Hopeless Hero

Alicia

Once Elizabeth was fast asleep, I pulled the blankets up to her neck and kissed her forehead. I’d just finished reading her three different bedtime stories and promising her ten times that she would see Zane in the morning. It took longer than normal for her to fall asleep, but I knew it was just because she’d had such an eventful day.

“Hey, you,” I whispered as I closed the door quietly. Zane was lying in my childhood bedroom. His body looked too big for the tiny bed, and I couldn’t help grinning at the sight.

He smiled back and held his arms out to me. “Come here.”

I moved toward him, taking my clothes off as I did. He watched me hungrily, but didn’t move. Our passion was still there. We still longed for each other as much as we ever had, but the night wasn’t about passion. It was about forgiveness and possibility.

As I pulled Zane’s shirt over his head and he stepped out of his boxers, we lightly touched each other’s skin. He softly kissed my shoulder, barely letting his lips touch me. He then laid me down on the pillows and braced himself above me, his eyes never leaving mine.

Our lips touched and I sighed deeply, wrapping my arms around him. I released everything in our kiss—my anger, resentment, and every negative emotion I’d ever felt towards Zane.

I knew he was doing the same, slowly forgiving me for hiding my pregnancy, and for not telling him about our daughter. As we kissed and held each other, we each let go of the past.

“I love you,” Zane whispered against my lips.

“I love you, too.”

His lips moved down to my neck, where he licked me slowly. My skin tickled and I trembled as he kissed every inch of my body. We teased and played with each other, taking our time. He tasted me and I tasted him until we finally had to have each other.

“I want to remember this,” he said roughly as he pulled me up. He sat up on the bed and I straddled his waist, slowly sliding him inside of me. “Every second of this moment. I want to memorize the way you feel.”

I kissed him and pushed him in deeper. He massaged my back as we moved in perfect synchrony. Our tongues found each other’s and we moved faster. I held him tighter than I ever had, my lips finding the muscles on his arms and kissing every part of him I could reach.

We moved together, more in sync than ever. Our breathing grew ragged and our bodies were drenched in sweat, but we kept the same steady pace.

“I could do this for hours,” I moaned, nibbling his earlobe. He pushed me backward and I arched my back as he buried his face in my breasts, his tongue flicking across my nipples. My entire body buzzed and I knew we wouldn’t last much longer.

Our speed increased, our bodies taking over for us. I sat up and gripped his hair, my hips moving with a mind of their own. They propelled me up and down on top of him, and my toes began to curl. He groaned into my neck, trying desperately to stay quiet.

The way he said my name when he finished sent bolts of lightning flying through me. He shuddered inside of me, and I knew I could never feel more complete than I did in that moment.

We fell back against the pillows, not bothering to get dressed. Physically and emotionally drained from the day, we simply lied there, refusing to let each other go.

Listening to Zane’s heartbeat, I fell asleep.

CHAPTER 29

Zane

“There’s a barbecue today,” Alicia whispered. “Three o’clock. You should come.”

It was 5 in the mornin

g and I was half-naked in Alicia’s childhood bedroom. It was still pitch-black outside, but the sun would be rising soon. Alicia’s parents were home and Elizabeth would wake in just a couple hours; the last thing we needed was for anyone to find me there.

“I’ll be there,” I said, pulling on my shirt and then leaning down to kiss Alicia.

“Three o’clock,” she said again.

I smiled. “Three o’clock.” With that, I ducked out into the hallway and hurried downstairs, glancing at Elizabeth’s bedroom door and relieved to it was shut tight.

My feet barely made any noise as I tiptoed through the living room and into the kitchen. I’d snuck out of the Joppa’s house before and therefore knew the front door made way more noise than the back. When I reached the kitchen, I moved quickly to the door, but a small cough stopped me in my tracks.

I turned around slowly.

Alicia’s dad was sitting alone at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front of him. If I’d been paying more attention, I would have been able to smell the coffee brewing the second I stepped downstairs.