“It’s up to her to decide,” I explained once more as I followed him to the door. We’d been around and around this issue several times. The incident with Shaina seemed to have struck a discordant note with him. I had no clue why, but it seemed to have been exacerbated when the owner of the club had stopped us on the way out and tried to minimize the whole scene as some big misunderstanding.
Anger had bled off Dizzy as if the guy’s words and nonchalance had nicked a major artery. I had been beyond pissed too, but my priority had been Shaina and what she wanted and needed had been to get the hell out of there.
“You realize Joel might file assault charges against you,” Dizzy reminded me.
“Yeah? Bring it.” I pulled open the door to the suite and leaned my arm against it after Dizzy walked through. “I taught him once already. If he needs another lesson, then I’m a willing tutor.”
“Good call.” Dizzy mouth twisted into a dark smile I’d never seen him wear before he turned away, waving a hand above his shoulder as he headed to the elevator.
I closed the door and realized that though I had known Diz since high school, there was still a whole lot about him that was a mystery.
“Warren!” I heard Shaina suddenly cry.
My stomach dropped to the floor, the fear in her voice making my legs wobbly as I sprinted across the suite. I threw open her door to find her sitting up in the bed, her pale legs thrown over the side, her hair a riotous tangle around her face, her eyes wide and round.
“I heard the door. I thought you’d left me.”
“Nah. That was just Dizzy, darlin’.”
“Oh.” She stared at me, some emotion ghosting across her face that I couldn’t read through the shadows cast by the narrow swath of light from the open door behind me. “Warren,” she whispered.
“Yeah, I’m still here,” I affirmed
“Could you…would you mind staying longer? I really don’t want to be alone.”
“Of course I’ll stay.” Though her asking reminded me of another time when I’d been an idiot and turned down a similar request. “I’ll be in the living room if you need anything.” I had my hand on the latch when she called me again.
“Warren.”
“Yeah, Sweetness?” I couldn’t keep the smile out of my voice. She looked so cute in that big king bed in those white cotton pajamas. So much better. So much more herself than she’d looked when she’d been in that dark room huddled in the corner. Just thinking about it again made me homicidal. She and I were going to have to have a long and serious discussion about clubs and how important it was to get her own drinks. I was also going to have to make it clear that any more rough play or role-play or whatever she decided to do was going to be just her and me… exclusive and private.
“Would you mind staying in here?” She scooted over to the middle of the bed making room.
I nodded, trying to keep the triumphant smile from blasting off my face but not succeeding.
“No sex.” I think she had a sixth sense that included the ability to read my mind. “Just sleeping,” she clarified further.
“I can do that.” It’d be hard. But I could do it, would do it. I would do anything for her.
I went to the side of the bed she’d vacated took a seat and flipped on the lamp. I pulled off my boots and socks, drew my shirt over my head, and took off my rings and bracelets, putting all the assorted paraphernalia on the nightstand.
I heard a soft sound behind me, and turned to look. Her green eyes were twinkling, her lips were curved, and her body was shaking with amusement. “What’s so funny, darlin’?” I tried to sound gruff but I wasn’t irritated in the slightest. Nothing could have pleased me more than to see her smiling so soon after what had happened to her.
“You’ve got more accessories than a girl.”
I raised a brow. “Go to bed, goof.” I deadpanned. “It’s late.”
Suddenly, she stopped laughing. Her eyes went wider than they had when she’d thought I’d left, but the rest of her body went utterly and completely still. “When did you get that?” she whispered.
Oh yeah, in all the excitement I’d forgotten about the original plan. The grand gesture. Lace’s directive to show Shaina what she meant to me.
“Today or I guess it was yesterday.” We’d passed into a new day while she’d been sleeping. Finding a tattoo artist accomplished enough to complete Sager’s complicated design in one sitting had been the reason we’d gone all the way out to Coquitlam to get it done.
Shaina moved closer. She put her hands on my chest framing the tat. I loved her touching me. Doubts, second guessing, it all flew out the window when she did. She stared at the design then into my eyes for a real long fuckin’ time. I could barely manage to stop my own eyes from getting wet when hers began to fill.
I covered her hands. I could feel my heart beating like crazy. “Do you like it?” I asked softly.
Her lips trembled. She shook her head.
What the fuck?
Her gaze dropped to my chest again. “It’s still red. Does it hurt?” she whispered as if she was in a museum and the tattoo was a priceless work of art. It pleased me to think that might be the way she felt about it.
“It did at the time. Now it just itches like fuck.” I shifted in the bed. “So you seriously don’t like it?”
She shook her head again, her gaze coming back up. “I don’t like it. I love it.” I felt the underscoring of those words resonate deep inside my soul, like maybe they meant something even more. “How long did it take the guy to ink all the small letters of our names inside the wings like that?”
“Her. The tattoo artist was a woman. She told me that she couldn’t do it when we first showed her the design. But when I explained how important it was to me. How badly I fucked up with the woman I loved, she changed her mind.”
She drew in a sharp breath. “You love me?” She pressed her trembling lips together.
“Yeah, Shaina, if this ain’t love that I’m feelin’ then I want a fuckin’ refund ’cause what else could set a black heart like mine free? Not that I have any frame of reference. I’ve never felt like this way before.”
“Not even with Lace?”
“No, Sweetness. How could I? You’re the one who taught me the meaning of the emotion. You’re light to my darkness. Someone I can share my feelings with and who I can trust to keep those feelings safe. I would’ve fallen for you even if I’d never touched you, and I’ll continue to love you even if I never have that privilege again. I had no fuckin’ clue before you.”
Her mouth parted.
“Yeah, my heart aches. Constantly. The only thing that makes it better is when I’m with you.”
She blinked up at me with her pretty eyes, looking like she might be close to believing me now.
So I reached deep down, swallowed the rest of my pride, and went for it. “I’ve been trying to run away from this from the moment we met because I’m not right for you. Dizzy said himself that we don’t make sense. But I’m too selfish to stay away. So apparently I need to get my ass in gear and become a better man, so I don’t end up dragging that sweetness of yours down with me into the gutter.” I touched her satiny lip, dragging the pad of my thumb across the full beauty of it while looking deep into her eyes. “I love you. Give me some time, give me a chance, and I’ll do my best to be the man you deserve to have by your side.”
She brought my hand to her mouth and kissed it. “Are you kidding? It’s me that wants to be like you, Warren. I’ve been trying to channel that attitude of yours for two weeks. I love how you take life head on and don’t take any shit from anyone.” Her voice reflected the fervor of her emotion.
I felt my brows rise.
“I do. I fuckin’ love it.” My brows rose higher. She was cussing. This was a definite tear and on my behalf which was super cool. I wanted to savor the moment. I don’t think anyone had ever risen to my defense like that. “I told you back at the beginning that I didn’t want to change you.�
��
“Ok. Ok, darlin’. I have to tell you, though, you’ve got plenty of attitude. Just saw it rear its pretty little head right now. Yours just looks different. It’s all wrapped up in a candy coated wrapper and shit whereas mine’s hog-tied in leather and kickass accessories.”
“Warren Jinkins.” She shook her head at me, her eyes becoming serious. “I love you, but let’s agree that you’ll be you, and I’ll be me. I like the way that works… most of the time. For the times it doesn’t I’ll keep Alex in reserve to kick your ass when needed.”
“Fair enough.” I grinned.
Her pretty green eyes practically glowing, she traced my lips, then slid her hands softly along my cheeks and threaded them into my hair. “I knew all I needed to know to start falling in love with you when you wouldn’t let me jump off that bridge.” My chest squeezed tight, not with pain but with an exquisite pleasure. “No one understands me like you do. We’ve both been to the same dark places. Who else but you could ever ease my pain?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Shaina
I could hardly get my mind around the fact that he loved me. Warren Jinkins loved me. And that tattoo blew my mind. It was incredibly beautiful. No one had ever done anything that moved me more. If it hadn’t been so new I’d have run my fingers over the filigree lettering that spelled out my name over the top of one outstretched wing and Cass’ over the other. Just looking at it made my heart want to take flight the way his black heart now appeared capable of doing, with its feathery additions.
Warren Jinkins had the captivating soul that bridged the gap to mine.
All I’d wanted was him. All I could think about was him. His imprint on me was as indelible now as the ink under his skin. His name hovered on the edges of every single conscious thought. The memory of how we were together invaded my dreams. And now he’d done this. More than I could resist. Not that I wanted to try.
I wanted us to start again, and I wanted to do it right now.
So I told him the truth. “There’s been no one since you. From the beginning, from the moment I met you on the bridge and looked into your eyes, it’s been you, Warren. Only you. And it’ll always be you.”
He started to speak, but I shushed him, ignoring the flare in his gaze. I wasn’t though. “I want everything with you.”
He removed my hand and kissed it. “I’ll give it to you,” he said in a way that made me believe him. “I love you. It’s an incurable condition.” His eyes held me enthralled in their intense and mesmerizing glow.
I nodded. “I’m in the same predicament.”
“Then, there’s only one thing left to do, darlin’.”
“What’s that?” I whispered.
“Let me heal you.” His lips touched mine, warm and perfect, and my stomach flipped as if it was the first time all over again.
“I love you.” I leaned back so I could look at him. “I’ve missed you so much.” I touched his face with my hand, loving the feel of the rough stubble on his cheeks. The artificial desire the drug had made me feel with Brandon and Joel was nothing like this. That had been a superficial kind of awareness. This was soul deep recognition, real, hot, and undeniable.
I leaned in closer wanting to put my mouth on him and taste directly from the source. His skin was slightly salty, and the line of his jaw was abrasive beneath my tongue.
He groaned when I flicked my tongue to his ear lobe, the rumble so strong it shook the bed. “Shaina. Fuck.” He brought his hands up to my shoulders and pushed me gently backward into the center of the bed. I could feel the restrained passion in his grip, and exulted in the fact that I, Shaina Marie Bentley, could so easily turn on a potent powerful gorgeous man like Warren. I was also still a little in awe of the fact that he was all mine.
He stared down at me for a long tantalizing moment, his eyes dark with desire. My body responded and I grew restless yearning for him to fulfill the promise of pleasure I’d so sorely missed. His handsome face was drawn reflecting his own hunger. He trailed his hand down the center of my chest and splayed the long digits wide over my furiously pounding heart. His lips formed a grin. I understood the message. Without words he was claiming me. All of that coupled together with the fierce possessiveness gleaming in his gaze literally set me on fire.
His fingers unfastened the buttons of my pajama top with ease, though I wished he was even faster. My breath caught as he parted the fabric and the cool air hit my exposed heated skin. He watched me, relishing the effect that he had on me. My heart drummed in anticipation. I arched into his warm touch the moment he put his hand on me, his smooth caresses making me moan and writhe and my nipples becoming tight aching nubs after being plucked and rolled between his skilled fingers.
His liquid mahogany eyes lifted, trapping me in his burning gaze. “You’re beautiful, Sweetness.”
Not me.
Him.
I reached up threaded my fingers into his silky hair and pulled his handsome face down to mine. His collapsed weight settled deliciously hot and heavy on top of me right before his lips touched mine. It was a devastating kiss, a connection that went far beyond the joining of our mouths and the dancing of our tongues. It was a mutual homecoming that brought our two separate bodies and souls to life as one. He was everything to me, and I willingly surrendered all that I was back to him.
When he lifted his head and ended the kiss, I whimpered in protest. Smiling down at me as though I was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, he pressed his thumb to my wet lips. “Hold that thought for just a sec.’”
He stood unbuckling his belt while I watched. The removal of his jeans and boxers revealed lean hard muscles and hollowed male contours. I tried to regulate my breathing, but I was hot and flushed and practically panting. The long hard length of him seemed to strain for me and my body answered with a low insistent throbbing.
Desperate to move things along, I quickly shimmied out of my bottoms. I smiled shyly when I noticed him tracing my naked flesh with his eyes. I reveled in the obvious appreciation in their heated depths, but it got even better when he rejoined me on the bed and his warm hands began to retrace the path his eyes had wandered. Gently, almost worshipfully, he used the flat of his palm to caress. Down the column of my neck across my shoulders, up and over and around slowly circling my breasts and shaping my nipples into even tighter peaks with purposeful tugs of his long ring free fingers. Then his teasing passes went much lower smoothing my legs, passing between my hipbones, so very near but never quite touching the spot where I wanted him the most.
I began to burn, flames and heat and incineration at the cellular level. Liquid and languid I sighed into his open mouth when he returned it to me. He kissed me as if he were ravenous for me. As if he needed me to survive, which was exactly how I felt about him. Each additional increasingly abandoned foray of his tongue took me higher and drove me nearer and nearer to the brink until I was mindless with pleasure.
• • •
War
I lifted my head, struggling to catch my breath. I’d never felt like this. Desire that was a raging fire inside. Her responsiveness to every single thing I did to her added fuel to this driving need to possess her and make her mine. The soft sexy sounds of her passion, the eagerness I could feel as her caresses got more frantic, her fingers and nails scoring a blazing path from my shoulder to my hips to my ass were more potent than any aphrodisiac I could ever imagine.
Shaking, I looked down at her, this beautiful woman with her flushed face, her delectable parted lips, and her eyes darkened with desire, and discovered something else. Her love humbled me. She gave herself to me body, mind and soul in a way no one ever had. It still scared me how close I’d come to almost ruining everything. I could barely wrap my mind around the fact that she was mine.
“Warren, please.” She boldly reached for me, fingers wrapping around me, and I sucked in a shocked breath that turned into a groan of pleasure as she stroked me. Not slow like she was building up to something, but d
esperate like she was almost there.
Hell, fucking, yeah.
No more going slow. With a low growl full of unleashed and pent up desire, I framed her beautiful face in my trembling hands and took her mouth with carnal brutality, lips hard, tongue slashing deep. I didn’t give her any chance to get used to the slant of my mouth before I changed direction. And she bore the full brunt of it magnificently, her head lifting off the pillow and her lips crashing into mine with equal fervor.
“Shaina,” I groaned her name, lifting my mouth from hers, only to bury it in her neck. The edge of my teeth grazed down along it, my tongue backtracking along the recently conquered territory.
She moaned, her heels digging into the mattress, her back arching off the bed, her beautiful lush breasts pressed right up where I wanted them. Sucking hard, I gave them the wet homage they were due.
“Warren,” she cried. “That feels… so… good.”
So I sucked them harder, until her body started to buck beneath me, then I pulled back but only long enough for her to crack open her lust glazed eyes. She gave me a look of dazed wonder.
Oh, yeah, my woman was sweet.
I positioned and then filled her, going in so deep and giving it to her so hard that her body skidded along the sheets to the other side of the bed. She felt tight and wet and fuckin’ fantastic and she let me know with a long moan that she enjoyed it just the way I was giving it to her.
Rough and wild.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Shaina
I had my arms thrown out wide and was lying in a boneless diagonal sprawl across the middle of the bed, still trying to come down from the body shuddering, spine melting, earthshattering double climax War had just given me.
The Complete Tempest World Box Set Page 98
