Nicole Edwards - Zane

“I missed you,” she said.

“And?”

“And what? Isn’t that enough?” V started to turn away from him, but he reached out and grabbed her arm.

“What else? Tell me.”

“What about you?” V sounded defensive. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re thinking?”

“I love you.” The words sprang out without conscious thought. They were exactly what he’d been thinking, but maybe not right then. Those three words had been tumbling around on his tongue for quite some time now. He just hadn’t known he was going to say them to her. He felt them. Every single syllable was etched into his heart, echoed with each beat, but he had some self-preservation. Or so he thought.

“You do?”

That wasn’t what he expected from V. A denial, maybe. An argument, definitely. V was always trying to tell him what he was feeling and so far, she’d always been wrong. This had never been about sex with her. Not since that first night at Jaxson’s party. And not one single minute since. He loved her.

“I love you.” It was like all other words had vanished from his vocabulary. He only knew those three, and he would have to repeat them over and over until she believed him.

“I love you, too.”

Zane grabbed the counter. He hoped he was subtle, but he doubted it. Those words were like a sledgehammer to his heart, knocking the breath from his chest.

“You do?” Now it was his turn for confirmation.

“I do. I’m pretty sure I’ve loved you all along, but I didn’t want to believe it.” V took a step closer, and Zane wondered whether this was the same woman he’d gotten to know these last few months.

“But you believe it now?”

“I know it’s true, yes. I knew the minute I got to my mother’s house that I couldn’t run from you anymore. I couldn’t run from my feelings. But, it’s never been about that. I’ve never wanted to hurt you, Zane. I just want to protect you. I wasn’t able to protect you that day –”

V’s voice faltered, and Zane moved until he was holding her in his arms, his lips pressing against hers. “I’m the one who’s supposed to protect you.”

V pulled back, cupping his face and the smooth, gentle touch of her fingers made him want things he never thought he’d want. “Not true. I’m supposed to protect you just the same. I want to protect you.”

“The best way you can do that is to love me, V.” Zane knew that her love would be all he needed.

“I do love you. I can’t change that, but...”

Zane stopped her again. “No ‘buts’, V. Not this time. Love me. Just like I love you. It’s the only way I know how to go forward from here.” It was true. He was tired of moving backward or sideways. Even his anger for what had happened to him had been sidelined because this woman managed to fill him with so much more than the anger could ever offer. Loving her was the only thing that mattered.

“I love you,” V muttered, her lips pressing against his.

Zane lifted her onto the counter, stepping between her thighs. “Please tell me you have nothing on underneath this dress. I need to be inside of you. Right now.”

Her smile was radiant. Palming her thigh, Zane ran his hand up her leg until his fingers found the smooth, hairless lips of her pussy.

“Yes, Zane. Please.”

They were at least on the same page. He knew he shouldn’t do this here. He should carry her to her bed, make love to her properly, but he couldn’t wait. With hurried movements, he freed his erection from his jeans, sliding back between her legs. The counter was too high to make this possible, so he lifted her in his arms, forcing her legs around his waist and sinking his cock into her without further ado.

Turning, he backed her against the kitchen wall, holding her tightly, unable to move as her wet heat pulled him deeper. He groaned, dropping his head to her shoulder, burying his face in her neck as he inhaled her pure, fresh scent.

When her fingers slid into his hair, holding him closer, Zane began to press deeper, barely able to pull back thanks to how close their bodies were, but that was ok. He didn’t even need to move. Her body could probably milk a release from him just like this.

“Look at me, Zane.”

He lifted his head reluctantly, staring into those bottomless whiskey brown eyes. It was then that he saw his future flash before his eyes. Everything revolved around this woman. Every minute of happiness and pain had been spent getting to this moment in his life. This was all for him. She was everything.

“Tell me you love me,” she whispered.

Zane hitched her a little higher, thrusting in deep as he did. When she moaned, her eyes closing briefly, Zane waited until she opened them again. “I love you, Vanessa Carmichael. I love you with everything I am.”

V started pulling him closer by pressing her ankles against his naked ass, and he gave her what she was asking for. With deep, slow thrusts, Zane made love to her. It didn’t matter that they were almost fully dressed in her kitchen. This was what making love was all about. Two souls coming together, accepting one another in a way that had never happened before. For either of them.

“I. Love. You.” Zane punctuated each word with a hard thrust. His release was barreling down on him, faster than he expected. “V! Oh, God, baby.”

“I love you, Zane,” V exclaimed, her voice strained, her legs tightening around him.

V’s pussy clamped down on him, hard. Her body milking him until his release was inevitable. Pounding into her once, twice, and one final time, Zane gave himself over to her. Not just his body, or his release. He gave every part of himself to her right in that instant.

♀♂

After the two of them cleaned up, V forced Zane to sit down at her kitchen table. She’d been cooking almost since the second she walked into her house and was looking forward to a few quiet moments.

Instead of sitting in her car panicking, she forced her brain to ignore the pressing thoughts and her body to block out the overwhelming fear that she was consumed with. Once inside, she locked everything up, made sure there weren’t any notes on her refrigerator door and she’d taken a quick shower.

Since then, she had worked in the kitchen, cooking until she didn’t know what else she could possibly make. It was time she started moving forward. Just like Zane was. She had to stop living in the past, and although she knew these panic attacks weren’t entirely at bay, V was ready to rid herself of them. Counseling, as Greyson had suggested, was inevitable. While she’d been making grilled cheese – the comfort food her mother had always fed her in times like this – she’d called the number on the card Greyson had left on her refrigerator. She had her first appointment tomorrow.

While the two of them ate, V explained all of this to Zane, and he asked if he could go with her. She’d agreed to allow him to go along, but she wanted to go the first time by herself. As much as she wanted to lean on him, V knew she had to do this for herself as much as for him. He deserved for her to be whole again, just like he was.

They were doing the dishes together when there was a knock on her front door and V’s knees actually gave out. Had Zane not been standing there with her, she’d have fallen to the floor. So much for thinking ahead. Clearly she was still suffering from paranoia. It only took a second for her to get her legs back under her and she headed to the front door, not two steps behind Zane. She wanted to pull him back, put herself between what danger may lurk on the other side of her front door, but he didn’t allow it.

To her surprise, evil was not standing on her doorstep. It was Beau, and he looked like he had just run a mile.

“Are you ok?” Zane asked, pulling him inside.

“Shut the door. Give me your phone.”

While Zane continued to ask Beau what the hell was going on, Beau ignored him, grabbing V’s cell phone from her hand before she had a chance to give it to him.

“They’re both in here.”

“Who the hell are you talking to?” Zane demanded, grabbing the phone from Beau’s hand.

V watched as he listened to the person on the other end of the line, his face void of all emotion.

“Where?”

That was the only question he asked before he hung up the phone.

Zane gripped the doorknob, jerking the front door open before Beau managed to stop him. V heard herself scream his name, that same paralyzing fear surging up from the soles of her feet and extending through every one of her limbs.

“Listen here, you son of a bitch. You want something from me? I’m right here.”

V heard the indignation that dripped from every word out of Zane’s mouth and her body shook. Beau grabbed her, but she yanked out of his grasp, moving to the door.

What was he doing?

God, this couldn’t be happening again. It couldn’t!

That’s when she saw Jake. He was standing on the sidewalk in front of her house, staring across the distance at Zane. She looked around but didn’t see anyone else. Wait. There was someone. Across the street. Her eyes flew back and forth, looking desperately in all of the hidden spots to see who else was lurking there. How many did he bring this time? Could Beau and Zane handle them?

Her heart was beating so fast, she wondered if she would pass out.

“Oh, God.” She knew the words had come out of her mouth, but no one acknowledged her. Not Zane. Not Beau.

Looking past Jake at Zane’s Jeep parked on the street, she saw more feet near the tires. There were at least three people out there, including Jake.

“Breathe, V. Just breathe, honey.” Beau’s voice was strong in her ear. He was still standing behind her, both of them inside the house while Zane was on the front porch.

“Keep her inside,” Zane demanded as he moved down the step.

“No!” she screamed.

“What’s wrong, Vanessa? Worried your little boy toy can’t take another beating?” Jake’s cruel words boomed across the yard.

“I can take anything you can dish out, you bastard.” Zane kept moving forward, and V felt like she was in a glass box, watching the inevitable happen again and unable to stop it.

“Why are you in here? Go out and help him!” she screamed at Beau, trying to break free from his firm grip on her arm.

“If he needs me, I’ll be right there. I promise you.”

What was he talking about? Zane needed him now. There were at least three of them and the others were hiding this time. How many more were there that she couldn’t see? She tried to peer out the door, but she wasn’t close enough to see what might be lurking at the edges of her house.

That’s when she saw a glint of metal in Jake’s hand. There was movement, but V couldn’t tear her eyes off of the... Oh, God! Jake was pointing a gun at Zane.

“Not happening this time.”

The voice penetrated V’s brain, but for some reason, it didn’t sound like Zane. Or Jake.

That’s when she realized that the feet behind the Jeep had moved. Another gun. Only this one was pointed directly at Jake’s head, the muzzle pressed against his temple.

Gage.

Everything went black.

♂♀

The weather was eerily the same as the last time Zane was here. The sky wasn’t quite blue, but not quite gray either. A little cooler, maybe.

Ever since he heard Travis’ voice on the other end of the phone, he knew what was happening. Walking out on the porch had been a distraction he knew had to happen, only he hoped it didn’t end badly. As much as he wanted to tear Jake apart, limb by limb, Zane wasn’t willing to lose V again.

He could’ve embraced the violence racing through his blood, could’ve confronted Jake and taken his chances, but he knew that wasn’t an option anymore. As much as V wanted to protect him, he wanted to protect her even more. Every part of her. Including her heart. He wasn’t willing to take a chance that this time he might not come back. Second chances didn’t come often, and Zane wasn’t willing to ask for another reprieve.

Thanks to Travis, Zane knew exactly what was going down out front. He knew that the legs he could see near the tire of his Jeep belonged to Gage Matthews. He knew the shadow across the street, standing in the hedges belonged to Travis. He was aware that Jake was alone this time.

He was even aware that Jake was packing heat. He was taking a small risk, but he prayed he’d be able to get out of the way if Jake was to pull the gun on him. Which he did.