Dorie’s tentative hands became bolder and she stroked him with confidence, her fingers flicking over his flattened discs with a look of delight in her eyes. “You’re so hard,” she whispered in awe.
Shane groaned. His manhood strained the confines of his trousers. Soon she would see the true extent of her statement.
Dorie lowered her hand down his torso caressing the area just below his waist. She stopped short when Shane drew a sharp breath, then smiled and reached for his belt buckle.
Shane stilled her hands. “Not yet,” he said, though the notion of what she was about to do dizzied his mind. Dorie feigned a pout, the look so adorable that Shane took hold of her and raised her up so she lay atop him. “You need to get used to me first, sweetheart.”
Dorie clearly got his meaning. Her eyes widened with surprise when his arousal pulsed beneath her through his clothes. Shane cupped her derriere and nearly died with pleasure seeing Dorie’s eyes change from surprise to heavy-lidded desire. He stroked her bottom and she swayed, moving against his gliding hands, causing unbearable heady friction. Her breasts crushed his chest and, with her pretty face inches from his, Shane found her lips and kissed her hard on the mouth, his own undeniable desire mounting.
He continued to slide his hands up and down, gliding from her sweet behind up to her back and shoulders then down again. They moved together causing heat and passion, rubbing their bodies, learning and exploring. Enjoying.
Dorie uttered tiny gasps now, her breaths labored and short. The mere sound of her sighs brought Shane immeasurable satisfaction. He was ready for her, all of her, but she wasn’t quite ready for him.
He rolled her onto her back and he immediately missed the feel of her breasts on his skin, her thighs pressed to him. Soon, he told himself. Soon, he would satisfy both of their needs.
Dorie looked up at him, her expression filled with aching need. Shane wasted no time. He brought his mouth to hers while his fingers found the juncture of her thighs. He touched her there and she opened for him, her body seeming to know what he wanted. His fingers found her core, the soft petals of flesh that would soon welcome him. He touched her gently there, and she was jolted by the sensation.
“Oh, Shane,” she breathed out on a plea.
“Dorie, honey, just lie back. Won’t be long now.” He kissed her again, quick and hard. Then he cupped her, his palm open, his rough skin rubbing the soft petals of her womanhood. She arched up and whimpered, her body reacting immediately to his touch. She moved with him, her body undulating as he stroked her tenderly.
Shane had little willpower left. Her soft cries as he readied her for him made him ache, his manhood growing harder with each passing moment. He kissed her again, gliding one hand over her body, caressing her skin, brushing over her breasts again and again, while the other hand moved with her rhythm. Her breaths became as labored as his, her soft cries even more pronounced, and Shane knew it was time.
He rose up from the bed and worked at removing his belt. He was surprised when Dorie reached up to pull the belt completely off. He grinned at her impatience, then tugged his pants and undergarments off. Before rejoining her on the bed, he took in her stunned expression as she viewed his naked body. “I won’t hurt you,” he reassured her.
“I know you won’t. It’s just that, oh, Shane…you are an amazing…man.” She took a big swallow and lay back on the bed, her eyes focused below his waist.
Ridiculous pride swelled his chest at Dorie’s obvious admiration. When she opened her arms to him, Shane put aside all of his misgivings. He lowered himself onto the bed and rose above her, gently spreading her legs for his entry.
Dorie closed her eyes with a sweet giving expression on her face. Shane touched the tip of her womanhood, teasing her with his full length. She opened more for him and he entered her with one slow but forceful thrust. He felt the exact moment when he claimed her innocence, the resistance that broke from his pressure. Dorie’s slight grip on his shoulders tightened. Before he could ask, she whispered, “It didn’t hurt, Shane.”
Shane released his breath, relieved at Dorie’s undeniable courage and tenacity. He gazed down at her, the beautiful woman with a generous soul and giving heart was joined together now with him and Shane realized that he’d never felt anything better in his whole life. He relished the moment, looking into Dorie’s eyes, and he moved slowly, thrusting into her with slight measured movements. His manhood strained the tight confines of her body, yet she accepted him fully and moved with him, finding a pace that fit them perfectly.
Shane had had sex with women before, but he’d never made love like this. He’d never been so touched, so honored and so involved. He wanted Dorie to feel everything, enjoy it all, to make their night together something they’d never forget.
Shane had already achieved that for himself. And as he moved with her, plunging deeper into her, he knew he’d never in his life feel anything so fulfilling. He’d never want a woman the way he wanted Dorie.
Shane touched her skin, caressed her breasts, slid his hands over her belly, then cupped her face and kissed her deeply on the lips. She made little noises, her breaths labored, her body reaching up to his. They rocked in unison now, Shane driving his manhood deep, absorbing all of her.
She cried out. “Shane!”
He rose up and plunged as deep and as hard as he could, his body burning up. She met each thrust and they reached the fiery mountain together, climbing to the very top as flames erupted and Shane felt her spasms of release. She cried out again as if in stunned surprise spurring Shane’s own potent sharp release.
Once their bodies relaxed some, they gazed at each other in wonder. Dorie blinked, her throat worked, but she spoke no words.
Shane wrapped his arms around her then rolled to his side, taking her with him. He kissed her forehead and spoke softly. “Your heart will slow down soon, sweetheart. Take some deep breaths.”
Dorie looked into his eyes. “I don’t think my heart will ever slow down, Shane. I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything so wonderful or so…powerful.”
Shane smiled above her head, relieved that she hadn’t been disappointed in any way. “Are you all right?”
Dorie chuckled. “I think I’m stunned.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Dorie stayed cradled in his arms for a time before she asked, “Why, Shane?”
“Why, what?”
He’d begun to relax, his breaths almost back to normal again.
“Why were you…stunned? Was it me? Did I surprise you?”
Shane stroked her shoulders and toyed with her breast, then decided that diversion would only muddle his mind further. He held her loosely and admitted, “You always surprise me, Dorie.”
“In a bad way?” she asked, with uncertainty.
“Not in a bad way, honey. I was stunned…in the best way.” He kissed away her doubts and brought her close. “Let’s get some sleep now.”
Shane closed his eyes, but his mind wouldn’t settle. Images of Dorie just moments ago flashed in his head. He’d never forget making love to her. He tightened his grip and nudged her even closer, needing her near, absorbing her warmth, for this one last night.
Mrs. Whitaker once told Dorie that the one you love can make you angry and frustrated and crazy all at the same time, but even so, you can’t imagine your life without that person. She said to love meant to open your heart and give all you had to that one person, and know that they’d return the kindness without a second’s hesitation. She said that loving meant joy and heartache. It meant happiness and sorrow. Loving meant putting that special someone’s needs above your own.
If that were all true—and she believed it to be—then she had truly fallen deeply and completely in love with Shane Graham. She gazed at his sleeping form beside her and realized that she loved him with her whole heart. She’d probably loved Shane since the first time he’d kissed her more than a year ago. And to love him genuinely meant to let him go.
She shook
off the sheet and rose, taking one warm coverlet with her to wrap around her body. Still reeling from their profound lovemaking, Dorie’s sated body ached from the loss that would surely follow. The wound she feared would only increase as time went on. Dorie had only this one night with Shane.
She loved him.
It was different from the love she felt for Jeremiah, but it was the same, too, because she couldn’t imagine living her life without him.
Dorie tiptoed to the window and, parting the curtain slightly, she peered out at the empty night for a moment. Bereft as the starless sky and vacant as the deserted streets below, Dorie knew sleep would elude her. She found solace in a finger high tumbler of whiskey. She sipped carefully, trying not to make a sound, but when she turned from the window, Shane’s eyes were upon her. “Trouble sleeping?”
She shook her head. “I…don’t want to.”
Shane stared into her eyes, his grass-green eyes holding her hostage. “What do you want, honey?”
“You,” she said honestly, noting the enticing picture he made laying lazily across the bed. “I thought we’d have the whole night together.”
Shane shook his head. “It’s your first time—”
“My only time,” she corrected. And she meant it. She didn’t want to bed any other man but Shane. She would go her entire lifetime recalling this one special night with the only man she would ever love.
“I thought you’d be…thought you’d need… I didn’t want to…” And as Shane searched for the exact right words, Dorie let the coverlet that warmed her body drop unceremoniously to the floor. She stood naked before him, her eyes meeting his without shame.
Shane visibly gulped. His eyes gleamed, roaming over her from head to toe, his direct perusal heating her like a slow simmering fire. He slid to the other side of the bed, making room. “Come back to bed. And bring the bottle,” he ordered.
Dorie turned to do his bidding, grabbing up the whiskey bottle and making her way back to bed. She tripped on her shoes that jutted out from under the bed and toppled onto him, spilling liquor all over his body. “Whoops, sorry.”
Shane laid back, stretched out and welcomed her with a grin. “Now you have to clean me up.”
Dorie nodded, feeling like a clumsy fool, and spun around to get a cloth. Instantly, Shane grabbed her wrist and she turned to him in question. “Not with a cloth, honey,” he whispered, his tone quite mischievous. “Use that wild imagination of yours.”
Dorie nibbled her lower lip, contemplating, until she figured out what Shane had in mind. Heat rushed to her cheeks and she prayed Shane wouldn’t notice how his enticing invitation had affected her.
Dorie stretched out her body fully atop Shane, no longer unfamiliar with his form. His heat became her heat, their bodies meshing together like puzzle pieces, each part connecting to the other. She rose slightly to look him in the eyes, then dipped her head and kissed away the whiskey on his throat, his shoulders and, shimmying down a bit, she kissed his chest. Whiskey wet her lips and she licked at them, tasting the heady elixir. Becoming bolder even still, she dipped down once again and licked the liquor from his skin this time, eliciting pleasured moans from him. Dorie continued to kiss and drink up the whiskey with her tongue, sipping from his chest like a road-weary thirsty traveler.
Shane reached for her, bringing her face to his. “I want to taste you.” He kissed her fully on the mouth, his tongue making sweeping swirls gathering up the moistness still on her lips. Then with one fluid, graceful movement, he rolled her over, so that she rested her back against the bed.
Their eyes met.
Dorie witnessed the passion burning deep in Shane’s hungry gaze. And she jerked slightly when he dripped whiskey onto her body, slowly, deliberately, pouring the liquor from her chest to her navel.
Shane bent his head and sipped from her skin in much the same fashion as she had. His lips wiped up the liquor with small urgent kisses and his tongue licked at her with long sweeping motions. He suckled the moistness from her breasts making her cry out and, when he dipped his head further down, drinking from her navel, hot hungry sensations pulsed through her body.
His hand found the folds of her tender skin then and she arched up, the pleasure almost pure agony. He stroked her again and again, and when she thought surely he’d drive his sleek manhood into her body, he rolled onto his back. Dorie followed his movements until she sat upon him, straddling his thighs. He showed her the way, guiding her atop him and, once positioned over his hard length, he helped ease her down.
Rapid all-consuming heat engulfed her instantly, her body burning up from the heady sensation. She took him in slowly, by increments, until finally he filled her. She moved up and down, his hands on her hips guiding her, his eyes intent, filled with passion.
Dorie moved more fluidly now, adjusting to his size, finding a distinct rhythm. She tossed back her head, her hair as wild and loose as she felt right now, relishing the tight flaming friction she created. Moaning softly, she met Shane’s own soft cries of passion. They moved and rocked and jerked, Shane letting go, allowing her to find her own way now.
“So beautiful,” he uttered. He thrust up and she slid down time and again until friction and heat built to an earth-shattering climax. Dorie’s body convulsed uncontrollably. She called out, “Shane!” and he responded with a cry of his own.
She floated back to earth as if on a cloud. Shane embraced her and she folded herself into him, the scent of whiskey and love surrounding her.
“Mmmm,” she breathed out.
Shane kissed her cheek and sighed. “I bet you could sleep now.”
Dorie smiled and searched his eyes. “I don’t think I want to.”
Shane cursed vividly but smiled back. “I’m afraid to ask. What do you want now?”
“I want to know it all, Shane. I want you to teach me. There’s more, isn’t there?”
Shane grunted. “Yeah, but—”
“There are different ways, aren’t there? And things we haven’t done?”
Shane nodded, albeit with reluctance. “We’ve done quite a lot, honey.”
“So you don’t want to make love again?”
Shane let out a deep-throated groan. “I didn’t say that.”
“So you do?” she asked eagerly. If this was her only real night with Shane, she had to know him in every way. She had to make this night last as long as possible. For Dorie, no other man would measure up. But she wondered if she were less than he had expected. “Unless you’re tired of me already. Is that it, Shane?”
Shane tightened his embrace. “I don’t think I’d ever tire of you, Dorie.”
Dorie’s heart soared with that declaration. “I’d never tire of you either, Shane. So, will you show me?”
Shane kissed her lips and nodded. “Give me a few minutes. A man needs time…to perform again.”
Dorie nodded in understanding, relating it to chopping wood. Sometimes after splitting a log, you needed to rest up some before picking up that axe again.
Shane had done a wonderful job chopping wood so far, having no trouble raising that axe. And one thing was for certain, splitting logs was a whole lot more appealing than sawing logs.
Dorie didn’t plan on doing much of the latter tonight, just as long as Shane could continue to lift his axe.
Chapter Fifteen
Shane pulled Smart and Sassy to a stop in front of the McCabe homestead, the mood in the wagon on the trip home mighty grim. Jeremiah hadn’t much to say since leaving his grandparents yesterday and Dorie, well, she’d been deep in thought, glancing his way more times than not. Shane had all he could do to keep from staring into her pretty blue eyes, recalling the night they spent making love in all sorts of ways.
Dorie had been an eager lover, surprising him at every turn. She’d given him a night he’d never forget, his body still humming from their encounter.
But Shane hadn’t a good thing to say about himself. Guilt plagued him, weighing him down heavily for taking Dorie
’s virginity. She’d wanted it so, but Shane should have resisted the temptation. He’d tried his damnedest and had succeeded for the past two weeks to put aside his yearnings for her. But last night, after Dorie made him realize they’d only have one chance together before both of their lives would change so drastically, Shane’s willpower had crumbled. He’d always been an honorable man, a man who knew to do the right thing, and last night had been wrong. Painfully wrong.
And the best night of his life.
“We’re here,” he said unnecessarily. Jeremiah had already jumped down from the wagon.
Shane did the same, coming around to Dorie’s side to help her down. He reached for her waist and lifted her. Once her feet hit the ground, he meant to release her, but he couldn’t quite manage it. He’d held her all through the night, becoming familiar with her body, and had a hard time reckoning the fact that this would be the very last time he might ever touch her. He held her tight and she wrapped her arms around his neck, setting her head on his shoulder.
“Jeremiah, grab Dorie’s things and bring them in the house,” he said. “I want to speak with your sister.”
“Sure, Shane.” Too wrapped up in his own thoughts, the boy hadn’t even noticed their embrace.
Once Jeremiah entered the house, Shane took hold of Dorie’s arms and lowered them down to hold her hands. “There’s nothing I can say to make this easier, honey. I’ll never forget last night, but I’m afraid everything has changed.”
Tears misted in her eyes and she nodded. “I know.”
“I think it best not to see each other anymore.”
Dorie bit down on her lower lip and stared into his eyes. When he thought she’d argue, instead she nodded in agreement. “If that’s what you want.”
“It’d be easier for us both that way,” he said firmly, trying to convince himself, as well as her.
Again, she nodded without qualm.
Shane released her hands and stepped away. He removed his hat and ran his hand through his hair several times. “Hell, it’s not what I want. But I have no choice. We both know that.”
Abducted at the Altar Page 20
