Chapter 16

"We're really going to do this?" Zoe asked, slightly panting.

"Not unless you don't want to," he said, praying she wouldn't tell him to stop. If she told him to stop he would, but he wasn't sure he'd survive. She tasted so damn good and felt even better.

Her skin was so soft and warm, he thought as he pushed off the bed, never taking his mouth away from her neck as he moved to kneel on the floor in front of her, gently pushing her legs apart as he settled himself between them.

As he licked and kissed his way down to her cle**age he reached down and yanked his towel off and let it drop. When he reached up to do the same for Zoe she stopped him by grabbing her towel and held it tightly against her chest. He pressed one last kiss to the top slope of her breast and sat back.

"What's wrong?" he asked, reaching up to push back a loose strand of that mahogany hair that he once foolishly thought was plain. Now he realized how beautiful it was with natural hues of light brown running through it. He also liked that it made her baby blue eyes brighter, almost as if they glowed.

When she started that little nervous habit of worrying her bottom lip and looking downward as she noticeably tightened her grip on the towel, he wondered if she was changing her mind. He really hoped she wasn't. He needed this so damn badly that he was in actual physical pain now. Never in his life had he wanted a woman this badly before and he knew if he didn't have her and get her out of his system that nothing in his life would ever be right again.

"Don't tell me you're getting shy on me," he teased softly, noting the rather lovely blush creeping up her cheeks. "Holy shit, you are," he blurted out, earning a glare from her.

"Sweet--Zoe," he said, catching himself in time before he said something foolish. This was an arrangement, nothing more and he wouldn't hurt her or confuse her by using endearments to make her think otherwise. "I just saw you na**d not ten minutes ago," he pointed out gently.

"I know," she murmured hesitantly as she continued to worry her bottom lip, making him a little more nervous.

Please don't change your mind, Zoe, he chanted in his head as he dropped his hands away from her towel and placed them on her knees to see how she'd react. When she didn't shove his hands away or flinch, he took that as a good sign.

"It's just that," she clasped the towel in one hand and dropped the other on her leg where she began to absently trace his fingers, "you surprised me in the shower and I was so focused on trying to figure out what happened last night and why you were na**d in my bathroom that I didn't give it much thought."

"And now....," he prompted.

She raised her eyes and looked at him and he had to fight back the urge to pull her into his arms and hold her. Zoe looked so miserable and scared. She pulled her hand away from his and joined the other one in holding the towel against her as a shield.

"And now I'm not sure you're going to want to do this," she mumbled, sounding defeated.

"Why wouldn't I want to do this, Zoe? It was my idea and believe me when I tell you I've been thinking about doing this for a while now," he said, running his hands slowly up and down her towel covered legs to offer comfort and because he could not sit here and not touch her.

"Yeah right," she said, snorting her disbelief. "I'm sure you've been tossing and turning at night, trying desperately to get me out of your head," she said sarcastically.

He chuckled as he ran his hands back down to her knees and with a simple move, slid them back up her legs and beneath the towel, earning an intriguing little gasp from Zoe. "I wouldn't exactly say I've been tossing and turning, but I will admit that you've starred in a few interesting fantasies that have kept me up at night," he said, groaning softly as his hands ran over warm smooth soft skin.

Touching Zoe was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He'd dated a lot of women in the past and none of them were as soft as Zoe. They were either too thin, covered in smooth muscle or slightly soft, but had perfect figures or he wouldn't have dated them. At least he'd thought they had at the time. Maybe they had, but right now nothing turned him on more than Zoe, a complication that he planned on working out of his system with plenty of sex until he grew bored with her and could return to his usual type and find the woman of his dreams.

"You don't have to lie to convince me to do this," Zoe said, trying to shift back on the bed, but he wasn't having that. He gently cupped her bare h*ps and held her where he wanted her.

"I may be a lot of things, Zoe, but I'm not a liar. You're not my usual type, I'll admit that," he said, not at all surprised when she simply nodded her agreement instead of acting hurt like a lot of women he'd dated in the past would have done, earning his respect. He appreciated her no-nonsense attitude. "Right now I want you, Zoe, but like you I'm not looking for a relationship," he partially lied.

He just wasn't looking for a relationship with her.

He waited anxiously for her to say something and finally after a minute she mumbled, "But I'm fat," she said, sounding so damn distraught that he had to fight back a smile.

"And you're afraid that will turn me off?" he guessed after she became quiet once again.

"Zoe," he sighed her name as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers, surprising her and just because he couldn't help himself he kissed her again, taking his time to taste her lips and damn near groaning when she moved her lips, hesitantly at first, against his.

When she released her death grip on her towel so that she could fist her hands in his hair and she opened her mouth for his invasion he had to force himself not to thrust forward and bury himself to the hilt. It had been five years for her and he didn't want to scare her off with his desperation for her.

One simple kiss and he was ready to explode. That had never happened to him before. He'd always been calm and collected during sex, making sure to cover all of the bases, foreplay, condom and an orgasm for his partner before he allowed himself one, but right now he was struggling not to f**k her hard for the relief he desperately needed. Had he ever wanted a woman more? He didn't think so and wasn't going to look too much into that at the moment since he was struggling to stay in control.

"I missed this," Zoe moaned into his mouth.

"Kissing?" he asked, groaning when she slid her warm little tongue against his.

"Mmmhmmm," she said against his mouth as her hands slowly slid away from his hair and down his back only to come around the front and gently trace his chest and stomach, driving him out of his mind and making him wish she'd slide her hands a little south and trace something else that needed her attention.

When her hands slid around to his back and down until they cupped his ass whatever control he had snapped. He deepened the kiss, devouring her mouth with more passion than he'd ever felt in his life. He ripped her towel away, ignoring her shocked gasp as he moved over her, urging her back up on the bed until he settled his weight on top of her, forcing her to lie back as he lost his goddamn mind.

He ground his erection between her legs as he reached between them and took one large soft breast in his hand and squeezed it, making them both moan long and loud. She felt good....no, correction she felt f**king fantastic, especially when she spread her legs further to cradle him better.

She ran her hands over his back, over his ass and back up to fist in his hair as he ground his erection between her hot wet slit. He was so tempted to pull back and shove his c**k in her without a condom, something he'd never done before in his life, but even in his current state he wouldn't allow himself to do it no matter how much his body ached for it.

"That feels so good," she said on soft groan. "More," she demanded as she covered his mouth with her own and rolled her h*ps up against him, making him smile. Seems his little tenant was a bossy little thing in bed, his favorite kind of bed buddy. He hated taking a woman to bed who just laid there or did whatever he wanted without question. He especially hated those little fake moans and groans that some of them did when he barely touched them because they thought it was hot. It wasn't. If anything it was really annoying and distracting.