Now what about me?
She’d been doing a lot of serious thinking about that very thing since Shane had left for Orlando, and she felt good that he had called to let her know he was thinking about her. She knew that if Cely was there, she would be giving her encouragement and pushing her not to give up ... like Cely herself had eventually done in the end.
No! She wouldn’t think of the negatives. She would think only of the positives, and as soon as Shane got back, she would make it her business to let him know what was on her mind. She was interested in developing a meaningful relationship, if he still was.
She lifted a brow when she heard the sound of the doorbell. It was almost eleven o’clock. She wondered if it was Anna letting them know she had returned to town. After crossing the room to the door, she glanced out the peephole only to have her heart nearly stop beating. It was Shane.
She quickly opened the door. “Shane?” she asked, nearly breathless. “What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn’t be back from Orlando until late Sunday.”
She watched him push back off the stone column post and take a slow step toward her. “I decided to come back early. In fact, I haven’t gone home yet. Sorry about dropping by so late but I came straight here. Can we talk?”
She nodded and moved aside to let him in, closing the door behind him. “Nice place,” he said, quickly glancing around before bringing his gaze back to her.
“Thanks. My parents own it, and they were kind enough to let us use it this summer. Can I get you something to drink?”
“No.” And then, as if there was something that he needed her to know, he said, “I missed you too much to stay away.” His voice was so undeniably sensuous that it immediately lit a flame inside of her.
His words touched something deep within her, something that hadn’t been touched in a long time, and she suddenly felt compelled to let him know how she felt as well. This was the opportunity she had hoped for. “I missed you, too, and I’ve thought of you a lot.”
“That’s good to know,” he said, as a sexy smile curved his lips. He took a couple of steps closer to her. “I thought of you as well.”
“You did?”
“Yes. That’s why I’m here. Talking to you on the phone wasn’t good enough. I needed to see you. And to touch you,” he said, reaching out and taking her hand in his. He tugged gently and brought her closer to him. “And to kiss you again.”
He chose that moment to capture her mouth with his and as if kissing her was the most important thing to him, he greedily slanted his mouth over hers, taking the physical connection deeper, making the exchange of tongues and lips that much more intense, and Faith thought there couldn’t be anything more erotic.
He proved her wrong when he deepened the kiss, meshing their mouths in a way that made a warm sensation flow through her belly. The tips of her breasts hardened against her blouse. What he was doing to her mouth and the way he was doing it spiraled her to new heights and suddenly her insides seemed to burst into flames. Like before, he kissed her with such mastery, such skill and profound precision.
And with so much desire.
She felt it, and it was far more exhilarating than anything she’d ever felt before. And when he finally broke off the kiss and pulled back, every cell in her body was begging for completion.
“Make love to me,” she murmured, not questioning the boldness or the rationale of her request. At that moment she wanted him. She needed him, and everything that was woman within her desired him at a degree that almost took her breath away.
“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice shimmering over her like warm honey.
“I’m positive. Monique and Shannon are gone for the night, and they won’t return until sometime tomorrow. I want you to stay here with me. All night, Shane.”
He gazed at her in a way that made her feel sexy, significant, and compelling, and with that look an urgency she never felt before took its toll, making her feel powerful and daring.
“Do you want to talk?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Later,” she said, taking control. She pushed him down on the sofa behind him and straddled her body over his. Something was set free inside her, and a woman she didn’t know was taking over: a woman who knew what she wanted and was taking it.
She went to the buttons on his shirt while thinking there were too many of them. She eased each one open before pushing the garment away past muscled shoulders.
“Pants got to go, too,” she said, easing off him to give him room to remove them, which left him in a pair of sexy black boxers. Feeling a little over the edge and somewhat out of control, she leaned over and took her tongue and traced a path down his abs, getting a good taste of his stomach. She smiled when she felt him tremble beneath her mouth.
“What are you trying to do?” he asked in a deep growl. She could hear the passion in his voice as well as the urgent need.
“What makes you think I’m trying to do anything?” she asked innocently, feeling comfortable in her new and exciting role as an aggressive woman.
Shane’s chuckle was low, seductive. “I think it’s obvious.”
She smiled. “Oh, you haven’t seen the obvious yet, Mr. Masters.”
And then she eased her hands inside his boxer shorts to give him one hell of an intimate stroke. His response was automatic, and she felt his erection grow harder right in her hands. He felt warm, solid, all man. Whenever she and Virgil had made love, she’d acted prim and proper as he had wanted, but there was nothing prim and proper with the way she was behaving now with Shane. She had no qualms about abandoning her decorous ways and becoming naughty as hell. She didn’t have to operate on anyone’s expectations and standards tonight but her own.
“I don’t think you want to continue doing that much longer,” Shane warned in another thick growl, reminding her of what she was doing to him, the way she was stroking him.
“Umm, why not?”
“You keep it up and you’ll find out.”
She chuckled softly and released him to stand up. She wasn’t one to strip in front of a man, but for some reason she wanted to bare all now. There was something about Shane that gave her the confidence to do whatever she wanted.
He watched as she removed her skirt, shimmying it down her legs and stepping out of it easily to reveal her black lacy thong. That left her blouse and bra, and she quickly and effortlessly discarded those as well.
She swallowed when she saw the way he was staring at her, and for one fleeting moment she found herself feeling restrained. She covered her center with the palm of her hand.
“Don’t,” Shane said, easing into a sitting position on the sofa. When he’d arrived, he hadn’t expected any of this. It seemed that Faith had become a tigress since he’d been gone, and he couldn’t help but wonder at such an extreme transformation. What had made her change her mind about them pursuing a relationship?
Has she really changed her mind or are her actions being dictated by the moment? He took in a deep breath, then exhaled it when a thought he didn’t like crossed his mind. He was too old for a one-night stand or even a summer fling. He needed more substance in his life. He wanted a serious relationship, a commitment, a forever kind of interlude.
He reached out and grasped her wrist and tumbled her into his lap then sucked in a quick breath when his thighs came into contact with her naked skin: “We need to talk, Faith. I need to know what’s going on in that head of yours. Before I left town we were miles apart and now you want me to spend the night. Why?”
His question hung in the air surrounding them, and Faith knew she owed him an explanation. She lowered her lashes for a moment, wondering what she could say to make him understand.
She then lifted her gaze and met his. “I told you about my divorce,” she said softly.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“What I didn’t tell you was about my friend Cely. She died earlier this year after committing suicide.”
A regretfu
l expression appeared on his face. “I’m sorry to hear that, Faith.”
She inhaled deeply. “I was, too, especially since I had no idea she was going through anything. Cely, Monique, Shannon, and I have been best friends since our early teens and would spend our summers here on the island with our parents. Our friendship was special, and it still hurts to know she was going through something and we didn’t have a clue. She didn’t give us a chance to be there for her.”
For a brief moment Faith didn’t say anything else and then she continued by telling him, “She did leave letters for us, though. Not once did she explain why she did what she did. Instead she empowered us to do what she didn’t do.”
“Which was?”
“To live each day to the fullest and do whatever we wanted to enjoy life and not live up to others’ expectations and standards.” A smile touched Faith’s lips. “I actually thought learning to play tennis would help me to do that. Instead, I recently discovered enjoying my life means doing something deeper, more meaningful.”
She shifted in his lap to face him, determined to concentrate on him and not his naked chest. “But then learning to play tennis had its rewards, since it brought you into my life—and you, Shane Masters, turned out to be one incredibly hot encounter in more ways than one. At first you frightened me because I wasn’t sure that I could handle you. Now I know that I can. I did a lot of thinking while you were gone and I’ve discovered you’re a man worth knowing at all levels, a man I feel I can trust and the type of man that I need in my life right now. I want you.”
As bizarre as it seemed, Shane loved her and needed her in his life to make it complete. He intended to take the rest of the time they would spend together over the coming weeks of summer to convince her of it.
“I want you, too,” he whispered huskily. “Now the main question is do I take you here or do you prefer the more traditional locale of a bedroom?”
A big smile spread across Faith’s face. She and Virgil always went for traditional, and the one time she’d convinced him to make love outside by the pool he had complained the entire time. With Shane she didn’t want anything traditional. She wanted spontaneous and hot. They were alone and she wasn’t expecting Monique and Shannon back tonight, so as far as she was concerned, here was just as good a place as any. For once she would love to get a carpet burn on her behind.
She met his intense gaze. “Take me here. Now.”
Shane stared at her. God help him, but he intended to do just that. He had thought about this, dreamed about this, fantasized about it, and his erection was aching; he needed this like he needed to breathe.
He stood, placing her on her feet to remove the last of his clothing, and when he stood in front of her as naked as she was, he reached out and pulled her into his arms. He needed to stay in control, but the moment his lips captured hers, the ability to remain composed went out the window.
Knowing the sofa had limited space, he eased her down on the carpeted floor with him with their mouths still joined, tasting of sweetness he had come to know and love.
“Shane,” she whispered softly, when he pulled his mouth away to place kisses around her lips and neck. Her hands wandered southward again, and took hold of him. His pulse escalated when she stroked the full length of him. “I want this.”
“Faith,” he said, breathing the name past a tightened throat. Something inside him felt she needed to be in full control this first time, and he wanted to give her that power.
But first...
He kissed her again while his hands went everywhere, touching her breasts, kneading her flesh, her stomach, and the area between her legs—especially there, deciding that two could play her way. And when he knew she was just as hot and ready as he was, he reached out to pull the wallet from his pants pocket. Taking out a condom, he put it on while she watched him.
“Thanks for keeping us safe,” she whispered, reaching out and taking hold of him in her hands once more.
“Always,” was his response. With those words he quickly changed their positions to bring her on top of him. “Ride me, Faith. Ride me until the cows come home.”
He saw the surprised look in her eyes before her lips tilted into a smile. “That’s a whole lot of riding,” she whispered, looking down at him.
“I’m counting on it, sweetheart.”
Her lips widened into an I can do it smile, and she straddled his body with hers. He could tell she’d never done anything like this before, and he inwardly cursed all her wasted years with the man she had married.
Shane gazed into her face and saw so much desire there, it nearly took his breath away. “Come here, sweetheart.”
And then she brought her mouth down to his the same moment she lowered her body down to him, and as if his straight-as-a-rod erection were a magnet pulling her in, the heat of her slowly consumed his thick hard flesh, locking on to it tight, while he lifted his body to ease into her.
“Oh, my God,” he said, pulling his mouth back, closing his eyes, and inhaling her scent. At the same time he lifted his hips higher off the floor to thrust into her to the hilt. She squeezed her thighs around him for a better fit, and he had a feeling, experienced or not, she was about to give him the ride of his life.
“Till the cows come home?” she asked.
“Unless I die of pleasure first,” he said, wondering how he would survive when just the feel of her clutching him had him just about a goner. The thought that he was inside her body this way had him about ready to explode. The eyes staring down at him were so filled with passion and heat that it triggered a jolt of need deep within him.
And then she began moving her body, riding him in a way she could never have done in his dreams. She put everything into it, her hips, thighs, the groans she made, the way she tossed her head back, the rhythm she created. She continued to squeeze her thighs to lock him in, holding him hostage—not that he was going anywhere. She tightened her inner muscles to pull everything out of him, pushing him toward one hell of an orgasm.
He wanted to yell. He wanted to scream. In the end when he felt her body convulse around him, signaling her orgasm, he let out a high-pitched roar, one that nearly shook the windows. But she didn’t stop riding him. She continued to move frantically over him, with him and all in him. Shudder after delicious shudder rammed through him while he groaned out her name the same way she was groaning out his.
And moments later when she literally collapsed on his muscled chest, he held her gently into his arms. Tremors that were still passing through his body made it difficult to breathe, much less speak. But when she finally was able to lift her head and look at him, what he saw in her eyes made him love her that much more.
“Did I bring all the cows home?” she asked so sexy, it nearly stole his next breath.
He smiled. “For now,” he said, forcing the words past his lips. “But I’m sure they’ll wander off again sooner or later.” He planned for her to ride him again at another time—she was definitely good at it.
She smiled. “Good, because I’ve discovered that I like riding you.
They fell asleep right there on the floor, and when they woke up some time later, they made love again, but that time in a bed. “I think I like the floor better,” Faith whispered, cuddled in Shane’s arms.
A smile touched his lips. “Me, too.”
He then leaned in to kiss her, enjoying her mouth. In fact, he enjoyed everything about her and was a weakling when it came to keeping his hands off her. He just couldn’t do it.
“This might sound rather crazy,” he said, shifting their positions so he could look into her eyes, “especially since we haven’t known each other an awfully long time, but I’ve fallen in love with you.”
His revelation made her feel so good inside, she could barely stand it. She reached up and cupped his face in her hands. “That doesn’t sound crazy at all because I’ve fallen in love with you, too.”
And she had.
Faith knew at that moment that Shane
Masters was everything she’d ever wanted. All those years she had waited for Virgil to bring her happiness, and in the end he had only brought her despair. She hadn’t been what he wanted, and he hadn’t been what she needed.
But Shane was everything to her. And this time when he leaned down and kissed her, he filled her with the taste of promises for brighter and better tomorrows.
45
The four women walked together along the beach. It was the first time in weeks they’d had a chance to be alone and talk. Everyone was happy when Anna returned from her Fourth of July trip an engaged woman, and the huge diamond ring she wore on her hand was awesome. And when she told them about how the ring had been the one her father had chosen for her mother before his death, it brought tears to the women’s eyes.
Faith, Shannon, and Monique had good news to share with Anna as well. They had come to Hilton Head to have a good time but hadn’t thought it would include meeting men who would change their lives forever. But they had.
The four women agreed to remain in touch and to continue to spend some time together every summer on the island. Their immediate plans were to all meet up again in D.C in January to attend Anna’s wedding.
It was only when they returned to the house that they made a startling discovery. They were sitting around drinking wine as they shared countless photos with Anna of them spending other summers on the island.
“This woman,” Anna said, pointing to a group picture. “Who is she?” she asked quietly, remembering that face.
Faith glanced at the photo. “That’s our friend, Cely. She died earlier this year. She committed suicide.”
Anna nodded. “I know. I was the one on duty in the ER when they brought her in. She was still alive, but barely, and I tried to save her.”
All eyes went to Anna. “You did?” Monique managed to ask in a shaky voice.
Anna nodded. “Yes. I fought like hell, but she refused to fight back. I’d never seen a person more determined to die.”
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