Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
GEORGIE
Keeper and Calum went to check something, whatever that means, so I make my way to the living room. I want to stare at the tree and turn on Hallmark. My body sighs at the warm fuzzy blanket. I curl into a ball on the couch and pull it up to my neck, snuggling in. After the last few months, I will never take for granted a warm place to sleep. My eyes are misty when I take in this house and the room. The tree is over fourteen feet tall, and it’s perfect from the star to the popcorn garland. I tear my eyes away from it when I see Zeke walk in.
He moves like the rest of them, silently, but Zeke is different. Calum and Keeper are all cocky, expecting everyone to do as they say, but his presence is more than that. It’s required. Pulling me in so deep with no release. When I’m around him, I go willingly to his coldness. I know there is more underneath all of him and I’m desperate to find it. Or have him. I’m desperate either way.
His dress pants hug his hips while walking to me, one hand shoved in his pocket, the other holding a small blue bag. Standing in front of me, my eyes travel up to his shirt, which fits him perfectly, just the right amount of tightness across his chest.
He doesn’t offer me a smile. No movement is made as he stares down at me. I swear the energy in the room is charged around us. How does he manage to lower the temperature standing next to me, and why do I welcome the chill surrounding us? I pull the blanket around me tighter, either from my imagination about the air around us or as a shield between us, I’m not sure. Of all of them Zeke is the most likely to know I’m going to help Agent Fisher, also the most likely to burn me if he finds out the wrong way.
“Hungry?”
I shake my head and cringe when I realize I licked my lips after glancing at his arms again. He’s surveying me with his calculating gaze, and I try to hide that desperation for him. I must do a terrible job because in a blink of an eye my lips part, and his tongue slips inside them. I try to mask my gasp. Zeke is such a walking contradiction, down to the way he kisses like he’s trying to pull out my soul and at the same time give me life. His tongue withdraws and I catch my breath. Sitting back on the coffee table in front of me, he props himself up and extends his hand with the bag to me.
“What is this?” I trace the black lettering of the jewelry store of Marge’s dreams and most any other girl in the world. The white paper is neatly arranged on top of a box I can see peeking under it.
“Early Christmas present. Open it.” He has that same look he did before we made cookies, like he isn’t sure what to do. Nervous. Zeke is nervous, and it’s the cutest thing I have ever seen. This god-like man sitting in front of me, all muscles and swagger, is nervous.
It makes my stomach do a little swoop.
I pull out the paper and set it neatly on the couch. Square black velvet sits at the bottom. When I lift the lid, a round link bracelet in shiny platinum lays on a little silk pillow. Intricate charms line the circle, and I bring it closer to look. A guitar catches my eye first, then a cookie with black diamonds as chocolate chips. Guessing from the weight of the bracelet it’s real; that and the heart tag that sits opposite the Santa hat charm. The snowman, though, is bone white with three dots as a button, a carrot nose, and diamonds around the hat.
“Do you like it? You don’t wear much jewelry and I didn’t know if that is because you don’t prefer it.”
I shoot out from the blanket and throw myself at him.
Zeke chuckles, an actual laugh that starts as a sound of relief but then turns genuine.
I want to keep it in my ear forever. “I love it. No one has ever given me anything so nice. It’s beautiful, but you spent too much.”
He shrugs under me like the cost of it was nothing.
It was the same at the decorator store, and a little guilt slinks in. I don’t have anything to contribute to our living situation. I hope they don’t get sick of me. My eyes sting as I try to keep them from tearing up. I swipe at my face, but he remains still. “I’m happy, I swear, it’s just a really sweet present.”
Zeke runs his cold fingers along the tear mark I can feel drying, then takes the bracelet carefully from my fingers, and I hold out my arm, so he can fasten it.
I pull it into my chest over my heart, which is starting to beat harder being this close to him. “It’s really pretty.”
Ice-blue eyes fix on me, and I start to squirm under his gaze.
“Mmmm.” I feel his hardness, and my hips slowly rock back and forth despite the warning my brain gives me about the last time we were this close. He doesn’t say a word, trying to give me that blank look again, but I know him now. The twitch of his eyelid is so tiny you wouldn’t see it unless you stare without blinking. The ever-so-slightly darkened pupils. I saw it when we were last on the couch all together. I tried to memorize everything about them at that moment. Zeke isn’t the only one with a watchful eye.
“Georgia, I don’t want to take from you. That isn’t the reason I gave you this.” He runs his finger on my wrist, outlining the snowman charm. He picked it because of the cookies we made. He’s my own snowman, and I’m determined to melt away his iciness.
“Then don’t. Let me take what I want from you.” My hands run across his chest, and he remains silent even as his breath hitches slightly at my touch, and I undo his first button.
He wraps a hand around my wrist, and I think he’s going to stop me, so disappointment washes through me like a cold rinse cycle, and I almost stick out my bottom lip. Instead, Zeke takes over unbuttoning his shirt. Never moving his laser focused watch. “Tell me what you want to take from me, Georgia.”
I can’t speak. His slow, methodical movements with those buttons have me hypnotized, and I can’t help but touch him. His shirt is only half unbuttoned before I slide my fingers underneath and trace the tattoo across the middle of his chest. A hollowed-out skull with a snake slinking through one socket. It fades out onto the right side of his chest, which is covered with more tattoos in all shades. The images twist into each other. From far away it may look like some type of pattern, but this close, I can see the detail in each picture.
I am dying to ask him what they mean. Did he pick them on purpose? Does each one have a meaning? His body is so perfect he could have put an image of a taco above his heart, and I’d still be just as wet. On that note, I squeeze my legs together. He sees my squeeze and continues removing his shirt, and when he reaches his pants and starts unzipping, I lean back. I never understood the appeal of male stripping, but watching Zeke, I get it now.
Please take everything off.
“Georgia, you need to tell me exactly what you want. That’s the only way we are going to do this. I won’t be the one pushing or demanding, only giving.”
Zeke needs me to spell it out for him, making sure I’m getting everything I want. He wants reassurance of consent. Damn, that is hot.
“Zeke, I want to come. Sit on the couch, and let me ride you until I do.”
He shoots up lightning fast and pushes his pants down. Dang, he’s as big as I remember in my lust-induced haze from our time together. When he moves his heavy dick slaps against his stomach, and I stare at the vein on the underside with a hunger on my face that should be embarrassing. I am going to have to be careful here. Zeke needs my words, and I can’t get caught up in silence staring at his dick.
He waits for me patiently.
I stand and throw my shirt over my head and slip my pants off, so I stand in nothing but a bra and the bracelet.
“Fuck, no panties?” His tone stays even, but I can see that mask of control slip ever so slightly, and I am desperate to destroy it.
“Nope.” He licks his lips when I reach around and undo my bra from the back, letting it slide down my arms and drop to the floor. His head tilts to the side in assessment when I stand between his legs. He hasn’t reached for me yet. I’m in charge here.
“You can have whatever you want, Georgia. Just ask.” He strokes his cock with my favorite smile on his face. The one that tells me he knows I like what I see, as if I had any choice but to like everything about him.
“You want a Christmas tree, done. Blood spilled, done. Share my brothers, done. Whatever it is, it’s yours, but you have to fucking name it.” His words are similar to Keeper’s when he told me to demand what I wanted. The meanings are different though. Keeper wants me to feel strong and safe, while Zeke needs the reassurance that he isn’t taking advantage of me. He won’t. I want him like crazy. Even the gray parts swirled into his icy exterior. Pushing a finger between the lips of my pussy, I coat it with my wetness. I play with myself under his watch, then pull out my finger and hold it up for his inspection.
“You, Zeke, you make me this wet. It’s you I want, so let me have you.” Feeling brave and dirty standing in front of him, I rub my wet finger down my chest and circle my nipple.
He tugs his cock harder with a groan before letting out his next order. “Take what you want. Take my cock in that needy pussy. I recognize the lust on your face now. Come sink down on me and see if that helps relieve it.” And he thinks he’s an asshole, but here he is being considerate of how needy I am.
I push myself above him after putting a knee on either side of his legs. He lines his dick underneath my entrance and moans when my lips stretch over his thick head. Despite all the sex I’ve been having, it burns taking him inch by inch at a painstakingly slow pace. Partly due to his size and partly because I want to drag it out, make Zeke break with his need for me. He moves his fingers like he’s considering yanking me all the way down, but instead balls them by his sides, reminding himself that this is my show. I would be more than happy for him to flip me over and ram into me, but I know what he needs.
“Words, Georgia.”
“Needy. So full of you it hurts but I want more. Kiss me.” Staying still, I give my body a chance to mold and stretch to his length.
“Breathe, Georgia.” He glances at my chest, looking for the rise and fall, so I force air into my lungs.
I’m able to exhale when he pushes a loose lock of hair from my face before kissing me. I melt into him like a freaking ice cream on a summer day. His kiss has my insides turned to goo.
He pauses the intrusion of my mouth. Zeke is controlled, almost rigid, except for the fire in his irises. He wants this as bad as I do.
“I’m ready to move now,” I tell him, and Zeke watches his cock slowly slide out of me. I sink down just as slowly as the first time, which is both torturous and satisfying. A sigh slips from my lips when I’m seated and his tip hits my cervix. He moves my chin down and his thumb runs over the corner of my lip, and I know he’s memorizing the lines around my mouth, searching for what he thinks he doesn’t understand. I wish he would trust the connection we have. He doesn’t trust himself with me, but I do. “So good, we’re a perfect fit,” I tell him, and I feel tears building. Not because of how stretched I am, that burn is fading, but whatever there is between us is burning too.
In a blink Zeke lifts me into the air. He moves like lightning, his dick still inside me. Somehow without breaking our connection he lowers me down to the rug beneath the tree.
“What are you?—”
Zeke gives me a warm kiss while he slowly rocks into me. He trails his hand across my jaw, so icy it’s burning.
“I’m a quick study, Georgia. I can feel your heart beat at the same time as mine. See everything you were saying in your eyes, taste the unsaid words on your tongue.”
“Then don’t make me wait anymore.”
Zeke settles as far down as he can, and I lift my hips up to give him access. That slight movement breaks the last of his resolve, and he pulls out before slamming into me. I’m so close to the edge it won’t take long. We stay silent but Zeke’s frozen eyes never leave mine. I swear he would saw me in half if he thought it would help him understand my every thought better. He keeps up his pace, and I feel that deep build in my gut begging to be released.
I’m so wet, the slick sounds of the two of us fill the room. He slides his tongue in teasing mine. This is the closest to anyone I’ve ever felt, and that thought sends me to oblivion. My inner walls clench, and obscene noises escape from my mouth. He sucks in every sound with his lips, and I let him. I said I wanted to take from him, but I didn’t mean it. He can have every part of me willingly. When my body quits shaking, I’m covered in sweat. Zeke stills and spills into me with a whisper of my name. Under my eyelashes, I see his face. Happy but spent.
“God, Georgia, you are so fucking incredible.” He stays inside me but rolls to the side to keep his body weight off me.
“That was perfect.” Tears trickle down my cheeks, but it is not sadness or happiness.
“You are crying.”
“It’s not bad, I felt it, too, what you said about our heart beats as one. Just perfect.”
He doesn’t say anything and doesn’t pull out of me either. Instead he arranges me on top of him and slides a hand over my hair.
I stare at his gorgeous face under the lights of the tree until I doze off to sleep.