Thank fucking Christ.
Finally, the last burst of light is ignited and the crowd roars with excited yells and applause. Some of the spectators will file into the few bars up here on the mountain, while still more will drive down to town and party it up down there.
“That was beautiful!” Cara exclaims. “Why have I never come up here to watch this before?”
“Locals rarely experience all of the fun things in a tourist town,” Max reminds her.
“True,” Lo agrees. “We should do more of them.”
Jill turns in my arms and wraps herself around my torso, hugging me tightly, rubbing her small hands up and down my back soothingly.
“Are you okay?” she murmurs softly.
I kiss her forehead tenderly and take a deep breath of the fresh mountain air. “I’m fine, baby.”
She can feel the tension rolling through me and frowns up at me, but I shake my head and kiss her lips gently. “I’m okay. We’ll talk later, okay? Just enjoy the party.”
She studies me for a moment and then nods.
“I’ll go get us a couple of drinks,” I offer.
“Perfect, thank you.” She smiles widely as I walk into the kitchen to grab two fresh drinks. Jacob went all out for this small party. If I hadn’t met him, I would think it was just to impress us all, but I have a feeling it was purely for the convenience of having the food prepared, and staff on hand to help so he and Grace could enjoy their guests.
I can respect that.
When I walk back out to the balcony, I hear Jill’s laughter tickling the air, and my dick immediately hardens. Jesus, I have it bad. Just the sound of her voice turns me on. I survey the small crowd and find Jill and Max, their heads together, laughing loudly. Max wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her into his side in a half hug, and that’s it. The lack of sleep, the stress from the day, the fireworks, and now seeing Max with his hands on my woman all just push me over the edge.
I stalk over to Jill, glaring at my friend, and hand her her drink.
“Are you ready to go back to the room?” My voice is hard and distant. Jill’s eyes widen before she glares at me and props her hands on her hips.
“No, I’m not.”
“I think it’s time we have a talk, Jilly.”
Max shakes his head and mutters under his breath. “Zack.” His voice is low so he doesn’t draw attention from the others. “We were just talking about—”
“I don’t care,” I reply calmly, but fist my hands at my sides. “This really isn’t about you, Max.”
The other man shrugs and pats Jill on the back before walking away.
“What is wrong with you tonight?” Jill’s face is worried now, and I don’t know how to soothe her. Fuck, I’m just a jumbled mess, and I know that I’m done being in this crowd of people, and I need to get her out of here.
“I’d like to leave now, please.”
“Babe, are you . . .?”
“Let’s go, Jilly.”
She shrugs and we say our good-byes to our hosts and friends. Josh stares at me with questions in his eyes, but I just shrug and keep walking.
The walk to the room is quiet and tense. The valet delivered our overnight bags to the room while we were upstairs. When I close the door behind me and lock the dead bolt, Jill immediately turns on me.
“Tell me what’s going on.”
“Just drop it, Jill.”
“Fuck that.” She’s pissed now, her cheeks flushed with anger, her blue eyes burning with fire.
Good.
I prowl around the room as I peel off my vest and throw it on a chair.
“You’ve been in a pisser of a mood since you picked me up, and then you insulted both Max and me up on that balcony. What the fuck, Zack? Did you think we were planning a secret time to screw each other’s brains out and laughing about it?”
The thought of it sends me into a rage. I advance on her and take her shoulders in my hands and push her up against the wall, caging her. I’m breathing hard as I take in her gorgeous face, her hair, and I know I’m a fucking bastard for what I’m about to say.
“I know I’m not fucking good enough for you, Jillian. I get it. You deserve so much better than the likes of me. I’m just a broken soldier with a kid and a fucking bitch of an ex-wife, but God damn it, you’re mine. I’m not letting you go back to LA.”
Her mouth opens and closes and her brow furrows in confusion.
“What are you talking about?”
“I know that I can’t just run out and spoil you with all of those fancy things you love. We’re simple here, Jill. And I’m okay with that, but I see it eating at you. I heard you say that you miss LA.”
She pushes on my chest, and begins to pace the room when I back away from her, giving her space. The loss of her heat against me is painful.
“You think I want to move back to LA so I can go shopping?” she asks incredulously.
“I think—”
“You’re a fucking idiot, Zack King.” She props her hands on her hips and glares at me. “I’ve made it pretty clear that I want to be here, with you. So if that’s not what you want, you need to say so now and stop playing these damn games with me.”
“It’s not a damn game!” I pull her to me again, plant my hands on her ass, and lift her, wrapping her legs around my waist, then brace her against the wall so I can look into her eyes.
“Just tell me what’s happening! Talk to me!”
I brush my fingers down her smooth face and then bury my face in her neck, holding on tight.
“Kensie called today,” I murmur softly. Jill stills and I can feel her pulse speed up.
“What did she want?” Her voice is low and hard.
“Seth.” I pull back and meet her gaze with mine. “She says things didn’t work out with the fucker she was with and she misses Seth.”
“Fuck that!” Jill’s lips peel back from her teeth, and I swear to God, she snarls. “She’ll never touch him again.”
“I told her that she couldn’t have him and she’d best not set one foot on my property or she’d land her ass in jail.”
Jill cups my face in her hands. “Is this what had you so upset?”
“I can’t have her make Seth’s life any more difficult than she already has.”
“She can’t. She gave up custody. Right?”
“Yeah, I have full custody. She didn’t even ask for visitation. In the court’s eyes, she abandoned him.”
Jill’s nodding and pushes her fingers into my hair. “You have all the power here, babe.”
I nod and rest my forehead on Jill’s, drawing strength from her. Jesus, she’s so fucking strong.
“Now, about the rest of it. Why in the bloody hell would you think I’d want to move back to LA?”
“You deserve nice things, Jill. You deserve—”
“I deserve you. And Seth. And even that silly dog of yours. I don’t want LA. I left there for a reason, Zack.”
I sigh, knowing I’ve fucked up. “It was a motherfucker of a day, sugar. Between the lack of sleep last night, that call, the fireworks, seeing you in Max’s arms . . .”
Jill throws her head back and laughs. “In Max’s arms? He hugged me, Zack. That happens sometimes.”
“He had his hands on you.”
“That happens when a person hugs you.”
“I didn’t like it,” I growl.
I turn with Jill in my arms, cross to the bed, and crawl onto it with her still clinging to me. I kneel between her legs and tug her expensive shoes off her feet, and toss them on the side of the bed as she pulls her shirt over her head.
“I think I should remind you who you belong to, sugar.”
“Is that so?” She cocks a brow and pulls at the hem of my shirt until I tug it over my head and toss it aside. Her hands glide over my stomach and to the button on my jeans.
I peel her sexy jeans down her legs and take in the sight of her lying on the bed in a sexy lacy bra and matching panties, a
nd my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
“Holy fuck, Jill.”
“Back at you, soldier.” Her eyes are taking in my torso, my shoulders. “Take your pants off.”
“Not yet,” I reply and cover her sex with my hand. She hisses in a breath and stares up at me with wide eyes as I yank her panties down her hips and legs, toss them aside, spread her legs, and look my fill. “Do you know how gorgeous your pussy is, sugar?” I scoot down to my belly, shoulder between her thighs, and run one finger through her already wet folds. “God, it’s so beautiful. Pink. Puffy.” I raise her clitoral hood with my thumb and blow on her clit and grin wickedly when it swells. “So fucking responsive.”
“Zack,” she whimpers.
“That’s right, Jilly. Mine.” I lean in and lick her, from her opening to her clit and back down again. “This is mine.”
I push two fingers inside her and press my tongue to her clit, barely moving it back and forth to give her just a tiny bit of friction. Her hips buck and she grips my hair in her strong hands.
“Oh my God!”
“Whose pussy is this, Jilly?” My fingertips brush over that rough sweet spot and I feel her tighten around me like a fist. My cock twitches in anticipation, throbbing with want for her. “Tell me, baby.”
“Yours,” she whispers and moves her hips, trying desperately to make me increase the friction against her clit, but I pull back.
“Say it again, Jill.”
“Yours,” she repeats, stronger now.
I wrap my lips around her clit and pull gently, and my fingers increase speed, fucking her harder. “Again.”
“Yours!”
“Fucking right,” I growl and then pull on her clit again until she comes violently, bucking and trembling, panting, chanting my name.
I stand and drop my jeans, then pull Jill off the bed and into my arms again.
“Wrap your legs around me.”
She obeys, wraps those toned, slender legs around my waist and arms around my neck and kisses me for all she’s worth, not giving a shit that her juices are still all over my mouth.
I groan against her lips and push her against the wall again, pull my hips back, and slide home, impaling myself completely inside her. With her eyes level with mine, I pin her in my gaze as we both gasp for breath.
“You are mine, Jillian. Do you hear me? Mine.”
“Yes,” she sobs as I begin to move in hard, quick strokes. This isn’t soft and slow like before, it’s hard and urgent, and I know exactly what I’m doing.
I’m claiming my woman.
My cock is harder than it’s ever been, pulsing and throbbing inside this amazing woman. Every time I pull back, she whimpers.
“Dragging against your sweet spot, sugar?”
“God, yes!” Her legs tighten on my hips as her pussy clenches around me.
“Do not come yet,” I command. Her eyes burst open with surprise and she bites her plump lower lip. “Not yet.”
“Please,” she whispers and circles her hips again, almost frantically. “I’m almost there.”
I plunge inside her and stop abruptly, holding her against the wall with my body, filling her with my cock. I watch her for a moment as her breath heaves in and out, pressing her hard nipples against my chest.
“Zack.”
“Yes, Jilly.”
“I need to fucking come!” She makes a small fist and gently pounds it on the top of my shoulder in frustration. “Please.”
I hook an arm under her knee, cup her ass with my hand, opening her wider, and push against her even more tightly.
“I love the way you feel wrapped around me,” I murmur. “I love the way you taste and smell. I can smell how fucking turned on you are. Do you have any idea what that does to me?”
She shakes her head. I pull back then slam home again, making her cry out.
“It makes me fucking crazy. It makes me want to fuck you all night long. Would you like that, Jilly?”
“Yes!”
I begin to pound in and out of her again, my pace quicker now. She’s so fucking slick, her wetness pouring down over my cock and balls, and her entire body is clenched around me like a vise.
She’s fucking amazing.
“Oh my God, Zack, please, I can’t wait . . .”
I watch her face in awe as she begins to succumb to her release. “Do it, baby. Come.”
Instead of screaming like I expected, she grows silent, bites her lip, and her body is racked with shudders as she pulses and contracts around me. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. My spine tingles and balls lift as I surrender to my own release, rocking into her. She cradles me in her arms as I bury my face in her neck and come harder than I can ever remember coming before, my entire body stiff, feeling like it’s going to turn inside out.
After a few long moments of us clinging to each other, supported by the wall, Jill giggles softly.
“We made a mess.”
“We’ll clean it up.” I brush a few strands of her hair back from her face. “You’re mine, Jilly.”
“I get it.” She grins and kisses me softly. “And you’re mine, soldier.”
“Damn right.”
CHAPTER
Twelve
JILLIAN
Someone is nibbling on my neck. I stretch under the soft sheets and smile sleepily, not opening my eyes yet. Zack’s pressed to my back, leaving damp kisses down my shoulder, then back to my spine. His hand drifts down my arm to my hip, up my side, then around to cup my breast.
I moan softly and wiggle my hips, pressing against his hard erection.
“Good morning, sugar,” he whispers against my ear. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Mm.”
He pulls me onto my back and smiles down at me. His dark hair is mussed and his big brown eyes are heavy with sleep. The dimple in his cheek winks at me.
“You’re gorgeous in the morning,” he murmurs and kisses my forehead, and just that press of lips to my skin has my body on full alert. My hand glides from his naked hip, up his side to his shoulder.
“You’re sexy all the time.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Doubtful.”
“I love this dimple.” I rub it with my fingertip, enjoying this lazy, relaxed time with him. We don’t get it often. “I love when you smile at me like this, because you don’t smile very often.”
“I seem to be smiling more and more now that you’re in my life,” he replies softly. His fingertips are tracing small circles around my belly.
“I love your arms,” I continue. “They’re strong. And your tattoo is supercool.”
“Supercool?” he asks with a grin.
“I’ve been hanging out with Seth a lot,” I say and shrug. “I love your flat abs and this line right here.” I trace the V in his hip and watch with fascination as he bites his lip and holds his breath. “Is that sensitive?”
“You tell me,” he whispers and repeats the motion on my own hip.
“That . . . tickles.” I wrinkle my nose at him and gasp when he does it again.
“You know what I love about your body, sugar?” He kisses my cheek, then effortlessly moves over me, covering me with his large, hard body. He rests his cock against my folds, his pelvis against mine, and his elbows at either side of my head. “I love your big blue eyes. They can make me feel like the only man in the world, or they can cut me to the core, in just one look.”
He kisses my lips and pushes his fingers into my hair, massaging my scalp. Dear sweet God, he’s good with his hands.
“I love your ass. I thought I was going to have to kill Josh and the other guys last night when you were showing off your jeans. You have an ass that’s just the right size for a nice handful, and fuck me if it doesn’t look amazing in jeans.”
“So you’re an ass man.” My voice is raspy and heavy with desire.
“I’m not finished,” he replies and kisses down my jawline to my neck. “I love your hands. They feel amazing on me. They
can be comforting and gentle, or they can grab onto my hair and clench so tight I don’t think you’ll ever let go.”
His words are intoxicating. My body is humming, moving slowly beneath him. He’s rocking his hips, sliding his cock between my wet folds, and continuing to massage my scalp while kissing his way down my neck and across my collarbones.
“But Jesus, Jilly, your pussy is just fucking amazing.” He pulls his hips back and then slides deep inside me and when he’s seated completely, he drags his lips up my jawline back to my lips. “You fit me perfectly. Like you were made for me.”
He moves leisurely in and out of me. The only sound in the room is our panting breaths as we slowly make love, as though we have all day to explore each other’s bodies.
I cup his face in my hands and bring his lips down to mine to nibble and tease, until he kisses both of my palms, laces his fingers with mine, and pulls my hands up over my head. He keeps them there as he begins to move more quickly, his eyes pinned to mine, and I can’t tell where he ends and I begin.
He presses all the way in and rocks his pubis against my clit and grins as he watches me begin to come apart beneath him.
“Yes, baby, come.” He kisses my lips and nuzzles my nose. “Come for me.”
And I do. Quietly, intensely, the orgasm shakes through me, and as my pussy is gripping him in the throes of my release, Zack follows me, grunting with his own climax.
We lie still for several minutes, caressing each other’s bodies, kissing shoulders and cheeks and palms.
“When do we have to be downstairs for brunch?” he asks finally.
“At ten thirty,” I reply softly and glance over at the clock. “We have about an hour.”
“Good. We need a shower.”
“We took a shower last night.”
He cocks a brow. “I’ve dirtied you up at least three times since then.”
“Good point.” Before he can move away to lead me into the bathroom, I wrap my arms around his shoulders and hug him tightly to me.
“Baby?” He hugs me back, but his voice sounds a little confused. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I just think this might be one of the best moments of my life, and I want to take a minute to enjoy it.”