His guilt-filled eyes drop causing me to say his name with a bit of mom tone in it. He shrugs one shoulder.
“Traffic cam footage…of the hit.”
I suck in my breath at that. Having it happen was traumatic enough, watching it on video would just make it even worse. I reach up and cup his cheek.
“Enough of that. It’s over. You don’t need to watch it again.”
He leans forward and rests his head against mine, his hazel eyes more green than brown right now and so filled with anguish that I can’t stand it. His voice is a choked whisper.
“I d-didn’t even s-see him coming. And then he just…took you.”
“Oh, Zack, please, stop beating yourself up over this. No one could have predicted what happened. It’s not your fault. And he didn’t take me. He tried to but I stopped him. I’m right here and we are both going to be fine.”
He leans away from me and turns his head, unable to meet my eyes.
“You don’t understand. They could have lost you. Chloe and Ry and East could have lost the family you are starting to build together and it would have been all my fault.”
Everything inside me freezes when he names everyone but himself. Is this why he’s been off with me lately? Does he not want to be a part of…us? I snatch my hands from his face and chest and scoot back on the bed.
My face feels like it’s flaming red as I sputter out, “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t…Ryker said…I thought…” I slap my hands up over my face in humiliation and grind out. “I’m an idiot. You don’t want me that way!”
The room goes dead silent and after a few seconds I can’t stand not seeing his face so I slide my hands away from my face and let them drop uselessly in my lap. I don’t understand his expression. It’s part shocked, part hopeful. He finally sucks in a breath and shakes his head.
“Aves, it’s not that. You…I’m…I’m broken. What could I possibly offer you?” He rasps out waving toward his leg.
My head tilts to the side as I put the pieces together. Zack might not have been abused the way I was but he’s locked in the same type of cage I lived in for so long. The bars of the cage are made up of, unworthy, unwanted, unlovable chains that make you feel like that’s all you deserve. I won’t have it! Determination washes through me, bravery. I want the life Ryker spoke about where all three of them and me and Chloe make a family. After everything I’ve been through, I feel like I might deserve it so instead of having things taken from me, I’m going to do the taking.
This sweet, funny, kind, and gorgeous man needs to be freed from that cage he’s in just like I was so I reach out and break the chains.
My fingers come together in the sheet covering him and I claw it back, exposing his lower half. He’s wearing a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. The shorts leave his leg bare and his stump in full view. I ignore the noise he makes as he tries to pull the sheet back up, lean over and place my lips on the scar that covers his stump and kiss it like it’s the sexiest part of him. I’ve learned a few things about a man’s body after being with Ryker. An agonized groan has my lips curving against his skin. I’m going to show him what he has to offer me. I’m going to unbreak him.
Zack
My cock goes marble hard when she places her lips on my biggest shame and there’s no stopping the groan that falls from my lips. Fuck, fuck this can’t be happening. She…she wants me? Avery’s hot mouth kisses every inch of my scar-covered skin and then starts working its way further up, pushing my boxers as she goes. I can’t even fucking breathe. It’s been so damn long since a woman has had her mouth on me and the feeling is exquisite, more so because it’s her, the woman I’ve fallen in love with. When her fingers brush against my cock through my shorts, I choke on my saliva. My voice is hoarse like I’ve just run ten miles.
“Avery, are…are you…sure?”
Those fantasy purple eyes of hers look up at me from my lap and what I see in them, the heat and desire, the love, has me flipping her up and onto her back so I can cover her body with mine, ignoring the pain in my sprained wrist. I settle between her thighs, my aching cock dragging against her center’s heat. Her head falls back and she arches into me like she’s desperate for more contact. I hold still in place and rasp out, “Say it again, sweetheart.”
She knows exactly what I want to hear. It’s the word from her lips that set me off last time in the pool and she doesn’t disappoint me. Her hips lift to grind against me and the long, drawn-out word fills the room in her sweet voice.
“Fuuuuuck!”
“That’s my girl.”
And then my mouth falls on hers and I consume every inch of it. She tastes like sweetness and light and when her nails dig into my back to pull me closer…it feels like home.
I want more. I want it all. My hands slip down and lift the shirt she’s wearing up and over her head, baring her breasts to me and they are perfection. They fit so perfectly in my hands that they could have been made just for me. I dip my head to take one pretty pink rosebud nipple between my lips and roll my tongue around it, sucking, licking, and then pulling on it until she’s writhing beneath me.
“Zack, Zack, Zack, ple-ase!”
She chants and hearing her needy voice say my name like that is ev..er..y..thing! I rip her little shorts off and trail a hot wet tongue down over her stomach until I get where she needs me most. Where I need to be most. My tongue dips into her sensitive folds and I lick all the sweetness waiting for me there. Her thighs come up to hold my head in place and her fingers grip my hair carefully to not disturb the bandage on my temple as she grinds up against my mouth making my cock weep precum all over my shorts. I need to feel her come apart so I slide a finger into her and gently thrust. Her cries and moans tell me it’s what she wanted so I add another finger and work her perfect little pussy until she’s bucking against my face and clamping down on my fingers. It’s the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever felt before and I want to do it all over again. Avery melts back onto the bed as the last waves finish so I kiss the inside of her thigh and slowly move up to join her. Her cheeks are flushed the prettiest pink and her eyes are glazed with satisfaction as she pulls my head to hers to kiss my mouth.
“Every part of you is beautiful to me. I want all of you, your body, your smile, your dimples, and your…heart.” She tells me. “You’re not damaged to me, Zack. You’re perfect.”
I run my thumb over her kiss swollen bottom lip.
“I love you, Aves. You and Chloe? You’re all I want…for life. Be my girl?”
