It Was Always You (3 page)

“I get enough from the other Kendrick boys. You’ve been gone from my life for eighteen years, Zane. You have no right to treat me like I’m in middle school. And there’s nothing wrong with my outfit. In fact, a lot of the women in here are wearing less. I don’t have to wear coveralls every second of my day. If I’m so hideous to look at then leave,” she tossed out, hoping the pain in her words was hidden.

His eyes blazed with a myriad of emotions. “I know you’re not.” He stepped closer, forcing her back against the wall. “Trust me. Seeing you like this, I’m
well
aware of how grown you are. And you’re far from hideous. You’re fucking gorgeous and sexy as hell.”

Zoë had been infatuated with him as a young girl and apparently still had such feelings. Faced with it and every consequence which may make her life from this point forward hell, she made her choice. She acted in response on a cellular level. No calculating costs or risks any further. No what if’s. The only way to describe her reaction was visceral. Molecular. Necessary.

Emboldened or blinded by her lust for Zane she covered his cock with her hand and squeezed, not painfully yet more than enough so he knew it wasn’t an accidental touch.

The heat increased as the storm brewing between them did. “Zoë.”

A beg. A warning. She didn’t know nor did she care. “How aware, Zane?”

“Enough that I’m ready to fuck you on the goddamn pool table.”

Electricity rocketed to her clit and nipples. She flicked her tongue over her lips; his eyes tracked the motion.

“I’m not up for the table but I’d take the back of your truck.”

He gripped her tighter, flexing his hips into her. “You’re playing with fire.”

No, she didn’t think so. She was capitalizing on what may very well be her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

She slid an arm up around his neck, grateful her stilettos gave her the ability to do so with more ease. Sinking her hand in the hair at his neck, she skimmed her nails along his nape.

“How much consent do you need, Zane? I’m definitely not underage. You know this.” Pulling his head, she met him for an open-mouthed, tongue-dueling, hungry kiss. If she’d been hot for him before that paled in comparison to the raging heat in her now.

He tasted unlike anything she could recall. Masculine—yes, but there was something else. Something…more. He ate her moan as his hands settled upon her ass, grinding into her hand.

Nothing mattered but the intensity of his kiss. The wall at her back jarred her senses. Heart racing, blood pounding, she leaned away. Everyone watched them. Zane had put them against the back wall.

“We’re leaving,” he rumbled.

“I’m in the middle—”

“No. You’re not.” He held her gaze. “We’re leaving. Now.” His voice was low and ragged. Hard to decipher.

Those she’d played pool with all backed away, giving them space. She stole a peek at him. His carriage, rigid and dangerous. Every inch of him screamed warrior. Coiled. Alert. Deadly.

Between them, the air crackled with vibrating tension. Contrary to his voice, the hand on her waist, while possessive and unyielding, didn’t hurt her at all.

He slammed the door open, jarring it on the hinges. She began to head for her car yet he refused to let her go.

“My car is over there.”

“Don’t care,” he said, directing her to his truck.

He unlocked the driver’s door. She dug her feet in. Zane slashed his gaze to her. On the inside she quaked but on the outside, she refused to let her emotions show.

“Get in.”

“No.”

Thick brows converged. “Why not?”

“I’m not leaving my car here. I’ll follow you to the garage and go anywhere you want.”

She expected him to argue but he escorted her to her SUV after he slammed his door. When she sat behind the wheel he left her after one more toe-curling kiss.

Her hands shook as she started the engine. Her pussy wept with preparation. Shifting into gear, she drove out of the parking lot. His large truck filled her rearview. Her gut clenched. He maintained an exact distance behind her. If she sped up, so did he. Same if she slowed.

She pulled into the garage lot and killed the engine. With a final deep breath, she reached for the handle only to find the door open. Zane loomed over her, still ever the gentleman, he held out a hand.

Again, he led her to the driver’s door and she climbed in. His hand on her bare thigh halted her from leaving the middle section. She shivered at the rasp of calluses on her skin.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere we won’t be interrupted.”

Every cell in her body, at his words, experienced a tremor with the decadent promise falling from his lips.

“Oh.”
Great job, Zoë, sound incompetent.

She recognized the spot when he pulled off the road. A popular spot for the locals to visit. Wide fields dotted with tall trees. He shut off his truck and stepped out. Zane stuck his hand out and beckoned to her. She skimmed her tongue over her lips, took a deep breath, and placed her hand in his.

Zane drew her toward him, sliding her along the leather bench seat of his truck. The drive had been good for it allowed his anger to diminish. Zoë had said her brothers—along with his—had been taking her from area bars.
If she’d been dressing like this they should be shadowing her much more closely.

Finding her there dressed as she was with all those hungry men staring at her had released a beast he’d not known lived within him. As a man who’d spent his years in the Army honing his skills to kill had found himself desperate to do just that to all there who dared put eyes on her.

The light whiff of candied lemon reached him. Zoë stared up at him, her legs pressing against his. Whenever she’d gone and grew up he didn’t have a clue. All he did know was she’d unleashed a craving within him.

He cupped her face, her features delicate compared to his large, scarred hands.
I’m no good for her. If I were smart, I would drive like Lucifer himself were chasing me back to her car and drive on without looking back, leaving her there. Alone.

When his lips claimed hers, he realized and accepted he was a dumbass, for he had no intention of going anywhere except deep inside her body. She parted beneath him, her tongue there to meet his seeking one. A possessive growl slid from his throat.

A tiny, minuscule voice of reason tried once more to be heard over his raging hormones. It gave him a moment of hesitation. The decision was taken from him when her hands—strengthened by working in the shop—dug into his shoulders pulling them back together.

He curled his arms around her, pressing her curves against him. She wriggled closer still. Her teeth nipped at his lower lip as her fingers sought and found his bare torso, nails digging in lightly.

He tore his mouth away and yanked her shirt up and off over her head. The moonlight shone down, allowing him to see the silvered gray of her strapless bra.
Those suits hid this hot body?

With one hand, he trailed it up one silken thigh to the edge of her skirt. His other he lifted to her chest and skimmed it along the swells of her firm breasts. Beneath his fingertips, her heartbeat quickened.

Hooking his finger between her breasts, he freed them. He ducked head and flicked his tongue over one nipple. A ragged whimper left her. He cupped the right one as he sucked the left nipple into his mouth.

She gripped the back of his head, holding him tight. Zane sucked and laved her breasts. Both, plying them with equal attention.

He moved the hand between her legs up until he found her panties. The proof of her desire, right there. Zane drew them down and shoved them past her knees until they tumbled off those fuck-me stilettos. Widening her legs, he stepped between them, pushing up her skirt, and yanked her up to his hard cock that pressed tight against his jeans.

“Zoë.” His voice fell from his mouth, graveled and deep.

She readjusted her hands and put them to his waistband, working at undoing the button on his jeans. “Kiss me, Zane,” she whispered as the button slipped free of the hole.

He complied, allowing her taste to sink back into his taste buds. His breath hitched when she slid her hands into his jeans. Her warm hand curved around his hard cock.

“Now,” she muttered against his mouth.

All the previous raging desire slammed him again, shoving away any thread of control he may have discovered.

“Pull me out and put me in that pussy of yours,” he ordered.

She balanced on the edge of the seat and he stared at her face while she listened. She pumped his shaft a few times, smearing the pre-come over the broad head. The moment she lined him to her opening, he thrust his hips forward, pushing into her pussy, sinking into the velvet heat awaiting him.

“Holy fuck,” she uttered.

“Shit.” His comment fell immediately on the heels of hers. “You’re so fucking snug around my cock.”

Her head fell forward to his shoulder and her teeth bit his skin. He pumped his hips, driving into her. The taut muscles rippled around him as she came. Her entire body shuddered and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, inching forward so he supported more of her weight.

Zane buried his face into her neck and worked his hips, fast and deep. He couldn’t get enough. Her pussy held him like it had been made for him and only him. Her cream smoothed over his dick as he worked it in her, keeping the motion smooth.

Her cries, muffled from his shoulder, filled his ears as she came again, her pussy milking him. He slid an arm around her waist and pressed her back to lie on the seat. The angle difference had him grunting as he continued to power into her.

He came inside her with a low roar. It may have been his imagination but he swore she called his name as she crested the cliff with him. He pulled back and took her lips.

“I’m not done with you yet,” he swore.

He lifted her, still buried deep inside of her, and walked them away from his truck. At the back door, he opened and swiped a blanket he had on the seat. Tossing it down on the ground, he laid her on top of it.

Taking her breast in his mouth, he sucked it hard as he slowly drove into her as his cock thickened again. As they lay beneath the moon, Zane took her over and over again until they both fell to an exhausted slumber.

He woke alone, covered by part of the blanket. A quick glance at his watch told him it was five. A thick fog covered the ground and almost the shadow of his truck.

“Zoë?”

No answer. He rose and tugged on his jeans. He called for her a few more times with the same disappointing result. She wasn’t there. He opened his truck door and saw her shirt no longer lay on the seat.

He checked the steering column but didn’t find a note from her there.
Not that she had paper with her.

He hadn’t any clue where she went. Or if she was hurt somewhere. A frustrated curse fell from his lips. Striding back to the blanket, he thought about turning her over his knee when he found her. He bent for his shirt and tugged it on. Shoving his feet into his boots, he wadded up the blanket then jogged back to the truck.

As he slipped behind the wheel he realized he’d slept well without nightmares for the first time in many months.
I just should have stayed away from her. That’s all there is to it.
He drove home making sure to swing by the garage. Her vehicle was gone so he figured she just ran. Short of banging on her parents’ door, he hadn’t any way of finding her. He didn’t know where she lived, if it was with her folks or not, nor did he have her phone number.

Something that was definitely going to have to change.

He strode in the house, meeting Cade who was just coming down the stairs.

“Morning, bro. Where have you been?”

Zane swung the door shut behind him. “Out.”

“Breakfast is in the oven, I was about to call you. I left that bag in your truck, can I go grab it?”

“Sure. It’s open.”

He jogged upstairs and stepped into his bathroom. Within moments he stood beneath the hot spray of the shower. He longed to go back to sleep but this was a working ranch and if his brothers were up, then he would be as well. He dried off and stepped into his bedroom. As he dressed, he stared at his reflection in the mirror.

His scars stopped him and he wondered if she hadn’t liked feeling them against her skin. She’d been so smooth and he…wasn’t. Zane tugged on a shirt and toweled off his hair once more before returning the damp item to the shower rack.

He returned to the first floor and joined his brothers in the kitchen. Cade had a shitty grin on his face. Zane looked between both men. “What’s going on?”

“Cade was telling me you were out late last night with a girl.”

“How does he think he knows this?” Zane fixed a plate of food and sat at the table. “I didn’t say anything to him other than I was out.”

“I went to your truck,” Cade reminded him.

Zane shrugged. “And?”

His brother lifted one hand and dangling from his finger was a red thong. “I’m guessing this isn’t quite your size.”

Zoë must have forgotten her panties in his truck. He forced himself to remain seated. “Put those down, Cade.”

“Who was it?” he asked.

“Leave him alone, Cade,” Nate interfered. “He’s not answerable to you. If he wants to go out he can without getting the third degree from us.”

Zane didn’t respond, aware if he did, Cade would latch back on like a leech. He finished his food in silence, drank the rest of his coffee, then took his dishes to the sink. As he left the room, he snatched the panties from his brother and walked to his room where he put them in his hamper. At the door, he rested his head against the wood.

I need to stay far away from her. I’m anything but what she needs in this world.

Even as the words tumbled through his mind he was trying to figure out a way to see her again.

***

Zoë scowled when the darkness in her room gave way to brilliant light, waking her from the dreams that replayed her night in Zane’s arms. Squinting, she spied Cora sitting on the edge of her bed.