“God Crys, sometimes I wondered if I would ever hear you say that to me again.”
“I never stopped loving you.” Once the words were spoken contentment wash over her. Shane was back in her life and she had finally voiced what was in her heart.
Shane got out of the bath. Reaching for a towel he stopped as he noticed her artwork. He said nothing as he studied the carving for long moments. When he glanced over his shoulder, Crystal drew in her breath at the look of love and understanding reflected in his eyes.
He strolled towards her. Pausing by the side of the tub, he held out a towel and waited. As she stood, the fragrant oils she had added to the water glistened and ran down her body, causing her skin to shimmer.
Wrapping the towel around her, Shane lifted her out of the water to stand in front of him. With tender strokes, he patted her dry, his eyes never leaving hers. The intensity of his golden orbs pierced through her, causing her nipples to tighten. He moved his hands between her legs and she jerked in reaction to the abrasive feel of the cloth.
He then bunched the material around her waist, and used it to draw her closer. When flesh finally touched flesh, he tossed the towel aside without a care.
Leaning forward he placed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. At that moment, Crystal would have given anything to have been able to know what he was thinking.
Lifting her arms, he placed them around his neck and drew her in so that their bodies were flush from chest to thigh. He felt wonderful as her breasts pressed against the hard wall of his chest. Crystal reveled in their contact as he brushed his fingertips along her back.
Their lips touched for a brief moment before Shane pulled away. The second kiss lasted only fractionally longer and she unknowingly followed when he retreated. When they touched again, Crystal locked her hands around his head and held him in place.
Her eyes fluttered closed and their lips parted. Their tongues intertwined with slow, deliberate strokes. This wasn’t a kiss of demand. Each movement of their mouths spoke of two people expressing their love for each other in one of the oldest ways known to man.
“Bedroom?” Shane whispered against her lips.
“Second door on the right.”
Following her directions, he entered and gently lowered her to the bed. Feeling embarrassed, she turned her head away. This room was also white and soulless, all brought into graphic relief by the weak rays of the winter sun that filtered through her curtains. He must think her pitiful, pathetic even.
Joining her on the bed, Shane stretched out beside her, their heads resting on the same pillow.
“It’s okay, love. Everything’s going to be alright now.”
His words moved along her skin like a sensuous caress and she knew he was right. This was finally their time to love and take back all they had lost.
Whenever they were this close, she couldn’t help but notice the scar that ran along his jawline. Although it was now faded, it still looked lethal and full of intent. From beginning to end, Crystal kissed his past hurt while trying not to dwell on what it had nearly cost him.
“I love you so much, Shane.”
“I know you do, love.”
With one final kiss, she released his face and moved astride his body. As she settled against him, he drew in a sharp breath. Her fingers ran over the mat of black hair that covered his chest. Her palms touched the hard pebbles of his nipples and stopped awhile to rotate them between her fingers.
“I never stopped loving you,”
“Me neither, love, and I never will.”
They kissed with long deep strokes, and she didn’t want it to end. Shane took control. His hands tangled in her hair and he held her in place, his tongue sweeping across and within her mouth as though he wanted to devour her.
Needing a breath she pulled back but he didn’t let her go. The look of passion in his eyes kicked up her pulse. When Shane was like this, he was hard to resist. That she had no intention of doing that was all the more exciting.
Bracing a hand on the bed, he pushed himself into a half reclined position and palmed her backside, and rubbed her wetness against his belly. The sensation of coarse hair rubbing against her sensitized core felt so good she couldn’t look away. But even if she had wanted to, Shane wouldn’t let her.
He moved his attention to her neck and took soft bites. Her head fell back and she held on to his shoulders to ensure she wouldn’t miss a single touch. Easing his way down her chest he licked a path towards her breasts. With only one arm wrapped around her waist, he pulled her upwards. His touch was sure as his lips surrounded a nipple, and sucked. The pull of his mouth sent a shock through her and wetness flooded and flowed from her body. He brushed her stomach with his fingertips before moving down. He palmed her, and rotated his hand against her clitoris. It felt like heaven.
“I need you to touch me, Crys.”
He was breathing hard and she saw the depth of his want reflected in his eyes. Crystal’s only intent was to give him what he so desperately needed. She wiggled down his hard body, and scraped her nails along the skin of his belly as she went. He spasmed in reaction to her touch. He said nothing. He just watched and waited to see what she would do next.
Down she went until her core came into contact with the evidence of his arousal. Easing slightly onto her knees, she allowed the hardness of his cock to glide through her wetness. The tip of his penis found its mark and she rotated her hips, never allowing him to fully enter her.
“Don’t play with me, Crys.”
“Are you sure?” She asked as she moved on and reached her ultimate goal and licked his shaft.
“Crystal!”
He finished her name on a groan as she wrapped her lips around him and sucked.
“Shit, I take it back. Play all you like… just do it harder!”
Taking him at his word, she did as he demanded. Shane loved taking the lead in their lovemaking, but for right now, she was in control and he was at her mercy.
Her tongue wrapped around him with slow strokes. Without warning, she drew him completely into her mouth and pumped, her jaw working as hard as it could. He bucked and inhaled in a sharp breath at the suddenness of the change.
Pressing down on the lower part of his abdomen, Crystal cupped the base of his cock and held his ever hardening erection steady. By slow increments, she took him deeper with an ever increasing intensity of sucks and strokes. He was writhing on the bed. Breaking off, she ran just the tip of her tongue along and around the head of his shaft. At the same time, she pressed and played with his perineum.
“Good… Crys… that feels so good! Don’t stop, love.”
Bobbing her head, she again took him deep within her mouth and alternated between undulations of her tongue and deep sucks.
Without warning, a hand pressed her cheeks together and he popped out of her mouth.
“Shane–”
“I can’t hold on for much longer, Crys. That feels too good, love. I need to be inside you. I want to feel you wrapped around me when I come.”
Before he’d finished speaking, she was on her back with him buried so deeply inside her, Crystal gasped and her toes curl.
“Wrap your legs around me, love. Do it tight. Don’t let go. Never let me go.”
Locking her ankles on his back, Crystal reached up and took his face between her hands. Resting on his forearms, Shane bent and they kissed, their bodies and breath joined in perfect harmony.
Dragging his mouth away, Crystal basked in the look of unbridled love that shone from his eyes.
“You’re so wet, love, but are you ready to come? I’ll help you if you’re not, but I can’t hold on for much longer.”
“Just love me, all you have to do is love me,” she pleaded wanting, needing all his attention.
At her words, his cock bucked inside her. He braced himself on his knees, widened her thighs and plunged inside her. One of his big hands pulled back the hood of her clitoris and exposed it to sight. His thumb b
ecame relentless as it stroked and plied her with sensation.
Tiny sparks danced before her vision. Then her world exploded and shattered to the point where all conscious thought fled. But he wasn’t finished.
“Fuck, I love watching you come for me. Do it again, Crys…”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“You said, you were almost finished.”
“I lied. I wanted to watch you come. I want to see you do it again, but this time you’ll still be convulsing around me.”
“For God’s sake, Shane…”
“Give it to me. I want back my five years of watching and feeling you come all over me!”
He withdrew and pushed his way back inside her, hitting his mark with a deadly precision. Stretched beyond more than she thought she could take, Crystal thrashed below him. He changed his rhythm. The deep plunging strokes stopped and were replaced with a slow withdrawal and spiral of his hips as he entered her. Her body’s reaction to the change was almost instantaneous.
“Give me what I want!”
Her body tightened and she knew she was about to give him everything he demanded. His cock and fingers became relentless in their quest to pull every ounce of feeling from her.
“Take it. Take what you want. Take everything!” Crystal screamed as her body shattered into a thousand pieces. Her reward was the shout of her name as she felt him shoot hot streams of his essence inside her.
~~~
Secure in the cocoon of his warmth, Crystal basked in the certainty of their love. Lifting his hand, she kissed his palm and held it against her heart. Her eyes closed as sleep began to tug at her consciousness.
“Tell me about the crystal. Why did you move it?”
Her eyes sprung open, sleep immediately forgotten. “I was wondering when you were going to ask me about it.”
“I held out for as long as I could, but I need to know—so tell me.”
“I bought this place just after I lost Finn. When everything fell apart… when I felt so lost that I couldn’t see a way out—that one bit of color sustained me.
When we met again, everything happened so quickly. I didn’t know you would end up here. So, I moved it. Although you gave it to me, I wasn’t ready to share it with you. I am now thought, it’s over there,” Crystal said pointing in the direction of the window.
Shane saw it then, and he couldn’t help the smile that lifted the corner of his mouth. “I’m glad you had it, love.”
“Me too and I’m glad I have you.”
“Everything’s going to be alright, Crys. It’s our time now. So many people tried to rip us apart, but they couldn’t because what we have is real. My love for you is real and I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure you know and feel exactly that.”
Epilogue
Two Years Later
Since he and Crystal had rekindled their relationship, Shane’s life had become everything he could have wished for. As the months passed into years, his feelings of loss surrounding Finn no longer caused his heart to tighten in quite the same way. The sensation that remained was now a dull pang that he would forever associate with the passing of his first child.
When they were in England, he visited Finn’s grave every week to talk to him. Sometimes people passed him by and cast surreptitious looks in his direction—but he never noticed them.
At the beginning or end of every meaningful event in their lives, he visited and spoke with his son. He had done exactly that just before he and Crystal got married and after he’d driven his last race. Although he loved the thrill of racing, his priority was his family, and he wouldn’t take any chances with his life.
“So, mum’s doing well son, and so is your little brother. He’s a whopper! Weighed in at eight pounds and ten ounces. Had your mum saying she’s never going to have another child—but I’ll change her mind.
~~~
Shane stood looking out over the expanse of their garden. He and Crystal had sold their respective homes and had bought this house in the Sussex countryside. Everything about the day was picture perfect. The sky was almost cloudlessly blue and the land before him was lush and green. They had labored long and hard to find this house and they had chosen well.
The location was an easy commute into London, yet far enough removed from the hustle and bustle of city life. This was where they would raise their family and grow old together.
Spotting his wife leaning over the stone patio railings watching Gwendolyn play with their son, Shane walked up behind her and wrapped her in his arms. “Hey love.”
“You’re back, Crystal said turning around. “How did it go?”
“Well they finally sentenced him. Ollie got three life sentences and he’ll only be eligible for parole after thirty-five years.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“Fine, if I had my way, he’d stay in there until the end of time.”
“What a waste of a life,” Crystal murmured with a faraway look.
“Maybe, but we’re not going to spend another minute thinking about Ollie.”
“Okay, I’ll try,” Crystal smiled.
“Love you.”
“I love you too. Look at what we have, Shane, everything is so perfect. Sometimes I get this fluttering feeling because I’m so lucky.”
“I know what you mean. I feel the same way. But we’re going to accept and enjoy every second of what we have because we deserve it. Deal?”
“Deal!” Crystal smiled.
Turning her around, Shane kissed his wife with a gentleness that came from loving and being loved.
He pulled back. When her eyes remained closed, he couldn’t resist giving her another kiss, this time on the tip of her nose.
Her eyes fluttered open and he wiggled his brows at her. Crystal narrowed her eyes as though she knew he was about to say something she wouldn’t like.
“So, Crys… you know what would make this day perfect?”
“No, what?”
“If your mum went home!”
“Shane Tierney, my mother is welcome to stay here for as long as she likes!”
“She’s already been here for a month.”
Crystal narrowed her eyes at him in mock anger.
“So you're telling me that if she decided to stay for another month, that would be okay with you?”
Her expression changed and she pulled a face.
“Yeah, changed your tune now, eh.”
“Thanks for making her welcome. You know she adores her grandson. Now that she’s semi-retired, she wants to spend as much time as she can with him. That means we’re going to be seeing a lot more of her.”
“I know, I was only joking. Gwendolyn is the only grandmother Sean will ever have. I want our boy to know and love her. So, I suppose I’ll just ‘ave to put up with ‘er,” he ended with a long-suffering sigh and a healthy dose of his best cockney accent.
“You’re a complete soft touch.” Crystal laughed as she kissed her husband.
Taking her hand, Shane ran her palm down the front of his trousers. “I think you may need to rephrase that!”
THE END
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