“I didn’t want to presume.”
“Presume? And they say I’m the dumbass. My momma told me to invite you weeks ago but I assured her you knew you were invited. My manners are bad apparently. Well okay, that’s not a surprise. Anyway, you’re eating dinner with me at my parents’ house on Thanksgiving. Afterwards, we play cards and then you all sit on the porch and talk about us while we play football. It’s a tradition. You can’t buck tradition, Cassie.”
“Oh. All right then.” He looked at her askance and then chuckled. “I wish you’d agree to everything that easily.”
“I do to all the important stuff.” The way he looked at her made her all tingly.
“So you’re staying over then? Now that the Thanksgiving situation is all cleared up and all.”
She leaned in and put her lips to his ear. “I’ve been waiting for a while for you to take me. I feel how much you control yourself to keep from scaring me. Show me, Shane. I want it all.”
He sat very still, she wasn’t even sure if he breathed for long moments. Slowly, he turned to look her in the eye. His pupils were so wide it was hard to see the color. He turned to his family.
“Folks, Cassie and I are going to cut out early. I have a headache. We’ll see you Sunday for dinner.” He stood and helped her up, grabbing her wrap and putting an arm around her, steering her toward the door. “Goodnight, everyone.” She waved as they moved to leave. Everyone just looked at them, amused. Shane didn’t say much as they drove to his house. Cassie watched the scenery pass through her window, smiling. “What are you smiling about, darlin’?”
“I love the sound of your voice. It’s deep and masculine and so sexy. Sometimes it’s almost a growl. If you weren’t mine I’d be working to grab you every day.”
He pulled into his driveway and turned to her. “I…when you say stuff like that it does something to me. You held yourself away from me for so long and now to see you like this, saying I’m yours, it…” He took a deep breath as he shook his head, unable to find words.
“I’m sorry if I don’t say it enough. I’m smiling because my life is normal. Because I trust you. I’m smiling because I know you’re going to take me into that house and make love to me.”
“You got that right.” Leaning over, his upper body pressed her gently to the seat. Lips just above hers, his eyes stared deeply into hers. “I want you to tell me if I go too far or scare you. You have no idea how much I want to take you a dozen times a day against every conceivable surface just to know I’m the one making you feel the pleasure, just to hear the sound of you coming in my ears. But we need to go slow with this. I know that. All you need to do is tell me to stop or slow down, all right?” Moving just a bit, her lips brushed up against his. “All right.”
Quickly, they got out of the car and went into the house. “Bedroom.” Cassie looked back over her shoulder at him and then took the stairs with a sexy sway.
“You’re playing with fire, darlin’.” “Mmm, good. You’ll have to make me wet to put it out.”
He chuckled and she found herself tossed on the bed, his body above hers on his hands and knees.
Lifting her hands to his chest, she worked the buttons on his shirt and exposed his chest. His heart beat reassuringly against her palm as she slid it over the hard muscle of his pectoral muscles.
Sitting back, he pulled his shirt off, tossing it to the side and moved to her again. This time he undid the tie at her hip and pulled the dress apart, exposing her body that way.
He sat there looking at her for a long time, quietly taking her in. A month ago she’d have felt embarrassed at his close perusal but he’d made her realize that he thought she was beautiful. Her scars did not matter to him. If her thighs were an issue, he hid it well and so she just let him look, loving that he wanted to.
Reaching out, he traced a fingertip along the scalloped lace of her bra, skimming just over her nipple. “I like this. Red looks good on you with all items of clothing I see.”
The catch on the front was a black rose and he popped it with onehanded ease. Her breasts spilled into his hands, his thumbs coming up to flick back and forth over her nipples. Each movement of his fingers against her sent an answering pulse to her clit.
Her fingers dug into the muscle of his upper back as he leaned in, the heat of his mouth closing over the pulse-point at the hollow just below her ear.
Moving her hands, she pushed him back and scrambled atop his prone body, wriggling out of her dress and bra.
“Now that’s a reward for a long hard day. A beautiful woman sitting over my cock in nothing more than garters, stockings, a wisp of red lace pretending to be panties and some very sexy shoes.”
“There’s that silver tongue, I see.” Her hands made quick work of his belt and the button and zipper of his trousers and she kissed down his neck, over his chest and belly. The way his hands felt on her, so large and warm, confident and gentle, always made her want to cry.
“Pants off!” She struggled to get his trousers off and he laughed, setting her aside and standing to do it himself. “Well, lookit you.” He moved toward the bed, his cock so hard it pressed against his stomach.
When he’d stopped, his cock was right at eye level. She looked up at him, up his body and saw the look on his face. He waited there, making sure her comment at the Grange wasn’t just made in the heat of the moment.
“I do want you to take me, Shane.” One of his hands caressed her face, down her neck. He watched her face until he appeared to be sure. “Well then, I think there’s a little rain check to be collected and then I’m going to fuck you with those garters on.”
She grabbed him and angled his cock to slowly take him into her mouth. Loving this, loving how much pleasure it gave him, she took it slow, doing all the things she’d learned he liked so much.
Her tongue swirled around the head, digging into that sweet spot just beneath the ridge of the crown. The salt of his skin, of his essence, sprang on her tongue, filled her with desire, made her feel like a goddess that he wanted her so much.
Shane looked down at her, watched his cock disappear between her lips and pull out again. He loved the way her eyelashes swept over her cheeks.
His fingertips traced over the raised marks of her scars on her back. He’d found it reassured her that he thought she was beautiful. As if anyone could look at her and think anything else. Her scars were as much a part of her as her eyes or those long-as-sin legs. So he loved them too, even as he wanted to take the man down who’d given them to her.
When she’d told him she wanted him to take her, he’d nearly come on the spot. He dreamed of being able to show her the depth of intensity of his desire for her but kept it in check to keep from scaring her. He wanted to take her hard and fast but he’d watch her, especially this first time, to be sure she was all right with everything.
“Cassie, stop. Lay back, leave your legs over the side of the bed.”
She did as he told her to and he marveled at her, lying there on his bed. Her dark hair spread around her head like midnight. Her breasts, breasts she thought were sagging, were capped with puckered pink nipples, just begging for his mouth. Her belly, with no pooch he ever could divine, led to the neatly trimmed patch of hair that shielded her pussy. Only right then the pretty red panties covered her.
“Next time, put the panties on after the stockings.”
She laughed, a slow, sexy sound that never failed to make him crazy. Reaching down, she pulled at the sides of the panties and they untied. Lifting her ass, she pulled them off and threw them over his shoulder.
“Oh. Very nice. Very nice indeed. You know, I wanted to see these legs wrapped around me but I’m thinking we can save that for another time.”
He pulled out a condom and sheathed himself quickly before flipping her over with relative ease. He did sense her stiffen and he drew a fingertip down her spine. “Shhhh. I want to take you from behind, Cassie. Feel you from this angle, be able to reach around and touch your body, have your clit right where I want it.”
He paused, giving her time to stop if she was freaked but she relaxed. Pulling her body toward him, he brought her feet to the ground and bent her just so, moving to check her readiness.
When Shane touched her pussy and found her so wet she was slightly embarrassed by how much he turned her on, he made a low sound.
“Fuck. Cassie, how do you do this to me? Make me want you even more when I feel the evidence of how much you want me?” As he finished the last word, the blunt, fat head of his cock pressed against her, nudging his way into her gate.
She pushed back into him and they both grunted in satisfaction as he seated himself fully inside her.
Losing herself a bit as he began to thrust, her hands gripped his comforter, cool against her heated skin. He felt so good as he filled her up over and over. Her body molded itself to him, took him in and made itself his.
“I want to feel you come around me,” he murmured, leaning down and kissing her shoulder. One of his hands found her clit, fingertips strumming through the wet flesh, bringing the skin of the hood to stroke against the clit. The friction was delicious, right on the edge of just enough but not quite there.
His lips pressed over each one of her scars as the fingers of his free hand stroked lightly over her arms and back and down over the curve of her ass and thighs.
“More.”
In answer, he began to thrust into her hard and fast in deep digs. He gave up the slow tease of her clit and squeezed it gently between slick fingers over and over until she came, screaming into his mattress. All the while he continued to fuck her.
“Damn, you’re so fucking sexy I don’t know what to do. I just want to spread you on a cracker and eat you up. I want to kiss every inch of you. You walk past the front window of the bookstore as I drive past and my cock throbs. You’ve bewitched me, Cassie.”
His voice was slightly breathless, staccato even, as he continued to move within her. She felt, for the first time, the full power of his thighs as his muscles flexed against the back of her thighs. Felt the strength in his arms as he held her, the uncoiled desire in his movements and heard it in his voice.
And there was no fear. This wasn’t how Terry used her. He’d used this strength
against
her to hurt her. Shane used his strength for her, on her to bring her pleasure. Even with the strength he had, he did not abuse it, he kept it under control and she gave into her need to moan and cry out as he built the pleasure within her.
“Pleasepleaseplease,” she whispered.
“Please what?” His voice wavered a bit, she knew he was close and she wanted him to come deep inside her. More than she’d ever wanted anything and she wasn’t quite sure why. She just knew she wanted him to find pleasure inside her, to know her body gave him safe haven when he needed it. When he wanted it.
“Please come inside of me, Shane. I want that so much.” Her words escaped her mouth in a quick flow before she could worry that he’d be disgusted by her brazenness.
“Hell…” His word was stuttered as he pressed once and then once again, deep into her, his fingers holding her hips tight as he pressed deep, his cock jerking within her as he came.
Long moments later, he kissed her neck and left the room. Returning in moments, he helped her into bed after he’d taken her shoes off and removed her garter belt and stockings.
“You’ll wear those again, right?” “I couldn’t deny you the chance to see my legs wrapped around your waist with them on.”
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you. I haven’t always been the nicest man to women, you know. But you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I love you, Cassie.” He kissed her deeply, pulling her against his body.
Chapter Fifteen
Cassie paused as she picked up the cashmere sweater from the table where it’d been stacked in a pile of folded luxury. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and a chill settled at the base of her spine.
She turned and looked around the area but nothing seemed amiss. “Cassie? Honey, are you all right?”
Shaking off the dread, Cassie turned and found herself looking into the face of Edward Chase. “Edward, hello.” She kissed his cheek and he gave her a hug. “You looked upset just then. Is everything okay?” He looked around the area much as she had.
“It just felt like someone was watching me. Probably because I’m here buying Shane’s Christmas present.” She tried to believe the lighthearted laugh she gave but couldn’t.
“Sugar, you should tell Shane. Do you think he’s found you?”
“I don’t have any reason to think that, Edward. My brother is keeping in regular contact with the investigators and they’re all in contact with me and Shane. He hasn’t surfaced since the summer. Maybe he’s given up.”
Edward looked at the charcoal colored sweater she held in her hands. “Shane will like that. Can I take you to lunch?”
Cassie really liked Edward Chase. She definitely enjoyed Polly but Edward was quiet and insightful and Cassie treasured their conversations on everything from post modernism to baseball.