02

Very slowly Elizabeth pushed herself up straighter. She made an effort to peek through her partially opened eyelids and confirmed for herself that the man standing just feet away from her was, in fact, the one and only, Zeb Crooker ;

And from what little she could see of the man, his time with the Marines had suited him well. He had a sun kissed tan that glowed a beautiful bronze color, bringing out some of his families Native American ancestry. His steely muscles were well defined through the tight black tee shirt that he wore. And if that hadn’t been enough, his dark denim jeans hugged his gorgeous ass perfectly, reminding her of just how good those firm, rounded globes had felt in her hands on that one particular night all those years ago.

No ! She couldn’t go there. Elizabeth wanted to smack herself. The last thing that she needed to be doing right now with ogling Macon’s very own resident bad boy. She’d been there, done that and she had long since promised herself that she would never do it again.

Back in high school all the girls wanted to have Zeb Crooker. Being the average horny, teenage male that he was, he obligingly took them up on almost every offer. Elizabeth did her best to stay away from him all four years of her high school term. She had been proud of herself. She was one of the select few that hadn’t just fallen into his bed.

That was until the night after graduation. She could remember that night just as if it had happened yesterday.

The entire senior class had a party over at Jacob Long’s farm house. Being the wallflower that she was, Elizabeth stood in the corner for the first part of the night. She was still standing in that corner when Zeb approached her and asked her to dance.

At first she couldn’t believe that Mr. Popular had asked her to dance with him. Before she could tell him no, Zeb had already pulled her out to the center of the makeshift dance floor and wrapped his arms around her.

She was trapped. At first she just stood there not sure what to do, but as the song continued to play, Zeb coaxed her into an easy swaying rhythm of their bodies. One song turned into two, two songs turned into three and before Elizabeth knew it the grandfather clock had struck midnight.

Zeb stopped dancing and peered down into Elizabeth’s toffee colored eyes. “Why is it Lizzie that after all these years of going to school together that I’m just now getting a chance to dance with you ?”

Elizabeth mustered up a shy smile. She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t have the answer to that one Zeb. Maybe it’s because you never asked me or maybe it’s just because all of the other times you have been… what’s the word I’m looking for ? Preoccupied just a little bit ?”

He grunted and at the same time he lifted her up, positioning her comfortably on his lap. “I know something that I’d like to be preoccupied with,” he shamelessly admitted.

His playful grin did nothing to warn her of the moment when he brought his lips over her mouth and proceeded to kiss her senseless. When his tongue licked along the seam of her mouth, Elizabeth went off of instinct alone and opened for him. He probed her mouth, his tongue caressing hers and a shot of liquid heat went straight to the center of her being. She had been kissed by many guys in her short life but most certainly had never been kissed like this. It was magical and she didn’t want it to end. When Zeb finally pulled back, he watched her carefully and sensually rubbed the pad of his thumb along the line of her kissed swollen lips.

“You’re so beautiful Elizabeth. So damn beautiful that you make me ache for you. I’m leaving tomorrow and I don’t know when I’ll be coming back. Will you come with me back to my place so that I can show you just how beautiful you are to me ? I can promise you that our night will give me dreams for all those cold and lonely nights that I’ll be spending out in the desert while fighting for our country.”

Elizabeth only hesitated for a moment. She was a virgin and had vowed early on to stay a virgin until marriage. Sure, she knew that several of her friends had already done the deed but until now, Elizabeth had just never felt that she was truly ready.

But as she sat there on his lap fidgeting under his intense scrutiny, she felt irresistible. He wanted her. That much was obvious not only by the heated look in his stormy eyes but by the pressing arousal pushing against her rear end.

Deciding to throw caution to the land Elizabeth thought what the heck. She was 18 years old now. She was a big girl and plenty old enough to make her own doggone decisions. Before she could change her mind Elizabeth timidly lifted her head up and with what bravado she could muster she nodded. “Sure. I’d love to.”

“Really ?”

“Really,” she confirmed, this time not bothering to hide the smile from her face.

In one sweeping motion Zeb had picked her up and carried her bridal style out to his second hand truck. He didn’t put Elizabeth down until he reached the passenger side. And even then he opened the door, put her in the seat and buckled her in. Their eyes connected again and he gave her another one of his soul searing kisses that stole her breath away.