Heat of the Moment (10 page)

Dragging her skirt upward, Shane’s fingers encountered the slippery silk of her panties and he smoothed his hand over the fabric, feeling the heat that she radiated. She wriggled beneath him and opened her thighs in silent encouragement, and Shane slipped his fingers beneath the fragile barrier until he held her in his hand.

“Yes,” she breathed into his mouth. “Touch me.”

With a smothered groan, Shane delved gently through her soft folds, her slick heat sparking something raw and primitive inside him. Swiftly he pushed her dress up until her midriff and hips were exposed. He kissed his way across the framework of her ribs to the softness of her abdomen, lingering over the delicate whorl of her navel. She shifted restlessly beneath him, spearing her fingers through his hair as he dipped his head lower and breathed in her feminine scent.

Hooking his thumbs into the waistband of the pink panties, he dragged them down her legs. Holly helped him by kicking them free of her body until finally, nothing lay between them.

Shane let himself admire her for a brief instant before he pressed a kiss against her mons, just beneath the small triangle of dark curls. Her breathing quickened and her fingers rubbed against his scalp. Sliding his hands beneath her bottom, Shane lifted her and licked boldly along her cleft. She gave a strangled cry of pleasure and gripped his head, and Shane took her fully in his mouth. He lapped her essence, relishing the taste of her, before spearing his tongue inside her, using it to torment both of them. She writhed against his face and when he glanced up, he could see her body was bowed with tension, her eyes closed and her face taut. The sight of her wracked beneath his mouth was incredibly erotic.

He softened his tongue, flattening it as he massaged her clit, providing just enough pressure to make her moan but not enough to give her the release she craved. At the same time, he eased a finger into her clenching tightness and then followed it with a second finger, thrusting gently as he teased her with his tongue.

He knew she was on the brink of coming. Her legs stiffened and her muscles clenched, and she made a low noise of pleasure-pain deep in her throat. Shane flicked her clit hard with his tongue and she fractured, her mouth opening on a keening cry as deep shudders washed over her.

He didn’t give her time to recover. Pushing his shorts free, he quickly covered himself with a condom before he rolled Holly onto her stomach on the blanket. She turned her face to the side, gasping softly. Shane ran his hand along the elegant length of her back, admiring the supple muscles along her spine. Grasping her hips, he raised them slightly and she accommodated him by bending her knees and arching toward him. Shane positioned himself at her opening and slowly fed his length into her, inch by exquisite inch, gritting his teeth as her flesh gripped him tightly.

When he was fully buried in her heat, he came over her, bracing his weight on one arm as he thrust into her. He pressed kisses wherever he could, along her shoulders and her spine, against the nape of her neck and her throat. He swirled his tongue along the curve of her ear and whispered to her how good she felt. Using his thighs to spread her wider, he reached around to her front and dipped his fingers to the spot where they were joined.

“I want you to come again,” he growled.

“I can’t,” she protested weakly.

“You can.” He scraped his teeth across her nape, felt her shiver. “You will.”

He swirled his finger over her clitoris as he thrust deeply inside her welcoming flesh.

“You are so fucking gorgeous down there,” he whispered, biting gently on the lobe of her ear. “I loved eating you, loved watching you come in my mouth.”

Her breathing quickened and a gush of moisture flowed over his cock and hand. She rotated her hips against him. “Oh, yeah,” he said, his voice husky with passion. “You’re so wet. Can you feel me inside you?” He withdrew almost completely and then sank strongly back into her. She gave a soft moan and beneath his fingers, Shane felt the small nub of her clitoris swell and grow hard. “That’s it,” he purred, increasing the rhythm of his fingers as he stroked her with his cock. “Oh, man, you are so tight. I’m not sure I can last.”

He pumped harder, faster. Holly pushed back against him as he tormented her with his fingers, and her breathing hitched.

“Oh my God,” she panted in desperation, “I’m going to…”

“I’m right here,” he rasped, and when he felt her inner muscles clamp ruthlessly around his flesh, felt her body spasm and shudder with release, the force of his climax caused his back to arch and wrenched a hoarse cry from deep within him.

Holly collapsed against the quilt, her shoulders heaving. Shane knelt there for a moment, dragging air into his lungs as he struggled to regain his equilibrium. After a moment he rose and made his way to the edge of the water where he quickly cleaned himself off and discreetly disposed of the condom. As he turned, he saw Holly watching him through slumberous eyes. She had pulled the skirt of her dress back down so that her luscious rear was covered, but knowing that she was bare and likely still quivering beneath the thin material gave Shane a deep sense of satisfaction.

Dragging his shorts back on, he opened the small cooler they had brought with them and withdrew a bottle of cold water. As he eased himself down onto the blanket beside her, he twisted the cap off and handed the bottle to her, watching as she took several gulps.

“Mmm, I was thirsty,” she murmured and tried to hand the water back to Shane, but he shook his head and dropped a kiss against her shoulder.

Then he lay back, bent his arms beneath his head, and closed his eyes. He sensed rather than heard Holly shift, and then felt the warm length of her body as she lay beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. He cracked one eyelid open and looked down at her. Her short hair was tousled and her face was still flushed. She smiled at him in contentment and Shane felt something in his chest tighten.

“No one’s ever done that before,” she murmured.

“Done what?” He didn’t want to know. Didn’t want to think of her with anyone else, doing the things she had done with him.

“Talked to me like that during…” She broke off with an embarrassed laugh.

Turning on his side, Shane propped his head on his hand and considered her. “But you liked it.” He couldn’t keep the male satisfaction out of his voice. He dropped his voice to a seductive whisper. “And every word was true. You tasted delicious.”

He watched as a flush of color seeped into her cheeks and she rolled against him to hide her face against his side. “I don’t know how you can be like that,” she whispered.

“Like what?”

“So…uninhibited.”

He gave a rueful laugh and smoothed a lock of dark hair back from her ear. “Trust me, with you it’s easy.”

Raising her face, she gave him a slightly reproachful look. “Why did you leave without saying good-bye?”

Shane didn’t pretend to misunderstand her. He knew she referred to the night of her graduation party, when they’d made love in the boathouse. He sighed. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

Shane scrubbed a hand over his face. “That night was a mistake, Holly. I left because I didn’t want you getting the wrong idea.”

Holly frowned. “About what?”

“Look, I knew you had feelings for me. I took advantage of you that night and it was wrong. Part of the reason I didn’t stay was due to my own guilt, and part of it was because I didn’t want to give you any false hope. I thought if I left, then you’d realize our being together was a mistake, too, and move on with your life.”

“Oh.”

“And the other part…” He hesitated. “The other part was because I didn’t
want
to say good-bye to you. I wanted to stay with you.”

“Oh.”
He watched as she digested this bit of information. “So what you’re really saying is that after all this time, nothing has really changed.”

Now it was Shane’s turn to look puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“In three weeks, you’re going to leave again, and we’ll be right back where we started.”

A smile touched Shane’s mouth. “Yeah. I was working the counter at Benjamin’s and you came in with your ridiculous friends.”

Holly gasped in mock outrage. “Ridiculous? We weren’t ridiculous.”

“You absolutely were. Do you think I didn’t know why you came into the drugstore every afternoon? You all stood at the counter and stared at me with those simpering smiles, and every time I turned away you’d
laugh.
”

“We thought you were gorgeous, but you were so bad-tempered and you glowered at us whenever we tried to say anything to you.”

“Like I said—ridiculous.”

“So what did you think of me?” she asked softly.

His gaze slid to hers in warning. “Holly…”

“Tell me.” She rolled toward him and threw one leg over his strong thighs and an arm across his bare chest, pinning him to the quilt. “I won’t let you up until you do.”

To her surprise, he captured her leg and drew it up higher, and then slid his hand along her thigh until he encountered the bare skin of her hip.

“In that case,” he muttered, turning his face toward her.

He was going to kiss her, but Holly knew that if he did, there would be no more conversation. She pressed her fingers over his mouth to stop him.

“Tell me,” she insisted softly.

Shane released her leg, blowing out a hard breath. “Fine. I thought you were the prettiest girl I had ever seen.”

“You did?”

“Mmm-hmm. Your hair was so long and sleek, and it shimmered whenever you shook it. Which was all the time.”

Holly laughed. “I was very vain about my hair in those days.”

“Why did you cut it off?”

She made a face. “Long hair isn’t practical in the military. I like it short.”

“I do, too.”

“So you thought I was pretty,” she continued. “What else?”

He laughed in bemusement. “I don’t know. I was a kid. I met Mitch when he came to work at the drugstore and the first time he invited me back to your house and I realized you were his sister, I almost walked out and never came back.”

“Really?” This was getting good. “Why?”

Shane sat up, disentangling himself from her limbs. “Okay, you know what? This is a stupid conversation. You
know
why. Because even back then, I wanted you and it didn’t help that you pretty much threw yourself at me every chance you got. I was trying to do the right thing, but you made it very difficult.”

“I threw myself at you
once,
” Holly said indignantly. “On Christmas Eve. Never before that. And you still rejected me.”

“It took every bit of strength I had to push you away,” he muttered darkly. “You have no idea how close you came to being violated in your father’s wine cellar that night.”

Holly tipped her head, wondering at his choice of words. She didn’t recall feeling violated at all. Aroused and frustrated, but not violated. “What do you think of me now?”

Shane slanted her a sardonic look. “I think I just demonstrated how I feel about you.”

Holly took a hasty swallow of water to hide her disappointment. What they’d just shared had been amazing, it had only been physical. But what had she expected? A declaration of love? He’d made it clear that he believed any relationship between them couldn’t work, but what she wanted to know was
why.

“You said earlier that you were an angry kid,” she finally said. “Was it because of what happened with your parents?”

He looked surprised. “Mitch told you?”

Holly snorted. “Mitch never told me anything. I was the annoying little sister, remember? He was extremely loyal to you. Whatever secrets you two shared, he’ll never tell anyone.”

“So what do you know about my parents?”

She’d heard rumors, of course, but as much as she’d pressed Mitch to tell her details about where Shane had come from and what his family was like, he’d tersely told her that she’d have to ask Shane. Which, of course, she’d never dared to do. Until now.

“When we were in school,” she began carefully, “there were rumors that your mom ran off with another man and your father turned to the bottle. Is that true?”

Shane scooped up a handful of sand and let it trickle through his fingers. “I wish it were as simple as that.” He was quiet for several long seconds, as if debating how much to share. “My father came from nothing, but he knew thoroughbreds. He grew up working at a racetrack in Kentucky, walking and exercising the horses. Eventually, he got into training and was invited to work at one of the best stables in Lexington.”

“I knew he was a horse trainer,” Holly admitted. “I don’t know a lot about thoroughbred racing, but I’ve heard that good trainers often go on to open their own stables.”

Shane gave a bitter laugh. “My dad could have done that. By the time he was in his early twenties he’d already made a name for himself in the racing world. But there was a reason why he wanted to stay at this particular stable. He was in love with the owner’s daughter.”

Holly looked sharply at him, but Shane’s gaze was focused inward. “What happened?”

“Like I said, he knew thoroughbreds and he knew how to make them respond to his touch. My mother was young, barely out of high school and although her parents appreciated my father’s skill with their horses, they disapproved of him as a suitable husband for their daughter. So she and my dad ran away together.”

“Your mother was the owner’s daughter?”

“Yes.” Shane blew out a hard breath. “They were young and stupid. They had no money and nowhere to go.” He snorted. “They thought they could live on love until I came along, and then things really got tough.”

“What about your grandparents? Your mother’s parents? They had money. Couldn’t they help?”

“They offered, but at a price. My mother was welcome to return home, but only if she came without me or my father. So she stayed with my dad, and they struggled. My mother’s family made sure that my father wouldn’t find work at any stable or racetrack in Kentucky. So they came to Virginia and he found a job, but the money wasn’t enough to give my mother the things she craved.” He angled his head and looked at Holly. “She loved my father and me, but she resented the sacrifices she had to make.”

Holly laid a hand on his arm. “She
left
you?”

“In a manner of speaking. By the time I was a teenager, she and my father argued constantly, usually about money. She used to threaten to leave him and go back to Kentucky. He worked three jobs to try and give her the lifestyle she was accustomed to, including a membership to the local country club and a fast car, but it wasn’t enough. He was never around and she spent too much time alone.” He plucked at a loose thread on the quilt. “I was fourteen when she came home late one night from the club. She’d had too much to drink. I’ve never seen my father so angry, mostly because she’d driven herself home. They argued, and before he could stop her, she took off again in the car. About a half mile from the house, she hit a tree and died instantly.”

Holly was dumb with shock. How could she have not known this? How was it that he had kept such a thing secret?

“I’m so sorry,” she said, her chest tightening with sympathy for what he had gone through. “You must have been devastated.”

“We both were. I was angry at her for dying and I blamed my father for not making her happy when she was alive.” He shook his head. “But he blamed himself even more. That’s when he began drinking. I think her death haunted him. He couldn’t keep a job and eventually we lost the house. We lost everything. As soon as I could, I quit school so that I could work full time and find us another place to live. Eventually, my dad began to pull himself together and we found a stable in Chatham willing to give him another chance. That’s when we moved into the apartment over the drugstore.”

“Shane…” She had no words in which to express her sympathy for what he’d been through, but hearing his story explained so much, including his reluctance to become involved with her. “I don’t know what to say. I never knew…never guessed.”

He smiled stoically. “It was a long time ago.”

“What about your grandparents? Do you ever see them?”

He shook his head, and his voice turned almost feral. “I have no relationship with them, and no interest in seeing them.”

“Does Mitch know all of this?”

“Yes. Why do you think he tolerated having me around so much? He knew how much I hated living over the drugstore. Even though my old man wasn’t around that often, I didn’t want to spend any time with him.”

“Mitch didn’t tolerate you. You were his best friend. You were the brother he never had. And as for your father…you sacrificed everything to take care of him,” Holly said in amazement. “No wonder you were angry. You were a child, forced to become the adult.”

They were quiet for a moment and although Holly wanted to take Shane in her arms and comfort him, she knew instinctively that he would not welcome such a gesture.

“I’m not like her,” she finally ventured. “Your mother, I mean.”

Shane twisted his head to consider her. “No, you’re not.”

“I only meant that I appreciate the lifestyle my parents were able to provide me, but I’ve never felt entitled to it. I have a job and I can take care of myself. I would never depend on someone else, not even a husband.”

Shane gave a huff of humorless laughter. “Trust me, I realize that.” Shielding his eyes, he looked at the sky. Clouds had begun to form over the lake and a breeze had kicked up, turning the smooth surface of the water into small whitecaps. Pushing himself to his feet, he extended a hand to her. “C’mon, we should head back. Looks like we might get a storm.”

Retrieving her panties from where they had been discarded, Holly quickly slipped them on, watching as Shane picked up his T-shirt and pulled it over his head. They folded the quilt in silence and Holly watched as he shoved it unceremoniously back into the tote bag. He was remote and silent during the short walk back to the dinghy, although he took care to help Holly along the uneven path.

She could scarcely believe this was the same man who, less than an hour earlier, had loved her so thoroughly. She had thought that sharing his story with her would have brought them closer together. Instead, he was distant and withdrawn and Holly struggled to find the right words to bring him back. She watched as he pushed the dinghy out onto the water and then pulled strongly on the oars, propelling them swiftly across the choppy water.

By the time they reached the dock, the sky was dark and the water churned beneath them. Shane secured the small boat and, despite the cast on his leg, climbed neatly onto the pier. Holly handed him the cooler and the tote bag, but was unprepared when he reached down and lifted her bodily out of the row boat and onto the dock.

She swayed against him for a moment, her hands braced on his muscular arms. “Are you okay?” she finally asked. “You’re so quiet. I didn’t mean to dredge up bad memories for you.”

The wind ruffled her hair and he pushed a strand of it back from her face. “You didn’t,” he assured her, but his hazel eyes were turbulent. “The memories are there whether I want them, or not.”

A large splotch of water landed on Holly’s bare shoulder, followed by another and then another. They both blinked as a sudden flash of lightening streaked overhead, followed by a deafening clap of thunder. Then the skies opened up and a deluge of rain poured down on them.

Shane shoved the tote bag into her hands and turned her around. “Go up to the house,” he ordered. “I’ll be in as soon as I’m finished here.”

“What are you going to do?”

The pelting rain sluiced down his face and plastered his T-shirt against his skin until it was nearly transparent, clinging to his pecs and the layers of muscle on his abdomen. His eyelashes were spiky with moisture. “I’m just going to bring the dinghy into the boathouse. Go on in. You’re soaking wet.”

His gaze dropped to her breasts and looking down, Holly realized her wet dress clung to her skin, leaving little to the imagination. “What about your cast? Are you sure it’s okay to get it wet?”

“It’ll be fine!” he shouted as another thunder-clap sounded overhead, making her jump. “Now go inside!”

“I can wait for you in the boathouse!” Holly replied, and turned toward the small building.

But Shane captured her wrist in his hand, halting her. “Go up to the main house, Holly. This storm is only going to get worse and I really don’t want you in the boathouse. Not after what happened this morning.” Another crack of thunder split the sky and Shane turned her toward the house. “Go!”

Holly did. She ran the length of the dock, shielding her eyes against the driving rain, and taking care not to slip on the wet grass as she made her way up the sloping lawn toward the house. She’d just reached the staircase to the deck when a slick patch of ground caused her to lose her balance and stumble forward, and she landed on her knees on the sodden ground. At the same instant another crack of thunder rent the air, and the corner of the top step exploded in a burst of wooden splinters. Time itself seemed to slow down as Holly stared, stupefied, at the damaged step. Slowly, she rose to her feet, but was immediately propelled back to the ground by two hundred pounds of hard, wet male.