Chapter Eight
“Is there anything I can do to help plan this shindig?”
Penny looked up at Cassie, who’d just come into the room, bearing the day’s receipts.
“No. And you can give those to me and go meet Shane. I know he’s out there flitting around, waiting for you.”
“He can wait.” Cassie sat down. “Penny, do you date at all?”
Penny pushed her glasses up her nose and paused. “It was hard, losing Ben. He was like the other half of my heart. For the longest time I couldn’t even imagine being with anyone else. In the last year or so I’ve been on a few dates here and there. I haven’t met anyone who could hold a candle to Ben’s memory. Still, it hurts less and I feel like I’m waking after a long sleep. Why? You’re not planning on fixing me up are you?”
Cassie laughed. “Hell, Penny, I don’t know anyone other than you and the Chases. Matt’s pretty hot. And Marc, well, a younger man could be just what the doctor ordered.”
Penny burst out laughing. “I grew up with those boys. They’re like my cousins so while I can appreciate all that handsome, I can’t see them like that. And I am quite sure Marc would wear me into nothingness. His prowess is pretty legendary.”
“I was just wondering. After being married and having it not be the best experience, it’s odd to be dating again and have it be so different. Better. I’m a bit giddy even but I’m not quite sure what to do. What to expect. I thought you might have some sage advice.”
Penny patted her arm. “Honey, I’m no sage. All I can tell you is to go on and enjoy yourself. Anyone with eyes can see Shane thinks you hang the moon. You two are good people. The two of you can be good together if you just let go a bit.”
Cassie stood. “We’re headed out to The Pumphouse, you want to come with?”
“I have a date with a pedicure. I’ll see you for brunch on Sunday.”
“All right, come on over and show us your fancy new toes if you’re up for it.”
Shane nearly swallowed his tongue when Cassie emerged from the back of the store. She’d pulled her hair away from her face and was wearing shiny red lip gloss. Her sneakers had been replaced with sandals that showed off those sexy red toenails. The jeans and pretty T-shirt had been exchanged for a knee-length skirt that rippled like water when she walked and a tank top-like blouse with buttons down the front. The casual professional look had transformed into something ultra-feminine and sexy with the addition of the sandals and some jewelry.
“I just needed to freshen up a bit.”
He smiled and kissed her forehead. “A bit, huh? You look gorgeous.”
“And you smell good and look handsome. It’s going to be a shame beating a man at pool who looks so good.”
“You’re awfully cocky.”
“For good reason. Now come on.”
Chuckling, he led her out the door where she locked up and they took the two-block stroll down to The Pumphouse.
“Go on and play with your brothers for a while. I’m going to have a few beers and gossip with Maggie, Liv and Dee. Then I’ll be over to kick your ass.”
One handed, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her flush with his body. “If it wouldn’t smear that sexy lip gloss, I’d lay a kiss or two on you,” he murmured, eyes locked on hers.
“Go on ahead, Sheriff. It’s kiss-proof. And even if it wasn’t, it’s cherry flavored and I have more in my purse.”
Her eyes fluttered closed as his lips met hers in a soft, brief and yet bone-melting kiss. He didn’t even use his tongue and she was nearly panting when he pulled back.
He licked his lips. “Mmmm, cherries. Very nice, darlin’, very nice indeed. I’ll see you in a while.”
Cassie waved at him and stumbled into the booth where her friends waited.
“Uh, hello? The two of you have so much chemistry I’m all hot and bothered now. Sheesh, I’m going to jump on Brody the minute he gets off work tonight.”
Blushing, Cassie grinned at Liv. “He’ll thank me then, won’t he?”
“I don’t need to ask if you two had worked everything out from Tuesday night then.” Maggie poured Cassie a beer and pushed it in her direction.
“He came over on Wednesday and we talked for hours. And kissed, a lot. He’s a great kisser.”
“He is. Not as good as Kyle, but definitely award winning.”
Cassie stilled. “How do you know?”
Maggie blinked several times and stammered a bit. “I thought you knew.”
“Knew what?”
“Shane and I dated before I got together with Kyle. It was just a few times and he dumped me and acted like a total ass. He’s long since made up for it and has really grown. It was nothing, Cassie. God, he never looked at me with half the emotion he shows when he looks at you. I thought you knew.”
“I can’t believe no one told me!”
“Are you mad at me? It was nearly three years ago. I swear to you, Cassie, it was nothing. He really cares about you. Talks about you all the time.”
“Well, I don’t know. I’m not used to being around people who’ve kissed my boyfriend. It’s weird.”
Liv sighed and leaned toward Cassie. “Cassie, I’m going to say this as your friend and I want you to listen and take this to heart, okay? Shane has been with a lot of women in this town. I’m not going to lie to you about it. In this bar alone I count at least eight he’s dated and it’s early yet. He wasn’t a slut as much as a guy who loved a lot of women. He’s thirty-four, that’s a lot of dating years.
“I want you to also hear me when I tell you that he’s never dated a single one of them, including Maggie, for more than two weeks at a time. Shane hasn’t dated since the night you came to town. You’re it for him, Cassie. When a man like that falls, he falls hard and all the way. There’s no middle ground for a guy like Shane.” Liv smiled.
“And you will have to deal with jealous women, Cassie. I’m sorry to tell you but I know from experience. Not that I’m jealous of you and Shane,” Maggie added hurriedly, “but I’ve had to deal with a lot of it with Kyle. If you let them get to you, you’re letting them win. Don’t. I can tell you without a doubt that Shane is not interested in any woman on this planet other than you. And I’m sorry if finding out Shane and I dated a few years ago bothers you or caught you by surprise.”
Cassie sighed and looked toward the pool table. When she did, she saw the interested glances of women trying to catch the eyes of the brothers there, including Shane. But when he looked up, it was she his eyes sought out, not anyone else.
He must have seen her distress because he handed his cue to Matt and came toward them.
Not wanting to have a conversation at the table with the other women listening, she got up and met him halfway, near the arches that separated the seating area from the games section with the pool tables, darts and pinball machines.
Stopping just a hair’s breadth away from her body he lifted a hand to touch her face. “You okay, darlin’?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you dated Maggie?”
He looked over her shoulder toward the table but Cassie’s voice brought his gaze back to her face.
“That’s the kind of sneaky thing that bugs me. Why look over there for clues if you didn’t have anything to hide?”
“You looking for a reason to push me away, Cassie? Hmm? Because I am quite sure Maggie told you what it was between she and I—nothing. Two dates. I dumped her because she was nice and I was worried I may actually have feelings for her at some point. I was an asshole. But it was her and Kyle from day one. Once they got together it was forever.
“I didn’t think to tell you. It happened years ago. You said you knew about my history. I’ve dated a lot of women, hell, a lot of women in this bar right now.”
“Yes, so I’ve heard.”
One of the corners of his mouth lifted and the furrows in his brow smoothed. “You’re jealous, darlin’? Because flattering as it may be, it’s unnecessary. I’m with you. You and no one else. Not ever again. But I can’t change my past. I’m sorry if that hurts you. I really am.”
“Jealous? Puhleeze.”
He laughed out loud that that. “Darlin’, you don’t think it’s hard for me to see the men watch you as you walk through any room you’re in? I also have a history of being cheated on. It’s hard to trust you. All I can do is take it on faith that you wouldn’t do that to me. And all I ask is that you do the same.”
“It’s weird, knowing one of my friends has had sex with you.”
“Maggie told you we had sex?” His voice rose a bit.
“No, not in so many words. You dated, you’re a very...sexual man, I just put two and two together.”
“We did not have sex. Do you want to know how far it went? If you do, I need another drink because it’s kinda creepy now that I think of her like my little sister.”
“Was there naked?”
He thought about it. “I can’t remember. There wasn’t orgasm. Nothing like what we shared in your apartment on Wednesday.”
She shivered at the memory and he nearly purred in her ear. “Oh, darlin’, seeing you react that way as you think about my hands on you, my mouth, your taste in my throat, it does me in.”
“Wh-where do you get all this stuff?” Her voice was shaky. The way he affected her shook her to her core.
“That’s not a line. I want to tell you all the things you do to me, all the things I want to do to you. You have no idea how you make me feel do you? Standing here in the middle of this crowded place, I want to back you against the wall and take you. I want to lay you on one of the pool tables and look down on your body as I thrust into it. I want you so much my hands are in my pocket because I’m afraid they’d shake.”
A flush ran through her. “Oh. My.”
“Oh my indeed, darlin’. I’m going to kiss you now, here in this bar, and I don’t care who sees it.”
“Oh, okay,” she said faintly as her arms encircled his neck like they’d wanted to all along.
He kissed her, not with the raw sexuality he’d shown in her apartment but it was still a kiss that she felt all the way to the tips of her toes. Holy cow the man could kiss. He tasted of beer and the spearmint of his gum and Shane and everything in her body tightened in response.
When he released her, she dimly heard applause and some hooting from his brothers.
“Wow.” She licked her lips.
“Wow isn’t a big enough word for the way you make me feel, Cassie. There is no one else. There hasn’t been since the first moment I clapped eyes on you.”
“You make me weak in the knees, Shane Chase. And you make me think I may not be as broken as I’d feared.”
He smiled. “That’s the best compliment I’ve ever gotten.”
“Yeah? Come on back to my apartment and I’ll give you a few more.”
His joyous smile turned wicked. “Is that so?”
She nodded.
“Give me ten minutes to finish up with my brothers. Why don’t we go to my house? You haven’t seen it yet and you can, if you want to, sleep over. In my bed or in my guest room. I’ll let you decide that one, I’m rather biased on the subject.”
“Got any food there?”
He grinned. “I just went grocery shopping earlier tonight. I have fresh peaches and strawberries. I can think of a few things to do with them before eating them.”
“Oh?” Her voice was faint as she pondered the possibilities.
“I’ll let you think on it. Be by in ten to grab you. You okay? Are we okay?”
She nodded. “I don’t like being taken by surprise. I don’t expect you to be a virgin. I knew you were a player and all. But that it was Maggie just surprised me. You haven’t been with Penny, Liv or Dee have you?”
“No, darlin’, I haven’t.”
“I’m going back to the table. See you in ten.”
“Go on then, I’ll just stand here and watch.” She rolled her eyes.
“Is everything all right?” Maggie’s voice sounded sad.
“I’m not mad at you, Maggie. I was just surprised. It’s fine. I talked to Shane. He and I are fine. You and I are fine. It’s all fine.”
Maggie leaned back, sighing in relief. “Thank goodness.”
“That was some kiss. I don’t think I’ve seen him kiss a woman in public twice in one night and certainly not like that. Whew. I need to go home to Arthur. I’m sure Michael is in bed by now and I’m all hot and bothered.” Dee shoved her way out of the booth and stood.
“I’ll see you soon, Dee.” Dee and Cassie hugged and Dee hurried out the door toward home and her husband.
“And I’ll be going soon too. Shane and I are nipping out early.”
“To do what?” A single eyebrow rose and Liv struggled not to smile. “To play Scrabble.” Cassie’s voice was deadpan.
“Naked Scrabble?” Liv asked, laughing.
“I’ve never thought of that. Dude, that’s a great idea. Strip Scrabble. I’m so getting the board out tonight to see if I can’t lose badly to Kyle.” Maggie winked.
* * *
“Just wow. Man oh man, Shane. I don’t think I’ve ever been jealous of you over a woman before but Cassie is sinfully beautiful. And incredibly sexy.” Marc leaned his butt against the table next to theirs.
“What was that all about?” Matt interjected before his little brother could goad Shane any further.
“Maggie mentioned she and I dated a few times. Cassie was caught off guard. It’s all fine now.”
“I saw that. That was some ‘all fine now’ liplock there, Shane.” Kyle took a shot and sank it. “You find out anything about this ex of hers? I’m looking forward to finding him and helping you kick the shit out of him.”
“Nothing. I’ve done some snooping with her name and social security number but I can’t find any records. Some domestic violence records shield the victim so that may be the case. All I have is that the husband’s first name is Terry. I couldn’t find anything on Terry Gambol but she may not have taken his name when they got married.”
“Does she know you’re doing this? Obviously not if you’re having to piece it all together this way.” Matt sighed uneasily. “I don’t think she’s going to be pleased if she finds out you’re investigating without her knowledge.”
“I know, I know. But I want to protect her. God help me, I am falling so fast for this woman I’m in a tailspin. The idea of anyone hurting her kills me. It’s just a little bit of snooping. Just to help.”
His brothers looked at him skeptically.
“I’m out of here. She and I are on our way to my house and if any of you losers calls me and interrupts me with a flat tire or any kind of police emergency, I’ll kick your ass.”
He heard their laughter as he turned and saw the woman he was well on his way to being in love with, waiting for him, wearing a smile.
* * *
Nervousness began to creep into her stomach as they drove. The sex, or foreplay she supposed, between them two nights past had been wonderful but Terry’s words were still in her head.
Shane held her hand as he drove them to his place in his big truck. She watched the light of the streetlamps and then the moon, on his face.
“Oh hey, this is Penny’s neighborhood. I didn’t know you lived so close.” Cassie didn’t know why but the thought of Penny’s nearness made her feel better.
“Yeah, she’s just three houses down. Ben and I were good friends, went to school together along with Penny.”
He pulled into his driveway. His house was built in the Craftsman style, not something she’d seen often around Petal. Two large oak trees dominated the front yard, providing shade to the front of the house. The entire front lawn was beautifully landscaped with wildflowers and roses.
“Wow, this is so not what I expected.” She joined him and they walked up to the porch.
“What? You expected some two-room bachelor pad with potato chip bags strewn around?”
“No, not really. But this is truly beautiful. So well put together. I don’t think I’ve seen a Craftsman-style home around these parts at all. And the landscaping is just gorgeous.”
“The landscaping is all Kyle. Wait until you see the back. One of my friends, the faithless asshole who cheated with Sandra, my ex, was...is a builder. He helped me with the plans and then my brothers, father, uncle and cousins all came out here and did a lot of the work, from the framing to the paintwork. I love this place.” He opened the door and motioned her inside.
She watched as he turned off and re-set the alarm system. “Just for the front of the house. I’ll show you the back. I want you to know you’re always safe here. Come on through.”
He led her through a big, open living room with exposed wood beams, hardwood floors and large windows. Dark greens and brick reds accented the space. It was a very masculine space dominated by leather couches and deep club chairs. A large fireplace fronted with river rock took up most of one wall.
He opened up glass doors to a view that took her breath away. The large wooden deck overlooked a grassy lawn that sloped down to the lake’s edge. Pretty citronella candles hung on stands around the railing and furniture surrounded a sizable, built-in outdoor grill.
The moon’s light reflected from the glassy surface of the lake, illuminating the whole yard. Hedges lined the boundary of his property and she saw little seating areas dotted here and there. Roses climbed the trunk of an oak and she smelled the star jasmine in the air.
“You’re full of surprises, aren’t you, Sheriff?”
“I’m glad you like it here. It’s an oasis for me. A place I can come home and leave all my work bullshit at the door. My family comes out and we barbecue and watch the sunset. It’s a good life.” He looked down into her face. “And now it’s better.”
He turned into her body and she rose to meet his kiss as he bent his head to hers.
Cassie’s body melted into his embrace. Her heart beat in time with his, pounding reassuringly against her palm on his chest.
After he broke the kiss, he murmured against her lips, “Would you like to take a walk in the moonlight with me?”
She nodded, leaning down to kick off her sandals. The grass felt cool under her bare feet and his hand in hers felt anchoring and strong.
“You’ve really built a place for yourself here, Shane. It’s beautiful. The inside and the outside.”
“I’m glad you like it. I really am.” And he was. Ridiculously so. That she approved made him happy. He realized he wanted her approval on the thing he cared about so much. His house was an extension of him and he’d worked hard on every last bit of it, had a hand in everything. He liked having her there with him. A lot.
“Wow, you even have a dock.”
He chuckled. “I do. It’s more to jump off for swimming than for a boat. The lake isn’t that big or deep really.”
“Do you sail?”
“I’ve done it from time to time. A friend of our family has a boat and I go out a few times a year with him. I take it you do? I can hear the affection in your voice.”
They stopped and she bent to pick up a stone from the rocky lakeshore and skipped it. “I used to. When we were first married, we lived in an apartment in Newport Beach. Not very far from the marina. We had a boat for a while but Terry didn’t like to sail and he sold it. I haven’t been in some years now.”
“Did you live near water too, then? I love hearing the sound of the shoreline, the water lapping against the rocks.”
“Our house was in the hills overlooking the ocean. I gave it to him after the divorce. I just wanted to be free of him. I didn’t care about the stuff.”
“Do you miss it? Your house?”
She shook her head. “No. It was never mine anyway. He bought it. He decorated it. It was his. I was just another one of the things he owned.”
Shane’s jaw clenched and unclenched. “I hate hearing you talk that way.”
“It’s the truth, Shane. For years I was a thing. An accessory and at times, not even a very good one according to him. I know he was wrong. But that’s what I was.” She shrugged. “I’m working to be more than that now.”
“You’re not an accessory to me. I just can’t wrap my head around it. How any man wouldn’t cherish you with every fiber of his being.”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I hate that it’s this constant thing in my life.” She turned her body away from him and looked out at the water. “Damn it, I’m more than the poor battered wife. Fuck, I feel like I should wear a nametag or something. It’s why I didn’t want to tell anyone about it. That’s all you see. That’s all anyone sees.”
He moved to stand behind her, encircling her with his arms. “That’s not true, Cassie. It’s not all I see. It’s part of your past, yes. It goes into making you who you are now—a strong woman. A survivor. You’re smart, and competent and the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Inside and out, I like you, Cassie. You. Not your past, not your zip code, but you. But I can’t deny, and neither can you, that what happened to you shaped who you are now. Just like the things that happened to me shaped me. We don’t have to talk about it anymore tonight. There are far better things to do with our time.”
He brushed his lips over her neck where it met her shoulder and she lost the rigidity in her spine, relaxing into him. He felt good behind her. The water from the lake lapped against her toes over and over with the beat of her heart.
Silence stretched as he held her, kissed her neck and shoulders with soft heat. She asked herself if she could have sex with this man and her body agreed right off and soon enough, her mind agreed. It was something she’d been thinking over a lot. But she wasn’t afraid of him. She trusted him to take care with her and if she was going to live beyond those years with Terry, she had to move on with her life. Build a future and that included sex. Or she hoped it would.
“Stay right here. I’ll be back in a minute.” Her back felt cool when he moved away and jogged up to the house, disappearing inside.
She wandered up a path lined with sweet-smelling flowers and bushes. His steps sounded against the decking and down onto the grass. He hesitated and she called out softly, “I’m here on the path.”
“Ah.” He showed up around the corner and held up a blanket. “I thought we could lie under the stars. What do you think?”
“Lie?” One corner of her mouth quirked up.
“Well, uh, if you wanted to just lie, that would be fine. I’d be happy to hold you in my arms as we looked up at the stars. On the other hand, I’d be even happier to see your skin bathed in moonlight as I made love to you. I want you, Cassie. But I want you to be okay with that. I don’t want you to feel rushed or pressured.”
“Hmm. Well, why don’t you spread it out in this little area here, it’s totally walled off by the plants and no one could see us. You know, if we got up to something no one should see.”
Moving around her body, he spread the blanket out and held his hand out to her.
Taking a deep breath, her brain and her body in accord, she grabbed his hand and let him draw her down onto the blanket.
On her back, she looked up into his face and smiled. A lock of his hair slid forward rakishly. She could tell he was being very careful but she was sick of it.
She put her hands on his shoulders. “Shane, don’t be so careful with me. I won’t break. I can’t guarantee something weird won’t trigger something but I don’t want this thing between us to be so fragile. I wasn’t always this fucked up.”
A look so tender slid across his face it made her draw breath quickly. His mouth covered hers in an intense kiss. The kind of kiss that makes a woman forget to breathe.
Cassie’s hands pulled at his shirt, as she gave in to her sudden need to feel his bare skin. Breaking the kiss quickly, he sat up and pulled the shirt off over his head and she put a hand on his chest to stay him.
Impossibly broad shoulders led to a wide chest, covered with just the right amount of the same brown-blond hair on his head. The hand that had stayed him slid over the hard muscle of his pecs down to his flat, hard nipple and he sucked in a breath but remained still as she looked her fill and explored him with her hands.
Muscled arms held his upper body away from her as she traced down from his nipple to each ridge of his abdomen. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Dear sweet heaven, the man had a real six pack.
A trembling fingertip traced around his navel and south along the trail of hair that she was sure led to his cock but his jeans were in the way. She tapped the button. “This is a problem.”
“I want to look at you, too.” His voice was strangled. In it she heard how much control it took to hold himself still for her inspection.
She licked suddenly dry lips. “I...”
He watched her as he slid off the skirt and looked at her long legs and panties. Boy was she glad she wore the pair of pretty ones she’d bought a few weeks back on a whim.
“Your pants.” She tipped her chin in his direction.
What should have been awkward for any regular person, he made graceful as he shimmied out of his jeans while still sitting. One eyebrow rose as he touched the waistband of his boxers, asking how far she wanted to go. At her nod he pulled them off and she widened her eyes and blinked a few times.
“Wow.”
He stopped for a moment and then laughed. “Oh, Cassie, you’re so good for me.”
“Shane, you’re beautiful. So big and muscled and, damn, I’m drowning in testosterone. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a naked man who was more masculine and handsome. Hell, any man more masculine and handsome.”
“Thank you. Now, I’m at a bit of a disadvantage here, Cassie. I’m buck naked and you are not.”
Oh how she wished she didn’t have fourteen scars on her upper back and neck from where Terry had stabbed her with the broken handle from the hammer he’d used to break her fingers. Wished she had a body she could show him without reservation. But her breasts weren’t as high as they’d been when she was in her twenties and Terry always complained about the roundness of her thighs and the swell of her belly. She already felt overexposed with her skirt off, she really didn’t know how she’d hide the scars if she didn’t have her shirt on.
“That’s some internal dialog you’ve got going on in there, darlin’.” He tapped her forehead. “You want to stop?”
“No.” She shook her head vehemently and to underline that, she took his cock in her fist and pumped. He was so hard she felt him throb in her palm.
He hissed. “Holy shit!”
“Do you have condoms?”
“Condoms? Plural? My, you’re ambitious. I like that.” He leaned over and pulled three foil packets out of the pocket of his pants and held them up for her to see. “Three. I know, it’s very hopeful of me.”
She laughed and slid her thumb over the head of his cock, smearing his come there.
“Okay, hold it back there, Ace. You keep doing that and we won’t be needing a condom. I’ll come in your fist like a freshman in the backseat of a Chevy and be so embarrassed I won’t be able to face you in the morning. I keep telling you, we have time, Cassie. Let’s take it. And yet, you still have your shirt on.”
She lay back and pulled each button on the front of the camisole free and the two halves of the eyelet cotton slid apart, exposing her bra and her belly. She figured she’d leave it on and between that, the dark and her hair, her scars would stay hidden. And to further distract him, she hooked her thumbs in the waist of her panties and shimmied out of them.
“Now, where were we?” Eyes locked with his, she watched as his gaze broke free and slid down her body. The intensity of his attention had her drawing her knees together and trying to cover her breasts with her hands.
Shane moved to stop her, placing his hands over hers. “Shhh, don’t hide yourself from me. Cassie, you’re amazing. More beautiful than I could have imagined.” Letting go of her hands, his fingertips grazed over the curve of each breast, popping the catch on the bra. “I want to see your breasts bathed in moonlight.”
The tenderness of his words, of his touch, moved her deeply. Tears stung the back of her eyes. How long had it been since a man had touched her that way?
“Cassie? Honey?”
She shook her head, lips pressed together to hold back the tears. Her hands came up to put his on her again.
Leaning down he laid a kiss on her chest, just over her heart. “I hate seeing you in pain. We can stop, go inside, watch a movie on the couch. I can wait for you. You’re worth it.”
The tears slipped free then. “Shane, I don’t want you to stop. I promise. I’m sorry I’m such a mess.”
“You’re not a mess, Cassie. You’re working to get past something terrible. Why are you crying?”
“It’s nothing bad. Please, I can’t talk about it right now. Just touch me again. Make love to me. I need you.”
His lips found her cheeks and he kissed away the salt of her tears and then back down to her chest. His movements were slow and gentle, giving her the time and space to stop him if she needed to.
Shane gloried in the beauty of her body, in the fragile shell that lay around her heart. But she kept on and didn’t quit. His woman was everything. He stilled as he insinuated himself between her thighs.
The enormity of that statement hit him. She was his woman. She’d held his attention from the first moment but each time he thought of her it built in him, attention became attraction became something more intense.
There was no fear though. The shadow of worry passed. The moment when he’d run out the door on Maggie became clear to him. It wasn’t that they could have had this thing he shared with Cassie. It was that Maggie wasn’t Cassie. His heart knew what he needed and it was the woman stretched beneath him.
He wanted to heal every hurt she’d ever endured. Wanted to let her know that even broken women deserved passion and love.
And suddenly his need for her was so intense that his hands shook with it.
Sliding his palms up her ribs, he took the curve of her breasts into his hands, holding them so he could taste the hard nipples begging for his mouth.
Triumph roared through his system when she gasped and arched into him, her fingers digging into his upper arms.
The moment Shane’s mouth closed around her nipple, Cassie’s hesitancy was gone. Instead, desire coursed through her with each pull of lips and tongue against the sensitive flesh of her nipple. The edge of his teeth just barely skimmed over her and a deep, shuddering moan came from low in her gut.
Her squirms placed his cock against her pussy, pressing against her slick heat, and they both stilled on a gasp.
“Oh hell. Okay, let me move away a bit or I’m liable to just plunge into you without a condom. You feel so good.” When he shimmied down her body he left a trail of kisses down her ribs and belly.
When he knelt between her thighs the sheer size of him held her legs apart. “You’re so wet, I can see you glistening in the light.” Two fingertips dipped into her and, eyes still locked with hers, he brought those fingers to his mouth.
The sheer carnality of the action rendered her utterly speechless. Instead, she opened her mouth but no sound came out as her eyes widened.
“So good. I need more. Are you ready for that, Cassie?” She nodded quickly. Oh hell yes she was ready for that!
He chuckled as he settled himself on his belly. His thumbs spread her open to his gaze just before leaning forward to take a long lick from her gate up and around her clit.
Her hands slid through the softness of his hair, thick and cool against her fingers. His tongue flicked up quickly over her clit until she began to see white lights against her closed eyelids, until she began to feel the burn in her thigh muscles and the flush working its way up her body.
He angled his hand, sliding two fingers up and into her pussy, twisting his wrist to find that sweet bump, the pressure against it feeling so good it nearly hurt.
There was no time to think about how Terry hadn’t gone down on her in years and how he’d never made her feel good and delicious and sexy like Shane did at that moment. There was only the intense sensation of his mouth on her, his fingers inside her and the open sky above them.
When climax hit, an arc of pleasure shot up her spine with blinding intensity. Her back arched as she rolled her hips into him, helpless to do more than bite back the cry of joy, instead, whispering his name.
Shane remained there, nestled between her thighs, until her pussy stopped spasming around his fingers.
“You’re very good at that,” she gasped out, eyes still closed.
“Darlin’, you’re the tastiest thing this side of the Mason Dixon.”
She laughed and he loved the sound. It wasn’t one he heard that often from her so he treasured it all the more. So damned beautiful and sexy and she had no idea.
“It’s my turn now. I want to taste you.” She tried to sit up but he moved quickly, leaning over her, reaching for a condom.
“Darlin’, if you do that, it’ll all be over before it starts. I want to be inside you when I come. I’ve been dreaming of it. Later, I promise you can suck my cock all you want.” One handed, he rolled the condom on while keeping his weight off her. “Are you still okay with this?”
She reached up and caressed his cheek. “Yes. So okay with it I’m shaking like it’s my first time.”
“Well, it’s your first time with me. That’s what counts.”
She laughed then. “Of course.”
Without breaking his gaze with hers, he reached down and guided himself to her gate and slowly began to push inside. She was slick from her recent climax and relaxed but still blindingly tight. Beads of sweat broke out over his forehead.
“Fuck...sorry. You’re so tight. I don’t want to hurt you.” And he didn’t want to come before he’d even got halfway inside her either.
Her legs slid up and around his waist, ankles locking at the small of his back, opening her up more fully to him. “It’s been a while. Two years. Apparently I’ve been saving up for the good stuff.”
He grinned and leaned down for a quick kiss. “You trying to get in my pants with all that flattery, Ms. Gambol?”
“I believe I’m already there, Sheriff Chase.”
“Indeed you are.” With one last grunt, he seated himself fully within her.
With slow intensity, he dragged nearly all the way out before sliding back into her. Before too long, she matched his movements with a roll of her hips, her body meeting his, swallowing him, pulling him back inside.
The thought that she was made for him, her body was a haven for his own, flashed through his mind. He cupped the back of her head in one palm, protecting her from the ground below.
He wished it was as easy to protect her from her ex, from the past that had her flinching in the presence of unknown men.
Cassie looked up into his face as her body met his in an easy rhythm. Their breath mingled, the scent of honeysuckle and star jasmine hung thick in the warm night air. The lap, lap, lap of the lake against the shore was like a metronome to their movements.
The way he sliced through her pussy as he thrust into her was so intense it rode up her spine. Her body just molded to his, made room for him like he was meant to be there.
His gaze tenderly roved over her features and there were moments when she felt like he saw straight to her soul.
“Are you with me, darlin’?” His voice was soft and he held his weight off her with his upper arms.
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“You feel so good, Cassie. I want you to feel good too. Are you all right? Am I squishing you?”
Somehow, the tenderness, the concern in his voice just got to her. He wasn’t coddling her, he cared about her. Part of her that she’d closed off because it had simply been crushed into nothing by Terry, sparked back to life. And when it did, she felt what she’d been missing for four years. Not the intensity of someone’s attention that she’d mistaken for love and adoration from Terry in the early years. No, this was a man who truly wanted her to be okay. Thought about her feelings.
Tears blinded her as he changed his angle and his pelvic bone crushed into her mound and created friction over her clit. A deep moan broke from her lips.
“Baby? Those good tears or am I hurting you?”
She laughed through her tears and reached up to wipe them away with the back of her hand. “Good ones. Now shut up and fuck me.”
Her thighs began to tremble as each press and grind of his body against her clit brought her closer to orgasm.
“Cassie, darlin’, I’m really close. You with me?”
“I...” And it broke over her, shattering her into wordlessness, eyes blurring and back arching. She heard his muffled curse and felt his cock jerk and spasm deep within her as he came as well.
With a long, satisfied sigh, he rolled off her and to the side, quickly dealing with the condom and coming back to lie beside her. Panting, sweat cooling on their bodies, they both looked up into the night sky.
He reached out and linked fingers with her. “Thank you,” she murmured.
He turned to his side and looked at her. “Darlin’, the pleasure was all mine, I assure you. God, I can’t believe I fucked you on the ground. You deserve a soft bed and candlelight. I just had this vision of you, bathed in moonlight, making love to you with the sweet smells of night against our skin. I hope you don’t think I was disrespectful. I’m sorry.”
“Shane, don’t.” Tears laced her voice. “I can’t seem to stop crying. I hate that. You have nothing to be sorry for. It was beautiful. You were wonderful. Gentle and patient. I enjoyed myself, believe me. Twice.”
He laughed. “I’m sorry about that. It should have been at least three times but I had to have you. I’m usually more finessed than that.”
“Three times? Wow. Well, I’m quite pleased with two. Hell, I’m thrilled with one.”
He looked at her, shocked. “Do you know how fucking beautiful you look when you come? Your neck arched, eyes desire-blind, mouth slightly open, your nipples hard and pretty—just thinking about it right now makes me hard. Any man should want to see that as much as possible. Your ex needs his ass kicked. But then I suppose if he’d taken care of you I wouldn’t be here beside you now.”
“They aren’t very nice anymore. They used to be lovely. But time. Well you know.”
He sat up on his elbow. “No. I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”
Her hands moved to put her bra back in place but he stopped her, kissing each hand and putting them back at her sides.
“My breasts. They used to be higher. They’re sort of saggy. I’m sure you’re used to tight bodies and perky breasts. I’ve seen some of the women in town, the ones who give me the dirtiest looks, their bodies are nicer than mine.”
Shane exhaled sharply. “Cassie, how old are you?”
“Thirty-three.”
“And you think you have saggy breasts?”
She sat up and moved to fasten her bra and button up her camisole. “Yes. And my belly has this little pooch and my thighs are flabby.”
“Cassie, I’m just telling you so as not to spook you, I’m picking you up now.” And she found herself tossed over his shoulder as he walked her, bare assed, into his house.
“Hey! I don’t have any panties on,” she hissed.
“No one can see but me and I like your ass.” He took her up the stairs and into his bedroom and set her down in front of mirrored sliding doors in his closet.
“Now, I want you to look at yourself.” His hand smoothed over her hair. “Your hair is truly beautiful, thick, black, long, tousled from sex.” A thumb traced her bottom lip. “Luscious. I want to nibble it every time I see you.”
He moved behind her and unbuttoned her camisole and popped the catch on her bra in record time. He held her breasts in his hands. “Gorgeous.” And let them go. “They do not sag. You have large breasts and they’re not in a bra and you’re not twenty-one, Cassie. But your breasts are fucking phenomenal.” A finger traced the valley between them. “I’d very much like to put my cock here sometime in the future. I think about that. A lot.”
She shivered.
His hand slid down her stomach. “This is not a pooch. It’s your stomach. You are not flabby. You’re beautiful. Your thighs are beautiful. Your calves are beautiful. Your pussy is pink and pretty and beautiful. Your eyes are beautiful.”
He picked up her hand and kissed it. “Your hands are beautiful.” And paused. “Did you break your fingers?” He held up his left hand and the index finger was slightly crooked. “I broke it when I was twenty-five.”
In the year since the attack, she’d had time to heal. Time for physical therapy. But her middle and ring fingers still bore the scars of the break. Bore the odd bend of what she knew she was lucky to still have working fingers after he’d done so much damage.
“Yes.”
His face hardened and he met her eyes in the mirror. “He did this to you.” It wasn’t a question.
Her eyes closed for a long moment and she nodded. Shane brought her hand to his lips and kissed the fingers. “Beautiful. Cassie, one of the things that surprises me the most about you is how you don’t see your own beauty. You walk into The Pumphouse and men bump into things from staring at you. I believe book readership has skyrocketed in Petal since you started working at Paperbacks and More. You speak and I get hard. You breathe and I get hard. I get jealous. Even when I walked in and caught Sandra with my best friend, I wasn’t jealous. I was just betrayed and hurt and then pissed off.
“And let me clarify the jealous thing because don’t think I didn’t see the fear flare in your eyes when I said it. Yes, it drives me a little crazy to see men watching you and practically drooling. But I’m not going to hurt you over it. I may want to whack ’em in the back of the head with my pool cue, but baby, I want to cherish you, not hurt you.”
Gaze locked with his in the mirror she leaned back into his body. “If I try to talk about this right now, I’m going to cry. And I am sick of it. So, I’m not going to except to say thank you.”
He bent and as she watched in the mirror, he took her neck between his teeth and she gasped. “You’re so beautiful, I want you right now. Again. Show me, Cassie.” One hand moved up to cup her breast and roll and tug a nipple between his fingers and the other slid down her belly to her pussy.
Automatically, she adjusted her legs, widening her stance, and he put his thigh between them, enabling her to lean back against his chest. Unable not to watch, her eyes caught his fingers parting her and sliding through the still very wet folds of her sex.
She watched the pull, roll, tug of his fingers on her nipple and then two of his fingers disappear into her pussy and his thumb sliding from side to side over her clit.
Her eyelids slid halfway shut as the lethargy of desire stole over her. His eyes watched his hands on her in the mirror. Watched his fingers fuck into her and she didn’t miss the widening of his grin when she rolled her hips to meet his hand.
But she was past embarrassment. She wanted to come. She’d turned off her expectations of climax during sex with anyone else and the need came back, sharp edged and starving after so many years denied.
“Give it to me, Cassie. I can feel your pussy beginning to flutter around my fingers. I know you want to come, I can see it in your eyes.” His words were whispered into her ear and she shivered. “Let go.”
Even as she was getting ready to tell him she couldn’t possibly come again, she did. Not the explosion of pleasure she’d felt on the grass outside but a muscle-deep series of contractions. Wave after wave of pleasure rolled through her until she was nothing more than a boneless heap of satisfied woman lying against him.
“Oh, I wish I had a camera.” He chuckled and she raised her hand in a half-hearted one fingered salute.
They cleaned up. He refused to let her reciprocate for the moment and ran outside to retrieve her panties, skirt and shoes which, to his disappointment, she put back on.
They stood side by side in his kitchen, made sandwiches and ate them. Later they brought root beer to his couch, snuggled and watched a movie. The normalcy of the moment fed her heart.
When the movie ended he stood up and stretched. “So, darlin’, you staying over?”
“I have an appointment in Shackleton at ten. I should probably go home so I won’t disturb you.”
“What do you have to run all the way over there on a Saturday for?”
“My therapist is there.” It wasn’t as hard as she’d thought, saying it aloud.
He sat again and nodded. “Good. Is it helping?”
It felt slightly odd to talk to him about it but at the same time, good.
“I think so. Sometimes I have all this stuff in my head and I can’t say it to anyone. But I can to her. She doesn’t know me or my family, she doesn’t judge me. It’s very freeing.”
“I imagine so. You can always talk to me you know. I’m not going to judge you.”
“No, but you get mad about stuff. And sometimes, having to deal with other people’s emotions over it is more than I want to. Sometimes I want it to be about me just saying it and being rid of it.”
He bit his lip against what he wanted to say. He did get mad at some of the things she told him. When he’d seen the damage to her fingers and she’d revealed it was her ex’s doing, a wave of rage so deep and dark swallowed him for a moment he was quite sure he could have killed the man over it.
Instead he nodded. “I understand. I’d still like you to stay over. We can get up early and I’ll run you home. You can shower here with me.” He waggled his eyebrows at her lasciviously, making her laugh.
“All of my stuff is at home. I’m very particular about my hair products. I know it’s terribly shallow of me. And I don’t have any night clothes.”
“Sleep naked. Or, I can loan you a T-shirt if you like. I’m sorry if I’m pressuring you. I just want to wake up with you in my arms tomorrow. But I do understand if you’d like to go home.”
She still had dreams, she had the scars. The weight of the hiding she’d have to do lay on her heavily. It warred with her yearning to be held in Shane’s arms all night.
“I can’t. I’m sorry. There’s...it’s...” She shrugged her shoulders, not able to find words, not knowing if she could trust him or herself to reveal more. “It isn’t you. I know that sounds like a cliché. But I can’t. Not yet. And I really do have to get up early tomorrow. Please don’t be angry.”
He pulled her against his body and kissed her temple. “Darlin’, I am not angry. I won’t say I understand because I don’t know all of it and I couldn’t possibly be in your place. But I do understand your wanting to go home and I’m not hurt or upset. I keep telling you we have time. And we do.” He moved to look into her face. “We do don’t we? I suppose I’ve just assumed that we’re in a relationship but I haven’t really asked you.”
“I told you, I’m not a casual person. But I don’t know what I have to give anyone just now. If you’re asking if I’d like to continue seeing you and that I have no interest in anyone else, yes. What I have to offer above that right now? I don’t know.”
He stood and helped her up. “That’s all I need for now. We can work through the rest as we go.”
The drive back to her place was quiet but comfortable. His hand lay gently on her thigh as he drove. When they got to her place he walked her to the door.
“Goodnight, darlin’. Would you like to come to dinner at my parents’ house on Sunday night? My momma’s been bugging me to bring you. I won’t lie to you, I think she’s got a bigger crush on you than I do. There’s a running competition to see who can talk about you more. She also tells me you’ve promised to come to dinner sometime soon. And I’d love for you to get to know them all better. Maggie will be there too.”
She smiled. “I did promise her. It wasn’t like I could do anything else. She’s called me twice about it. And I do like her, even if she’s the world’s worst driver and a total menace behind the wheel.”
“Yeah? And what about me?”
Coyly, she cocked her head. “You? Hmm. Well, it appears that your driving is decent. Safe enough. Clearly you didn’t learn to drive from your mother.”
He laughed, the sound echoing through the quiet of the post midnight evening. “My dad taught me. And you know that’s not what I was asking.”
“I know, I just wanted to tease you. I happen to like you too, Shane Chase. More than is probably wise.”
“Good. Wisdom is overrated. Now, let me come in just to be sure everything is okay.” Her back went rigid and he sucked in his breath, making an agitated sound. “Okay, so I didn’t really phrase that like a request. And I know I’m pushy and I know you don’t want to hear that I just want to protect you. I’m trying you know. Would it be all right with you if I came in just to check the place out?”
Her posture relaxed and she put a hand to his cheek. “Thank you for that. It means a lot to me. And I’d appreciate that.”
He did a quick check of the apartment and all was well. After kissing her goodnight, he told her he’d pick her up on Sunday and waited on her doorstep until he heard her locking all her locks.
Whistling softly, he jogged down the steps and to his car, entirely sure he’d not been that happy in a very long time.