by Marie Force
“Katie,” he whispered, his breath warm against her wet nipple. “We should stop before we can’t.”
“Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
“Are you sure?”
She wasn’t sure of anything other than that stopping was not an option.
“I don’t want to mess this up,” he said. “I like you so much, and I love touching you and kissing you. I don’t want you to be sorry.”
“I’ve waited thirty-two years already. I won’t be sorry.”
“Do you promise?”
He looked so genuinely concerned that she reached up to caress his freshly shaven face. “I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to it.” He left her then, standing to remove first his shirt, revealing a tan, muscular chest covered in golden-blond hair, and then his shorts. As he undressed, he never took his eyes off her, eating her up with his gaze. Still wearing a pair of well-tented boxer shorts, he reached for her dress, which was bunched under her. “Lift up.”
When she did as he asked, he swept it away, leaving her wearing only the black panties that matched her bra.
He shocked the hell out of her when he dropped to his knees by the bed and pulled her toward him, easing her legs apart with his hands on her inner thighs.
Katie stared up at the ceiling, concentrating on drawing air into her lungs while she waited to see what he would do next.
“I want to kiss you here.” He nuzzled her core, leaving no doubt about where he wanted to kiss her.
A wave of heat flashed through her at the thought of what it might feel like to be kissed there. God, she was so far out of her comfort zone it wasn’t even funny.
“Katie? Is that too much?”
“No,” she said, squirming on the bed. “I want…”
“Say it.” His lips were warm and soft and insanely erotic against her inner thigh.
“Everything.”
He let out a low groan as he continued to kiss her thigh. And then he was tugging at her panties and removing them, leaving her bare before him.
Katie resisted the overpowering urge to cover herself, to turn away from him, to escape before she did something that couldn’t be undone.
“Katie.”
The single word cut through her panic, forcing her to look at him. His gaze was intently focused on her face, gauging her reaction.
“Do you want to stop?” As he said the words, he ran his hands over her legs, leaving goose bumps behind.
“No, don’t stop.” If she knew anything for certain right then, it was that if she stopped him now, she might never work up the courage to try again.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes… Yes, I’m sure.”
“Close your eyes,” he said. “Are they closed?”
She nodded.
“Now breathe.”
Katie forced air into her lungs in an effort to relax.
“That’s it. Do it again.”
She kept her eyes closed and focused on breathing while he continued to kiss and caress her legs.
“Ready for more?”
“Uh-huh.” She’d read her share of romance novels and knew what he intended to do. However, reading about it and experiencing it firsthand were two very different things.
He used his fingers to open her to his tongue, and Katie gasped from the charge of heat that ripped through her body at the first touch of his tongue against her most sensitive flesh. She curled her fingers around the comforter and bit her lip to keep from crying out.
The hotel was old, and the walls were thin. No sense broadcasting to the family members nearby that Katie Lawry was finally getting lucky. And, oh, how lucky she felt to be in bed with a man like Shane, who was handsome, sexy and sensitive.
She was just becoming accustomed—or as accustomed as one ever gets—to the feel of his tongue when he slid two fingers into her and changed the game completely. He touched something inside her that triggered a tsunami of new feelings that she hadn’t begun to process before there were even more.
He gave her no choice but to let go and give in to the release that seemed to build upon itself like a wave crashing toward the shore. Her entire body heated as if she had a fever until the need became nearly unbearable, bursting forth in a blast of pleasure unlike anything she’d ever experienced. It left her panting, sweating and gasping.
“Damn, that was amazing,” Shane said as he kissed his way to her belly while keeping his fingers buried deep inside her.
Aftershocks rippled through her body, making her tingle from the soles of her feet to her scalp and everywhere in between.
“Are you okay?”
“Mmm, yeah, very okay.”
His smile lit up his face and made him seem lighter somehow, less burdened.
She brushed the hair back from his forehead. “I’m making this all about me, when it’s a rather big deal for you to be doing this, too.”
His brows furrowed ever so slightly at the reminder that he was having sex for the first time since his divorce.
Katie immediately regretted the statement. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to dredge up the past.”
He looked up at her, the furrow gone as fast as it appeared. “You didn’t. It’s a big deal for both of us. No sense pretending otherwise.”
“You want to know what I think?”
“Absolutely.”
Katie smiled at his firm reply. “I think we ought to get the first time over with and out of the way so it stops being such a big deal.”
“Is that what you think?” His smile was a thing of beauty and made her realize how solemn his countenance usually was.
Nodding, she said, “What do you think?”
“I agree wholeheartedly.” As he said the words, however, he began to withdraw from her.
“Where’re you going?”
“Just right here.” He picked up his shorts from the floor and pulled his wallet from the back pocket. In the same compartment where he kept his cash, he had stashed a strip of condoms.
Katie was stunned to realize she’d never given birth control a single thought before then. “Good thing one of us is thinking with more than their hormones.”
“I’ve had Frank McCarthy’s voice in my head on these matters since I was a teenager. Some things never change.” He removed his boxers and took care of business, keeping his back to her.
Katie wanted to ask him to turn around so she could watch, but there was always next time. Or so she hoped.
“Are you still sure?” he asked as he leaned over her and she caught the first glimpse of his erection.
She swallowed hard at the realization of what was about to happen. “What if…”
“What if what?”
“It doesn’t fit?”
He dropped his head to her stomach, his shoulders shaking.
“You’d better not be laughing at me.”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
“I think you would,” she said indignantly.
“It’ll fit, sweetheart.”
“It’s kind of…”
“Oh, please, for the love of God, please finish that thought.”
“Big,” she said, swallowing hard.
“I thought you didn’t have anything to compare it to?”
“Don’t forget, I’m a nurse. It’s not like it’s the first one I’ve ever seen, so quit laughing!”
“I can’t help it. You’re so damned cute.”
“Cute… whatever. It’s absolutely insane that I’m doing this for the first time at my age, so quit laughing at me and just do it, will you?” She watched, aghast, as he seemed to get bigger before her eyes.
“Have I mentioned that I dig bossy women? Especially in bed?”
“N-no, I don’t think you mentioned that.”
“Relax, honey,” he said on a low chuckle. “There’s no way in this world I’d hurt you after being given the most amazing honor of sharing your first time.”
Katie sighed. Could he be any sweeter?
�
��There, that’s better. Just relax and keep breathing.”
Sure, she thought, keep breathing as he presses that great big penis against my untouched flesh. No problem…
True to his word, he went slowly, pressing in and retreating, over and over, going a little farther each time. She waited for the expected stab of pain that never materialized.
“So hot and so tight,” he whispered against her ear, setting off new goose bumps that miraculously merged into more tingles between her legs. “Feel good?”
“Yeah,” she somehow managed to say. “Good” wasn’t the right word for how it felt. Amazing, incredible, overwhelming… Those were better words, but she’d have to wait until later, until she could speak again, to tell him that.
“Katie…” He sounded tortured as he quickly withdrew from her.
“What’s wrong?”
With his forehead on her chest, he took a series of deep breaths. “Been awhile for me. I don’t want it to be over before it begins.”
When she realized he was fighting to maintain control, she experienced a feeling of profound pleasure at knowing she was having the same effect on him that he was having on her. The pleasure was followed immediately by a swell of tenderness toward him. That he was willing to sacrifice his own needs to make her first time special told her she’d chosen the right man to share this moment with.
He refocused his attention on her breasts, tugging first one nipple and then the other into the heat of his mouth.
Combing her fingers through his hair, she kept him anchored to her chest even as she wanted to beg him to continue what he’d started. But she forced herself to be patient, to wait until he was ready to keep going even if he was driving her mad with what he was doing to her nipples.
“Shane…”
“Hmm?”
“Please…” She lifted her hips, hoping he’d get the hint.
He did, pushing into her almost completely this time, before stopping again. “God, Katie… I’m trying to go slow, but you’re so wet and hot.”
“Don’t go slow. It feels so good.” She dug her fingertips into the muscles of his back, which seemed to trigger something in him as he picked up the pace.
His lips came down on hers in a fierce, desperate kiss that was unlike any of their earlier kisses. This one was all tongue and teeth and passion.
She was surrounded by him, overwhelmed by him—his scent, his chest hair brushing against her nipples, the tight pressure of him inside her. The sensations built on top of each other until she was at the point of exploding once again. Then he added his fingers between her legs and set her off as he surged into her, taking his own pleasure at the same time.
“Whoa,” he said, his breathing choppy as he continued to pulse inside her. Without losing their connection, he rolled onto his side, taking her with him, raising her leg up and over his hip. His finger traced her smile. “Is it safe to assume that was okay for you?”
“Oh yeah. Much better than okay. Incredible.” She opened her eyes and met his intense gaze.
Shane cupped her cheek, caressing her with his thumb and making her feel adored as well as satisfied. “I’m really glad you waited for me.”
“So am I.”
Chapter 17
Shane kissed her again, softly this time, the perfect kiss at the perfect moment that was only interrupted by the loud, sustained growl of his stomach. They broke apart, laughing. “Sorry about that.”
“You have to be starving. You worked all day.”
“I could eat, but this, right here, is way better than food.” He made his point by running his hand down her back to cup her bottom, pulling her in tighter against him.
“No reason you can’t have both.”
“So if I were to order us a pizza and go pick it up, you’d stay right here, nice and naked, waiting for me to get back?”
“Would the pizza have pepperoni on it?”
“That could most definitely be arranged.”
“In that case, I could be convinced to stay here nice and naked until you get back.”
“Excellent.” He kissed her and withdrew carefully, making sure to take the condom with him. “Be right back.” After a quick trip to the bathroom during which the water ran and the toilet flushed, he emerged, giving Katie a full, unobstructed view of the front of him. He had muscles on top of muscles and was tanned everywhere except from his waist to his mid-thighs.
He produced a warm washcloth that he pressed between her legs, as if that was the most natural thing in the world for him to do.
Katie wanted to die of mortification. “Wait. You don’t have to—”
“You’re going to be sore.” His tone was matter-of-fact as he closed her legs around the warm compress. “This’ll help.”
“Oh. Well. Okay.” As she took a greedy look at him, he hardened before her eyes.
“Knock it off,” he said teasingly as he pulled on his clothes.
“What? I’m just looking.”
“That’s not all you’re doing.”
“What else am I doing?”
“You’re getting me all fired up again.”
“How is that my fault?”
He leaned over the bed and kissed her, looking fierce and amused and hot as hell. “I’ll tell you how it’s your fault when I get back.”
“Don’t take too long. I might get bored here all by myself.” Katie wondered who this woman was who’d lost her virginity and become a flirt all in the same ten-minute period. Whoever she was, Katie liked her, and judging from his sexy grin, Shane liked her, too.
“I’ll be back before you have time to get bored.”
“We’ll see.”
He was still grinning as he went out the door.
Katie knew a moment of unease when she thought about which member of her family might see him leaving her room looking happy and satisfied. Oh well, she thought, if they were going to carry on a fling right there in the Sand & Surf, it wouldn’t take long for others to catch wind of it.
A fling… The word made her giggle softly to herself. She was having a fling. She’d always found that word to be somewhat tawdry.
Lying flat on her back, looking up at the ceiling, her body still tingling and throbbing from her first time, Katie decided there was a lot to be said for tawdry.
Shane headed for the stairs, dialing the number for Mario’s as he went. After he’d ordered a large pepperoni pizza and a house salad, he kept the phone in his hand. Consumed with thoughts of Katie and what they’d just done, he nearly smacked into his sister in the lobby.
“Where’re you off to in such a hurry?” Laura asked. “And I thought you were going out with Katie again tonight.”
For a second, his mind went totally blank as he realized he should’ve planned for what he’d say if he ran into her. “We decided to stay in and watch a movie. I’m going to get a pizza.”
“Oh.” She took a closer look at him. “Oh!”
“What’re you oh-ing about?”
She took him by the arm and all but dragged him into the sitting room. “Did you sleep with her?”
“None of your business.” Shane tried to wrench his arm free from her freakishly strong grip.
“It is too my business! She’s Owen’s sister!”
“Um, I know?”
“So how can you say it’s none of my business?”
“Because it is, in fact, none of your business. We’re both adults. We can do what we want.”
“So you did do it with her.”
“I never said that.”
She looked at him with those shrewd blue eyes that had seen right through him since they were little kids. He never had been able to lie to her. “Your lips are swollen and you look all…” She waved her hand in front of his face. “Pleased with yourself. The signs are all there.”
Shane laughed at her annoyed expression. “Aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon or something? Go find your husband and butt into his business and stay out of mine.”
“Laura, come on. Don’t do this. We’re hanging out and having fun. Don’t blow it up into a bigger deal than it is.”
“She means the world to him,” Laura said softly. “If you hurt her, it’ll hurt him—and me.”
“I have no plans to hurt her. I like her—a lot. I thought you’d be thrilled to see me going out with someone else after everything.” He didn’t need to spell out what “everything” meant in this case. She certainly knew.
“I am thrilled.”
“You don’t look thrilled.”
“I worry about Owen. He’s been through so much with his family, and he’s finally getting some peace now that we’re married, his dad is going to jail and his mom is happy with Charlie. I’d hate to see anything happen to mess with that.”
“I’d hate that, too. He’s not just my brother-in-law, Laura. He’s also my friend. Do you honestly think I’m going to do anything to harm his sister? I saved her life, for crying out loud.”
Shane’s phone dinged with a text. He took a quick look and saw it was from Mac.
Going to the mainland for a few days. Hold down the fort for me. Will be in touch.
“That’s odd.”
“What is?”
“Mac. He’s going to the mainland for a few days. I was just with him earlier, and he didn’t say anything about leaving.” Shane returned the text. Got it. Everything okay?
No, but I’ll tell you about it when we get back.
“Shit.” Shane shared the exchange with Laura. “What do you suppose that means?”
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound good.”
“He was headed to Maddie’s appointment at the clinic when he left me earlier.”
“Oh God…” Laura took the phone out of his hand and began dialing.
“Who’re you calling?”
“Janey. She’ll know what’s up.” She paused before she said, “It’s not Shane. It’s Laura, and I’m with Shane. He just got a cryptic text from Mac. Do you know what’s going on?”
Laura held the phone so Shane could hear their cousin as she said, “At Maddie’s appointment today, they couldn’t find the baby’s heartbeat.” Janey sounded like she’d been crying.
