A Little Wild (36 page)

Zach rubbed her back. “He has to be. He has you for a daughter.”

She smiled. “If the counseling works, who knows, they might get back together. If they don’t, it won’t be for lack of honestly trying this time. I think they both realize that.”

“I’m glad.” He wouldn’t push her to reveal more. A lifetime of sharing lay before them. “But I want
you
to understand that I realize I was equally at fault for our fight. Seeing my father fired me up to the point that I didn’t give you a chance.”

“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have told you about the bet when you’d just learned about Crockett’s. I couldn’t handle lying to you anymore.”

“Shh.” He dropped a kiss to her mouth. “It’s okay. I’m glad you told me, because now we have no more secrets.”

Her gaze flickered. “What about your father? Is he still angry?”

“We’ll be okay. It took some talking, but he’s realized the best thing I can do for myself is leave Halliday.”

She paused. “I have one secret left.” She pointed to the counter. “I didn’t talk to my mom on that phone. It’s dead.”

“It needs a new battery?”

“No, it’s been wrecked for weeks. I wanted to bring it to your place, so I took it out of the closet.”

His lips twitched. “You keep a wrecked phone in your closet?”

“Are you laughing at me, buster?”

“Never. I’m laughing because I don’t understand what you’re talking about. But never, ever laughing
at
you.”

“Good.” Her hands ran up and down his arms. “It’s a souvenir,” she murmured.

“A wrecked phone?”

“You kept the coaster from Danver’s, I kept the phone I dropped in the bathtub.”

“You dropped your phone in the tub? You mean during—”

“—our first phone sex.”

Delight swept through him. Like an old married couple, they were already completing each other’s sentences. “Even back then, you realized something special existed between us. Why else would you have kept the phone?”

“I guess I did know. At the time, I thought I kept it to remind myself how wonderful it felt to give in to my inner nympho.”

Zach chuckled. He had a lot to learn about his Miss Strawberry Surprise. Good thing he’d have a lifetime to accomplish that pleasurable task. If she’d have him.

“Now that you mention it, though, yeah, I think I knew even then,” she said.

He kissed her. “As long as you know now.”

She beamed. “I do.”

He wanted to hear her speak those words in a church with their loved ones gathered to support them. However, he needed to clean up the shrapnel from last week’s argument first.

Because, after he asked Tess to marry him, he wanted to make love with her for hours.

“I spoke to L.G.” He released her from his embrace and clasped her hand again. “I wanted him to understand I don’t hold anyone at the firm responsible for the leak. It was my fault—and Dad’s, who agrees with me.” He steered them down the hall shielding one end of the kitchen from the living room. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell L.G. about us.” Although he’d wanted to. He wanted to shout to the world that he loved Tess Sheridan.

“I told Lawrence, Zach. I realized he’d find out, anyway, if tonight worked out between us. Sooner or later, I’d meet your father in something other than a professional capacity, considering he and Lawrence are good friends. It doesn’t matter if Lawrence knows about us now, anyway. I’m leaving Greenburg.”

Zach froze where the hall opened into the living room. “L.G. fired you?”

“I resigned. I’m there for a few more weeks while I clear off my files. Phil’s assuming most of my clients, except for Sydney and Teddy, who both want Virginia. Lawrence agreed that I could take the small business clients who want to go with me. Rob Tanaka and his parents are onboard. I’m opening my own practice.” Pride wreathed her face.

“Fantastic! I always thought you’d be happier working for the little guy, babe, but this is a huge step. Your career means everything to you.”

“You mean everything to me. I was concentrating on the wrong aspect of my career. Loving you has helped me see that.”

A grin split his face. Wasn’t this how loving marriages worked, each partner cherishing, teaching and supporting the other?

“When will you start taking clients?” he asked. “As it happens, I’m looking for a lawyer.”

“If everything goes as planned, I’ll be my own boss by December.”

“And when you hang out your shingle, babe, what name would you like to see there?”

She flipped him a confused look. “Um, Teresa A. Sheridan? My name?”

“I’m all for you keeping your name, Tess. You might want to consider a couple of alternatives, though.” He kissed her hand, and the jacket sleeve on her arm bumped his nose. “Teresa Sheridan, Teresa Halliday, or Teresa Sheridan-Halliday—all sound great to me, as long as you’re legally mine. I love you, babe. Will you marry me?”

Her eyes rounded. “W-will I? Marry?”

“Me. Marry me.” He slipped his hand into the pocket of the leather jacket she wore and extracted the ring his brother had foisted on him. “This was my mother’s engagement ring. It’s simple but beautiful. If you want it, it’s yours.”

A soft light brightened her gaze. “Oh, Zach.”

“Whoops. Last time you said ‘Oh, Zach’, all hell broke loose.”

“There’s no chance of that this time. But are you sure? We’ve only known each other a few weeks.”

“More certain than I’ve ever been about anything. Have I told you how long my parents knew one another before marrying?”

She shook her head.

“Ten days before the proposal. Fourteen until the wedding. And look how happy they were.”

Smiling, she extended her hand. Zach slipped the ring onto her trembling finger. “A perfect fit. Like you are for me.” The last time they’d made love, he’d expressed a similar sentiment. However, now she didn’t deny it or attempt to distract him.

“It’s stunning.” She admired the sparkling diamond.

A carton on the coffee table caught his gaze. “What gives with the ice cream?”

“I was building up my courage to come see you.”

“That’s a lot of courage, sweetheart.”

“It was part of the bet. Ten cartons for Chloe if she won, which she did. She insisted I keep one, because I was devastated about losing you.”

“But you did sleep with me, babe, so how could Chloe win?”

“The bet wasn’t only for me to sleep with you. It was for me not to fall in love with you.” Tess wiggled her ring finger. “Since I failed miserably on that score—”

He hugged her. “Chloe won.” He pushed his hands beneath the jacket and settled them at her waist. “You two are crazy.”

“I’m crazy for you.”

Ah, babe.
“You’re wearing my ring, but you haven’t said yes yet. Come be crazy with me. Say you’ll marry me, Tess.”

She bounced on her spiked sandals. “Yes! Yesyesyes!”

Desire heated him. “It’s been a while since I heard you say that.” In the throes of passion.

“Want to hear me say it again now?”

“In the living room, with Buddy watching?”

She flicked a hand at the birdcage. “Buddy, turn around.”

He chuckled.

She kissed him. “What about the ice cream? Should we let it go to waste?”

“Not on your life.” He pushed the jacket off her shoulders. It collapsed onto the floor. “Is the carton melting?” He removed her shortie housecoat and bra. His fingers grazed her nipples, and her breath caught.

“It’s, um, pretty soft.”

The exact opposite of
his
condition.

“Perfect. I’ll dribble some between your breasts, all the way to…” He skated a finger from her collarbone to her navel. She rewarded him with a sensual shiver. “…right here.”

“Then lick it off?” she asked.

“I’ll dribble it all over your body.”

“I also have chocolate sauce.”

“Get it,” he whispered.

She kicked off her sandals. Breasts bouncing, she scurried to the kitchen clad in nothing but her G-string. Zach shed his clothes faster than an excited groom. Tess returned with the chocolate sauce, several towels—and minus her skimpy panties.

“Yum.” Taking the sauce bottle, Zach sat the liquid chocolate on the coffee table. They layered the couch with the towels plus two more from the bag on the armchair. As Buddy chirped and pranced in his cage, Tess reclined on the sofa, her curls dangling over the armrest.

Cock a stiff mast, Zach wedged himself beside her naked hip and scooped ice cream onto the spoon. Candied cherries decorated the pink-and-white-swirled confection.

“Want some?” he asked, lifting the spoon to her lips.

Eyes closed, she drew on the ice cream. Zach scooped a second spoonful onto his tongue. Before Tess could swallow, he kissed her. The contrast of the cold dessert against the silky heat of her mouth shot arousal through him. Moaning, he sucked a cherry bit off her tongue.

He dripped a half-spoonful of melting ice cream into her belly button, and she squeaked.

“That’s cold!” The ice cream overflowed her navel.

“Tsk-tsk. Patience.”

Her tummy quivered. Carefully wielding the spoon, Zach dug cherry bits out of the carton and placed them in a circle around her belly button. Sexy goose bumps dotted her skin. Another spoonful of melting ice cream traipsed from her navel to between her tits. Backwards from how he’d promised, but every bit as tempting.

He dug out more cherries and positioned them on her breasts. Her nipples pointed. Some cherries stayed put while others tumbled down between her arms and waist.

“You’re quite an artist,” she murmured.

“Shh. I’m working.” He continued strategically placing cherries and dribbling ice cream. Buddy chirped in the cage, and a dairy scent infused the air.

Tess’s fingers and toes wiggled. “What do you call me?

“Hmm?”

“I’m your masterpiece. I must have a name.”

“Let me think.” He leaned back. Cherries and ice cream swirls decorated her from her breasts to the tiny patch of red-gold curls between her legs. And lower, to her shaven folds. “I dub thee Wet and Wild.”

She laughed. The cherries on her stomach wobbled. “That’s a title for a skin flick, not a work of art.”

“I’m the artist, and I say it’s perfect.” He scooped several whole cherries out of the carton. One after the other, he sucked off the soft ice cream and sat the cherries on the towel between her slightly parted legs. He eased open her slick folds with his fingers. “Yup, wet.” He slid two fingers into her. “Enough to drive me wild.”

She moaned.

He withdrew his fingers. He selected a cherry from between her legs and pushed it into her hot opening.

She gasped. “Are you sure that’s—”

“Woman, what did I say about not disturbing an artist at work?”

She clammed up.

Cock raging with need, he thumbed more cherries into her and lined them up. Every time his fingers brushed her sensitive inner walls, moisture seeped from her. Lowering his head, he inhaled the arousing aroma of her musky juices bathing the candied cherries. He wanted to lick those cherries from her body so badly that his nuts squeezed and pre-come glistened on his cock.

Tess wrapped a hand around his erection, whispering, “We’ll have to use a condom. I’m nearing the middle of my cycle, so I’m probably safe. But I’d rather not take a chance…until we’re ready.”

To have children. He smiled. “I don’t mind.”

She slid her hand up and down his stiff length. “I’ll talk to my doctor about other methods of birth control. Then we can—”

“Make love bareback all the time. Oh yeah.” His cock throbbed in her palm, another drop of pre-come joining the first.

He enjoyed the erotic torture for a moment. Then, moving her hand, he rose from the couch.

“I’m not finished decorating you.” He reached for the chocolate bottle. “Can I heat this stuff?”

Desire glazed her eyes. “In the microwave. Twenty seconds on medium, or it might get too hot.”

“Gotcha.” He didn’t want to burn her. “Be right back.”

Moments later, he returned with the warm bottle. As he grabbed a condom packet from his jeans on the floor, Tess squirmed on the towels. More cherries tumbled off her.

“Getting antsy?” He perched by her hip again.

“The ice cream’s sliding down my waist.”

“Give me a few more seconds then I’ll eat you.” From head to toe.

He uncapped the chocolate-sauce bottle and tested the warmth of the thick, brown liquid with his finger. “Tell me if this is too hot.” He squirted a dollop of sauce on her abdomen, right above the twelve-o’clock cherry topping her navel.

“Ahhh.” Her nipples stiffened. “It feels incredible, Zach. I love it.” Her blue eyes shone. “I love you.”

“I worship and adore you, babe. Your heart and soul and every goddamn gorgeous inch of you.”

She caressed his arm. He squirted chocolate sauce on her breasts and folds. His balls ached. Enough was enough.

He plunked the bottle on the coffee table, tore open the condom packet, and sheathed his erection. Tess’s tongue slipped out to moisten her lips.

Leaning down, Zach kissed her. Starting from her collarbone, he licked every trail of ice cream and chocolate-sauce swirl, slurped and munched each cherry he encountered on his journey down her body.

Her fingers twined in his hair. “Greedy guy. Where’s mine?”

He smiled against her stomach. Slurping a cherry bit into his mouth, he brought it to her lips. Kissing her deeply, he transferred the cherry. While she savored the intense flavor, he sucked one nipple and tweaked the other. Her hips rolled on the couch, scattering more cherries. They were making a fucking fantastic mess.

Zach scooped cherries from between her waist and arm. He shared some with her using his tongue and chewed the others. Gently pinching her nipples, he returned to lapping chocolate sauce and melted ice cream off her stomach and mound. She sighed, skin trembling beneath his touch.

He licked chocolate sauce off her naked labia, and she moaned, hips moving up and down. Slurping his tongue between her folds, he licked them clean, until only the cherries inside her remained.

“Lift your legs,” he whispered.

Raising her legs at the knees, she parted them. One cherry rolled out onto the fluffy towel. Zach ate it up. Tess and cherries—a potent combination.