Zac's head swam and his heart pounded as Emma responded to him the way he wanted her to. He hadn't planned on kissing her just then, but he looked so beautiful, the moonlight on her face and the breeze blowing through her already toussled hair. Her lips looked so soft and sweet. He wondered how she'd taste. If that pink lips gloss was strawberry or cherry, or if all he'd be able to taste was her own sweetness and, before he knew it, his lips were pressed to hers and she was responding. Her hands were in his hair, all over his back and chest as she opened her mouth to him and moaned softly, telling him that she wanted him, the he affected her the same way she affected him. He dug his fingers into her silky soft curls and pulled her mouth more fully onto his, knowing he wouldn't be close enough until their bodies were joined they way their mouths were. He wanted her so badly, and he was elated that she hadn't pushed him away. He kissed her, hungrily, over and over, the bulge in his pants becoming unbearably uncomfortable as her hands slipped over his body. He wanted desperately to feel her hands on his bare skin, feel her naked body against his. They were lost, oblivious to anything but each other, until the were jerked harshly back into the present by the icy spray of a wave crashing against the end of the pier. Emma took the brunt of the splash, her back being toward the water, and she was soaked. They looked intently at each other and then laughed. "Come on, Em.." Zac stood and helped her to her feet, "You'll freeze if we stay out here now." "That is an understatement.." she said through chattering teeth. Zac quickly took her jacket and had to avert his gaze when it settled on her hard nipples jutting out against the damp fabric of her t-shirt. He pulled his own jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders and Emma quickly shoved her arms in the sleeves, instantly relaxing in the warmth of his body still inside his jacket. "Thank you, Zac." she told him. She smiled up at him and the warmth from that made him quickly forget that he'd probably freeze his ass off all the way back to the car. "I always worry when the waves get that high out there.." she told him, "But it doesn't look like it's going to storm." She looked up at the sky. "That's the biggest, sturdiest pier I've seen besides Huntington, Em. I'm sure it's.." he began but she cut him off. "When I was a kid, half this pier went straight into the ocean after a really bad storm, Zac. It was awful. The stands and booths used to go almost to where we were sitting. That was the same year it snowed in LA...and the only reason I can talk about it like an old lady is because my mother has a cow everytime I come out here and I get a lecture." she laughed. "I might have been four or five years old when it happened, I can't remember what my mom said, but she took pictures..." Emma had to stop, because most of those pictures were long gone. Her father was in most of them, and her mother had burned them up when he left and never came back. "You okay, Em?" Zac asked when she stopped so suddenly. "Yeah." she sighed, "It was just sad, that's all." Zac put his arm around her and held her close to his side as they walked back to her car.

Zac could tell that Emma was still chilled to the bone, even in his large leather jacket, by the time they got back to her car. "Em..you okay, babe?" he asked. Her body was trembling and her teeth were chattering. "J-Just c-cold, Zac. I'll be okay once I s-start d-driving." she told him. "Gimme the keys, Em. I'll drive...at LEAST until you thaw out." he added quickly when she opened her mouth to protest. She nodded and handed him the keys. "Th-there's a b-blanket..in the..t-trunk..." she added, pulling his jacket tightly around her. Zac unlocked the doors, helped her into the passenger side, and quickly popped the trunk to get her that blanket. He helped her out of his jacket, wrapped the blanket around her, buckled her seatbelt and threw his jacket over the front of her, tucking it under her chin. He kissed her softly, and ran his hand through her damp curls. "You really need some dry clothes.." he said softly. "I usually k-keep a b-bag in the t-trunk with the blanket.." she shivered, "B-but I used th-them the other d-day and forgot t-to rep-pack it." she grinned at him and he could tell she was frustrated at her inability to speak without stuttering through chattering teeth. "I'll put the heat on for you, Em." he grinned, kissed her cheek, closed her door,and got in on the driver's side. He started the car, pulled out of the parking lot and cranked the heat to high. They drove for a while and Emma seemed to thaw slightly, but Zac could tell she was still cold, though she could talk to him without stuttering now. But Zac was unbearably hot and starting to sweat. "Zac..you can turn the heat off..you're.." she started to tel him, but he only smiled. "No way, I don't want your mom thinking I tried to drown you or freeze you to death." he said and put his knee against the steering wheel, to steady the car while he pulled his t-shirt off. He wiped his face with it and tossed it in the back seat. Emma's mouth hung open in shock, and a wave of desire overtook her as she satred at his strong, muscular, tanned and very bare chest. "What?" he asked innocently. She promptly closed her mouth and shook her head. "Jeez Hanson! And you bitch about my driving?" she laughed. "At least I never dress, or undress, while I am in control of a moving vehicle." He gave her a wicked smile. "Damn! I was kinda hoping.." "ZAC!" she giggled and felt herself blush, and suddenly she was warm. She poked her hand out of the blanket that Zac had her wrapped tightly in and pushed his jacket off her. He took it and tossed it in the back seat with his t-shirt. He grinned again and turned the stereo up a little. "Hey..you like this?" he asked, noticing it was a pre-set station. She nodded and reached to turn the volume up some more and he smiled, the song fit her. It was a classic rock station. "BORN...TO BE... WIIIILD..." came blaring out of the speakers and he visualized her sitting on the windowsill of her car, yelling at him to move it. Then he saw her as she was the night before, driving like a maniac and laughing because she made him nervous. The next picture of her in his head was of her dark curls, blowing against her cheek as she sped down the highway, along the beach, sunshine gleaming off her hair. The last one, before she asked him a question and brought him out of his thoughts, was of her twirling under the glowing lights of Santa Monica pier and then tugging him hurriedly by the hand. "Sorry Em. Music tends to lose me..." he apologized when she called to him, because he hadn't answered her question. "Yeah..like the ocean.." she sighed and forgot to ask him the question again.

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