Chapter Five
“That was incredible,” she whispered, not knowing what else to say.
He smiled, and it made her think of a pirate. The golden hair, the big blue eyes, the tanned skin. He’d definitely pillaged and plundered her. The fine lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth gave proof to the fact he smiled. Often. She’d also seen the scars on his torso, healed wounds from knives and even a puckered gunshot wound or two. She recognized them, knew them for the battle scars they were. She liked that he wore both proudly. Found it incredibly sexy.
“I hope you’re up for more,” he said as he moved up the bed to lie beside her. There was no way to miss his bobbing erection, and she licked her lips, remembering the taste of him.
She stretched her arm to grab the roll of condoms she’d pulled out of the box earlier and tore off one. Ripping it open, she turned to him. He held his cock around the base, and she used both of her hands to roll the protection onto him. He leaned up to kiss her, slow and sweet and tender. He explored and tasted, his tongue stroking softly against hers.
He eased her back down onto the bed coming up over and shifting so that his legs were between hers. He continued kissing her, sipping from her lips as he moved his hips closer to hers, letting his sheathed cock glide between the still slick folds of her sex until it finally lodged at her opening. He pulled back from her lips, and holding her gaze, he eased inside her.
“Don’t close your eyes,” he ordered when her eyes fluttered shut. “Look at me. Let me see your pleasure.”
She moaned low in her throat. She held his gaze, panting for breath as he moved. Burying himself deep, he swiveled his hips and had her arching up into him, her fingers clenching where she held onto him.
She’d had sex, great sex, but no man had ever held her gaze with such intensity during the act, no man had ever forced the connection Shep was. Somehow, she knew he wouldn’t let her put this in the box and safely tuck it away. He would make her admit what they’d shared was more than just physical. Knowing that, scared the hell out of her.
He pulled almost completely out of her and then slammed back in, breaking her from her tumbled thoughts, so she focused solely on the here and now.
“That’s better,” he said as if he knew she’d been thinking outside the moment.
He pumped hard and fast, his cock plundering and owning her with every deep stroke. She had one leg locked at his hip, but she pulled the other one to her chest, easing it between them and holding it giving him the ability to hit deeper with every surge of his hips.
He took her lead and moved to his knees pushing her other leg forward so that they both nestled against her breasts. Taking the time to kiss both of her insteps he lifted them to his shoulders, and placing his palms on the back of her thighs, he began moving again, slow and easy now, letting them both adjust to the deeper penetration this angle allowed for. His cock flexed and throbbed inside her, and Stace lifted her hips from the bed using her feet on his shoulders to gain the leverage she needed.
He pumped, and she met him thrust for thrust. It was the most incredible fuck of her life, perhaps more due to the man she was with than the weapon he used. Shep was endowed, no complaints there, but it was the way he commanded her body, held her gaze, that made it so much more than she’d shared with any other.
It was as if he understood what she needed without her needing to vocalize it. He’d mentioned he was a giver, and he’d more than proved it with his impeccable oral skills. It was also safe to admit he knew exactly how to wield what he carried between his legs and bring her the ultimate pleasure. There was no control for her, no holding back. She cried out, her eyes automatically shutting, her head tilting back. In response, Shep slowed his thrusts, pulling them both back from the cliff they were flying toward. She wanted the promised orgasm. Needed it like she needed air.
“Please,” she said, caught somewhere between a plea and a demand.
“Open your eyes,” he commanded, and she did, looking immediately into his heavy-lidded gaze. “I want to see your eyes when you come,” he whispered and bent closer.
She spread her legs impossibly wider, dropping them back down by his hips as he closed the distance and took her mouth. The kiss was deep and sensual. As his tongue stroked and rubbed hers, his cock did the same to the walls of her sex. She realized the faster she got him to use his tongue the faster he moved his hips. Her arms wrapped around the back of his neck and held him to her while she sucked his tongue before stroking hers against it. Finally, they broke, breathless as he rode her hard and fast.
“Don’t drop my gaze,” he warned, and she couldn’t help wondering what he was doing to her. How would she ever walk away from a man who made her feel…everything?
When she couldn’t hold back any longer her eyes grew unfocused. Though they remained open by sheer force of will, she saw nothing but the colors that seemed to explode all around her, through her. No sound fell from her lips. It was as if the intensity of the pleasure her body encountered had blocked her vocal chords.
Shep had no such problem, giving a harsh grunt as he slammed deep once more and held there giving little flexes of his hips as he filled the condom separating them. She’d never before hated a condom, but she admitted to herself that she wanted to feel his release inside her body, with nothing between them.
Slowly, he kissed her feet, easing them back and under his arms until she could straighten her legs and drop them back down to the bed beside his knees. It had been too long since she’d engaged in such acrobatic sex, and she knew she would feel it in the morning. He eased her clenched hands from his shoulders then grasped the base of his cock to hold the condom in place as he pulled from her body.
Tiny tremors ran through her as he withdrew, and her pussy pulsed, quivering in its suddenly empty state. She watched as he moved from the bed toward the bathroom not bothering to shut the door. Watched as he discarded the condom and turned the water on in the sink. Watched him shift his hips forward and wash his cock with a soapy hand and then rinse it under the running water. And she realized she had it bad when she found even that sensual.
She let her eyes drift closed and was startled when she felt the swipe of a cloth between her legs. She blinked open and watched as Shep cleaned her up before returning to the bathroom, rinsing the cloth before hanging it to dry over the shower rod. He came to stand beside the bed and looked down at her.
“You mind if I sleep here tonight?” he asked.
Her heart gave a slow stutter before starting to beat fast again. With that one question, she acknowledged this was perhaps the only man she’d met who had the potential to mean something to her, something important. It said a lot that he didn’t assume that since they’d had sex, he could sleep with her. He took the time to ask. And he touched her deep inside, lodging in her heart and mind.
“I’d like that,” she whispered and rolled so he could pull the covers back on one side. She noticed he waited until she’d rolled back over and slid under before he joined her there. He slipped one arm under her head and reclined back. He didn’t pull her to him, didn’t grab and move her. So, she found herself shifting closer until her head rested on his chest.
They lay in silence for a long while, and she thought maybe he’d fallen asleep when he spoke.
“You’d already checked her computer,” he said, and she nodded against his chest though it wasn’t a question. “You knew I wouldn’t find anything.”
“I didn’t think you would,” she agreed. “But I had to let you try, to see if maybe there was one tiny thing I might have overlooked.”
“You’ve already been to the tavern and knew what the crowd would be like, and you’ve probably already spoken with Nicole,” he continued.
“Yes,” she said.
“Do you think Chloe is still alive?” he whispered.
She held her breath, even as tears escaped her control. He’d figured it out. That was why she’d gone for help, that was why she’d heeded her friend’s advice and called Gil to see if she could get help from his friends.
“No,” she breathed and knew he felt her tears as they trailed down her cheeks to his chest.
He didn’t say anything, didn’t confirm or deny, just held her, his hand stroking gently through her hair.
Her sister had been missing for four weeks. Four weeks. The police believed they were looking at a body recovery at this point. From the tape they knew her sister had been drugged. They didn’t know what she’d been given. No body, no evidence. But Stace had been around long enough to know that some women never woke up from the drug that knocked them out. She also knew better than most the chances of finding someone decreased grew the longer they were missing.
She snuggled closer to Shep and let her fear pour out of her in a wash of silent tears.