It felt like hours later before my heartrate started to return to normal, but it was only a few minutes. Finally able to breathe again, I lifted my head, unable to keep from grinning down at the beauty I was still buried deep inside of. “Tell me the name of the last man who tasted your pussy, Anna.”

Pink filled her cheeks and she turned her head to the left, avoiding my eyes. “No,” she whispered in a voice roughened from screaming as she had come all over my dick.

Lowering my head, I nuzzled her ear with my nose. “Tell me the name of the last guy who put his dick in you, Anna.”

“Fuck you,” she muttered, still refusing to meet my gaze.

I didn’t need her confirmation. I already knew the answers to my questions. It had been me to last taste her. I was the last man to touch her, taste her. Make love to her. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so happy about knowing that, but I was. Brushing a soft kiss over her cheek, I pulled out of her body, making us both moan as I left her tightness. Fuck, I wanted back in there already.

Reaching for the shirt I’d taken off earlier, I used it to first wipe off the rest of my come from my dick before gently wiping away the thick, hot, white fluid that was flooding out of her wet pussy. Seeing the evidence of what I’d done on the dark shirt I’d been wearing, I bit back a curse. “I didn’t use anything,” I told her, lifting my eyes to hers.

Blue eyes widened and she finally met my gaze. “What?” she cried and pushed against my chest as she looked from my bare dick to the cream that was on the shirt in my hand. “You…?” She shook her head as if she couldn’t even form words before shoving me back a little more. “Are you clean, Z?”

“The one thing you’ll learn from working with Emmie Armstrong is that she makes her clients do random drug screenings and STD tests. I had one six months ago, and it was clean. I haven’t had sex since before then, so you’re safe.”

Her eyes turned skeptical. “You haven’t had sex in more than six months?”

I shrugged. “It’s probably closer to two years, but yeah.” I didn’t hook up with the groupies that hung around after shows, and only went looking for some action when I couldn’t fight the need for some kind of release. Every girl I’d ever hooked up with never looked anything like Annabelle, though. I couldn’t handle that shit. I didn’t go looking for a type, just someone that didn’t remind me of her in any way.

“Whatever,” she muttered and stood. I was momentarily distracted from seeing her bare ass as she walked away from me, but her next words instantly caught my attention. “I think we’re safe. My period is due any day now.”

Why that disappointed me, I couldn’t tell you, but it did. It stung like a hornet’s nest was attacking my chest.

Grabbing my jeans, I pulled out my wallet and set it on the nightstand beside the bed as Annabelle went back to her closet, keeping protection within reach this time. She started to pull out another pair of pants, but I stopped her as I crossed the room and lifted her into my arms. She slapped at my chest as I carried her back to the bed, but once I had her flat on her back once again, I made sure she didn’t want to go anywhere anytime soon.

“Mieke?” I growled our daughter’s name, wondering where the kid was and when she would be home. I loved spending time with my kid, but right then I wanted her as far away from that house as possible.

“She’s at her test-prep study group. She won’t be home until late,” Annabelle said, her voice coming out breathless because I was already sucking on her berry-ripe nipples again. “She might even spend the night over at…her…Z, that feels so good…Her friend’s house.”

“Good.” I’d make every free minute we had that night count.

C HAPTER T WENTY F IVE

Annabelle

My phone was ringing from somewhere close. I reached for it blindly, hoping it was on my nightstand. Finding the noisy thing, I half lifted one lid. I’d only answer if it was Mieke, or so I promised myself. Then I saw Emmie’s name flashing across the screen. Groaning, I lifted the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“I’m looking for Zander,” Emmie said in greeting, her tone a mixture of agitation and exasperation. Even in the few weeks I’d known the chick, I knew those weren’t the emotions anyone wanted to deal with when facing Emmie. “Have you seen him?”

I lowered my phone and saw the time on the screen—11:34 p.m.—before glancing at the man on the bed behind me. He was lightly snoring and his arm was anchored around my waist tightly, not letting me get more than an inch away from him. Swallowing down my curse, I lifted the phone to my ear once again. “No, I haven’t seen him.”

“When you do, you tell that motherfucker that I want to talk to him. Immediately.” Emmie’s tone was full of ice but, before I could question why, she hung up on me.

Still trying to blink sleep from my eyes, I put the phone back on the nightstand and rolled over. I cuddled against Zander for a full minute, soaking up the feel of him all around me, his heartbeat under my ear. It felt good. Right. Just like it had all those years ago when I would sleep in his arms every night, safe from the outside world.

I allowed myself only that one minute, though. Breathing in deep, I lifted my head and pushed on Z’s chest. “Hey,” I muttered. “Z, wake up.”

His eyes didn’t move, but he turned on his side, strong arms wrapping even tighter around my waist as he pulled me closer. Zander buried his face in my hair and his breathing evened out even more. I bit my lip to keep it from trembling, enjoying this moment so much that I knew when he left again it would completely eviscerate my heart this time.

Shaking my head, I shoved against his chest, harder this time. “Z, wake up.” I said the words loudly, right in his ear.

Grunting, he lifted his head and looked down at me through half-open eyes. “Babe, I’m exhausted. I want you again, but give me a few more minutes of sleep. Okay?” He brushed his lips over mine in a small but nonetheless passionate kiss before lowering his head again. I didn’t doubt he was exhausted. We’d made love—no, I quickly chastised myself, we’d fucked—four times before falling asleep in each other’s arms around eight thirty. “Just a few more minutes, Anna.”

“No. Z, you have to get up. Emmie is looking for you. She wants you to call her.”

His eyes lifted a little farther this time. Seeing the seriousness on my face, he blew out a frustrated breath and reached for the phone. My phone. Leaning over me, his weight pressing me into the softness of my mattress, he swiped his thumb over the screen of the phone and lifted it to his ear. It obviously didn’t take long for her to answer because Zander spoke after only a few seconds.

“Nope, not Annabelle. It’s me, Em.” He paused, listening to whatever his manager had to say. I couldn’t hear what she was saying and I had no clue what she was telling him. His face was still relaxed, his eyes still only half open as he listened. “Yeah, I know. I told Nat I’d tell you myself, but I got distracted… Well, you know now, don’t you?” Another pause and this time I could hear that Emmie’s voice had risen, but I couldn’t make out anything she said. The look on Zander’s face told me he was getting bored with the conversation. “I don’t really give a shit what the other guys want. I’m over it. Over them. This isn’t even about them, Em. It’s about me. I’m out. Done…. Why?” Hazel eyes looked down at me then, a smile tilting at his lips. “I need something else. Trading one dream for another.”

From the phone, I could hear Emmie saying something, but Zander didn’t pay her any attention. He disconnected and dropped the phone back on the stand before lowering his head and kissing me again. I was confused by the one-sided conversation I’d just heard, but any questions I might have wanted answered were quickly forgotten as I surrendered to Zander once again.