Captured In Ink (Art of Love Series)

by McDonald, Donna

  “You won’t fail. And if I hadn’t helped you, you’d be in Bowling Green living with your sisters,” Michael said tersely, frowning at Carrie’s explanation even though what she said about the risks was truth.

  Carrie walked to him and put her arms around her husband, not wanting to hurt his feelings any more than necessary. Some of their wounds weren’t completely healed yet. “Yes, but I would have come back to you eventually, Michael—once I had figured things out.”

  “Eventually would never have been good enough for me. This is why I bribed you into staying to married me,” Michael said, hugging her back. “And you having the money for the gallery gave me better odds of keeping you in Lexington which we mended things.”

  “You really didn’t give me much of a choice, making such a generous gesture, which is why I stayed,” Carrie told him. “I forgive you for rushing my decision to marry you now because I’m too happy to hold your manipulation against you. That doesn’t mean the method you used was right or necessarily the best way to handle the situation. I could have gotten the money from the bank and we wouldn’t still be arguing over it.”

  Michael snorted. “Maybe not, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Call me whatever adjective you like.”

  Carrie sighed in resignation, but leaned in to her stubborn, loving, generous husband. “Which is why I’m not surprised you don’t get it either. Maybe only another independent woman could understand Reesa’s reluctance. However, setting her feelings aside, I personally don’t see how Reesa’s stubbornness to not take the money is any different from Shane’s stubbornness in wanting her to take it.”

  Shane looked at the clock, stood, and carried his dishes to the sink. He looked at his sister-in law. “Carrie, if I can’t get Reesa to take the money, then I don’t know how I’m going to help her and the kids. I can’t stand by and not do something. I’m just not wired that way. It isn’t just Dad and Michael examples.”

  Shane looked at his brother, who was still staring his wife with an irritated frown. “I understand now why you did what you did everything you did, Michael. I’m sorry I wasn’t more supportive at the time.”

  “Supportive of what?” Michael asked, tearing his gaze from his wife to put his attention on his brother. “What do you understand? I’ve seen that look in your eye before Shane, and it always means trouble.”

  “It’s called determination, and I have as much as the next person—more about this,” Shane said. “Bye, you two. Try not to kill each other today. Sorry I got you two fighting so early in the morning.”

  “Fighting? We aren’t fighting,” Michael said, confused, chasing behind his brother as he left the kitchen. “What are you planning to do, Shane?”

  Shane stopped, hand on the door, and turned. “I don’t what I’m going to do. What I’d like is to find a way to make Reesa marry me.”

  “Wait!” Michael said, when Shane started to open the door again. “How are you going to pull that off? Do not get that woman pregnant Shane. She doesn’t need any more children to worry about right now.”

  “Damn it, Michael,” Shane said in disgust. “I would never do that purposely to Reesa. I love her. I’ll find a way other than that.”

  Michael nodded, relieved. “Okay—well, don’t hurt her in the process of trying to save her, Mr. Hero. And try not to get hurt yourself tripping over your damn cape as you go swooping in to rescue your damsel in distress. Figure out what’s going on first and be smart about it.”

  “I’m going to ignore the parts of those statements pissing me off and just say I love you too,” Shane said harshly, shaking his head as he walked out, closing the door with a quiet slam behind him.

  Wondering how worried he should be and if he should call his father about Shane, Michael rolled his shoulders to remove what tension he could. He turned to find his wife standing in the kitchen doorway, arms crossed in consternation, but still smiling at him.

  “You forgot to tell your little brother to wear a coat and button up because it’s getting cold outside,” Carrie said smugly.

  “I wasn’t being that bad,” Michael said, defending himself.

  “Yes you were,” Carrie said, snorting, “but it was sweet of you. If I had more time, I’d show you how sweet. Your over-bearing need to protect the people you love is very hot, even though it’s also incredibly annoying.”

  “Oh really? We can make time for that kind of lecture,” Michael said, grinning as he walked to her.

  Carrie laughed. “No we can’t—really. I have electricians coming at nine-thirty.”

  “And your husband at eight-thirty,” Michael joked, delighted when her face blushed over his crude pun. “I know that’s only twenty minutes from now. I’ll be fast this time—promise.”

  “Like I haven’t heard that one in the last couple of months—you probably can’t even spell quickie,” Carrie teased, letting Michael uncross her arms and raise them to wrap around his neck.

  She was already purring when Michael’s hands traveled over her, slipping down zippers and delving inside her clothes to touch skin, fingers gliding until she was trembling in his hands and desperate. When he pulled his hands from her clothes, Carrie used the opportunity to whisk his shirt up and over his head. Then she unsnapped his pants and pushed them down until they fell to his ankles. She ran quivering hands over his now mostly naked body until Michael was quivering in return. It made her feel more sure of herself than anything else in her life, and right now she was absolutely sure she wanted her husband.

  “I love being my own boss,” she said, pushing down her jeans and underwear until her clothing was also in a puddle at her feet. “And guess what? My birth control is fully functional now. Surprise!”

  Carrie snickered at her husband’s appreciative groan and laughed at his muttered thanks to every deity he could name.

  “I do love surprises,” Michael said to her finally, lifting her hips to get into her, letting his weight carry her backwards against the door jam. “God, I really missed your heat.”

  “I missed you too,” Carrie said, rising to her toes to gain more access. “Now be quiet and make this count. Clock’s ticking, Larson.”

  Michael laughed and moved against her. It might have been the best ten minutes of her morning, but it was definitely going to be the best twenty of his, and he used every one of them. In fact, Michael wouldn’t let himself end it until Carrie was leaning limply against him in total surrender. Then he emptied himself into his wife’s lax body with grateful enthusiasm and all the reverence he usually felt for getting to make love to her.

  “Hope you have an easy morning planned,” he bragged, breathing hard against Carrie and laughing at both her blissfully tired face and the fact he was literally having to help hold her upright.

  “Well I didn’t, but I’m going to have to change my plans now,” Carrie said, kissing his collarbone and stroking his back.

  “Give me another twenty minutes and I’ll throw on some clothes and go with you. You can drop me back here after lunch. I don’t want to be away from you right now anyway,” Michael said softly, kissing her cheek. “My brother and his problems reminded me how lucky I was this morning. Did you mean it when you said you were happy?”

  “Yes, I did, and I love you too,” Carrie said softly, touched as always by Michael’s romantic heart, but also understanding her husband didn’t want to be alone. He would be unable then to avoid brooding over his concerns for Shane.

  “Worrying won’t change anything. They will either work it out or they won’t, Michael. There’s nothing you can do,” she reminded him.

  Michael eased out of her, kissing her the whole time. Then he bent to gather up his clothes that she had thrown in the floor several feet away.

  Carrie stepped out of her own clothes then, gathering them up to carry them back to the bedroom with her while she took a few minutes to get ready again.

  Laughing at the intimate, if unglamorous end to something so amazing, Michael reached out and snag
ged his wife’s free hand as they walked mostly naked down the hall.

  “How would you feel if I made a set of wedding rings for Shane and Reesa? Just to put some good karma out there for my bro,” Michael said quietly.

  Carrie stopped walking and turned to look at him, awed again by the good heart of the man she had married. “I think that’s a great idea, and you should do it today.”

  Michael laughed. “Okay, I will. So what should I engrave inside for them? Love Forever is just too typical for those two,” he said as they started walking to the bedroom again. “People who fall in love that quickly need something extraordinary.”

  Carrie nodded, smiling at her husband’s romantic streak.

  “You’re right, Michael. Trite doesn’t work at all. Hey—did you write something in our rings?” she asked cautiously, laying her clothes on the bed and turning to see Michael’s startled face.

  “You mean you haven’t seen the inside of your wedding band?” he asked.

  “When would I?” she countered. “You put mine on me at the church, and I’ve never taken it off.”

  Michael put his left hand over hers to stop her efforts to remove the simple gold band and see what was written in it.

  “No—don’t take it off now,” he pleaded, liking the fact that Carrie had never removed it, not even when she still had doubts. “Both our rings have Created In Fire written inside them.”

  “Created In Fire? That’s perfect for us,” Carrie said sincerely, looking at his left hand holding hers. “Just as perfect as you seem to be for me, which still surprises me.”

  Sighing, Michael leaned in for a kiss that was hard to break once he got started. He ached to lay down with her and just hold her. “I really wish I could make love to you again right now.”

  “You can make love to me for the rest of our lives,” Carrie said sincerely, holding nothing of her feelings back in the statement. “But this morning you can stand by my side while I convince my electricians to put LED lights in the showcases that you and Shane so carefully placed over the floor outlets. I’ve got jewelry coming for those cases in a week.”

  “Okay, Ms. Businesswoman,” Michael said reluctantly, but with affection. “I guess I can wait until tonight. We can take off the rings and look at the engravings together. My writing is awful, so you’ll have to truly believe it’s the thought that counts.”

  “That’s easy to believe. After this morning, I’m starting to think your brother is serious. Shane really loves Reesa, doesn’t he?” Carrie asked.

  Michael nodded in reply. Hearing the truth from Carrie’s lips just cemented it more in his brain.

  “Yes. And he genuinely wants them all,” Michael said sincerely. “I saw it with my own eyes, but it’s still hard to think of Shane as being grown up enough to feel that way about an entire family of kids that don’t belong to him. When I look at him, I still see the kid who used to sneak my drawing tablets to draw cartoons on them. I barely think of him as a grown-up.”

  “Cartoons—and Shane’s novels. Oh, of course that’s it. Michael, write Captured In Ink in their rings,” Carrie said firmly. “It fits the fact Shane drew Reesa from memory after seeing her just one time, and it symbolizes a future for them signing their names to a marriage license. If that’s not building positive karma, I don’t know what is.”

  “That’s brilliant,” Michael said. “Captured In Ink—I like it.”

  When they were dressed again, Carrie laughed.

  “What now?” Michael asked. “That was a pretty wicked look. You’re in a rare mood this morning.”

  “I was just thinking. If you were to make a set of rings for your father and Jessica, what would go inside theirs?” she asked, biting her lip as her eyes danced.

  Michael snorted, finishing his own dressing as he gave it some thought.

  “Let’s see. Instead of You Touched My Heart, I could write You Touched My Penis. Dad jokingly says Jessica was more impressed with his statue’s assets than his,” he suggested, laughing at his wife’s giggling.

  “Penis? That’s too one sided. Instead of You Hold My Heart In Your Hands, substitute Vagina.” Carrie retorted, pleased to hear her husband’s wicked chuckle.

  “Too long. I think I better just go with something traditional for those two,” Michael said after a moment. “They’re too wicked for nuance.”

  “I know—hey, how about Let’s Ride Together Forever?” Carrie declared, checking herself in the full-length mirror Michael had mounted behind the bedroom door for her. “They both love his bike. Subtly X-rated, yet not too embarrassing to share.”

  “Have you ever seen Jessica embarrassed? I don’t think that’s possible,” Michael argued, dragging his laughing wife down the hall.

  “No, I haven’t. Actually, Jessica’s nerve is what I like best about her. She inspires me to be more bold,” Carrie said sincerely.

  Michael laughed. “Are you seeing her today?”

  “Probably after school. Why?” Carrie asked, opening the driver’s door and climbing inside.

  Michael grinned as he climbed into the passenger seat beside his control freak wife who insisted on driving her own car. “Rub elbows with Jessica today and get an injection of bold. You’re going to be on top tonight.”

  Carrie rolled her eyes, but laughed as she backed out of the driveway. “This insatiable stuff is just part of the honeymoon thing, right?”

  “Sure,” Michael said, easily agreeing while shaking his head no at the same time and making her laugh more.

  “Okay, let me be serious here. I guess it’s only fair to warn you that I plan to enjoy our honeymoon for the rest of my life with you to make up for all the time I waited to get you into bed.”

  Carried stopped the car in the street to look fully at him. “I can’t decide whether to be angry about that comment or let myself be charmed.”

  “Go for being angry,” Michael said casually, fighting the laugh inside him. “It might keep us from locking the conference room door at the gallery and checking out how hard that expensive walnut table you bought for it is. Since you’d be on the bottom this morning, I’m thinking it sounds like a good idea.”

  “Angry it is then,” Carrie agreed, laughing and putting the car in gear and heading to the gallery, much happier to have her frustrating husband with her than she ever intended to let him know.

  Chapter 18

  Finding the door unlocked, Shane knocked and came on into the house just as Reesa was stumbling out of the kitchen still in her robe. His gaze stayed on hers as he removed his bike helmet and jacket.

  Then he walked to where she stood staring at him to tug on the belt of what she wore until she was hauled up against him straining to stand on her toes.

  “Ease my suffering, woman,” Shane demanded, sighing at Reesa’s hands creeping under his T-shirt to deftly unzip his pants like she’d been waiting to do it forever. He was rigid and straining for her before Reesa managed to free him.

  To hell with pride, Shane decided, giving in to the bliss she brought him and leaning into her eager touch. When she bent and slid her mouth over him without warning as he stood there partially undressed, Shane’s knees buckled at the incredible feeling. They went tumbling to the floor, his greater weight and size taking them both down.

  “Either you’re really outstanding, or being macho when a woman does that is an urban myth,” Shane said tightly, catching a giggling Reesa in his arms as they landed with him under her on the floor. “You took my legs right out from under me.”

  Next thing Shane knew Reesa was determinedly shoving and pulling until his jeans were down to his ankles. She couldn’t get them off because he was still wearing his shoes.

  Then Reesa bent her head and took him into her mouth again, obviously intending to finish what she started. Shane groaned at the heaven it was, but he still pushed her gently off him when she paused to take a breath.

  “I want that—I do—more than is right probably, but I need the whole connection this morning,�
�� he said hoarsely, flipping Reesa to her back. “I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about doing this.”

  Shane shoved his hands between the folds of her robe and lifted her hips to slide through her wetness with one single hard thrust that only took him only part of the way inside her. It was just enough to remind them both of what they had been missing. The sounds they both made in relief were more animalistic than civilized human.

  Knowing Reesa was as desperate for him as he was for her made Shane rougher than he’d intended to be as he pressed harder, trying to bury himself as deeply as he could in her while she was still struggling to take him completely in. Struggling to rein in his control, he slid out partially before finally pressing hard again until he was exactly where he needed to be. Then Shane realized with alarm that he had completely forgotten to put on a condom before doing so.

  “Wait honey—wait. Stop moving,” he begged, starting to slide out before things got beyond his control to do so. “I forgot the condom.”

  “No—don’t leave. I’m using birth control,” Reesa cried, wrapping her legs tightly around Shane’s waist and digging her heels into his backside to stop his retreat, sighing as she felt him finally push back inside her before becoming very still.

  Muscles flexed and clenched in his hips and legs as Shane strained trying to decide what to do. Part of him was relieved. The other part was in shock. Not having had unprotected sex before was something he’d been meaning to mention, but Reesa didn’t always have the best reaction to finding out she was yet another first experience for him.

  “Because of a solemn promise to my father, I have never not used protection since I became sexually active, not even with my long term girlfriend in college. I never asked any woman I was with to go without protection. Are you absolutely sure this is okay?” he asked tightly, feeling Reesa’s answer in the way she dragged his mouth to hers to shut him up as she nodded and closed her eyes.