Rhythm of My Heart: Speed, Book 3 (17 page)

Never, in Eve’s wildest imagination would she have thought she could be brought to the edge of paradise by a long, thin piece of wood. But Zachary’s skill had her right there, on the precipice.

His exquisite tenderness and delectable creativity had her oscillating between wanting to come and wanting the sensation to continue for eternity. He generated such sweet harmony within, Eve lost herself to the mastery of his hand, the skill of his touch—and still, as promised, he hadn’t actually laid a finger on her.

And then the real music began, the slow beat of his second stick against his drum, the vibration of the boom of his bass drum.

And while it began slow, to match the rhythm with which he drew his bow—his stick—over her pussy and clit, soon it increased in pace, as Zachary’s tunes always seemed to. As the drumming became faster and the boom harder, he played her more quickly.

It was all too much. Sensory overload. The sensations he filled her with could not be contained. They blossomed and grew, doubling in intensity, then tripling, until she could no longer hold them within.

She came, crying his name out loud as he brought her endless waves of exquisite pleasure.

Long, rapturous moments passed before Eve came back to herself. Before her mind began to work and the world made sense.

And when her vision cleared and her gaze took in Zachary, sitting on his throne, king of his drums, king of his music,
king of her
, she could resist the temptation he’d painted for her no longer.

Without giving him a second to object, she rounded the drums, squeezed before him and dropped to her knees, freeing his cock from his jeans.

She licked her lips.

His drumsticks hit the floor with a dull thud seconds later, and for a good few minutes Eve took charge of the music, playing him with her lips and her tongue and her teeth, until Zachary reached his very own crescendo.

Dinner was a leisurely event filled with laughter and small talk. Zachary was more relaxed than he’d been in months, and Eve seemed to have gotten over her awe of meeting his brothers. She now chattered away with them as though she’d known them for years.

She chattered happily with Delilah and Devine as well. And with Sophie, who’d come to dinner with her face fully made up and looking extraordinarily beautiful. It had taken Nathan a good few minutes to find his voice, and even then, he hadn’t bothered with speech. He simply tipped Sophie over and kissed her in front of everyone. Again.

Zachary would have kissed Eve, but she’d threatened to poke him in both eyes if he even attempted another public display of affection. And after their experience at the after party, he was more than okay with that.

“A bath,” he whispered now to the woman who was fast monopolizing every one of his waking thoughts.

“What about it?” she whispered back.

“Let’s ditch dessert and go take one. Together.” The massive spa in the bathroom had captured his attention—and imagination—the second he’d seen it.

She looked at him, horrified. “Are you insane? Nice as that bath looks, I can’t justify missing dessert for a tub full of hot water.”

“Hot water…and me.”

She leaned back and surveyed him carefully, giving him a slow once-over. “You look okay. Tempting even…”

“But?”

“But did you get a look at the dessert menu? I’m afraid you have nothing on the soufflé.”

“Seriously?” He gaped at her. “You’re throwing me over for…for…a puffy cake?”

“Not throwing you over. No. We could always share.” She blinked prettily, obviously happy with her well-thought-out compromise. “So long as you order the panna cotta. I’m dying to try that too.”

He raised his hands in disbelief. “Rejected again.”

Eve grinned. “Not rejected. Just…postponed.”

They ordered the soufflé and the panna cotta, and Zachary watched, both charmed and aroused, as Eve consumed them both.

When the plates had been cleared away, and he once again suggested the bath, more eager then ever to get her into that hot tub, Eve once again vetoed the idea.

“How about a walk rather? Along the promenade?”

“Hot sex with a hot woman in a hot tub, or a walk in public.” He held his hands out, palms up, as though weighing up his options. “Hmm. Which one, which one…?”

“C’mon, lazy bones.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet, which just charmed him even more, watching the slip of a woman yanking a man almost twice her size out of his seat. “I’ve been locked up in either a hotel or a plane all day long. I need air. Need to breathe a little and stretch my legs.”

He frowned. “You sure you’re up to going out there?” As far as he knew, the press had not been informed of their current accommodation. Luke had spread subtle rumors about
Speed
staying in Brisbane. But one could never be too cautious, especially seeing how edgy Eve had been about the pap outside the Melbourne hotel. “It’s been a while since I went out and haven’t been recognized.”

Eve reached into her bag and pulled out two caps. “I come prepared, Pacey. With Jake’s help. Here you go, put it on.” She handed him a navy cap with
I LOVE BROADBEACH
embroidered on it in gold, and popped a matching pink one on her head. “We’ll just be regular tourists. No one will even notice us. Especially with Jake walking behind and Brayden up ahead.”

Brayden, his bodyguard.

“You sure about this?”

“Sure, I’m sure. As long as Jake and Brayden don’t make it obvious what they’re doing, I’d love to get out for a while.”

Ten minutes later, caps on, Eve and Zachary strolled outside, arm in arm. Brayden had suggested they walk around the hotel’s private marina instead of the promenade, and Zachary had jumped at the suggestion. It was mostly deserted, and they made their way through the jetties and boats, oblivious to anything but each other. Jake and Brayden were indeed subtle enough—and far away enough—that after a minute or two Eve seemed to stop noticing them.

“I like your brothers,” she said. “Luke too.”

The boats rocked gently in the still water.

“They’re good guys. All three of them. And Luke might as well be part of the family. He’s like a brother to all of us.” He laughed. “Well, except to Seth.”

“They seem…close.”

Subtle choice of words. “More than close. Seth’s been in love with him for years. I think he finally wore Luke down. Probably with his sheer persistence and belief they were meant to be together.” Both Zachary and Nathan had watched, amused and perplexed, as Seth decided Luke was meant for him and Luke spent eight years denying it.

The two older Paces had never harbored any doubt that Seth would finally get Luke to see things from his perspective. The two were perfect for each other.

“Nathan and Sophie seem nice too.”

“I don’t know Sophie that well. But I’ve never seen Nath happier. She’s good for him. And damn, when she’s around his voice is stronger than ever.” Nathan’s performance last night had almost brought the house down. “They both believe they were fated to be together.”

“Like you and the redhead are fated?”

Jeez, why had he even brought up the word “fated”? Zachary’s step faltered. “I haven’t thought about her since last night. Still don’t want to. Can we leave it at that?” With every minute that passed, thoughts of his redhead became less and less frequent.

“We can. I was just wondering at the coincidence of two brothers believing they were fated to be with their partners.”

“Three brothers,” Zachary corrected. “Seth thinks my grandmother sang to him about Luke years before I ever met him at college. He thinks she knew he was coming.”

“Did your grandmother also have a gift? Could she see things?”

Zachary shrugged. “Sure seems that way. She had songs for Nathan and Seth as well.”

“Eleven years ago I’d have laughed at the idea that someone could see the future. Now I know better.”

She’d given him the opening Zachary had been looking for, and he took it. “Are you ready to talk about what happened eleven years ago?” His need to know went beyond regular curiosity. Eve had somehow inserted herself in his heart, and he wanted to find out everything there was to know about her.

It was her turn to falter, but Zachary just tightened his hold on her and kept on walking.

“I told you. A window exploded. I got hurt.” She waved her hand at her side as though it was nothing serious. The quiver in her voice told him differently.

Zachary challenged her as gently as he could. “Windows don’t just explode, Tiny. They just don’t work that way. Balloons explode when they’re blown too full of air, bombs explode when they’re set off. Windows? Not so much.”

“Okay.” She shrugged. “So first a bomb went off, and then the window exploded. Same thing, really.”

Chapter Eleven

Zachary tripped. Fell right over the air in front of his feet.

“Easy.” Eve steadied him. “Do that again, and you’ll land on your nose.” She went for humor, but her laugh sounded hollow.

The blood had drained from his face. All sensation, all reason hemorrhaged out of him. “Eve…”

Christ, he couldn’t speak. Couldn’t get his throat to work properly.

He planted his hands on her arms, forcing her to turn around and look at him.

“It was a long time ago, Zachary,” she said vaguely. “Hardly worth bringing up now.”

“Wh—?”
Damn it
. “How?”

“See, this is why I don’t talk about it. Everyone overreacts.”

Zachary closed his eyes, realized he hadn’t breathed since she’d said a bomb exploded—
a fucking bomb!
—and filled his lungs with oxygen. It didn’t stop the knife-like pain that wedged between his ribs.

“Okay, Eve. Give it to me in small sentences. Explain it simply so I don’t overreact.” There was no way he’d understood her correctly. She’d said something else. Something very, very different. She had to have.

The people he knew, the people he loved, were not bomb victims.

“Can we walk while I do?”

“We can do whatever you like, just tell me.” He wasn’t sure he had the coordination to walk. Putting one foot in front of the other seemed way too complex a challenge all of a sudden. But he did it. Forced himself into motion for her.

“It was long ago,” she said. “2002.”

He racked his brain to find significance in the year and came up blank.

“I was fourteen.”

Still a child. A teenager.

“My parents took the family—me, my sister and my brother—to Bali.” She sighed. “You have to understand, a family holiday somewhere outside of New South Wales was a big deal. Huge. We never went away. It just wasn’t something we could afford. So when my dad announced we were going, it was like…a miracle.”

Some fucking miracle.

“A tropical island sounded like paradise. And it was. Utterly beautiful. Heaven on earth. The beaches, the ocean. Stunning. I spent so much time in the water and the sun, I got these blond highlights in my hair. My skin was tanned golden.”

Her skin was pale now, as though she spent little to no time in the sun.

“My brother and sister were the same. We just…we had the best time. Holidays don’t get better than that.”

Bali, 2002. Alarm bells rang somewhere in the back of Zachary’s mind.

“On our seventh night there—we went for eight—we left our hotel in Kuta to eat in the town.”

“Kuta?”

“Holiday district.” Her voice faded.

“What happened?”

She sighed again, the air rattling from her chest, and he sensed her loathing to talk.

“Tiny?” He pulled her close. “Help me understand. Please.”

“We…uh…we walked there. All of us. My brother and I ran ahead, my sister hung back with my parents. The weather was perfect. Hot, humid, just right for an island.”

Silence again.

Zachary didn’t push her. An unpleasant chill at the base of his neck told him whatever he’d thought about Eve’s experience, the reality was far, far worse.

“There was a shop with some dresses in the window. I stopped to look, saw one I really liked. Knew Bree would look hot in it, so I turned back to call her to come see it. Yelled through the streets of Kuta. My, uh, my brother, Lochlan, of course, didn’t stop. Girls’ clothing did not capture the imagination of a sixteen-year-old guy.”

She’d ceased walking now, although Zachary suspected she didn’t realize it.

“I heard the first explosion. Felt it too. It roared right through me. Deafening.” She placed a hand over her ear. “Sent me flying. But…but I didn’t hear the next one. Didn’t even know there was a next one, which is funny really ’cause that second one was much worse, apparently. Much…bigger.” She tugged on the top of her ear. “In fact, I didn’t hear anything for a while after that. Not properly anyway. The explosions, I was told, damaged my eardrums.”

Zachary was frozen. Ice slid down his ribs, splintering in his chest.

Fuck, he’d never reacted like this before. Never felt someone else’s pain as deeply as he did Eve’s. What was it about her that heightened his every emotion, his every thought?