Zeke, Elizabeth Lennox [readnow .txt] 📗

was terrified of what my father might do to them if they ever glanced in my direction. So no. I didn’t date much in high school. Only a few of the boys were brave enough to approach me and, of those, none of them were brave enough to make a move on me. My curfew was nine o’clock on the weekdays and eleven o’clock on weekends. That meant that I was usually home by ten forty-five on any date I went on because the boys were terrified of what my father would do if I came home late.”

Zeke laughed. “Yeah, I can imagine being a bit particular about the boys my daughter dates.”

She tilted her head. “What about the girls your son dates?”

“Nah! My son will be able to take…” he stopped, realizing exactly where he was going. “Okay, let me rephrase that,” he replied with a chuckle.

Abby looked at him with a “Gotcha!” smile. “Please do.”

He grinned and reached out to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “My daughter will know how to protect herself. And I will caution my son about the wiles of women.” He leaned over and kissed her gently. “Better?”

Abby laughed, then looked started when he shifted so that he was looming over her. “Wait a minute! How did we get into this position?”

He nuzzled her neck. “Obviously, your father didn’t teach you how to avoid precarious situations with wily men.”

She laughed, but his hand slipped under her sweater and her breath caught in her throat, shocked at the sensation of his touch and the desire that burned through her.

“What are you doing?”

He smiled, his hand sliding over her stomach. “I’m touching you.”

“But…we should wait.” Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips. “Your back. It isn’t healed.”

His mouth nibbled along her neck. “We’re not going to make love today, Abby. We’re going to take things very slowly.” He nuzzled a spot under her ear while he continued to stroke her waist. “You might trust me with your safety, but you still don’t trust me with your body, do you?”

She thought about that for a long moment, knowing that his comment wasn’t exactly right. When the realization came to her, she held her breath. She trusted him with her body, yes. Completely. But she didn’t trust him with her heart. That was the real risk she took right at this particular moment. And it scared her more than she’d thought possible.

“Zeke, we should…”

“Shhh,” he whispered. “Just tell me when to stop. We’re only going to make out tonight. Just like in high school.”

Was that more dangerous? She didn’t know and she didn’t have a chance to figure that out. Because he was kissing her again. His lips were surprisingly gentle. Brushing his lips against hers, he nibbled and teased until she uttered a protest and lifted her head, capturing his mouth with hers.

That’s when things became dangerous! Abby moaned as he took control of the kiss, his lips moving sensuously over hers, urging her to open her mouth. When she did, his tongue took over the teasing while his hands continued to slide along her skin. With every new inch of skin he touched, her body trembled and she felt as if she wanted to wrap herself around him!

Every muscle in Zeke’s body was tense with the effort to keep himself under control. They were out in the open and, it wasn’t probable, but it was possible someone could come upon them here by the creek. So as much as he wanted to make love to Abby right here, right now, Zeke held back, controlling his touches and refusing to let himself pull her sweater off so that he could feast his eyes on her breasts. He wanted to taste her nipples and…he shook his head and pulled back, his erection throbbing at the idea of tasting her everywhere!

“We should stop,” he groaned, but he didn’t move. His hips were between her legs, their jeans the only thing stopping him from pressing into her body and finding the nirvana he knew he would find there.

Abby arched. “You started it!” she hissed.

He laughed, shaking his head in a pointless effort to disperse some of the lust clouding his mind. “Yeah. I know and it was a mistake.” He pushed away, sitting up but his jeans were pretty uncomfortable with the painful erection pressing against the zipper. “Damn, Abby! You get me hotter than a teenager!” he groaned with a chuckle.

Abby sat up as well and he could see that she was shaking. “I’m…” he started to reach for her, but she pushed away, laughing. “Don’t you dare touch me again, Zeke Jeffers!” And she stood up, putting several feet of distance between them. Shoving her hair out of her eyes, she looked around. “No touching until…” she sighed, bowing her head. “No touching until your back is healed. Two more days, Zeke. Two more days and then, if you are still interested, then I’ll…” she jumped back as he lunged at her.

“My back is fine,” he vowed, reaching for her.

But Abby jumped out of reach again. “You can’t even see your back, Zeke. And it’s healing beautifully, but it’s not ready for the strain of what’s on your mind. My stitches are good, but not good enough for what will happen when we finally…”

“Get naked,” he finished for her and stepped closer, not letting her jump away from him again. “That’s what we’re going to do, Abby,” he growled with barely restrained frustration. “We’re going to get naked so fast that it will make your head spin.”

She stared up at him, not sure what