A to Zane (10 page)

The beauty of the day faded for her. Abby stood and headed back into the house.

She found her mother in the front room. An old black and white film was on the screen, and Abby recognized it as a favorite of hers.

“Hey, little girl.” Emily smiled as Abby walked into the room.

“Hey, Ma.” Abby dropped to the couch next to her.

“How you feeling?”

“I feel fine, honestly,” Abby reassured her. It wasn’t exactly a lie. The physical harm done to her at the beginning of the week was healing well.

“Good. Did I see Karina a while ago?”

“Yeah, she just came to check in with me.” So that was a total lie, but one Abby was willing to tell. She didn’t need her family getting involved with this.

Abby never ever told them about Eric. She never explained the pain he caused her. All they knew was one minute she was dating a guy and it was sort of serious. The next, it was over, and Abby didn’t want to talk about it. She never talked about it, not even to Laney, and they talked about everything.

“You picked a good team there, honey.”

“I know.”

“And she’s totally sleeping with Duke.”

“What?” Abby’s jaw dropped wide open. Karina and Duke? They hated each other. She just knew they seriously hated each other.

“Don’t ask me details; I don’t know any. I just know your little fox friend and our Duke have been doing things that a lady my age shouldn’t be aware of.”

“Ma!” Abby laughed.

“A lady of my advanced years could have a heart attack.” Emily sniffed in disapproval.

“Ma, you could’ve sold that better if your lips weren’t twitching.” Abby turned sideways, got comfortable, and stretched her legs out over her mother’s lap. “So what else have I missed?”

Emily turned a bright gaze on her, and Abby couldn’t help but smile. Her mother always knew the best gossip. Eric was in the wind, and until he was found, Abby couldn’t do anything, so she refused to let him control her time home.

Emily spent the next hour filling her in on all the town news. It never stopped amazing Abby how her mother knew so much.

The shadows had started to grow long when Zane walked into the room.

She knew he’d taken some time to catch up with his work. Abby had tried to persuade him to leave, telling him he didn’t need to stay here any longer, but as usual, he’d ignored her and carried on as if she didn’t even speak.

“Hey, ladies.” With a hand on the back of the couch, Zane leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. Such a simple act made her toes curl.

“Hey, sweet boy.” Her mother was clearly enthralled with the giant pussy cat.

“Miss Emily, do you think it’d be okay if I took Abby out to dinner tonight?” he asked her mother.

“Well I don’t see why not, just not too late. She’s still recovering.”

“I know. We won’t be late, I promise.”

Abby watched the byplay. They were talking about her as if she wasn’t even in the room.
That is just rude!

“Err, I didn’t agree to go with you.” She felt obliged to point it out.

“I didn’t ask you. I asked your mother. All you have to do is get your pretty butt upstairs and into something hot, so we can go eat,” Zane told her. He was still standing, forcing Abby to lie back on the couch to look up at him. She was sure he was trying to look intimidating, but he just looked too darn cute as far as she was concerned.

“Abby, go with the boy. Eat, come home, and relax,” her mother instructed.

Abby rolled her eyes and stood. “Fine, give me half an hour, and I’ll be ready. But I warn you, I don’t own anything ‘hot’ so deal with it.” She brushed past him and headed for a shower.

Going to dinner with him would give her a better chance to show him she was fine. He didn’t need to stick around. Not in town, the house, and most definitely, not in her bed.

She showered and decided on a below the knee black dress with cap sleeves. She left her hair loose and left her wrap off. Eric might be back, but she was done hiding.

Zane was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs when she came down.

“We’ll be back before ten, Miss Emily,” Zane called as they headed to the door.

“Have fun,” her mother answered from the living room.

Zane had changed too. He wore black trousers and a loose gray shirt. He looked so good he made Abby’s mouth water.

“Zane, Ziggy, and Ziva. Did your parents have a thing for Z names?” Abby asked over their main course.

Zane smiled and shook his head. “My dad, Zeb, is the last in a long line of a tradition started by my great-grandfather. He started naming all his kids in alphabetical order. For some reason the males then started naming all their kids with the same letter. My uncle Wesley has Wendy, William, and Wilson. My dad ended up being the twenty-sixth in line, so Z it was.”

“So all of his children are Z named? Like all of them?” Abby asked.

Zane nodded. “Every one of us. I’m oldest, so I think I lucked out, but Zindelia and Zoglire? Yeah, I think that’s when they started picking random letters and putting them together hoping they made some sort of word.”

Abby laughed. “Oh dear, your poor family.”

She took a sip of her wine and smiled. The evening was going well. It was the first time in a long time she’d been on what felt like a real date. Zane was funny, considerate, and everything you could hope for. It was a shame she was going to have to send him away.

The waiter came to clear away their plates and left the dessert menus.

“So what do you feel like?” she asked as she looked down the list of decadent treats. When Zane didn’t answer, she looked over the top of the menu. The smile on his face was sensual and said what he wanted wasn’t on the menu in their hands.

“Stop it.”

“What?” he asked, all innocent.

“You know what. You told me yourself I’m not well enough for what you have in mind. Besides…” She gave a sniff and ducked behind the menu. “…who says I want that anyway?”

Zane reached out and plucked the menu from her hands. He leaned across the table. “The way you ground your ass against my cock this morning, how wet you got. That tells me it’s exactly what you want.”

“Shh, someone could hear you.” Abby shot a quick look around the room, making sure no one was listening.

“The difference between you and me, Abby, is I don’t care who hears that I want to bend you over this table and hear you scream my name until you’re hoarse.”

Abby picked up her glass and held the cold surface to her cheek.

Damn him
, he wasn’t even trying to sweet-talk her. He was being direct and clear on exactly what he wanted.
Dear God, I love that.
Flowery talk, cute little voices, and batting eyelashes had never done it for her.

Abby liked straight-talking people, and she wasn’t embarrassed to say she liked it when a man talked dirty. Dirty straight talk—there was nothing better as far as she was concerned.

“Well if you take up all the room in my bed, what do you expect?”

“We need to get you a larger bed. That tiny little thing wouldn’t even fit a baby bear shifter.”

“I didn’t exactly expect to have to share it with a tiger, especially not one with embarrassingly large feet.” She shot back scrunching her nose and poking her tongue out at him.

“I may have large feet, but at least I keep them to myself. Do you know how hard it is to get any sleep when you insist on rubbing your feet on my ankles to keep them warm?”

“I do not do that.”

“Yep, just like you snore,” he teased her back.

“Would you care for any dessert?” The waiter arrived just then, preventing her from offering a comeback.

“No thank you, just the bill,” Zane said, sending the man on his way.

“I might have wanted dessert.”

“Tough.”

“You suck, you know that?”

“I’m not the only one.” He gave her a wink.
When did winking become foreplay?

The bill was paid, and they headed out. Zane handed her into the car, and she pulled her dress close around her legs and waited for him to get in.

“Thank you for dinner,” she said, finally remembering her manners.

“No problem. Thank you for coming.” He started the car and pulled out of the lot. He’d rented the car a few days after they’d arrived, or so Abby was told.

It was a fine piece of sports car machinery. Clara told her the St. Clair brood, from Abby’s uncle right down to Laney, had spent hours looking under the hood of the thing. She hadn’t inherited the desire to tinker with all things vehicular. Her talent lay with computers.

The soft leather of the seat gently warmed her butt. She relaxed back, letting the vibrations of the machine soothe her.

“You’re too ill. You need time to recover.” Zane’s strained voice caught her attention. She looked over at him. His jaw was clenched, and his knuckles were white where they gripped the steering wheel.

“Something wrong, Zane?”

“No,” he said through gritted teeth. Abby grinned. He was just too cute not to tease.

She moved her legs farther apart, and pulled the skirt of the dress up slightly, just above the knees.

“Abby.” His voice was full of warning.

She bit her tongue, to stop a laugh escaping. “Yes?” she asked when she was able to control herself again.

“Don’t tease.”

“Tease? Me? Why, I’d never do that.”

The skirt rose another inch, showing off her thighs. She stopped short of showing him she wore no underwear.

“I’m trying to be the good guy here.” He all but growled at her.

She fought a grin. What could it hurt, one last night of fun? Tomorrow she could send him back to the city and his life.

Decision made she lifted her skirt higher.

“I prefer bad boys.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes. His jaw clenched hard; perhaps she’d been wrong to push. Perhaps he wasn’t really that interested, no matter what he said. Words and actions were very different things.

Abby started to pull her dress back into place, but he stopped her with a firm grip around her wrist.

“Ah ah,” he said without taking his eyes off of the road. “You want to play, we’ll play, but we’ll play my way, baby. I don’t want you hurting yourself.”

Abby let go of the material and waited for his next move.

“Show me.”

She didn’t move.

“You want to offer a lot with your little peekaboo game, but you’re not willing to see it through. Is that it, baby? Such a little tease.”

“I’m no tease. I just don’t see how you deserve more than a little.”

Zane choked on a laugh. The car swerved, but he held it. She was grateful the roads around Hillside were mostly empty out this way.

“Is that right? So what’ll get you to pull that skirt up over your waist?” He asked so casually, if you couldn’t hear his words, you’d have thought he was talking about the weather.

One last night
, she promised herself again, and this time when the morning came, she’d still be there when he woke up.

With a lick of her lips she leaned across the center console and whispered in his ear, “You show me yours, and I’ll show you mine.” She reached down and stroked the bulge clearly outlined in his trousers.

Zane gave a deep growl. “Not the easiest thing to do when I’m driving, baby.”

Abby looked out the front window, and a small dirt track caught her eye. It led to the old Duncannon place, which had been empty for years.

“Take the left.” Zane didn’t argue. He maneuvered the car down the road as far as it would go.

They stopped just short of the house, pulling in behind the old large barn.

“Now show me,” he said.

“You first.” She turned in the seat, one heel balanced on the edge of his seat, the other on the floor of the car. She moved her dress to make sure he could see nothing below the waist.

He snarled a little, giving her a flash of fang. Heat pooled low in her stomach.
Who knew I was a fang fan?

He reached for the belt of his trousers, pulling it open and yanking the zipper down.

His hips rose from the seat, and he pulled his pants and black boxers down. His hard-on sprang free, standing to attention.

“Well, hello.” She reached out to stroke the glistening top, but he caught her hand.

“Now you.”

She pouted but pulled her hand back. Abby moved the skirt up, slowly revealing inch by tortuous inch. His cock seemed to bob in time with her movements.

When she was bare from the waist down she pointed at his cock. “Now can I touch?”

“Be my guest.”

Abby moved fast. She came forward, wrapped a hand around the base of his erection, and sucked him into her mouth.

“Fuck!”

She pulled up, running her tongue along the thick vein on the underside of his cock. She released the head with a pop.

“Did you say something?” she asked.

Zane grabbed the back of her head and pulled her up so he could capture her lips. The kiss was pure aggression, and she loved every second of it.

“You sucked my cock,” he said.

“I did, and I’m going to do it again when you let go of my hair.”

“I didn’t agree to that.”

“You don’t want me to suck your cock? To take you deep and let you come down my throat?” As she spoke, she stroked his erection.

“Dirty girl.” He slowly let go of her hair.

“The dirtiest.” She moved back down, making sure to keep eye contact. She kissed the head of his cock. A bead of precum leaked from the top. Abby licked the tip, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

The sense of power she had was intoxicating. This man’s pleasure was in her hands, figuratively and literally.

She took as much of him as she could into her mouth and stopped moving. She gave a soft hum. The vibration caused Zane to suck air through his teeth.

“Jesus, baby.”

Abby bobbed up and down. She knew what he wanted, what he needed, but he was going to have to ask for it.

“Harder, suck me harder,” Zane told her.

Abby didn’t obey. She carried on sucking him with just a little pressure.

“Abby, baby, you know what I need. You can’t hurt me. I need harder.”