Encore

"Linc..." Zandra arched her back as he thrust his fingers faster into her. The gushy sounds down there, almost drowned out by the rain at first, were getting louder. She caught his wrist and tugged weakly.

"Touch it," she whimpered, her voice almost failing her.

"Touch what?" Linc teased, and watched her expression become truly distressed. Lord, he adored this woman. Even after he had broken her heart, she was still so open, so generous. Her vulnerability humbled him even as it bolstered his determination to never see her so badly hurt again. To make her so happy she couldn't stand it. Starting tonight.

"This what you want, Z?"

His slippery fingertips brushed her clit. Immediately, her entire body trembled and relenting, Linc stroked her up and down just as she wanted. Zandra gasped and arched her back again.

"Oh yes," she whispered raggedly. Her clit pulsed so hard it seemed abuzz against his fingers. When he caught it by the hood and began to massage, he watched her eyes roll into her head and close.

Linc grit his teeth. The sounds she was making in her throat were playing exquisite havoc on his crumbling restraint. The smell of her inviting pussy tantalized him beyond all bearing. Helpless as she seemed, Zandra was no less than a sensory bomb. When he slid down her body to taste her, he had to close his eyes to the sight of her wet, pink slit. He would ravage her if his control broke, may very possibly hurt her.

He ran his tongue along her oozing, swollen folds. He made a choked sound in his throat at the long-lost flavor; he'd almost forgotten the taste of her. He pressed his mouth to her gaping pussy in an open-mouthed kiss.

He heard her cry out his name and the reins fell loose. Linc ate her pussy up, gorged himself on it, licking and sucking in a manner reminiscent of actual ravenous feeding.

His tongue mined her sex and stroked out her essence, salty and thick, so it coated his tastebuds. He swallowed then licked his lips with a deprived man's instinct to hoard every last bit of his newfound treasure. Barely catching his breath, he dove into her again.

He lapped at her leaking pussy, laved her clit, teased her downy taint and tongue-fucked her till her thighs quivered. In the grip of his carnal haze, he barely noticed. He was drowning in her!

Her voice yelling out his name was the only warning he got before she squirted hard and long against his mouth. The sugary liquid sprayed his tongue, jolting him out of his frenzy for a stunned second. Then, wrapped in utter delight, he began to laugh.

Zandra heard the joyous sound and before she could think, her answering laugh joined his. After an eternity apart, they were spontaneously in sync again. It felt incredibly good, so triumphant and carefree.

They slowly quieted as they stared into each other's eyes. Linc pushed a damp tress out of her face while she gave him a dreamy smile. He smiled back. He drew out the tender moment for as long as he could bear it, then rolled onto his back so she could straddle him.

Zandra looked down at his body's dark caramel hue, highlighted amber and gold by the flickering flames. Her whispered name brought back her attention at last to his face.

"Make love to me," he breathed, grasping her hips. He eased her onto his thick cock in a deliciously slow impaling. Her cunt hugged his full length when she at last had taken every inch of him inside her.

She then began to grind her hips in a slow, circular motion. They both moaned and soon she was lost to everything but this incredible ecstasy. Her head fell back. Her eyes closed. Her mouth hung open, gasping for air.

The thick tip of his cock seemed to nudge ever deeper into her, opening her up more than she'd ever been. She wanted him even deeper, to lock him in so she could always feel this way. She ground into him even harder.

"Feels so good," Zandra muttered, her tempo picking up. Linc grabbed her hips and forced her to slow down.

"Easy." She opened her eyes and looked down at him in mute desperation. "Let's make it last," he suggested.

She shook her head. "I need to come," she pleaded in a faint voice.

His skillful fingers found her clit. Zandra felt her body going rigid as her impending orgasm loomed ever closer. She warned him she was going to come. He grabbed her clit and applied such sweet pressure that her thigh muscles instantly fluttered in response.

Zandra shuddered and came again, dousing his balls and thighs in her squirt. Linc watched her flushed body shake as she lost control, saw her bite her lip till it got that little curl he loved. She sobbed her pleasure, climaxing like she was never going to stop.

"Damn, you are lovin' this dick," Linc laughed softly. "I might have to give it to you on the regular."

Zandra frowned and tried to focus. Something in his words didn't sound right but her sex-fogged brain couldn't determine what.

"Come down, love. Let me hold you," he invited. That sounded about perfect and she didn't hesitate.

Soon she was lying on her side facing the fire. Linc, spooned behind her, cupped the deep curve of her waist and gave a light squeeze. Then he lifted her leg and eased it along his thigh.

Zandra shivered when she felt his hot erection nuzzle her wet folds. He slid in with one smooth glide and began again a gentle fucking. She moaned and sighed while their bodies jounced together. She reached behind and held on to his hunching hip.

One big, dark hand stroked her wobbling breasts, the other slid down to cup the mound between her legs while he whispered in her ear.

"Who do you belong to, Zandra?"

Her eyebrows knitted again, both at the question and the excruciating pleasure between her legs.

"Please," she gasped, and had no idea what she was begging for.

"Tell me," he insisted, giving her clit a light smack. Zandra yelped at the burst of concentrated stimulation.

"Linc!" He smacked her clit again. "Aah!"

"Tell me who you belong to, Zandra."

He wanted her to say she belonged to him. That was obvious. His hand was already drawn back, should her answer not be to his liking.

"Don't do this to me," Zandra whimpered. She couldn't give him the answer he wanted.

Another slap, sharp and sweet, made her body jerk. She tried to shield her mound with her hand.

He tugged her wrist aside and her nipple yanked for her efforts. His fucking was getting harder, too. She was on the verge of climax and she didn't know if she could take any more.

"Tell me," Linc demanded through clenched teeth, "who you fucking belong to."

At that point, Zandra gave up. "You," she cried out. "I'm yours, Linc, I belong to you!"

Grunting his satisfaction, Linc grabbed her body tight and began to fuck her in earnest. Zandra yelped as the sweet release she'd been waiting for swept over her, only to be replaced by a distant tightening again.

He fucked her with fierce relish. She had to steady herself with one hand before her on the carpet. He growled as he rubbed her clit and feasted on her nipple. He gripped the other breast and squeezed its pink tip between his fingers.

Before she could register all the feelings he was drowning her in, her helpless body detonated in bliss. Right there and then, she knew she hadn't lied. She really did belong to this man. She always had. God help her, she always would.

When Zandra had calmed down a bit, Linc slid his erection out of her. Battered as her pussy was, she still protested his withdrawal with a low moan.

He eased her onto her back then climbed over her supine form till he straddled her chest. He took his stiff cock in his hand and teased her lips open with its leaking tip. Taking the cue, Zandra slightly lifted her head and took his dick in her mouth with a hungry moan.

"Oh, fuck yeah," Linc groaned.

She clasped his hard buttocks in her hands to keep him place then proceeded to suck him till her cheeks ached. He gasped and grabbed a fistful of Titian hair.

He looked into her heavy-lidded eyes. Her mouth was stretched wide open but her eyes sparkled with a naughty light. Even without words, he knew what she was doing, what she wanted.

"Suck on it, baby, you know that dick's all yours," Linc hissed. A smug purr was his reward and the vibration was too much for his oversensitive flesh to handle.

He grimaced and groaned as he climaxed, coating her throat with his thick come. Zandra swallowed every drop with a salacious moan for more still. He poured himself into her until he had no more to give.

Even as he pulled out of her mouth, her tongue snaked out to get a last taste. "Thirsty little wench," Linc growled, giving her hair one more tug.

Zandra giggled as he came to lie beside her. She was abruptly silenced with a breath-stealing kiss. Palming the side of his face, she kissed him back.

Linc poured all his hope and longing into that kiss. Then when he pulled back, he surveyed her swollen lips with possessive satisfaction.

"Wait here," he whispered. "I'm gonna go get a bed ready for us."

"No." She gripped his wrist. "Don't leave me, Linc."

His heart felt like it might burst at that request. Forcing himself to remain calm, he leaned over, kissed her forehead then wrapped her in his arms. Before long, she was sound asleep, her soft breath tickling his throat.

Linc watched the diminishing fire for a long time. He had a profound peace he hadn't felt in years. The hollow feeling that usually followed sex was not there, not with this particular woman, trusting and asleep in his arms. Blessing the contentment of the moment, he closed his eyes and went to sleep as well.

When next he opened his eyes, it was still dark. The rain had stopped, the fire had dwindled to red embers in the fireplace and his arms were empty. She was gone.

* * *

Zandra wolfed down her antipasto after a grueling day's filming. Knowing she would blow her ladylike reputation to hell and back if the others saw her stuffing her face, she had decided to eat in her dressing room.

Her privacy was assured; the only rub was the bouquet of sunflowers, her second favorite flowers, sitting expectantly in her vase. She tried to avoid looking at them, but felt a pang of guilt all the same.

The flowers were from Linc and had arrived the very next day after they'd spent the night together. After she'd crept out of his arms, dressed as quietly as possible then left zooming off into the night.

Her conscience had persecuted her day and night and on the third day, it showed no sign of letting up. She had not called Linc, though he'd left his number on the card and now she felt terrible. She was treating him like dirt. Worse, she was being a coward.

She should pick up the phone and call him. And say what, though? Their lovemaking had been wonderful, and not just on the grounds of mere nostalgia; it could still make her squirm in her seat to remember her own shameless cries.

But then, it had always been mind-blowing between them, always. And yet he had walked out back then. What if he did it again?

"Zandra?"

She turned around to find Karen standing at her doorway with a strange expression.

"I tried knocking but you didn't hear. Um, a package has arrived from Lincoln Gage. I think it's for you. He must be a huge fan."

Zandra scowled as she snatched up a napkin and wiped her greasy mouth. "Stop saying his name like that. You sound like you're halfway in love with him," she rebuked stiffly.

Karen practically skipped into the dressing room, squealing, "I can't help it, it's Lincoln freakin' Gage! The tech wizard! Software guru! The great black shark! Black hunk of a sex god!"

It was irritating in the extreme to hear this woman utter such effusive praise for Linc, even though she was a colleague and dear friend.

"Where on earth did you hear that?" Zandra snapped.

"Everybody knows, ever since he started that software developing company and made a killing! He's in this month's Wired magazine, and God knows how many other interviews he's done the past year. Don't you read?"

Karen looked aghast. Zandra stared at her but the dry voice that replied was not her own.

"Her literary tastes are a little too refined for anything that takes me seriously."

Both women craned their necks towards the door where Linc stood with a tub of daffodils in his hands. "Hey, Z."

Karen turned to Zandra, mouthing the single letter in ironic repetition. Nobody, not even Coby, shortened her name. She arched her eyebrow and smirked while Zandra gave her a dirty look.

"May I come in?"

"Please do," Zandra said immediately, more to get rid of Karen than to welcome Linc.

"You two must have a lot to talk about," the producer simpered as she made her way to the door. "I'll just give you some privacy."

When the door had shut behind her, Zandra forced herself to look straight at Linc. "How are you, Linc?"

"Sure you wanna know?" he asked drily. "I had the impression you didn't."

Her face warmed as she walked to him to take the flowers. "Don't be ridiculous. These are lovely, by the way. Thank you."

He held the daffodils away, just out of her reach. "Who said these are for you?" he asked in amusement.

Zandra drew her fingers back as though she'd been burnt. Her eyes blazed with a violent emotion as she looked up at him.

"I beg your pardon?" He must be teasing her. He could not mean it.

"I heard Petula Hall got divorced. Her brother is a client of mine and I thought I'd pass on my sympathies," Linc explained.

"In person?"

He met her derisive skepticism with a serene smile. "She's a good woman going through a rough time. It's the least I could do."

"I don't recall getting a visit along with my flowers," Zandra mused.

"You're not getting a divorce, are you?" Linc shrugged. "In any case, she's the star of the show, whereas you..."

"I'm the bitch everyone loves to hate?"

There was no heated indignation. She had retreated behind the wall of ice, withdrawn into her chilly ivory tower and would not even look at him now. She stood regarding her manicured nails.

Linc silently cursed and wished he could start the encounter over and just give her the damn flowers. He might have been angry and hurt that she'd made love with him then left without a word. Nonetheless, he hadn't been able to withhold his foolish urge to indulge her fondness for yellow flowers. He wouldn't buy daffodils or tulips or sunflowers for anyone else but Zandra.

"You are," Linc began deliberately, "a much stronger woman than she is, quite possibly stronger than me. You don't have any problem leaving someone behind, while the rest of us have to get drunk, depressed or just make goddamn fools of ourselves."

He pressed his lips together as if he regretted his earnest words. Did she do that? Did he feel he had to be on his guard with her? It would be truly regrettable if he did, when his forthrightness had always been one of the things she admired most about him.

She could use more of it herself, come to think of it.

"I'm not strong," she denied, flicking a gold daffodil with her finger. "Trying to shut off your emotions strikes me as pretty weak, actually. It's just hiding from the truth."

"I have a hard time thinking of you as weak," Linc confessed, wishing she'd take the flowers. He wanted her to accept them, and in so doing, accept him.

"That's only because I've been hiding the truth from you, too."

He looked at her with a faint questioning frown. It took all her willpower not to throw herself at his feet and confess everything right then, not to beg his forgiveness for her unforgivable secret. But she managed to stand straight and look him in the eye.

"When you left me to go to Europe," she began, "I took it... very badly. I did some stupid things, thinking I was getting back at you. But I just ended up hurting myself, and- and our baby."

"What?" Linc whispered as his eyes narrowed.

"I didn't know," she stressed, reflexively defensive. "I had no idea I was pregnant when I..."

She turned away, ran a tremulous hand through her hair and started again, "Ever since I was nineteen, I knew I wanted a baby. I wished to my soul, I prayed to God for a child of my own. And then we met and I fell in love and... I loved you so much, Linc, I wanted my baby to be yours. I thought it'd be the ultimate expression of my love, our love. I didn't mean to ruin i-"

She was letting her emotions run away with her. She stopped to collect herself then continued in a clinical tone, "I went out with Wes a few times. Just because I knew you didn't like him. Nothing really happened between us, but I let him persuade me to dabble with drugs. Pot, coke and sometimes meth."

She stopped and cleared her throat. "It was worrying my mom. She tried to talk to me about it, but I just shut her out. Until I woke up one morning with horrible abdominal pains and a bed soaked with blood."

"Jesus," Linc muttered.

"I called her in a panic and she drove me to hospital. I... I'd been pregnant. Just like I'd wanted for so many months. And then I threw a big, dramatic drug-fueled tantrum and killed our baby."

Zandra braved his regard and waited for him to blow up at her. His quiet voice took her by surprise but was infinitely more unnerving.

"Why didn't I know any of this?"

"You were long gone," she explained with a wave of her arm. "I didn't think it'd do any good to tell you - except maybe prove that you'd made the right choice by leaving me."

"Sweet mother..." Linc walked to her dresser and deposited the flowers thereupon. Bracing his arm against the wall, he stared down at the ground, frowning. He stood there silent for so long, Zandra anxiously moved to stand before him.

"Linc?" She peered into his face.

His gaze was bleak when it met hers. "You should've told me," he whispered. "I would've come back in a heartbeat. How could you go through all that without me?"

The reproach in his voice seemed to be self-directed. "I didn't give you the chance to be there for me," Zandra acknowledged. "It's my own fault if you weren't."

He stared at her, taking in her features as if she were a stranger. He didn't seem to have heard her. "Your mom sent me an e-mail while I was in Switzerland. She said you were "heartsick" - that's the word she used. I didn't respond and she never wrote me again. God, Zandra, you should've told me!'

"I should've done a lot of things. Like take your rejection of me like an adult, instead of-"

"I never rejected you," Linc interrupted. "Right till the end, I told you I loved you-"

"And then you left anyway!" Zandra countered, her voice rising. "And maybe you had to go, Linc, but we both know there was no reason you couldn't take me with you!"

She turned around abruptly; she was starting to sound like the embittered twenty-year-old she'd been seven years ago.

Linc stared at her stiff, shapely back in her tight sweater and frowned. She was repeating something Ursula had said several times when it became noticeable that he was pining for Zandra. He'd had a sneaking suspicion he'd made a colossal blunder leaving her like he did, but he had brushed it aside. He'd reasoned he could make things right once he was back in the States.

"But I have to remember," Zandra said in a wooden voice, "that Ursula might not have appreciated a third wheel."

His bemused gaze had slid down to her luscious derrière in white hip-hugging pants. His focus snapped back to her head. He was shocked by the sudden impulse to grab her by those lustrous tresses and make her listen.

"Ursula was my mentor, nothing more," Linc grated. "She knew what you thought of her but she figured that was our private business. She was strictly professional the whole time."

Zandra turned around and faced him. "Well, it's all in the past now," she murmured. "And I don't really want to fight, Linc."

A tight tension in his chest unfurled at her words. He approached her with a faint smile of relief on his face. "Neither do I, Zandra."