Chain of Title

by Robyn Roze

  Shayna clawed roughly down Sean’s back and he groaned in approval. She felt him rise up, and she opened her eyes to him. He had a wild look about him and dropped down to kiss her fiercely, swallowing her moans. She could taste her salty sweetness on him, exciting her more.

  Then positioning himself squarely between her legs, he drove into her deepest depths, causing her to gasp and then exhale sharply from the sudden push and pressure of his hard heat stretching and filling her. She felt his hand at her knee; he slowly pressed it out and down, holding it against the bed, opening her further to him. He patiently pushed and twisted his hips to squeeze into and tease the last possible bit of space inside her, expelling the remaining breath from her lungs.

  She felt his body stiffen, and he stilled, breathing hotly next to her cheek, as he seemed to adjust to the sensation of being fully inside.

  Her lips pulled back in a satisfied smile. Now it was her turn. She clenched her core, slowly at first, then gripped him with all her strength. A trailing groan tore out of him.

  “Shayna, ease up. You have to ease up,” he pleaded hoarsely.

  “No, I don’t,” she said with a purr, brushing her cheek against his. “You’re at my mercy now.” She nipped at his ear lobe. Her hands streamed down his back, ending when she tightly clasped his oh-so-firm ass and held him in place as she tilted and swayed her hips underneath him, all the while clenching and releasing her greedy center around him. Oh, he felt so good inside her.

  He exhaled loudly above her and mumbled something incoherent. She could tell he was determined and working hard to maintain his control.

  “Sean,” she murmured huskily. He locked his fierce eyes with hers. “Give me what I want. Now.”

  She heard a low, throaty growl rumble out of him as he abruptly grabbed her hands, pinning them above her on the bed. Hooking her legs hungrily around his hips, she continued to dominate him with her core; then the untamed man seized control, pounding into her with a roar and an unrelenting, pent-up ferocity. It all felt so necessarily necessary. He thundered in release, reverberating above her as she felt his warm essence fill her.

  Shayna released a long overdue sigh of pure, unadulterated contentment and peace. The world could be ending in the next five minutes and she wouldn’t care. This was exactly how she would want to spend her final moments anyway. Sex had always been important to her. It was all about action. You could show someone how you felt about them without saying a word. It was so deliciously intimate, personal.

  That’s why she had never gone to bed with a man she didn’t care about, didn’t feel some warm bond with that was clearly mutual. She figured sex without those feelings could still be good—great even. However, without the element of emotion, Shayna felt the act was simply reduced to mechanics, and there were plenty of ways to take care of the mechanics without involving a stranger.

  She stretched in the warm afterglow of utter satisfaction. She had always loved being a woman, and sex just gave her multiple reasons to be appreciative. She giggled softly.

  Sean encircled her in his arms, rolling her with him onto his back. “What’re you laughing about?” he asked, softly, as he squeezed her tightly in his arms.

  She thought for a moment before answering. “Oh, just glad I stumbled across Gaetano’s when I did, that’s all,” she said with a grin, as she swirled her fingers against his strong chest.

  He tugged her closer. “Me too,” he agreed, with a kiss to the top of her head. “I should warn you, though,” he murmured as he rolled them back over and hovered above her, “I recuperate quickly. Don’t think for a second we’re done here tonight.” He rubbed her nose gently with his. “And don’t think for a second that tonight is all that I want.” He kissed her longingly and then gazed at her hopefully. “I want more, Shay. A lot more. Do you?” he questioned, roughly, caressing her cheek.

  She felt her throat constrict. She had just spent the last three years learning to be alone. Ultimately she had felt grateful for the time to reconnect with herself and reflect on her decisions and the catalytic events in her history. She had ended up a stronger woman because of them. Now she needed to decide what to do with the next phase of her life, since it wasn’t going to be spent the way she had planned and had been promised. She really hadn’t given much thought to a new relationship in her future when she’d still felt so worn and bruised from the last one.

  Sean’s intense focus caused flutters in her belly, and she nodded faintly, answering meekly, “Yes.” She meant it.

  She just wasn’t sure what she meant.

  CHAPTER 6

  Shayna had a permanent grin plastered on her face all morning. She simply couldn’t make it go away. Her friends at the gym were curious as to her obvious glow and chipper spirits. Oh, how she had wanted to stand on one of the bench seats and announce that, after three long years, she had finally gotten a proper lay—make that plural. She felt her face flush with heat. Absolutely worth the wait, she giggled to herself, standing under the multi-headed shower in her master bath. The warm water cascading over her achy muscles felt wonderful and soothing.

  Her girlfriends were understandably disappointed with her lack of information, but she wasn’t ready to share Sean yet. Besides, a growing number of her friends thought she was an idiot not to have given Frank a second chance—the same friends who had vehemently agreed with her walking out the door in the first place. She snorted, closed her eyes, and allowed the water to tumble and stream down her face.

  Apparently, they had believed she would, or should, take him back after a respectable amount of revenge sex on her part and the appropriate measure of groveling on Frank’s part. Some of them were actually perturbed with her decision to go through with the divorce. Come on, Shay, you’re not going to do better than Frank at this stage of the game. Don’t just throw away all those years like that. Everybody makes mistakes. You need to forgive him and move on. Those were the sentiments most of her friends had admonished her with by the end.

  She tilted her face back under the warm spray. For them to even suggest that meant they didn’t know her at all.

  Shayna Montgomery didn’t dole out second-chances indiscriminately, especially when someone who had claimed to love her could lie so cunningly to her face. Frank, of course, didn’t see it that way. He didn’t appreciate being compared to her mother, but lying by omission was no different in her book. Deal with it, Frank. If you’d known anything about me, you damn well should’ve known that.

  She smoothed the water off her face and applied shampoo to her hair.

  An image of her father popped into her head, drawn from her youth. Her own Mr. Mom. He had been the Fire Chief in the little town of Aurora, where she grew up. A mountain of a man with the heart of a teddy bear, who had deserved so much more out of life. He could’ve been bitter and broken. Nevertheless, he rarely complained. He and her older brothers, Jackson and Scott, had taken such good care of her, been so protective of her while she was growing up.

  Her dad was actually responsible for her unwillingness to indulge in meaningless revenge sex after Frank’s betrayal. He had told her on many occasions when she was younger and becoming sexually aware, that she was a treasure, and she should never let a man touch her who hadn’t proven himself worthy of her.

  She still thanked her lucky stars for her dad. She couldn’t have had a better one. His big, strong body and gregarious personality only made his ending that much more difficult to witness.

  The Golden Years Nursing Home. Really? Shayna huffed and shook her head, washing the pear-scented shampoo from her recently shorn locks. How oxymoronic was that? If that’s what she had to look forward to in her golden years, she’d prefer that falling debris take her out first.

  Ben Montgomery had spent his last two years in the Alzheimer’s unit at the Golden Years facility, not recognizing Shayna or his sons. Every time she visited, she left knowing that there were worse things than death. Most of the people there ended their lives the way they had beg
un—diapered and drooling.

  It had been fours since he’d died, but she still found herself thinking about him almost daily. He had been her rock growing up, and had been responsible for so much of the person she was today. She credited him for her positive attributes and blamed her mother for all of her bad traits. The woman was worthless...

  Shayna reached for the body wash, squeezing out a creamy heap in her hand and massaging the luxurious pear-scented soap all over her skin, wishing she could wash away all traces of her maternal lineage.

  Some things could never be forgotten—or forgiven.

  Turning on the side sprays in her seamless travertine shower, Shayna indulged in the deluge of warm water. Letting out a long exhale, she pushed out the negative thoughts and feelings. She only wanted to think about the last twenty-four hours right now.

  Sean Parker.

  Wow. That was a night to remember. She wasn’t really sure where it was all headed, or where she even wanted to take it, but for now she would just take it day by day.

  She now realized that for the past eighteen months they had been dating—in a very old-fashioned sense. They had gotten to know each other pretty well through her frequent visits to Gaetano’s during that time. Sean had been an open book, and she had been, too, for the most part. During their many conversations she had glossed over a few things that would always be too private to reveal casually—hardships that were done and in the past that Shayna didn’t like opening up to the light of day.

  Stepping from the steamy shower, she glimpsed herself in the full-length mirror, as she reached for the plush white towel hanging on the warming rack. She needed to do something about the lighting in here. Between the skylights and windows in the spa-like bathroom of her large owner’s suite, the sun’s truth rays did not paint her canvas as uniformly as she envisioned it.

  Rolling her eyes to the ceiling, she shook her head and sighed. Boy, she really needed to stop judging herself so harshly. She wanted the unshakable self-confidence back that she had always had—before Frank splintered it. Sean certainly seemed to like what he had seen last night. In the low lighting..., her judgmental, bitchy twin chimed in.

  Stop it, Shayna!

  Willing her eyes to the mirror, Shayna viewed the image reflected back as if she were gazing at an old friend. Was everything where it had been twenty-five years ago? No. Did it all look as tight and firm as it did back then? No. But it was still hers, recognizable and well-maintained, and had even produced a daughter. Her body had remained steady and strong for forty-eight years, and she wouldn’t ever want to exchange it to be that twenty-something girl all over again.

  She had fought hard for almost five decades to meet the woman standing in the mirror before her. The outside didn’t necessarily match the inside the way she would like—or maybe it did. Either way, she had earned it all. She needed to stop wasting time picking at her flaws—the superficial ones. Everybody had them, even in their twenties. She snickered to herself. Did women ever stop pressuring themselves to look like airbrushed, non-existent, unattainable ideals? Hopefully at some point she would stop.

  If a man like Sean Parker still wanted to take her to bed, who was she to be so self-critical? She needed to look at herself the way he did. And, boy, did she ever like the way he looked at her. She closed her eyes and inhaled, feeling the goose bumps pinging from head to toe.

  Wrapping the oversized towel around her body, Shayna grabbed a smaller towel and rubbed it roughly over her head. Oh, she was so happy not to have that long hair anymore. Frank had always insisted that she keep it long; he thought it was sexy. She snorted in aggravation. He just wanted to maintain the illusion of a youthful wife and it didn’t work so well in the end. Nope, she really liked her new look. The layers and flips highlighted her large eyes and gave a lift to her cheekbones and jaw line. It made her feel feisty, sexy, energetic, and ready for whatever came next. Exactly the way she wanted to approach this new stage of her life.

  And the grays? Well, so far so good. Occasionally she would come across one of nature’s highlights, hard to distinguish against her blonde shade—and happily pluck it out of existence.

  After toweling off, Shayna slid into her long silky spa robe and padded barefoot to the kitchen with breakfast on her mind. As she stood gazing through the glass door of the Sub-Zero refrigerator, a knock sounded at the front door. Glancing up at the digital display on the microwave, she furrowed her brow. Who would be here at eight-thirty in the morning?

  Pulling the sash on her amethyst robe tighter around her waist, she strode through the sunlit hallway that acted as nature’s art gallery with its bank of seamless windows displaying the hilly terrain, dense evergreens and colorful plantings.

  A broad shadow fell across the opaque-glass entryway. Shayna inhaled with surprise when she opened the door, then smiled warmly at the handsome man on her doorstep. In the crisp morning light, she saw the hint of gray at his temples—making him even sexier. She shook her head, faintly. Life just wasn’t fair.

  “Morning, gorgeous,” he said with a quick wink. His eyes creased from the broad smile that stretched his soft lips. “I can’t believe you left this morning without saying goodbye,” he teased, with a knowing grin.

  “I left a note.” She felt her skin flush as she watched his eyes slowly scan the length of her body. She might as well be naked. The robe wasn’t much of a barrier to the hills and valleys with which he was now so intimately familiar. “You know I like to work out first thing in the morning.”

  “Yeah, but I keep thinking if I’d done things right you wouldn’t have been awake to make it to the gym this morning.”

  Crossing her arms under her breasts and tilting her hips, she said, “Well, I guess one of us did things right. You certainly seemed to be sleeping soundly when I left.”

  She saw him bite back a laugh. He shook his head and huffed softly. “Well, maybe you’ll give me the chance to redeem myself.” Shayna shrugged, and he smiled. “Are you going to let me in?”

  “Should I?”

  “Well, I was hoping to catch you before you had breakfast. I whip up pretty mean omelets.”

  “So you’ve said,” Shayna replied as she stepped back and opened the door further.

  She wasn’t used to seeing him outside of Gaetano’s. He was dressed casually, in a white polo shirt draped over loose jeans. His short sleeves highlighted his strong biceps and thick forearms, while the silver Breitling drew attention to his large hands hooked at his front pockets. Was there any place those hands hadn’t touched her last night? The fresh memory of the cool steel of his watchband pressing against her heated flesh made her shiver.

  “I was just getting ready to make breakfast, but if you’re offering, I’d be more than happy to let you.” As he eased into her brightly lit foyer, she felt his hand snake around her waist while the other cupped her face, pulling her up to her tiptoes for a deep kiss. Her body tingled. This man knew how to kiss, knew exactly how to kiss her. The hair at the back of his neck felt damp, probably from a recent shower, and he did smell good enough to eat.

  Breaking their sultry seal, Shayna pulled away and said with narrowed eyes, “You’re not getting out of making me breakfast, Sean Parker.” She grinned and took his hand, leading him to the enviably large gourmet kitchen. She parked herself on a padded stool at the stone countertop and gestured around the well-appointed, modern kitchen. “Make yourself at home. I can point you in the direction of anything you need.”

  “You’re not going to help?”

  “Nope. I’m going to indulge my fantasy. A man who can cook in the kitchen and the bedroom—now that’s a major turn on.”

  Sean laughed aloud as he removed eggs, cream, jalapeños, cheese, and other ingredients from the refrigerator. “Well, I just hate to see all your cooking classes go to waste. I thought you’d show me what you can do,” he said, as he placed the perishables on the cool countertop.

  Shayna laughed throatily. “Oh, I think I already have,” she
replied sexily.

  Sean stopped what he was doing and outlined her features with his eyes. Then they clouded over, and he inhaled, shaking his head clear.

  “Of course,” she continued, “any good cook knows that a recipe is merely a suggestion. You have to make it your own, put your mark on it. Can’t ever be afraid to experiment, try new things.” She heard him swallow hard and she licked her lips before giving him a carnal wink.

  “Sure you want to eat first?” Sean asked as he leaned across the counter space nearer to her.

  “Oh, no,” she said, wagging her finger at him and smiling. “You’re going to make me breakfast first, and then we’ll just see what comes second. I haven’t decided yet.” She giggled and rested her elbows on the countertop, dropping her chin down into her hands, framing her face.

  Sean reluctantly resumed meal preparations, and they continued their easy banter. When everything was ready, they placed the food, juice, and coffee on serving trays and relocated to the extensive, cable-railed deck adjacent to the great room.

  The bird’s eye view of Lake Indigo from the deck was stunning. Almost a million people lived on the other side, and the skyscrapers were just visible against the backdrop of the mountain range. At night, the sparkling cityscape was spectacular in its vibrancy as was the Mt. Pleasant Bridge that jutted across the deep expanse of water, illuminating the passageway between the two worlds.

  As they settled in to eat, Sean asked, “How’d you find this place, Shay? I would’ve pegged you for a city girl.” He chewed his omelet and waited for her response.

  “I am a city girl; one who likes to unplug and enjoy quiet time, too.”

  Mt. Pleasant had grown rapidly during the last fifteen to twenty years. Some of that city life had started seeping across Lake Indigo. Suburbanites didn’t like having to cross the bridge after their long work weeks or on weekends to travel back into the city for shopping, dining, the arts, and entertainment. So Shayna knew that, at some point, what had begun as a well-kept secret, an oasis, would be overrun with eco-friendly cars, minivans, churches, strip malls, chain restaurants, tract housing, and school crossings. Of course, her ex-husband was a prominent land developer, and was responsible for most of the sprawl.