No more playing nice. Zane was ready to play dirty, knowing it would be a hell of a lot more satisfying for both of them.
It didn’t take long for them to get back to Zane’s home. He’d made use of his limo and driver, and they’d been dropped off at the door after a smooth and fast ride home.
The champagne Ellie had consumed was starting to wear off, but she was still riding a little buzz as she asked Zane, “Are you hungry?” They’d stopped into the kitchen to get a drink. She handed him a Coke from the refrigerator, selecting a diet for herself.
When she set the can on the countertop to open it, Zane pinned her from behind, slapping one hand on each side of her. “Not for food. But I’m dying to find out if you’ve been lying to me all night.”
An exploring hand landed on her ass, pinching her butt cheeks and rubbing to see if there was any material underneath. Her breath hitched as he started raising the flowing material up her thighs and to her ass.
“Jesus Christ! You aren’t wearing anything else, are you?”
She gripped the counter in front of her and shook her head. “No. I told you I wasn’t.”
“Turn around,” he demanded after he unzipped the back of her dress.
Ellie wanted skin-to-skin contact so badly that she obeyed. “I can’t do this,” she protested weakly, trying to fight the desires of her body with the logic of her mind. Unfortunately, her body was winning the battle. She’d wanted Zane for so long and so damned much that her defenses were crumbling.
After lifting the dress over her head and letting it hit the floor, Zane took her by the shoulders. “You said you wanted somebody who sees you, somebody who cares about you. I assume you’ve been saving your virginity for him. That man is me, Ellie. I’m sure as hell not a virgin, but I think I’ve been waiting for you forever. If you want to back out, do it now, or I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop myself later.”
His expression was fierce as she glanced up at him, his eyes nearly devouring her mostly-nude body with appreciation.
“I think I’ve always been waiting for you,” she admitted quietly, finally meeting his eyes as they drifted to her face. “But I’m scared.”
“Why?” he asked urgently, sounding slightly wounded. “I’d never hurt you, Ell.”
She shook her head. “It’s not that. I want you. I want to be with you. But after it’s over, I’m scared that I’ll crave you every single day.”
He ran his fingers slowly from the gorgeous necklace that she was wearing down her body until he reached her barely-there panties. His fingers rubbed over the silky material, teasing her with the pleasure she knew she could experience with him and only him. The reason she hadn’t had sex before was simple: she’d never wanted anyone except Zane.
“Then crave me, Ellie. For fuck’s sake, crave me as much as I crave you,” he answered huskily, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, and the side of her mouth. “Need me so badly that you think you’re going crazy. I’ll be there to take away the ache because I know exactly how it feels.”
She felt naked, both emotionally and physically, as she stood before him almost nude. Her arms crept around his neck and she speared a hand through his thick hair, glorying in the feel of the strands sliding between her fingers. “Yes,” she answered simply. “Please.”
Ellie immediately felt her body being lifted and carried, not knowing where they were going until he set her down in the middle of his own bed. “I want to do this right, Ellie. I don’t want you to feel a moment of pain.”
She didn’t care if it hurt, as long as she could get Zane inside her as quickly as possible. “I don’t care. I just want you.”
“You already have me,” he growled as he started to strip off his clothes. “And I have no intention of letting you go.”
She was nervous. Not that Ellie had any desire to back away now. Dammit, she’d almost died at the hands of a sociopath. She wanted to find out what it felt like to be with someone who cared about her, a man she’d wanted for so long she wasn’t sure when the deep ache inside her had begun. But her lack of experience was making her anxious.
“I don’t know what to do,” she confessed, sitting cross-legged on the bed as she watched Zane remove his bow tie and yank it from his neck. Ellie licked her dry lips apprehensively as he started on his shirt, revealing muscular abs and a toned torso that her fingers were itching to touch.
“Anything you want, Ellie. Whatever you need.”
“I need to touch you,” she said breathlessly as she watched him shrug out of his shirt.