Riptide (Renegades 6)

She returned her gaze to the deck and found him in the doorway, leaning into the door jamb.

“I, uh…sorry, I…” Where was the woman who could speak to Congress without a hitch? She tried again. “I knocked, but you…” Her mind fragmented—to losing Sophia, to walking away from Zach, to getting this damn bill turned into law, to going home and facing Corinne’s absence again…

She had the wild urge to run. To grab Sophia and move to Switzerland or Norway or some other location in the Netherlands where people were supposedly the happiest people on earth.

“Who was that?” she asked. “On the phone.”

“Oh.” He looked at his phone, then slid it into the pocket of his board shorts. “My, um, my sister. The youngest.”

The psychologist. That explained her words and formality.

She blew out a breath, trying to calm her nerves, but it wasn’t working. “I came to talk about Sophia, but…I don’t think this is a good time…”

“Hey.” He came toward her, his voice soft and concerned. “What’s wrong?”

A better question would be ‘What wasn’t wrong?’

“Everything,” she said, dropping her hand and sniffling back the sudden sting of tears. “Nothing.” She choked back more emotion. The urgent need to find a dark corner where she could break and no one would see overwhelmed her. She turned toward the door. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.”

“Hold on.” His warm hand closed on her forearm, then his other slipped around her waist from behind. “Hold on.”

Tessa squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed them hard, willing the tears to dry up, but the emotions inside her wouldn’t stop spiraling, and a sob escaped.

He turned her to face him and enveloped her in his arms all at the same time, pulling her to her toes and stealing her breath. She was trapped in his big, strong arms, holding her like she mattered, like she meant something to him—something more than a meaningless hookup. More than the woman he had to deal with to see his daughter. More than a pseudo-mom, a nursemaid, an employee.

Her mind couldn’t wait for a private place to snap. She’d endured too much for too long. Hearing Zach’s honest opinion of her overloaded her already overtaxed emotional system. Tears leaked from her eyes and slid over his bare skin.

“Sh-shit…” she stuttered through the emotion choking her. “I’m s-sorry. I just…” She took another breath, but couldn’t find control. “It’s all so much s-sometimes…”

“Shh, it’s okay.” He stroked her hair and kissed her head. “Let go. I’m here.”

That made her cry harder—in fear, in hope, in gratitude. God, she was so fucked-up. She buried her face against his chest. She had to stop. He was going to think she was a lunatic. That she was unstable and couldn’t take care of Sophia.

“Tessa,” he crooned, his voice so soft, so understanding. “The harder you hold on to it, the scarier it seems. You’re safe here. Let it go.”

Her body didn’t give her a choice. The tears flooded over her lashes, the sobs choked her, and she trembled.

Zach slid his arms lower and picked her up. Carrying her to the couch, he sank into the cushions, where he pushed her thighs apart so she straddled his lap. He tilted his head and pressed kisses to her cheeks, then rubbed away the tears. He combed his hands through her hair and murmured such sweet things. “I’m here. I’m not going to steal Sophia. You’re an amazing mother. We’re going to work this out. I’m scared too, but we can do this. I believe in us.”

His words were so sweet, they hurt. And it felt like forever before her body relaxed against his. Until her sobs quieted to hiccups. Until she could breathe properly.

He cupped her face and pushed her back to look at her. So much emotion brewed in his eyes—passion, intensity, confusion. Then he leaned in while pulling her toward him and kissed her hard. A murmur of surprise ebbed from her throat. His tongue swept into her mouth, found hers, and devastated her with an erotic kiss she felt all the way to the bone. Dizzy, she leaned back to tell Zach they shouldn’t make things any more complicated. But he pulled her tee off over her head, stroked those big, warm hands down her back, and Tessa’s resistance caved.

Everything happened so fast. He found the clasp on her bra in seconds and stripped it from her body. His hands pressed against her spine, arching her back. Then his mouth covered her breast and made her head drop back on a cry of pleasure. He hummed in approval, shooting more sensation through her chest and straight between her legs.

So wild. So passionate. So raw. Like he’d been waiting since their first night for this. Like he couldn’t wait another second. A swift, powerful streak of emotional and physical lust slammed through her and cleared her mind of everything but Zach. Tessa had never been wanted this way. Sex had never been this hot, this urgent. She’d never needed anyone the way she needed him now. On so many levels.

A warning flag fluttered somewhere in the back of her mind. This was dangerous—to her heart. Her soul. So dangerous. Her logical brain fought to be heard, but Zach sat forward and laid her on the coffee table. The snap of cold against her skin almost pulled her back to reality, but Zach followed her down and kissed her, ending all rational thought. He braced his hands on the table above her head and kissed her. And kissed her. And kissed her.

Within seconds, she was ravenous. She stroked her hands down his body, into the waistband of his shorts, and tugged at the Velcro holding the front together. Tessa took his cock in her hand and sighed at the same time Zach groaned. His tongue dove deep into her mouth, and he groaned again, the sound so dark and needy, it shivered through her.

“Want you,” he murmured into her mouth between kisses. “Need you.”

His mouth and hands stroked and teased her breasts. His lips burned a path over her belly while his fingers unfastened her shorts and pushed them off. Zach dropped to his knees, swung her thighs over his shoulders, and opened his mouth over her sex.

“God.” Light flashed in her head. Sensation cut a path through her body. “Zach…oh, God…Zach.” She didn’t know what her body was doing. It was out of control. So out of control. Pleasure streaked up her spine, arching her off the table and lighting fireworks off behind her eyelids. Sounds choked out of her throat. Sounds of passion, need, pleasure so extreme, it wiped out all thought. She was on the edge of orgasm so fast, she sank one hand into his hair, clenched her teeth, and lifted to look down at him.

He had her thighs over his bare shoulders, his arms locked around them, holding them wide, and his mouth moved over her with a hunger she’d never imagined, his face filled with a dark lusty need like a starving animal feasting on a delicacy.