Page 112 of Hold Me Instead
“Oh God,” she cried. “Zachary.”
“Mmm.” He slipped a finger inside her, turning to that spot he’d come to know so well the past few weeks, and sucked her clit.
She detonated. Her body stiffened, shook, tightened on him as her pleasure skyrocketed until she was boneless. Her eyes were closed, chest heaving, and she smiled as Zachary placed a kiss on her stomach, slowly trailing kisses up her body, one to each breast over the shirt, until he nuzzled against her neck. His hand scooted under her, and he held her close. Tight against him. Almost lovingly.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
“For what?” she whispered, staring at the ceiling.
He hesitated, pressed a kiss to her neck. “For sharing that with me. Trusting me.”
Charlie blinked rapidly, tears burning. She trusted Zachary completely. The weight of what they’d shared hit her as she realized that was the first time without pain and involuntary muscles—or fears—getting in the way.
She squeezed him closer, wishing they could stay like that forever.
***
Charlie looked at the stack of pet supplies piled near the front desk. The collection had been going for a week, and the response from the community was extremely positive.
“That there came in today,” Maura said.
Charlie turned toward the woman, her mouth open. “Only today? That’s amazing.”
“Yep. I contacted Cory and arranged a pickup since we have so much. He was thrilled. I guess they’ve had a few bites from some of our folks looking to adopt too.”
Charlie clapped her hands together. “That makes me happy.”
Maura gave her a squeeze on the shoulder. “We’ve received quite a few donations for the Dale Fund. Daniel will be touched.”
Charlie’s smile faltered, wondering what Daniel would actually think. She hadn’t talked to him in weeks.
“Alright, I’m off. Have some baking to do for tomorrow’s church reception,” Maura said, tugging on her coat.
“Okay. Thanks for handling this, Maura.”
Charlie’s wheels turned, trying to decide a good way to bring it up to Daniel. Maybe coming from Maura, it would be more well received.
She walked into her office, the sight before her now familiar, as Zachary hunched over his desk. He glanced up, forehead etched with creases.
He’d been going over documents so rigorously, coming in earlier than her to dive into whatever project had been keeping him busy. Aproject he hadn’t shared with her, which she tried hard not to take personally.
“Hey.” He stretched.
“Was just talking to Maura. We’ve had a lot of people donating to the Dale Fund. And the contributions for the rescue are amazing. Did you see the pile out there? That was fromtoday. Cory is going to freak.”
A corner of Zachary’s mouth twitched.
“Hey,” she said softly, settling into her chair. “What’s up? Something’s stressing you.”
“Uh.” He tapped his pen on the desk.
She waited. When he said nothing, she leaned forward. “I like helping.”
He glanced at her. “I know, Harris. It’s not something I can talk about right now.”
“Oh. Okay.” She tried to ignore how that stung. Right when she was about to spin toward her desk, he sighed.
“He asked me not to.”
