Rhythm of My Heart: Speed, Book 3 (10 page)

How easy it would be to kneel between her legs, mount her, take her from behind. How fucking incredible it would be.

But when Zachary finally sank inside her, he intended to look into Eve’s eyes and let her see every emotion she brought out in him. That way she could understand how fucking much he wanted her.

She’d also realize her scar was no repellent. Eve was perfect just the way she was. If he took her from behind this first time, her fears would in no way be allayed. The action would probably just convince her she’d been right in thinking her mark hideous.

It wasn’t. It horrified him only because of the trauma she must have had to endure. One day soon, he’d ask her more about the scar. Ask her exactly how she’d gotten it. Just not now.

“Eve?”

She rolled her head languidly to the side to peer at him through dreamy eyes. “Mm?” It was a contented rumble of an answer.

“You feel good?”

“Mmm.” She practically purred her response.

“Wanna feel even better?”

“Not possible,” she murmured, making him grin.

Zachary took a step closer, and her gaze landed on his erection. To his untold satisfaction, she squirmed on the bed.

“Definitely possible,” was his whispered response. He stroked his hand down her spine and watched as goose bumps erupted over her skin. “Roll over, Tiny.”

She did, taking her sweet time about it. Her hair was a wild mess, her neck and cheeks flushed with pleasure and her breasts swollen and magnificent. “You gonna fuck me now, Jonah?”

“Do you want Jonah to fuck you now?”

Eve stared at his cock before lifting her gaze to meet his. “No.”

His heart sank. “No?”

“Not Jonah. I want Zachary.”

He growled. “You have Zachary.” Christ, she had more of him than she bargained for, since his heart was fast becoming hers. “But he’s not gonna fuck you.”

Her eyes widened, distress turning her irises a dark blue, and her arm covered her torso, from her breastbone to her shoulder, exactly where her scar lay. Her other hand trailed shakily over her cheek.

Zachary climbed on the bed and knelt between her legs. “He’s not gonna fuck you because he—
I—
am going to take my time making love to you.” He leaned over, wrapped his hands around each of her wrists and pulled her arms up and over her head.

No fucking way was she concealing herself from him. Not any part of her.

A soft sigh of relief left her lips.

“Don’t hide from me, Eve.” He ran his fingers from each of her shoulders, down across her breasts and let his hands meet on her breastbone. “Don’t hide any part of yourself. There’s no need. You’re beautiful just the way you are.”

And there they were again. The damn tears in her eyes.

Zachary couldn’t stand them, couldn’t bear to see them, not if it meant Eve was hurting. He did the only thing he could think of to stop them. He leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers.

The kiss hit fever pitch the second their lips touched and their tongues tangled. This time the fireworks Zachary saw had nothing to do with flashes and public displays of affection.

Uh-uh, this time the fireworks were compliments of the intense heat that burned between him and Eve.

Chapter Six

Twice.

She’d just climaxed twice and still she wanted more. She wanted to come again, this time wrapped around Zachary, his cock inside her, his mouth on hers.

God knew, she should worry about her scars, the ones he hadn’t seen, the ones he unwittingly demanded she reveal, but she couldn’t focus on them now. Couldn’t focus on anything beside the delicious assault of his mouth, the naked body that covered hers, the hard shaft that pressed against her thigh, separated from her bare flesh by a slip of latex.

She twisted this way then that, trying desperately to get to that hard shaft, to let it slide between her legs, push inside her…

But Zachary was having none of it. Instead of giving in to her insistent moans and silent demands, he released her lips to dip his head lower and subject her breasts to the same exquisite torture he’d subjected her pussy to.

He kissed them and suckled them, nipped them and nibbled them, whispering sensual words against her skin. He traced the scar with his lips and then with his tongue, leaving a burning trail of fire in his wake. By the time he lifted his head to look at her with passion-drunk eyes, she’d forgotten she had a scar.

She knew only this man, his sinful mouth, his skilled hands and his silver tongue.

“Zachary?”

“Mm?”

“Make love to me.”

“Mmm…” The rest of his purred response was cut off as he claimed her mouth again. He finally,
finally
arched his back, rocked his hips and let his cock slide between her legs.

Eve gripped his thighs with hers, opening herself as wide as she could to his invasion. Her eyes slid shut. It was like she’d waited her entire life for this moment, for this joining.

When the tip of his shaft finally touched the lips of her pussy, when her muscles gave way to his insistent yet gentle probing, every nerve ending leapt to life.

This, him, Zachary was all she wanted, all she needed. All she desired.

Could he be all she’d ever desired?

A long sigh shuddered from her mouth, and for once everything was right in the world. The past and scars and masks melted into insignificance, and the moment melded into a little piece of perfect.

Eve murmured his name, a soft hum that floated between them. She leaned in and bit his neck, a sneaky nibble just above his collarbone.

Zachary froze. And growled. A low, primal sound, echoing frustration, longing and compulsion. With an almost violent twist, he pulled out of her only to plunge all the way back in, burying himself inside her.

Deep, deep inside her. Filling her. Claiming her.

“Ah, fuck!” His cry bounced off the walls.
“Eve.”

She clutched his arms, ran her hands over his shoulders, slid them over his back, gloried in the contained strength in his muscles.

Zachary dragged his cock out and drove it back in. The raw pleasure of his thrusts blinded her. He drove into her again and then again. Once, twice, forty times, each one more wanton, more wicked than before.

Time stopped. The world ceased spinning.

God, he felt good. Inside and out. Solid man. Solid muscle. Pure temptation. Unadulterated rapture. “Don’t stop,” she gasped. “Please, God, don’t ever stop.”

“Can’t,” he gasped. “Won’t.”

He shifted his weight on his arms, lifting himself a little higher, changing the angle of penetration, and rocked above her, burying himself inside her deeper than before.

That was all it took. One second Eve climbed high on a wave, part of a stunning ride, and the next she crested it, flying over the top as sensation exploded within.

She threw her head back, arched her spine and gave herself up to the blissful tide that took her beyond the edge of reason.

Colors flared behind her eyelids as her pussy convulsed, her inner muscles grabbing at his driving cock while a billion pulses of heaven blazed through her.

“Eve, Ah… Fuck.
Tiny!
” And then he too slipped over, plunging into her one last time before every muscle in his body tensed.

He came with a roar, buried so deep inside her she lost all track of where she ended and he began. So deep inside her that the contractions in his cock as he came triggered fresh waves of bliss in her.

Endless minutes passed as time spluttered back to life, as the world slowly began to spin again. Eve tried to get her heart beating normally, tried to find a rhythm in her breathing slower than a hurricane.

She lost herself to the delicious weight of the man who’d collapsed on top of her, panting. Eve herself was buoyant, floating in a nirvana of Zachary’s making. Of being adored. Of feeling cherished.

When he slipped out of her pussy with a groan and a shudder, Eve shivered as a last ripple of sweetness flowed through her.

He hauled himself reluctantly off the bed, pausing to place a wonderfully decadent kiss on her lips. “I’ll be right back.”

Zachary disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Eve to catch her breath, to wonder at everything that had gone down. To marvel at how trusting she’d been with him. She’d shown him the scar on her chest.

When last had a man inspired such faith?

Never.

She caught her hands above her head and stretched, extending every muscle from her calves to her fingers. Then she relaxed, falling back onto the mattress and letting the luxurious post-orgasmic lethargy flow through her.

Zachary returned, inspiring a ridiculously large smile from Eve.

“You look happy.” He returned her smile.

“I am, Zachary. Like really, really happy.”

He climbed onto the bed beside her, tugging her into his arms. “Ah, Tiny. Me too.” He ran his hand over her back. “Would you believe me if I told you I’ve never come that hard?” This said with a ragged breath.

Eve could identify. Not only had she just had the climax of a lifetime, she’d had it
after
two other spectacular orgasms. She felt wonderfully sated. “You have me wrapped around your little finger. I’d believe anything you told me now.”

“So long as you know I’m not just feeding you a line. Seriously, that was about the best sex I’ve ever had.”

She tried to play it cool. “You’ve obviously never had sex with an Australian before.”

Zachary stilled.

His hesitation took her by surprise. “Oh, Lord.” She pushed against his chest so she could get a look at his face. “You have had sex with an Aussie before?”

He cringed. “Well, uh, kinda.”

“Kinda?”

“Kinda…as in yeah.” He closed his eyes and fell back against the pillow. “I’ve had sex with a lot of people, Eve. From a lot of places. Some of them were from Australia.”

“Some of them?” she squeaked. “How many were there?” She stared at him, reminded all over again that it wasn’t just Zachary Pace she’d slept with. It was Jonah Speed too. The
legendary
Jonah Speed. The smolderingly sexy Jonah Speed.

Lost in the throes of spectacular sex, she’d forgotten that little detail.

Suddenly the sex didn’t seem quite so spectacular. Suddenly she didn’t feel quite as special and cherished as she had two minutes before.

Eve wished she hadn’t asked her last question. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Feeling naked and vulnerable, she sat up to look for her clothes but didn’t get very far. He grabbed her arms, pulling her back down so they once again lay face to face. Zachary cupped her cheek so gently, Eve forgot to shake his hand off. She forgot to breathe too.

“Eve.” He held her gaze. “I’ve slept with hundreds of women. I can’t hide from that, can’t pretend I haven’t. It’s part of who I am…or rather, who I was. And yeah, some of those people were Australian. But—” his voice softened, “—but I can promise you that before tonight I have never made love to an Australian.” His eyelids drooped sensually. “Never wanted to…until I met you.”

Something in her chest lurched. “Zachary…” She couldn’t finish. Didn’t know what to say.

“What we did together? That wasn’t just sex. Not by a long stretch of the imagination.”

And just like that, he put the spectacular back into their sex.

She smiled at him. “We hardly know each other. How could we possibly have made love?”

“Lady, you’ve seen inside my head. You’ve lived through an experience that changed my life. How could you possibly say you hardly know me?”

“I experienced a child’s emotions. You’re a man now. It’s different.”

He laughed, a hoarse, soft chuckle. “Yeah? Well it was the man who made love to you. The man who tasted you. Who lost control inside you. The man who ripped himself wide open, showing you his soul as he came.”

Damn it, this man was dangerous to her heart. “Be careful, Mr. Pace. Carry on talking like this, and I might not let your red-haired future anywhere near you when she finally makes an appearance.”

Zachary blinked, and his eyes creased with displeasure. “Can you please not do that?”

“What? Keep her from you? Uh, I think we both know that would be impossible anyway, what with her being your destiny and all.”

“No. I mean can you please not keep bringing her up?”

“Uh…”

“She might be my future, Eve, but this is my present. And it’s a present that’s all wrapped up in
you
. I’m with
you.
The last thing I want to do is think about another woman.”

Stunned by his words, she placed her hand between her breasts, over the edge of her scar, and rubbed.

His concern was instant. “Does it hurt?”

“No.” Not anymore anyway. “It’s not that. It’s just… It’s just that every time you say something like that, like…like you’re all wrapped up in me, my chest feels funny. It’s as if my heart forgets how to beat properly.”

His eyes twinkled. “Is that a bad thing?”