Page 86 of Stripped

I smiled, shaking my head. “Right. I should have guessed.”

He hugged me and left, and I went back to packing. I cleaned up the kitchen and the bathroom, so I wouldn't feel like I was leaving him a mess, and I was ready to go.

It was going to take a couple trips to get all my stuff down to my car, so I grabbed two trash bags and opened the door.

And the bags hit the floor with a thud, because standing on the other side of the door was Zane, a wary look on his handsome face. His hair was longer and in need of a trim and he hadn't shaved in a few days, but he still looked like the very best thing I'd seen in a very long time.

Darn, I loved this guy. The thought should have terrified me, but it didn't, not even a little bit. The whole time I thought I'd been heading back to Aspens Whiten because it was home, when all along it was Zane who was my home, Zane who I'd been missing more than the scenery or the people of the small-town lifestyle.

“Abby,” Zane said on a sigh. “Are you taking the trash out? Can I help?”

I laughed. It was just so odd, seeing him there and him acting like he saw me every day, like no time had passed between us. “What are you doing here?”

He grimaced, looking almost bashful. “I'm moving to Denver. I'll get my own place. I'm not asking to move in with you.” He dropped his duffel to the floor behind him. “I just couldn't wait another second to see you.”

I did laugh then, while Zane looked at me like I'd lost my mind. I threw my arms around him and pressed my lips to his. He froze for a moment, but then his warm arms wrapped around me and he picked me up off my feet, kissing me back with a hunger and a passion that lit my libido from happy to inferno in a nanosecond. He walked us into the apartment and kicked the door shut behind him.

“Where's your room?”

“The couch,” I said. “Gage's at work.”

Zane sat on the couch and arranged me on his lap. He slid his hands into my jeans and gripped my ass. “God, you feel even better than I remember,” he said.

“So do you.” I ground against him, desperate to feel him inside me. I leaned back and pulled my shirt over my head, my bra following quickly. Zane groaned and dropped his mouth to my breasts. I arched into him, the sensation so good I thought I might lose it before we even got our pants off.

“Please,” I said. “I need you now.”

He growled and somehow managed to get us both naked and a condom on without pushing me off his lap. He slid into me and it felt so right and so good that I shivered with pleasure.

“Fuck,” he said. “I'm not going to last long.”

“I'm nearly there. Just last a few more minutes.”

He lasted a few more minutes and then some, bringing me to screaming orgasm twice before he groaned out his relief.

“Damn,” he said. “How did I survive without this for a month?”

I leaned back in his lap, with him still inside me. “I love you,” I said. “Let's never be apart that long ever again.”

His eyes widened and a broad smile spread across his beautiful face. “Good thing. Otherwise, I traveled all the way here for nothing.”

I couldn't stop smiling. “Pretty arrogant of you to assume I'd be happy to see you.”

His expression sobered. “I assumed nothing. I just couldn't stand being so far away from you. Figured I'd convince you to see things my way eventually.”

“Really? And what way do you see things?”

He shifted and rolled until his back was flat on the couch and I was straddling his waist, his cock growing hard inside me again. “I love you, Abby, more than anything. We've got something only an idiot would walk away from.”

I gasped, pretending to be offended, which was nearly impossible to pull off, since he'd started moving beneath me and I was feeling things. All the very best things. “Are you calling me an idiot?”

“I'm the idiot.” He gripped my hips and lifted and lowered me on him in a way that had me seeing stars. “I never should have waited so long to come after you.”

I smirked. “I don't mind the wait so much now that you're here. I'm a big fan of multiple orgasms.”

He grinned and then he proved just how capable he was of giving me exactly what I wanted.

“I don't want you to move to Denver,” I said later, when we were lying on the couch, still naked and tangled up in one another, happily sated and lazy.

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