Her entire body quivered as she flew apart, hands still clenching Zane's hair as she screamed his name. "Zane. Oh, God. I've never felt like this before."
"Just ride your climax," Zane commanded. "I'm here. I'll keep you safe, Ell. I promise."
She trusted him as her body bucked in pleasure. Zane moved his hands and let her use his muscular abs to rock her hips against him as she rode out the most incredible orgasm she'd ever experienced.
Her hands moved down to stroke over his back, her nails digging into his skin as she held on tight, her hips surging against him as she moaned with unbridled pleasure as her climax peaked, and she began to float back to Earth again.
Forcing her hands to relax so she didn't scratch up his bare back any more than she already had, she let her head drop on his shoulder, her body completely spent.
As she slowly lowered her legs to the floor, Zane scooped her up and carried her back to her bed.
Ellie was mute, her body and mind still shaken up. What the hell could she say? Um … sorry I just climaxed while I humped your perfect body? Nope. That probably wasn't the correct thing to say in this awkward situation.
Zane stroked her hair as he tucked the sheet and comforter around her. "Can you sleep now?"
Ellie stifled a yawn. "Yes."
He sat down on the bed. "Ellie, why didn't you ever tell me you were a virgin?"
"It never came up in conversation," she answered defensively. The state of her cherry was personal. It wasn't like they exactly had deep, intimate conversations about sex. In fact, it was the one thing they generally never discussed.
"I'm glad you told me before it was too late. You must be saving yourself for someone."
Her heart sank. "I guess you don't do virgins?" she asked curiously.
"No," he answered enigmatically. "Get some sleep."
He stood and clicked off the dim light from the bedside lamp before striding to the bedroom door. Turning, he said matter-of-factly, "I have to go back to Denver tomorrow for a charity ball because it's hosted by Colter Labs, and then I'm staying in the city for a while to work on some stuff at the lab. Will you go?"
Ellie swallowed hard, confused by his rejection which was then followed with him asking her to go with him to Denver. "Of course. I'm your assistant."
"I'm not asking you as an employee to accompany me to the ball," he said ominously. "I'm asking you to be my date. Will you go?"
Her heart lifted, but she still didn't know what to make of Zane's behavior. It was dark, and she couldn't see his expression. "Yes," she answered softly. "I'd love to go. I've never been to a ball."
Maybe that made her sound pathetic, but it was the truth. Chloe's mom had hosted events at her resort, and Ellie was always invited, but she'd never attended.
"Good. At least I'll be your first for something," he answered in a satisfied tone before he turned and headed toward his own bedroom.
Ellie sighed. He could have been her first lover; he hadn't wanted that. But he was happy about having her going with him on a party date?
Shaking her head in the dark, she wondered if she'd ever understand exactly how Zane's mind worked. He was a genius, but he was also a man. Did regular men think the way that Zane did?
Somehow, she found it highly unlikely. After listening to years of Chloe talking about her brothers, Ellie knew that Zane was probably unique. Ellie knew she'd never met anyone like him.
As her eyes fluttered closed, she smiled. Somehow, it pleased her more that he'd offered to take her out on a real date than it would have if he'd taken her to bed. Somehow, that was significant, but she was so tired that she fell asleep still wondering exactly what Zane was thinking.
Ellie couldn't remember a time when she'd felt more out of place.
However, she wasn't about to let her nerves spoil her fantasy evening with the most handsome guy at the ball.
She'd had exactly one day to get ready for Zane's charity fundraiser once they'd arrived at his Denver home. Luckily, she didn't find as much organizing that she'd need to do at his place in the city, but there were still piles of paperwork everywhere that needed to be filed and put away.
The Denver mansion was gorgeous. Not that she'd expected it not to be, but it wowed her just the same. Unlike his home in Rocky Springs, the bedrooms were all upstairs, making the downstairs living space enormous. Honestly, she wasn't sure she'd even seen every room in the house yet. They'd arrived last night, and she'd been busy most of the day.
Earlier, she'd treated herself to a makeover, getting her hair put up in an elegant style, the short locks almost refusing to be tamed into a sophisticated style. Her makeup had been done by a professional, and she'd chosen a simple cocktail dress in black, a garment that was pricey enough to make her squirm. But she'd bought it anyway, after hanging it back on the department store rack several times because she wasn't sure if she could justify spending that kind of money on a dress. After the dress, she'd needed accessories. All in all, she'd spent more money today than she had in several years in Rocky Springs.
But somehow, she couldn't regret it.
As she'd stood in front of the mirror earlier, Ellie had done a full assessment of herself, and not just the physical body in the reflection. Yeah, she had admitted that she looked nice, but mostly she recognized that she was changing the way she looked at herself. She felt stronger, freer than she'd ever been. Maybe it was her harrowing experience she'd been through, but she had an inkling that Zane was beginning to make her see herself in a whole new way. He liked her. He cared about her. He pointed out things that he really admired or liked about her, and she'd started to take notice of things about herself that she'd never even considered.
She was getting stronger.
She was learning to handle her fears.
She wasn't letting what happened to her shape her life.
She liked what she was doing, and she liked … herself.
Ellie sighed and swiped another glass of champagne from a passing waiter as she made her way back from the restroom, eager to find Zane. She had the most handsome, most intelligent date at the ball, and she wasn't about to let him hang out alone, waiting for her.
He'd made it very clear that she was his date, and he'd treated her like a princess. Zane didn't miss the opportunity to tell her how beautiful she looked, and he'd given her a beautiful bouquet of flowers before they left the house because he knew how much she loved them.
Dinner had been amazing. Zane had taken her to a fancy steakhouse, and the food was so good she had a difficult time not moaning with pleasure as she consumed way more than she should have, including the rich dessert.
When they'd arrived in the beautiful ballroom, she had to admit that she'd been intimidated by the blatant wealth all around her, but she'd had Zane there to remind her all of them might be rich, but they were still human, just like anyone else. It had made her relax a little, but everything around her was so perfect and such a stark contrast to her old life that she couldn't help but feel nervous.
Trying to make herself taller by standing on her tiptoes, she scanned the elegant, crowded ballroom for her handsome date. It was pretty difficult to recognize him easily since every man was here in a tuxedo, including Zane.
God, he'd been breathtaking when he'd wandered into the kitchen earlier in the day, perfectly groomed and impeccably put together in his black tux. His face was freshly shaven, his hair still damp from the shower, but he'd looked delicious. Ellie had wondered for a moment if she needed to wipe the drool from her mouth.
She had just finished chugging down her second glass of champagne when she spotted Zane. He was talking to some curvaceous redhead, and he looked uncomfortable. Not that anyone else would notice, but Ellie could see the subtle signs.
Wriggling her way through the crowd, she made her way across the room, hesitating because she didn't want to interrupt him. But when she saw the redheaded female put her finger on Zane's face, tracing the line of his rugged jaw, Ellie saw red, and she was certain he wasn't discussing business.
He's my date, dammit. I feel like Cinderella, and I'm not missing my time at the ball.
Dodging all of the handsomely dressed couples as she steadily made her way to Zane, it wasn't difficult to discern that he wasn't responding at all to the pushy redhead's advances.
Ellie smiled as he grasped the woman's wrist and pulled it from his jaw, his expression stoic as he spoke to her.
Stopping abruptly as she neared the couple, Ellie was momentarily surprised to see that the woman was young, and drop-dead gorgeous.
And Zane was obviously completely and totally … uninterested.
Striding forward, she took her place next to Zane and put her arm on his muscular bicep. "I'm so sorry," she told him with a bright smile that she hoped didn't look as fake as it felt. "The restrooms were busy."