[CONTENT WARNING: this is probably the MOST explicit chapter in the whole book—intended for mature audiences only.]

Summer: Day 32

Zach's POV:

On my way home from my evening run, I catch a line of cop cars outside our street and come to the immediate conclusion that Kylar had done his job and Shawn Lemay was now being arrested.

I don't think twice before sprinting past my street and towards Mackenzie's apartment, not giving another damn in the world. We hadn't talked since the end of her shift yesterday which is so uncharacteristic for us, and there was a lot to talk about; we still had yet to tackle the subject of Deacon.

I take time to admire the streets of our quiet town in South Carolina. It holds a lot of good memories, and the biggest memory it holds for me is falling for a small town girl, Mackenzie Lemay. But falling isn't just a memory when it's a present-tense verb; I'm falling, and I'll continue to fall for the rest of my life.

She can break my heart into a thousand pieces and I'd take it, because I would know I deserved it. I'd know that because no one in their right mind would ever let someone as perfect as her go. In a world full of imperfection, Mackenzie was the realist person out there—beyond beautiful and perfect. One in a billion.

My girl, one out of the whole fucking human race.

I get to Mackenzie's place sooner than I realize it, though it felt like a lifetime. The next thing I know, she's opening the door and kissing me like her life depended on it—to my surprise. Didn't know I could get a welcome like that. I could start getting used to this type of treatment.

When she finally pulls away, she smiles up at me innocently. "I thought you'd never come over. I missed you, bub."

"Sorry, I had a guy's night with Corey yesterday," I say, running my teeth along my bottom lip. "How was your day?"

"Good," she chirps, walking towards her room. "Boring. Work was alright, thankfully Deacon left me alone."

"How come you never mentioned me?" I ask, leaning against the doorway as she sits on her bed.

She shrugs, pouting a little bit in thought. "It never came up? I don't know, it's like we act like we're real, but we started off as fake." 

What is this girl talking about? If we're being honest, it is true; we started off as fake. However, I think both of us can testify to the fact that we are anything but fake and this is the closest definition to the term 'real.' In fact, I was never really acting.

"This all feels pretty real to me," I observe, gesturing in between us.

"Yeah," she sighs, glancing up at me before turning her head away. "I guess I was just confused, and I also didn't want to say something only to sound like a fool later on."

I nod. "I get it, how about we talk about it? It'll help clear up some air, yeah?"

She smiles and pats the place next to her on the bed. "Sure."

"Alright. Let me rinse off in the shower first, I just got done with a run."

Mackenzie lets out a tiny laugh and nods her head. "Okay."

******

Mack's POV:

While Zachariah takes a shower, I dress into one of his football t-shirts, one that goes all the way to my mid-thigh and looks like a paper bag on me. Well if you ask me, paper bags are the latest fashion trend and are definitely my style, so it's a win-win there.

I pick up the book I started reading a couple days ago. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It's a classic, and some might call it boring, but I tend to like the deep and intellectual stuff.

A couple minutes later, Zachariah comes out of the bathroom in a pair of gray sweatpants and wet hair on top of his head. He grins at me with a happy smile as he makes his way to the bed. When he lays down, he reaches over and tugs at the hem of the shirt I have on. "You look hot in my clothes."

"I wonder if you'd look hot in mine," I ponder out loud. Imagine... 

"Please don't put the idea of me in a crop top in my mind," he jokes, pushing me playfully. 

"Okay okay," I giggle, sitting up and turning so I can look at him correctly, his head against the pillows and my back to the rest of the room. "So what's to talk about first?"

"There's a lot of things I thought we could talk about," he explains, rubbing his jaw. "That I think we should talk about."

"Okay." I reach down and grab his hand in mine. Thinking I owe him an apology, I start, "I'm sorry I didn't mention you to Deacon. I realize that it was stupid of me and would've probably saved a lot of trouble."

Zachariah squeezes my hand. "He knew what he was doing, Kenz. Sometimes even knowing isn't enough unless the guy gets called out for his actions multiple times."

"Yeah, but still—"

He stops me, lifting a finger to cover my lips. "You're new to this kinda stuff, and I am too. I've been with a lot of girls, but I've never had a girlfriend before you. And you, you're as innocent as a girl your age can get."

"Hey now," I interject, raising and eyebrow at him. "That was a low blow."

"I mean that in a good way of course," he backtracks, running his free hand through his thick, dark locks of hair. "You're so... unpredictable? But that's what I like most. You're confident and silly, but you have this innocence to you and—"

"And what?"

"And it's helped me realize that I can be okay in my own skin, because I don't have to be anything different around you. Forget the cameras, the news reports about my football success, the headlines about my dad's company. When I'm around you, I feel okay with myself."

"I don't think you are who you portray yourself be for them," I voice, looking him in the eyes. "I don't think I've ever believed in that façade you wanted everyone to accept. I think you're so much more than that."

"See, this is what I mean," he says, smiling widely. "You've always seen my potential, even when I was a dick to you."

I look down at our hands and pull at the scrunchie he had on his wrist. "I fell in love with your potential, not the monster you chose to be. I felt so empty every time I saw you with someone new, like I wasn't good enough, but I kept telling myself that you were worth it. Worth all the heartbreak and the pain, because—" I sigh, not knowing how to finish my sentence.

"You fell in love with me?" he asks, his voice low and husky.

I nod, not knowing what else to do. Here I am, being completely honest with the person I never want to leave my side. Because in an instant, someone can just up and walk away. Everything you've worked up to, it can all just vanish so soon—too soon.

Zachariah sits up and leans forward to cup my face in his hands. "You love me?"

"I've loved you ever since you walked into my life, Zachariah."

He smiles nervously and bites down on his lip before motioning me to sit closer to him. "Come here." I oblige and go to sit in his lap, our faces inches apart as he holds me in his arms. "Mackenzie, I—"

"Don't say it if you don't mean it," I whisper, touching my hands to his bare chest. "Don't say it if you're gonna go back on your words, Zach."

He brushes his nose against mine and keeps his mouth shut, the demons in the back of his mind probably sinning against him. "Kenz, you really love me?"

"My whole life," I reassure him, reaching up to pull his jaw into my hands.

He leans forward to brush his lips against mine sweetly, and though he never says the words, the three pecks he places on my lips are a replacement to the three words I know he'll tell me someday. "You're my everything, don't ever think you're not enough. You're more than that, Kenz."

"Please don't go home tonight," I say, tracing circles on his chest. It's something I've deeply thought about since we showered together, and I knew I was ready. That it wouldn't be anyone else. I was ready for him to take me places I've never been before.

Zachariah averts his eyes to my own gaze, a flicker of desire shining against his irises. "So I'll stay."

I grab his hands and place them on my thighs, moving my own up and down his arms. He shivers and I find a moment of courage to finally speak, saying, "I want you, I want 'someday' to be today."

He grips my thighs tighter and looks over my face, as if searching for any signs of doubt. "Are you sure?"

I smile and mutter a 'yes,' kissing his lips. 

He flips us over so that he's now on top, hovering over me. His hands travel down my waist to my hips and then to the inside of my thighs. He moves slowly, the coolness of his hands causing me gasp with every enticing touch. His lips move in unison to his hands, the same tantalizing pace that causes my insides to churn.

"Tell me what you want me to do to you," he says, his voice muffled as he kisses along my collarbone.

I'm breathless as I say, "Anything."

He smiles against my neck and bites down on one of my weak spots, tentatively sucking and pulling at the skin. I let out a soft moan when his hands trail up the inside of the shirt I'm wearing, goosebumps erupting across my skin. Zachariah gently lifts it over my head, leaving me in just my bra and panties. 

He takes a moment to look at me with admiration in his eyes, and then swoops back down to kiss my lips. "You're perfect," he mumbles in between kisses, and I knew that when he said those words he meant that I was perfect to him—and that's all that really mattered.

I get lost in his kisses, his lips, the way he makes me feel, and I tangle my hands in his hair to pull him closer. So lost that I don't notice one of his hands moving south, down to the waistband of my panties. My heartbeat instantly accelerates, anticipation building up in my system.

When his hand finally dips in between the thin material of lace and my folds, I let out a small moan of satisfaction and spread my legs for him in response. He starts circling my clit in a slow rhythm, the pleasure shooting throughout my whole body. It's sensational feeling I've never quite experienced before, one that I never knew even existed until now. 

Zachariah lifts his up head to look at me, gagging my reaction. When I screw my eyes shut and move my hands to grip the pillows above me, he groans. "You're so beautiful, Mackenzie," he murmurs. "So fucking beautiful."

The way my name rolls off his tongue.

Suddenly, his fingers lose contact with my clit and I whimper. Zachariah moves around on top of me, and uses one hand to unclip my bra and the other to pull my panties down my legs, leaving me fully naked and exposed. 

"I want to taste you," he says, looking down at me with his beautiful, hooded irises. I pull my bottom lip in between my teeth and stare up at him with pleading, lustful eyes, not sure how or what or when to say something.

Taking that as his cue, he starts kissing my body all over, giving me another wave of goosebumps and causing my lungs to falter in breathing correctly. When he gets down my stomach, down to my navel, my breathing hitches and I squirm underneath him. He holds my waist against the mattress firmly, continuing to suck and nip at my skin.

Once he reaches my hips, he lowers himself on the bed, kissing all the skin up and down my left leg, and all the way up and down my right. It was torturous, that's what it was. Horribly torturous, but whatever he was doing was hot as hell. And when he finally places his mouth on me, I shiver.

"Zach," I moan, squirming again.

He reacts to my untamed moans and swirls his tongue against my apex, skimming it with his teeth. My hands tug at his hair and I glance down, finding him already looking up at me. Fuck, that's hot. I bite my lip harder and run my fingers along his scalp, pleasure riding throughout my veins—I can feel everything from my toes to my fingertips, a mixture of sensual gratification so immense it's almost painful.

When I can't maintain eye contact any longer, I throw my head back against the pillow and focus on the feeling of his mouth against me. The way his tongue moved against my folds, dipping into my entrance, fucking me with his mouth. 

I let out another cry when he pulls me deeper into his mouth. "Fuck," I cry, trying to push him away due to the intense pleasure, but he only grips onto my waist tighter, his tongue moving faster. Holy hell.

Then he lifts his head up from between my thighs, my wetness covering his lips as he shows me a finger before inserting it into me. I gasp at the sudden fullness and moan when he starts moving it in and out.

"Kenz," he growls, shifting himself so he can kiss me, the air in the room contorting to need and want. "God, the things you do to me. Fucking hell, I want you so bad."

"So take me," I manage to breath, moaning again when his finger carves my walls inside.

He leans down and connects his lips to my neck once more, pulling his finger out and circling my clit before pushing two fingers into me this time. I muffle my moan by burying my face in the crook of Zachariah's neck, gripping onto his back tightly.

He moves his fingers inside of me, the initial pain of contact subsiding to a morphed euphoric feeling of pleasure. As he pumps his fingers inside of me, he hits my g-spot over and over again. I dig my nails into his skin, trying to fight the pressure building up inside my stomach.

And as if he can almost sense my orgasm coming, he still his fingers, pulling them out as he lifts himself from on top of me. "Not yet, baby. I want you to come with me."

I watch as he sticks his fingers in his mouth, licking them clean. Please fuck me now. And as if reading my sex-driven mind, he moves to the side of the bed, kicking his sweatpants and boxers off. 

"I'm on a pill," I blurt out, watching him as he starts touching himself.

He stares me, his erection hard and excited. "Aren't you a—"

"Yeah but my mom put me on one when I turned sixteen," I ramble, having a difficult time formulating a sentence as he jerks himself off. That's one thing I will thank her for as of today.

He sits on his heels when he gets back on the bed, and I lean forward to take him in my hands. "I want you raw, baby," he whispers in a strained voice as I run my hand along his impressive length. "Can I have you the way I want?"

I nod, following him as he moves forward to lean down on top of me.

He picks me up gently and positions me on the bed so that my head is rested against the pillows. His fingers find their way back into me and I moan at the unexpected action. When he inserts a third finger, my hand wraps around his wrist and I let out a small whimper.

"Zachariah, that hurts."

"I know," he empathizes, pulling the third finger out. "But I have to do it or I'll hurt you more afterwards."

Sighing, I nod and sink back into the comfortable mattress. "Okay, do it."

Slowly, he inserts the third finger back into me and I move uncomfortably underneath him. He steadies me with his free hand, kissing my forehead. "It's gonna stop hurting soon, I promise. You're doing so good, Kenz."

And after a couple minutes of him easing his fingers in and out of me, the pain goes away and I'm left with an intense feeling of erotic luxury. He positions his cock on top of my stomach to tease my folds at the same time his fingers thrust inside me, giving me a hint at what's to come.

I feel myself getting more wet at the sight of that. Zachariah pulls his fingers out of me and rubs his tip against my entrance, continuing the torture. "You're so ready for me, Kenz."

I wrap my arms around his waist and moan as he keeps with his teasing. "Please, Zach."

"You want me to fuck you?" he asks, his dirty mouth almost sending me over the edge.

I nod, pulling him down into a kiss.

"I'm not going to fuck you, Mackenzie," he says, his breathing labored and unsteady. "I'm going to make love to you."

There's that word: love.

And I didn't know what the difference between the terms were until he showed me what love-making really is, how it's supposed to be.

He finally positions his tip at my entrance and eases himself in, causing me to whimper and moan at the same time. He looks down at where our sexes meet and inhales sharply, carefully concentrating on being gentle. Once he's halfway in, he looks up into my eyes and I melt; I love him, I love him so much my heart hurts.

He pulls out and then pushes himself in again, slowly. I grab ahold of his waist and lead him into me, our moans coming together in sync. He's so focused on thrusting into me slowly, barely moving, that I can't take it anymore. I want him. I want him so bad that this is just flat out torture.

"More," I whisper, pulling him closer to me.

He lets out a deep moan and drops his head, his mouth parted. He pushes into me more and rips through my virginity, a few whimpers leaving my mouth as he hisses. He rests his head in the crook of my neck as he sinks into me completely, and I bite his shoulder in hopes to relieve the pain. The feeling of him inside of me was indescribable, to the core—literally.

"Oh my god, Kenz. You're so tight," he says, a drain in his voice as he starts moving.

I moan, my fingernails digging into his back. 

He watches my face as his small thrusts stretch me to his size. His eyes held so much concern, so much lust, I was lost in him for the thousandth time. 

I'll just stay lost in him forever. 

I pull his jaw into my hands, kissing him with all I have. This was me telling him he could move faster now. When he gets the message, Zachariah caresses my head with one of his hands as the other grips my waist. His girth sends a mixture of both pain and pleasure, making sure I feel every inch of him.

I moan loudly, Zachariah following, the plain sound of his deep voice causing somersaults in my stomach. With each thrust, we moan in sync, our bodies riding off the other's pleasure.

"Così fottutamente buono," he grunts, picking up his pace. "So good, baby."

"Zachariah," I sigh, holding onto him tighter. "You're so big, fuck."

He supports himself with one hand, intertwining our fingers, as the other one explores my body—messaging me and squeezing me to add to the feeling building up within. He keeps thrusting, driving his length all the way in and all the way out, hitting my g-spot over and over.

I clench my walls around him and he hisses. "Fuck baby, I won't last if you do that."

I moan when he pushes himself into my tightness, and I clench him even harder. He pinches my waist, and I contract, sighing as he slows his pace; an agonizing speed, a savoring one.

"You're mine, Kenz." He leans down to kiss me, his tongue languidly moving along my own. "Forever, okay?" His words are strong, true, genuine.

I touch my hand to his heart as he continues pumping in and out of me slowly, the feeling so raw and intense. "Forever."

And with my words, he moans and goes back to pleasuring both of us, my emotions bursting through the seams. I throw my head back and moan out loudly, calling Zachariah's name as he quickens his pace, his thrusts deep and jarring. 

"I want to feel you come, Kenz," he pants, his breathing shallow. 

"Zachariah..." My sentence trails off, his name the only thing that leaves my mouth apart from moans and whimpers.

"I'm gonna come, deep inside of you," he whispers, his voice thick with promise. 

I cry out as he buries himself deeper and faster into me, the intense pressure continuing to build in my stomach. I wrap my legs around his waist, meeting him with every thrust. He reaches down to thumb my clit and I look at him with pleading eyes, his own hooded and lost in our pleasure.

I reach up and grab onto his shoulder to brace myself for my orgasm, the one that I've been fighting to hold in.

"That's it, baby," he groans, pushing himself faster into me, his length moving in and out. Zachariah grips my neck and scalp tenderly, forcing me to look at him. "Come for me, Kenz."

And when I can't hold it in any longer, I let go and my orgasm erupts, sending me into a blissful trance. I watch as Zachariah moans out, his lips parting as he feels my release against his member, and then I feel him give himself to me; his eyes wide open and face twisted up into a beautiful expression. He rides out our highs sloppily until he stops, collapsing onto my chest. My legs tremble as I wrap them around him, holding him close to me. 

"Mackenzie..." he breathes, unable to say anything else.

I run my fingers through his hair, watching his eyes shut and his chest go up and down. I love this boy so freaking much, I don't know what I'm gonna do with myself anymore.

I tug at his hair so that he lifts his head up, his chin on my chest. "Are you in pain?" he asks, his voice laced with concern.

I shake my head, smiling. "It was perfect—you are perfect."

He leans up to kiss me, cupping my face in his hands. "You'll probably be sore tomorrow, Kenz."

I bite my lip at the thought and shake my head. "It's okay."

After a minute, he finally pulls out of me and I wince, causing him to click his teeth. "Told you, baby."

"It felt good," I whisper as I get pulled to his chest.

"It was good, huh?" he asks, a boyish grin on his lips.

"Out of the world amazingly good," I reply, looking up at him as I lay against him, our naked bodies flush together. "Better than pancakes good."

Zachariah chuckles and brushes a few pieces of hair out of my eyes, tilting my chin to him. "Bloody hell, you're gorgeous." Tracing my eyebrows and then my nose, he says, "One day I'm gonna marry you."

My stomach does a flip and the whole zoo goes crazy. "M—Marry me?" I ask, my voice wavering.

Zachariah nods, determined. "I'm gonna marry you. We'll settle down somewhere, start a family, have little mini-Mackenzies or mini-Zachariahs running around the house." When he looks into my eyes this time, I see my future, and this time, I know he sees his too. Me. "I want all that with you and only you."

"I love you," I whisper, reaching down to hold his hand.

He squeezes it. "I know, love."

There's that word again from him: love.

I nuzzle my head into his chest again and inhale his scent, running my hand along his abs. He shivers and I recoil my touch, sitting up. "Take a shower with me?" I ask, a grin spread across my face.

He leans forward and kisses me. "Fuck yeah."

I love him. I love him. I love him. 

Author's Note:

told y'all that was gonna be very explicit.

TEHEHE BUT I LOVE THEM, so you know what, let's just celebrate some good smut right now. I have waited so freaking long for this chapter and it's finally written, haha. I apologize if it was too intense for any of you, but I did put a warning so...

Also, this was the longest chapter in the book so far. Please vote and comment, and let me know your thoughts!