When the two of them came together, it was never a mistake.
He reached the hotel, her hand gripped tightly in his, and he didn’t pause as he swept through the front doors and headed straight to the bank of elevators.
Lia’s step never faltered beside his.
When the elevator doors opened in invitation, they allowed the car to swallow them up and he delighted when the doors closed with just the two of them inside. Privacy was now theirs and Shane couldn’t wait any longer.
Pushing her up against the wall, he bent down, his mouth devouring hers, wordlessly pouring out his intentions. Lia clutched his shoulder; she moaned even as she was thrusting her tongue inside his mouth.
His knees nearly shaking from pure need, he slid his hands to her backside, holding her tightly in his palms and squeezing her rounded flesh. She responded by pressing up more tightly against him, encouraging him to continue his conquest.
Shane swept his hands down her thighs, and was exceedingly grateful for the high hem on her shorts. With the barest of efforts he lifted her, pulling her legs around his waist as he pushed his solid erection against her. Too many bloody clothes in the way.
“I want you so damn bad,” he groaned, lifting his head so he could trail his mouth down her throat.
“Mmm, you make me crazy with just your touch,” she admitted as she ground her h*ps against the ever impressive bulge in his pants.
The elevator chimed, and the doors swept open. No one was in the hallway, thank heavens. Particularly since Shane didn’t want to set Lia down.
“Hold on,” he told her as he strode down the hall with her clinging to him.
Pulling the key card from his back pocket, he unlocked his door, pushing it open before sliding inside the room and slamming the door shut with his foot. He pressed her back against the still-rattling door.
“Please, Shane,” she cried as her h*ps pressed into his. “Take me. ”
“I plan to,” he replied, then captured her mouth again with his.
Lia cried out as his hands ran up her sides, then grasped her br**sts and squeezed. Her breathing was rapid, her lips urgent, but soft. Her hands tangled in his hair, gripping him tightly, guiding him where she wanted him.
This was perfect — it was right — it was everything and more.
Shane was losing control too quickly. He had to rein it in. They hadn’t been together in a long time, and he wanted this night to be something she wouldn’t soon forget. He had to make her see that they were much better together than they were apart.
With a herculean effort, Shane ended the kiss, then pulled away from the door and moved over to his bed, where he gently set her down.
Lia reached for him, whimpering when he didn’t immediately fall on top of her. But he was resolute. Even if he died pleasing her, expired from holding his own fulfillment back, she would remember this night because he was going to make her ecstasy stretch out endlessly.
Kneeling at the foot of the bed, he pulled off her shoes, then kissed the soles of her feet, rubbing his tongue along the arch of her foot. She stopped struggling and moaned at his soft caress.
His hands rose slowly up her calves, massaging the firm muscles in her legs and making his tongue follow the path he was laying with his fingers. She quivered as his fingers moved higher, stroking the sensitive skin of her thighs while his tongue swirled around the underside of her knees.
Twisting beneath him, she wanted more.
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His fingers slipped beneath the hem of her shorts, rising, slipping inside her tiny panties and plunging into her wet core.
“Shane!” she screamed.
He stroked her a few times, then pulled out. She began to protest, but she felt his hands at the clasp of her shorts, releasing the fabric, slipping inside the waistband and pulling them down.
Shane couldn’t get enough of Lia’s flesh. His mouth trailed kisses back down her thighs, and he tasted her sweet skin.
She writhed beneath him, calling his name and begging him for more — more of what, she didn’t even know, but the pleasurable sensation he awoke within her was turning her inside out.
Tossing her shorts aside, he began kissing her ankles, laving her heated flesh with his tongue, moving upward slowly, then sliding across her thighs until he reached the source of her heat. His tongue ran along the edges of her panties, her taste coming through the fabric and making him gasp in passion.
“You are perfect, Lia, absolutely perfect,” he moaned, overcome.
“Shane, please,” she cried, her voice urgent with need.
“I’ll please you, Lia. I’ll please you until the sun is rising in the sky, and then we will sleep in each other’s arms. When you wake, it will be to feel of my body surging inside of yours again. We won’t leave this bed for days, weeks, months. All I want to do is please you,” he said, and was surprised by how much he meant it.
She groaned as she reached for him. He obeyed her silent commands, sliding up her body, taking the hem of her shirt and lifting it, exposing her lacy bra to his view. Having discarded the shirt, he unhooked the clasp on the front of her bra, with a sharp inhale at the sight of her beautiful br**sts. It had been so long.
Caressing her curves, he used his hands and mouth to prolong her pleasure, making her cry out, over and over again until she was shaking, and a single tear slid down her cheek.
“Please, I need to feel you inside me. ” As she begged, she tried to look into his very soul.
“Yes, right now,” he agreed.
Shane tore off his clothes, wanting nothing more than to ravish her and end the ache that was now a constant in his body.
But instead, he lay on top of her, reveling in the feel of the thick head of his erection rubbing along her slick folds, until finally he pushed forward, and slowly, inch by beautiful inch, he sank inside her heat.
Lia gripped his flexed behind, wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, then rocked her h*ps against him. “Fast, Shane. I’m so close,” she begged.
His heart nearly stopped at the urgency in her voice, at the raw need pouring from her. He’d brought her to this point — he’d made her beg.
His heart thundered in his chest as he began thrusting fiercely, quickly driving in and out of her lush body. Yes, they both needed this release, they both needed to fall over the edge into paradise, and then…then, he’d start all over again.
He would love her so much, so long, so hard, she wouldn’t have the energy to fight him ever again. She wouldn’t even have the energy to move from beneath him.
With compulsion and need propelling him on, Shane drove inside her, his pleasure building, her screams of desire pushing him over.
Whimpering, moaning, crying out in an intense sequence, Lia dug her fingernails into his flesh as her body tightened around him. Shane was a goner. He let go, spilling inside her, his body pulsing with the force of his release.
It was several minutes before either of them could move.
Finally, Shane shifted, turning to his side, and then he quickly pulled her on top of him. No escape.
She didn’t fight him, and soon he found himself relaxing, caressing her back with a languid hand, loving the feel of her head against his chest.
“Shane?” Her voice was quiet, almost timid.
Worry filled him. This wasn’t how Lia spoke.
“What is it, babe?” he asked, praying she didn’t ask to leave. He didn’t think he could let her go — not now.
“Is it time for round two?” she asked, a quiet laugh escaping against his chest.
His heart filled with joy.
He really did love this woman.
“Let’s go take a shower. Then we can get started with rounds two, three and four,” he said before softly biting her shoulder.
Lia giggled as he sat up, pulling her with him.
He kept his promise.
&
nbsp; Neither of them got any sleep that night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
AS LIA’S BRAIN struggled toward consciousness, the first thing it noticed was the big smile on her face. What a night! Hell, what a great two nights! Lia stretched her arms and legs before turning over and deciding she didn’t want to be awake yet.
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The bed was too warm and inviting, and there was nothing on this earth that could pull her from it. Well, nothing except for the fact that her bladder was screaming at her.
She could just ignore it. That was the right thing to do.
Lying there for another five minutes, she angrily reopened her eyes. Nope. Ignoring it wasn’t going to happen, and now she was so irritated with her body that she’d never be able to get back to sleep again.
Dang it.
As she stumbled from the bed, the last two days came flooding back to her. Lia made quick use of the bathroom, then staggered back to the bedroom and flopped down on the bed.
Her entire body was sore — in a very good way — and she had barely taken the time to eat. The rumble in her stomach attested to that fact.
Shane.
Oh, Shane. He hadn’t given her a moment to regret her impulsive decision to sleep with him again, and, man, had they slept together. In fact, why was it called “sleeping together” when it was anything but that? They’d made love again and again and again.
She waited for the guilt to hit, the regrets.
The sour emotions didn’t come. It had just been too good between them.
Not once had they brought up any of the past issues plaguing them. What good would it do? The two of them coming together was like putting a flame to explosives.
Still, it couldn’t continue, could it? The more she was with him, the more she wanted to be with him. Because Shane was her first love, she could hardly just put him on a shelf and forget about him each time he had to leave.
She’d been trying to do exactly that for the past couple of years and it hadn’t gotten her anywhere but achingly lonely.
So she had a big decision to make. Did she continue giving herself to him, continue pleasing her body and ignoring her heart? It was a reality she didn’t want to face.
She didn’t know how long she sat there, but soon the smell of freshly brewed coffee and something doughy and delicious snuck through the cracked bedroom door.
Lia’s rumbling stomach ensured she wasn’t going to avoid whatever smell was enticing her so.
She needed fuel!
Getting up and heading again to the bathroom, she decided on the world’s fastest shower, turning the spray on scalding hot so she could wake up fully. Then, she found a large cotton robe and threw it around her, tying the sash as she walked to the door.
She sauntered from the bedroom and down the short hall, turning the corner, and then she stopped in her tracks.
Oh, my, my, my. If she hadn’t been awake at this point, the sight of Shane in nothing but a low-slung pair of boxers and a hot plate in his hand would have had her on high alert.
Turning, his eyes caught hers, and a slow, sexy smile crept over his features as he set down the plate and stalked toward her.
“Good morning, beautiful. I hope you slept well,” he said as he reached her, wrapped his arms around her back and leaned down to crush his lips to hers.
Lia stopped in her tracks temporarily, then circled his neck with her hands and captured his tongue, playing a mating game where they both came out winners.
When he let go of her after too short a time, Lia groaned her disapproval. That hadn’t been her plan when she’d walked out to find him looking so unbelievably dashing, but plans do change. Hell, she could easily learn to go with the flow, just as long as his hands and lips were connected with some part of her body.
“I have to feed you, woman, before you wither away. Be good and sit down, because having you standing this close is making me want to throw away this nice meal I prepared and instead haul you back to the bedroom. ”
Lia’s forehead wrinkled as she considered her options. Her body was actually growing weak from lack of nourishment, but she could most certainly survive on orgasms alone if they were with Shane. If not, she’d at least die a very happy woman.
“No. ” Shane said as if he could read her thoughts. With that, he turned back to the counter, where their plates were sitting beneath covers.
“Wait a minute. You didn’t prepare this,” she said with a smile as he slid the plate over to her and she scooped up a heaping fork of potatoes and eggs.
“I certainly did,” he exclaimed, sitting next to her and diving into his own plate.
“Really? On what stove?” she asked, pointedly looking around.
With a big grin, he leaned over and gave her a fleeting kiss before admitting his white lie. “Well, I did dial room service,” he said with a chuckle.
“Well, that’s good enough for me,” she said, and continued eating the fluffy eggs.
She was grateful he’d thought of getting them anything, because if it weren’t for him, she’d probably forget to eat altogether. It seemed that Shane was quite the caretaker. That was just one more thing to check off on the list of good qualities he possessed. This would all be so much easier if he were a monster, or if she just wasn’t attracted to him. Being with Shane again had opened up her appetite in one hell of a voracious way, and now she didn’t know how to turn off the need.
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Not that she was too keen on turning anything off at the moment.
“Eat more, and quit looking at me like I’m the dessert,” Shane said, with a look of a special hunger that belied his words.
“Mmm, you will make a mighty fine dessert?” she said with a wink, scooping up another bite of her food, groaning as the flavors burst on her tongue.
“Oh, no, you’re the dessert,” he said, looking up and capturing her full attention with his deep dark eyes.
“I’m full,” she said, letting her fork clatter to the plate, only half her meal finished. The growling in her stomach was long forgotten. After making love once more, she could always find the strength, somehow, to seek out food again.
Cold eggs were just fine with her.
Shane looked as if he were going to protest, but when she untied the sash at her waist and parted the soft fabric, she knew she’d won.
Pushing his plate away without another word, he stood from the table and quickly circled around to where she stood. Picking her up in his arms, he kissed her hungrily while he walked through the hotel room, apparently knowing the way by heart, since his gaze never left hers.
Oh, yes, dessert was splendid.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“I THOUGHT YOU might be the one to skip out on my wedding this time. ”
A guilty blush stole across Lia’s face, and Ari was ready to pounce.
It was the day of her wedding and butterflies were practicing ballroom dancing in her stomach, but she knew this was right, and there were no regrets, zero, or thoughts of running. Her feet were happily warm.
Still, she really did want to know where her bridesmaid had been the last few days. She refused to walk down the aisle until Lia spilled all.
“Cat got your tongue? Come on, Lia. We’re not stepping outside these beautiful doors until you tell me exactly where you’ve been. I’m dying here with curiosity!” Ari said, her hands on her hips, not looking nearly as ferocious as she wanted to look, because she was wearing a big, poufy wedding dress with miles and miles of satin flowing off her.
“This is your day, Ari. Let’s keep the focus on you,” Lia said as she walked into the bathroom and began changing into her crimson bridesmaid dress.
“A closed door isn’t going to stop us, Lia. Spill now, or we get Rafe to interrogate you,” Rachel said as she pounded her fist against the heavy wood.
“Go a
way. I’m changing,” Lia insisted, her voice penetrating loud and clear.
“Not a chance,” Ari said. “You disappear for three days. It just so happens that no one has seen a lick of Shane in three days, either. From what you told us last, the two of you were kaput, so you had better give us the details. ”
“Seriously, you two are a pain in my ass,” Lia grumbled, pulling the door open with a scowl.
“Yes, we are, and we’re extremely proud of it. Now, if you don’t want to make Ari late for her second attempt at a wedding, then I’d suggest you start speaking,” Rachel said. She and Ari stood on either side of the dressing room table while Lia began applying her makeup.
“Fine. You two should both work for the FBI. You’d catch all the criminals and get every last secret from them,” Lia replied with a heavy sigh, looking them both in the eyes for a moment via the mirror.
“Yeah, that’s our next job application,” Ari said with a giggle. “Sorry, my nerves are just fried,” she explained as she attempted to stifle her laughter.
“Is everything OK in there?”
The three girls turned toward the suite door, holding their breath, but the knob didn’t move.
“We’re fine, Rafe. Don’t worry. No one is running away or being kidnapped this time,” Rachel called.
“Well, we’re waiting…” he said with a clearly heard sigh of anxiousness. “It’s bad enough that my best man just stumbled in. ”
His voice faded away while he most likely resumed pacing.
“All right, Lia, you have to spill fast because I don’t think he’s going to wait a heck of a lot longer,” Ari said, her own eyes a bit anxious as she glanced toward the door.
“Yes, I was with Shane. I saw him at the bar and sparks flew and the next thing I knew, we were still in bed together three days later,” Lia said, and began putting on her mascara.
“That’s it? You have hot, steamy, hopefully long-lasting sex for three solid days and those are all the details you’re going to give us?” Rachel asked. “It’s a mistake to irritate me, sister dearest. ”
“That’s all the time we have for now. Ari is ready and Rafe will bust down this door if we don’t get her out there to him ASAP!”
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“Fine, but at least tell us what this all means. Are the two of you a couple again?” Ari asked as she stepped back and Rachel assisted her with her veil.