Shane

I should never have brought Makena into the Shamrock. But I hadn’t known who her ex was then, or that people would recognize her. But I should have known that people would take photos.

They always do. Everywhere I go. Especially here.

“I’m sorry about the pictures.” I keep both hands on the steering wheel, knowing if I don’t, I’ll end up reaching for her, and the last thing I can tell she wants right now is me.

“It’s not your fault,” she mumbles, rubbing her hands over her arms.

She’s drawn into herself, and I have no idea what the hell she’s thinking. I just know I have to make this right.

When I pull to a stop in front of Colleen’s cottage, she opens the door and mutters a quick, “Goodnight,” then gets out.

Turning the ignition off, I get out and sprint to catch up to her before she barricades herself back in that damn house.

I take her hand and turn her towards me. The moon is high, and it casts a silver glow across her face.

Fuck, she’s beautiful. But the resignation I’ve worked the last two days to tear down is back up.

If I was smart, I’d let her walk away. She’s giving me an out. A chance to end it before it gets more complicated than it already is. But I’ve already had a taste of her, and instead of curbing my appetite, it only increased the hunger.

“Tell me what ye’re upset about. Is it being seen with me?” Maybe it’s my image she’s worried about. The scandal it will bring to her.

She shakes her head. “My life is on public display-”

“I know what it’s like to be hounded by the press.”

“You don’t get it. You chose this life. You want to be known. To be seen.” Her eyes glisten with unshed tears. “All I ever wanted…” She chokes on the words and swipes angrily at a single tear that falls down her cheek. “Damn it. I’m not going to do this.”

She turns away from me, but I pull her into my arms. If I let her go now, there’s no way in hell she’ll ever let me back in her life.

I cup her chin, forcing her to look at me. “What do ye want, Makena?”

“The complete opposite of you,” she says, exasperation forcing the words out.

“Ouch.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” She covers her face with her hands, then drops them in defeat. “All I ever wanted was to be a wife. To have a family. I know for someone like you it sounds lame, but it isn’t to me. I just want to be happy. To be with someone I can trust, and who loves me. And I want the rest of the world to mind their own damn business and leave me alone so maybe one day I’ll actually find him.”

“Him?” My gut twists thinking about her with someone else. I wrap my hands around her waist and pull her hard against me. I chuckle darkly, the sound filled with frustration, and worse, jealousy. “And where do ye think ye’ll find this perfect man?”

“You’re making fun of me.” She tries to push away, her hands going to my chest, but I don’t let her go.

“I’m not.” I dip my head closer, knowing she feels the same electricity that courses between us, making her body melt into mine, even if only subconsciously. “I just doubt ye’re going to find him while ye’re holed up in that cottage.”

“I found you,” she says flatly.

I grunt. “Well, maybe yer Prince Charming came driving a Ferrari and slinging a Fender guitar.”

She frowns. “Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Say things like that. We both know this isn’t going anywhere.”

I know she’s right, but it doesn’t stop me from blurting out, “Well, maybe we should see if it will.”

A tension-filled silence stretches between us, and she glares up at me.

After a few long moments, she says tightly, “I thought you were better than this.”

She’s angry, and I have no fucking idea why.

“Better than what? I’m saying we should…see where it goes. I thought ye’d be happy. That’s what ye want, right? A relationship.”

“No.” She shakes her head, but then her lips purse, and a hundred different emotions flicker in her eyes. “Maybe. Yes. But not with…”

“Not with me?” I drop my hands and take a step back, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Oh my God, you’re so frustrating. You said yourself that you don’t do relationships. Even if I thought we were compatible, I’d be an idiot to think this will lead to anything more than you stomping all over my heart as you walk away.”

My teeth clench, because I know in my head that she’s probably right. And maybe I’m being a selfish bastard for pressing her for more. Hell, I know I am.

But she’s under my skin. In my blood.

“I won’t hurt ye, Makena,” It’s more of a promise than a factual statement. One I’m making to myself as much as to her. Because I know I’d never forgive myself.

She inhales, then lets out a slow, uneven breath and closes her eyes. When she opens them again, there’s resolve in her expression.

“I believe you mean it,” she says softly, not really looking at me, but more through me. Which bothers me more than anything else she’s said tonight, because she’s the first person in years who I’ve ever felt really saw me.

“Then trust me.” I take a step toward her.

“I trust you believe what you say. But I also trust that you can’t help but leave a trail of broken hearts in your wake. It’s your nature.”

My eye twitches. “If ye think it’s my nature to cause pain to others, then ye don’t know me at all.”

“You’re right. I don’t know you. And you don’t know me.”

“Then get to know me. Let me understand ye. I haven’t felt like this before-”

“Shane-”

“This isn’t just about sex.”

She gives me a small smile and shakes her head. “Everything with you is about sex.”

A chuckle rumbles in my throat. “I’m not saying I don’t want to have sex with ye. It’s the only thing I could think about all night.”

“Which is why you’ll say anything right now.” Her hands go up when I take another step toward her, and she takes one back.

We continue the dance until her back is against the door, my body pressed against hers. “Tell me ye don’t want my touch and I’ll walk away. But ye know full well that no other man will ever make ye feel the way I do.”

“God, you’re cocky.”

“Only because I’m right,” I say against the shell of her ear as I brush my knuckles down her slender neck.

She shivers from my touch.

“Give me one more night. Let me convince ye that I’m not the asshole ye think I am.” I trace the line of her jaw. “There are still so many things I want to do to ye, things ye need to feel, to experience. Let me come inside, Makena.”

She groans, pulling her keys out. “I know I’m going to regret this.”

When her fingers tremble, I take the keys from her and unlock the door. And I’m on her the second it’s shut behind us.

A need blazes inside of me, so hot that I swear my insides blister from it.

The damn emotions are there, too, fucking with my head. But nothing matters more than having her.

Consuming her.

Possessing her.

It’s like she’s awoken some primal part of my brain.

Not to mention what she’s done to my body.

Like an addiction, I can’t get enough.

My lips cover hers, and we’re both tearing at each other’s clothes, barely making it to the bedroom before I sheath myself and bury my aching cock inside her.

Desperate moans fall from her lips, and her head falls back against the pillow as I fill her fully.

I breathe out roughly and hold myself still for a moment, knowing if I don’t I’ll come too soon. That’s what she does to me. Makes me lose control. Lose all sense of reality.

Her eyes soften for a moment, her fingers brushing across my cheek, and I see a flicker of emotion cross her expression.

Shit. I feel it, too. The pull between us. The connection.

And my chest squeezes with a tender possessiveness that wasn’t there before.

I start to move inside her, and she whimpers.

Her eyes close, and I command, “Look at me.”

She sucks in a shaky breath and her lashes flutter open, her expression a mix of lust and uncertainty. “I…can’t…it’s…too much.”

I know what she means. It’s not just the physical pleasure between us. Our bodies are molded together like they were made for each other, but when her gaze is on mine, the connection burns straight to my fucking soul. And I know I’m going to destroy us both by pushing it.

“Look at me, Makena,” I say again, thrusting against her hips and feeling her pussy clasp around my cock.

Her eyes stay open, and she nods.

This time is different. Each touch, movement, and kiss is laced with something that hadn’t been there before.

Broken moans and whimpers fill the space between us. And when we finally come together, I swear the fucking ground moves beneath us.

Rolling over and pulling her against my chest, perspiration still beading along my forehead, a million thoughts race through my mind. Uncertainty. Doubt. Hope. Fear.

But the only thing I know for certain is I don’t ever want to let this woman go.