Page 78 of Cruel Dreams

Zane tugs on my hand. “Come here, baby.”

I crawl into his lap and bury my face against his shoulder.

“What do you mean, what if you can’t come back?” he asks, rubbing soothing circles between my shoulder blades.

“What if they don’t let me come back?”

He cradles my face in his hands. “Sweetheart, why would you think that?”

“Because I’m their daughter. What if they want to keep me?”

Kissing my forehead, he murmurs, “Of course they’re going to want to keep you. They’ve lived without you for twenty-six years. Right now, they don’t know if you’re dead or alive. They don’t know if you’ve lived a good life or spent the last twenty-six years in a dog cage in some fucker’s basement, some sick demented animal raping you every day. They’ve gone through hell. When they see you, when they see you’re okay and that you can be their daughter again, of course they’re going to want to keep you.”

Zane voices my fears, but he also lays a lot of them to rest. They’ll want me because I’m their child. They’ll want me because they love me and they’ll want to get to know me. He covers us with the throw, and we sit for what feels like hours. I sniffle into his neck, and he patiently holds me in his lap.

“I have to go see them,” I finally say. My living room’s dark and I’m cocooned in Zane’s love, but I’m still scared of what’s in the shadows.

“You don’thaveto do anything, but think of the position your mother’s in. She loves you, and you’ve been gone for such a long time. What if Banks tells her they found you, but that you don’t want to see her? You’d break what’s left of her heart. Go see your family, baby, go see them and be happy. Okay?”

“I love you, Zane.” Those four words hold so much.

“I love you, too, and I have from the second I saw you. I thought you left and it broke me. I never healed because I knew this was coming. I knew with all the shit Clayton and Ash did toyou, to us, that something like this was coming. And it’s okay, Stella. I knew, and it’s okay.”

I pull away, and apprehension prickles my skin. “What are you saying? Are you breaking up with me?”

“No. I’ll always want to marry you, but you’ve never said yes because you knew, too.”

“I never said yes because...” I can’t finish which proves his point. I couldn’t say yes because my future was shaky at best, and while finding my parents was the last thing I expected, nothing felt done, nothing felt right, anytime Zane talked about our future as a couple.

He chuckles, but the sound does little to ease my heart. “You should call Banks. Tell him you’re ready to reach out to your mom and dad. He’ll let them know, and he’ll set up a meeting. You don’t have to meet them alone, and if you’re uncomfortable, you don’t have to stay.”

I blow out a breath. He’s right. “Okay. Can I see Zarah first? Can I say goodbye to her? How was she when you told her about Max?”

“She took it better than I thought she would. I think the drugs clouded her feelings and later she might have a harder time accepting it. Her doctor’s been by to check on her, and he lowered her doses again. It will be a long road, but one day she’ll be okay. Lucille came back, and that’s made her steadier too. I’m going to renovate the penthouse. I haven’t done much with it since my parents died, and it needs updating. It’s time to start moving on. We need to find some stability, a new normal. Whatever that is.”

His words chill me to the bone. He sounds like he’s moving on without me, planning his future without me. I turn in his arms and kiss him with a desperation I haven’t felt in a long time. I thread my fingers through his hair, and he moans, slipping his tongue into my mouth.

I straddle his lap and grind against his hardening cock. I love that I can turn him on, make him want me. I need that right now, and he gives it to me, hugging me closer, crushing my breasts to his chest.

“I didn’t come here for this,” Zane says against my mouth. “I only wanted to talk.”

“I want to do more,” I say and lick at his lips. “Please.”

“Here?” he asks, pushing his hands under my pajama tank. At least I’ve been showering, and my hair is clean and my legs are smooth.

“Yes.” His fingers graze my nipples, and I gasp. He squeezes, shooting zings of pleasure to my core. I’m wet, and my nipples harden under his touch. Rolling my hips, I rock on his lap against his cock. He pulls my tank over my head and sucks one of my nipples into his mouth. He bites, and I whimper, the small hint of pain driving me crazy.

I go for his tie. He’s so sexy in his suits, and undressing him is like unwrapping a present in beautiful, shiny paper, all for me and no one else. I nibble on his neck as I undo the buttons of his dress shirt. His pulse leaps under my lips, and I lick at his skin, reveling in the taste that belongs only to him. He’s wearing a white tank under his shirt, and I yank the hem from his pants in frustration.

“We can slow down a little,” Zane suggests, grabbing my hands. “We have time.”

“Will you stay here tonight?”

“Like old times, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“I’d like that,” he says.

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