“Zach,” she breathes my name and it’s my undoing.

My breath comes out in ragged spurts as my cock tenses then blasts her full as I release into her. The way I feel about this girl is crazy. This crazy connection is odd to me and I can’t quite wrap my head around it. It’s like she genuinely cares for me, and that’s something from a woman I’ve never had.

I collapse on top of her. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get enough of that.”

She runs her hand down my back. “That’s good, considering I just committed to you.”

I lean up on my elbow so I can look into her eyes. “You’re serious about that?”

Kitten bites her lip. “Weren’t you?”

I pin her gaze with mine. “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted this. I’m a little afraid.”

“Of what?” she whispers.

“Of disappointing you,” I admit.

She licks her lips and places her palm on my cheek. “Be real with me and let me in and you won’t.”

I give her a sad smile. She has no idea what she’s asking for. “I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask.”

My heart squeezes as I lean down and kiss her lips. For the first time ever I find myself sleeping with someone who’s committed to me and it feels fucking amazing.

AUBREY

After one last kiss, I push myself away from the couch and out of Zach’s arms. I can’t believe we defined our relationship into more. It’s crazy. Never in a million years would I have ever believed Riff of Black Falcon would be the man to crave and commit to a relationship with me.

“Where are you going?” Zach grabs my wrist.

I turn and smile at him. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“Okay don’t be too long.” He smirks as he smacks my bare ass.

I giggle as I head towards the bathroom and stop short of the shattered lamp that’s still lying on the floor. His father triggers instant rage in him. I’m not sure why Zach owes his father money, but whatever the reason, it seems to tear him up every time he calls.

“I’ll clean all that up,” Zach says behind me as he places both hands on my shoulders. “I swear I’ll replace everything I broke.”

I nod and pat his hand. “Okay.”

I want to bombard him with questions but I know it’s too soon. Someone like Zach cannot be pushed.

His warm lips place a light kiss on the side of my neck. “I promise.”

After my shower I come out of the bathroom to find my apartment clean. You would never know a wrathful hurricane came through here. The aroma of some sort of mouthwatering food fills the apartment and I find myself drawn towards it. Zach’s stands in the kitchen over my stove stirring a steaming pot.

It’s an odd sight, really. One of the world’s hardest rockers appearing all domesticated in my kitchen, cooking dinner, no less. His rough exterior of all the tattoos makes me think more of Ozzy Osbourne than Martha Stewart. All he’s missing is a polka-dotted apron.

He glances up and smiles when catches me watching him intently. “I figured you might be hungry after working all day.”

“I’m starving,” I say as I sit on the stool at the bar and watch him work.

Zach sticks a fork into the pot and brings one of the spaghetti noodles up the side and cuts it in two. “This was how my mom taught me to check if the noodles were cooked thoroughly. If they cut apart with ease, they’re done.”

“Good tip. I wish I knew how to cook.”

He places a strainer in my sink. “Maybe I can teach you all my mad skills. Mom taught me a ton of helpful little tips before she passed.”

That’s the first time I’d ever heard Zach talk fondly about his mother and that makes me curious about her. “Can I ask you something?”

He grabs the pot handles with some dishtowels and carries it over to the sink to strain the water off the noodles. “Shoot.”

I swallow hard, knowing this might not be a place he wants to go with me yet. “What happened to her?”

He pauses for the briefest second and then shakes the rest of the noodles out of the pot. “She killed herself soon after Hailey died.”

I gasp and grab my chest. “I’m so sorry. That had to be hard on you.”

He nods as he carries the pot full of strained noodles back to the stove and dumps the simmering red sauce over the noodles and begins to stir. “It was. Losing them both so close was almost more than I could bear. I almost didn’t make it myself. It was a very dark time in my life.”

I lean my elbow up on the counter. “What brought you out of it?”

He opens the cabinets searching for plates. “Trip mainly, and Tyke. Music—the way I could lose myself in it. It helped me forget how shitty my life was, still does to this day.”

“Are things still bad for you now?” I wonder out loud.

Zach shrugs as he fills two plates full. “It’s getting better, or at least right now it feels like it is.”

I smile as he sets a plate of spaghetti in front of me. “Thank you. It looks amazing. I have to say this is a first for me.”

He sits beside me. “What is?”

“A man has never cooked for me before. You’re full of surprises.”

He winks at me, like there’s more up his sleeve before taking a bite of food. “Sorry there’s no meat in it. You didn’t have any hamburger. Tomorrow I’ll go shopping for us and cook for you while I’m here. Hopefully I can teach you a thing or two.”