Sexy Wreck

Chapter 22

She kissed him deeply, hungrily, desperately, striving for mindless pleasure to chase away her doubts and uncertainties. Sliding her hand down his belly, she cupped his erection in her palm and stroked him through the soft cotton of this sweatpants. She felt him grow and harden from her touch, and started to move over him to straddle his waist, needing him in ways she couldn't define. Physical need was a given, but it was all the other emotional chaos swirling within her that made her feel as though her carefully guarded life was spinning out of her control.

He caught her around the waist before she could crawl on top of him and eased her back to his side. She made a small sound of frustration, and he deliberately slowed their kiss, soothing rather than arousing her with the slide of his lips against her soft, yielding mouth. The he grasped her wrist and rested her palm right over his rapidly beating heart, and held it there with his hand.

He ended the kiss and nuzzled her cheeks, her hair. His shaft pressed against her hip, but it was obvious to her that he didn't intend to do anything about that particular discomfort. "Just let me hold you, Axelle." he whispered in her ear.

She nearly broke down right there, but after years of being strong and holding herself together, she was conditioned to keep her emotions locked away tight. And those honed instinct kicked in now, enabling her to keep her tears at bay. 

Still, she couldn't ignore his tender offering. He wanted to hold her. When had anyone ever just held her, without the pretense of anything more? And how did this incredible man know exactly what she ached for, right when she needed it the most?

Tired of pretending that she could face the world alone, she sank against Zeke's side, rested her rosy cheek on his chest, and absorbed the comfort and affection he so selflessly offered her.

She closed her eyes, and as he held her in his embrace and she let his strength take over, she knew this weekend together wasn't about sex anymore. Not for either of them.

Axelle slept better than she could ever remember and woke up the following morning to the familiar sound of a camera clicking. Knowing for certain she wasn't dreaming, she opened her eyes and found Zeke standing at the edge of the mattress, her camera in hand, focusing on her.

Click, click, click.

She frowned, unable to believe that Zeke had been bold enough to turn the camera on her when no one ever had before. And especially after their conversation last night. "What are you doing?" she asked warily.

He f;ashed her a killer grin that looked positively devious combined with the dark stubble on his jaw. "Getting even."

"Oh, ugh!" She put a hand up to ward him off, but he was a man on a mission and kept taking her picture anyway. 

"Zeke... I looked like a wreck!" And no way did she want to be a part of her own private collection.

His dark blue eyes peeked up at her from above the camera, and he waggled his brows. "A beautiful, gorgeous, sexy wreck." 

She rolled her eyes at his misplaced flattery. "You can't be serious, and I've got a major case of bedhead," she complained, knowing her hair was tweaked every tweaked way.

Undeterred, he refocused on her and snapped another shot.

"The politically correct term for bedhead is tousled," he informed her, a teasing note infusing his deep morning manly voice. "And tousled is very sexy."

She laughed at his attempt at humor and forced herself to relax. To not feel so threatened by her own camera. "I'm grumpy in the morning, especially when I wake up to find someone taking photos of me." She stuck her tongue out at him to prove her point.

He captured her petulant attitude and pout on film. "I can handle grumpy," he assured her, and knelt on the mattress to get a close-up of her. "In fact, I know a very good cure for the morning grumpies."

"Is grumpies even a word?" she backfired on him

"Whatever floats your boat, sweetheart." Zeke replied and gave her a wink

Her body warmed at the provocative, tempting insinuation in his tone. There had been no making love last night, just cuddling, and she suddenly craved him on last time before she left to return to the city. Before she left Zeke behind, which was the right thing to so, because he certainly didn't need an emotionally screwed-up woman like her in his stable life.

She smiled to cover up the heartache making itself known and stretched, causing her shirt to ride up on her belly and tighten across her breasts. "Tell me more about this cure of yours, Mr. Matthews."

He paused for a moment to stare at her hard nipples before lifting his heated gaze to hers. "I promise to share my therapeutic remedy, just as soon as you cooperate a little for me. Seduce the camera, and have a little fun with this."

How many times had she told Zeke the very same thing?

"I never thought those words could come back to haunt me." she chuckled. 

Even though the camera unnerved her because she knew what depths a photograph could reveal, she resigned herself to this playful, intimate moment between them.

She made it a game of seduction in her mind, her ultimate goal to make Zeke lose control and forget about taking the picture. First, keeping herself covered with the thin thermal blanket, she peeled off her shirt and tossed it aside. Then she wriggled out of her boxer shorts, then her panties, which she tossed at Zeke, managing to land them on his shoulder. He picked up the scrap of fabric, and grinning like the bad boy he was, he brought the silky material to his nose and inhaled deeply.

"God, you smell good," he groaned, and breathed in her scent again before dropping her panties to the floor and returning his attention to the camera, and her. "Flash me some skin, sweetheart."

She lowered the covers to the upper swells of her breasts, and slipped one leg out so she was bared to the curve of her wide hips. Lowering her lashes, she smiled provocatively and gave him a sultry, Marilyn Monroe-like pose that made her feel sexy despite her bedhead. Before long, she was lost in Zeke's husky praise and coaxing as he continued to capture her seduction on film, and enjoyed herself and the fact that she was turning him on, too. Now things are just getting interesting...