Nicole Edwards - Zane

V laughed. “You’re looking forward to being the cream filling in that little sandwich, aren’t you?”

Zoey didn’t answer, but she laughed, and then turned her attention to the door, and V’s eyes followed.

Holy shit.

V didn’t know what it was about the sight of all that masculinity as the Walker brothers piled in one after the other, but it gave her goose bumps to see it. There were four of them walking their way.

Women of all ages swooned over the Walker brothers, but V couldn’t necessarily blame them. Every one of them was over six feet tall, packed with muscle and wildly charming. On the days they were decked out in jeans and cowboy hats, like today, V was pretty sure they left women fainting in their path. She almost expected to see it now.

“What’s up ladies?” Braydon greeted the two of them with a seductive, crooked smile as he grabbed a chair and pulled it over to the end of the booth she and Zoey were sitting in.

Braydon and Brendon were identical twins and even at twenty nine years old, it was still difficult to tell them apart. The easiest way was when Braydon spoke to one of his brothers. He referred to each of them as “Bubba”, but aside from that V hadn’t figured out another easy way to decipher between the two.

They were usually attached at the hip, and, according to the rumors, many of the women in town said they gave a whole new meaning to the old jingle from that gum commercial, double your pleasure, double your fun. Considering the twins were notorious for their trail of heartbreak, the women they left behind were always known to have experienced a taste of them both at the same time. That’s the way they did things and although V had no idea why, she didn’t question it.

Of course, there was Kaleb, who V knew probably better than most of the other brothers, except for Zane, but that was thanks to Zoey’s friendship with him throughout their life. V had made it a point not to get too close to anyone, including Zoey’s friends, and she sometimes wondered exactly what she had missed out on. Kaleb was a good guy. Better than most actually.

When Zane’s hulking body folded into the booth beside her, V was forced to move over. She glared at him, but was unable to be angry with him. Having him close was beginning to be a familiar thing, even though he’d been away for several months. Despite her better judgment, V wasn’t crazy enough to push him away. Although she should. She really should.

His arm came to rest on the back of the booth, barely grazing the tops of her shoulders and V had to suppress the shiver that raced down her spine. That’s what happened when he touched her, even in the slightest, most innocent of ways. When he leveled those blazing blue-gray eyes on her, V met his stare head on. If she weren’t mistaken, there was an odd twinkle in the heated way he was looking at her. God she had missed him.

The instant that thought plowed through her brain V jerked her eyes away. She was the reason he’d been gone for so long, and she’d be smart to remember that.

“How’re you?” Zoey asked Braydon, breaking V from her weighted thoughts.

V focused on the looks passing back and forth between everyone at the table. The way the twins smiled at Zoey was so benevolent that V would have probably mistaken her for family if she didn’t know better. The way the twins had stepped up to protect Zoey all those years ago when her loser of a husband had up and gotten some girl pregnant, V was pretty sure that’s how they saw her anyway. Like a little sister.

But there was nothing sisterly about the way Kaleb pulled Zoey against him when he dropped into the seat beside her. For two people who lived together, no one would’ve known it by the way they acted when they saw one another. It was like they hadn’t seen each other for months, not hours. The amatory way Kaleb embraced Zoey, pulling her against his side and kissing her forehead made V turn away. She felt as though she were intruding on a private moment.

For a brief, irrational second, her brain wandered down an unfamiliar trail, wondering whether she ever would have that sort of love in her life. She was pretty sure she knew the answer to that, and it was a monumental, resounding no. The most she had to look forward to was an affair with Zane Walker. One that was based on extraordinary sex and nothing more.

Brendon returned to the table a minute later with four beers, handing one to each off his brothers and keeping one for himself. Then he grabbed a chair and flipped it around the way Braydon had, and dropped into it.

Watching the twins together was still a spectacle as far as V was concerned. If a man could be described as beautiful, the twins would hold that honor. It was hard to think that two rough and tumble cowboys could be anything but rugged, but there was so much charisma and grace with the twins, V understood exactly why women flocked to them when they walked in a room.

Tearing her gaze away from them when Braydon sent her a knowing wink, V found herself looking over at Zane. Now, this guy was rugged in every sense of the word. With a day’s worth of stubble on his strong jaw, and his black Stetson low on his forehead, hiding his beautiful eyes, he exuded that mysterious charm he was known for. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling. The man was delicious.

“You’re beautiful when you smile,” Zane whispered in her ear, low enough that only she could hear. Another chill raced down her spine at the words. She couldn’t even say thank you, she was so taken aback. Zane wasn’t quite as much of a player like most of the Walker brothers, but he did have his fair share of women in his past. As far as she knew, there was never anything serious though.

“How’s the bachelorette party planning going?” Braydon’s question shook V back to the present.

“It’s coming along nicely.” V returned his conspiratorial wink. She and the twins were devising a plan to have the bachelor and bachelorette parties in Vegas, although she was getting a considerable amount of resistance from Zoey, but she knew it was only for Kaleb’s benefit. “How’s the bachelor party coming?”

“As long as grumpy over here doesn’t overrule us, we’re set.”

V looked at Kaleb, waiting for his response.

“Oh, hell no. We are not doing this in Vegas. Are you in on this too?”

Before V could answer Kaleb’s question, Brendon chimed in, “Vegas would be kick ass, and you know it. Seriously, bro, we’re doing this in Vegas.”

Kaleb looked at Zoey, and she just smiled. V knew for a fact that Zoey was all about partying it up in Vegas. Neither of them had ever been, and they figured now was the perfect time.

“You’re in on this too, aren’t you?” V watched as Kaleb’s eyes sparkled when he looked down at Zoey who was answering his question with a guilty smile.

“What about you? What do you think?” V asked Zane, hoping to distract herself from the longing that was still churning deep in her stomach.

“I think it’s a great plan,” Zane offered, glancing from V then over to Kaleb. “Come on, bro. We need some excitement in our lives.”

The table was quiet for a bit as they all stared back at Zane like he had lost his mind. He might’ve been out of it for a while, but surely he knew that they had all had more excitement than they cared to have when he was attacked.

“Oh, let it go,” he barked, the blue of shaded his eyes turning dark with anger. “Let’s put it behind us and move on.”

Easier said than done, V thought to herself. They’d lived the horror of not knowing whether Zane was going to live or die for six long days. Then, when the doctor’s said that he would wake from the coma, it would just be a matter of time, they’d all held on to hope. And yes, here he was, just like nothing had ever happened. Well, except for the subtle changes she had noticed in recent days. There was something different about Zane. Something darker, angrier, but he was managing to cover it up with a new, more than positive, outlook on life.

V wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

♂♀

Zane watched his brothers, and he took note of their irritation with him. He was well aware of the hell his family had been put through for the last few months, and if he could go back and change it, he would. Since he couldn’t, he just wanted to put it all behind him. It was time to move forward. With a new outlook on life, Zane wanted nothing more than to spend each, and every day going after what he wanted.

He’d get his revenge on Jake when the time was right. For now, he couldn’t sit around with a black cloud of fear or anger looming over him, or wondering what was waiting around the corner. He’d had a couple of nightmares since the attack, and he was pretty sure those were what made the anger burn brighter. There would be payback, he didn’t doubt that. Zane just wasn’t going to waste his time looking for Jake. He’d wait until Jake came to him.

Right now, he was too busy wanting the woman sitting next to him –in a bad way – for anything else to matter.

When the table grew quiet, in true twin fashion, Braydon and Brendon busied themselves by checking out the women in the bar, and within a minute or two, they were up and off. There was a group of women in the corner flirting dangerously with the twins, and Zane knew his brothers wouldn’t be able to resist.

A second after that, Kaleb was dragging Zoey from the booth, saying something about dancing. Zane had to laugh as the two of them moved expeditiously to the small dance floor in the corner of the room. It was apparent that they had all abandoned Zane and V for a reason, and part of him was grateful to them. He hadn’t spent nearly enough time with her lately and having her all to himself had become one of his priorities.

“So...,” V began, spinning her beer bottle in her hands, picking at the label.

“So?” Zane dropped his arm around V, pulling her into his side and leaning down close to her. He knew his cowboy hat shielded their faces from any prying eyes in the room. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered.

“Missed me?” V laughed.

“Yes, missed you,” he confirmed, keeping his voice low. “So much that I’m ready to sneak you into the bathroom and have my wicked way with you.”

“Such a sweet talker you are,” V replied, a smile tilting her supple lips.

God, he missed those lips. He wanted to feel them wrapped around his dick. For months, Zane had spent day and night with his memories, and most of them were flooded with visions of V doing naughty, wanton things to him.

Turning so he fully blocked her from anyone else’s view, Zane tilted her chin until she had no choice but to look up at him. “Yesterday was just a tease for me, V. I want to bury my tongue in your pussy and make you scream my name.”

He felt her body shudder, recognized the flash of excitement in her warm brown eyes. She liked when he talked to her like that, he knew she did. V might pretend to be prim and proper while they were out in public, but he had learned just how naughty she really was.

Sliding his hand down the front of her neck, he continued until he brushed the back of his fingers over her nipple, feeling it pebble beneath his touch. “You like that idea, don’t you, baby.”

Zane wasn’t doing himself any favors teasing her like this. His cock was rock hard, and his jeans were damn tight, but he couldn’t help himself. “I’m tempted to slide my hand beneath your skirt just to feel how wet you are,” he told her, watching the way her eyes closed briefly and she licked her lips. “You’d like that wouldn’t you, V?” Gripping her chin more firmly, he waited for her to open her eyes. “Tell me.”

Her eyes fluttered open, but she didn’t look away. He could see the anticipation in her heated gaze. Vanessa Carmichael was a naughty girl at heart, but she very rarely let herself get out of control. He’d seen it though, so he knew it was possible. Zane was bound and determined he was going to make it happen again.

“Or maybe, I should just sneak you out to my Jeep and let you ride my cock. How does that sound?”

Her sharp intake of breath, followed by a low moan told Zane he was positively affecting her. When she slid her hand down between his legs, rubbing his aching cock through his jeans, he damn near lost it. They were in the middle of Moonshiners, with remarkably little privacy between them, yet she was daring to tease him back.

“Tell me, V. What do you want?” Zane knew where this was leading, and he needed her to make the call. All she had to do was say the word, and he’d drag her somewhere with a little more privacy and give them both what they needed. “You want me to take you in the bathroom? Or in my Jeep?” He knew he couldn’t leave the question open ended, so he was now giving her a choice.