company by circumstances and danger, she knew of no other place she'd rather be.
"There's more, isn't there?" she asked. Captured by his sudden, appreciative
masculine gaze, Emma felt warmth flood her stomach.
"Yeah, there's more. If you were smart you'd run away now and keep on running. I
told you there's violence in me. It runs through my blood. I don't want to hurt a woman
the way my father hurt my mother. I refuse to allow that to happen."
She lay back on the bed and looked at the ceiling. "You told me I shouldn't be
afraid of you and to trust you. You wouldn't hurt me, Shane."
"You don't know that," he said firmly. "Maybe it's something I can't control after
all."
"I do know it. You've been trying to protect me."
Shane shifted on the bed so that he propped on one elbow alongside her. His
proximity made the breath catch in her throat. As he touched her hair, he threaded his
fingers through the strands that lay about her shoulders. His gaze landed on her mouth.
"I'm not leaving you," she whispered, feeling a deep flutter in her belly as he came
closer.
With a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan, he leaned over her. Before
she could utter a sound, his lips touched hers.
* * *
Chapter Thirteen
Maybe Emma expected a rough kiss. A devouring, overwhelming taste that would
give her a reason to push Shane away. Instead, he surprised her, and with that
amazement came a longing she didn't want to deny. Softly, slowly his lips caressed
hers, moving with infinite gentleness.
It was her undoing. Every fiber within her cried out to accept him, to give him
comfort…and love.
Love. Oh my God, could I be falling for him?
With this realization came a rush of desire so strong it astounded her. An
overpowering need to heal both him and herself with the sheer force of feelings
between them. Automatically her arms went around his neck and she pulled him closer.
Worries of the past two days spilled away, overshadowed by the tenderness she felt
flowing from him to her. Ready to trust, she fell under his spell without another
hesitation.
All the leashed power, the restraint she'd seen within him coiled beneath the
surface. She knew without a doubt that she wanted Shane to lose control, taking her
with him when he forfeited that last bit of discipline.
He kissed her again and again, gentle forays that promised and yet refused to give
immediate, carnal delivery. He pressed his hips against her, and his erection pressed
her hip. She inhaled sharply with a breathless moan and he took that moment to slide
his tongue deep into her mouth. He tasted her with a carnal rhythm that sent sweet
tremblings through her body. Heat gathered between her legs, and liquid moistened the
folds. She fought an overwhelming want to nestle him between her thighs, to accept his
hardness deep into her, so far inside. She groaned a protest when he broke the kiss.
His gaze bordered on unrivaled passion and his breath came unsteady. "Run, now,
while you have the chance."
"No," she whispered, knowing that she had to have his lips on hers. Nothing would
satisfy the longing within her more than he would. No one else would ever do.
Slowly he traced a finger down the side of her neck. She welcomed the burn and
tingle as sensation concentrated down into the soft, sensitive folds between her legs. He
traced a path across her collarbone with his finger then trailed down her cleavage, softly
teasing the skin above the collar of the robe. She trembled with the realization she
hadn't put on a bra and panties before she slipped into the robe.
I'm naked under here.
A tiny thrill vibrated through her.
He leaned down until his breath brushed her ear. When he touched her ear with his
tongue, she gasped.
"Sure you don't want to run?" he asked, his voice husky, deep and compelling.
"No." She gasped with genuine pleasure as his kisses concentrated on her neck,
licking the hollow where her pulse beat a frantic, excited tattoo.
Shane had never felt this alive before. Nowhere in his existence had a woman
tortured him, brought him to his knees the way Emma did. No woman he'd known
combined such delicate beauty with strength. He'd tried to hold back, but it was no use.
Every touch of her hand when she'd reassured him, and her understanding and
tenderness broke every excuse he'd conjured in the last few days to stay away from her.
He inhaled her hot, sweet scent, the clean, fresh bouquet of her hair as he ran his
fingers through the soft strands. God, his cock went spike-stiff with the first touch of
her lips against his. When she'd turned up at his door wearing only his huge white
robe, he wanted to immediately strip it off and see if she wore anything under it.
And she wanted him.
He saw the evidence in her slumberous eyes, heard it in her sighs of pleasure. Oh,
yeah. She wanted him all right. Thoughts of caution, of why they shouldn't do this, why
he couldn't become involved with her disappeared under primitive needs rushing
through him like a firestorm. He couldn't find his breath, his heart pounding at the
building excitement as he pulled her closer, tangling her long, bare legs with his. In
slow anticipation, he didn't pull the robe completely apart. He wanted to discover bit
by bit if she lay naked under the soft white material.
As she moved, uttering broken breaths, he allowed his gaze to skate over her still
clothed form. He skimmed his hands over her rounded hips, her small waist, reaching
to cup her firm ass. Fuck it, he wanted her bare skin, her nakedness to capture his mind
so he would forget everything but her softness. Lips barely an inch apart, their breaths
puffed into each other's mouths. Her mint fresh breath seduced him, drew him closer.
Closer yet. He rolled her onto her back. Braced on his forearms above her, he lowered
his hips and wedged into the cradle of her thighs. He could have parted her thighs to
feel her nakedness, but he wanted this slow torture, wanted to give her so much before
he thrust hard and deep and relentlessly into her core. Her legs came up, her calves
twining around his, her hips arching upward into his cock. He hissed in a breath. Her
heat burned him.
Her robe parted at the neck and revealed naked cleavage.
Oh, Jesus. Yes. He could almost feel her hot pussy, dripping with desire for him
already. He knew it down in his gut, in his animal senses that her feminine heat
prepared for his first balls-deep thrust. The idea was fucking maddening. Making sure
to keep most of his weight from crushing her, he rolled his hips, grinding upward into
her pussy. She gasped, a sweet sound that fired him into action.
As he kissed her mouth quickly, a tiny whimper of satisfaction parted her lips and
he caught it in his mouth.
A million senses came to life in Emma's body, individually sensual, together
devastating. His lips trailed over her forehead, mouth tender as he kissed her nose, then
drifted to one cheek. He pressed an exquisite kiss to the other cheek, and tears rose to
her eyes. Captured in a moment of perfect tenderness, she drifted in a world without
beginning or end. Lying mostly naked under his
big body, she could have felt too
vulnerable. Yet she felt wanted, protected and more excited than she could remember
feeling in years.
In one flash of sensibility, she wondered if she should leave his embrace. But no.
No. This felt too right. Too heady and thrilling. As Shane's hands explored, it was if he
trained her pleasure points to revive, to recall the euphoria a man's touch could
generate. His tongue plundered her mouth, licking, thrusting and challenging her to
surrender. She heard the shaky cadence in his breath and plunged her hands through
his hair, holding his head in place. Simultaneously, she arched into him, her hips
pressing upward and searching. He took the hint, rubbing, rotating in concert until they
established a cadence that spelled pure sex. Her clit fired to life, already throbbing with
urgent desire for relief. He pressed downward, circling just enough, never too hard.
Oh. Yes. Right there. She gasped. Oh, God.
Shane's long, hard column of flesh slid up and down over her clit, the pleasure as
hot and forceful as if she were naked. Warmth spilled from her, and she knew she
soaked the material over his erection. He would feel it. Know how much her body
wanted his. The idea turned her on so much she kissed him frantically, the aggressor as
she thrust her tongue into his mouth and challenged him. He moaned and met her
tongue with his own.
Tossed into a whirlwind of pleasure, she allowed her hands to drift over his
shoulders, his neck, his chest, searching his muscles. She fell into the sensation, the
pounding that grew with every second between her thighs.
As he continued the motion of his hips, he devoured Emma with his kiss. They
battled, her tongue in his mouth then his tongue in her mouth. He stroked, licked with
steady plundering so heated she groaned and whimpered under the fiery touch. He
moaned softly, and the tempo of his kiss increased, his mouth hungry and relentless.
Leisurely his tongue played upon her lips then fluttered over them before sweeping
into her mouth once more. She drowned in his kiss and drank from him the pleasures
she'd wanted before but never known.
He released her from the kiss, and she wanted him back. Shane's gaze trapped hers,
and she waited for what would come next. With deliberation, he drew the neckline of
her robe back and exposed her breasts. In the morning light, her flesh was bared to his
view—she couldn't hide in shadow. Yet his eyes held nothing but hungry admiration.
As the heat of his fingers teased one nipple, she writhed, the pleasure so stinging and
exquisite she couldn't stay motionless.
"Oh man," he whispered.
His head dipped and he licked one nipple. A small gasp escaped her throat. Then
he drew her tight tip into his mouth and suckled her gently. She closed her eyes and
burrowed her fingers into the long lengths of coal-black hair that lay over his shoulders
in disarray. The contrast of silky, thick hair and his mouth torturing her nipple sent
ripples of reaction through her body. She ached, throbbed deep between her legs. Little
moans slipped free from her lips as he moved to the other breast and tasted her with
equal fervor. One lick, soft and yet abrading across her nipple, made her hips arch into
his. She knew she was soaking, wet with desire to come and come hard.
With his mouth teasing her nipples, Shane stirred his hips into action again,
rubbing against her clit. Pleasure built higher and hotter. Relentless, he pushed her to
her limit. She drifted into a moment where only his mouth playing with her extremely
sensitive nipples and his cock rubbing her clit made any sense in a world upside down
with passion. Everything else faded into the background.
"Shane." She gasped the word as the fervor rose.
"Mmm." His reply muffled around her nipple as he plumped and stroked her
entire breast, held it captive for his lips. "You're so wet."
The truth, spoken in a guttural tone, lit her fire so high she hovered on a bridge,
ready to jump into the churning waters below. When her nipple popped free from his
mouth, he returned to the opposite breast. Throbbing deep inside, her aching channel
rippled and tingled with approaching orgasm.
"Shane." The word came out as a trembling plea as she dangled on the cusp.
Then he did the most maddening thing she'd ever felt.
He clasped one nipple between his finger and thumb. He encompassed the other
nipple in his hot mouth and sucked deeply. His hips picked up speed, bumping and
rubbing her clit mercilessly. Her moans escalated, her breathing fast and harsh,
matching his quick breaths.
She exploded into orgasm with a scream, hips writhing, head thrown back.
Oh. Oh.
Gasping, sobbing for breath, she allowed the heady wash of ecstasy to burst over
her like a cyclone. Trembling in his arms, she fell into the maelstrom, the quivering
beauty.
What seemed a long time later, she opened her eyes and looked into his inquisitive,
passion-filled gaze. "That was…"
"Incredible?" he asked when she didn't finish the sentence.
She smiled and laughed. "Better than incredible."
He groaned and pushed his hips into hers again. She gasped.
"Well, there's more where that came from," he said.
"God, I hope so."
He pushed up and away from her and knelt there watching her. As he looked down
on her with fiery eyes, she sat up so that she could touch him. She traced her fingers
through the dark hair over his muscled pectorals, moving her fingers slowly, following
the sprinkling down to his lean stomach and waist, feeling the forceful desire to see
more.
He sucked in a breath and his muscles flexed under her fingers as she explored his
shoulders and the tensile strength of his powerful arms. With delight she trailed her
fingers over his biceps then squeezed to feel the hard muscles. Her fingers explored the
silky, dark hair over his strong forearms. She slid down over his hands. Man, his hands
were so gorgeous. Masculine, but not ugly as so many men's hands were. She allowed
her touch to explore his six-pack stomach. His stomach was delineated, but not carved
too deeply.
At last, and with a boldness she didn't restrain, she touched the waistband of his
sweatpants and then looked up at him. He smiled at her tenderly.
"Take what you want," he said, his voice husky.
What she saw in his eyes propelled her onward. She slowly pulled down the
waistband, revealing red briefs that hugged his body sinfully. His cock pushed against
the briefs, huge and hard. She licked her lips.
She grinned. "I see I'm not the only one with a penchant for red underwear."
"Apparently." His answering grin was sinful as hell.
He moved away from her touch and stripped the sweatpants and briefs off his legs
in a heartbeat. He stood by the bed, naked to her gaze, and her heartbeat quickened as
she shamelessly took in his beautiful, sculpted body.
No, not beautiful.
All male.
Hard. Angled. Sinew. Carved with a male perfection that spoke of rugged,
uncompromising fitness.
Nestled between his thighs in a bed of dark hair, his cock stood erect. At least eight
inches long and thick, the smoo
th, gorgeous member promised to reach her depths in
ways she'd never experienced before. She licked her lips at the thought. She started to
reach for him, but he grasped her hand and held it away.
"No." He smiled gently. "If you touch me I'm going to explode right here and now.
It's been too long for me, and I want to be inside you when I come."
Shane crawled back onto the bed with her, then reached for her shoulders and
slowly slid the white robe the rest of the way off and down her arms. He tossed it away.
He'd never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. Her body was, to his mind, just
right. While tall and slim, she had delicious curves. Her breasts were full, her waist
small, her hips curved. God. He couldn't wait for her long legs to wrap around his hips.
He cupped her breasts and watched her expression as he slowly leaned forward to
brush his tongue across her nipples. She clutched at him, her fingers digging into his
shoulders, her gasps and moans sounding pure to his ears. Slowly he touched her, the
stroking of his tongue bringing little moans from her throat. Then he suckled, increasing
her need with every pull of his lips.
A blur of emotions engulfed him, combining with his increasing hunger to take her
slow and deep, hard and fast. Every way she needed loving, he wanted to love her. She
was special, beautiful, a woman who deserved the best. He wanted her writhing under
him, crying out her pleasure the way she had moments before. He didn't know if he
could hold out much longer, his desire strung tight, his need to be buried in her pussy
so strong he thought he might come unglued any minute. Hungry for their joining, he
kissed her.
Emma trembled as his tongue invaded her mouth at the same time his fingers
found the heat between her thighs. Oh, shit yeah. Wet, soft folds so silky and womanly.
His pleasure was instant and unexpectedly powerful as she arched into his hand. Oh,
yes. As he caressed her with infinite care, he vowed she'd feel nothing but mind-
blowing pleasure. He skirted around her clit, wanting to make sure she wasn't too
sensitive from the earlier orgasm.
She tore her lips from his. "Shane."
Shadows and Ruins Page 22
