Chapter 10
10
The longer Zach knew Tovah, the harder it was to stay away from her. In class, for appearance’s sake, he maintained his distance. After hours, in their own neighborhood—nothing was going to keep him from coming after her.
As the days wound down on the calendar, December 10 th , seemed farther and farther away. Halloween had come and gone, as had midterms. Once again Tovah had blown the curve and made a hundred on the test.
On the first Monday in November, he came home and found a note from Jaelee on his door.
Hey Zachie- Just stopped by to see if you were up for it.
He shook his head and went into the house. After throwing the note in the trash, he made some coffee then headed over to see what Tovah was up to. Her car was in the drive, so he was certain she was home. Their neighborhood wasn’t really within walking distance of any shopping, which was another reason he liked it.
Tovah answered the door with her phone to her ear. “Grandma, Zach’s here. Call me back when you get the particulars from the doctor. Love you.”
She ended the call, a breathtaking smile on her face. Damn, did he ever want to kiss her.
“Good news, I take it?” He stepped inside the house and looked around for Trixie who was nowhere to be found.
“Yes, Grandma is being released either tomorrow or Wednesday. She’ll still need to do some physical therapy as outpatient, but nothing she needs to stay at a facility to do.”
Even as he was excited to hear that Miss Rose was returning home, his throat wanted to close thinking the change of circumstances might mean that Tovah moved away. “Are you staying to look after her then?”
“Oh, yes. She’ll need some assistance for a few months yet.”
She started for the kitchen. “I have some baked spaghetti ready to go into the oven. You want to stay for dinner?”
Like he was ever going to say no to eating with her. Hell, he just wanted to eat her, period. Damn, was December far away or what? Only a month or so and he’d be free to pursue Tovah in earnest.
That had become his mantra over the past few weeks.
But what if she didn’t feel the same way about him? Damn, it would suck a major dick to get rejected by her. Did she even believe in fuck buddies?
No, Tovah was the type of woman to keep men in categories. One column for boyfriends. Another column for friends. No benefits between the two shall meet.
“Why are you staring at me?” A frown pulled her brows into a V and her mouth was in a kissable pout.
Zach had to restart his brain.
“If you need help with Miss Rose when she comes home, you only have to ask.” Not what he planned to say, but it was heartfelt anyways. He’d do anything for Miss Rose.
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Trixie rubbed against his leg. “There’s my girl.”
He bent down and scooped her up, cradling her against his chest. “Did you see anyone near my house today?”
The oven dinged and Tovah put the casserole in. “Yes. I didn’t call the police because she knocked on the door and left when you didn’t answer. I didn’t think that was what you meant about keeping people away?”
How to best describe Jaelee? Did he even need to? No, it really wasn’t any of Tovah’s business. At least not in the sense that she had anything to worry about where Jaelee was concerned.
“No. You’re right. She’s an old friend. Currently seeing one of my club brothers.”
Tovah closed the oven door and set the timer. “I don’t really need the details. She wasn’t breaking into the house, so I figured my business and snooping stopped there.”
Zach canted his head. A small kernel of irritation curled its way under his sternum. “You really aren’t interested?”
“I don’t think I have a right to be interested.”
“What makes you say that?” All right, he was really pushing now, but he wanted her to tell him what direction her thoughts went.
Instead of answering the question she came around the counter and moved closer to him. “What are you getting at? I have the feeling you’re fishing for something specific.”
Did he really have to spit it out?
Zach pushed to his feet, trapping her between his body and the counter. Their mouths were only millimeters apart. “I want you to tell me that it matters to you if another woman was at my house. That she wanted in my bed.”
Tovah stood her ground. “I’m not your girlfriend. I don’t have a right to let it matter. You are a free agent.”
“No. Damn it. I haven’t been free since you moved in here.” Zach ran a finger up from her belly over her chest, between her breasts and over the notch at the base of her throat. Her pulse beat wildly under his touch. “I want you so badly I can barely sleep at night for seeing you in my dreams. Your scent is in my head and I can smell you on my clothes even when you haven’t touched me.” He moved closer to whisper in her ear. “I want to bury my face in your pussy and eat you until I’ve drowned in you.”
A small moan came from her throat. “Zach.”
“December tenth, baby. You’re mine and I’m going to give you the ride of your life.”
She grabbed a handful of his shirt. “I want to kiss you so bad, but I won’t be the cause of you breaking your rule about students. Your sense of integrity is so fucking sexy.”
“God, woman. You’re killing me here.” He backed up a bit to get lost in the fire of her eyes. They were heavy lidded and smoldering pools of emerald. Hard nipples made knots behind the nap of her long-sleeved t-shirt. Jersey had never looked so good. “Put your fingers in your panties. I want to see if you’re wet.”
The sound that came out of her was caught somewhere between a laugh and a moan. “Oh, God. I can promise you; I’m soaked.”
Zach braced his hands on the counter to keep from touching her. “Please.”
Tovah held his gaze as she slid her hands under the waistband of the form-fitting yoga pants she wore. Her eyes slid closed, and she bit her lip on a moan.
“Mmm, that clit is sensitive, isn’t it?” he ground out.
“Yes.”
“Rub it for me.” The command was low, more of a growl.
Her eyes widened slightly. “Zach?”
“Please, baby. I want to see you come for me.” Desire nearly choked him. “If I can’t touch you, I at least want to be in the room when you touch yourself.”
Tovah’s hand moved back and forth under the fabric of her pants. Zach nudged his hips forward, each time she moved the back of her hand slid over his erection.
As she got into it, her hand worked faster until she came apart with a moan and his name falling from her lips.
Shit! He wanted to taste her. Go down on his knees and rip her pants down and slurp all those lovely juices from between her legs.
When she lifted her eyes, she said, “Your turn.”
Tovah studied Zach’s face. Passion and indecision warred in his eyes.
“I shouldn’t have started this.” His breathing was labored, and chest rose and fell in a quick tempo. “I’ve skirted ethics as much as I can.”
“Quite the hair split, yes?” Tovah waved the hand she’d used to pleasure herself in front of his face, letting her scent paint the air.
Zach closed his eyes and muttered a curse, even as his fingers went to work on the button of his jeans. He reached inside and pulled out his hard shaft.
“Pump it nice and slow.” Feeling daring, Tovah leaned forward to whisper in his ear, hot and intimate. “Think about my lips wrapping around you, taking you all in.”
Zach moaned. He lowered his head. The movement of his arm brushed back and forth over her breast. Tovah moved closer.
“Think about me cupping your balls and rubbing my thumb back and forth over them.”
“Let me see your breasts.” His voice savage with the demand.
She crossed her arms and pulled her shirt over her head. Embarrassment bloomed, putting heat to her cheeks. The bra she wore could best be described as serviceable. Being a woman of considerable curves, her undergarments were industrial but not beautiful. Not sexy in any sense of the word.
Zach’s gaze burned hotter if that was even possible. “You look like a 1940s pinup girl. So, fucking hot.”
Tovah threw her hair over her shoulder and reached behind her to unclasp her bra. It gapped at the front, and she pulled it down the rest of the way, exposing herself to him.
“Oh, yeah.” Zach’s gaze moved over her, his eyes darkening. “You’re so beautiful.”
His hand began to stroke faster. Breath came harder. “Touch your breasts.”
She did one better and mashed them together and bent lower. The hard points of her nipples stuck out between her fingers. She came a hair’s breadth from touching the head of his cock.
Zach’s gaze burned into her, making her feel reckless. Uninhibited. She did a slow slide of her hands over her breasts and down her body, then tucked her hands under the waistband of her pants and pushed.
“Ah, fucking Christ! Sit on the stool and open your legs for me. Let me see you.”
Tovah took a deep breath, then did as he asked. She opened her thighs, exposing every inch of her femininity to his hungry gaze.
Zach let out a long moan. “Fuck, yes.” He covered the head of his cock as he shuddered.
The lines of his face softened, and the tension left him. Zach bent his head and buried his face in her hair. “I’m going to have to wash my hands then take a nap.”
Tovah let loose with a throaty laugh. At that moment the oven timer went off. “Go wash your hands. I’ll get dressed and take dinner out of the oven. You can nap after you eat.”
Slowly, he pulled away from her and looked toward the bathroom. “It feels wrong washing jizz down the sink in your grandma’s house.”
Tovah picked up her t-shirt from the floor and shooed him away with it. “She’ll never know.”
Zach walked to the bathroom off the kitchen. In his absence, Tovah hurried into her clothes, not bothering with her underclothes, then went to turn off the timer. Into the quiet that followed, she took a breath.
What in the hell?
How had things gone from sitting at the bar talking to watching each other get off? What a strange and wonderful progression.
At no point in her life had she ever done anything so over the top. She was a strict vanilla girl. Up until meeting Zach. Now, she wanted to do all the things she’d thought forbidden.
And maybe that had been her problem all along. She hadn’t lived. Hadn’t embraced her sexuality to the fullest.
And yes, Zach sure as hell skirted his ethics and split all the hairs, but he was the one who had to live with it. Not her. Still, seeing him get so turned on was worth the uncomfortable moral dilemma.
Tovah washed her hands and then pulled the dish out of the oven. She got plates from the cabinet and set places on the bar.
Zach came out of the bathroom and sat on the same stool he’d vacated earlier. “Are you all right?”
The question brought Tovah up short. She set the forks on napkins beside the plates. “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. That was a pretty intense encounter. I want to ensure you’re okay.”
Warmth spread through her. How many men worried about their partners after sex? It had been her experience that they rolled off, turned over, and either left or fell asleep.
The fact Zach said he needed one spoke more to the fact he’d been standing up while jacking off, rather than blatant disinterest. Right?
Tovah set the hot dish on a trivet and put a spatula next to it. “Do you want to serve, or do you want me to?”
“I made you get yourself off, the least I can do is dish up dinner.”
Tovah canted her head. “You didn’t make me do anything. I did it because I wanted to.”
“Thank God for that.” His gaze did a slow walk up her body. “You really are spectacular.”
Heat filled her cheeks. “Thank you.”
They ate in relative silence. Only speaking every now and then. The silence was comfortable, and not the least bit awkward. If it hadn’t been breaking the rules, she’d have asked Zach if he wanted to spend the night.
Sleeping only.
The temptation would no doubt prove too much.
No, better to part ways after dinner and wait until December 10 th to delve deeper into the developing relationship. If this was in fact a relationship.
“What are your plans for Thanksgiving?” Tovah asked on a whim and mainly to keep the conversation light.
Zach rubbed his jaw. “I have standing plans that I can’t cancel.”
That was all he said. No elaboration or filling in the big blank.
“All right.” Tovah put a bite of the casserole into her mouth and chewed slowly. She wasn’t going to ask, but curiosity burned through her. “Feel free to drop by for coffee and dessert in the evening if you want. It will only be Grandma and me.”
He winked at her. “Thanks. I just might.”