Page 235 of Seizing Control: Part One

“I fuckin’ promise.” Smoothing my fingertips across the scar of his cheek, I sink my teeth into my bottom lip. On impulse, he tugs it free. “Gonna take you soft and slow, sweet thing. Anythin’ else will be too much in your current state.”

“I’ll take you any way I can have you.” The earnestness in my voice breaks the resolve in Zeke’s eyes. His mouth is on mine, his cock surging deep before I’ve enunciated the last word. Arms curled around his neck, his forehead resting on mine, a hand curled around my nape and his body gently arched over the swell of my belly, I hold on for dear life while he reminds me how well we fit together. “Yes. Yes. God. Yes.”

“Say my name, sweet thing. Make me remember who I am.”

“Zeke.” I nip at his bottom lip. “You’re Zeke. My Zeke.”

“Yes.” He pistons into me, soft and slow forgotten, as the passion that’s always burnt brightly between us flares back to life. My moans are loud, needy whimpers swallowed by my man when he drives us both to the crest. “Come on, sweet thing. Let go.”

Trembling takes hold.

Zeke’s cock hits all the right spots.

He feels me tighten around him, and that’s when jams his hand between us so he can work me over the edge. His thumb is magical. Drawing shapes that make my eyes roll back. The rhythm of his thrusts perfect. I absorb every pump of his hips, take every ounce of his love, and we fall over into the abyss together. Clutching each other tight, foreheads together, gazes locked, we watch the other break apart as the waves of hot lust crash through us, then settle into the warm blanket of eternal love.

“Fuckin’ love you.”

I can barely speak as I tell him, “I love you more.”

“Impossible. I love you to Neptune and back.” The teasing response evokes a fond memory. It also prompts the return of reality. All the reasons why this interlude was wrong hit with vengeance. Stiffening beneath him, I fight to keep my emotional turmoil hidden while Zeke catches his breath, then says, “Let me clean you up.”

Easing his dick out of me, he climbs off the bed. He flicks on the bedside lamp, and I watch his arse flex when he stalks into my bathroom. His touch is gentle, too gentle, as he wipes away our combined release. There’s a heaviness in the atmosphere, unspoken words, trauma that we’ve both buried, secrets we need to share. It quickly gets the better of me.

I scramble inelegantly from the mattress. My robe is pulled around me as quickly as possible, the tie knotted around my waist when the need to conceal myself from my first love becomes overwhelming. It’s obvious that Zeke can read my expression. He senses my impending meltdown. Rather than push the point, demand answers like he once would have, the enigmatic man gestures toward the bathroom door he left ajar.

“Why don’t you take minute to yourself.” I nod, spinning on my heel, determined to savour the reprieve. “We gotta talk about some serious shit when you come back.”

Zeke interchangeable manner.

The cultured voice giving away to his usual elocution is baffling.

It’s scary. An indictment. A sign that I don’t know him as well as I once did.

“I know.”

When I linger a step inside the ensuite doorway, he murmurs. “I’ll be here when you come out. I’m not leaving you again, Lily.”

As much as I want to request him promise, I don’t.

His word means nothing to me.

I trust Zeke as much as I trust Slash.

Not at all.

I’m peeing when I hear Garrett stir. His cries are quick to build, his fussiness loud in the silent night. With the bulletproof roller shutters blocking the outside from view, I have no idea how dark it is outside. As I spiral, my son quietens. I’m trapped between dread and hope, a lethal combination that makes my movements jerky as I rush to finish up so I can get back to Garrett and Zeke... if my first love hasn’t left already.

After washing my hands, I tighten my robe.

My hair is a mess.

I smooth it down.

The happiness in my gaze makes me feel stupid.

I’m a mother now. My childish inclination to run to Zeke, to find solace in his presence, is untenable. I must be stronger, more independent. For my son and my unborn baby. The two men I love have proven selfish, prideful, and unreliable. I cannot depend on them, and that means my children can’t either.

Steeling my spine, I step out of the bathroom.

---