On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,52

his thumb along my cheek. His touch was soft and gentle, but I knew it was a lie. I knew it was all part of his game to break me.

To what end though, I still didn’t understand.

“I shouldn’t want you so fucking much, sweet pea.” He ghosted his lips over mine. “But I do.”

“Don’t do this, Zach,” I whispered, my hands reaching for him.

“Stop me,” he breathed almost painfully. “Stop me, Calli.”

A shudder rolled through me as my pulse ratcheted. It’s just the ride, that’s all it is.

“You’re trembling,” he said.

“It’s the ride.”

“Sure about that?” Zach’s hand glided to the side of my throat as he watched me. He kicked the cart, making us rock harder.

“Zach… don’t.” My hands dug into the seat beneath me, trying to steady myself.

“Say it, Calli. Say it, and I’ll stop.”

“S- say what?” I tried not to look down. Heights had never bothered me before but riding with Zach was too much.

He was too much.

“Tell me you want me the way I want you…”

“I hate you.”

“I hate you too, baby, but it only makes it sweeter.”

We crashed together, teeth and tongue and my salty tears. I was crying and I was kissing him.

I was kissing him.

God, it felt good, to feel his lips on mine.

Why did it always feel so good?

“Fuck, babe, you taste good.” Zach curled his tongue around mine, devouring me. And I let him.

I let him plunder my mouth and steal my breath, because where Zachary Messiah—the only boy I’d ever loved—was concerned, I’d never been able to say no.

His hands slid along my inner thigh, dipping under my skirt. “Are you going to let me get you off on the Ferris wheel, sweet pea?” He brushed my panties, and I froze. “Are you going to let me finger fuck you right here?”

What the hell was I doing?

“We should stop.”

“Stop?” He snarled. “You think you get to decide when this stops?” A dark expression washed over him. Another shiver rolled through me as his eyes burned into me. “Do you wish it was him?” He hooked his fingers inside the damp cotton. “Do you wish it was Joely boy here right now?”

I pressed my lips together in defiance. It was one thing to lose myself in the physical sensations Zach stirred in me, but I wasn’t going to engage in these verbal sparring sessions.

Clamping my thighs tight, I tried to force him out. But a wicked smirk tugged at his mouth. “Don’t you want to feel, sweet pea?” he rasped against my ear, smugness dripping from his every syllable as if he knew he had me all figured out.

And maybe he did.

Maybe he got me without even realizing it.

“Don’t you want to just let it all go?” He bit the skin beneath my ear, sucking gently, sending bolts of pleasure ripping through me. I swallowed a moan, but he heard it. His lips curving triumphantly against my neck.

“I can make you feel so fucking good, babe. You know I can.”

There was a vulnerability in his voice I hadn’t noticed before. Zach was drunk. Or, at least, he’d been drinking. He was in pain, trying to escape whatever demons haunted his thoughts.

I reached up, brushing the hair from his face. “What happened to you, Zach?”

“You, sweet pea. You happened.” Without warning he pushed two fingers inside me, and I cried out, the sounds lost in the background noise of the fairground. His hooded gaze captured mine, refusing to let me go, as he curled his fingers and rubbed in slow torturous motions.

It was so wrong... so dirty... I needed to stop him. I needed to—

“God, Zach,” I cried as he started circling my clit with his thumb, dragging it back and forth.

“Not God, babe, Messiah. And I own this.” He pressed his palm against me, “I own this pussy.”

I tried to bury my face in his shoulder, embarrassed at his dirty words but he wouldn’t let me. Zach trapped me there, rendering me incapable of doing anything except ride out the intense waves of pleasure he stirred inside me.

“Later, when you’re kissing Joel, remember how this feels. Remember who owns you.” His eyes were pitch black. Two soulless orbs come to steal my soul.

My body began to tremble. “Zach, please...” I whimpered.

“Fuck, yeah. Beg, Calli. Beg.” He licked his lips, watching me fall apart at his touch.

“I... God... it’s...” Everything. I swallowed the word. Zach didn’t deserve it.

He didn’t deserve this.

But I couldn’t stop myself. The second Zach kissed me, I was a