Two of Hearts

by Christina Lee

  And now his mouth was hot and wet, his tongue was deep in my mouth, the pressure of his body hard and soft at the same time. I moaned and sunk further into his warmth.

  “Wait,” I said, breaking away from the kiss. I needed to get some things straight between us before I lost myself in Shane completely. “We need to talk about this afternoon. How much of my conversation with Ridge did you hear?”

  “Enough to know that I’m not in this alone. You had regrets, too,” he said. “You still want me. Just like I want you.”

  I tucked my head into his shoulder, unable to deny anything he’d said.

  “No more waiting, angel.” His fingers were at the base of my neck, his other hand gripping my ass, pulling me in tight. “I can’t stay away from you.”

  My hand reaching into his hair was the only assent I needed to give. He felt too good to stop now. I had dreamt of being with him again too many times to count. He’d be leaving town soon, and I’d just have to suffer the consequences.

  He hitched up my legs and my thighs easily slid around his waist. His lips were solid and bruising; he fixed me firmly against the wall, delicious sounds emerging from his throat.

  His eyes darted down to my breasts, which had hardened into stiff peaks, and his shoulders became rigid. “That’s my shirt, Dee. You’ve had it this whole time?”

  I nodded, too filled with lust to feel mortified. “I wear it every night.”

  “Fuck, baby, you’ve been wearing my shirt?” he groaned. “Goddamn, I’m even harder now.”

  A second longer and his T-shirt was ripped over my head and his gaze trailed lazily down my chest, which had broken into a cold sweat. He hadn’t seen me naked in over five years. I had filled out, gotten curvier. Would he see me differently now?

  “Still so damn gorgeous,” he said, and his mouth was on me again, his fingers reaching up and pulling my hair out of its tie. As it fell and hit my shoulders, his throat rumbled with desire. I pushed his shirt up and over his neck and gasped at the muscles I saw.

  But that was short-lived because he was kissing me so hard, with such profound need, that all I could do was run my hands along his shoulders and the smooth ridges of his back. I couldn’t believe how ripped he’d gotten. He had always been toned, but now, good God, he was beautiful.

  His mouth was on my neck, at my collarbone, on my breasts and he groaned into my skin, murmuring my name as he went. I was overcome with emotion and longing, wetness pooling between my legs. It was like a dream that he was here, that he was kissing me again. I never wanted it to end.

  He lifted me and turned, moving deeper into the room. The back of my knees hit the chaise lounge, the same one he’d sat in countless times over the years. One night we had even secretly made out in it, the summer we’d hidden our attraction. I could scarcely sit there without remembering how it felt to have his tongue in my mouth. But the reality was so much better.

  He stood and began unbuttoning his pants, his gaze roving all over me, his eyes glittering pinpoints of hunger. My breath faltered just watching him and I couldn’t hold back any longer. I leaned forward and began touching and kissing every inch of his skin that I could reach.

  He squatted down in front of me and hooked his hands beneath my knees, hauling me toward him so that the crux of my thighs was at eye level. His palm glided over the damp center of my underwear and my legs begin to tremble. “Your smell turns me on.”

  I moaned as he corkscrewed two of his fingers into the soft middle panel, locating my entrance. “Oh God.”

  I was a panting, quaking mess and all he’d done was touch me over my panties.

  “Underwear off,” he commanded, swallowing roughly. “I need to see you.”

  A moment of hesitation and lucidity swept over me. “Shane, shouldn’t we—”

  “We’ll talk more later. I need to be inside you now,” he growled. He reached for a condom in his wallet and rolled it over his ample length. “I’ve waited too damn long.”

  “You sure this isn’t only about my lunch with Ridge today?” I blurted out as his thumb brushed over my center. I could feel the heat of his skin through the now soak-stained material.

  “Fuck, no. It’s true that I only want you for myself. Bad timing or not,” he said, swiping his lips across my ankle and my skin tingled all the way up to my knees. “This is about you and me, angel. We’ve got unfinished business.”

  My breath stuttered and my eyes closed and all I wanted in that moment was him inside of me, too. I slid my underwear down my hips as he watched intently, his eyes focused between my legs.

  “Damn,” he said. When his breath caught in his throat, I knew he felt just as ramped up as I did. He stepped completely out of his pants and I was only afforded a moment to look him over before his mouth was on me again.

  His fingers pressed and curled over my breasts and then glided down between my legs. He groaned when he felt how wet I had become for him.

  “Shane—”

  “Tell me you want this,” he grunted as his lips caught my nipple. My back arched off of the chair and my fingers gripped his biceps.

  He looked up, his eyes so damn dark with desire. As his finger slid inside me he said, “You want me as badly as I want you, angel?”

  I nodded, my lips trembling. I felt feverish, like I couldn’t even focus on his question. All I could think about was how his thick finger was inside me, curving at just the right angle, making my stomach coil with hunger.

  “I need to hear the words,” he said, his mouth moving to my other breast and laving my nipple.

  “I . . . I never stopped thinking about you,” I said, panting through my honesty. “I never stopped hoping to have this again.”

  His fingers braced my legs around his hips as he positioned himself at my entrance. “Fuck. I never stopped either, baby.”

  His tip entered me slowly and as it stretched me open, I whimpered at how incredible it felt. Not only because it had been so long but also because Shane fulfilled me body and soul like no other man could.

  “The first time you come I want to be inside you. I need to feel you,” his gravelly voice pronounced in my ear, completely entrancing me. “The next time will be from my tongue.”

  Oh good Lord. I could’ve easily had an orgasm right then and there.

  When he slid further inside me we both groaned. “Goddamn, it’s even better than I remembered. So sweet to be inside you, baby.”

  I couldn’t disagree with that. He filled me to capacity and made my entire body shudder with nirvana. It was so overwhelming that I squeezed my eyes as I tried to gain authority over my breathing.

  His mouth reached low to tap against mine once, twice and then suddenly we were at a fever pitch—all lips and tongues and teeth, devouring each other. I’ve wanted this, needed this for far too long and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to acquire my fill of him.

  I couldn’t even describe how it felt to have him inside me in that moment. He was seated so deeply and solidly that I felt complete both physically and emotionally. It was as if all my needs were being expertly managed at once.

  He drove deeper and harder and I lifted my legs higher while clenching his perfectly sculpted ass. I just wanted to feel this—really feel this—in case he disappeared from my life again. I shut my eyes and allowed the sensation of him pulsing and pounding to roll over me and through me.

  Next thing I knew his forehead was against mine. “Angel.”

  My lids felt drowsy with pleasure but I opened them to stare at him. His gaze latched solidly onto mine, making my stomach quiver with emotion. “Fuck, but I’ve missed you.”

  I nearly burst into tears at his revelation. I outlined his mouth with my tongue before nipping at his bottom lip. His hand swung to the back of my neck, tightening our connection as his tongue slid inside my mouth and he kissed me wet and deep.

  I felt that familiar pull low in my belly. “Oh God, Shane . . . Shane.”

  “Hold tight, I’m close.”

/>   I started panting and rocking my hips, meeting him thrust for thrust. My orgasm was sweeping over me and I shook my head because I couldn’t wait.

  “Feel it then, baby.” His hand brushed over my hair as he watched me come undone, his eyes hazy with lust, like he was only hanging on by a thread. “So beautiful.”

  His head swung down and he groaned his own release against my mouth, collapsing some of his weight on top of me. We stayed that way, lips locked, breathing each other’s air, him inside of me, neither us seeming to want to let go.

  Whereas the chaise lounge used to be huge and roomy and he’d made fun of me for that, now with his frame so solidly built, it had become almost too small to hold us. But he adjusted our bodies and slid me atop of him as his head rested above the pillow. We kept our mouths near each other even though we were no longer kissing. He was still inside me and already semihard again. I felt content and full, but not sated.

  As I looked down at him only one word came to mind. My finger traced over his brow and his eyes softened. “Stay.”

  His fingers reached up and tunneled through my hair; then he kissed me again, deep and lingering before he sat up, still bracing me in his arms.

  “Be right back. Don’t move.” He slid from beneath me and I watched as he removed the condom and dumped it in the trash, and then walked back to me, his muscles taut, his erection lengthening with each step.

  He leaned down and tapped his mouth to mine. Wrapping my legs around his waist, securing my arms around his shoulders, he then carried me down the hall.

  He shoved open my bedroom door with his foot and threw me down on the bed. He hovered over me, his gaze taking in every inch of me appreciatively.

  “Fuck, just look at you,” he said, and I shivered. “Do I get to have you again? Because one time was definitely not enough.”

  “It wasn’t enough for me, either.”

  He bent to kiss me but I stopped him. “Wait, let me get a chance to look at you.”

  He straightened and I reached out to touch him, my hands stretching over his biceps to his taut stomach, down to his impressive erection. I smoothed my fingers over the tip of him and then pumped up and down his stiff shaft.

  He grunted. “You’ve got about another thirty seconds, baby, before my mouth is on you and I’m back inside you.”

  I didn’t know who this Shane was, but he left me breathless. And I wanted this Shane. This one. Not the one from five years ago. But the one who was vocal and demanding and made my heart stutter inside my chest.

  Yes, the dominant strong girl inside me bucked against these feelings with all my might. But sometimes this girl also wanted to curl into someone who could take the reins if only for a little while. I needed this with all of my being. Even if it would hurt like hell when he was gone.

  Shane’s hands pressed my thighs down into the bed as his tongue expertly tasted me. I squirmed beneath him and moaned loudly.

  “Later, Shane,” I gasped. “I need you again, now.”

  And then he was inside, making slow and sweet love to me, his finger taking the place of his tongue. He pumped in and out, setting the pace in a drugging rhythm, refusing to break eye contact for even one second. A shiver traveled through me at the intimacy of the moment and I never wanted my night with him to end.

  * * *

  It was the first time I’d slept through the night in months and I was on the verge of having the most erotic dream of Shane. The sun filtered through my sheer curtains and my belly was actually pulsing.

  I forced my eyes open and realized that Shane’s head was between my legs, his hands firmly gripping my breasts. The covers had been cast aside and I was completely exposed to him. Holy shit.

  His tongue was gentle, his lips were soft, as he kissed and licked me. My hips jerked and I moaned. My hands reached for his hair and his eyes lifted to mine.

  “God, Shane.” I sighed. “What a way to wake up.”

  “I said I’d make you come with my tongue and I intended to follow through.” He moved his mouth further down and ran his lips over my opening, thrusting his tongue inside. “You taste good, baby.”

  I squirmed and gripped the bedsheets, nearly combusting into a pile of molten ash.

  His mouth delved and his tongue probed, firm and insistent. “Don’t you abandon me again, angel.”

  My head snapped up. “Shane—”

  He licked up my center. “Tell me, Dee.”

  My fingers gripped his head more firmly. “What?”

  “Tell me you won’t let it happen again.” He pulled my clit between his teeth and I whimpered at the sensation. “Not like last time.”

  “Wh-what are you even saying? I’m the one who’s stayed put in this town,” I breathed out, barely able to say the words I was so on the verge of losing it. “You’re the one who left.”

  His eyes sprang up and fastened onto mine, as substantial as a block of steel. “You have your own way of deserting me. You lock away all your thoughts and feelings. Somewhere deep inside. You shut me out.”

  I closed my eyes and inhaled sharply when the tip of his tongue probed inside my opening. Then the broad flat of his tongue licked directly between my lips.

  “Tell me you won’t do it again. Swear to me. Now.”

  Oh Lord. His tongue ran small circles around my clit, tormenting me. My knees were shaking, my lips were trembling and he wanted to talk about this now?

  He rolled my nipples between his thumb and forefinger. “Tell me, angel.”

  Good God.

  “I . . . I swear to you. I won’t,” I said, gasping as his lips latched onto my clit and then fully sucked my center. And that’s all it took to carry me away.

  Chapter Eighteen

  DAKOTA

  There was a knock at my door. I was lying naked in bed, my head propped on Shane’s chest. He had shown up the last couple of nights unannounced but I had welcomed him with open arms. Both times it was late and though I’d seen him at the casino during the day, I didn’t know what he had been doing in the evening.

  I assumed he was searching through information about my dad’s case, but he never shared and I never asked. Mostly we just kissed with wild abandon and had down-and-dirty sex, as if we were desperately making up for lost time.

  But somewhere deep in my brain, I knew we had to stop doing this until we talked more in-depth about some other things, like the future. I couldn’t dissuade the extreme fear I felt in the deep recesses of my heart that as soon as all of this was over, he’d be gone.

  The knock was now more insistent. Shane shifted and brought me with him, his arms tangling around me, his lips moving to my neck.

  “Someone’s at the door, honey,” I said, attempting to free myself so I could answer it.

  “You expecting someone?” he murmured into my skin.

  And then as his eyes blinked open, he seemed to fully awaken and switch into trained Marshal protective mode. It was ingrained in him, which made me feel both safe and in awe of him at the same time.

  And sometimes a little bit irritated with him, like right now. He swung his legs off the bed and dragged on his pants. “Stay here.”

  “Shane, it’s my apartment,” I said, throwing on my sleep shirt. “What the hell are you doing?’

  “Stay put, Dee,” he said, sliding off the bed. And shoot, seeing him look at me with those sleepy yet watchful eyes basically rooted me in place. But I was a big girl and so I stood up and slipped on my underwear. My cheeks reddened as I remembered how it had been flung on a chair across the room last night, right before he had taken me from behind.

  Seconds later, I followed him down the hallway and inhaled sharply when I noticed how his eyes cased my apartment, wall to wall. I didn’t need my own personal bodyguard, but I’ll admit my heart was pounding in my chest. Still, he couldn’t be here with me all the time, like some watchdog, no matter how much I’d like him to be, so I needed to rein in my ragged pulse and figure out my own precautions. Even if it was just a ran
dom knock on the door.

  I took a moment to appreciate the fact that Shane was naked from the waist up, his arm positioned on the frame of the door, so that his bicep muscle was bulging. It was scary and sexy at the exact same time.

  “Shane—” He put his hand up to silence me as he looked through the peephole. And then he blew out a breath and pulled open the door. My door. I was going to have a chat with him about whose place this was. Though I was pretty sure he wouldn’t even listen.

  An upset Rachel burst through the entry, eyes wide at Shane, his bare chest on full display.

  He could tell as quickly as I could that she was on the verge of tears and without even questioning it, he tugged her into his arms and immediately began soothing her. “Shhhh . . . it’s going to be okay, whatever it is.”

  She stiffened momentarily probably wondering if she had walked into the Twilight Zone before her hands snaked around his waist and she sniffled into his chest.

  I stood there stunned, gaping at my two best friends, who were acting like no time at all had passed between them.

  “What happened, Rachel?” he asked. “Is this about the . . .”

  She pulled away, her eyes springing to his. “Kai told you?”

  “I . . . I guessed it,” he said and I could tell he was covering up the truth. Whatever it was, I didn’t fault my brother for wanting to confide in somebody, especially his best friend.

  “It’s just . . . I’m so worried it’s going to happen again and Kai is already on pins and needles and I’m afraid talking to him will jinx it or something.”

  “You should never be afraid to tell him. He knows you best— he’s your husband,” Shane said and I couldn’t help shivering at his kind words. “He has the same emotions as you do. He needs you as much as you need him.”

  Rachel dried her eyes on her sleeve and then she looked at me, dressed in only a T-shirt and underwear and said, “Whoa.”

  “Good morning to you, too,” I mumbled and then stepped closer to her. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

  Shane gave me a grave look over his shoulder and suddenly I got it. Rachel and me standing in the bathroom after my father’s funeral. It was all such an emotional, draining blur that I had nearly forgotten. Plus, it wasn’t like she’d come out and confided in me directly. Not like the other times. And I got it. Saying it out loud might’ve felt like it lost its power, its energy. Just like I didn’t want to put a name to what was happening between Shane and me.