Vulnerable: (McIntyre Security Bodyguard Series - Book 1) (11 page)

“I need to go home!”

Shane studied her for a moment, his expression mostly one of concern, but she thought she also detected a hint of disappointment.

His hands slipped down her arms to clasp her hands. “I’ll take you home. No problem.” He squeezed her hands gently. “But can we talk for a few minutes first?”

She nodded, feeling all kinds of guilty for bailing on him. He’d done nothing wrong. In fact, he’d been an absolute gentleman all evening. He wasn’t to blame for her emotional damage.

“Can we talk out here?” he said, and he led her out of the elevator into the private foyer. “What happened?” he said. “I recognize a panic attack when I see one. That’s fine, honey – I just need to understand what caused it. Was it something I did?”

She’d expected him to be angry, but he wasn’t. Now that she was out of the elevator, her alarm bells began to quiet. The foyer was quiet and spacious, well lit by an elaborate crystal chandelier hanging high overhead. She could finally breathe again.

“It’s not anything you did,” she said. “I just... changed my mind.” She was embarrassed now, and she looked down at the polished hardwood floor, wishing a hole would open up and swallow her.

“You changed your mind about coming over tonight? Or about seeing me?”

She glanced back up at him, surprised by his question. He hadn’t done anything wrong. “About coming over tonight. It’s not you.”

Shane smiled. “Thank God.” When she tried to look away again, he tipped her face back up to his. “It’s okay, Beth. You’re allowed to change your mind. But can you tell me why?”

She shook her head. “I’m not ready for this. I do want this ... you ... but I’m not ready.”

He nodded. “All right, we’ll slow it down. I’ll take you home. Come here, sweetheart. It’s okay.”

Shane pulled her into his arms, and she laid her cheek against his shirt, the top of her head hitting just underneath his chin. The rhythm of his chest rising and falling with each breath was comforting. Her arms slipped around his waist, and they simply stood there holding each other. Her pulse gradually slowed as the anxiety faded.

“Lights twenty-five percent,” Shane said, and the lighting in the foyer dimmed to a faint glow.

Beth tensed instantly.

Shane looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

God, he would think she was a complete idiot if she told him she was afraid of the dark. What 24-year-old was afraid of the dark? “It’s dark.”

Shane’s arms tightened around her. “Lights fifty percent.”

The lighting level increased, and Beth relaxed as she looked up at the multi-tiered chandelier above their heads. The dangling crystals twinkled, casting flickering prisms of light on the foyer walls.

“Better?” he said, rubbing her back.

“Yes.”

Shane’s hands came up to her face, his thumbs brushing her cheeks. “Beth, don’t be afraid to tell me what you need. Whatever it is, I want you to tell me.”

“I’m sorry for messing up our evening,” she said. She chuckled, trying to make light of the situation. “Why do you even bother with me?”

“Because you have me under your spell, and I’ll do anything to get you to kiss me.”

She laughed then, relieved that he wasn’t planning to ditch her at the first opportunity.

“I hope someday you’ll tell me why you have such anxiety and let me help you deal with it.”

“You could Google it,” she said, a little too flippantly. Now he was pushing, getting a little too close for comfort. Just the thought of telling someone about what happened made her a little crazy. “It was all over the news.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to Google it, Beth. I want you to trust me enough to tell me yourself.”

She pressed her face against his chest, and then his lips were in her hair. “I promised I’d take you home, and I will,” he murmured. “But before we go, can I kiss you? I’d really like to kiss you. I’ve wanted to since I first saw you.”

“You already kissed me,” she reminded him. “Remember? When we first got into the car?” She certainly remembered.

He chuckled. “I mean a real kiss.”

The thought of his lips on hers – in a real kiss – brought back the butterflies with a vengeance. They were rioting now, and she felt anxious and queasy, but in a good way this time. It had been a long time since she’d been on a date, and an even longer time since she’d been kissed – really kissed.

“If you don’t want to, that’s – ”

“No, I do,” she said, her hands grasping his waist and holding onto him. The heat from his body warmed her, and she melted into him. He smelled so good, a tantalizing mixture of his warm male skin, soap, and a hint of cologne. She wanted to wrap herself up him.

She gasped when his lips touched hers, warm and gentle. She sucked in a shaky breath and shivered. His touch was electrifying, setting off an aching hunger deep in her bones. He slowly increased the pressure of his mouth on hers, and his lips coaxed hers open.

The kiss started off slow and languorous, and he lulled her into a sweet, sensuous haze. She was hypnotized by him, forgetting everything except for the exquisite pressure of his lips on hers. His lips, firm and soft at the same time, nudged hers apart. When she opened her mouth to him, his tongue slid in and found hers, teasing it with light strokes. This was certainly not her first kiss, but it was definitely the best. She swayed, and his arms tightened around her to provide support. She made a soft, inarticulate sound of need, and he groaned in response, increasing the pressure of his mouth on hers.

“My God, you are so sweet,” he murmured against her mouth. His hands came up to cradle her face, and their breaths mingled as his mouth continued its gentle assault on hers.

Shane’s mouth dipped lower and he planted kisses along the graceful line of her jaw, then down to her throat where he felt the wild fluttering of her pulse beneath his lips. “Shh, it’s okay,” he breathed against her pulse point, alternating kissing and suckling gently.

His mouth returned to hers with a hunger that seemed just a bit out of control. She knew she should stop him, but when he started sucking at her mouth, taking small, painless bites of her lower lip, she felt her own body go up in flames. His lips coaxed hers open wide, and his tongue swept inside, stroking hers, making sweet love to her mouth.

Liquid heat pooled low in her belly, and her muscles started quivering. Her legs felt like jelly, and she didn’t think she could stay upright much longer. She was shocked by how much she wanted him. Really wanted him, then and there, more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.

Beth gasped when she felt his broad palm settle over her left breast. His hand burned through her dress and bra as he cupped her flesh and molded it to his hand.

“Your heart is racing,” Shane said. “I hope in a good way.”

“Mmm.” She laid her hand over his and pressed it hard against her flesh. She wished she could feel his hand on her bare skin right now, feel his heat, the roughness of his palm. Her nipple puckered beneath his touch, and he brushed the taut little peak through her clothing with the edge of this thumb. Even through her clothes, his touch was electrifying.

She whimpered into his mouth.

“Jesus, Beth,” he groaned, pulling her tight against him.

She felt his erection prodding her belly, hard and insistent. Wetness flooded her sex, and she felt hot and achy. Suddenly his fingers were there, pressing right through the fabric of her dress against the needy place between her legs. She cried out at his touch, her body shuddering as his fingers closed in on the apex of her sex.

Before she even realized they’d moved, she felt the wall at her back. Shane’s hands cradled her face, holding her head still as his mouth ate at hers. She gasped and slipped her arms around his waist and she held on for dear life as he kissed her like she’d only ever dreamed of being kissed. She heard desperate noises coming out of her, sounds she’d never heard herself make before.

Her body went up in flames when his hand cupped her breast again, molding it to fit his palm. He pinched her nipple lightly and she felt it all the way down in her core. When his hand returned to the junction between her legs, she pressed herself against it shamelessly, rocking herself against the pressure in an attempt to assuage the terrible ache he’d created.

He pulled up her dress and slipped his hand inside her panties, his finger slipping between the plump folds of her sex. He groaned loudly when he encountered her slick, wet heat.

“God, baby,” he groaned, his finger slipping inside her tight, wet channel. “Let me make you come,” he said, looking at her with a fiercely burning gaze. “Let me. Say yes.”

Feeling a bit desperate herself, she nodded, torn between an insane arousal and utter mortification that she was letting him touch her like this.

“Say it!” he demanded in a hoarse voice. “Say yes!”

“Yes!”

Chapter 10

“Hold up your dress,” he said, his voice rough and urgent.

Partly in shock, she obeyed, her legs shaking so badly she didn’t know if she could stay on her feet.

Shane’s finger traced the seam of her folds, and then he slipped his finger between her swollen lips and collected some of her wetness and brought it to her clitoris, spreading it on the tiny nub of flesh. He pressed the slick pad of his finger firmly on her clit and began a concerted effort to drive her out of her mind.

She shuddered as Shane alternated the pressure against her clitoris, teasing her as he stroked her with firm, relentless movements. The onslaught of sensation drove her higher and higher. The pleasure centered on her clitoris was nearly unbearable, and she could barely breathe. Her whole world narrowed down to that one little spot. She stood on wobbly legs, one hand holding up her dress while the other clutched at his waist for support. His hot mouth covered hers and he drank in her cries.

Shane released Beth’s mouth and sucked in deep breath. He gazed into her flushed face. Her pupils were dilated, and her cheeks were suffused with pink. Her nostrils flared with excitement as he continued his gentle assault on her clitoris. He was desperate to make her come. Her tantalizing scent was in his nose, and all he could think about was pleasuring her. If he had to send her home, he wanted to give her something to remember him by.

When he felt her muscles tense and her legs tremble, he knew she was close. She let go of her dress, and both of her hands clutched at the front of his shirt for dear life, and when her body swayed, he wrapped one arm around her and pulled her against him.

Her entire body tensed and she pressed her face against his chest. He heard a soft, high-pitched keening sound muffled against his shirt. As she flew apart in his arms, he felt dangerously close to losing control then and there.

“That’s right, baby,” he murmured, his lips in her hair. “Let it happen.”

Beth’s entire focus had narrowed down to that one spot at the apex of her thighs. As she spiraled higher and higher, her breath came faster, and she gripped his shirt tighter, pressing her face into his firm, muscled chest. Her climax hit her like a freight train and she flew apart into a million pieces. As she sagged against him, he held her close with one arm as he gently massaged her through her climax with his free hand.

Shane had barely done more than touch her, and it was the most thrilling sexual experience she’d ever had. She knew how to take care of herself, but she’d never experienced an orgasm with someone else before.

She lifted her hot face from his shirt and looked up, ready to take the biggest risk she’d ever taken. “I want you.”

Shane kissed her tenderly, his lips clinging to hers. He pulled back to look at her, and his gaze locked onto her bottom lip, which was slightly swollen from his kisses. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d wanted a woman this badly, when he couldn’t have her.

His expression was rueful as he shook his head. “I touched you because I had to, not because I wanted to seduce you. I told you I’d take you home, Beth, and I’m going to keep my promise.”

She took a shaky breath in an attempt to shore up her courage. “But I want this.”

“So do I, honey. Believe me, so do I. But we’re going to wait until you’re ready.
Really
ready. I don’t want to mess this up.”

She was torn. Part of her wanted to take the “out” he’d given her, but part of her wanted him now. He kissed her once more, so sweetly she felt like crying. By the time she realized what he was doing, he’d straightened her dress and was leading her back into the elevator, while she walked in a climax-induced fog.

She was still in a daze as the elevator began its descent. Shane smiled at her as he slipped his finger into his mouth to suck it clean. “That was incredible,” he said.

Her face burned with mortification when she detected the faint scent of her arousal in the air and realized he was sucking her juices from his finger.
Oh, my God.

“There’s no reason to be embarrassed,” Shane said, watching the pink suffuse her cheeks. “If you still feel the same way the next time, we’ll try again.” He reached out to cradle her face in both hands. “Will you have dinner with me tomorrow night, here at my place?”

Her beatific smile made him catch his breath.

“I would love that,” she said.

“It’s a date. I’ll pick you up at six. If you like, we can come back here to my place and have a quiet dinner. Then we can talk and work on that ‘getting to know you’ stuff.”

“You cook?” she said, surprised.

He grinned. “No, I dial. I have plenty of friends and clients in the restaurant business. We can order in anything you like. What will it be? Italian? Chinese? French? Thai?”

“I like it all, but Italian sounds good.”

“Italian it is,” he said. “I’ll call my friend Peter Capelli and ask him to send something over.”

“Peter Capelli? Isn’t he the owner of Renaldo’s? My roommate works there.”

“He is, and he owes me some favors, so I’m going to call one in.”

When the elevator came to a smooth stop, they stepped out into the garage.