Sensual Stranger (18 page)

Not answering, possibly wanting to spare her any
comparisons, Zach drove in silence.

They reached the road leading to his house, his lost future,
the continuation of their time together.

It wasn’t what either of them ultimately desired. He needed
the past. She craved a future. Nevertheless, Toni told herself to be grateful
for what she had, determined to be all she could to him in their remaining
days. To ease his loss to the best of her ability, even if he didn’t welcome it
as much as he would another chance with Meg.

Zach’s gut churned as Toni’s comment kept badgering his
thoughts.

You still miss her.

How in the fuck was he supposed to answer such a personal
comment from a woman he’d just met? One he barely knew. One who’d already
become such a large part of his life Zach was beginning to fear what the coming
weeks would be without her.

You still miss her.

Hell yeah, he still missed Meg, a part of him always would.
But even with that, Toni’s smile, laughter, sass were crowding out the past,
dragging him into the here and now.

At least until she left.

Stewing over its inevitability, he said nothing, nor did
she, with him concentrating on the road and her thinking about god knows what.

My dad was an accountant, a
CPA to be exact, with
his own business.

Where in the hell had that come from? Why had she offered it
when she refused to tell him anything else about her past? Like how she’d ended
up with the Starrs, people who seemed to live on the fringe of society, so
fucking different than her father, a normal middle-class provider.

Had he been into drink or drugs? Had their lives spiraled
down because of his addiction to alcohol, coke or meth? Was that what had
killed him? And what of her mother? Had her dad and mom divorced? If they had
and he’d been given sole custody of Toni, he wouldn’t have jeopardized her
future with substance abuse, right?

Mulling it over, wondering what the private investigator had
come up with so far, Zach pulled in front of the house.

Toni unfastened her seat belt and rested her hand on his
thigh, her soft, warm fingers stroking the denim’s inside seam. “Time to
relax.”

Her smoky tone and sultry touch pushed away all the bad
memories, jump-starting his lust. Balls tightening, heart pounding, he looked
from her slender fingers to her.

Tenderness and harsh need sparkled in her blue-green eyes.
She leaned toward him, her mouth on his ear, her voice breathy. “Let me take
care of you tonight.”

Zach’s lids slid down. Liking her suggestion, his body and
soul needing it, he asked, “How?” His voice scraped on the word.

“You’ll see.” She pressed her lips to his cheek in a gentle
kiss, popped her door and left the pickup without further comment.

Too limp to move, Zach watched her bypass the front steps
and go around the yard to the back. What in the fuck was she doing?

He tossed her saddlebag on the porch and went around the
side of the house, favoring his good leg as always. Abruptly, he stopped at the
sight of her black flip-flops in the center of the flagstone walk. Gritting his
teeth to the expected pain, Zach hunkered down near them and searched for her
toe ring, wondering if she’d taken it off too.

Unable to find the jewelry, he glanced up, seeing something
black in the corner of his eye. Head turned, he squinted at what looked to be
her denim cutoffs.

She’d dropped them on top of one of the bushes he’d planted
more than two years ago…a lifetime away. Bringing the garment to his face, Zach
closed his eyes, rubbing the softened cotton on his cheek, suppressing an
uncivilized groan as he inhaled deeply of her musk and lavender scent.

Something inside Zach shifted. He became aware of emptiness
so needy and deep, he feared it would never stop no matter how long he enjoyed
Toni. It might only become worse, his craving for her intolerable, unending.
Wanting to flee his feelings, desperate to stay and feed them, he continued
down the path, her shorts beneath his arm, his mind picturing her naked ass and
tattoo.

Desire tore through him. He really liked her tattoo. He
really liked her.

A new surge of wanting stole his breath at what he now saw.
She’d upended the rake, leaning it against the side of the house. Dangling from
one of its tines was her hot pink tank top. Carefully, Zach removed the
garment, shoving it beneath his arm, next to her shorts.

His thrumming pulse and stiffened cock urged him to hurry
down the path, to sink himself within her hot, silky cunt. His mind resisted,
advising him to slow down, to make this last, to record each memory for later
when he’d be out here alone.

At the unwelcome thought, melancholy gripped him, halting
his steps. Head down, breathing as deeply as he could, Zach warned himself to
cool it, to reason this out, to simply have a good time.

Toni was still a stranger…a woman whose power over him was
spiraling out of control. Already he longed for as little as a glance from her,
and as much as her cry of delight—unique, meant only for him, no other man—as
he plunged inside her succulent, willing body.

Were those feelings ensnaring him only because their
lovemaking was still so new, so satisfying?

He didn’t know. Nor did he want to explore any other
explanation.

Reaching the end of the walk before it opened onto the
patio, he stared, then grinned. She’d draped her bra over the Victorian-style
bird feeder. He stuffed the item in his back pocket and didn’t bother searching
for her panties or a thong, knowing she never wore either. Because she didn’t
own underwear or she simply went without around him?

His foolish heart hoped it was the latter.

As he turned the corner, he noticed one of the lawn
ornaments—a small stone frog—on top of the picnic table. Drawing near, he saw
Lucky and Belle’s picture peeking out from beneath the frog’s hind legs,
anchored against the gentle breeze.

It played with the ends of Zach’s hair, dancing them over
his forehead. He turned to the pool and stopped breathing as his heart
staggered through too many beats.

Floating on her back, fully nude except for her toe ring,
Toni gave him a welcoming smile. The kind a man needs following a shitty day at
work or after a tragedy that crushes him into not expecting happiness or peace.

He swallowed hard before too much emotion bubbled up. His
gaze trickled down her. Water licked the sides of her breasts and thighs,
filling her navel, sparkling in the dark curls between her legs. Lucky water.

She murmured, “Let me take care of you tonight.”

Zach used a moment to calm down so he could trust his voice.
“How?”

“You’ll see. Take off your clothes.”

Her encouraging smile convinced him faster than any command
or outright seduction. He dropped her things on the flagstones and backed up to
the cedar table, sitting on the plank seat to remove his boots and socks.

Finished, he tore off his tee, flinging it to land on her
things. Ignoring the pain in his leg, he pushed to his feet, shoved his jeans
and Jockeys to his ankles and stepped out of them. Fully aroused, his cock
bobbed against his thigh. It should have captured his attention, but did not.
Even at this hour, the day’s light was still too harsh, too revealing, so
unlike the soft glow from a candlelit bedroom or bath. Doubt returned as Zach
glanced at his leg.

Deep purple gouges crisscrossed his tanned flesh, showing
where the pickup’s metal had gored him. More refined scars, these a fading red,
revealed the many operations so he could walk again. The contours of his left
thigh and calf weren’t as muscular as those of his right. One of the physicians
had warned they might never be.

Until Toni, Zach hadn’t really cared. Now he did.
Cautiously, he lifted his eyes to hers.

Her gaze caressed his torso, groin, cock and bum leg, as
though it was simply another part of her journey. No frown marred her smooth
forehead. He didn’t see revulsion in her eyes at the brutal defects he and the
rest of the world noticed.

Her attention inched back up to his shaft, causing it to
thicken a bit more, showing off for her.

In the seclusion of their surroundings, with no one else
around for miles, her voice seemed little more than a whisper. “My god, you are
so damn beautiful.”

Zach nearly laughed with relief. In gratitude, he wanted to
cry. Swallowing quickly, he shoved sentiment back as her gaze lifted.

Tenderness, mingled with a craving as deep as his, brimmed
in her eyes. Treading water now, she inclined her head to the shallow part of
the pool. “Follow me.”

Zach’s cheeks hurt from his nutty grin. “You want to make
love in the pool?”

Toni swam until she was able to stand in the water. Walking
through it, making splashing sounds, she stopped at the edge, submerged to the
waist. Arms crossed over the nicely warmed concrete, she looked at him from
beneath her lashes. Tiny beads of moisture sparkled on the ends. “I want to
massage your leg.”

Instantly, Zach’s grin faded. “Why?”

“So it doesn’t hurt as much. So you can enjoy me taking care
of you.”

“Let’s just get on with the program.” He lied, “It doesn’t
hurt at all.”

“Sure it does.” She fingered sodden hair from her cheek and
neck. “You’ve been working all day.”

“So have you. I should be massaging your feet and legs.
You’ve been on them for eight hours.”

Resting her head on her arms, she cocked one slender brow.
“That’s because I’m not as lazy as you.”

His laughter rang through the backyard. “You are so going to
pay for that.”

“Oh yeah?” Her nostrils flared delicately with her sharp
intake of air. “Gonna spank me ‘til I obey?”

More laughter shook his shoulders. “Oh sweetheart, I think
my arm will give out before that happens. But tell you what, I’ll give it my
best shot.”

Pleasure glittered in her eyes. She gentled her voice. “Do
as I ask, just this once.”

“This once?” Zach recalled her asking for a job he hadn’t
expected to give, and sex he’d tried to avoid and a connection he still figured
he should resist.

“Please?”

Unguarded yearning echoed in her voice, increasing the
moment’s intimacy. Powerless to resist, he padded to the shallow end of the
pool, making certain no pain showed on his face as he sank down. Sitting on the
edge of the toasty concrete, his feet and ankles dangling in the water, he
insisted, “It doesn’t hurt.”

Toni studied his face. For a moment, Zach thought he saw
tears welling in her eyes. Glancing away, concentrating on his thigh, she
murmured, “I know.”

Lightly, she rested her fingers on his battered flesh.

His muscles jumped. He flinched slightly.

“It’s okay,” she assured, her voice soothing and low.
Pressing her thumbs into his thigh, she rotated them gently. “Does that feel
good?”

He choked out his words. “Hell yeah.”

“How about this?” She lowered her head, pressing her mouth
to the inside of his thigh, just above his knee.

His feet slapped water. A sigh poured from him. “Uh-huh.”

“Good.” With an adoring touch, Toni kneaded the uninjured
part of his leg, while she licked the shockingly deep scars, bathing them with
her tongue, wanting him to know she enjoyed each part of him. There wasn’t an
inch of his body, mind or being she didn’t love.

She squeezed her lids tight at her heart’s admission, the
depth of her feelings for him.

Don’t go there,
her mind warned.
Just enjoy
yourself. Give him some measure of happiness.

She licked the short dark hairs on his upper thigh, smiling
inwardly as he crossed his calves over her legs, keeping her close, claiming
her for the moment.

Inching higher, her tongue reached the thicker hair on the
inside of his thigh beside his groin.

Briefly, his body stiffened, as though she’d surprised or
amazed him. On an uninhibited moan, he sagged to the concrete, his left arm
above his head, his right draped over his eyes.

Continuing to knead his muscles, she pressed her face into
his groin, enjoying his musky male scent and heated flesh.

Zach’s breath sputtered out. He groaned, “Suck me.”

Toni licked his wiry hairs one last time, lifted her head
and murmured, “I need to massage your leg.”

“It’s fine, dammit.” His voice crackled with tension and
thickened with desire. “Suck my cock. That’s what hurts.”

She heard the truth of it in his jagged breathing.
Obediently, she stopped kneading his muscles and caressed his meaty rod in her
palm, testing its weight, staring at its beauty. Ruddy with arousal, the thick
column of flesh pulsed with male power and life. Prominent veins coursed down
the shaft, ending at the cap, smooth, silky, tantalizingly plump. A bead of
clear fluid, his pre-cum, escaped the tiny slit.

Head bent, tongue snaking out of her mouth, Toni licked it
away.

Zach’s legs bumped into her sides. What breath he’d managed
to take escaped him noisily.

Pleased with his response, stirred beyond restraint, Toni
eased his penis aside and concentrated on his balls, lightly furred, tumid with
need, tight against his body. Her scalp tingled in delight at the wonder of
him. Need, rich and deep, rippled through her as she eased his right testicle
between her lips.

Zach spat out a curse. His lean hips jerked.

Unmindful, Toni slipped him inside her mouth, her tongue
exploring his male terrain, the faint hairs, the oblong gland inside his sac,
his body’s intense heat.

He brought down his hand, pushing his fingers through her
hair, cupping the back of her head. Toni expected him to force her away from
his balls so she could tend to his cock. Instead, he used the weight of his
hand to anchor her to him.