Forever (Time for Love Book 1) (6 page)

In response, Rebecca moaned and started kissing his neck.

Ah, it was too much for a mere mortal like him to deny this woman who still made his body burn with desire.

Throwing all caution to the wind, he reached behind her and tugged down the zipper of her dress.

"Zach," Rebecca breathed as his restless hand roamed her naked back.

"Do you really want this?" he rasped against her throat.

"Yes."

He caught the hem of her dress and lifted it off her. Sucking in a deep breath, he stared at her flimsy bra. It did absolutely nothing to hide her rosy nipples, which were straining for his attention.

With impatient fingers, he undid the front clasp, then wasted no time capturing one of the peaks with his mouth, laving it with his tongue and tugging it with his lips.

Rebecca gasped, clutching his hair as she arched her back toward him. With a swift move, he laid her down on the sofa and eagerly took off her panties.

Right now, he didn't care about anything but this moment. Right now, he wasn't the wealthy CEO who needed to be on guard against women who might have ulterior motives. Right now, he was only Zach, the man who needed the woman before him like oxygen.

He parted her legs and positioned himself in between, nipping and kissing her upper thighs as his mouth made its way to the apex.

Rebecca's legs quivered in anticipation and he groaned in delight. Nothing heightened his arousal more than making Rebecca crazy with pleasure. And he knew just how to do that.

He licked her wetness and a guttural sound escaped him. She tasted just as he remembered—utterly intoxicating. Eagerly, he flicked his tongue against her hardened nub and was rewarded by a lusty cry—exactly what he wanted to elicit from her. He pleasured her with his mouth, and when he knew she was close to the edge, he inserted two fingers in her, eager to bring her to climax.

Rebecca pushed at his shoulders, making him look up in surprise.

"You, Zach. Please. I need you now," she breathed.

That was a plea he simply couldn't refuse. Hastily, he took off his pants and briefs as Rebecca fumbled with the buttons of his shirt.

"Are you still on birth control, sweetheart?" he asked.

Rebecca's hand stilled and her face flushed. "No," she said in a small voice.

He stared at her for a second before hurrying to his toiletries bag to get a condom. In no time, he was sheathed and back with her on the couch. He discarded his shirt and lay on top of her.

Rebecca immediately wrapped her legs around his waist. With a grunt he entered her, and his breath left him at the pleasure of being inside her once again.

He thrust, slowly, wanting to make it last. But Rebecca's writhing body under him was too much for his self-control. It had been far too long since he'd had Rebecca, and hell, he was only a man. He didn't have what it took to stop himself from driving into her with unbridled passion.

"Oh, God... Zach," Rebecca keened, her hands grabbing his behind, urging him to go faster still, deeper still.

"Bec... baby... so good..." he gasped breathlessly as he increased his speed. Much too soon, he felt Rebecca's telltale tensing. When her body clamped around his thrusting cock over and over, he toppled over the edge with a yell as he emptied himself inside her.

*

Z
ach reluctantly stopped planting butterfly kisses on Rebecca's face and neck when his phone rang. As someone with great responsibility, he'd learned not to ignore calls made to his direct line, in case they were emergencies.

"I have to get that," he said, giving her another peck on the lips.

"Okay," she said with a satisfied smile that made him grin.

He withdrew from her and took off the condom. By the time he'd discarded it, the call had gone to voicemail. It was Jeff. With a frown he called him back straight away.

"Hey, Zach!" Jeff said in a light tone that told him this was merely a social call.

"What's up?" he asked, hiding his annoyance at his brother's intrusion.

"Where are you?"

"In my room."

"Oh. I thought you'd still be out having drinks with Gran or something. It's not midnight yet."

"I have something to do here," he answered, his eyes on Rebecca as she got dressed. God, just watching her made him hot again. Well, considering he was still naked...

"Is there something important you want to discuss, Jeff?" he asked, itching to get off the phone.

"Yes," Jeff replied, his tone suddenly serious. "Did you have your talk with Rebecca?"

"Uh, yeah. Sort of."

"What does that mean?"

"We can talk about this tomorrow," he said authoritatively.

"Why not now?" Jeff persisted.

"Why not tomorrow?"

"Honestly? Because I don't trust how you react around her. Seeing she's on that ship with you, I want to talk about it now."

He scowled, not liking Jeff's declaration.

Rebecca caught his attention, and motioned to him she was going.

"I need to call you back, Jeff," he said, gesturing for Rebecca to wait.

"Why are you so cagey?"

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are. What happened, Zach?" Jeff asked ominously.

Zach sighed. "Look, I need to go to the bathroom. Give me two minutes and I'll call you back."

"Two minutes," Jeff said, then hung up.

"Sorry," Rebecca said. "I didn't mean for you to get off the phone. I'll leave now so you can talk to Jeff."

"We'll talk again. Soon," he said softly as he walked toward her.

She nodded.

"Will you be okay to walk back to your room?"

"Of course. I'll see you again soon," she said with a beautiful smile that—he realised with resignation—still made his heart flutter like it had always done.

He gave her a brief kiss, careful not to touch her so as not to court temptation. It was obvious his body still had little self-control when it came to Rebecca.

He stared at the door for long seconds after Rebecca closed it behind her, conflicting emotions running through him.

*****

"S
he said she hadn't two-timed me, which is what I wanted to know."

"And?" Jeff asked.

"And what? I believe her."

"What about the apartment? The married guy who bought it for her?"

Zach rubbed his eyes as reality came crashing back. "I don't know. We haven't gotten that far."

"God, Zach. This is exactly what I'm talking about. You're such a damned fool around her."

"Hey!" he said indignantly even as his face flushed from the truth of it.

"Didn't you at least ask leading questions, like how come she moved there? What made her choose the building? Or something to that effect?"

"It seemed rude," he said lamely. There was no way he'd let Jeff know that he'd completely forgotten everything else when he'd started kissing Rebecca.

"I don't like this whole thing, Zach. First, she breaks up with you because she didn't get the commitment she'd wanted. That alone sounded like bullshit to me. Next, she now owns an apartment only a multi-millionaire can afford. As nursing is her full-time job, I can't see how she could have afforded it. Then she turns up there as Gran's nurse. With you."

Zach bit his tongue and glared at the space in front of him, the afterglow of his incredible lovemaking with Rebecca fading fast from his brother's words. He hated to admit it, but Jeff was right. It all looked too suspicious. He mustn't forget that those unresolved issues had already ripped his heart out from his chest before.

"Zach? You still there?"

"Yeah."

"Did you hear what I said? If I were you, I'd be really, really careful. Especially when you find her flirting with you again. She might be there with the intention of seducing you. In case you've forgotten, girls have their way of making themselves pregnant without your consent."

Zach took a sharp intake of breath as he realised something. Rebecca had been quick to sleep with him again. In fact, she'd been the one who'd instigated the sex. And she wasn't on birth control. If he hadn't asked and had assumed the opposite...

"Could you do me a favour, Jeff?"

"Sure."

"Could you dig out whatever you can about that married guy Phillip was talking about? I want to know who he is. If you could personally look after it to make sure everything gets done discreetly, I'd appreciate it."

Jeff was quiet for a few seconds. "Why are you wasting time and resources on this? Why don't you just confront Rebecca about it?"

"I will do that, but I want proof in my hands that whatever she has to say about the guy is the truth."

"Why? How would knowing who the guy is help you with anything?"

"I want to know the extent of their relationship and if there's a good reason why Bec's with him. I want to know the story behind the whole thing." Zach was kicking himself now for not finding those out months ago.

"You still want her, don't you?" Jeff asked after a long pause.

"Yes. That's why I want to know. I'm pretty sure Bec has a good reason for all of this, Jeff."

Jeff sighed. "I think you're being foolish, but fine, I'll arrange it. It won't happen overnight, though. I'm finishing up some urgent matters. I'll have an answer for you in a couple of weeks, when I board the ship, but not before."

"Okay."

"And Zach, for heaven's sake, please wait until I get back to you on this. If Rebecca has dishonest motives, this could end up costing not only you, but also our family and the company. This is not simply about your heart. If the guy Rebecca's seeing now can afford to give her an apartment, he would also have a profile that would interest the press. This could very well be a juicy scandal about deep pockets and infidelity and gold-diggers that could lead to your personal life splattered all over the media again."

Zach took a deep breath. "You're right. Thanks for reminding me."

Zach hung up, more confused and disturbed than he'd been before he'd questioned Rebecca. He raked his hand through his hair, knowing he didn't have a choice but to wait until he had more answers. Until then, he'd have to stay away from her. Because Jeff was right. Zach just couldn't trust himself around Rebecca—even with all the question marks hanging over her head.

R
ebecca floated back to her room, still flushed and grinning from ear to ear.

She'd been a very naughty girl. She couldn't believe she'd seduced Zach, but hey, he didn't exactly try to stop her. God, it was just as good as it had always been—and their long period apart made it even more intense.

She still couldn't believe he'd thought she'd broken up with him because there was someone else! That must have been why he'd never returned her calls.

Did sleeping with him tonight mean they would be giving their relationship another chance? Maybe that was too much to hope for, but at least it was a step forward in the right direction. And wasn't her New Year's resolution to make the first move?

She'd just have to prove to him all over again that she still loved him. She'd prematurely tossed out a chance with him before. This time, she was determined to fully embrace her opportunity.

She reached her door and stopped for a moment to compose herself. While she had no intention of hiding the truth from Sarah, she wanted to keep it to herself for a while longer. Sarah would no doubt express her concern, ruining the wonderful moment she'd just had with Zach.

The soft light from her bedside table greeted her as she opened the door, and she found Sarah fast asleep. Breathing a sigh of relief, she went to the bathroom and prepared for bed, already daydreaming of what was to come the next day.

*****

"H
ey, sleepyhead. Time to wake up!"

Rebecca peeled open an eyelid and was surprised to see Sarah already in a pretty sundress. Unusual, as whenever she could, Sarah would stay in bed for as long as possible. "What time is it?"

"Almost seven," Sarah answered, opening the door to the balcony. "I've already called room service for breakfast."

"Oh, we're having breakfast here?"

"It was your idea, remember? So we can sit out on the balcony and enjoy this incredible vista. Look at it. Just look at it!" Sarah gushed as she stared at the water outside.

Languidly, Rebecca got out of bed. After last night, she would prefer to go to the dining room for breakfast. She might see Zach there, although knowing him he probably would be breakfasting in his suite while he checked the latest news and stock market movements.

"How did last night go?" Sarah asked casually.

"Good. We talked," she said, unable to stop the smile that spread on her face.

"So what did you discuss?"

"Why I broke up with him."

"Really? What about it? Didn't he already know why?"

"He thought there might have been a third party."

"What? That doesn't make sense. When you broke up with him, you've said that the reason was because you'd rather move on if the feeling wasn't mutual, right?"

"Right."

"So where did he get the idea that you have someone else?"

Rebecca shrugged. "I don't know, to be honest. That's a good question."

Sarah frowned. "What else did you talk about, then?"

"Um..." For the life of her, Rebecca couldn't remember if there was another topic that she and Zach had discussed. The only memory that was clear and sharp was the searing kiss they'd shared, which led to some hot sex. "I think that's all we got to talk about."

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "All of that would have only been a one-minute conversation. Why were you gone for so long?"

A knock on the door interrupted them.

"That must be breakfast. I'll get ready," Rebecca said, grabbing a dress and running for the bathroom.

"Hurry up. I can't wait to hear the rest of your news!"

Rebecca laughed happily.

*

"C
ome on, tell me!" Sarah said. "I know you at least kissed."

"How do you know?" Rebecca asked, putting a forkful of pancake drizzled with maple syrup in her mouth.

"Duh! Didn't you see your face in the mirror? You look like you used to do when you were still going out with Zach," Sarah said with a frown, hands on hips.