two people in the world. Nothing about the notion scared her. Shea was falling into something that felt a whole lot like love. Even if it wasn’t, being with a man who made her feel this way was good for her. And this last new development had given her some sort of permission she hadn’t known she was waiting for. It felt as if Keenan was finally out of the picture.
It felt surreal and liberating to say, “Stay here tonight.”
She didn’t bother to follow her bold statement with any of at least five logical rationales: the storm was too bad to drive in; better to wait it out at her place; no need to take a risk and drive home. She also didn’t bother with the pretense of offering to put him up in the guest room. And she didn’t follow it with some quip to lighten it up.
“Are you asking as a kindly neighbor, or are you asking as a woman?”
She felt his heartbeat race at the same time as she was pinned by the intensity in his eyes. Something even changed in his breath. This was more to him than comfort and attraction. There was something as intense in this for him as there was for her.
“Technically, both…” She tipped her chin upward, wanting him to see it in her face. “Mostly, I’m asking as a woman.”
Thunder, which had been absent for the majority of the storm, cracked on the ends of her words. When answering lightning burst, the furious gales could be seen in the tops of the trees. The rain continued to pelt on the deck, beating percussion that she would not soon forget. Nor did she think she would ever forget the hitch of his breath a second before he leaned in.
What happened next was so surreal that Shea might never know whether it came from the sheer thrill of breaking her twelve-year streak of sleeping only with Keenan, the fact that her partner was Dev, or some strange magic that came from the storm. The sublime anticipation of having Dev that night promised to be otherworldly. Later, Shea would reflect that there was no name to describe the perfection of what they had done.
Dev pulled her into his lap in a single smooth motion and she twisted her body to face his. He wasted no time threading his fingers in the back of her hair and craning his neck to rise in a hungry devouring of her lips. This kiss was different. They’d kissed before and each previous kiss had been amazing. This kiss felt as if it spoke: his body speaking to hers and hers to his, giving voice to their current of electricity.
As the kiss brought them impossibly closer, soft and delicious but urgent in its desire, she got lost in other little things—the way his thumb stroked the side of her neck, the sounds of his sighs as he breathed, and the fresh aroma of his beard. Kissing him then gave new meaning to the concept of taking time. Slow lovemaking, indeed. He was insistently hard beneath her, but nothing distracted him from getting his fill of her lips.
“You got any religion about doing this in a bed?
Dev asked her the question in between sensuous bites to her neck that had her nearly delirious with bliss. She was ridiculously wet for someone who had barely been touched and was still fully clothed.
“Beds are for amateurs,” She managed a second before the hand she had cupped on the back of his neck dropped to his shoulder to grab a fistful of his shirt. She couldn’t help it—his tongue had just done the most delectable thing to her ear.
It was a good thing she was holding on, one arm around his shoulder and the other around his waist from sitting side saddle in his lap. In an effortless motion, he stood, picking them both up and holding her bridal style as he walked her forward. As promised, he did not take her to the bed.
Once upon a time, Shea had made fun in her mind of Kendrick’s overabundance of rooms. Who needed a game room and a mini art gallery on the top floor? But she and Dev made full use of all but the bedrooms that night. Relieving her of her sweater and bra when he had her sat atop the poker table, he fondled her breasts and licked her nipples as she arched back. And he wasn’t even greedy about it.