Liv's POV

"Well, look who decided to come home!"

With my heart thumping wildly against my rib cage, I stare at the furious tall figure in front of me. Caleb's words resound in my head, and I start giggling, feeling the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

"Look at you," I burst out, earning a bewildered look frown from Zach. "You really are a drama queen."

"Caleb!" Zach growls, realizing I'm referring to the slimeball's words.

Without a reply and still giggling, I push past him, starting to undress on my way to the bedroom. Damn, I need sleep. Even I am noticing how wobbly my walking is. Zach follows me and watches me getting rid of my clothes.

"You're drunk!" he states coldly and crosses his arms leaning against the doorframe.

"Wow, Sherlock," I turn around and raise one eyebrow while struggling to pull my foot out of my pant leg. "How perceptive you are."

"What the fuck were you thinking, getting drunk with Caleb?" Zach asks angrily but fails to hide the tiny smirk at my sarcastic remark while I'm still awkwardly jumping on one leg.

"You have no fucking right to be angry at me, Zach!" I snap, tired of his unjustified jealousy, and finally, I manage to shake off my jeans. "Why didn't you tell me about Clarks?"

Zach frowns as he listens. He's clearly taken aback by what I just said, "Did Caleb tell you about Clarks?"

"Obviously." I shrug and roll my eyes. "Since you are not telling me anything, I need to get information from somebody else."

"What else did he say?" Zach blinks nervously and for some reason I get the feeling that there are more secrets he's keeping from me.

"What do you mean, what else?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"You're never sure what ideas Caleb comes up with," Zach mumbles and sinks down on the bed, burying his head in his hands.

I eye him for a moment. He looks like a misery, sitting there with hanging shoulders and his tousled dark-brown hair standing up in all directions. He urgently needs a new haircut. And some decent food. During his hospital stay, he barely ate any of the things he got served there. He said it tasted like shit. As a result, he lost quite some weight in the past three weeks.

"What are you staring at?" Zach's deep voice pulls me out of my thought, and I notice he has lifted his head again and glances at me with a questioning face.

I take a step towards him until my knees almost touch his and look down at him. With a much softer voice than before, I ask, "Why didn't you tell me that Clarks is still pestering you?"

An exhausted sigh leaves Zach's full lips as he holds my gaze.

"The only reason I didn't tell you is that I don't want to drag you into this once more. The look in your eyes when Franco brought us to his house," he pauses and closes his eyes, his face contorted with pain. "I won't ever forget your face once you realized that his plan was to kill us."

His voice breaks and he looks down at his lap.

"I know this memory will forever haunt you, and it's my responsibility to keep you from even more shit," he whispers croakily.

"Zach," I say softly and place my hand on his cheek. He lifts his head and gives me a sad smile. "I really appreciate that you are trying to protect me, but I'm doing alright. And what I really need is you to stop keeping secrets from me. If you want me to trust you unconditionally, you can't hide things from me any longer."

Taking a deep breath, Zach lays his hands on my hips and pulls me onto his lap. I turn sideways and place my arm on his shoulder, looking into his eyes.

"I don't know why I keep fucking everything up," he mutters, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Fuck, a guy like me doesn't deserve a woman like you!"

I shake my head. "No, Zach. I'm not having this conversation again! That's bullshit and you know it."

Zach stays silent and looks at me with a tortured expression on his face. There is an internal battle going on in his head. Something is wrong, and I'm not sure if it's only his stupid thinking that he's not enough for me. Seriously, I thought we were past this stage already.

"Is there something else you wanna tell me?" I ask, careful not to push him.

For a moment, Zach thinks, and I can almost hear all the stressful thoughts crossing his mind, but then he closes his eyes and shakes his head, as if trying to get rid of an annoying fly.

"No," he then replies and gives me a forced smile.

"Zach!" I groan and slide off his lap. "Seriously, you're giving me a headache."

"Nope, the fucking whiskey you slurped with Caleb did that!" Zach snaps and jumps up as I turn away to go into the bathroom. "Don't fucking leave while we're in the middle of a conversation!"

"Conversation? Are you okay?" I burst out. "I can't fucking believe this. What conversation are you talking about, because all I see here is a pointless back and forth."

I turn away again and storm into the bathroom. For a moment, I thought that for once we could talk like two adults. Ha. Bullshit.

"The fuck, Liv. I'm not done!" Zach growls through gritted teeth and grabs my arm. "Why do you always run away whenever we are talking? It's fucking pissing me off!"

Yanking away my arm, I glare at him through the mirror in the bathroom.

"Leave me alone, Zach. You can come back when you're seriously interested in a real talk."

Zach narrows his eyes and opens his mouth to return something, but I don't give him the opportunity to talk.

"OUT!" I shout, my heart beating so fast, I can hear it thumping wildly in my head.

To my relief, Zach marches off and leaves me my peace. What the hell happened today? All of a sudden, all we do is fight. With a raging mind, I take a cold shower and try to switch off my thoughts as good as possible. With little success.

When I step back into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around my dripping wet body, Zach is sitting on the bed with his head hanging low. He looks up when I aggressively open the drawer to get out a fresh pair of panties.

"Liv," Zach gets up and walks towards me but I shake my head.

"No, Zach. Leave it. I don't want to talk to you anymore tonight. I'm tired and pissed and my head is hurting like shit," I cut him short and grab his t-shirt I'm always wearing for the night. A twinge of relief flashes over Zach's face as he watches me pulling it over my head.

After putting my phone on the nightstand, I crawl into bed and pull the blanket up to my nose. Zach is still standing there and looks at me, insecurely scratching the back of his head.

"I...uhm...," he looks at the empty side of the bed and then down to his feet. "I guess, I'm sleeping on the couch tonight."

I just nod and close my eyes. It's probably the best if we have a little distance from each other. Damn, this day was supposed to be wonderful with Zach getting dispatched from the hospital. It started off so well with amazing sex and cuddles, and then Caleb had to show up and ruin everything. I silently curse him for that even though I know it's not his fault. He wasn't the one keeping secrets from me. For a change, Caleb actually wasn't the slimy asshole he usually is.

With my head and heart filled with hurt and anger, I eventually drift off to sleep.

I wake up at the feeling of something warm pressed against my mouth. Something warm and wet. What the fuck?

When I open my eyes, I freeze and feel an almost painful shudder running down my spine as I take in the scene in front of me. Franco is standing there, his back turned towards me, and utters his cold and evil laugh. He's laughing at a curled up man in front of him who's seemingly unconscious. I don't need to see that persons face to know it's Zach.

A whimper escapes my throat and Franco turns around, shooting me a crazy grin.

"Look, who finally woke up."

Slowly, he comes closer until he stops right in front of me and tilts his head.

"I didn't want to wake you. A princess like you needs her beauty rest, right?" He chuckles devilishly and licks his thick lips. "Now, come and say hello to your boyfriend. He's already missing you."

He motions the person holding me to let go of me and I immediately rush forward and fall on my knees next to Zach.

"Zach?" I ask softly, turning his limp body around, so I can see his face. He's white as a sheet and doesn't react at all.

Franco starts laughing loudly as I start repeating Zach's name in a pleading tone. My voice gets louder and more desperate each time. Panic rushes into my body when Zach still doesn't respond to me. I press my trembling fingers against his neck to feel his pulse. Nothing.

"Zach!" I scream as hot tears start streaming down my cheeks. "Don't you dare doing this to me!"

Blinded by my tears, I start giving him a cardiac massage. Again and again, I press down his chest and in between give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but nothing happens. Zach remains unmoved and Franco's ugly laughter becomes louder and louder the longer I try.

"Fucking shit, Francesco! Don't you think that's going a bit too far?" A male voice with a thick Russian accent asks. It sounds familiar to me, but I don't care right now. All I can think about is Zach's lifeless body in front of me.

"No fucking way!" I hear Franco answering.

I keep up the resuscitation for as long my weakened state allows, but after a few minutes I sink down onto Zach's motionless chest and bury my face into his blood-smeared t-shirt.

"No, no, no, Zach, NO!" I sob and cry out in pain. In unbearable, suffocating pain.

"ZACH!"

Someone grabs my shoulder and softly shakes it, but I can't let go. I'm too afraid to look at Zach's dead body again, I tighten my grip around him and press my face into his chest.

"Olivia, wake up!" I hear a voice far away. A familiar voice. Zach's voice. "Baby, It's fine. I'm here."

With a jerk going through my entire body, I bolt upright and look right into Zach's worried face.

"What?" I ask, tears still running down my cheeks. "But you... I mean... You were..."

"Shh," Zach stops my confused babbling and pulls me into his chest. "It's okay, baby. I'm okay. It was just a dream."

He soothingly strokes my back and holds me tight as I start crying uncontrollably. After what felt like hours, I finally manage to stop sobbing and pull away to look at Zach through blurry eyes.

"Can you stay here?" I croak out.

Zach frowns and tilts his head. "What do you mean?"

"Can you come to bed?" I ask feebly. "With me, I mean."

"I wouldn't let you sleep on your own now anyway," Zach states and slips under the blanket next to me, wrapping his strong arms around my body. "What was your dream about? I mean, I was obviously a part of it, but what happened?"

"Can I tell you tomorrow? I turn around in his embrace, so we're facing each other. "I just want to forget it for now."

"Mmh, yes, of course. You don't have to tell me at all if you don't want to," Zach mumbles and eyes me intently for a while before he whispers, "I'm sorry, Liv. I behaved like a total dick today."

For a moment, I simply look at him and take in his wonderful face. His warm, brown eyes who softly look at me, his clear-cut nose with the piercing and the full lips.

"I love you!" I breathe, overwhelmed by my relief that I was just dreaming. "I love you so much, Zach!"

Zach frowns while listening to my emotional outburst and then smiles tenderly.

"I love you too, Liv. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me!" He whispers, cupping my face with his big hands. "No shit, I never thought that I would ever feel that way for anybody."

Leaning forward, I gently kiss him. While our lips start to move in sync, the feeling of need is in the air. The need to have each other, to feel each other's presence. To feel that this is real. As if by itself, we move closer together until our bodies are tightly pressed against each other, and I lift my leg and wrap it around his body, causing me to feel him even closer and more intense.

"Liv, wait!" Zach breathes against my lips. "We... we can't do this right now!"

"Why not?" I ask, giving him a confused look. Feeling the deep connection between us made me dizzy and I feel the urge to deepen this moment. To feel all of him. That might as well be the alcohol in my blood, but anyway, I want him, and I need him.

"We still need to talk about what happened," Zach murmurs, closing his eyes as I start grinding against him.

"Tomorrow," I whisper and kiss him again. "I need to feel you now. Please, Zach!"

Zach makes no further try to stop me and returns the kiss with as much longing. No words are needed in this moment. Our bodies are speaking their own language and share the most intimacy possible.

When Zach moves his lips to my neck and starts caressing my skin there, I feel the wetness spreading in my panties. I keep grinding against Zach's hardening dick as his hand wanders down over my back until he reaches my ass and squeezes it gently. Slowly, he pulls down my panties and I reach for his sweatpants and pull them down together with his boxers too.

Moments like this don't require a foreplay. The intensity of our loveplay has us both more than ready for each other already and all we want and need is to unite our bodies and become one.

Zach draws back from softly nibbling on my neck and looks at me.

"Are you sure you want this?" he asks out of breath.

I simply nod and pull him closer with my leg which is still wrapped around his body. The moment I feel him sliding into me, I hum in contentment and close my eyes at the sparkling sensation running through me. My body needs a few seconds to adjust to Zach's size and he keeps circling his hips in a delicious slow way until he feels me loosening around him.

"Yes baby, just like that," he groans and bites my bottom lip. "You're taking it so well!"

He pushes forward until he's completely filling me up and I tilt back my head, clasping his hair with my hands. We're still lying on our sides facing each other as we start moving, building a rhythm which has us both panting in less than a minute. Our eyes are locked, and we share this moment of pure intimacy without speaking a word. Just the sound of our bodies rubbing against the bedsheets and our heavy breathing fills the room.

The way our bodies work together every single time reassures me of our relationship. It's not possible that two bodies can have this connection without the souls belonging together as well. Not in a hundred years, I can't imagine to get intimate with somebody else ever again. I know we're quite fresh and our relationship hasn't had the best start, but it still feels so right. A hundred percent right.

"What are you smiling at?" Zach's voice makes me open my eyes and find him watching me. Small beads of sweat are glistening on his forehead and his lips are slightly parted to allow his fast breath leaving his lungs.

"I wanna make an agreement," I say, ignoring his question with a breathless smile while we are still slowly grinding into each other. "No more lies!"

Zach frowns for a second before turning us over, so that I'm lying on my back with him on top of me.

"No more lies!" He then repeats my words in a husky voice before pushing back into me with a fast and hard thrust. "I promise!"

I moan at the fast movement and this new angle. Like this, he is so deep inside of me, our bodies feel like simply melting together as he starts thrusting in the most delicious way I can imagine. It's not only thrusting but also grinding and circling at the same time and I don't know how he does it, but he has me so close to an orgasm in just a few minutes.

"Look at me!" He demands, grabbing my hands and positioning them next to my head while his fingers slide into them. "I need to see you."

My eyes flutter as he keeps hitting the perfect spot again and again. Damn that man sure knows how to make me see stars.

"Don't close your eyes!" Zach orders again through gritted teeth and dips his head down to press his forehead against mine. "Baby, look at me when we come!"

I'm so close, I already feel the tingle of my orgasm crawling down my stomach. There's no possibility for me to move right now. My hands are tied by his and his body is heavily moving on top of mine, making me feel every inch of his heated skin. His movements are still quite slow which makes it even more intense for the both of us while at the same time they are dragging out our lovemaking.

"I'm gonna come!" I whisper and bite my bottom lip as the wave of pleasure finally crashes down on me. I start contracting hard around Zach and with that I pull him with me.

"Oh... Yes!" He groans, screwing up his face in raw lust and pleasure and I can feel him coming deep inside of me.

We both moan and our sweaty hands are holding on to each other for dear life until our orgasms slowly die down again. Zach keeps moving until the throbbing stops and then slides out of me.

"Damn!" He pulls me into his rapidly moving chest where I can feel his racing heart thumping against my ear.

I chuckle, wrapping my arms around him and we stay like this for a whole while without saying a word.

Just as I'm slowly drifting off to sleep, Zach mumbles into my ear, "I meant what I said. No more lies!"

*****

Hi my lovelies. After a loong Christmas break (which wasn't really planned to be honest), I'm back with a new chapter and it's a longer one. I hope you enjoyed it.🤭

Do you think Zach can keep to his word and stop lying to Liv or hiding things from her?

Also, the little smut wasn't planned in the first place. It just sort of happened. 🤭😅 Oopsie. 🤭😏

Anyway, I hope you leave me a comment (or two😌😅👍🏽) and please don't forget to vote. ☺️

xo
Katie🤍