Chapter Twenty-Two
Zachary
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I’d managed to keep myself under control until now, but having this woman bared in front of me, wearing only her lace panties...
I was a red-blooded man; I wasn’t made out of stone. Without any warning, I kissed her the way I’d wanted to since I picked her up that morning—wet and deep. I cupped one breast, teasing her nipple with my thumb. It went taut beneath my touch almost immediately. Her gorgeous body was made for me and only me. I refused to believe it ever responded to anyone else the way it did to me. I ran my other hand down her back and then cupped her buttocks. She rose onto her toes, putting both arms around my neck.
Yes. Oh fuck, yes.
I kissed her until I was so hard that I had to stop touching her long enough to get rid of my pants. It wasn’t enough to simply lower the zipper and open the button to release the pressure. I wanted them out of the way. Looking her straight in the eyes, I pushed my pants down, then my underwear too.
“Your mouth is red,” I told her. “I fucking love it.”
She covered it slowly, then looked down at herself and back up at me.
“Always surprising me,” she said with a grin. “Then again, I did kind of cause this by getting lost in my dress.”
I groaned. “I was on the verge of coming in here even before that just thinking that you were taking your clothes off.”
“I want to do this.” She put her hands on the lowest button on my shirt and worked her way up. “You look so sexy with this shirt and these cuff links. I can’t believe I didn’t see them until now. They suit you. You should wear them more often.”
I tilted my head. “I’m not a cuff link type of man, but for you, I’ll wear them.”
Her eyes lit up as she pushed the shirt down my arms. I took off the undershirt myself, and she sighed.
“Oh, you know, this past week, I’ve been wondering if these were real or I was hyping them up in my imagination.” She trailed her fingers down my abs, then moved her mouth in a straight line from my stomach down to my navel. My cock rubbed against her neck. The contact was enough to make me groan. I was so damn hard already. “And I,” she said, sitting on her bed, which put her face-to-face with my cock, “also wondered if this was as amazing as I remembered. And what do you know? It is.”
She licked slowly from the base up to the tip. Pleasure rushed through me. Being with this woman heightened everything.
“No,” I said, taking a step back. “Right now, I want to bury my face in your pussy, Grace.”
She gasped, pressing her thighs together and looking downward. She always said that I surprised her because I moved from flirty to serious, but she kept me on my toes too. I never knew when dirty talking would elicit this reaction, or when she’d get shy. But I loved both responses. I realized I simply liked every facet of Grace.
“Zachary,” she murmured.
I inspected her bed. It wasn’t high enough, so I lifted her off it and put her on the desk in the corner.
“This is better.” I sat down on the chair at the desk, spreading her thighs wide. “Put your feet here.” I patted my thighs.
She did just that, and I pulled her ass to the very edge of her desk. She moaned even before I put my mouth on her. She was already wet. Instead of starting with her clit, I dipped my tongue inside her, curling it once, twice, three times. Grace’s body undulated beneath me. Then her shoulders turned forward and backward. She grabbed the edge of the desk with one hand and my hair with the other. My woman wanted to ride my face, and I loved it.
I kept moving my tongue inside her, applying pressure on her clit—first with the tip of my nose and then with my thumb—until I felt her clench around my tongue. Making this woman come was one of my pleasures in life. In fact, it was at the very top of my favorite things to do.
From this position, I had a view of her gorgeous breasts, but I couldn’t see her face. That was fine. This wasn’t the only orgasm I planned to give her today.
With my tongue buried inside her, I was aware of every single reaction to everything I did to her. When she came, I knew she needed space to move, so I pulled my head back, but I kept my thumb on her clit. Her ass came off the desk as she planted her feet deep on my thighs.
“Zacharyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!” Her orgasm was beautiful. The skin on her entire torso turned pink. She squeezed her breasts with both hands as she put her ass back on the desk. I rose to my feet and entered her in one swift thrust.
“Grace!” I groaned.
Pleasure unlike anything I’d experienced filled me—and torture, too, of course, because I was desperate to come already. Feeling her wrapped around me like this was enough to satisfy me for a split second.
“Zachary, here?”
“Yes. I’ll fuck you right here on this desk, Grace. Do you have anything against that?”
“No,” she whispered as I pulled back and slammed in once more. I lifted her knees, keeping my hands under them. That changed the angle and made her roll a bit back.
“Oh my God, that’s even deeper,” she murmured.
I threw my head back, giving in to all of my instincts and needs. I wanted her to know exactly how badly I needed her. There was no reason to hide or pretend.
I knew I could go in deeper, but not on this desk. I took Grace in my arms and put her at the edge of the bed in a similar position as before. Only now she could comfortably lean backward, which she did without my even needing to say a word. That was how in sync we were, and it was fucking amazing. I slammed in balls deep this time.
“Fuck, Grace,” I exclaimed. “This is so good.”
She started to cry out my name, but she couldn’t even manage that before I slammed back in again. She rewarded me with a moan.
I forced myself to stand up straight so I could look down at her. Watching her enjoy it was just as much part of the pleasure as driving my cock inside her was. When she came close, I changed tactics, pulling out and rubbing the length of my cock over her clit.
“Oh God. Oh God. Zachary, what are you doing?” Her voice shook. Hell, even her breath seemed to shake.
“I’m working you up, beautiful. I want to see you come.”
“But I want—”
“Oh, I promise I’ll drive inside you the second you do. I will. I wouldn’t miss feeling your pussy tighten around my cock for any reason. The world could be ending and I’d be right here with you. Nothing could stop me from making you come.”
She moaned again and then fell completely onto the bed with her arms spread wide at her sides. Then she grabbed both breasts. I knew she was about to come before she even cried out my name, so I slid back inside her, far slower than before. She was already pulsing like mad, getting tighter and tighter. With every inch I managed to push in, I lost sense of control over myself even more.
I was right there with her as my own release caught up with me, and I didn’t hold back one bit. Not my groans, not the way my body moved. I was at her mercy now, just as much as she was at mine. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
***
After I’d cleaned myself up and dressed, I waited in her living room while she finished doing the same. A few minutes later, she peeked out from the bedroom.
“You’re awfully silent.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Want to come in and help me put on my dress?”
I groaned. “Grace, why are you tempting me like this?”
“Because it’s so much fun. What do you want to do today?”
“I haven’t planned anything.” Once she disappeared into the room once more, I added, “All I care is that we do something together.”
“Did you know that the wine and food festival is taking place this weekend?”
“I didn’t.” I was certain that at least part of my family was attending. My grandmothers went religiously every year, and usually so did Chad, since he ran a restaurant.
Grace came out wearing a casual white dress. It was very long, almost brushing the floor. She looked amazing in it.
“It could be fun.” She wrinkled her nose, jutting a hip to one side. “Although... what if I run into other unpleasant people?”
I immediately rose to my feet, heading to her. “I’ll put them in their place.”
She licked her lips, smiling. She was so relaxed around me, always smiling. “You would, wouldn’t you? I liked how you told them to fuck off.”
“And I liked how fierce and strong you were.”
Emotions swirled in her eyes. “You think I’m strong?”
“Hell yes. You ended a shit marriage at the same time that your family was involved in that scandal. Yet you came out on the other side as a winner.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” she murmured.
“You’re a fighter. That makes you a winner in my book.”
“That’s an interesting way of looking at things.”
I kissed her forehead and then her temple. “You’re very strong, Grace, and I admire that about you. But we don’t have to go out to the festival if you don’t want to.”
“No! I refuse to cower and not do the things I enjoy just because someone could decide to walk up to me and be rude. I can handle anyone.” Her shoulders slumped. “I wish my parents would understand that as well. They keep to themselves.”
I frowned. “But you said your father reimbursed people.”
“He did. I thought that once that happened, the family would be in the clear. If not forgiven, at least no longer shunned. But I think some people just feel angry because they were fooled by my brothers.”
“Then let’s not waste any more time talking about that. I think it’s just going to take some time until wounds heal in the city, Grace. That’s all.”
I admired this woman with every fiber of my being: her fight, her optimism. Everything about her simply mesmerized me.
Since I never went to the festival, I didn’t know where it was, but Grace knew where everything was throughout the city.
“I actually found out because I saw some posters about it right here in the warehouse district,” she said. “Why don’t we just stay in the area?”
“Whatever makes you happy, Grace.”
Her eyes widened. “You really mean that?”
“Fuck yes. Of course I mean that. If staying in the area makes you happy, then that’s what we’ll do. If you want us to head to one of the other locations, then we can.”
She stepped in front of me, putting her arms on my shoulders. “You’re charming me more every day.”
“That’s exactly my plan,” I whispered in her ear.
She shuddered. “Oh, it’s an actual plan, huh?”
“Not really. And if we don’t get going, it’s going to end up with us in bed again.”
Grace laughed, but then we did leave her apartment. Two blocks away from her building, there was an entire street closed off to traffic for the day. It was filled with all sorts of stands that sold cheese and wine mostly, but there was plenty of other food, too—specifically seafood.
She was grinning, glancing around at every stand.
“I like how happy this place makes you.”
She looked over her shoulder. “I missed these kinds of events when I was married. My ex absolutely abhorred everything that was public. He thought it was beneath him. Then again, so did my brothers and a lot of people I went to school with.”
“Most of the people I went to school with had that exact same attitude to festivals.”
I liked that we were both different from the people we grew up with. Both our families were. Being affluent financially didn’t mean you had to be an asshole.
“All right. Well, I’m actually still full of food,” Grace said, and she actually sounded regretful.
I started to laugh.
She raised a brow. “You’re mocking me?”
“No, you’re adorable,” I told her and meant it.
“I would like to try some of that wine.” She pointed to a selection of reds at the cart in front of us.
“Want us to work our way from the lightest to the strongest one?”
She nodded. “What an excellent idea.”
I took her hand and walked with her up to the cart. I looked at the menu he was offering.
“We’ll take the Expert Tasting,” I said. It was the most comprehensive option.
Next to me, Grace giggled. I kissed the side of her head again. I couldn’t stop touching and kissing her. I could practically feel her joy vibrate through her.
“Do you promise to not let me get drunk?” Grace asked, serious all of a sudden.
I narrowed my eyes. “You want me to promise that after I just asked for the expert option?”
“You’re right. Then promise you’ll take care of me if I get too drunk.”
“You can count on that, Grace. I’ll always take care of you.”
She grinned. “Then let’s do it. Let’s get good and drunk.”
“I wonder if we’re going to run into my family,” I said, looking up and down the street.
“Oh, they like to attend festivals?”
“Half my family comes to this one every year, but there’s no telling at which location.” I paused, then asked, “By the way, how would you feel about having brunch with my family next Saturday?”
Her eyes widened. “Wow. I mean, sure, I’d love it. Are you sure it’s okay with... I don’t know, me being a Deveraux and all that?”
“I think we’re way past that, Grace. Besides, my grandmothers are big fans of yours already. That translates into the whole family liking you.”
“Even though they haven’t met me?”
“The LeBlancs and Broussards work in strange ways.”
She smiled. “Then I can’t wait to meet them.”