Chapter 30

"Maddie!" Zach reached for her. "This is a surprise. Come on in."
Nervously she let him draw her inside, wondering if she hadn't made a mistake in doing this. She looked around at the cabin Jack Grady had lived in for so many years. She'd been inside it a number of times but she didn't ever remember it looking like this. Homey. Beckoning. And everything sparkling as if it had just been polished.
A fire was banked in the fireplace, the familiar big leather chair and footstool still sat in front of it at an angle, facing a long cowhide couch. Beyond that was the oak trestle table and chairs polished to a high gloss. Colorful Native American rugs were scattered on the polished wood floor. The kitchen area was immaculate.
This was a place cared for with a great deal of love. Why would she have expected anything less? One thing Zach was not, was a sloppy roughneck. Taking good care of things was part of his nature.
Except for me, when I needed him.
"I didn't realize you were such a good housekeeper," she teased.
"My skills are many," he teased right back.
She pushed the irritating thought away, brushed her hair back with one hand and held out the bowl with the other.
"I made some vegetable beef soup yesterday. Like always I made enough for an army and I thought you might enjoy some."
Zach grinned as he took the bowl from her hands. "Is this a peace offering?"
She drew in a long breath and let it out slowly, gathering her thoughts. "Maybe. I was a little...upset yesterday. I apologize. I thought maybe we could sit down and discuss this situation like the intelligent adults we are."
"How about we start with a cup of coffee first," he cajoled, leading her to the dining area. "It's a fresh pot and I promise you it won't strip the skin off your tongue."
"A-All right. But just one cup. We really should talk about this business and I know you have work to do."
He set the bowl of soup on the counter and turned to her, his hands on her shoulders. He was so close she could see the flecks of gold in his irises. Her breath felt trapped in her lungs and her heart was doing a Texas Two-Step. She caught his familiar scent, something citrus mixed with the clean air of the outdoors and the flavor of the ranch. And the male scent that was distinctly Zach.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
"Maddie Mae," he crooned, his hands sliding up and down her arms. "You have no idea the number of nights I dreamed about you. About your body next to mine. My mouth on you. My cock inside you. Your head tossed back as pleasure took you. Pleasure I gave you."
"Zach, I don't think - "
"Right. Don't think. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how to get you alone since yesterday and now here you are. Delivered like an answer to a prayer. Don't freeze up on me, Maddie. Remember how it used to feel when we were together?"
Only she didn't want to remember. She wanted to make her speech, tell him what a jerk he'd been - still was - and that she wasn't going to let him steal her ranch from her. And then get out of there. But ten years of angry, bitter hurt that had sat like boulder inside her all this time disappeared as his warm breath fanned her cheeks, his touch burned her through her jacket and his lips hovered over hers.
He was going to kiss her and she was going to let him. How pathetic was that? She tried to reach down inside herself to pull that bitterness back up but some invisible magic touch wiped it all away as if it never existed. All she felt was the enchantment of his presence and the way her body still responded to his.
Then his mouth was on hers, gentle, lips stroking lips, like the touch of a butterfly. He nibbled at every inch of her mouth while his hands still gripped her, holding her close to him.
"Open for me, Maddie," he whispered and her traitorous mouth opened and let him inside.
His tongue felt so good, stroking the inside of her cheeks, the roof of her mouth, sweeping over her own small tongue as he coaxed it into a familiar dance. Heat swept through her like a desert breeze, warming her blood and sparking her nerve endings. Between her thighs she felt moisture gathering, pooling in her panties, dampening her jeans.
He'd always been able to do this to her. She used to tell him he was the devil because he worked black magic on her body. Once he touched her any thought of resistance swept away. It was the same now. As his mouth continued to eat at hers and his thumbs stroked her cheeks, whatever she'd come to say to him disappeared completely from her mind.
Faintly she heard the rasp of a zipper and realized he was opening her jacket and slipping it off her arms. Then his hands were under her sweatshirt, his lips smiling against her mouth when he realized she wasn't wearing a bra. Warm hands cupped her breasts and fingers gently pinched her nipples, sending shards of lightning straight to her cunt. She threaded her fingers through the silk of his hair and arched her body into his. He was like a drug, a habit she thought she'd kicked until the devil offered it to her again.
With his mouth on hers again and his tongue doing its magical dance, she barely realized it when he swept her into his arms and carried her out of the room. She opened her eyes when she felt herself being lowered to discover she was in Zach's bedroom, on the huge bed that had been there forever. What was the matter with her? She felt as if some genie had crept into her brain and turned it upside down.