The Maverick's Red Hot Reunion (Entangled Indulgence) (13 page)

But he’d forged new alliances with his father after he’d left the resort and returned to New York. He couldn’t ask Kennedy to give up her entire Sweetbriar life and her company just to be with him. She’d already sacrificed too much. He shook his head and the whirls of unwelcome dreams out of his sex-addled mind.

Kennedy belonged in Sweetbriar. And Zach belonged at the helm of his family’s conglomerate. He’d wanted that familial acceptance. He’d fought to be named his father’s successor. And that stamp of approval had arrived a year ago. Walking away from his commitment meant risking more than a corporate job. He could lose the tenuous connection he’d forged with his father. But the closer January loomed, the more bittersweet his victory tasted.

“We—you, me—we needed this time together,” she said.

“And I plan to make the most of what remains.” He lowered his head and anchored his mouth to hers.

She twined her arms around his neck, parted her lips, and joined him in the intimate dance of two halves becoming whole. The soft sigh of her surrender was all he needed to bring him to his senses. This had to remain a friendship after the physical side-benefits ended, or he’d risk losing everything again.

He lifted her and carried her out of the kitchen toward their suite of rooms. All Zach wanted was Kennedy. The sigh of her welcoming him when he kissed her during the waning hours of the evening. The slide of her skin against his when he made love to her throughout the night. The scent of her perfume on his pillow when he woke up in the morning beside her.

He lowered her to the bed and covered her body with his. Over and over they kissed, their tongues tangling and fighting for greater possession. He slipped her shirt over her head and caressed the swell of her breasts.

She tugged his shirt free from his pants, then raked her fingers across his back. Her nipples tightened, and he unclasped her bra to release her cleavage. Heat flared. Passion stoked the flames higher. He wanted her with an intensity that he had suppressed even until this moment.

Without words, they undressed each other all the way down to their boots. He wrenched his mouth from hers. “God. Only you could make construction boots look sexy.”

She laughed. “And only you could think that.”

He broke their connection to stand long enough to unlace her boots and jerk them off. His followed in a beat, and when he returned to her, he cupped her sex, stroking until he slid a finger into her liquid heat.

“Zach,” she cried.

“You’re beautiful.” Her vaginal muscles clenched around him and he stroked his finger inside. “I love how you respond to my touch.”

She arched her back, and he gained greater entrance as he took one of her engorged nipples into his mouth. He wanted to delay the moment until he entered her, stretch out her pleasure, but everything in him only wanted one thing.

Kennedy.

Her body melded to his. Quickly, he withdrew his hand and reached for the drawer beside the bed. She gazed at him, her eyes dark with desire and her breasts rising as he sheathed his length.

He knelt between her legs, parting her slick folds and sliding his thumb pad over her bundle of nerves. “I want you now.”

She trembled, her breathing increased, and she pulled him closer. “Make love to me,” she said, raising her hips. “I need to feel you inside me.”

He pushed the tip of his erection into her, felt her slickness increase, then drove inside until he joined her completely. “You’re mine,” he rasped before taking her mouth.

Moving slowly, he stroked in and out of her, wanting to stay connected. Wanting never to break the intoxicating physical contact of his skin against hers and his body becoming one with hers. Here, in Kennedy’s arms, he had what he’d always needed. A union born of shared knowing, understanding, loving.

And when he crested over the abyss into free fall, his unguarded heart followed.

Chapter Fifteen

The following morning, after an earthshattering night of passion, Kennedy woke up and gazed at Zach. Asleep. His face smooth and unlined with his long, curling lashes cresting just above his angular cheekbones. He was the most gorgeous man she’d ever encountered.

The most sexual, sensual man she’d ever known, too. Even now she blushed at the countless times they’d made love. And the ways he’d brought her to full release with his hands, mouth, and body. Oh, how she loved being with him. And now, as he slept peacefully beside her, she allowed herself the luxury of daydreaming for more.

To have the joy of waking up beside him, touching his handsome face’s brow, and kissing his firm lips good morning every day could be possible if… if she could just find a way to connect with Zach without remembering how much his last absence had felt like a betrayal. Of her. Of them. Of their stillborn child.

But he’d changed. And so had she. Maybe if she could chip away at the final piece of iron guarding his heart, she’d find the strength to unlock her own.

She stroked his curling, thick chestnut hair from his temples. His dark lashes opened slowly. He blinked, then wiped the sleep from his eyes. “Good morning, beautiful.” Zach wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his embrace.

“Good morning to you, too,” Kennedy said, nestling into his warmth.

He touched his forehead to hers. “I like this friends-with-benefits deal.”

“Me, too,” she whispered, hoping the hush in her voice would silence the desire in her heart.

He raised a brow. “You okay?”

“Yes. No.” She swallowed the words of love threatening to burst through her resolve. “I love being with you like this, but I still feel like I only know bits and pieces of you. You hid a huge part of your past from me when we first met. The fact that you were the son of a corporate giant came as quite a shock.”

Zach scrubbed his hand over his face. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I never wanted to go back to my father’s company. I didn’t want to bring that hunk of my life into our world. Hell, I’d intended to work for the Sullivans. But when you got pregnant, I had to tell you because I wanted to do the right thing.”

“But your father hated me when he found out why you went back to his company.”

“I did what I thought was best.”

Her belly knotted. Daniel Tanner had been nothing short of rude—had dismissed her as a gold digger—but she’d fallen in love with Zach before she knew about his background. Not that the mighty corporate magnate would listen to their protests. Nor did he want to hear Zach’s defense. Though he’d been incredibly cruel, Kennedy had wanted to believe that once Zach’s father held his grandchild in his arms, he’d change his opinion about her.

“Still, you went to work for him,” she said quietly. “And that wasn’t best for me.”

He swallowed hard. “I wanted to provide for you and our baby.”

An old pain pinched her breastbone. “And you did.” They had closed a deal on a house, had furniture moved into the oversized home, and had decorated a nursery. “I had everything but you. He made you travel a lot.” Possibly as a means to drive a wedge between them. But little did Zach’s father know that their loss would succeed in dealing the ultimate blow to their relationship without his misguided interference.

She pressed on. “I missed mornings like this one. And the nights.”

A tic jumped in his temple. “I wish I could undo all the mistakes I made.”

“We were young. Afraid. In love. Fools. We both made mistakes.” She rested her head on his broad shoulder. “After all these years, I think I understand why you believed it was so important to stand by me. For you to support me even though neither of us had planned on having a baby so soon.”

“You do?” he asked roughly.

“Yes. When we had dinner in Asheville, you said you never met your father until you were twelve.” His arm tightened around her and his heartbeat accelerated. “You proposed to me without blinking an eye because your father abandoned your mother after you were conceived.”

“I proposed because I loved you,” he said.

She dipped her chin to her chest. “And I said yes because I loved you,” she replied. “But I was angry when you rushed back to New York to earn more money to provide for us. Beyond furious that you thought you could control everything with money and power and the sheer force of your will.” And she had blamed her internal emotional combustion for losing the baby.

“You never asked me not to go,” he said.

Dawning sunrays illuminated the room. Particles danced in the air like fairy dust caught in the early morning glow. She replayed the memories of those early days, switching the reel back and forth in her mind, searching for a way to speak honestly without sabotaging the conversation.

“I couldn’t have stopped you if I had tried.” She spread her fingers wide across his naked chest. His heartbeat pumped fast against her palm. “Your masculine pride wouldn’t let me. The truth is, I’m sorry, too. I wish I had known more about you. Maybe I’d have understood what drove your decisions.”

“You knew me. That should have been enough.”

“No. I didn’t understand why you felt so compelled to propose until now. I’ve met your father. I know he’s difficult, and that discovering your existence was a shock, but what about your mother? What happened to her?” The words were out. The question had been asked. And much depended upon Zach’s answer.

Did he trust her enough to tell her? If he did, Kennedy believed she could have faith in his ability to understand all that she had suppressed these long years.

His chest expanded, then he blew out the air he’d held for close to ten seconds. “She died in a car crash on her way home from work after her Saturday night shift. I was twelve.” His voice was devoid of emotion, deadpan, but his grip around her shoulders intensified as if only she could anchor his emotions.

A sudden coldness hit her core. She locked her gaze with his dark, serious eyes. She touched his face, cupped one hand around the back of his head, and stroked his brow with the other hand. “Oh, Zach.” She weighed her reply carefully—she understood how well-intentioned platitudes often failed to deliver real comfort. “There are no words, only tears in my heart for all you must have gone through.”

“I was sleeping over at a friend’s house when the sheriff arrived to break the news.” His voice cracked. “But a few days later, social services took over.”

“You didn’t have any family there?”

“No,” he replied. “There wasn’t a will either. I thought I’d be placed in a foster home in my small town, that I’d be able to stay in West Virginia with my friends. Keep some things the same.”

Her vision blurred. Kennedy envisioned the boy Zach once was—alone and afraid in ways she couldn’t possibly imagine. And she finally fathomed why he had always wanted to return to Sweetbriar Springs. The resort reminded him of the happiness he’d once had with his mother. But falling in love with Kennedy had caused him to lose all that he really wanted: security and a family to call his own. No wonder he’d pushed so persistently to convince her that they could have another baby.

Kennedy blinked, a tear trailed down her cheek. Oh, how she desperately yearned to give Zach that gift. “But then everything changed,” she said. “How did your father find you?”

“He didn’t.” Zach’s grip tightened. “The authorities contacted my father when they discovered his name on my birth certificate.”

Her stomach clenched and shock strangled her throat. “He never knew about you?”

“He knew my mom was pregnant, but he thought she’d taken care of the problem,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Imagine his shock when the social services department in Podunk, West Virginia called him and told him about his bastard son.”

Tears pricked behind her eyes. She couldn’t fathom not being wanted, accepted, and loved no matter how a person came to be conceived. Nor could she understand hiding a child’s existence from his parent, but she could understand the desperation that had driven Zach’s mother to make her decision. For hadn’t she been guilty of hiding a similar secret from Zach? How could he ever forgive her for pushing him away?

All Kennedy could do now was offer comfort. She stroked Zach’s back, pressed her lips against his mouth. “I’m so glad your mother realized the gift she carried when she found out about you.”

She felt his shuddering breath go through his body. The intensity of his pain was magnified by the loss they’d shared. When she caressed his cheek, the dampness she found shattered her. Zach had never been this vulnerable or this emotionally exposed to her. And here, in this stolen moment of time, she’d found the man she could trust with her heart.

But now she wasn’t sure he would ever trust her with his, should she tell him the truth.

One day she would. She owed it to him, if only to release him to live the life he deserved. For now she only wanted to hold onto the moment and soothe him. Kennedy wrapped her arm around his waist and nestled her head in the welcoming crook of Zach’s strong arm. “What was your mother’s name?” she asked.

His heartbeat pounded rapidly in her ears. “Brianna,” Zach said quietly.

Her nose tingled, stung with unshed tears. “Our daughter’s name,” she whispered hoarsely. Until today, she’d never known why Zach had chosen it when she’d first read it aloud to him from the baby-naming book. “She’s still with us—they’re watching over us.”

“I’d like to believe you’re right,” he said. “But I hate that they’re gone.”

“So do I.” If only she hadn’t been so angry when he’d travelled to Milan. Maybe she wouldn’t have lost their little girl. But she could give him a genuine second chance. And maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t lose everything. “Tell me about your mom.”

He relaxed his hold, dropped his chin on top of her head, and stroked her hair. “Mom worked at the Dixon Line Diner. Top fry cook in the region. Truckers would take side trips to have one of her cheeseburgers.”

She held him and braided her leg through his. “I’m sure I would have loved one of her burgers, too.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down before he spoke again. “She liked to take me to the mountains. We’d hunt for tadpoles and catch fireflies. We camped. Made s’mores. Just ordinary stuff.” Zach’s voice cracked as if the recollection frayed his thoughts.

Her throat constricted and searing heat jabbed behind her eyes. “She sounds like a remarkable woman. Tough and strong and loving.”

“Yeah.” He propped himself up on an elbow. “She’d left her family behind when she was sixteen and never looked back. Mom had a knack for making friends out of strangers. Didn’t matter where she was or who was there, she’d strike up a conversation. She’d ask questions. Then she’d really listen to the answers. Mom always made everyone feel like they were special.”

A sob clutched her chest when she heard the unspoken yearning in his voice. A pang deep and low in her breastbone pushed painfully. How she ached for the man who’d lost so much. “Nothing,” she said, “can make up for the loss of a loved one.” Her arms still yearned for the child she’d borne and held for only a few precious minutes.

“Thanks for not spouting the usual clichés,” he said. “But then you know about those, too.”

The future frightened her, but she had to forge ahead. Zach deserved love. And so did she. But she couldn’t tell him the truth and risk driving him away before Michael finished his clinical research trial at the Tallahassee University Hospital and returned to Sweetbriar Springs to give his next ALS fundraising speech. She and Zach had committed themselves to this fake engagement for Michael’s sake. She’d tell Zach the unvarnished truth about her infertility issues after the benefit was over.

Kennedy stopped Zach’s trip into the thorny past with her mouth. All that was hurt and grieving inside her melded with his pain when she sealed his lips with hers.

He kissed her slowly, tenderly, then pulled away to twine her hair in his forefinger. “I want to feel you around me again.” Zach’s pupils had grown into large, black disks of desire.

She caressed his cheek, stroked her hand down to grasp his length, felt him grow larger. Her nipples tightened and her sex tugged, sending rivulets of agonizing yearning through her.

“I need you inside me,” she whispered.

Zach kissed her with the hunger of a starving man. He parted her folds and slipped his finger inside. Kennedy widened her legs, a languid heavy feeling moving through her. There was nothing but this time, this man, this moment.

He slid into her, his length filling and completing her. Then he moved within her in a sensually slow rhythm.

Waves of pleasure flowed through her. Everything within her yearned for more. More of him. More of the man who’d let down his guard. More of the man she’d grown to love all over again.

Kennedy coiled her arms around his waist and held him close. Here was a man she could love forever. But could he return that love once she revealed her secret? Would he forgive her for her lie? In this moment, joined as one, she wanted to believe anything was possible.

He quickened his movements. “Kennedy. Sweet Kennedy,” Zach said, thrusting deeper and invading her with his possession.

“Zach, I’ve missed you so…” she cried. “I…”
love you still.
She thought she’d lost him forever, and now he’d returned. And maybe, just maybe, given the right words and the best timing, she’d hold on to him forever.

“Stay with me,” he rasped. “Stay with me, and we’ll ride it together.”

She raised her hips. “I will.”

Hot shudders of excitement coursed through her. Her muscles trembled as she clung to his back. He dizzied her with the feel of him moving inside her, maximizing the intensity rising between them.

Oh, how Kennedy had missed him. She’d missed this emotionally charged physical connection. And most of all, she’d missed feeling this loved.

“I’m—oh, Zach.” She arched her back and met his slick, wet torso with hers, grasping for his strength. Needing him to carry her through the final barriers to her release. “I can’t bear it. Please.”