you ruined me for other men."
"Good." I tighten my arms around her. "Because I'm not letting you go." She props herself up to look at me, suddenly serious, and I freeze. “At least for tonight,” I add with a smile, hoping it lessens the seriousness of the statement. I want more but I also know it’s the incredible sex I just had with her talking and I’m not a deliberate asshole. I don’t want to say something I don’t mean. I watch her expression and it falters briefly.
"Mmm." She sighs, settling back against me. "I like the sound of that."
Outside, snow begins to fall. But here in my bed, with Tessa warm in my arms, I've never felt less cold.
"Stay," I whisper into her hair.
She lifts her head, smiling that dangerous smile that started all this. "Careful, Mr. Mercer. Someone might think you're falling for me.”
I don’t say anything back. I want to. I want to say I fell for her a long time ago, but I don’t. She shifts against me, her breathing evening out as sleep starts to claim her. I trail my fingers along her spine, memorizing every inch of her skin like I'm afraid she'll disappear if I stop touching her.
"You're thinking too loud," she murmurs against my chest.
"Just wondering how long you've secretly been planning all this, young lady."
She lifts her head, those blue eyes still sparkling even in the dim light. "Your downfall again, you mean?” She smiles. “That's quite dramatic, Mr. Mercer."
"Is it?" I roll us so she's beneath me, loving how she fits perfectly under my body. "You show up after all these years, take over my thoughts, make me question everything I thought I knew about myself…"
"And that's a bad thing?" Her fingers trace patterns on my chest.
"It should be." I capture her hand, bringing it to my lips. "I don't do this, Tessa. I don't let people in. I don't let them see past the walls."
“Why not?”
I sigh. “You know why. The same old story everyone has. Boy meets a girl who breaks his heart and bam, he’s jaded and forever alone.”
“One girl and that’s it? You don’t believe in love or whatever anymore?”
I stare down at her, knowing it’s bullshit. “No, it was multiple but I was too stupid to realize that they were using me, so I let myself get hurt.”
"But you let me."
"You didn't exactly give me a choice." I kiss each of her fingertips. "You just… walked right through them like they weren't even there."
She smiles softly. "Maybe they weren't. Not for me."
The truth of her words hits me hard. Because she's right—those carefully constructed walls, the ones that keep everyone else at a safe distance, they've never worked on her. Even in high school, she saw past them. Saw me.
"Tell me what you're thinking," she whispers, reaching up to smooth the furrow between my brows.
"That I should be terrified right now." I lean down, brushing my lips against hers. "That this should feel dangerous."
"Doesn't it?"
"Yes and no." I kiss her again, deeper this time. "It feels… right. And that's what scares me most because there’s so much to lose."
She wraps herself around me, pulling me closer. "Then let it be right. Just for tonight."
"What about tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow we can figure it out." Her legs tighten around my waist. "But right now? I just want you."
Her words ignite something in me—something possessive, something primal. I capture her mouth in a searing kiss, pouring all my confusion, all my want, all my fear into it.
She responds eagerly, her nails dragging down my back as I move inside her again. This time it's slower, deeper. Like we're both trying to memorize every sensation, every touch, every breath.
"Look at me," I demand softly, and her eyes lock with mine. The trust I see there nearly undoes me. "You're beautiful like this."
"Like what?"
"Coming apart underneath me." I shift my angle, watching her gasp. "Letting me see you. All of you."
"Zane…" Her voice breaks on my name as she arches beneath me.
"That's it, baby." I can feel her getting close again. "Let go for me."
She does, spectacularly, taking me with her. And as we come down together, as our breathing syncs and our hearts slow, I realize something terrifying. I could get used to this. To her in my bed, in my life, in my heart.
To letting someone see past the carefully crafted image.
To being… real.
"Stay," I whisper again, pulling her closer.
"I already said I would." She yawns, snuggling into me.
"No, I mean…" I trail off, not sure how to express what I mean. Not ready to admit that I want her to stay longer than just tonight. That I want her to stay… always.
She lifts her head, giving me that dangerous smile that started all this.
I kiss her again, slow and deep. Not quite ready to admit that to her or even myself just yet.
And as she melts against me, as snow blankets the city in white, I realize that, even though I’m terrified of what this is or even giving it a name, I’m not terrified of having this woman fall asleep in my arms, in my bed.