Zane

His question had a mouthwatering effect…but it wasn’t for food. “No. You?” The sun was shining brightly overhead, but Channing knew that wasn’t the reason the interior of the car felt so hot.

“A meal isn’t what I have an intense hunger for now, Channing.”

Her breath caught. His words, spoken in a quiet voice, compelled every single cell in her body to ignite in an overaroused state.

She swallowed. “And what is it that you want?”

His fingers stopped tapping the steering wheel. Instead, those fingers brushed across her wrist, making every erogenous zone in her body come alive with a need she couldn’t deny.

Holding her gaze, he leaned toward her and whispered, “I want you every way I can have you.”

Channing felt as though every nerve in her body was on fire. She drew in a deep breath. “Then maybe we need to take this inside.”

A sexy smile touched his lips. “I agree.”

Twelve

No sooner had the door closed behind them, Zane and Channing were tearing off each other’s clothes. Zane knew wanting any woman this much had to be insane, but that thought was wiped from his brain with the erotic sweep of her tongue in his mouth. Where had this intense hunger come from? How was it driving him as much as it was driving her?

She had him pinned against the door and was pushing him to do anything she wanted. He was definitely game as long as she kept kissing him this way, so deeply and completely. When she suddenly jerked her mouth free, dropped to her knees in front of him and took his engorged sex into her hands, he groaned deep in his throat.

“Ah, hell!” He threw his head back as her heated tongue swirled over his swollen shaft before she hungrily mouthed the full length of him. He groaned when suddenly it seemed as if she would swallow him whole. She was using her mouth to infuse her ownership on this part of him. And she was doing so in the most earth-shattering way known to man.

Pleasure shot to all parts of his body. She was building a fire within him and quenching it at the same time.

While her fingertips stroked his thatch of curly hair, her mouth sucked harder. Then her fingers shifted lower to gently squeeze his testicles, causing a jolt of pleasure to tear through him. Did she know her actions were the embodiment of his wet dreams? Did she know she was bonding herself to him?

He grabbed her head, twining his fingers through the silky strands of her hair before wrapping a lock around his fist to hold her mouth right there. Yes, oh, yes. Right. There. And then he felt it, the first vibrations stirring in his groin.

“Channing,” he whispered as sensations flooded through him. His heart was racing, and he couldn’t get his breathing regulated. And then with one brutal yet erotic suck of her mouth, the intensity slammed into him. He felt the release gush into her mouth.

There weren’t any words that could define what he felt at that moment. Though mind-blowing was close. He groaned her name over and over until the last sensation had swept through his body.

He didn’t recall when she let go of him or when she eased to her feet. All he remembered was gazing through a haze of sensuous contentment to stare into the depths of her eyes.

“Channing—”

He wanted to tell her he loved her. But before he could fix his mouth to say the words, her soft lips took control of his, and she kissed him with such completeness it had him groaning out loud again.

He couldn’t take any more. He swept her off her feet, into his arms, and headed for the bedroom.

* * *

When Zane placed her on the bed, Channing stared up at him, watching the intensity in his features. She had a feeling this lovemaking would be different from any other they’d shared. When he joined her in bed, her legs automatically opened for him. With the ease of a man who knew just what he wanted, Zane slid between them.

They stared at each other for several heartbeats before she felt him filling her with long, powerful thrusts, stretching her and going deep. When he continued moving in and out in long, languorous strokes, the rhythm caused electrifying sensations to overtake her. His hands tightened on her hips, holding her immobile while he totally possessed her feminine core.

“Ah,” she groaned while intense pleasure blazed through every part of her.

Then his strokes became harder and harder, deeper and deeper, complete and absolute. The result was staggeringly powerful.

She met his gaze, and the look in his eyes took her breath away. For the first time in her life, she felt an emotion coming from him that she’d never felt before. It might have been a figment of her imagination or wishful thinking, but she decided to take the feeling and run with it.

The moment that decision was made, her body seemed to splinter into a thousand pieces. She dug her fingers into his shoulders, and it was only then that he lowered his head and took her mouth to drown out her screams.

When he withdrew from the kiss, he whispered against her lips, “That was lovemaking, not sex. It’s never been just sex with you, Channing. Never.”

Then he grasped her face in both hands and lowered his mouth to kiss her again. Channing doubted she could ever love him any more than she did at that moment.

* * *

“I’m glad you haven’t lost your touch in the kitchen, Channing.”

Channing smiled at Zane while placing a plate of cookies in front of him as he sat at the kitchen table. She slid into the chair across from him. “And I’m glad you haven’t lost your touch in the bedroom.”

At his deep chuckle, she grabbed one of the cookies and bit into it. They had made love several times before finally getting out of bed and putting on clothes…at least some of them. He had slid into his jeans and she into his shirt. Then they had gone into the kitchen to get something to eat.

Channing had taken a few things out of the freezer before they’d left for Richmond, and all she had to do was place them in the microwave. Now she and Zane were sitting at the table enjoying cookies and milk for dessert. It seemed all the dishes she’d prepared during her cooking frenzy were his favorites. Go figure.

When she saw the way he was looking at her, she took a deep, quivering breath. It didn’t help matters that he was shirtless with that powerful chest on display. A chest she had licked all over hours ago. She shivered at the memory. Lord! She needed a cold glass of water. Quick. The glass of milk just wasn’t doing it.

“Excuse me,” she said, getting up from the table. She strolled over to the refrigerator to get a chilled bottle of water. She quickly opened the refrigerator, grabbed one, unscrewed the top and took a huge gulp, appreciating how the cold liquid flowed down her throat. Boy, she’d needed that.

“You want to share?”

She jumped. She hadn’t known Zane had gotten out of his chair and was standing right there in front of her. “Sure,” she said, reaching behind her to reopen the refrigerator.

“No, I want to share yours.”

“Oh.” She handed him her bottle and watched him finish it off before he placed it on the counter.

He then smiled at her and said, “You make me hot, baby.”

Her insides stirred. If he only knew how hot he made her. She raised her palm to his forehead. “Um, you feel normal.”

His lips curved in a smile as he took hold of her hand and lowered it to his zipper. “Can you say the same here?” he asked.

She swallowed. No, she couldn’t. He felt huge, engorged and erect. You would think that with as much action as they’d had earlier, more sex would be the last thing on their minds. Evidently not.

“Well?”

She cupped him through his jeans and watched desire flare in his eyes. “I can handle this.”

“You’re the only woman who can,” he said throatily, reaching up to peel his shirt off her. “So tell me, Channing Hastings,” he said, tugging out of his jeans, “have you ever been taken against a refrigerator?”

“No.” She breathed the words. Blood rushed thickly through her veins at the thought of such a thing happening.

He lifted her, and her legs automatically wrapped around his waist. “Then consider this your first time…but it won’t be your last, baby.”

* * *

Zane lay awake, staring at the ceiling, while a naked Channing slept soundly beside him. Something flared deep within him when he thought about how they had spent their day, beginning with the drive to Richmond and then returning here.

It reminded him of how things used to be on her free days from the hospital. She would spend her time with him at the Hideout. How could he not have seen then just how great they were together? Although he’d known their relationship was good, he hadn’t understood the significance of what that meant until it was too late. That was why he was here backpedaling, trying to convince her that he loved her, doing whatever it took to get that message across.

After they’d made love in the kitchen, starting out against the refrigerator and ending up on the counter, they had dressed and taken a walk on the beach. They had run into Ronald and his family. Zane had been introduced to Jennifer and their two kids. Seeing Ronald with his family made Zane long for that same thing with Channing. He’d meant what he’d told her yesterday. He wanted kids and looked forward to the children they would make together.