Page 78 of Storm of Summer (Wild Haven 3)

RHYS

Zara is working at the bar tonight, and I’m embarrassingly excited to see her. Not that it’s been long, but long enough. After she spent the night at my place last weekend, she’s slept over twice more. I’m tempted to gather up the minimal shit she has at Ruby’s and just move her in. I highly doubt Ruby would react to that in a calm manner.

Instead, I’ve been peppering my apartment with small things for her; a toothbrush, hairbrush, shampoo that smells like flowers and spice, just like her. And Red Vines. After she discovered them at one of Ezra’s movie nights and nearly ate the entire package, I’ve been keeping my house stocked with them. She’s taken home at least two of my shirts to wear to bed when we’re not together. Proving she misses me as much as I miss her when we’re not together.

She can have my entire closet for all I care. I’d buy her an entire wardrobe if I thought it would be appreciated, but Zara’s mentioned more than once that she wants to buy things on her own. She and Ruby have already had a handful of arguments about it, so I’ve let go of that fight.

The bar is packed tonight. It’s officially the middle of summer and tourists are congregating at my bar, drinking their weight in booze and having a good time. I grab a few boxes of bottled beer from my office and head back to the bar just in time to see Greta twirling past, deftly maneuvering a tray of drinks. If I spun around like that, every drink on the tray would be on the ground in a shattered pile.

“Hey, Zara,” Drigo calls from behind the bar where he’s fixing drinks. He’s one of the other bartenders that usually works when I’m not here. Now that the summer season is in full swing, the weekends will be busy. I look over the heads of patrons and spot Zara working her way through the crowd. She ducks behind the bar to grab an apron as Drigo delivers a round of drinks to waiting patrons with a practiced ease.

I stop a few paces from the bar. My muscles straining with the load of too many boxes, but I’m struck by the vision of Zara. She’s wearing this dark blue sundress tonight that makes her hair look even more golden than usual. She must be getting out in the sun as well, because her shoulders and cheeks are sun kissed and there are a few new freckles scattered across her nose. She’s the picture of innocence until she starts begging me to make her come.

I grin at her as I make my way to the bar. I set the boxes on the counter behind Drigo, so that we can put them in the cooler. My eyes roam over every inch of Zara as I do.

“Do you need some help?” Zara asks, licking her lips like her thoughts are as dirty as mine. Fuck, I’m going to get a raging hard-on in the middle of my goddamn bar.

“Greta’s dying out there. Help her.” I open my mouth to say more, but since I can’t tell her I want to haul her upstairs and fuck her senseless without at least fifteen people hearing, I snap it shut. Instead, I give her a look that tells her I want to rip all of her clothes off as soon as I get the chance.

Zara steps around me with a giddy hop and then smacks my ass before she moves out into the crowd. I groan, but it sounds more like a growl. Hope no one minds their bartender having a giant chubby while he mixes up their drinks.

The crowd is loud and rowdy for most of the night. It’s almost closing and there are still a good amount of people here, but Drigo and I will kick them all out soon. I’m carrying a box of empty bottles to the back hallway where they’ll be taken out for recycling later, when I spot Zara stacking her own box. I set mine down as quietly as possible and creep up behind her. Hooking an arm around her waist, I yank her back to my chest. Her lungs expand as she sucks in a breath, like she’s about to scream and I’m suddenly considering my very poor choices in life. But then she sighs and melts back into me, relaxing in my hold.

“I’ve been going fucking mad out there, watching you sway around the bar all night long.”

Zara grins and tips her head to the side when I brush her hair off her shoulder. Lowering my head, I find the crook of her neck and scrape my teeth over her skin. She shivers and her breath hiccups. She’s so damn sensitive to my every touch. It’s heady and addictive. I will never get over how powerful I feel when I bring her pleasure. It must be some base, animalistic part of my nature that fucking loves it.

“Come here.” I turn Zara in my arms, holding her tightly against me.

Her body squirms, but only to rub against my aching dick. Fuck. I push Zara back against a stack of boxes and they clink as we jar them together. I don’t care if they get knocked over and topple onto the ground. We can clean that shit up later, because right now, I need to touch this woman.

I cup her cheeks, letting my fingers slide up into her golden hair and tipping her head back. Zara huffs an inpatient sound that makes me smile when I lower my mouth with a slowness that tortures us both, hovering just over her lips. Her hands grip my sides, and she stands on her tiptoes. She’s still not tall enough to reach my mouth. I grin down at her and she narrows her eyes, rubbing her body against my already hard dick. With a curse, I give into the need to taste her and close the space between us.

Every time I kiss Zara, it shocks me. The plush feel of her lips on mine, the sweet caress of her tongue, the way she responds, tasting me like I’m her fucking favorite thing. She reaches right into my soul and owns me.

Zara melts into me. Goosebumps break out over her skin as I trace my fingertips down her neck, over her collarbone, and down her arm. Her hands skate over my shoulders and twine around my neck, fitting her body closer to mine. I drag her as tight as I can against me and groan when she rubs against my cock. My erection presses hard and huge against her stomach. We’ve barely touched and already we’re both close to losing control.

It’s her turn to drive her fingers into my hair, holding me to her like she’s afraid I’ll break this kiss. Not a problem. I never want to let her go. I don’t care if there’s a bar full of people just down the hallway and anyone could stumble upon us at any second. None of that matters when Zara has her arms wrapped around me and holds onto me like she wants to be mine forever.

Sparks explode behind my eyelids and pure need races through my veins. Or maybe I’m seeing fucking stars, because I’ve never felt hunger like this, a need so potent that it rages through my body like an antidote wiping out a poison.

Her tongue swipes against my lips and I’m lost, the taste of her sweet and spicy like fucking cinnamon cookies. When her hand moves down to rub my painful erection, the last dregs of my sanity snaps. I straighten up, grabbing her ass and hoisting her against me. Her legs wrap around me, and she writhes like she’s trying to ride my cock through all our clothes.

Zara breaks the kiss and we both gasp for breath. All the oxygen is sucked from my lungs when she licks my neck, moaning in pleasure, like she’s eating a fucking dessert. My eyes dart around the hallway, barely able to concentrate. I look for the closest surface to fuck her on. Some clarity rises to the surface, and I have every intention to take her to the office. The hand snaked between us palms my aching cock, her fingers working on freeing it from my pants as I thrust against her hand.

“Fuck,” I groan into her neck, dragging my nose up beneath her chin and then nipping at the lobe of her ear.

“Yes, please. Now Rhys. I need you.”

Fucking hell, hallway, it is. Zara’s ass lands on a stack of boxes. The faint jangle of glass getting lost in the noise of the rest of the bar. What the hell are we doing? There are random people literally twenty feet away.

“If anyone comes down this hallway while I’m inside you, I will kill them. Then you’ll have to go on the run with me.”

Zara groans as she frees my dick from my jeans, pumping her hand down the length of me. My head falls back on a pleasured groan and Zara nips at my chin, then soothes it with her tongue.

“I’ll go anywhere with you, Rhys. Now fuck me before you have to murder someone.”

Who am I to deny her wishes? I shove her dress up, revealing the most innocent looking white bikini panties. Why is that so goddamn hot? I want to put my mouth on her, eat her out until she’s shaking and screaming my name.

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