4. Holden
HOLDEN
Zara’s curled up in my bed. She’s wearing one of my shirts. It’s white, and it’s impossible not to notice the way her nipples expand and contract beneath the thin fabric. Her legs are bare. Her hair is still damp from the rain. It’s the best kind of fucking torture.
We’ve covered all of the small things. Her life. Her job. The ranch. In her responses, Zara has all but confirmed the fact that she’s way out of my league. That isn’t a surprise to me. What is a shock is the way I’m drawn to her.
I’ve never been like my brothers. I have self-control with women. I’m not ready to throw my heart at anything with legs. But Zara isn’t just anyone. She’s smart and funny as hell. The woman has me wrapped up in her every word. My dick twitches with longing, and she hasn’t even laid a hand on me.
One night with her and I’ll be a fucking goner.
This rain is going to stop. The lights will turn on and everything will go back to what it was.
I will be that one wild night on a ranch she posts about on her socials.
She will be the woman I never get over. I’m not going to do that to myself, no matter how much I want to drive her into the mattress.
I’ve been mentally pacing on the other side of the bed like a caged animal. I’ve got a book in my hands, but it’s all I can do is try to think of anything other than what she looks like in my shirt… And what I’d do to get her out of them.
Zara isn’t making it any easier, and I think she knows it.
Now she’s sitting cross-legged like she owns the place. She’s flipping through one of my paperbacks with a flashlight. Zara makes quiet little noises every time she reads something she likes, and the moonlight kisses her skin.
Her lips are slightly parted, and every time she shifts, the hem of that damn shirt rides a little higher. I lean against the headboard and fold my arms. She catches me staring, and I let out a frustrated exhale.
I shake my head at my own desperation. “I’m gonna close that curtain. Maybe we’ll actually get some sleep.
“I still can’t believe this is real. You. This place. This storm. It’s like the plot of a romance novel. You’re the broody cowboy, and I’m the sparkly city girl who has no business being here.”
“It’s something all right.”
“Oh, if only I could think of some way for two smoking hot people to pass the time.” She raises an eyebrow at me. Zara looks up at me, then lets her legs fall apart just slightly. She gives me a teasing smile that sends heat whipping through me.
“You’re not making this easy,” I mutter, crossing the room. “I’m trying to be respectful.”
Her eyes lift to mine. They are steady and sure. “Respect doesn’t mean denying what you want.”
There’s silence. Thick, crackling. And then she’s moving toward me.
It’s one step and then two, until I’m standing at the edge of the bed. Zara shifts to her knees and cranes her neck to look up at me. My dick twitches with need, and I can’t stand the tension crackling between us for another minute.
“Are you sure about this?”
She nods. “I’ve been sure since the moment you rescued me.”
She’s half joking, but still, her words do something to me. All of a sudden, I don’t want to hold back anymore.
I reach for her in an instant, ready to give her exactly what she wants. She rises up on her knees to meet me. My fingers slide into her hair as I tilt her head back. She sighs into the kiss before my mouth even touches hers. When it does, it’s fire.
Parting her lips with my tongue, I slip my tongue inside of her mouth. She kisses back with a hunger I don’t expect. It’s a flood of everything we’ve been holding back, and I lose myself in time and space. I work my way down her neck and up to her ear.
Her hands fist in my shirt. Zara pulls me closer as our mouths crash again. It’s harder this time. Desperate. Breathless. Her legs wrap around my waist and I lift her like she’s made to fit against me. Her thick thighs grip tight, and her breath comes hot and fast against my ear.
I lower her to the bed and brace myself over her. Every nerve in my body lights up like the storm outside. She runs her hands along my chest and tugs at the wet fabric clinging to me.
“Off,” she says, already working the buttons.
I tear the shirt over my head and toss it aside. Her hands are on me in an instant. She’s trailing over my chest and stomach. It’s like she’s memorizing every detail.
“You’re ridiculous,” she whispers. “Who looks like this in real life?”
“I could say the same to you.” I roam every inch of her curves, grasping at skin and planting frenzied kisses.
My hand slides down her thigh and up beneath the hem of the shirt she’s wearing… my shirt. When I find nothing underneath, I groan.
“Zara,” I say her name like it’s a warning.
Her eyes meet mine, wide and dark. “Take me.”
Something inside me snaps. I pull the shirt up and over her head in one fluid motion, leaving her bare beneath me. My breath catches at the sight of her. She’s all curves and confidence, soft skin and raw want. Zara reaches for me and pulls me down until I’m pressed against her.
We move together like we’ve done this before. Like our bodies remember each other from some other lifetime. I wrap my fingers around the curve of her waist as I line myself up with her opening.
She gasps my name when I finally push inside her, and I have to fight for control. Zara arches against me. She’s slippery and I’m desperate to push inside. I feel her breath catch against my neck. Her walls stretch around me as I rock into her.
I move slowly at first, savoring the way she clings to me. I take in the way every roll of our hips drags a moan from her lips. Her nails dig into my back. She presses her mouth to my throat.
We move slowly at first, then the tension builds. Time blurs. There’s nothing but the slick heat between us. Everything about her drives me toward the edge. The way she whimpers my name. The storm screaming outside and the storm building between us.
She wraps around me tighter. “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
“There’s not fucking chance. You're mine now,” I growl.
I thrust deeper and faster. Her hips meet mine with a rhythm that sends my blood pounding. Zara’s body racks with tremors, and she chants my name into the dark room. It takes everything in me, but I don’t let up.
When she comes, she’s shaking and breathless. Her lips are against my ear, and her walls collapse around me. I follow fast and hard, thrusting into her like she’s the only thing keeping me tethered to the earth. When I release hot streams inside of her, Zara milks me to the last drop.
All I can do is pull her closer and breathe her in like she’s the first bit of air I’ve had in years.
I can’t move. I don’t want to move. So I stay inside of her. Buried in the moment. Buried in her.