Zack (Armed and Dangerous Book 1) Page 9

  Cold prickled Zack’s insides as he continued staring at Sky, suddenly not knowing what to say or do.

  Her green eyes glittered with moisture right before a tear rolled down her cheek. “Goddamn you, Zack Hunter. I loved you.” More tears followed the first as she yelled, “I. Loved. You.”

  For a moment he didn’t know what to say. Ten years ago she’d told him she loved him, but he hadn’t let himself believe her. But the way she said it now, the hurt and anger in her voice—it was like a punch to his gut.

  A wash of pain hit him like a tidal wave, for what he’d done to Sky. And to himself by leaving her. “God, I’m sorry.”

  Zack knelt in front of her rocking chair. He reached for her hands, but she folded her arms across her chest and looked away. “Save it,” she said, her voice shaking. “Just go home.”

  He leaned forward and slipped his hands behind her back, drawing her close to him and pressing his face into her hair. “Listen to me.”

  She tried to shrug him off, still hugging her arms tight to her chest.

  “I’m the world’s biggest ass.” His gut churned from the strength of his pain for having hurt Sky then and now. He drew away, caught her chin in his hand, and forced her to look at him. “I’m sorry.”

  “That’s supposed to make it all better?” She closed her eyes while more teardrops slipped from beneath her eyelids. “I loved you so much,” she said in a voice hoarse with pain.

  All this time lost. Goddamnit. I’m a fucking idiot. He stroked her wet cheek with his thumb. “I was young and stupid.”

  “What do you mean, was?” She opened her eyes and tried to pull away from his touch as he rubbed his thumb across her cheekbone. “You’re still stupid. You’re still an ass.”

  “I know.” Zack slid his fingers from her face into her hair and lowered his face. He kissed her forehead and drank in her orange- blossom-and-woman scent. “Can you forgive me for then? And now?”

  When he drew back, her eyes met his. “I don’t know.” She wiped the back of her hand across one of her cheeks. “I can’t afford to lose my heart over you. Especially not to you. You’ll just take what I have to give and leave me again. Disappear into the sunset, or whatever.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” He brought her head against his chest and squeezed her to him. “And I intend to make up for every lost minute.”

  Sky didn’t know what to think. How to feel.

  Except for the fact that no matter what promises Zack made, she wasn’t about to give him her love again. Been there. Done that. Had the boot prints on her heart to prove it.

  “Come here,” Zack said, and somehow she couldn’t protest as he gently scooped her out of the rocking chair.

  He carefully moved her with him onto the couch so that she was sitting on his lap. She winced as pain shot through her ankle when he arranged her foot on the couch and he frowned. “You okay?”

  She nodded and he brought her tighter into his embrace and held her close. She sank against him and let out a shuddering sigh. He felt so good. So, so good with his hard muscled body cradling her softer form. And the scent of him. Warm, masculine, spicy.

  Despite the fact that she planned to keep an emotional distance, she wanted him. Wanted more than his arms around her—she wanted him inside her, too. Rocking in and out in a steady rhythm as he took away every bit of the pain of their loss and replaced it with the love she knew they could never have again.

  Chapter 12

  For a long moment Sky’s breath caught as Zack’s gaze held hers. His gray eyes seemed to drink her and his expression was hungry.

  He brushed her hair away from her cheek with his thumb and the gentle touch sent a shiver through her. Slowly he skimmed his fingers along her jaw, down the curve of her neck, continuing on until his palm rested above her breast, right over her pounding heart.

  Sky barely noticed his bruises as her gaze moved to his firm lips. She could almost feel the imprint his mouth had made on hers twice since he’d come into the barn and back into her life.

  She breathed in his scent that was an aphrodisiac to her senses. At that moment she could practically taste him on her tongue, feel his hard body against hers as he took her and his cock thrust deep inside her core.

  Zack’s lips were inches from hers, but he didn’t move closer. He just studied her as if looking for answers she couldn’t give.

  Right now she’d give him anything. Anything but her heart.

  God, she had to have him if only for now.

  Sky raised her free hand and fire flashed in Zack’s eyes as she drew him to her. Tingles spread through her belly and she gave a low moan that was like a soft purr as their lips met.

  He groaned as he held her close and she sank farther into him as they tasted one another. It was so incredible being with him and all that he was. Spice and man and everything erotic and dangerous. He felt so good.

  Need built up inside her like an oncoming storm. Her nipples tightened beneath her T-shirt as he moved his lips from hers and kissed her forehead, then nuzzled her hair. He started to draw back, but she kept him close by tightening her grip. His eyes turned slate gray as he studied her with hunger and need as obvious as her own.

  She didn’t know how she had endured ten years without feeling his length and thickness driving in and out of her. At this moment Friday night seemed so long ago and she couldn’t have him fast enough again.

  It was clear that he was ready and willing—she didn’t even need his large erection pressing against her ass to tell her that. His expression was definitely perilous to her libido, and he gave a low growl that sounded primal and filled with need that matched hers.

  Thoughts of him taking her again made her clench her thighs together as ripples of desire traveled from her belly to her now-damp folds.

  Zack gave a throaty groan as he looked at her. “Controlling myself with you—damn, Sky. I want to be inside you. Now.”

  Sky moved her mouth closer to his. “Yes,” she said before she kissed him again. It was a demand she was more than happy to fulfill.

  The instant Zack’s lips touched Sky’s, his hunger grew, so deep and fierce he knew he’d never be satisfied.

  All he wanted was to bury himself in her as he covered her soft body with his and possessed her in every way possible.

  While clenching his hair in her fists, Sky ran her tongue over his lips. That sweet, sexy tongue that always drove him wild was now about to make him insane.

  Soft moans came from her throat as she nipped at his bottom lip. He groaned and her tongue darted into his mouth.

  Oh yeah, he had to taste her. Had to feel her. His arms tightened around her as he explored her mouth with his tongue, plunging and retreating and plunging again, showing her how badly he wanted her and what he’d like to be doing right now.

  He slid his fingers to the back of her head and took the tie off the end of her braid. He speared his fingers into her hair, unraveling her braid until a silken mass tumbled over his hands to her shoulders. He picturing them both naked, her hair like burnished copper against his skin.

  Sky squirmed in his lap as she kissed him, her round little ass rubbing against his erection. He was so damn hard the pressure of her movements and the tightness of his jeans nearly strangled his cock.

  She dragged his T-shirt out of his jeans, then pushed it up and slid her hand over his abs. She trailed her fingers across his chest and down, down to the waistband of his jeans.

  Before she could go any lower, he caught her hand and broke their kiss.

  “I need to feel you,” she whispered.

  Zack released her hand to run his finger along her jawline, feeling her tremble at his light stroke.

  Her eyes focused on him, Sky took his hand from her face and moved it to her breast. “Touch me, baby,” she murmured in that husky voice he loved, using the name she’d called him when they used to make love all those years ago.

  Baby.

  The way the word came out of her sens
ual mouth and the feel of her nipple pushing against the lace beneath his palm just about undid him. The softness, the warmth, the fullness of Sky’s breast sent a bolt of lust through his body.

  With his thumb and forefinger he teased her nipples through the thin fabric of her T-shirt and her lace bra. He moved his mouth to her breasts, replacing his hand. She gasped and arched her back as he licked and sucked her through the cloth.

  When her shirt was wet over her nipples, Zack pushed her T-shirt up to expose her lace-covered breasts. “God, you’re gorgeous.”

  He caressed the swells with his gaze and his hands, circling the mole above her left breast with his finger. Sky had beautiful breasts, large and full, her nipples a deep rose and so hard they were like pebbles. And yes, she felt like satin as he touched her, just as he remembered. “You okay?” he murmured.

  “More than okay.” Sky’s eyes were such a deep green from passion they almost looked like emeralds. “This isn’t even close to being enough.” She glided her fingers into Zack’s hair again and pulled him down to her breasts.

  He grinned, remembering how uninhibited she always was when they made love. Such a willing and apt lover. It was like she’d been born to love him and only him.

  Trailing his tongue over her cleavage, Zack tasted her salty flesh as he leisurely made his way above her breast to the beauty mark. He circled it and then continued his exploration of her body.

  Sky moaned and squirmed in his lap, her backside rubbing against his cock. He used one hand to tug down her bra, releasing both her breasts. As he moved his mouth from one breast to the other, Zack moved his palm down her flat belly, her skin soft to his callused palm. He stopped to tease her navel, running a finger around it.

  “Baby, you’re driving me crazy,” Sky whispered while he slowly drew his finger along the silky skin above the waistband of her jean shorts.

  He lifted his mouth from the nipple he was devouring and looked at Sky. “You’ve always made me crazy.”

  Her eyes were heavy lidded, her lips still swollen from his kisses. “I want your cock inside of me.”

  Instead, he took possession of her lips, kissing her hard, thrusting his tongue into her mouth as he slid his hand down her jean shorts. “Spread your legs,” he murmured.

  She opened for him, and he trailed his fingertips over the denim crotch of her shorts. He traced lazy circles over the warmth, imagining that he could almost feel the dampness of her folds through the heavy material.

  Sky shifted her hips against his hand, but he deliberately took his time. He rained kisses over her face as he moved to unbutton her shorts, and then eased the zipper down.

  He brought his lips to her ear as he ran a finger up and down the lacy black underwear. “You’re so damn sexy, I can hardly stand it.” He dipped his tongue in her ear and then nipped at her lobe. “Every time I’m near you I want to throw you over my shoulder and take you. I want to take you until neither one of us can walk straight.”

  “My fantasy.” She laughed, soft and husky. “Being thrown over a desperado’s shoulder and taken away to be ravished.”

  “Desperado, huh?” Zack watched her react to his voice, then kissed her smile. He slipped his fingers beneath her underwear to tease the curls just within his touch.

  “Sí, señor.” She squirmed as she moved her hand to the bulge in his pants. “What’s your fantasy?”

  “You. And those garters.” Zack’s voice caught at the memory. “Damn, but you looked so hot.” He trailed kisses down her neck. “You’re hot in anything. And nothing.”

  Zack drew away and smiled when she gave him a pout of protest. He played with the button of her shorts. “I want you to lift your hips a little if you can do it without hurting your ankle.”

  She gave a sexy smile. “What hurt ankle?” she said as she rose up and then helped him push the shorts down to her knees.

  Zack lifted his head to look at Sky’s almost naked form in his lap. She was so beautiful he could hardly stand it. Only a scrap of black lace panties covered her.

  He stroked his thumb along the warm center of her panties, his cock hardening more just by feeling how damp they were. Moaning, she moved against his hand. He hooked a finger under the waistband as she lifted her hips, and he drew her panties down until they rode across her legs, above her shorts.

  Trailing his hand along the inside of her leg, he groaned at the sight of the triangle of copper curls. His fingers glided into the hair and he cupped her mound with his palm.

  “I can’t wait anymore.” She brought her hand to his chest and slipped it inside his shirt. “I need you inside me.”

  Goddamn, the way she said it made him hot.

  Zack studied Sky’s face intensely and she bit her lip as his fingers penetrated her soft, slick folds. She was so wet, so ready. Her eyes widened as he slid two fingers into her hot core. He thrust them in and out, just like he’d love to be doing right at that moment, driving his hard cock inside her.

  “Zack, please.”

  “I want you to come for me, sweetheart,” he murmured as his fingers moved to her clit.

  She gasped and arched her back as he caressed her, crying out when his mouth captured her nipple again. He flicked his tongue over it and then the other. At the same time, his fingers coaxed her, urging her to climax.

  When Sky tensed in his arms and Zack knew she was going to climax, he lifted his head and watched her face. Her lips were parted, her lids lowered, her gaze fixed on him.

  With a shudder and a soft cry, she came. He continued stroking her, not letting up until she cried out that she couldn’t take any more.

  When the last golden wave of Sky’s orgasm subsided, she realized that Zack was watching her with such an intense expression it made her shiver. He rested his palm on her belly but made no move to go any further.

  It felt incredibly erotic with his jeans against her naked backside, her T-shirt up over her breasts. Her lips felt soft and swollen from his kisses and every part of her body tingled.

  Zack looked so good, so sexy with his dark hair ruffled from her fingers, his gray eyes smoldering. Her nipples puckered as his gaze swept over her semi-naked body and back to her face.

  Sky caressed his cheek that wasn’t bruised, his stubble rough against her palm. “Aren’t you going to take me to the bedroom?”

  “Mmmm.” Zack kissed her, soft and sweet this time, his mouth gentle, his earthy smell surrounding her.

  His lips traveled to her sensitive breasts and she moaned as his warm breath fanned over them. But instead of devouring her again, he pulled her bra up over her breasts and then tugged down her T-shirt.

  “What are you doing?” She was still dazed from her orgasm and had no idea why he was covering her up.

  She wanted his cock inside her so bad—the touch of his hands and mouth on her and that incredible orgasm had only whetted her desire. For a moment she tried to think of how they could manage it with her injured ankle.

  Zack pulled her panties up, his touch sending shivers through her. He made her lift her hips as he did the same with her shorts. Then he brought the zipper up and buttoned them.

  “What—” When she tried to sit, he only cradled her closer to his chest. She was frowning. “Why are you stopping?”

  Zack’s expression became serious. “Before we go any further, there’s something I want first.”

  Sky stared at him in disbelief. She had just been about to give it all to him. “What?” she asked, feeling a bit wary.

  He eased his fingers into the hair at her temple and stroked it away from her face. “I want you to be mine again. Exclusively.”

  She blinked. After all he’d put her through in the past he was asking her this? She shook her head. “Not happening.”

  Gently, he cupped her face, but she wasn’t fooled by his calm. She could feel the tension in his body. “Start over with me.”

  Sky lowered her eyes, afraid that if she kept looking into that intense gray gaze she wouldn’t be able to
say no. But she couldn’t allow him into her heart again. Couldn’t afford to trust him that much.

  As she remained silent, he shifted her in his lap so that she was sitting rather than cradled in his arms. “I’m not going to give up, Sky. I’ll keep after you for as long as it takes to make you mine again.”

  Then he smiled like a man who had already divided and conquered.

  Chapter 13

  As Sky remained silent, Zack said in a low voice, “No matter what you think, I’m not giving up on us.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, kissing her softly.

  She still said nothing but relaxed more fully against his chest, her head resting over his heart.

  “Hungry?” he asked as he nuzzled her hair. “If you’ve got the makings in the fridge I can throw together a sandwich.”

  “I could use something.” She met his gaze. “Since I didn’t get what I was really hungry for.”

  The corner of his mouth quirked. “That’s all up to you, sweetheart.”

  “Humph,” she said, and he gave a pain-filled smile as he carefully moved her ass off his still rigid jean-covered cock and eased her onto the couch.

  He’d just gotten to his feet and had Sky’s foot propped on the hassock when his cell rang.

  Zack whipped the phone out of its clip on his belt. He wasn’t surprised the display said “Unknown.”

  As he walked toward Sky’s kitchen, he answered, “Hunter.”

  “Clay Wayland here,” a deep voice said. “Returning your call.”

  “Sheriff,” Zack replied as he looked back at Sky, who cocked her head with an interested expression on her features. “I called to see how your investigation was going on the missing MacKenna cattle.”

  “I understand you’re with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” Wayland’s tone was even as he spoke. “What’s ICE’s interest in rustling?”

  “These rustlers might be transporting the cattle across the line into Mexico, which puts it right under our jurisdiction.” Zack turned his back on Sky and went into the kitchen. “I’m assigned to the case. I’d like to see if we can work together to make some headway on this situation.”