Page 75 of Three's a Crowd
‘No, of course not,’ she said quickly. ‘I was having so much fun with you that night and you were so open with me. It was the first time you’d ever let me into your head. I just wanted to let you know that I cared about you and hated anyone who wanted to hurt you.’
There was a silence.
‘Zach? Please believe me.’
‘I do,’ he said, his expression softening.
Daisy was so relieved she leant across the table and hugged him to her.
‘I truly had no idea who he really was that night. I never meant to kiss him. I wouldn’t knowingly do that to you.’ She said this against his hair, breathing in its delicious, musky scent.
‘I know. I asked him about it,’ Zach said, pulling gently away from the embrace.
She sat back down with a thump in her chair. ‘You asked him?’
‘Yeah, I had to know what had actually happened, so I just asked him outright when I next saw him. He said he’d rescued you and just thought he’d have a go. “Nothing to lose”, as he put it. Prick. You did look particularly beautiful that night, so I can’t really blame him.’
Daisy felt a familiar warmth rush to her face.
Zach crossed his arms, his shoulders a little tense now. ‘He said he didn’t know you were my girlfriend and I had to admit that you weren’t. That cut me to the core. He’s such a smug bastard and made it perfectly clear he thought I was a real loser to have missed my chance with you.’ He snorted. ‘For once, I agreed with him.’
He leaned over and gently brushed his thumb against her cheek, sending shivers through all her nerve endings.
‘Iwasan idiot. After that night in Monte Carlo… I’d started to hope there might be something between us. That you didn’t find me completely untrustworthy. I told myself I’d leave it up to you to decide about us, but of course my natural instinct was to keep pushing you until you realised I was the one you should be with. Then, when I saw you,’ he paused, a frown creasing his face again now, ‘kissing Kingson,’ he looked her directly in the eyes. ‘I thought my heart was going to break.’ His gaze darted away as colour rose in his cheeks. ‘Now who’s the cheesy fucker.’
At this admission, Daisy felt her eyes well with tears and she hurriedly brushed them away as they started to trickle down her face.
‘Daisy, don’t cry. I’m so sorry. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you.’ He splayed his hands on the table and stared down at them. ‘You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved – apart from Sally, but that’s more of a maternal thing.’
Daisy nodded, smiling through her tears, unable to speak for fear of breaking down.
She was terrified she’d lose it completely and start bawling, just to release all the pent-up pain and hurt she’d been carrying around for such a long time now.
‘Daisy…’ Zach said, gently touching her arm, ‘I don’t know how to make it up to you. If you need to scream at me, do it. It’s okay. I deserve it.’
Just hearing him say this deflated the tension in her and she shook her head again, pausing for a moment to collect herself.
‘I’m not angry with you. I never was. It was the situation we were in that’s caused so many problems, and so much heartache. Poor Adam. I never should have let our relationship carry on when I knew that it wasyouI was in love with.’
At this, Zach stood up and moved round the table, lifting her out of her seat and crushing her against him in a fierce hug.
‘Oh, my God, Daisy. We wasted so much time,’ he whispered into her hair.
She pulled back from him and looked deep into his eyes. His pupils were so dilated, they seemed almost entirely black.
‘Then let’s not waste any more,’ she suggested, kissing his mouth, which curled into a huge smile, before he kissed her back.
Before she knew what was happening, he carried her into the bedroom and lay her down on the bed. Without speaking, hemethodically stripped first her clothes off her, then his own off him, before joining her on the mattress.
When he slipped his hand between her legs, she knew he’d find how ready for him she already was. So, without preamble this time, he slid inside her, smiling as she let out a low moan of pleasure.
‘Oh my God, that feels so good,’ she murmured.
He began to move, drawing long strokes in and out of her, then pausing before he pushed himself back deep inside her, till she thought she’d go crazy with it.
Deciding to teach him a lesson for teasing her, she clenched around the length of him, as hard as she could, whilst raising her pelvis and urging his thrusts to go deeper.
Zach groaned at the added pressure, his breath coming fast and heavy now.
