Before college, I lived in South Carolina. Before that, New York. Before that, Virginia. Before that…so many other places I can’t even remember them all.”
“Because your mom liked to move around a lot after your father died.”
“Yeah.”
So Brooke had been dragged around like a rag doll, with no say in her life until she’d been on her own. No wonder she liked her careful control. “Sounds tough.”
“It doesn’t matter-this isn’t a poor-me story. My point is, I got my uptight analness from my childhood, or lack thereof, but I could be worse, and yes, I realize you’re thinking that’d be quite a feat, but it’s true. In any case, I’ve led a sort of wanderlust life.”
“When all you really wanted was stability. Comfort.”
Again, she revealed surprise that he got her. “Yes. And then my grandmother died and shocked everyone by leaving me her great big old house, chock-full of sixty-plus years of stuff, even though she didn’t know me. I shouldn’t have cared, but I did. I couldn’t just let strangers box it up and get rid of it.”
“Of course not.”
She looked around, at the rock, the ocean, gesturing wide. “So here I am.”
“So here you are. In a house. A home, actually. That’s probably new to you.”
“Very.” She lifted a shoulder. “At least for another few weeks, until the job’s over, and the house sells. It’s going on the market this weekend.” She met his gaze, and in hers the truth was laid bare. No matter what happened, despite the danger of caring too much, or falling a little too hard, she didn’t want to miss out on this.
Neither did he. The wind kicked, stirring the warm evening. Her bare arm bumped his, a strand of her hair slid along his jaw as he slowly pulled her closer.
She tipped her head up to his, eyes luminous as her hand came up to his chest. She waited until their mouths nearly touched before she held him off. “I’m going to let loose tonight, Zach.” Her fingers dug in, just a little. “Consider yourself warned.”
His pulse leaped. So did other parts of his anatomy. “I think I can handle it.”
“Sure?”
“Very,” he murmured, stroking a hand down her hair, her back, cupping her sweet ass and scooting her a little closer, closing his eyes when her mouth brushed over his jaw, then met his.
Oh, yeah. He ran his hands down her body, half braced for her to come to her senses and stop him.
Any moment now…
Instead, she kissed him just the way he liked to be kissed, long and deep and wet, and raw, helpless pleasure flooded him.
And instead of her coming to her senses, he lost his.
Chapter 9
At Zach’s response to her kiss-a thrillingly low, rough sound from deep in his throat-Brooke melted and kissed him again, and then again…
“Brooke.”
Lifting her head, she looked into his eyes.
His breathing had gone uneven, and against her body she could feel his, solid and warm and…hard.
Very hard.
She put her hand to his chest and felt the solid thudding of his heart. “Don’t change your mind.”
“No.” Eyes hot, a low laugh escaped Zach. “No. But we could go to my place, or-”
“No.” She wanted another kiss. She loved the way he tasted, the way he smelled, so innately male she could hardly stand it. How long since she’d felt this way? Too long, that’s all she knew. “Right here. It’ll help me relax, Zach. I really need to relax.”
Laughing silkily, he slid his hands to her waist, squeezed, then let them glide up her ribs, stopping just before her breasts. Her aching breasts. “Anything to help,” he murmured, leaning in to kiss her again.
That worked. So worked. He wanted her. She could feel it in the tension in his broad shoulders, in the taut muscles of his back. Knowing it gave her a heady rush of power, and she demanded more, pressing closer.
His hands slid down her back, pulling her onto his lap, making her momentarily lose concentration as she tried to remember-did she have on pretty panties?-but then she couldn’t think at all because his hands were skimming beneath her dress and were on those panties, and he let out another of those sexy rough sounds…
Oh yeah, letting loose worked. She should have tried it a long time ago. Already it was beating back the inexplicable loneliness she hadn’t been able to put a name to. With Zach, she never felt alone; it was part of his appeal. He fascinated her. He had from the start. He was such a presence, so virile, so physical-especially right this minute.
“Brooke?”
He wore his intense firefighter face, or maybe that was just his intensity, period, but mixed in with it was need and desire, stark, glorious desire-for her. “Yes?”
His eyes were on hers as his hands continued to mess with her mind. “What are you wearing beneath this dress?”
“Not much.”
The sound he made gave her another heady rush, and she gripped the hem of his T-shirt. Helping her, he tugged it over his head, then pulled her back in. The full physical contact made her hum, and then his fingers played with the tie at the back of her neck, the only thing holding up her dress, and the breath evaporated in her lungs.
“Your skin is so soft.” He was touching as much of it as he could, running his hands up and down her sides, her arms, her back, under her dress, pressing his face to her throat. “And you smell so damn good…”
He smelled good, too. So good she leaned in and put her mouth to his shoulder, opening it on him because she needed a taste, just a little teeny tiny taste-
He sucked in a breath when she bit him.
“Sorry,” she managed behind a horrified laugh when he lifted his head. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it, I just had to-”
The words backed up in her throat as the front of her dress slipped to her waist. He immediately filled his hands with her breasts. “Sorry,” he murmured, repeating her words. “I couldn’t help it, I just had to.”
She would have laughed again but his thumbs slowly rasped over her nipples, and any laughter vanished. Unbelievable. She was closer to an orgasm than she’d been during the last time she’d actually had sex. “Zach…”
“Relaxing yet?” His voice was low, silky.
“T-trying.”
“Good. You keep trying.” Bending her back over his arm, he dragged hot, wet, openmouthed kisses down her throat and across a breast, and sucked her into his mouth.
At the feel of his tongue stroking her nipple, she gasped, and then again when he settled her so that his erection pressed against the core of her.
He felt hard, very hard. And big. She looked into his glittering eyes, gulping as his hands slid down her thighs, then up the backs of them to play with the edging of her panties.
Oh, God. This was happening. They were doing this. She untied his board shorts.
He hooked his thumbs in the sides of her panties.
She tugged his shorts down, freeing the essentials.
He repeated the favor with her panties and slipped his hardness between her legs, using the rough pad of one finger to stroke her.
She quivered. “Zach-”
He did it again, adding a second finger, and she tightened her legs on his hand so he couldn’t stop, because if he did she was going to die.
