Zeke (The Powers That Be, Book 2) (15 page)

“Not pissed at
you
, Scarlett. I’m pissed at those fuckin’ assholes who had
you, had everything, and they fucked up.”

Huh? My brow
came down as I tried sorting out what he was saying, my eyes
focused on the floor.

“Baby, gimme
your eyes.”

I shot him a
snippy look at his bossiness.

“See, that
right there? Love that. You’ve got fight in you, Scarlett, so why
you lettin’ these pricks make you think something that’s not true?
I mean, honest to God, gotta tell you, my cock’s been hard from the
moment I laid eyes on you.”

I sucked in a
breath.

“Finally had
you and now there’s nothing I want more than you in my bed. You’re
all I can think about. Wanna fuck you day and night. The others
wanted to fuck around on you, that’s on them. Because, babe, gotta
tell you, you are a spectacular lay.” I saw the side of his mouth
twitch as he watched my eyes get big.

Then I did the
only thing I could at that moment. I stepped to him, taking the
collar of his shirt in my hands, jerking his face down to me and
crushed my lips to his. He backed me against the wall pressing his
body into mine kissing the fool out of me. Then he’d pulled back,
given me his half grin and picked me up which made me yelp,
wrapping my legs around his waist as he carried me to his
bedroom.

And now he was
proving to me that he’d meant what he’d said.

“Let it go,
baby,” he said, driving up so powerfully I cried out. His fingers
then did something magical between my legs that made my entire body
quiver and I gave him what he wanted and let it go.

“Zeke!” I
screamed as my climax blasted through me, my body locking up for a
second before I went boneless, falling back into him.

He wrapped his
arms around me tightly, his right hand going up to grab my left
shoulder, his left curling around my waist, and continued slamming
inside forcefully. “Love that you give that to me,” I heard him say
low in my ear. His thrusts got quicker, shallower next and I knew
he was there. A moment later, he came with a curse and buried
himself to the hilt as his arms tightened on me, his face buried in
my hair at the side of my neck.

We stayed that
way for a long time, our breaths filling the room before he kissed
my shoulder then lifting me up gently, slipped out of me, and
turning me, cradled me in his arms, his eyes soft on mine before
kissing me deep and long. Then reaching down and pulling the covers
back on one side of his bed he laid me there covering me.

“Be back,
baby.” He bent and brushed his lips over mine then went to dispose
of the condom.

I must’ve
drifted off because I jolted when he got in bed beside me taking me
in his arms, my back to his front, and whispered in my ear,
“Spectacular.”

And I was
out
.

It was official. I was
in love. I just hadn’t told Zeke
.

Things between
us were great. They were more than great.

And that
scared the ever-loving crap out of me because everything was
perfect. Nothing’s ever perfect. So, ashamed that I was such a
cynic, I bided my time and waited for the other shoe to drop.

It was the
next Saturday morning, I’d stayed Friday night again with Zeke and
I was in his kitchen getting a glass of orange juice. I wore the
button-down shirt he’d worn to the movies and dinner last night and
nothing else. I was bending to put the juice back in the fridge
when I felt a presence in the kitchen and upon turning around, I
saw Ryker standing there in gray sweatpants that rode low on his
hips and that was it. We both froze as we stared at each other.

“I—I was just
getting something to drink…” I stated.

“See that,” he
muttered.

It was uncanny
how much he looked like Zeke. They shared the same brown eyes and
hair but where Zeke was a little bit taller and bigger, Ryker was
leaner and had more defined cuts to his muscles. I’m sure it had to
do with his being a wrestler.

“Well… I’m
just gonna…”

“Fuck,” I
heard Zeke grumble from the living room before he came into the
kitchen wearing shorts that rode low and the V on his lower abdomen
that disappeared into his shorts was just begging me to lick it…
everywhere. “Between you and fuckin’ Gable gonna have to keep her
on lockdown.” He eyed Ryker who was grinning back at him now.

I heard the
front door open and someone yelled, “I’m fuckin’ starving! You guys
got eggs?” And then Zeke Powers the third walked into the kitchen.
Holy hell.

“Oh, hey,” he
said. He looked from me to Zeke then Ryker then back to me again.
Then he grinned. “I’m Loch. And you are?”

I couldn’t
help but smile back. “I’m Scarlett. I’m, uh, Zeke’s, uh, I’m with
Zeke.”

His eyes went
to Ryker and he raised his brows in surprise. Then he looked at
Zeke. “Really.” We all stood there in uncomfortable silence for a
moment then Loch broke it looking back at me. “See, Scarlett, Zeke
never and I mean
never
brings women home. As in
ever
.
You’ll have to forgive Ryke and me. We’re just a little in shock
right now.” He grinned again.

Oh, I liked
what he said. And I liked Loch. He seemed to be pretty easygoing
whereas Gable had been a huge flirt and Ryker, well, he was so
intense he kind of scared me.

“You all done
eyeing my woman, we’ll leave you to your breakfast,” Zeke muttered,
putting his arm around my shoulders and leading me out of the
kitchen.

Over my
shoulder, I looked at Loch and said, “It was nice meeting you!”

“Likewise,” he
answered.

Zeke’s bedroom
was the master and on the other end of the house from the rest of
the bedrooms. As we walked down the hallway, he mumbled, “Cute,”
then kissed the top of my head.

When we got in
his room, he lay down on his bed putting his hands behind his head,
elbows out watching me as I leaned against his dresser and drank my
orange juice.

“Had my way,
you’d dress in nothing but my shirts the rest of your life,” he
said, his voice all sexy and gravelly.

I licked my
lips as I looked at him lying there. God, so handsome. “Well, it’s
longer than some of the dresses I own.”

His eyes
narrowed and I heard him growl, “C’mere.”

I took one
more drink before setting the empty glass on his dresser then going
to the bed put a knee on it and crawled to where he was to straddle
him. I felt him already hard against me. “Oh! Is this for me?” I
asked, giving him what I hoped was a sultry smile.

“All for you,
baby.” He groaned when I ground down on him.

I leaned down
and kissed him, pulling back and smirking. “
All
for me?”

“Oh, yeah.”
His hands went to my waist as he rolled his hips up, his ab muscles
bunching and flexing as he rocked my center against him, then
reaching over to his nightstand and opening the drawer, he pulled
out a condom.

And then Zeke
Powers proceeded to give me all of himself and then some
.

It was the Friday
before spring break and I was packing. Zeke and I had planned to go
snow skiing the next three days, staying at a quaint little bed and
breakfast we’d researched online. I was so excited to go I could
hardly contain myself
.

Grammy had
given me some money, much to my huge protest of course, but she’d
insisted so I’d taken it planning to give it to Zeke to help pay
for everything.

But something
was nagging at me.

That morning
before class, when I’d walked in, I’d seen Zeke and Sara talking
heatedly in a little alcove by the classroom. Sara was the redhead
who’d been petting his arm that first day of class, the girl at the
party who’d whined his name when I’d been on the phone with him and
also the girl he said he’d gone out with a couple months before
he’d come into The Nook.

I’d looked at
them for a moment and when Zeke had glanced over to see me, I swear
his face blanched. I went into class and he’d followed not long
after.

“Everything
okay?” I’d asked when he sat next to me.

He’d put his
arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him and kissing the side of
my head, saying into my hair quietly, “Yeah.”

It didn’t seem
he was okay as he nervously tapped his pencil on the table making
several people look at him in annoyance before I put my hand on his
to stop it. I didn’t want to push and hoped he’d feel comfortable
enough to tell me what was going on when he was ready. He’d been
distracted the rest of class and when he walked me to Jezebel, he’d
given me a preoccupied kiss and walked away.

He’d called
earlier seeming to be in better spirits and told me he’d be by to
get me at six so I’d begun packing, not having been sure up to that
point if we were still going.

I was also
looking forward to the whole break because on top of going away
together, Dad would be home and Zeke could finally get to meet him
and I knew they’d get along especially since they were both guy’s
guys.

“Hi, Mrs.
O’Rourke,” I heard Zeke in the kitchen when I brought my suitcase
into the living room.

“Come on in,
honey,” Grammy said. “You hungry?”

I heard Zeke
chuckle and tell her no, so setting my suitcase by the couch, I
went into the kitchen to say hi, a big smile on my face because in
that short amount of time, I realized I’d missed him, and my heart
fluttered like crazy at how his face lit up at seeing me.

“Hi, baby,” he
said, walking to me and brushing his lips against mine.

“Hi,” I
whispered looking up at him with a smile, so completely happy to
see him.

As he looked
back at me, I saw a slight change on his face, just a flicker, as
his eyes narrowed for a quick second as his head tilted to the side
a margin. And I knew I’d given myself away with just that look.

I knew he had
to have seen that I was in love with him.

But I felt
that was a good thing. I trusted him. I believed in him. And I knew
it could only get better from here.

~*~*~*~

We made it to
the inn by nine. The drive had gone okay but our conversation not
so much. Whatever was going on, Zeke received several phone calls,
some that I knew were his brothers and one was his dad but as for
the others, I was clueless. He talked easily with his family but on
the other calls he received, his terseness surprised me. I tried
not to listen, but when you’re trapped in a vehicle with someone,
it’s kind of hard not to. From what I heard, I found out that not
only was he angry but someone was a liar and he hoped it didn’t
ruin things for him. I wanted so badly to ask him what was going
on, but knew it was none of my business. If he wanted to tell me he
would.

When we got
there, I squealed in delight because the inn was adorable. It was
an old Victorian style house with a wraparound porch and small
colored panes of glass surrounding its big window, and I adored it
at first sight. Zeke chuckled at my reaction, kissed the side of my
head, then after we checked in he carried our bags to the second
floor where our room was and upon opening the door, I sucked in a
breath.

“I want to
live here,” I whispered, taking in the huge cherry wood canopy bed.
It had a rich red duvet and white organza that was bunched and
twisted around the rails of wood going from one post to the other
at the top to form the canopy. When I saw the organza had firefly
lights in it, I squealed again. “It’s beautiful!”

Zeke smiled at
me. “It is. After we get things settled, wanna go down and get a
drink?”

I nodded then
proceeded to unpack.

~*~*~*~

We sat at a
little table in the bar next door. It was decorated in all kinds of
animal hides and heads on the walls giving it a hunting type feel
but it just gave me the creeps. We sat beneath a huge bull moose
head that I swear was watching every move I made. Ick.

I wanted to
broach the topic of what was going on with him but I was afraid to
just jump right in because I knew I probably wouldn’t be very nice
about it.

“
So, Zeke,
what the fuck’s going on with you and that Sara chick?”

Yeah. Not the
best approach.

So I left it
for now waiting for him to divulge what was up. Which didn’t happen
until we were almost home from our trip.

After having a
couple beers, we’d headed back to our room, showered separately
(hm), gotten in bed, he’d given me a peck on the lips telling me
goodnight, then pulling me with my back to him so he could hold me
like I was some big teddy bear or something, he fell asleep. I
reasoned in my head that he was probably tired, so keeping myself
from thinking any negative thoughts, I, too, closed my eyes and
slept.

We’d had an
excellent time skiing the next day. I’d only been a couple times
before, so I wasn’t very good, but Zeke had patience for days and
stayed with me almost the entire time. I finally told him to go do
his own thing then watched as he hit a black diamond trail and
absolutely owned it.

“Is there
anything you don’t do well?” I asked him our second night as we lay
in bed, him rubbing my lower back because those bunny trails had
eaten my lunch.

I’d thought
that was the perfect tie-in to some steamy sex since we hadn’t made
love the night before, but he’d just muttered a “Mm” and continued
giving me a massage, utterly caught up in his thoughts.

Once again, I
let it go hoping he’d finally trust me enough to talk to me. Then
with a sigh, I’d sat up, leaned in to give him a goodnight kiss and
settled into his arms and gone to sleep.