She stared, speechless.
“Don’t look so shocked. You were funny and ballsy and so smart, baby. God, I was in awe of you. And you were the prettiest girl in Sweetwater. Still are.”
She shook her head to try to snap out of the surprise and overwhelming happiness that consumed her. “I was gawky and awkward.”
“You were beautiful and adorable.” The loving smile he flashed warmed her from the top of her head to the ends of her toes and all the best places in between. “But Piper was also wrong. I wasn’t trying to hook up. In fact, it was just the opposite. I had to study with you, because your mother suggested it when she found out I was failing math. How could I tell your mother no? She treated me like her own son. But trust me, the last thing I wanted to do was hook up with you.”
“Gee, thanks,” she said, only half teasing.
“Come on, Wills. You were my best friend’s little sister. If anyone was ever off-limits, it was you.”
She sank back against the cushions, her mouth open. “You liked me.”
“I liked you.”
“You got hard for me,” she said with great satisfaction.
“I jerked off to thoughts of you.” He shifted his hips.
“Ew!” She smacked his arm, then bit her lower lip as she thought about it. “Really? That’s kind of hot.”
Laughter sailed from his lungs. “God I love you.” He crushed his mouth to hers, laughing and kissing at once. “I’ll jerk off for you anytime you want.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
He touched his forehead to hers and said, “Good. I never told you what you’d be doing while I was jerking off.”
He pushed a hand between her legs, rubbing her through her jeans, and she felt herself go damp. Her eyes dropped to the outline of his rigid cock beneath his jeans. “I love when you talk dirty,” she whispered, and he made a low, gravelly sound in his throat.
“Don’t tell me that.” His jaw tightened. “We’re too good at crossing lines.”
“I crossed a big line for you. Cross this one for me. Don’t hold ba—”
Her words were smothered in his demanding mouth, which was exactly what she needed to bridge the gap between the fear she hoped to leave behind and the trust she needed to move forward. He continued rubbing her through her jeans, stroking her into a greedy frenzy of need and want as he ravaged her mouth. When he used his broad chest to push her down to the couch, she went willingly, spreading her legs to accommodate his powerful hips. He grabbed her hands, pressing them into the cushion as he ground his hips in a maddening rhythm, matching every penetrating stroke of his tongue.
“I need you naked,” he said, tugging her shirt up. “I need to have my mouth on you.”
Her body quivered. “Yes,” she panted out, rising off the cushion.
He tore off her shirt and hesitated for only a second before reading the approval in her expression and removing her bra. Perched on his knees between her legs, he tugged his shirt off and tossed it aside. His eyes rolled over her face, full of love and burning with desire. His gaze traveled lower, lingering on her breasts. Goose bumps chased the heat of his stare, pebbling her nipples into burning peaks. She felt more vulnerable now than she had on the island. This wasn’t a game, driven solely by passion. This was truth and honesty twining together, bound by a ribbon of hope and trust.
“Christ, baby. Every time I look at you you’re more gorgeous than the last.” He brushed his hand over her stomach, causing her insides to clench and burn. “I can’t do this here. I want too much of you.”
He moved off the couch and took her hand, bringing her up in front of him. Her breasts grazed his chest, sending white-hot sparks darting through her veins.
With a finger beneath her chin, he lifted her eyes to his. “You’re the sweetest thing.”
“I’m your sweetest thing.”
She took his hand and led him to her bedroom, leading him away from their past and welcoming him into her future.
WILLOW’S WORDS BURNED into Zane’s mind. He’d waited a lifetime to hear her say that she was his. He followed her into the bedroom, taking in the yellow walls and white trim, distressed furniture in muted shades of blue and green, built-in bookshelves flanking the doors to the balcony, and a king-size bed with a fluffy white blanket. He took her in his arms, her soft green eyes gazing up at him with wonder and trust and so much love he wanted to fall into them.
“I’ve fantasized about what your bedroom looked like and imagined it hundreds of different ways. But each and every time, one thing remained consistent.”
“Tell me.” She touched his chest, sending lust straight to his core.
“I was always in it.” He lowered his lips to hers, breathing her in. “I promise you don’t have to be afraid.” He took her hands and guided them to the button on his jeans, knowing that even though she was telling him to play dirty, she still needed to know she had some power. “You are who I want. You are who I have always wanted.”
A sexy sound escaped her lips.
He grabbed his wallet from his back pocket and tossed it on the bed, covered her hands with his, and helped her undo the button on his jeans. He pushed them off and stepped out of his briefs. There were many dirty things he wanted to do, to say, to experience with her, but he knew she was still scared despite her plea for crossing another line. Allowing her to leave her jeans on made him more vulnerable than her, and he hoped—God, he hoped—that nugget of fear in her eyes would dissipate.
“Touch me, baby,” he said, desperate for her. “I want your hands on me.”
She pressed her hands to his chest, and her lips followed. She was shaking as she kissed his pecs and slicked her tongue over his nipple. His hard length twitched between them. Her hands moved down his back, and she clenched his ass as she sealed her mouth over his nipple and sucked. His hips bucked forward, white-hot pleasures tearing through him.
“That’s it, baby.” He wound her hair around his hand. “Suck harder. I love your mouth.”
His muscles tightened as she sucked and licked, giving the same attention to the other side of his chest. Grinding his teeth with every slick of her tongue, he rocked against her belly. “Feel how hard you make me.”
Her hands gripped his sides as she kissed a path down the center of his stomach. Then she went up on her toes, reaching for his mouth. He tugged her head back, taking her in a kiss as roughly as he wanted to make love to her. He sucked her tongue into his mouth, showing her what he wanted next, pushed a hand between her legs, and rubbed her through her jeans.
“Touch me, Z. I need you to touch me.”
“Oh, I’m going to touch you.” He kissed her softer, loving how she craned up for more. “I’m going to touch you, and taste you, and love you until the sun comes up.”