Chapter Eight
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Ally said, stepping forward and taking Stace’s hand, her fingertips just grazing Stace’s watchband.
Ally wasn’t what Stace had expected. The woman was dainty, maybe five feet even in her bare feet. She had long black hair that was braided down her back and big green eyes. She looked like a tiny fairy. Her fiancé, Blake, was as tall as Shep.
“I’m grateful for your offer of help,” Stace said. “I’ll take all I can get.”
“We’re sorry to hear about your sister,” Blake offered as he moved to stand beside Ally. “Hopefully, Ally will be able to lock onto something.”
“I’m curious and tend not to keep my thoughts to myself,” Stace began, purposefully keeping her gaze away from Shep. “How exactly does your psychic thing work?”
“I usually use an object the person I’m locating has touched, something recent,” Ally said. “If I’m lucky, I can use the energy to connect and potentially find them.”
“Have you ever not been able to make a connection?” Stace asked.
“Yes,” Ally said with no hesitation. Stace liked the way the woman didn’t defend her talent. It was easy to see Ally was comfortable in her own skin and left it up to the other person whether they believed in her ability or not.
“Do you know why you couldn’t connect on those times?” Stace asked.
“Because the person was already gone,” Ally answered softly.
Meaning the person had been dead. Stace stayed still, refusing to react to the possibility Chloe might be one Ally couldn’t locate through her gift.
“Take your time,” Ally offered.
“My time?” Stace asked.
“Deciding if you want my help. Really want it. You won’t hurt my feelings if you decide it’s not for you. I’m not for everyone,” Ally told her. “Psychic phenomena can be a lot to take.”
“How long have you been aware of your gift?” Stace asked, appreciating Ally’s easy acceptance of any reservations Stace might have. Even those left unvoiced.
“Since I was a child.”
“Not sure if that would be a gift or a curse for a child,” Stace mused.
“A curse as a child,” Ally admitted. “A blessing as a woman. It helped me find the man who’d murdered my mothers.” She leaned into the man at her side. “Which brought me to Blake.”
“Definitely a blessing for me,” he mused, dropping a kiss onto her upturned face.
The love between them was easy to see. Stace let her gaze move to Shep, but he wasn’t looking at Ally and Blake, and the longing in his eyes wasn’t for another woman. It was for her.
“Well, it seems Shep didn’t tell us everything,” Ally said, pulling Stace’s gaze back to her. “If you decide this isn’t for you, I hope you’ll allow us to stay the night. It was a bit of a drive. One I’d rather not make again so soon.”
“What didn’t I tell you?” Shep asked.
“That you’re sleeping together.”
Blake chuckled at Ally’s comment. Shep looked down with a shake of his head. Stace glanced at her hand. The one Ally had shaken and the watch she’d touched.
“You could tell we’re sleeping together by touching my watch?” Stace asked.
“No.” Ally laughed. “I could tell the moment you walked into the room. It’s in the way you two look at each other. Besides, I didn’t touch your watch long enough to get a read on it, and thankfully, my gift doesn’t work when I touch people. That would really suck.” She glanced at Blake. “Especially for you.”
“I think we’d both lose if touch was out,” Blake murmured.
“Why don’t I show Ally where your room is while you two get started on dinner?” Stace suggested. “You did say you’re grilling, right?”
“I did.” Shep pulled her to him and gave her a soft kiss before whispering, “Thank you.”
She nodded, understanding he was thanking her for accepting his friend, which she had. She would try anything to find her sister, and despite her reservations before she’d met Ally, she would have accepted her help for Chloe. Ally was so easy to like, which made her decision easier. Stace stepped away from Shep, felt his hand graze across her buttocks before tapping as he moved.
“Want a beer?” he asked Blake as he led the other man toward the kitchen.
“This way.” Stace motioned as she took Ally to the room she’d prepared earlier. It was directly across from the one Griff had used and on the other side of the house from her and Shep. She pushed the door open and motioned Ally in. “Let me know if you need anything. I’ll leave you to get settled.”
“Stace,” Ally called, stopping her just outside the door. “I hope we can be friends.”
Stace nodded. “I’d like that.”
“Good. I’ll see you at dinner then.”
Stace gave another nod then walked away, avoiding the kitchen and the rumble of conversation between the two men as she made her way back upstairs. She’d take a moment to collect herself. If things went the way Shep believed, she might finally find answers to where her sister was.
Dinner was quieter than Stace had expected. She and Shep spent most of the time walking Ally and Blake through Chloe’s final call for help and what they’d investigated since. It was devastating to lay out all the ways she’d failed her sister. Whether her dinner companions picked up on her mood or were as tired as Ally proclaimed, they’d all decided to call it an early night. Stace wasn’t surprised when Shep followed her into her room once they were upstairs.
“We’ll pick up the car in the morning,” Shep said softly, coming up behind her and tugging her back against his chest.
Stace nodded. Ally had requested the car, the last thing Chloe had been in, as well as Chloe’s keys and phone. She wanted them all together before she tried to find a connection with Chloe. Stace needed it to work more than she was willing to admit.
“I don’t know exactly what’s going on in your head, but I need you to hear me.” He turned her to face him. “I’m not going anywhere, Stace. Not now. Not after whatever tomorrow brings. What’s between us is more than sex. More than a diversion from the weight of what’s going on. I’ll be with you when we find your sister.” He paused, his gaze holding hers. “Or if we don’t.”
“I can’t…” She shook her head. “I can’t think of that. I can’t lose hope. Not yet. I know the likelihood of still finding her alive at this point. I know because this is what I do. I find things. I find people. I find—”
She broke. Broke as she hadn’t yet. Broke to her soul and would have fallen to her knees if Shep hadn’t caught her, sweeping her against his chest and carrying her to the bed where he sat and held her.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured as she sobbed against him, fists pounding weakly as she fell apart. “I’ve got you. Let it go. Let it all go.”
She didn’t know how long he held her, murmured assurances, but she was empty when her tears finally stopped. Empty. She needed to fill herself up again. To feel something other than the overwhelming sorrow that seemed to have her in a death grip.
“Touch me,” she begged softly.
“Stace.”
Not a no. More of a question, a need to make sure she knew what she was asking. Could he be any more perfect?
“I need you,” she whispered. “I need this. Us. I need—”
“Shh,” he murmured, brushing his lips over hers. “I’ve got you.”
No one ever had. She’d been the one to support everyone around her. No one had ever played that role for her. She’d learned to depend on no one. Less likely to get hurt that way.
“Out of your head,” he ordered, gripping the hem of her shirt and jerking it up. She lifted her hands as he tugged it over her head and tossed it aside before reaching for her bra. “No thoughts. No what if questions. No blame.” He tossed the bra then cupped her breasts, thumbs rubbing circles over her tight nipples. “Just you, me, and everything we can make each other feel.”
He dropped a kiss atop each breast then slid her from his lap and went to his knees before her. He made quick work of removing the rest of her clothes, peppering kisses along her stomach and thighs as he did. He placed a kiss on the arch of each foot as he placed them on his shoulder and leaned in. She went to her back, the mattress firm beneath her as he used his mouth to steal her mind.
There was no holding back the cries he wrung from her lips as he drove her to orgasm then kept her riding the undulating wave of pleasure. Her hands clenched in the jumbled covers at her hips as she tried to ground herself. He’d demanded she focus on what he made her feel then made sure she couldn’t do anything but that. She was whimpering from overstimulation when he finally pulled back. Forcing her eyes open, she stared as he stripped, revealing every hard angle and bulge of muscle. He rose hard and thick between muscular thighs, and she reached out to him.
“Now,” she pleaded. “No teasing.”
“No teasing,” he agreed as he reached for her, turning and moving her up the bed until her head was on one of the pillows. Then he was over her, in her, and it was like coming home. As if she’d spent her whole life waiting for him.
He lowered until every inch of their skin met. His gaze held hers, and there was the connection she’d learned to appreciate from him. She gasped, her breath catching, when he thrust deep then moaned as he eased back out. It was slow, as if he refused to rush, as if he needed to pull every sensation from her.
“Shep.” His name was a plea. For what, she wasn’t sure.
“Feel that?” he murmured. “How deep I am? How good it feels when I bury myself inside you?”
“So good,” she agreed. “Yes.”
“I could stay right here forever. Inside you. Feeling you taking me, squeezing me, needing me.”
“Yes!”
“Mmm,” he groaned. “There’s only one thing better than fucking you.”
She shook her head, denying those words. Nothing was better. Nothing.
“Making love to you. Slow. Easy. I could spend the rest of my life right here. With you.”
“Don’t—” She cut herself off, unwilling to allow the vulnerability the rest of her words would bring.
“Don’t what?” he asked, bottoming out inside her. “Don’t stop?”
She moaned but didn’t answer. He dropped his forehead to hers.
“Don’t leave?”
She caught her breath. How did he know what she’d been about to ask?
“I’m not going anywhere,” he vowed. “Not now. This. What we have only comes around once in a lifetime. No matter what tomorrow or the next day or the day after that brings, I’m right here at your side. Maybe, it’s too soon to say I’m in love with you, but I can admit I’m falling. Hard and fast. For you. Maybe, with you?”
Fresh tears fell from her eyes. When had she ever been this emotionally exposed? Never. She’d never let anyone see her this way.
“With me,” she agreed, taking a chance and letting him know she was falling just as hard and fast as he was.
He kissed her then, soft and slow, while they continued to make love. When they finally fell asleep, it was wrapped in each other’s arms. She clung to Shep as if he were the lifeline that would keep her safe in whatever storm the following day brought. Maybe, it was too soon, but when something felt this right, there was no way she’d walk away.