Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
No.
Shane felt her body stiffen under his hands. Stiffen—then go lax.
“Too bad. You’re gonna hear it from me over and over.
I love you, April. I never stopped loving you.
All those nights I worried about where you were.
The nights I burned for you, longing to feel you under me, to fill you with my cock and feel you pulse around it as I gave you orgasm after orgasm.
To feel you let go and thrash, to know you were powerless—willingly powerless under me—because you trusted me.
Trusted that I’d have your back. That I’d catch you and hold you safe in my arms. Always.
Always, April.” He drew in a ragged breath. “So let me have it all, now.”
April turned in his arms, her chest heaving, heart pounding. Her face was a mask of intense emotion. Was it anger? Lust? Maybe both.
“Give it to me. All of it. I’m done asking, April. I’m demanding.”
“Shane,” she breathed. Then her lips crashed against his, her body pressed against his chest as he pulled her in tightly. She tasted as good as he remembered—no, years of pent-up desire made her taste better. Better than his memories, better than his filthiest dreams of her.
“That’s right, baby,” he growled against her mouth. “Let me have you. Let me carry you.”
“I hated you, Shane. Hated you for what you did.”
“Good. I deserved it. Give me your rage.”
April nipped at his lips. She gripped his back, then dug her nails in. Shane gasped at the pleasurable pain of it as his endorphins kicked in. She needed to let herself go and know she was still safe, still loved. But he realized he also needed her anger—her fury—to make things right in his head.
“Tell me what you need, April,” he growled.
“Not you,” she said before she plunged her tongue into his mouth, making him groan. He ran his hands down her back to her ass and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed herself against his hard cock. She ground against him while making the sexiest sounds he’d ever heard.
“You sure about that, baby? You sure you don’t need me?”
“Shut up and carry me to bed.”
Shane didn't need to be told twice.
He stood in one smooth motion and April's legs locked around his waist, her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders.
She was lighter than he expected—or maybe his adrenaline made everything feel weightless.
Her mouth found his again, hungry and demanding, and Shane had to tear himself away long enough to see where the hell he was going.
Down the hall. Past the guest room where Kevin slept. Past Pete, who lifted his head but didn't budge from his post.
Shane's bedroom door was at the end of the hall, standing open like an invitation. Dark inside except for the faint glow from the bedside cut glass lamp reflecting off the walls.
April's fingers tangled in his hair, pulling just hard enough to make him groan. Her hips rolled against him and Shane's vision went hazy for a second. He'd imagined this—God, he'd imagined this so many times over the years—but reality was burning him alive in the best possible way.
"Shane," she breathed against his mouth. "Please—"
"I've got you." His voice came out rough, barely controlled. "I've got you, baby."
He carried her across the threshold and closed the door behind them. His bed—king-sized, navy sheets, the same military corners he'd been making since boot camp—waited in the soft light.
Shane set April down on the edge of the mattress, but she didn't let go. She pulled him down with her, until both of them tumbled onto the bed in a tangle of limbs and desperate hands.
"Wait," Shane managed, bracing himself above her. "April, wait—"
She looked up at him, eyes dark and dilated, lips swollen from kissing. Her hair spread across his bed like a deep, dark river. God, she belonged there. She'd always belonged there.
"What?" Her voice was breathy, impatient. "Don't you dare change your mind—"
"Not changing my mind." Shane cupped her face, forcing himself to slow down when every instinct screamed at him to take, claim, possess. "Just need to see you. Need to know you're really here. That this is real."
April's expression softened. Her hand came up to cover his, turning her face to press a kiss to his palm.
"I'm here," she whispered. "I'm really here, Shane. And I'm not going anywhere."
Something in his chest cracked wide open at that—at the promise in her voice, the certainty. April Taylor, who'd spent years running, who'd built walls so high even she couldn't see over them sometimes, was choosing to stay.
Was choosing him.
Shane bent his head, kissed her slowly, taking his time. Tasting her. Memorizing every sound she made, every place his touch made her shiver.
"I love you," he said against her mouth. "Always have. Always will."
"I love you, too." April's fingers found the hem of his shirt, started pulling it up. "Now stop talking and show me."
Shane's laugh was low and rough. "Yes, ma'am."
He reached back, grabbed his shirt, and pulled it over his head in one smooth motion. April's hands were immediately on his chest, her touch burning him everywhere her fingers landed.
So sexy how she was wearing his flannel—but it needed to go. He’d been a fool to put that shirt on her. It wrecked him in a way he hadn’t prepared for—just like the sight of her in his space had locked something into place in him that wasn’t ever going to unlock.
Shane's hands went to the buttons, but April batted them away.
"I've got it," she said with an impish grin. She sat up slightly, holding his gaze as she slowly undid each button. One. Two. Three. Taking her time. Driving him absolutely insane.
When the flannel finally fell open, Shane's breath stopped. She was perfect. Every curve, every line, every inch of skin he'd been dreaming about.
"You're staring," April said, but there was no self-consciousness in her voice. Just heat.
"Yeah." Shane's voice was barely above a growl. "I am."
“I’ve gotten a little…curvier since high school.”
“Thank you, God. Curvy is good.” He bent and landed a kiss on her breastbone. “Curvy is so damn hot.” His next kiss landed on her soft, rounded belly. If she’d let him, he’d fall asleep with his head on her belly.
He pulled back and pushed the flannel off her shoulders, and April let it fall away, let Shane toss it on the floor. Her bra quickly followed it, then Shane was gazing at the most beautiful breasts, letting the sigh of her feed his hunger. April let herself be vulnerable.
"Thank you," he whispered.
"For what?"
"For trusting me. For letting me in." Shane's hands skimmed down her sides, gentle despite the desperate need clawing at him. "For giving me everything you've been carrying. I promise I'll take care of it. Take care of you."
April pulled him down to her, wrapped herself around him again like she'd never let go.
"I know you will," she breathed. "Now love me, Shane. Please."
And Shane did. He ran his fingers over her nipples, softly, slowly, to build the fire inside her as hot as it would go.
“Yes,” she purred as she arched into his hands, wanting more.
The single word spoken so boldly hit him like a shot of pure oxygen.
He stopped moving for a second because he didn’t trust his hands not to rush.
The thunder had faded to a distant grumble; rain threaded the windows in soft, twisty lines, a steady patter on Shane’s roof.
The embers shifted and crackled, sending up sparks.
“That’s my sweetness,” he said, voice low.
He smoothed his thumbs over her nipples again, then moved up to her cheekbones and stroked them, the way he’d done on the porch the night before.
He angled his head and kissed her gently, banking his heat along with hers.
His cock was achingly hard, straining against his boxer briefs and cargos, and he was in danger of coming before he’d even taken it out of his pants.
April’s fingers curled into his waistband and tugged. An impatient sound caught in the back of her throat.
He eased back only far enough to look her over. He loved the way the golden light washed across her skin, how it turned her eyes molten. “You ready?”
“Oh yes.” She glanced toward the bedroom door, voice dipping. “Should we lock it?”
“Pete’s on duty. If Kevin wakes, we’ll have plenty of warning.”
Her smile went warm and wicked at the edges. “So we have a sentry and rain for cover.”
“And time.”
“Then lose the pants, Shane.”
He started to laugh and covered his mouth.
Just what he needed to do—wake Kevin with loud laughter.
That sent April into a fit of giggles. She bit down on her arm, trying not to laugh.
When they’d both stopped, he took her face in his hands and kissed her.
He set the pace, let her catch it and change it at will.
Her mouth was delicious, that old sweetness of hers he remembered so well coming through—then she gave him a teasing swipe of her tongue that made him groan into her and lose a notch of control.
“God, sweetness,” he breathed against her lips. “I love it when you’re feisty.”
She nipped him, then soothed the nip with her tongue, making him groan and press his cock against her. She already knew every button he had and it looked like she intended to press each one in turn.
Then she pulled back again. “It’s been a while,” she admitted, embarrassment and humor in her eyes. “Like… ages.”
“Same.” The truth cost him nothing with her. “Been a damn minute.” He slid one hand into her hair, the other down to the small of her back where he’d been touching her all evening and pretending it was nothing. “We’ll take it slow.”
Her gaze flicked over his face, as her impish smile returned. “We don’t have to take it that slow.”