Uncivilized (Uncivilized 1)

After the day and a half travel back, I stayed another two days on the river talking to various Indians that came to the hub to trade goods. The only thing I was able to glean was that there was a rumor the Matica and the Caraicans had reached a peace pact, and they were not at war. No one seemed to know where the Caraicans had gone.

With no other options available, I took a charter flight to Sao Paolo and returned home to the States. Bitterness was a black scourge upon me because I had learned nothing new that would ease my heart. Zach was truly lost to me forever, and there was nothing left for me to do now except to try to figure out how to pick up the pieces and heal myself from this pain.

When I reached Sao Paolo, I immediately called Randall to update him on my failure. As Lisa said, he happily funded my expedition, as anxious as I was to hear news of Zach. Like me, he had no expectations that Zach would return, but he was terribly worried about his welfare and was hoping at the very least that he and I would be able to share a mutual peace of mind.

When Randall got on the line, it was a little difficult to understand him with the connection I had. "Moira... is that you?"

"Hi Randall," I said, trying to put a smile in my voice that I know failed miserably. "I'm in Sao Paolo now."

"How are you doing?" he asked, which I thought was odd. Why wasn't he immediately pumping me for information about Zach?

Ultimately, I was too tired to try to ponder that further, so I told him, "I'm fine, but I'm sorry, Randall... I couldn't find Zach."

"Oh... well, okay. You tried and that's all you can do," he said, almost distractedly.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, because he sounded a bit off.

"Fine, fine," he assured me. "Just a little bit... um... disappointed, I guess. So, when are you coming back?"

"I fly out tonight and should be in Chicago tomorrow morning," I tell him, stifling a yawn. I'm hoping I can crash in one of the terminal chairs and catch a little nap.

"Okay, my dear. Well, have a safe flight and we'll talk when you get back," he said.

I hung up from my call with Randall, utterly confused. Maybe he was just grieving and couldn't process what I was telling him. I thought he'd demand to know everything I did to find Zach, but maybe he's just waiting until I get back in deference to me. He has to know my inability to find him is weighing heavy on my shoulders.

Fishing my keys out of my pocket, I make the long walk up my sidewalk. Okay, it's not so long... maybe only twenty feet, but it's twenty feet too long as tired as I am. Lifting my chin in resolve as I put my key in the lock, I decide that I'm too tired to make it to my bedroom... but I won't succumb to the floor. The couch will be a nice, happy medium.

I turn the knob and push the door open, letting my pack fall to the floor and immediately eying the couch. I trudge my way there, not even bothering to take my shoes off. Resting one knee on a cushion, I fall face-first into the comfort that is calling me to sleep.

Snuggling into the softness, I close my eyes and sigh. I immediately start to slip under, and a dream comes upon me.

"Moira." I hear Zach's voice.

Oh, that sounds lovely. Rich, full of timber and emotion. I can imagine his beautiful eyes and his magnificent body. I remember the last time we were together as he fucked me, then as he held me after and let tears slip out of his eyes against my skin.

"Moira," he says again, and he sounds a bit louder this time. A bit clearer.

My eyes fly open, and I hear it again. "Moira."

I scramble up onto my knees and peer over the back of the couch... into my kitchen, where I see Zach sitting there at my kitchen table. He's wearing a pair of dark-washed jeans and an olive-green T-shirt. His feet are bare and his hair is wet. Blue eyes burn into me with intensity.

I rub my own eyes furiously with my hands and look back again.

Yup... still there.

Maybe I'm hallucinating. Maybe I got some type of fever or infection while in the jungle. Yes, that coupled with lack of food and sleep the last few days, I'm surely just imagining that Zach is sitting in my kitchen.

I flop down with frustration onto my back on the couch and squeeze my eyes shut, willing myself to fall asleep.

"Come on, Moira. Stop playing around," Zach says.

Holy fuck.

He's really here.

In my house.

While I've been traipsing around the jungle looking for him.

I come flying off the couch and round it with a speed that belies the exhaustion I'm feeling. Zach stares at me, a small smile curving his lips up as he watches me stride toward him. He stands from the chair and opens his arms to me, and I fly at him.

My hands reach up and I slap them to his chest, shoving with all my might. His eyes flare in surprise and he stumbles backward, the kitchen chair catching him behind the knees. He falls down into it with a thud.

I lean in and shove at his chest again, although I don't budge him an inch this time.

"You asshole," I snarl furiously. "What are you doing here?"

I expect Zach to give me a sheepish apology for breaking my heart, for leaving me... for making me worry, and most of all, for causing me to go half a world away just to make sure he was okay.

Instead, he surges up out of the chair and clasps my face with his hands. Jerking me to him, he crushes his mouth to mine, thrusting his tongue into my mouth and giving me the hottest, wettest, deepest kiss of my life. He growls low in his throat, and my bones liquefy.

Oh, to feel his hands on me... his eyes searing me with lust when he pulls away marginally. He leans in and kisses me again, our teeth knocking together with brutality. He bites at my lip, sucking it into his mouth as he pulls my hips inward and grinds his erection against me.

Zach tears his lips away and reaches down to my T-shirt, whipping it over my head. I open my mouth to argue with him but he kisses me again, effectively shutting me up. His hands work at my canvas belt, finally my button and zipper, and then he's shoving my pants and my underwear down to my knees.

"What do you think--?" I start to say but he kisses me again, his tongue mating with mine so I'm robbed of any power of speech. My breathing starts getting harsh as his hands roam over my body, pinching at my nipples through my bra.

He cups me between the legs and hisses when he sticks a finger in me, "Wet baby. I knew you'd be."

My mind is spinning and there's a small part of me that is yelling at me to stop this assault, but the other ninety-nine point nine percent of my body is screaming at him to hurry up and just fuck me.

Zach doesn't waste any time. His hand goes around to the back of my neck, and he pushes me down to the kitchen floor. The linoleum is cool against my knees, and I know it will feel cold against my cheek as I watch the floor rise to meet me while Zach puts me in the same position that started all of this between us.

Harsh pants fill the room... mine, Zach's... we're both desperately on edge. I can hear the scrape of his zipper and then his hands are at my hips. He places the head of his cock against the back of my pussy and starts rotating his hips, working his way into my body. When he gets about an inch or so in, he finally grabs ahold of me hard and slams his way home.

I cry out, "Oh, Zach."

He answers me with a guttural moan and says, "I've missed you so much."

Those words melt my heart. Then he melts my body as he starts to thrust in and out of me, holding me in place by my hips.

"Oh, Moira," he pants as he moves with such deliberation... such care. "You just don't know. You just don't know."

His words are broken and coarse, his breath practically wheezing from his exertions. I feel a sudden buildup of pressure between my legs, then an orgasm is tearing its way free even as my heart starts filling up with joy that at this moment... this very moment... Zach has returned to me.

Zach slams into me one more time and digs his fingers into my skin, roaring out his release, which I can feel coating my the walls of my pussy. He collapses onto me, rolling us so he can p

ull me into his arms. He presses his mouth to the back of my head and kisses me, then we lay like that for a while as our breathing starts to go silent.

I don't know what to say to him. He's here.

In my house.

Alive.

Sudden joy over what this means courses through me.

Yes, he's alive.

And yes... he's here with me.

Zach suddenly releases me and pushes up from the floor. I watch, completely boneless, while he tucks his cock back in his jeans and zips up. He then bends down and scoops me up in his arms.

Without a word between us, he takes me into the bathroom and sets me down gently. Turning away from me briefly, he turns the shower on and adjusts the temperature.

When he turns back to me, he leans in and gives me a soft kiss. "I missed you."

"You already said that once," I murmur, my head still spinning that he's standing here... with me.

"I plan on saying it a whole lot more, so get used to it," he says with a grin.