“Mm-hm.” He could hardly tear his eyes away from her. Standing this close, her scent in his nose, knowing they were alone, made his fingertips tingle with sudden desire. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and pull her close to him, but he just stood there and said nothing. He knew that their truce and her obligingness regarding Brady did not mean that she had forgiven him.
He didn’t want to think about his guilt, however, so he said, “You and Aidan look a lot alike, too.”
“Speaking of Aidan.” She threw him a sidelong glance and proffered the cheesecake again. “The cake is supposed to be a bribe.”
“A bribe? What for?”
Thorne shrugged uncomfortably. “Maybe bribe isn’t the right term. Let’s call it a thank-you gift for not reporting him. You know, for …”
“Oh.” His hand automatically went up to his face, feeling for the discolored bruise underneath his eye. It didn’t even sting anymore.
“Does it still hurt?”
Her obvious concern made him grin, and he shook his head. “Aidan was right. I deserved a punch.”
“Still, he shouldn’t have hit you,” she protested vehemently. “He’s on probation and—”
“Do you really think I would have reported him?”
Her voice was small now. “You’re a police officer.”
“First of all, I was off duty, and second, he punched me because I treated his sister badly. If I had been in his shoes, I’d probably have done worse.”
“Don’t say that,” she murmured. “That’s no laughing matter.”
“I’m not joking,” he protested softly. He sighed. “Aiden actually should have beaten me up, knocked the shit out of me, you know?”
After a few seconds, she whispered shyly, “Is that an apology?”
“I have no idea how I can ever apologize to you, Thorne,” he replied honestly. “Nor do I know how to make up for the past.”
She twisted her mouth and turned around. She startled him when she suddenly leaned forward and tenderly touched the bruise on his face with her fingertips. He flinched, but it was more surprise than pain.
She drew in a sharp breath. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean …”
“You didn’t …”
Awkward silence descended, but then she reached out again with a cautious hand.
“Does it hurt?”
“The black eye? No, it’s not a big deal. Honestly.” His voice was hoarse, and he fixed his gaze on her. The tension between them was palpable. Shane didn’t know what she had come for, but he knew if she stayed much longer, he couldn’t vouch for anything. He was sure he would try to kiss her.
Her voice was no less hoarse than his as she murmured, “I wanted to bring you the cake and thank you, but I also wanted to ask …” She trailed off.
“Yeah?”
Thorne took a deep breath and offered him a warm smile. “I wanted to ask you if you could imagine having Brady to stay at your place every other weekend or so. Like a sleepover and all that.”
Stunned, he stared at her. “Really? You’d allow me to take Brady for a weekend?”
She nodded shyly. “If that’s okay with you.”
“If that’s okay with me?” he echoed. He could hardly believe that she meant it and was probably looking at her as if she was a saint—or a vision from a dream. “Of course I’m okay with it,” he said, his heart racing. “I’m thrilled!”
“You two get along so well,” she explained, nodding with great certainty. “So I thought you should have the chance to spend some time with him without me along, too.”
Shane felt a lump in his throat. “Thorne, does that mean you trust me with Brady?”
She was silent for a moment, before looking away and admitting hesitantly, “I don’t want to be unfair, you know? You’re great with Brady. As his dad, you should see him whenever you want. So—”
Shane interrupted her, taking her face in both hands and leaning down to kiss her. Once he felt her soft lips against his own, tasted her sweetness, and felt her surprise melt into something else—not resistance—his heart beat so wildly that he feared he was having a heart attack.
He’d never seen the point in restraint, so he pressed her close, moaned her name, and kissed her like a drowning man. With a mixture of incredulity, relief, and satisfaction, he felt her arms wrap around his neck as she went on tiptoe and nestled against him. The initial sweetness of the kiss quickly turned into passion, until Thorne broke it off and pulled away with a small moan of protest.
Frustrated, he held on to her, his breath hard and fast. “Thorne …”
Her cheeks were reddened and her lips swollen, and she was short of breath. “Does … Is this happening because of Brady?”
His thoughts were a confused, glorious jumble, and he felt an armada of sensations and emotions rise up within him, so he didn’t understand what she meant. “Because of Brady?”
Thorne nodded and looked at him with an insecure expression. “I mean, are you kissing me because you’re grateful that I said—”
“Thorne.” His voice trembled, and he pressed her closer to his body. “I’m kissing you because I think of you constantly, because I want to kiss you—not because of Brady.”
He could see in her face that she was still unsure. He swallowed hard and kissed her as gently as he was able to, considering his turmoil and arousal.
“You may be Brady’s mom,” he whispered against her lips, “but you’re also the woman I think of when I’m happy. And you have been that woman for a long time.”
When she returned his kiss, he leaned down and lifted her into his arms, carrying her to the bedroom.
Chapter 13
Thorne woke up with a sigh, pulling up her shoulders as she felt a kiss on her neck. She blinked against the twilight, still sleepy, and confused why her pillow was exuding a dry, masculine scent. And since when were the curtains in her bedroom gray?
“Good morning,” an also-sleepy voice greeted her from behind, right next to her ear.
For a brief second, she froze. But then her head sank more deeply into the pillow, and she smiled in relief as a strong arm snaked around her waist under the covers.
“Good morning,” she replied, slightly breathless, and nestled her back against Shane’s chest.
“I should turn on the heater,” he whispered against her ear and then pressed a kiss on her temple.
“I’m warm enough,” she said contentedly. She had to suppress a sigh the next instant as rough fingertips began to dance across her naked thigh. “Shane …”
His lips pressed against her shoulder and found their way up her neck. “You smell so good,” he murmured. “How can anyone smell this good?”
“Sweet-talker,” she giggled into her pillow.
“But it’s true. You smell wonderful.”
Thorne closed her eyes briefly. “And you talk in your sleep, but that’s nothing new to me.”
“What did I talk about this time?” His voice sounded lascivious now, and she giggled again.
“No idea, but whatever it was you were dreaming about, you must have been having a lot of fun.”
“Oh yes.” Shane lifted her hair from the side of her neck and started to nibble. “Just like last night.”
“Mm-hm.”
“When do you have to be home?”
She moaned and squirmed when his hands started to draw circles on her belly and then traveled up to her breast to caress it. Her throat went dry, and she swallowed, feeling a tingling warmth spread through her body.
He had kept her up most of the night, giving her that warming, pulsating sensation over and over again. Thorne had expected to feel tired, exhausted, and numb when she woke up, but all that evaporated as soon as he pressed his lips to her neck and began exploring her body again with his expert hands. All she felt now was a sensuous excitement, which made her squirm impatiently and curl her toes.
“When do you have to be back at your place?” he repeated, rubbing his palm across her lef
t nipple.
Thorne gasped. “Later,” she answered hoarsely.
“Good.”
She squealed a little when he suddenly rolled her onto her stomach and started trailing a line of kisses down her spine. Thorne buried her head in the pillow and breathed in his scent, while his stubble scratched the sensitive skin on her back and then feathery kisses soothed away the itch from the stubble.
He pressed his groin against her buttocks, indicating unequivocally that he was ready to pick up where they had left off the night before, when they had both finally been too exhausted to even lift a hand.
“If you didn’t have to go home and take care of Brady, I wouldn’t let you go for the rest of the day,” he murmured into the silent room. The only sounds were Thorne’s husky breathing and the bells from the neighboring church.
The glorious happiness coursing through her body could of course be due to his lips, which were travelling up and down her spine with intense attention, but Thorne was convinced that it was his words that made her stomach and her heart flutter with giddy joy.
She rolled over so she was on her back again and looked up at him, trying to convey what she was feeling. He braced himself on his arms, splendid in his nakedness, and returned her look with an unreadable expression.
Thorne lifted a hand and brushed his hair away from his forehead. Then she put her fingertips on his dark stubble and caressed it tenderly. He turned his head a little to breathe a kiss into the palm of her hand, and her pulse quickened by yet a few more beats.
The look in his light brown eyes told her that for him, it was more than just sex. She inhaled and lifted her head to kiss him on the lips, while her hands slid down to his broad chest, stroking it lovingly.
They’d had passionate, sweaty sex last night, several times, but now he conquered her mouth with a kiss so sweet that she felt hot tears sting her closed eyes. He held her tenderly and entered her in a slow, deliberate, worshipping fashion. Thorne held her breath, held on to him tightly, and felt him move within her slowly, pausing often, never breaking the kiss. Her arms moved up to his shoulders and then wrapped around his neck, and her heart seemed about to stop as heat suffused her entire body, spreading and intensifying.
He whispered sweet nothings against her lips, moaned, and kept invading her body with an accelerating rhythm.
Thorne gasped for air, pressed against him, and wrapped one leg around his thighs to pull him even closer.
When he lowered his upper body, his chest rubbed her breasts and elicited a drawn-out moan, which he answered by closing his lips around her left nipple, and then her right, and then taking up his rhythmic thrusting again.
She wanted to tell him all the things that were on the tip of her tongue, but ended up emitting only a soft cry that told him she was close to an orgasm.
Shane moved to kiss her again, drank her in, and moved faster, in and out of her, until stars exploded in front of her eyes and she cried out. She almost bit his lip as she held on to him for dear life. With a sweet, almost dizzying feeling in her chest, she realized that he’d came simultaneously, shivering and moaning, holding her tight.
Panting, he lowered his head so it rested against hers.
“Why can’t I seem to get enough of you?” he demanded between gasps for air.
“Huh?” Thorne was still panting as well, her eyes closed and her fingers playing in the hair on the back of his neck.
“I … I just came a minute ago, and I already want you all over again.”
She tilted her head away with a grin and opened her eyes, throwing him an exhausted look. “Poor man.”
“Yeah, you can laugh.” He rolled off her and pulled her along with him so that she was nestled into his side. She took it as a good sign that his chest was expanding and contracting rapidly and that she could hear his roaring heartbeat against her ear.
“Thorne? There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a while now.”
She perked up but was afraid it might be an uncomfortable confession, judging from his thoughtful tone. Warily, she looked up at him and brushed a strand of black hair away from his forehead.
“Yeah? What is it, Shane?”
“If I were you,” he said, looking dead serious, “I’d commission Brady to hide the chips for you if you don’t want to eat them.”
Rendered speechless, she just stared at him. “What?”
He tipped his head back and burst out laughing. “Hiding them yourself won’t work, you know.”
“How do you know about that?” She grabbed his pillow and pulled it out from under his head with a jerk.
“Our brilliant son told me.” He guffawed. “He even said you wanted to throw the scale out the window.”
“The little …” She made a face as if she’d eaten a lemon and threw the pillow on the floor. “The little traitor!”
“I thought it was unbelievably cute.” His hand traveled languidly across her thigh. “Plus, you have no reason to be mad at your scale.”
She snorted and wrinkled her nose.
“No, I’m serious. If you want, I’ll buy you all the chips you can eat.”
“No, thanks,” she said with a regal air, lifting her chin to give him a haughty look. But when his hand wandered around and caressed her buttocks, she didn’t object. “And you really had to tell me that now?”
He shook his head and kissed her forehead. “I actually wanted to thank you for the little traitor you brought into my life, Thorne. I don’t know a kid greater than our son.”
The idiot managed to make tears well in her eyes. She sniffled and nestled against him again. “I know.”
“We did a pretty good job making that kid, don’t you think?”
He couldn’t see her roll her eyes at the pride in his voice, but she agreed. “Of course we did.”
Shane sounded utterly satisfied with himself and the world. “Maybe he’ll be a policeman someday—just like me.”
“Mm-hm.” She made a face. “Maybe.”
“Ryan and I both made that choice.” Shane clucked his tongue. “It runs in the family.”
“And your other brother is a firefighter,” she pointed out, taking the wind out of his sails. “What does that tell you?”
“It tells me that Heath is misguided.”
“Oh, right,” she said sarcastically. “Of course, he must be.”
Shane laughed. “Why shouldn’t my son be a policeman, too? I’m going to take him to the department soon and show him everything.”
“Brady’s only six,” she interjected. “I would think that he still has some time to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up.”
“You can’t start early enough.” With a diabolical grin, Shane added confidentially, “Heath and Hayden are having another girl.”
“And?” She frowned.
“I just mean Heath can forget about his offspring following in his footsteps, if he keeps having girls. And I already have a son.”
“Hey.” She sat up and glared at him. “Since when are you so sexist?”
“I’m not.” His smile was nonchalant as he patted her behind.
“Girls can become firefighters, too!”
“You don’t know my brother. He would never let his girls become firewomen.”
The corners of Thorne’s mouth curved farther downwards. “I don’t understand you Fitzpatricks! I thought you set such great store by family traditions? Or does Heath think he needs to protect his girls from the fire brigade?”
He laughed dryly and pulled her close. “You misunderstand the issue, Thorne. It’s more about protecting the fire brigade, as you call it, from the Fitzpatrick women.”
She slapped him on the arm reproachfully. “How can you say a thing like that?”
He rubbed the spot where she’d just slapped him. “You haven’t met my sister yet,” he retorted, amused.
She slipped from his embrace and sat up, wrapping her body in one of the sheets. “Instead of going on making jokes about your brother
and sister, why don’t you do something useful instead? Like make us some breakfast.”
His dark eyebrows rose. “Scrambled eggs with bacon, tomatoes, and cheese?”
She was surprised he still remembered what she loved, so she merely nodded wordlessly.
“Alright, let’s start the day,” he agreed with a sigh and a wink. “Maybe I’ll even find some chips in one of my cabinets.”
***
Thorne glanced at her watch and deliberated whether to leave work half an hour early. She was in for a very special date later. Shane had invited her and Brady to dinner. For her son, the first meeting with his dad in his own apartment was probably not such a big deal, but for her, it was. She felt like they were slowly becoming a real family, and the fact that something was going on between her and Brady’s dad made her nervous and happy at the same time.
She fervently hoped that their relationship would work out—not least of all for Brady’s sake.
He deserved to have a normal family, where he lived with his mom and his dad. Maybe her wishes had grown wings too quickly, but deep inside, she longed to be part of a family. She no longer wanted to be alone but desired to share her day-to-day problems, obstacles, and dreams with someone. With Shane.
Just then a knock on her office door tore her away from these thoughts. She looked up to see an older man with sparse, graying hair step into her office as if he belonged there and close the door behind him.
Thorne was not easily intimidated or confounded, so she lifted a disapproving eyebrow and frowned at the man, who sat down in the visitor’s chair unbidden.
“Excuse me, but I don’t remember asking you to come inside.”
The man waved her protest aside with an impatient hand and held up a badge before putting it back in his pocket. “Captain Greene. I think we’ve already had the pleasure of speaking on the phone, Miss O’Shea.”
Her stomach somersaulted painfully. “My name is Parker, Captain Greene.”
“Oh, but we both know you also go by the name of O’Shea, don’t we?”
She was not a fan of polite beating around the bush, so she asked a straightforward question. “What do you want?”
Blast From The Past (The Boston Five Series #2) Page 16
