Tell Me What Is Priceless (Siren Publishing Classic) (22 page)

When the doorbell chimed, he was cleaning out the last shelf of the bedside cabinet. He hurried out into the living room, glaring at Choey. “Shush up. Mom is sleeping, and I don’t want you to wake her up yet. You two are going to need to go outside while we move furniture. Your mom would have my head if I let either of you get out. Let’s go.” He hustled them outside and shut the door. Two sets of baleful eyes watched through the back French doors as Zar went to let the deliverymen in.

Larry had sent a crew of six men over, and they made short work of disassembling everything and getting it outside. The new furniture was brought in and swiftly set up. Zar waited as long as possible before waking Blaze. She opened her eyes and stared at him. “What? I just fell asleep.”

“You need to get out of the bed so they can take it away, Blaze. All the other furniture is already in place.”

“Oh, sorry. I feel as if I just closed my eyes. I’m up.”

Zar helped her out of bed and pushed her into the living room. “The bed is in the back room. What do you think, Blaze?”

“I think that it looks great. Where are the dogs?”

“I put them outside. Last I knew they were sitting outside the doors looking in.”

Blaze turned to look out the French doors and smiled. “They look positively mortified that they are locked outside. I would go out and keep them company, but they would be in the house in a shot. What does the bedroom look like?”

“It looks good. The bed fits great, and it gives the room a whole new look. I’m going to get in touch with someone about painting. I don’t have the time or the energy to do it. I’ve been meaning to ask you. Why is there a large lag bolt in the ceiling?”

Blaze giggled and turned red. “It’s for the swing. I told you we had one.”

“Oh really? Do you think we could use it?”

“I don’t know. It takes a little balance and strength to get into the thing. I suppose maybe with you helping me we could manage it. Once I’m in it, you can move me.”

Zar winked, his expression filled with mischief. “Where is it?”

“It’s down in the basement in the storage cabinet. It’s in a brown box marked
swing
. Wait until these guys leave to go down and find it, please.”

Zar dropped down onto the sofa, testing it out to make sure it opened and closed properly. The movers walked by Blaze with the bed, giving her a pitying glance. She smiled and glared at Zar in irritation. He got up and leaned down to kiss her. “They don’t know that your situation is temporary. They see a vibrant young woman trapped in a wheelchair. I remember the looks when I destroyed my hip. It’s part of the reason that I say I’ll never live that way. I would rather be dead than permanently confined to a chair.”

Her computer chair was brought in and then a large box was set before Blaze. “What’s this?” she asked.

“It’s your table,” the man replied. “We were told to open it in front of you for inspection.”

Blaze turned to Zar, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. He shrugged innocence. “It’s just a little something I saw that I thought would go good with your decor.”

Blaze turned back to the box and let out a gasp of surprise. A stately green-and-gold dragon was entwined around a pedestal that supported a small, marbled tabletop. Around the base of the table were two smaller dragons lying on a rocky surface.

“Where would you like this?” the deliveryman asked.

“In the back room next to the chair you just brought in, please.”

Zar escaped her annoyed gaze as he followed the man into the back room. When they didn’t come out, Blaze flipped up the footplates and used her feet to roll herself down the hall. The entire room was being rearranged to suit the new chair and table. Zar turned and smiled at her. “What do you think? It was too cramped the other way. I’ll hook your computer up later after we try out our new bed.”

Blaze groaned and pushed herself back into the living room without comment. She could feel her face growing red as she thought about the deliveryman’s grinning expression. Zar walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her neck. “Are you mad at me?”

“No,” she said tersely.

“I was teasing you. I know him. He blushed as much as you did. It’s not the bed I’m interested in trying out.”

Choey began to howl, and Zar sighed. “I guess she has had enough of being locked outside. Is she going to go ballistic when she comes back in?”

“Probably. They may both go ballistic. Moosey is hard to figure on occasion. I’m sure we are going to be subject to a play session at the very least. I can’t remember the last time they were forced to remain anywhere except in the house. They are used to going in and out at will.”

Zar showed the moving men out, telling them where Kale’s house was before he came back in. He opened the door, and Choey danced into the house, a bundle of wags and wiggles as if Zar had just come home. Moosey threw an indignant look at both of them and, after a few turns on the sofa, dropped down to ignore them. Choey soon realized that her furniture was missing and went on an inspection of the new loveseat. Zar had to laugh. “They prove you wrong, my sweet. Mr. Moose really has a big attitude, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, he is a basenji, and they have real personalities. He is obviously pissed that we locked him outside. His attitude is part of the reason I named a five-pound puppy Moosey. I think you could safely go down and find the swing now if you want to.”

Zar disappeared down the cellar stairs, and Blaze moved herself back into the bedroom. The bed was amazing, and the side tables were a statement in elegance. She lifted herself up onto the bed, her body stiff from sitting too long. Zar dropped the box and grabbed her by the waist, giving her a boost. “I don’t think you are strong enough to be doing that alone yet. You’re going to fall and get hurt.”

“Yes, Daddy. I will be a good girl. I am supposed to be trying to walk and do things for myself, remember?”

Zar lowered his eyelids to a leering smirk and handed her the box. Blaze struggled to hold onto it. “What do you want me to do with it, except drop it on your foot?”

“Exactly! You can’t hold onto a medium-sized box, but you are going to lift your body onto the bed by yourself. Now show me how this thing works.”

“If you take the swing out, the instructions are in the bottom. I’m not even sure if we are going to be able to do this. I never had a problem getting into it before, but I could stand up by myself.”

Zar pulled the swing out by the ceiling clip and looked at it. “So, what goes where?”

“The clip you have in your hand goes on the ceiling. Take off the pieces, and I’ll tell you how each one goes on.”

Zar stood up on the bed, clipping the loop into the bracket and then pulled her shirt over her head. “Now what?”

Blaze explained how each piece fit. “You might want to adjust the main bungee cord down a notch. I weighed forty or fifty pounds more when I used it last.”

“What’s this thing rated for?”

“One hundred and sixty to two forty. I’m barely making one forty, aren’t I?”

“You are a little over that, but not much. If it doesn’t work, we don’t use it,” he said, moving it down all the way to its longest point. Zar stepped down to the floor and inspected the straps, figuring how to put them on her. A thinly padded wide cushion supported Blaze’s back, and the one for her ass was thinner and oblong. “So now what?” he asked. Now you put the bands under my thighs and stand back. He did as she instructed.

And then Blaze leaned back slightly and, without warning, swung herself horizontal in the air. Zar tested the bungee cord. “Are you comfortable?”

“I’m fine.”

“Now, what do I want to do with you? What’s in the locked box?”

“What lockbox?”

“The one that was under the bed on David’s side.”

“I’m not really sure. I never felt like cleaning out his drawers, so I left them. I know it sounds stupid, but I did. The combination might be six, six, six. David liked to use that.”

Zar went over to the wall and pulled the box out from under a blanket. He tried the combination, and it opened. “Oh, cute. Are you sure you don’t know what’s in it?”

“Way back when, we had some sex toys. I think they may have been in that box.”

“Yes, they are. Three different dildos, a man’s womanly toy, and some gel of different flavors. Hey, where is your pink pal?”

“It’s in my computer room in the hutch. Are you going to harass me to death?”

“No, I’m going to make gentle and passionate love to you. I’m not in a mood for toys. Some other night. I’m going to get a chair to sit in. Kneeling down would bother the hell out of my leg.”

“Is it bothering you?”

“A little. Not much, though. I’m saving the last of the shots for when it gets really bad. No more Jake, no more shots. I don’t want to talk about that right now.”

Zar slowly unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders in a wonderfully fluid motion that caused the muscles of his arms and chest to flex. Blaze adored the sight of him, as his abdomen rippled with a six-pack. She again noted that he had that slight concave at his hips that comes when a man is extremely ripped, as he unzipped his jeans, wiggling his eyebrows at her. Blaze smiled. “Damn you have a nice body. I guess you found time to work out while I was in the hospital?”

He shrugged. “I bought some basic equipment for the basement. I used it, and you paid for it.”

She giggled, and he slid his jeans off, flipping them to the side with his foot. When he stepped forward to draw her into a kiss, it was filled with the need of the last eight weeks.

Blaze said, “I had forgotten how much of a turn-on a real kiss from you was. You have been kissing me all along, but that was different. It relayed a sense of need and lust.”

“Good! It was supposed to. I’m feeling lusty watching you swinging from the ceiling. It is making my dick really hard.” Zar winked and turned. He wiggled his ass at her as he walked from the room. Zar returned a few moments later with her computer chair. He sat down in it, lowering it as far down as it would go. Without warning, he swung her around and rolled forward. Zar nuzzled her pussy with his face, his gaze intent on her eyes. “If this gets too intense or starts to hurt, tell me. I don’t always know when you are in pain.”

Blaze nodded. There was no pain in the world that was going to make her tell him to stop. She had woken up aroused from dreams on far too many mornings, and the feel of his tongue was amazing. “I will. Right now what I’m feeling is exquisite. Do more.”

Zar continued to tease her with his mouth and fingers. He varied the pressure on her clit from light to firm, teasing her pussy with his tongue. Blaze closed her eyes, concentrating on his touch. Her flesh was slow to react, and the feel of rising pleasure was not as dramatic as she expected. When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her, obviously waiting for input. “Oh, Zar, that feels so good. It has been forever.” It did feel good, but not like it had before the accident.

He stood, bringing the chair higher and then sliding his hands up her stomach until he was gently rubbing her breasts. Zar nibbled softly on the skin and then sat back. “You okay?”

The question instantly irritated her. She wanted everyone to stop asking if she was okay, and her response came out far sharper than she intended. “Yes!”

Zar’s hands stopped, his palms motionless on her breasts. “I’m not hearing you moan, but I am hearing frustration. Talk to me, Blaze. What’s up?”

“I don’t know. I keep dreaming of sex with you. I want it to feel fantastic. I know it should feel fantastic, but...” She hesitated, not wanting to hurt his feelings. “It doesn’t feel like I remember.”

She was waiting for him to get angry, but he didn’t. He wove his fingers through hers, kissing her knuckles. “After my accident, even after I was completely healed, there was a period when I thought that I was impotent. No matter how I tried, I couldn’t get it up. The problem wasn’t in my dick. It was in my mind. I was so convinced that sex was going to put me in agonizing pain that my brain was stopping my dick from getting hard. Are you feeling nothing, or is it just not what you expected?”

Blaze was angry at herself for snapping at him, and his rational, compassionate reply only made her feel worse. She knew that the moment she tried to speak, she was going to start crying. Blaze shrugged.

Zar was suppressing an urge to smile. He didn’t want to come across at uncaring, but the pathetically pouting expression on her face was slightly amusing. Blaze was stressing herself out with her overactive imagination. She was also making far too big of a deal about snapping at him. Zar fully understood the concept of feeling helpless and incapable of doing things for himself. He had been doing everything possible to convince her that she was doing fantastic. In the current situation, no amount of consoling was going to help. Zar stood and sat down on the edge of the bed. He turned her body so he was face-to-face with her. He stroked her cheek and then put his palms to either side of her face. “Will you please stop! You are getting yourself upset over nothing. I completely understand why you snapped at me. It gets irritating to constantly be asked if are you okay. I know this. I keep asking it anyway because I am concerned. Can you answer my question without crying?”

Blaze slowly shook head, a single tear dripping down her cheek and sliding over Zar’s hand. She sniffled, and he gave her a sympathetic smile. “Can you nod yes or no?”