Set Me Free (A Fugitive #2)(49)

His eyes slowly opened, his soft gaze filling me with that familiar security I basked in.

"Morning." I kissed his sleepy lips, enjoying the feel of his hand gliding up my body.

"Are you okay?" he murmured against my lips. Pulling back, his eyes studied me carefully. "Not too sore or anything?"

I touched his bottom lip with my finger and smiled. "Not too sore. Thank you for asking though."

"Last night was..." His face lit with a smile that melted me and I rolled on top of him, lavishing the feel of his naked flesh on mine.

"Last night deserves a repeat," I whispered, trailing my tongue over his Adam's Apple and sliding my body against him. His delicious groan made me giggle, but the sound was stolen as he rolled me onto my back and tucked himself between my legs. Conversation was lost to kisses. It was the best morning I had ever known.





*****





The sheets were a tangled mess around us. I wasn't even sure how we were supposed to get out of them, but I didn't care. Zach's lips were nestled against my neck, his warm body was the perfect blanket. That time had been even better than the night before and I couldn't help wondering if each time we did this it would be even more exquisite. I closed my eyes and softly sighed, wondering if we could spend the day finding out when a sharp knock sounded at the door, followed by the ringing doorbell.

I jerked beneath Zach as his head popped up. He scrambled for his watch and squinted at the time.

"Zach! You home, man?" Elliot's voice wafted in from outside.

Zach dropped his head with a whiny moan before blowing a raspberry into my neck. I squealed and started laughing as he did it again before slowly pushing himself off me.

"Time to face reality."

I reached for his face, running my fingers into his hair and pulling him back towards me for one final kiss.

The doorbell rang again, forcing our lips apart. Zach sat back, getting caught in the sheets and sliding off the bed. We tumbled to the floor in a laughing mess, trying to untangle ourselves. Finally Zach was free. I couldn't take my eyes off him as he quickly dove into some shorts and threw a T-shirt on.

"I hate to say this, because it's the last thing I want to see, but..." Zach winced. "You need to put some clothes on."

I grinned as he winked at me and left the room.

With a reluctant sigh, I finished untangling myself and shimmied out of the sheet. I always thought being naked with someone would be so uncomfortable. Talk about feeling vulnerable! I looked like a skeleton with flesh, something everyone around me was rapidly trying to cure. But the way Zach watched me with that gleam in his eye, just made me feel so beautiful that I almost felt free to walk down the stairs in nothing but my skin. I wouldn't of course, but I loved that I felt that way.

This was what I wanted...for the rest of my life.

Grabbing a baseball shirt from Zach's closet, I threw it on and pulled out a pair of his blue striped boxers, not even thinking about the statement it would make until I descended into the dining room.

Jaeda and Elliot were already at the table while Zach fluffed around the kitchen making coffee...something he actually did pretty well.

"So, she stayed then?" Elliot asked Zach. "You took so long to answer the door, I thought you might have run off with her."

I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms, feeling a touch nervous. What was Jaeda doing here?

"I stayed." I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, needing something to do with my hands as they both spun to face me.

Jaeda's green eyes lit with a cheeky grin, her lips quirking to the side. "I can see that."

She looked back at Zach. I couldn't see her face, but the way he blushed gave me a good idea of how she was looking at him.

I cleared my throat and stepped into the room, trying to avoid Elliot's droll stare. It flicked towards Zach and my boyfriend mumbled, "Shut up, man."

Running my hand along the kitchen counter, I came to stand by Zach. His smile was too cute as he kissed me briefly and handed me two mugs of coffee. I walked back to the table and placed one in front of Jaeda.

"Thanks, Lucy."

My fingers froze, locked on her mug as she tried to take it from me. I braved a glance at her face and noticed her expression. Her eyes were etched with a look of deep sympathy as her lips quirked to the side. "Don't worry. You're secret's safe with me...with all of us."

I threw an accusing look at Elliot.

"I'm sorry!" He raised his hand. "She broke me."

"Yeah right." Jaeda gently tugged her coffee out of my grasp. "He was at AJ's less than five minutes before he broke down and told us everything."

Sliding into my chair, I wrapped my fingers around the hot mug, suddenly feeling cold. I didn't know what to say.

"We talked about it for like three hours straight. Elliot filled us in on everything he knew, so we know it all." Again with the sympathy. I looked away from it, because it hurt for some reason and felt more like pity than understanding. "We get it. We get why you didn't want to say anything." Her sympathy eased into a soft smile, but then her nose wrinkled. "I mean, I'm still annoyed that you put these guys in danger in L.A., but it was their choice to go. Elliot was pretty clear on that." Her eyebrows disappeared beneath her bangs as she threw a look across the table.