Forever (Time for Love Book 1) (16 page)

"Okay," Zach replied with a worried frown.

*****

"O
kay, now tell me what's bothering you," Zach said as they sat on the couch in his suite.

Rebecca sighed. There was no point keeping it from Zach. He might as well know so he could prepare for it if it happened again.

"Vicky accosted me today. She said how dare I steal you from her."

Zach scowled. "When was this?"

"Earlier today, in one of the restaurants where Sarah and I had afternoon tea. Some people around us heard her rant."

Zach put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her tight, kissing her temple. "I'm sorry. I'll talk to Vicky and straighten things out with her. She didn't have any right embarrassing you like that in public."

"No one knows who I am, so it doesn't matter. But when they see me with you—and they recognise you—"

Zach interrupted her with a kiss on the lips. "I'll talk to Vicky, okay?"

"I'm also worried about this getting to Magda. I don't want her worrying about any of this. She doesn't need it especially so close to her birthday."

"I'll talk to Gran, too. Debra and Vicky might raise the issue with her, but Gran loves you. I don't think she'd care if you did steal me from anyone," Zach said teasingly.

She forced a smile, picking invisible lint from his trousers.

"Did she really raise such a ruckus that it's bothering you that much?" Zach asked with a hard edge to his tone.

"She said I was a gold-digger," Rebecca said, looking up at Zach with a sudden flare in her eyes. "I hate that term being used on me, Zach. I hate it with a passion. Are people going to think that of me just because I'm with you? Is this going to add to your problems with your privacy? Would I be responsible for making your grandmother unhappy during her birthday celebrations? I don't want to create any problems for you or Magda."

"Hey, who cares what other people think? I'll talk to Vicky tomorrow and tell her in no uncertain terms to leave you alone—and not to spread nasty rumours about you. Now can we kiss?"

She sighed—more like a sob—and tilted her head to offer her lips to Zach.

Zach cupped her face and tenderly ran his thumb across her cheeks. "What. Anyone. Says. Doesn't. Matter," he said in between soft kisses to her face. He captured her mouth as his hand snuck under her dress to caress her upper thigh.

Desire flared within her and she deepened their kiss. Suddenly, she needed him to ease all of her tension. "Zach," she whispered as reached for his shirt buttons.

"Bec," he said in warning, gently pushing her hand away.

"I need you, Zach. I need to feel we're real. I need to feel that nothing else matters but you and me."

"Oh, baby," Zach whispered, looking deep into her eyes. "You're making it really hard for me to keep my hands off you."

"I want your hands on me, Zach. And your mouth. And I want to touch you, too. Then I want you inside me," she said, unbuckling his belt.

"I don't want that, Bec," he whispered.

She gasped, pulling back. To her horror, her eyes started watering. Damn it. She knew Zach meant well, but this still felt like rejection. She was
burning
for him. And yet, he could keep his cool.

"Hey, what I mean is not yet," Zach explained. "I hate breaking my word, especially to you, Bec. It's like telling you I didn't mean what I said."

"Right now, for me, it just feels like you don't want me," she said softly, looking down at her lap as she struggled to keep the tears at bay. Why the hell was she being so emotional?

Zach grabbed her hand and put it on his crotch. "Does this feel like not wanting you?" he asked harshly. "I'm dying to have you, Bec. And it's taking all my self-control not to take what you offer. But you said it's hard for you to believe that this isn't just a holiday-induced lust for me. How the hell am I supposed to prove myself if I don't literally keep my dick in my pants?"

"But I already said I don't need you to prove that anymore. I believe you now," she reasoned. "How can I make
you
believe that?"

"Do you really mean it?" Zach asked, his voice low and his eyes darkening.

"Yes," she whispered urgently.

A sensuous smile touched his lips. "Prove to me you mean it," he said huskily.

Her grin was sultry as she reached for his buttons. This time, he didn't stop her.

She straddled him and kissed him deeply as her fingers deftly undressed him.

Zach groaned, pulling her zipper down. She left his mouth long enough to let Zach lift her dress off her before going back for more. She moaned as Zach's insistent tongue invaded her mouth and his hot hands impatiently unhooked her bra and tossed it out of the way. Yes, this was how she wanted him. In flames. With her.

"Cuffs," Zach rasped, holding his wrists out to her as she tried to push his shirt off his shoulders.

She took off his links as his mouth made its way to her neck, nipping, nibbling. When his muscular chest was bare, she went for the button of his pants.

Zach moaned as her hand grazed his impressive erection. "Do you know how much I've been wanting your hands on me?"

"As much as I've been wanting to touch you?" she asked, putting her hand inside his briefs.

"God, baby, touch away," he said through gritted teeth, pushing his pants down as she shifted to let him discard his clothes while stroking his hard-as-steel erection.

"Hold on to me," he said breathlessly as he stood up with her wrapped around him. Zach took them to his bed and lay her down before hurrying to the bathroom, presumably to get a condom.

Rebecca took off her panties as she waited for him. God, she couldn't wait. She was so soaked.

When Zach came back, she spread her legs before him in invitation.

Zach gaped at her, his jaw slackening and eyes hooding. "So beautiful," he murmured as he leaned down and started kissing her leg. He made his way up with hungry nips that made her squirm with impatience.

"Honey," she cried softly, need evident in her voice.

"Yes, baby?"

"Hurry up."

He chuckled. "Patience, my sweet. We have all night."

"I want you n—Oh God... oohh!" She tried to keep still as Zach busied his tongue on her needy clit. Zach knew exactly how to use his mouth on her, and it never failed to take her close to the edge. When she was seconds away from coming, he left her wet centre and started kissing his way up her body.

"Zach," she cried, clutching his hair with one hand, and reaching for his manhood with the other. At last, he was going to fill her with his hardness.

But Zach was in no hurry. He moved his lower body out of reach from her seeking hand and dipped his head to take a nipple in his mouth. His fingers lazily ran over her upper thigh, teasing her core.

"You're driving me crazy," she complained. But Zach merely chuckled before closing his lips on her peak and sucking, making her sensitised nipples harden even more. Then his finger found its way into her soaked centre.

"Ahh!" It wouldn't be long before she reached the crest, but she didn't want to lose control so quickly. Zach deserved some of the teasing he'd been dishing out.

In a move that took Zach by surprise, she pushed him and pressed him down on the bed. She straddled him, leaned down, her face inches from his. "It's my turn."

She nibbled his lips as she rubbed herself against his hardness.

"Mmm," he gasped against her mouth.

She made her way down his body, kissing those abs that she was crazy about, and continued down to where his erection lay pointing to his belly button. She grabbed it and licked with one long stroke, from the base to the tip that was beaded with his moisture, before putting him in her mouth.

"Oh God... Bec... yes."

She pleasured him, remembering full well how he liked it. With a hand stroking his balls and the other tugging the base of his cock, she sucked with her mouth and licked with her tongue.

"Ah, baby... you're gonna make me come so soon," he panted harshly. "Stop... I want to be inside you."

She did stop, and reached for the condom he dropped on the bed.

"Will you go back to birth control?" he asked breathlessly as she put the protection on him.

She smiled. "Yes. I hate these things."

"So do I," he said with a wide grin.

She went back to her straddling position and placed her hand between her legs.

"Oh, baby. Yes. Let me watch you. Put me inside while you touch yourself," Zach panted.

Biting her bottom lip, she shook her head and brought her other hand to her breast. Before she met Zach, she'd been too shy to do this in front of a man. But Zach had made her come out of her shell. Now she enjoyed teasing him by teasing herself. It drove Zach crazy, and she knew it wouldn't be long before he'd lose control and—

With a groan, Zach shifted them and she was on her back. Oh yes.

In the next moment, he was inside her, driving his eager cock in her hard and fast.

This was exactly what she wanted after all the frustration of Zach wanting to hold back. She wanted him like this—wanting her so badly that his moans mingled with hers as he thrust in and out with abandon.

God, he felt so good. She was mewling loudly and she didn't care.

With a swift onset that surprised her, she screamed her release, trembling under him as stars swam in her eyes.

Zach cried her name out loud as he stilled for a heartbeat before exploding within her, shuddering and groaning over and over. Then he collapsed on top of her.

Rebecca lazily ran her hands on Zach's back as they caught their breaths. 'I love you' was on the tip of her tongue, and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from saying it out loud. The last thing she wanted was to ruin the moment. She didn't want Zach to feel pressured to say the words back to her.

And she hoped and prayed that nothing would ruin the rest of this trip—and their future.

Z
ach stood beside Magda on her balcony. They watched people waving from the shore as the magnificent cruise liner slowly docked at the Philippine capital of Manila.

"They're checking in first, right? Before the three of you go off to a meeting?" Magda said excitedly.

Zach put an arm around his grandmother's shoulder. Today was her eightieth birthday, and his brothers Jeff and Greg were joining them on the ship. It excited Magda that they were going to be 'complete'.

"Yes, they're checking in first," he said, kissing her on the temple. He knew that today would be bittersweet. They planned to take Magda to a nice lunch in the restaurant of one of the city's five star hotels. Then Magda and the rest of their entourage would go on a private guided tour of the area's attractions while he, Jeff and Greg met with potential clients for a site that needed development. Then tonight they were having a banquet in a private dining room aboard the ship.

While he was certain his grandmother would enjoy the whole day, he was also sure that this would be the time that she'd miss her husband, son and daughter-in-law the most.

"How are you feeling today, Gran?" he asked softly.

Magda was quiet for a long moment. "I miss them, Zach. Your grandfather would have enjoyed this trip. Your parents would have, too," she answered, her voice wobbling.

"I know," he whispered, his own eyes stinging. He held his grandmother for a long minute, both of them letting silent tears flow.

"You know, you should take Rebecca out on dates when we're at port, Zach," Magda said, wiping her eyes and changing the topic. "You shouldn't fill your time going to meetings in different cities when you should be out experiencing new places with your new girlfriend."

"These meetings were scheduled even before we left Sydney. I had no idea Bec would be here on board with us until the day before we left."

"Well, you could re-schedule some of your upcoming ones, couldn't you? I'd just hate for you to lose sight of the importance of relationships, Zach. I know you have big responsibilities on your shoulders, but honestly, I wish you—and your brothers—would think about settling down. I'm not getting any younger and I still have an ambition to help raise my great-grandchildren."

Zach chuckled and the air lightened, just as they heard a knock on Magda's door.

His heart skipped a beat, hoping it was his Bec to collect Magda for their daily breakfast meeting with Sarah.

His gran need not worry about the time he spent with Rebecca. His girlfriend had been sleeping in his suite for four nights in a row now, which he was happy about. What he wasn't thrilled with was that she'd always left very early in the mornings. He'd wanted Rebecca to get her luggage moved to his room. But Rebecca had been concerned with how it would look to the others if they found out, especially after Vicky's outburst a few days ago. Rebecca had said she was there originally as Magda's nurse, not Zach's girlfriend, and she didn't want anything to negatively impact on Magda's enjoyment and relaxation. Reluctantly, he'd agreed that she had a point.

He opened the door and was able to hide his scowl in time. It was Vicky.

"Morning, Zach," Vicky said in surprise. "I was hoping to be the first one to greet Magda a happy birthday."

Zach stepped aside to let Vicky in. He didn't feel like being chatty to her, but for his gran's sake, he'd keep his irritation with Vicky under control until he had the chance to be alone with her.

He'd been trying to catch Vicky for the last four days, but she'd been avoiding him. She obviously didn't want to talk about how she'd treated Rebecca at that restaurant.

"I can't wait for our tour today," he heard Vicky say to Magda. "It'll be fun! Are your boys going with us?"

"No, just us girls and Phillip."

"Are your nurses coming with us, too?" Vicky asked in a soft voice, seemingly not wanting Zach to hear that particular question.

"Yes, of course."

"Okay. Well, I'll see you later. And happy birthday again."

"Thank you, Vicky."

"I'll be back later, Gran," Zach said, following Vicky out the door.

*

"S
o how have you been, Zach?" Vicky asked in a high-pitched voice as they walked toward the elevators.