of breath, then her gentle exhalation. Slowly she turned to face him. The heat in the loft had flushed her cheeks bright pink, and her blue eyes shimmered. Her hand opened, and the necklace clinked to the floor. Then she slid her arms around his neck, and he leaned in and kissed her.
It was as if the world had tilted on its axis and time had slowed to a crawl, as if the laws of physics no longer applied to their tiny corner of the world. After a moment, Shannon trailed her hand from his shoulder to the top button of his shirt. He looked down, watching as she flicked it open. Then she did the same to the remaining buttons. Finally she pushed his shirt aside and ran her hands along his chest. Luke had never felt anything like it in his life. Her hands were so soft, so warm, so devoid of anything harsh or dirty or angry, and he wanted to sit there and let her touch him forever.
Then she reached for his belt.
He grabbed her hands and held them, taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart. “No,” he whispered. “You don’t really want to do this.”
“Please, Luke. Don’t tell me what I want. People have been telling me what I want since I was five years old.”
“I don’t have anything with me,” he said, breathing hard. “No condom—”
“Don’t worry,” she whispered. “I’m on the pill.”
She slid her hands around his neck and pulled him down to her again, and he melted into her kiss.
She wants you she wants you she wants you…
The words kept tumbling over each other in his mind, but he could scarcely believe them. Even when they were kissing and touching and their clothes were coming off, it felt like a dream to Luke, one where things happened in slow motion, allowing him to savor every moment. Before he knew it, she was lying back and pulling him on top of her. The instant he slid inside her, stars exploded behind his eyes. With a strangled groan, he moved harder, faster, knowing he should go slow for her, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t. He’d lost all sense of time and place, knowing only that it was Shannon he was with, Shannon who was creating all these incredible feelings. Every second delivered more ecstasy than the last, shoving him right to the brink.
Then all at once her muscles tightened around him. She gasped, her fingers digging into his shoulders. In that instant, a wild shudder of pleasure tore through him, eclipsing anything he’d ever felt before. He’d known little else but pain and heartbreak in his life, but this…this…
Ah, God…he couldn’t think. All he could do was feel. As the hard, pulsing sensations faded away, they were replaced by something he’d never expected to experience in this lifetime—the warm glow of complete serenity. Total happiness. This is it, he thought. This is what it’s supposed to feel like. And it’s all because of her.
He fell to one side, propped on his elbow, and stared down at her. If he lived to be a thousand years old, he’d never forget the way he felt at that moment, as if God had blessed him, as if he was finally being compensated for all the hell he’d suffered in his life. He wanted to say something, but his throat felt clogged, his voice useless. He touched her face, and when a tiny smile came to her lips and she covered his hand with hers, he was sure something wondrous was happening.
Love. He’d never felt it before, but after what they’d done, after what he’d felt, after seeing her beautiful blue eyes looking up at him, he was sure that was what it was.
Then all at once, he saw a faint flash of light through the window. Shannon jerked her head around. “Somebody just drove up.” She rose and looked out the window. “Oh, my God. It’s my mother!”
From one moment to the next, it was as if Luke had woken up from a beautiful dream to stark reality. Loucinda North. The very idea that she was outside this barn made Luke’s heart race with apprehension.
But he didn’t care. He refused to be afraid of her. If Loucinda found out what they’d done, he would never leave Shannon to bear the brunt of it by herself.
“Just don’t say anything,” he whispered. “She’ll go away.”
“No! She won’t go away! I’m late getting home, and she’s looking for