by Jess Bryant
Lemon wiped at her cheeks, uncertain if it was simply more rain or tears this time. She just needed Shane to come home. She’d wait as long as it took. She wasn’t going to go across the street and see her parents. She wasn’t going to move from this spot until she saw Shane.
She had no idea how long she’d been here. Had no idea how long she’d been sitting on the porch. But it felt like an eternity before she saw headlights coming up the street. She lifted her head as the vehicle slowed and her heart skipped a beat as she recognized his truck before it even turned into the driveway.
She stood up as the truck came to a stop. Her hands were shaking and she gripped her dress enough to lift it as she stepped off the porch. She stopped when the door opened and Shane stepped out.
Her heartrate tripped at the sight of him. He was still dressed in his uniform from work. His hair was disheveled as if he’d been running his hand through it. His five o’clock shadow shaded his firm jaw. He looked wrinkled and tired and more than a little surprised to see her but he didn’t immediately scowl and she wanted to take that as a good sign but she didn’t know if she could.
Maybe he’d been working late and he hadn’t seen it yet… but it didn’t change anything if he hadn’t. He would. He deserved to know. She would have to tell him and that might be worse, watching him and seeing her future with him crumble.
His eyes trailed over her from top to bottom, “Lemon, you’re soaking wet.”
The familiarity of the words, of the entire scene, wasn’t lost on her. They’d seen each other on the first day she came back to town just like this. In the rain. Shane in his uniform looking at her like he wanted to protect her and spank her all at the same time. And she wanted him even more now than she had then.
She tried for a smile that she wasn’t feeling, “If I jumped into your arms right now, would you still catch me?”
“Always.”
Shane’s eyes softened and she knew he was remembering that day too. Remembering the sparks that had flared between them. They’d been too hot to deny. So hot that she’d thought they would burn out fast but instead they’d settled into the kind of steady, comforting warmth that she’d waited all of her life for.
“Shane…” She stepped towards him but he quickly closed the distance between them and swept her into a tight hug. The tears started again and she shivered as his heat enveloped her. He hadn’t seen it. He wouldn’t be hugging her, holding her, if he had. “Shane, I… I…”
“Baby, you’re here.” He nuzzled his cheek against his her hair, “What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be back until tomorrow.”
“I had to get home to you.” She sniffled and Shane set her back far enough to look her in the face, “There’s something… something happened and I need to talk to you. I… I need to explain before you see it and…”
“I know.”
Lemon froze, “What?”
“I know. I saw.” Shane brushed her wet hair back, “Baby, you’re soaked. Let’s go inside. You should’ve gone inside when you got here. How long have you been here? Why didn’t you call me?”
Lemon stared up into those mesmerizing blue-green eyes that she’d always loved. He looked more confused than angry at the moment. He was holding her instead of pushing her away. She was the one that was confused.
“I did. I’ve called you a dozen times.” She tilted her head when he frowned, “You saw the kiss?”
Shane made a low, angry growling noise and released her to shove his hands through his damp hair, “That wasn’t a kiss! He mauled you, Lemon! You didn’t kiss him. He attacked you!”
She was taken aback, not by the anger in his voice. That she had fully expected. She’d learned fast that Shane was a possessive man. The sight of her with anyone else would make him furious. That was why she’d expected him to be angry with her but he wasn’t. He was mad at Trent.
“Shane, he…”
“I know you said he’s your friend but if I ever see him face-to-face, I’m going to beat the shit out of him for daring to touch you like that, to touch you at all. You’re mine and if he’s trying to come between us then you can’t…”
“Trent’s gay.” She cut him off quickly when she sensed his anger spiking, “He’s gay.”
Shane’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline, “Wait… what?”
She sighed and wiped water from her face, “Trent’s gay. He’s in the closet so deep he can’t see the light and those reporters, they said something that scared him. They knew something about the man he’s in love with and he got scared. That’s what you saw. That’s what that kiss was about…”
“It wasn’t a kiss!” Shane growled again and Lemon felt her heart expand with hope for the first time since Trent made a spectacle out of them.
“He grabbed me but you’re right. I didn’t kiss him back. He crossed the line.”
“Damn right he did.” Shane snapped.
“I’m so sorry you had to see that. I’m so sorry that it even happened. I shouldn’t have put myself in that position. I’m so sorry, Shane. I never thought Trent would take it that far.”
“Baby…” Shane frowned, “Why are you apologizing to me right now? What are you even doing here right now? Your flight wasn’t until tomorrow.”
Her head spun all over again, “I’m here because I had to get home to you to explain. I can’t lose you and I…”
“Lemon.” Shane cut her off with an annoyed shake of his head, “I didn’t think you were cheating on me, not for a minute. Maybe for a second there when I first saw his mouth on yours, sure, but as soon as my brain took over again I knew you would never do that to me, to us. I never doubted us, baby.”
Her eyes flooded with tears at the words she’d never expected to hear. He hadn’t doubted her. He hadn’t thought she would betray him. He hadn’t immediately reverted to thinking of her as that silly, impulsive, impossible to rely on girl that would run at the first opportunity. He’d believed in her, trusted in her. And that made the tears come on again as she threw herself into his arms and, just as he’d said he would, he caught her.
“Hey, hey…” Shane wrapped her up tight again, “What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Baby, it’s okay. We’re okay.”
Her shoulders shook, “You didn’t answer when I called and you didn’t call me back and…”
“Damn it, that phone.” He growled suddenly, pulling away from her, “I tossed it in the truck before I went to check on Georgie.”
“Oh God, Georgie.” Lemon covered her mouth as she remembered how badly she’d felt when she heard the girl crying on the voicemail.
“She was so upset, Lem. That’s where I’ve been. I was trying to console her and tell her that everything is okay. I only came home now because she cried herself to seep.”
“Oh God, Shane. I’m so sorry. I need to go and explain it to her. I need to apologize and…”
“Tomorrow.” He shook his head, “We’ll talk to her together tomorrow. We’ll talk to all of the girls. Tomorrow. Tonight, you’re home and I’m not letting you go.”
She wiped at her face, “Promise?”
Shane held her face between his hands and met her eyes seriously, “Baby, I’m not letting you go ever again. I love you. I know its fast but I love you. You drive me crazy and I love that about you. You make me feel alive. You make me live my life. I don’t ever want to go without you again.”
Lemon gasped in a breath as Shane said the words she’d never expected to hear. He loved her. He loved her and he wanted to keep her. He wanted them to be together for real, forever. He’d said it before but somewhere deep inside of her she’d struggled to believe him. She did now because the sincerity was right there on his face, in his eyes. His warmth and love cocooned her and made her feel safe. It made her feel like she’d finally come home. That she could have everything she’d always wanted.
A family of her own.
“Maybe I should’ve waited to tell you. Maybe it’s too soon.” Shane’s brows furro
wed when she took too long to react, “Hell, maybe I should’ve said it weeks ago. I don’t know. But you don’t have to say it back if you’re not ready.”
Lemon wiped at her face again, a manic laugh working up her throat, “Go get your phone.”
“What?
“Go get your phone. I left you a message. I think you need to hear it.”
His dark brows rose again as he studied her face but he must have sensed she was serious because he sighed. He stomped back to his truck and leaned inside. She could see him rustling around inside looking for it and she watched as he punched a button and then lifted it to his ear as he pushed the door shut behind him.
As she watched, his eyebrows rose and a look of surprise and then pure pleasure washed over his handsome face. Those sparkling eyes met hers and a flicker of a smile curled at his lips. He dropped the phone to his side after a minute and stared at her from the few feet separating them.
“Lemon…”
“Yeah?” She managed to squeak out when he took a step towards her.
“You said you love me.”
He didn’t phrase it as a question but she nodded anyway, “I did. I do. I love you, Shane. I love you so much it scares me.”
“You told me you love me for the first time on my voicemail.” His lips were still twitching upward but his voice was a growl. “You told an electronic device instead of waiting to tell me. You told me because you thought you were losing me. Because of what that bastard did, not because you were ready to say it.”
She shook her head when he planted himself in front of her, “No, I…”
“Say it again.” He all but snarled as he wrapped a hand in her wet hair, “Say it again so I believe you.”
“I love you. I half-loved you before I even knew what love was. You were the dream, Shane. You were always the dream.”
“Better.” He nuzzled his lips over hers, not quite kissing her, “Now tell me you’re mine.”
“I’m yours. You know I’m yours.” She tried to lean up and take his lips but he pulled her hair to keep her in place and the power, the surety with which he held her, sent heat coursing through her veins making her shiver with need this time, “I’m yours.”
“These lips are mine.” He nipped at her bottom lip and she moaned. “They should always taste like me. Nobody else. Not ever again.”
“Nobody el…”
His mouth claimed hers before she could utter the last syllable and it trailed off into a gasp. The sheer and utter rightness of Shane’s lips on hers settled all of her worst fears and doubts. His taste overtook her, man and heat and coffee and something that was madly addicting. He tasted like hers and she eagerly pressed into him, into his kiss, wanting more and needing more from him. But Shane pulled back suddenly with another nip of her lips.
“Everything.” He groaned, as if reading her mind, “I want everything from you, Lemon. You give me everything and you know what I’ll give you?” He held her firm with her forehead against his, their lips a breath apart, so all she could see was his amazing green eyes, “Everything. I’m gonna give you everything I am, everything I have. It’s yours. I’m yours. I’ll give you anything you want and everything you need.”
“Everything.” She mimicked with a brush of their lips but his next words stilled her completely.
“You want kids? I have three. They’re yours too if you stay with me. If you want more, we’ll adopt. We’ll figure it out. Whatever happens, whatever comes next, we do it together. I love you Lemon.”
He meant it. She could see it in his eyes. He’d give her everything she’d ever wanted. A family. Children. Love and support and home. She’d come back to Fate looking for answers and she’d found Shane.
She managed a shaky nod, “I love you too.”
“Then we’ll figure out the rest.” He promised before he swept his tongue into her mouth and kissed her deeply and tenderly.
Lemon clung to him as they kissed in the rain. This was what she’d wanted that first day in her parents’ front yard just across the street. She’d wanted the right to touch this man, to hold him and kiss him and claim him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and met him stroke for stroke. Because he was her equal. He was her other half. He was her everything.
“Inside.” Shane nipped her chin and she squealed as he swept her up into his arms. She smiled against his neck as he maneuvered them up the stairs and then tried to unlock the door with one hand. “In the movies, the door is usually unlocked when the guy sweeps the girl off her feet.”
She laughed at his sense of humor that so few people got to see, “They conveniently leave out how awful wet clothing feels after kissing in the rain too.”
“Mmm, don’t worry about your clothes, babe. I plan on getting you out of that dress real soon.” Shane got the door open and kicked it shut behind them. “You looked sexy as hell tonight and I hated seeing you in someone else’s arms.”
“I’m sorry I…”
“Shh,” He kicked open his bedroom door as well, “Never again. You promised, Lemon. You’re mine. That means if you need a date for an event, it’s me. Nobody else gets to stand at your side. That space is mine. You’re mine.”
She gaped up at him as he set her on her feet, “You’d do that? Go with me? Be with me?”
“Oh, baby, I told you I’m not letting you go. That means I’m a part of your life just as much as you’re a part of mine. We’ll figure it out. Together. Tomorrow.” He nipped her nips, “Right now, I need to be inside you. I need to feel you with me. I missed you, Lemon.”
She whimpered as he found the zipper on her dress and lowered it quickly. His words stripped her bare before the thick material ever hit the ground. He touched every part of her, soothed every fear and doubt. He loved her just as she was. She let him pull the panties she’d been wearing down and then stepped out of them for him as he pushed her back towards the bed.
“Bed. Now.”
“Okay caveman.” She smirked as she fell back onto the bed, “Try full sentences.”
“Can’t. You make me crazy.” He was tugging at his own clothes and she gave a dreamy sigh as he stripped. “You’re so goddamn gorgeous and you’re mine. All mine.”
“Mmhmm.” She agreed lazily as he revealed his perfect chest.
So strong and broad, the sprinkling of dark hair and that ridiculously sexy tattoo, she’d been in love with that chest for a long time. His honey skin and dark features were so different from her lighter coloring. He’d always been beautiful to her, at every age, in every form, but this one, this man that was hers was her favorite version of Shane Lowry.
“I hated waking up without you.” He worked off his utility bed and gently put it on the dresser before turning his attention back to her, “I don’t intend to ever do it again.”
She smiled at that, “See, whole sentences. So sexy.”
“I’m serious.” He dropped his pants and she bit her lip to hide her huge grin as he crawled over her, “I’ll handcuff you to this bed, Lemon.”
“Mmm, I do like your cuffs.” She giggled when he nipped her earlobe, “But they’re not necessary. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Kinky little minx.” He smiled against her neck as he rubbed himself against her, “No cuffs tonight. Tonight I want to feel your hands on me.”
“Sexy bastard.” She tilted her hips up and moaned, “As if I’ve ever been able to keep them to myself.”
“Only when I tie you up.” Shane muttered against her lips, “But I’m only tying you to me tonight.”
She smiled into his kiss as he took her mouth again. Their tongues were too busy for her to tell him that she already was. She’d been tied to him in one way or another her entire life. The link between them was undeniable and from the moment they’d found each other it had been irresistible.
Shane smoothed his hand down her neck and cupped her breasts, “Mine.” He lowered his mouth and laved her nipple with his tongue before blowing on it, “Mine.” He
nipped her with his teeth making her buck up and cry out, “Mine.”
“Shane, please…”
It never mattered how they came together. Fast and hard or slow and easy, he enjoyed driving her to the brink. He said she drove him crazy but it was just as true that he made her that way as well. His possessiveness always sent a thrill through her. His bossiness made her weak in the knees. The combination of the two made her ache and need poured through her veins.
“Mine.”
“Yeah, caveman. All yours.” She pushed at his head, “There’s something else down there that’s yours and needs attention.”
His chuckle against her breasts tickled her skin, “Are you trying to boss me in bed?” He raised his head, his eyes twinkling, “Because I thought I’d made it clear I’m in control here.”
“Oh, no, I’d never try to take control from you.” She shifted her hips against him and his hand trailed down to her hip to hold her still. “Just giving you some direction.”
“Uh huh.” Shane nipped her nipple again, “I think you’re missing the point. This body belongs to me now and you’ll take what I give you.” His hand slipped between her legs and stroked through her folds and she closed her eyes on a gasp of pleasure, “When I’m ready to give it to you.”
“Give it to me. Please.” She begged as he worked a finger inside her.
“God I love it when you beg me.” He groaned as his fingers worked her over, “I was going to take it slow but I missed you too damn much. Beg me again and I’ll give it to you.”
“Please, Shane. Please, I need you.”
He didn’t hesitate to give her what she needed. He used one hand to tilt her hips up. The other he used to position himself at her entrance and then he gave one swift push forward burying himself inside her. She gasped, like she always did when he took her fast with little prep. He was big but she relished the small bite of pain, the stretch as her body adjusted to allow him in. She bit her lip and threw her head back to keep from crying out. She clutched at his shoulders, probably scratching him, but that only turned her on more. The idea of marking him made her body pulse and squeeze in response, wanting to claim just as much as he did.