“I’m not talking about sex, Zane,” V huffed, backing up another step, her hands going to her hips, her eyes blazing with frustration and what he sensed was anger. “Fucking you has never been the problem.”

Fucking him?

Zane’s body hardened at the same time something else took root deep in his soul. Something that told him whatever this was between them wasn’t just about sex. Even if V wanted to believe that.

“Then what’s the problem?” He was getting irritated now. “Are you scared, V? Scared that fucking me might turn into something more?” Taunting her, he continued, “Scared that I might just be able to get past that impenetrable outer shell?”

“No!” V stormed away, presenting Zane with her back.

“That’s what it sounds like to me, baby. Sounds like you can’t handle fucking me because you’re scared there might be something more between us.”

There already was, but Zane didn’t say that out loud. He knew how far he could push her.

“You’re delusional, Zane Walker. Maybe you should go back to the hospital. I think the doctors might’ve overlooked the severity of your brain damage.” V turned abruptly to face him again.

Zane laughed, and that earned him a death glare. God she was so damned bewitching when she looked at him like that.

“Honey, I think you already feel something for me.”

“Bullshit. You’re just a baby, Zane. We might have fun between the sheets, but that’s all it is.”

V’s reference to his age, specifically the difference between them, only pissed Zane off more. He hated that she used that as an excuse. She’d tried it one other time, and if he remembered correctly, she’d been sprawled out beneath him in ten seconds flat, begging him to let her come.

He was twenty four, almost twenty five, and she was just barely thirty. Fuck, he wouldn’t care if she were forty. What Zane felt for her, he’d never felt for anyone else, and he wasn’t about to let her get by with throwing whatever this might be away because of a few measly numbers.

“A baby?” Zane stalked her across the room until he pressed her into the glass partition that enclosed his bathroom. He didn’t stop crowding her until he was crushing her between his body and the cool glass at her back. “That’s not what you were screaming when I had my dick buried inside of you.”

Zane leaned in closer, his mouth hovering above hers as he waited for her response. Her sharp inhale, along with the full body shiver, told him exactly how much he still affected her.

“Was it?” Letting his lips brush lightly over hers, he waited for V to push him away.

She didn’t.

And that told him all that he needed to know.


♀♂


What the hell was wrong with her? Why did she knowingly push him like that? Zane wasn’t the kind of man to back off freely, and she had found exactly what it took to push his buttons. With the warmth of his body pressed against her, V knew she should be pushing him away, knew she should race right across the room, throw open his front door and run. Never look back.

For the life of her, she couldn’t seem to do it. Just like the very first time her eyes met his, there was a kinetic energy that shifted between the two of them and she couldn’t force herself to move away. Zane stole her breath and her common sense with just a smile. When he actually touched her, it was even worse.

In fact, V was positive she had never met a man as capable as Zane of causing her to drop her defenses as quickly as he caused her to drop her clothes. He was like a drug, impossible to resist once she’d had a taste of him.

And as for their age difference, V didn’t give a shit about it at all, but it was the only tangible thing she had to hold on to; her only justification for putting distance between herself and the one man capable of breaking her heart. Never would V let that happen. Not after what she saw her mother go through.

Her mother and her wandering ways had taught V one valuable lesson: never rely on a man to fulfill you. As she had seen time and time again, no man had ever satisfied her mother, yet Regina continued to ruthlessly pursue them in hopes of finding the one who would. V just figured if she never started, she’d never be disappointed.

This man threatened all of her carefully erected walls because she wanted him more than she wanted anything else.

“It’s not going to work, V.” Zane’s words broke through the haze of lust that was clouding her thoughts.

“What?” V felt as though she missed a vital part of the conversation.

“Trying to push me away is only going to make me come after you more.”

One thing she had learned about this man, he didn’t say things he didn’t mean. He’d been pursuing her for about a month before he was attacked and she’d tried to push him away. He didn’t listen; always coming back for more, no matter how cruel she was with his feelings.

Whatever he thought this was, it wasn’t. What was happening between them was nothing more than a highly reactive proclivity to lust. It was one hundred percent physical reaction between two people who were attracted to one another, spurred on by some wild and impassioned urges. Oh, and pheromones. Yes, definitely those too.

“What do you want from me?” V asked the question although she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.

“Everything.” The way Zane articulated each syllable had V’s pulse soaring. The way he looked at her like she was everything and then some made her wish that there actually could be something between them. The fact was, they came from different worlds, and she wasn’t so sure that there was a way for them to meet in the middle.

Now, if he were talking about sex, V could see the potential in a short term fling with him. The man inspired orgasms with just a tilt of his head, and V could attest to what he was capable of doing with his mouth. Anything more than that was out of the question, and she didn’t want to lead him on.

“You think that somehow sex is going to make me fall in love with you?” She let the words drip with her incredulity.

“Baby, you keep saying that word like that’s all you want from me,” Zane grinned and V was damn near blinded by the intensity of his beautiful smile.

“That’s all you have to offer me, Zane,” she whispered, trying to sound convincing.

“That’s what you think. Give me a chance, V. Stop trying to push me away at every turn. All I need is a chance.”

“You don’t need to prove anything to me,” V said honestly. She knew just how real he was. She’d experienced just how incredible it felt to be in his arms. She also knew just how devastated she would feel when it was over.

“Maybe not, but I need to possess you. All of you.” Zane’s mouth was brushing against hers with every breath he took, every word he spoke.

Fuck. She was a goner, and she knew it. She couldn’t get another word out if she tried. He wanted to possess her? V knew exactly what he was referring to. He’d mentioned it before. She had seen a glimpse of his dominating side on more than one occasion, and she had a feeling he knew how worked up she got because of it.

She found herself leaning closer to him, although she knew she was supposed to be pushing him away. She was taunting him, daring him to kiss her. If nothing else, at least she could get lost in the kiss and forget about all of the emotions this man stirred inside of her.

Thankfully, Zane stole her ability to think anymore.

He crushed his mouth to hers, the evidence of his desire pressing intimately between her thighs. When his strong, warm hand slid down the back of her thigh, then behind her knee, she knew there was no more fighting him. The only thing she needed was his touch for her brain cells to stop functioning properly.

Holding her leg against his thigh, V welcomed him by pressing her hips against his. She was trapped between his muscular body and the hard pane of glass at her back, unable to move in any direction and for some strange reason, V found comfort in his touch. Zane controlled her movements, controlled every ounce of her pleasure by the way he took his time with her. If she had learned anything, it was that he wasn’t a man to rush through anything.

When his lips scraped against the side of her mouth, down her chin before trailing down the side of her neck, V tilted her head to the side, giving him better access. She reveled in the warmth of his body, the strength she could feel in every move he made. Having extraordinarily limited experience due to not having been with many men in her life, V was still thoroughly convinced that no one compared to Zane.

“I’ve missed you.” Zane’s raspy words tickled her senses and had her thrusting her hips against his more firmly, trying to increase the friction against her clit. “Tell me you haven’t missed me, V.”

She couldn’t speak, much less lie to him. She’d missed him more than she was willing to admit to herself.

“Tell me how much you’ve missed this, and I’ll give you everything you want. I’ll bury my tongue in your sweet pussy and make you come with just my mouth. You want that, don’t you?”

More than she wanted water or air or any life sustaining substance. Not having known his touch for the last three months had been hell. Having it now was like a sudden plunge into warm water, her body was overheated, and her nipples pebbled, her skin sensitive and aching for more of his touch.

“Tell me, V,” he growled as he nipped her shoulder, pulling the loose collar of her sweater down as he went. She wanted him to rip her clothes from her body and ravish her the way only Zane could.

“I’ve missed this.” She managed to say the words, trying hard to sound normal and not entirely out of her mind with desire. “But I don’t want strings, Zane. It can only be sex.”

Zane’s chuckle sent throbbing need directly to her clit. The deep, dark rumble of his voice made her even crazier with lust. “If that’s what you want, then yes.”

Why didn’t she believe him?

His mouth began moving back up her shoulder, his hand sliding up to cup her head as he lifted her face until their eyes met. “But until we decide otherwise I want all of you. No holding back, V.”

She wasn’t sure she could give all of herself because up to this point, she’d already given him more than she should have. He was putting fissures in that hard shell she’d wrapped around her heart, and she knew that any time spent with him would only increase her chances of falling for him completely.

But what else could she do? This was the only way to prove to herself that she didn’t need him. Sex and love were two different things, and she feared she was already beginning to confuse the two.

“All right.” Before she was prepared for them, the words escaped. But once her acceptance was out there, V realized there was no turning back.

Zane pressed his mouth to hers forcefully, taking everything he wanted and giving back tenfold. His tongue was cool, and he tasted like mint and man, and she couldn’t help herself. V pulled his head closer to hers, tightening her fingers in his hair as she tangled her tongue with his, licking him, tasting him, taking everything he had to give her. His taste, the strength in his touch, the sleek texture of his skin had her aching to be naked beneath him.

“I need you, V. Right now,” Zane growled as he broke the kiss, his hand still holding her face, his thumb brushing her cheek while the other lifted her leg higher on his hip, his erection grinding between her thighs.

She nodded, unable to speak.

Removing her hands from around his neck, she hurriedly fumbled with the button on his jeans, anxious to take what he was offering without having to think anymore. She lowered the zipper and pushed the denim down just enough to free his thick, heavy erection.

He didn’t let her go, one hand still squeezing her leg, the other splayed across her neck, the crook between his thumb and index finger tilting her head up so she was forced to meet his gaze.

“Pull your panties to the side,” he growled, piercing her with those glowing blue gray eyes. He didn’t pull away; he shifted his hips back ever so slightly so she had room to maneuver.

Unable to refuse him or herself any longer because her body remembered what this felt like, how he overwhelmed her senses, how he pushed her higher than she’d ever known before, V did as he instructed. She eased her panties out of the way, using one hand to guide his thick cock to her entrance before he took over, slamming inside of her.