I start to pull away from him, suddenly self-conscious as my hands come up to cross over my chest and hide my bra.

“Don’t,” Zack warns me in a tight voice, causing my arms to freeze in midair. “No more hiding.”

“But you’ll never want to call me Kate again,” I say piteously.

Zack’s eyebrows draw together in confusion. “What?”

“I’m not wearing sexy lingerie.” I try to make my explanation sound rational and mature. “You seem like the type of guy that appreciates sexy lingerie. When you see mine, you’ll see I’m only good enough for the name Roberta.”

He gives me an immediately chastising look while trying to hide his grin. “Christ, Kate…I don’t give a fuck what your panties look like. I want to get to what’s underneath.”

“But you have to go through my completely asexual underwear to reach the prize. You’ll be sorely disappointed—”

Zack mutters a curse and grabs hold of one of my hands. He pulls it down and then shoves it against his erection, pressing my fingers around it. “Feel that, Kate?”

I nod and my fingers squeeze him reflexively.

“I’m hard as a fucking rock for you right now. Trust me, I will not be turned off by your underwear.”

Oh, wow, that sounds nice…and hot.

“Okay.” I sigh in capitulation and close my eyes, giving him the green light to move forward. I reluctantly pull my hand away from between his legs and bring both of my hands up to curl into his shirt, desperately trying to drag him toward me for another kiss.

“Any other concerns, Kate?” Zack’s voice rumbles over me while his body doesn’t move an inch despite my tugging.

My eyes fly back open, taking in all of Zack’s raw intensity focused on me right now. He leans down and bites my lower lip, then gives it a soft kiss.

He continues on. “Because you do understand that I want to fuck you, right?”

Oh, God, I surely hope so. I give him a tentative nod.

“Good,” he tells me ominously. “Because I’m not stopping again, okay?”

“Okay,” I breathe out in contentment, a satisfied smile across my face.

“Five fucking months,” he says softly as his hands come up to my back and undo the clasp on my bra. He steps back to peel the material away from me. He pays no attention to my bra, but rather pins his eyes to my breasts.

“Five months?” I ask hesitantly, mesmerized by the way he’s gazing at me.

His eyes drag up to mine, looking almost pained to leave my breasts. “Since I’ve felt anything.”

Sorrow fills me over the naked honesty in his voice. Then I’m immediately humbled that I’m the one who’s making him feel something at this moment.

Zack’s hands come up and cover my breasts, squeezing them gently. “I’m not stopping now that I found it.”

“You don’t have to,” I assure him breathlessly, warm tingles of pleasure starting to churn low in my belly.

“Let’s see the rest of you,” Zack says as his hands drop to my jeans.

“I want to see you too,” I blurt out, feeling self-conscious in my seminudity while he’s still fully covered. Zack’s hands drop from my pants and he gives me a knowing smile.

Taking a step back, he reaches down and pulls his shirt over his head in that sexy way a man does when he crosses his arms at the hem of his shirt and lifts it up slowly, or at least the way they do that in the movies. He drops the offending material to the bathroom floor, and oh, my Lord…Zack without a shirt on.

No words to describe.

My eyes roam all over him, taking in the sleek muscles of his chest with his nipples hardened and a slight smattering of hair. His stomach is flat, with rolling hills of tight muscle throughout, with another patch of hair starting just under his belly button and disappearing into the jeans that are hanging low on his hips.

He’s a work of art.

When my eyes slide up again, all the way to his face, I’m almost knocked backward by the way his eyes are blistering with need. There’s a moment when everything seems to freeze as both of us take stock of which way this could go.

Soft and slow or frenzied rush.

We both come to the same conclusion as we slam ourselves into each other’s arms, our mouths fusing together in a scorching kiss fueled by lust and craving.

Our hands roam quickly over each other as we kiss, eventually working at each other’s pants. Zack seems to be more sure of himself, because it takes him no time at all to get my jeans undone and both hands snaking into the back and under the waistband of my panties. He briefly squeezes my ass before pushing the material down, which causes my own hands to get knocked away from his zipper as he works to get me naked. He pulls roughly at the jeans, yanking them down my legs and off my feet as I hold on to his shoulders.

When I’m completely bare, he takes a moment to put his hands on my hips and leans back on his haunches, looking directly at my most intimate of places.

“So fucking beautiful,” he says reverently, but then he’s pushing to his feet and our mouths are locked together again.

He kisses me thoroughly, humming deep in his throat. One hand goes back to my breast and the other slides down my stomach and tentatively touches me between my legs. I arch into him, inviting more, and he rewards me by sliding his fingers through my swollen lips. I can feel how slick and wet I am, and he knows it too, using the moisture to coat his fingers and swirl them around my clit.