“W-why?” she stammered, wanting nothing else except to obey his command. She wanted his hard body pressed against her, his mouth on hers, making her feel alive again.
There was no fleeting second of panic as he imprisoned her. He wasn’t touching her. But dear God, she wanted him to touch her…desperately.
“Because I said so,” he replied arrogantly. “I want to give you something you’ve never had. A lot of things, actually.”
“Am I supposed to obey your every command?” she said, stalling because she couldn’t believe he was looking at her like he really wanted to kiss her. Just staring at the ferocious expression on his face nearly made her breathless.
“No. It would be easier if you did, but I know that’s never going to happen.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he lowered his head, his lips so close to hers that she could feel the heat of his breath on her face.
The sensations bombarding her made her shudder. Slowly, her hands crept up his chest. She pushed his wayward hair back from his eyes, and then wrapped her arms around his neck. “You don’t have to do this because it was some silly, unfulfilled wish of mine when I thought I was dying,” she whispered nervously.
“I’m not. I’m doing this for me, too,” he informed her brusquely before he cradled the back of her head and then lowered his mouth to hers.
His embrace was everything Ellie had ever dreamed of…and so much more. Mesmerized by the heat of his mouth, she opened to him and let him explore with his tongue, the demanding sweetness of his possession almost bringing her to her knees. If he hadn’t wrapped one of his arms around her waist, she might have actually swooned like an idiot.
She did forget everything else except the pulsating blood pumping through her veins and the feel of Zane’s demanding embrace.
She wanted the kiss to last forever, but he pulled back and gently nipped at her lips before fusing their mouths again with more tenderness than Ellie had ever known.
When he finally stepped back, Ellie’s entire body was trembling, and she was definitely breathless.
“Is your wish fulfilled?” Zane rasped, low and sensual.
“Y-yes,” she stammered as she struggled to breathe normally again, her brain and body still reeling.
“You forgot everything else? You got breathless?”
“Completely,” she admitted in a rush. “What about you? You said this wasn’t just for me.”
He nodded. “I’m satisfied…for now.”
Zane picked up her bag and took her hand, leading her through the enormous kitchen and into the living room.
Neither one of them seemed to want to speak, as though it might ruin the magical connection that had just happened in the hallway.
It was amazing for me, but maybe it was just a kiss for him.
Telling herself she was being silly to analyze a simple kiss, she said, “This house is enormous.” The ceiling was vaulted so high she had to crane her neck to see it.
Zane took off his jacket and then reached out to help her remove hers. “It’s big,” he conceded. “I’ll give you a tour.”
Ellie was rendered speechless as he led her through some of the downstairs bedrooms, each one the size of her old apartment and with their own baths. The master bedroom had a door leading to a hot springs area, something every Colter seemed to have in their homes. But when they finally entered an enormous marble tiled room with an indoor pool, she gasped. “This is unbelievable.” She couldn’t imagine being able to swim year-round.
“There’s a gym through that door.” He pointed at an entrance on the far side of the room.
By the time he’d finished the tour, even showing her the room upstairs where her belongings were being kept, Ellie was exhausted. She followed him back downstairs and to the kitchen wearily.
“Do you want me to take the room with my stuff?” she asked uncertainly.
“Hell, no. It’s a mess up there. You can sort it out when you feel better. Take one of the bedrooms downstairs. Then you don’t have to climb up and down the stairs all the time. Do you want your clothes?”
Ellie shook her head slowly. None of her old stuff would fit anymore. “I’ll go through them tomorrow.” She’d salvage whatever she could.
She could feel the tension between the two of them and Ellie wondered if she should just have him show her to her room and go to bed.
“I’m not going to apologize for kissing you,” Zane said quietly, rocking back on his heels as he put his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.
Ellie was startled by the abrupt change of subject, but he’d obviously been thinking as much about that kiss as she had during their tour of the house. They’d both discarded their outerwear before the tour had started, but Ellie was still overheated as she stared at Zane’s stubborn expression, her eyes unable to keep from drifting down his muscular body as he finally leaned a hip against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms in front of him, stretching the material of the beautiful green sweater he was wearing.
“I didn’t ask you to,” she answered quickly. “And I’m not apologizing for kissing you back.” She was silent for a few seconds before she ventured, “Maybe we should just try to forget that it happened. Everything has been pretty emotional since you found me.”
“I’ll never forget it,” he told her gutturally. “Sometimes I can’t stop looking at you because I still can’t believe you’re here, that you’re really alive. I had to touch you, Ell.” He paused for a heart-stopping moment, looking like he wanted to say more about his motivations, but didn’t. Abruptly, he turned toward the refrigerator and changed the topic, his voice casual again. “Now let’s see if there’s any food in the house. I have no idea what’s here.”
“I’m not that hungry,” Ellie protested, confused by Zane’s confession. Maybe everything still felt as surreal to him as it did to her. Maybe they just momentarily needed some kind of connection.
“Doesn’t matter. You need to eat.” He turned around and strode back to the hallway and picked up her belongings bag from the hospital and made his way back to the hallway with the bedrooms, Ellie following behind him. He stopped in one to drop off her bag. “You can stay in here,” he instructed as he stopped at the doorway on his way out of the suite. “I’m just down the hall.” He pointed to the master bedroom with the hot springs.
The suite he’d given her was a beautiful, enormous room with a sitting area and its own private bathroom. Ellie didn’t have much time to check it out because Zane grasped her hand and pulled her back out to the kitchen.
She watched as he rummaged through the cupboards and rifled through the fridge. She smiled because he looked so damn adorable as he scrutinized everything, looking like he wasn’t sure what any of the packages were or what to do with them.