BRING ON THE ZEX! Disclaimers in chapter 1

"SON OF A BITCH" she screamed as she threw her purse across the living room. She hadn't been to the condo since the night of the stabbing… or the accident, as it was now proven. She needed to get away after Zach had testified for Erica and, out of habit, she came here.

"How could he do this to me?" she cried to the walls as she collapsed on her couch, tears streaming down her face. Sure, she had been betrayed in the past, pushed aside for others, but Zach was the one person in her life who always put her first, always put her needs above her own. It broke her heart to listen to him defending Erica after all the hateful things she had said to Zach, all the hateful things she had said to Kendall about Zach. She curled up on the couch and buried her head in one of the pillows.

Not long after that, she felt a pair of arms go around her. She let these arms comfort her while she cried. Once her tears subsided, she got the energy to pull her head out of the pillow. As she looked up, she expected warm, loving dark brown eyes to be staring back at her, but she was shocked when she focused on blue ones.

"OH MY GOD!" she screamed, scrambling off the couch. She bolted across the room, breathing hard. "Jesus, Ryan, what the HELL are you doing here?"

He stood up and started to walk toward her, but she held up her hand, stopping him in his tracks. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "I saw you leave the courthouse upset and I thought that…"

"You thought what?"

"Well, I thought you might need a shoulder to cry on."

Kendall started to laugh. "Oh… my… God… you CAN'T be serious, right? Seriously, what are you doing here? Zach just saved your precious Erica – I figured you'd be kissing his ass right about now."

"But he hurt you."

"And since when do you give one rat's ASS about my feelings!" The anger had bubbled to the top and the more he kept talking, the more fuel he added to the fire.

Ryan walked over and grabbed her arms. "Kendall, of course I care. He hurt you, just like I said he would. Him siding with Erica must feel like the ultimate betrayal, especially after you sided with him, no questions asked. Kendall, I have tried to warn you over and over and over again about Alex Jr, but maybe now you will really see…"

"LET GO OF ME" she screamed as she yanked her right arm free and slapped him across the face for all she was worth. Ryan released her as her hand made contact with his face. She took a couple of steps back, shaking as he slowly turned toward her. When his eyes met her, she could see the anger and hate boiling inside of him.

Ryan quickly cornered her and grabbed her arms, pulling her flush against his body and shaking her violently. "What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you see I'm trying to put my family back together? Are you really so stupid as to still care for… THAT MAN after he betrayed you!"

"Oh SPARE ME Ryan" she spit back at him. "I do believe you went and married my BEST FRIEND just to get back at me. Talk about betrayal!"

Ryan pulled his right arm back and Kendall braced herself. "Why you stupid little…" But instead of feeling a hit, Kendall was suddenly on the floor. Kendall felt a pair of arms around her shoulder and looked up to see her sister sitting with her, tears in her eyes. They both looked toward the door.

"BRING IT ON LAVERY! WHAT… YOU CAN BEAT UP DEFENSELESS WOMEN BUT YOU WON'T TRY TO TAKE ON SOMEONE WHO COULD ACTUALLY PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE!" Zach's voice seemed to shake the walls of the condo. He had thrown Ryan into the wall and was waiting for him to get back up. Ryan slowly pulled himself off the floor and Zach quickly wrapped his hand around Ryan's throat, forcing him out the door. When they got to the threshold, Zach threw him out the door.

"If you EVER come near her again, believe me when I tell you that they will NEVER find your body!" Zach slammed the door shut and leaned against it, regaining his breath and trying to calm his nerves.

He heard Bianca say his name and he quickly turned around, all the anger washing away when he saw Kendall staring at him. She had curled up in the corner, arms wrapped around her body. Bianca pulled back as Zach made his way over to her. Without saying a word, he scooped her up in his arms, holding her as closely as he could.

"I'm going to make us some tea" he heard Bianca say as he walked toward her bedroom. He could feel her shaking in his arms and it broke his heart. He felt guilty – he should have never let her leave alone.

He kicked the door closed and sat down on the bed. He scooted back till he was propped up against the headboard. Kendall curled up in his lap and buried her head in his shoulder. He held her for what seemed like an eternity, until she stopped shaking and her breathing had returned to normal.

"You saved me." He almost missed her saying those words, since she spoke so lightly. "Always and forever" he replied, dropping a kiss on top of her head.

She finally pulled her head off his shoulder and looked up at him. "But why did you defend Erica? She hurt you."

He sighed and ran his fingers over her face, brushing the hair out of her eyes. "Kendall, Josh had to be stopped. I don't know all his reasons, but I do know that he hated Erica and her family. He had to be stopped before he decided that coming after Erica wasn't enough. I needed to stop him before he came after you and Bianca and Reggie and Lily. I had to keep you safe, but I still let Lavery come after you yet again. Keeping you from one maniac seemed to send you straight toward another, and I'm sorry for that."

"Oh Zach…" She couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face again. "Zach, I'm sorry I got so mad back at the courthouse. I should have heard you out, let you talk instead of running away.

He smiled at her. "No worries, my love. If there is one thing I love, it's chasing you." She laughed at the absurdity of that comment, but her laughter died as he pulled her face to his for a kiss. She could feel the love radiating through that kiss. She felt safe with him and the kiss just sealed that for her. She sighed as he swiped his tongue across her lips and turned her head, deepening the kiss.

They pulled apart when they heard a knock on the bedroom door. They laughed as Bianca stuck her head in the door, eyes closed.

"You can open your eyes, Binks. Everyone is decent." Kendall laughed as she crawled off of Zach's lap and off the bed. Bianca opened her eyes and ran over to her sister, throwing her arms around Kendall. "Are you alright?" Bianca asked, pulling back and looking over her sister.

Kendall grabbed her chin. "Bianca, I'm fine. But thank God you two got here when you did."

Bianca sighed and smiled. "Well, I've got tea ready if you want it."

Kendall looked back at Zach who slid off the bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, escorting her out to the living room.

Zach shut the door behind Bianca and he turned to face Kendall. She had relaxed a lot since the whole Ryan episode and it warmed his heart to see her smiling at him again.

"Come here" she said, holding out her arms. Zach came around the couch and sat down next to her. She pulled herself up into his lap and kissed him on the cheek.

"I want something."

He smiled at her. "Name it. Anything you want."

"I want you to take me away."

"Kendall, are you sure that…."

"Look, Zach, I just… it's just been too much recently. This whole Ryan thing this afternoon was just the icing on the cake. I want some time away from the craziness of Pine Valley. I want it to be just us. It hasn't been just me and you since New Year's. I'm tired of the looks, of having to defend us every time I turn around. I need to get away for just a little while and I want you to make that happen."

He smiled at her. He knew he could never deny her anything. "Well…"

Her ears perked up at this. "What?"

"Well, I've been putting off a trip to Vegas because of everything that has been going on. I didn't want to leave you here by yourself, unprotected. But…"

She pulled herself closer to him. "Let's go. Let's go tomorrow."

He threw his head back and laughed. "Why not? I'll make all the arrangements tomorrow and we will leave tomorrow night. Is that soon enough for you?"

She smirked at him. "Well, I would prefer to go right now, but I guess tomorrow night will be fine." She caught him stifling a yawn. "You tired?"

He ran his fingers through her hair. "A bit. It's been a long couple of days."

"But, are you feeling alright? You aren't in any pain or anything, are you?"

He loved her concern. "I'm fine. Just a little drained."

She wagged her eyebrows at him. "I hope not too much."

"What?"

She shot off the couch. "Nothing. I say we go to bed. I'm going to go brush my teeth and what-not. Will you…" she asked, waving her hand around the living room. Zach nodded and she turned and headed toward the bathroom. Zach pulled himself off the couch and turned out all the lights, taking one good look around outside before he locked the door.

He flipped on her small table lamp and pulled back the covers when he felt her presence behind him. He turned to say something to her, but stopped when he saw her. She stood there, leaning against the door jam in nothing but a dark red negligee, one strap hanging off her shoulder.

She smiled at him. The look on his face was priceless – eyes bulging out of his head, mouth hanging open. "So, by the look on your face, I'm going to assume that you approve of this new purchase I made yesterday" she said, sauntering over to him. She ran her hand down his chest as he ran his eyes up and down her body.

"Kendall…" he choked out. "What… I'm not…"

She leaned into him, winding her hands around his neck. "Oh, did I not tell you? I'm sorry. Well, I had a visit with Dr. Madden a couple of days ago. We had a nice, looong chat about… well, our current situation. He checked over every thing and well… it would seem that things are progressing nicely and that I could resume a normal life, so to speak."

"Normal?" he squeaked out.

"Yeah, normal in every sense of the word. In fact, he said that as long as we didn't do anything too… wild that there was no reason why would couldn't…."

Her words were lost as he crushed his mouth against hers. The brute force of the kiss made her knees buckle. He wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up off the floor. He carried her a couple of steps and laid her out on the bed, leaning over her.

"Kendall, are you sure that…" She pushed herself up on her hands and silenced him with a soul-searing kiss. She quickly pushed against his chest, forcing him to stand up. She slid off the bed and stood in front of him.

"Zach, I am more than sure. Now, you are wearing too many clothes." Zach couldn't put a coherent thought together in his head as she started to open the buttons on his shirt, never breaking eye contact with him. As she freed the last button, she reached up and pushed the shirt off his shoulders and down his arms. She smirked at him and placed a hot, open-mouthed kiss in the middle of his chest.

"Oh my god…" he growled out, slamming his eyes shut as she ran her hands around his waist and started to work open his pants. She slowly lowered the zipper and he felt the pants and boxers fall from his hips. He quickly step out of them and kicked them aside, pulling her flush against his body.

The feel of him against her was almost too much for her to bear. He was making her head spin and they hadn't done anything yet.

"You're a vixen sent here to try to kill me" he growled into her ear, sucking her lobe into his mouth. She moaned loudly, unable to do anything more. He turned them and fell back onto the bed, Kendall lying on top of him.

They were frantic in their need for each other from the moment they hit the bed. Kendall pushed herself off of him, resting on her legs. He pushed himself up to her and pulled her flush to his chest, leaving a trail of kisses down her neck. He pulled his lips of her neck and looked at her. She smiled down at him and he thought he was going to explode.

"Screw it" he said, grabbing the bottom of the negligee and yanking it over her head. She barely recovered before he began kissing her breasts. "Oh my God…Zach!" she yelled as he pulled her nipple into his mouth. She buried her fingers in his hair, holding his head to her chest. He ripped his mouth off of one breast and quickly attached it to the other, sending her senses into overdrive. Her mind was dizzy and she felt like her skin was on fire.

She moaned loudly and he pulled back, looking at her. She was breathing heavily, desire filling her eyes. "Oh God… Zach… I need…"

"What do you need?" he asked, palming her breasts with both hands. She threw her head back and moaned. "Oh God… Zach, I need you… right… now."

Zach lifted her off his lap, grinning when she tried to protest. He shifted their position slightly and pulled her back down onto him, entering her as she landed back on his lap. The unexpected contact made them both scream the others' name. Kendall grabbed onto Zach's shoulders and moved her hips on top of him. He couldn't take his eyes off of her – the way she had a wisp of a smile on her face as she writhed around on top of him, they way she threw her head back when he moved in a certain way, the way she kept panting his name – he found it all captivating. He could see her reaching her climax – her chest flushed along with her face. When she opened her eyes to look at him as she screamed his name sent him over the edge with her. He pulled her against him and slammed into her a couple more times, spilling into her as she screamed his name one last time.

"Oh my God" she said, giggling as they fell back onto the bed.

"You aren't kidding" he said, closing his eyes, trying to come down from his high. She buried her head in his chest and started to laugh. Zach couldn't help himself – he started to laugh with her. As her laughs subsided, she crawled off of him and propped her head up on his chest.

"Ok, so you want to share what was so funny now?"

She smirked at him. "Well, I was just thinking that you were right."

He opened his eyes and looked at her. "About?"

"That it was going to be worth it. You were totally right about that." He pulled her up to him, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Well, of course. It was perfect, Kendall, absolutely perfect."

She snuggled against him and he wrapped his arms around her as she shivered. "C'mon, let's get under the covers. We've got a trip to take tomorrow and we could both use the sleep."

Kendall flipped off the lamp as Zach pulled the covers up around them. She turned on her side and Zach wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. He placed a light kiss on her temple and she snuggled back against him. They both immediately fell asleep, feeling completely peaceful for the first time in a long time.

TBC….