Captured In Ink (Art of Love Series) (23 page)

Shane lifted the fourth post and set it down on the final disk with great relief. “Well, that was a workout. I guess I can skip the gym this week without guilt.”

“Just what are you trying to do here?” Will asked, laughing. “Maybe I should have asked before you lifted all the posts.”

“Watch and learn,” Shane said, grinning. Grabbing the bottom of the giant bed, he gave a loud grunt and pulled it away from the wall with relative ease.

“Excellent,” he said in approval, smiling when he had it a good two feet away from the wall. “It’s still heavy, but I can at least slide it.”

Shane walked to a pile of bags and pulled out several six-inch pieces of thick solid foam and a roll of giant-sized double-sided tape. Will laughed as he watched his son attach the foam pads to the back of the headboard with a very determined look on his face.

“I don’t think I’m going to need to fasten it to the wall after all,” Shane said, looking at his work with pleasure. “That’s good. I really didn’t want to have to explain the fasteners to the kids.”

When he was done, Shane shoved the bed back, pushing it back into place as hard as he could. It didn’t make a sound. He pushed hard against the footboard again, and then against the posts with the same result.

Then he noticed his father standing beside the bed shaking his head and laughing.

“No way in hell you move this big bed,” Will said flatly, looking at his youngest, but he could see the genuine pleasure on Shane’s face that he’d guessed the problem.

Shane grinned. “Dad, any honest explanation I give you is only going to sound like bragging. Don’t ask me if you don’t want to know. I’ve been dying to tell someone how great Reesa is, but Michael hasn’t been real receptive to her, and Joe thinks I’ve lost my mind.”

“Son, I’m not sure you haven’t,” Will said. “But aside from questioning your sanity, this is a giant-ass, heavy-as-hell bed. It should not be hitting the wall very often—if ever.”

“All I can tell you is that it makes noise at inappropriate times,” Shane said seriously.

Will dissolved into disbelieving laughter. This was certainly a discussion he had never imagined having with one of his sons. “Hell, I can’t even talk about this without laughing. You can’t seriously expect me to believe you move this bed with that tiny woman.”

Ignoring his father’s laughing disbelief, Shane imagined how appreciative Reesa was going to be of the soundproofing. It took very little to remember their last time together. Even thinking about testing the now silent bed with her made his longing worse.

Shane pushed against the footboard hard trying to burn off some of the energy building inside him before Reesa and Sara came home. There could be no testing today, but tomorrow morning was another matter.

Will looked at Shane in amazement. The boy wasn’t even aware his face was flushed with arousal and announcing his condition to the world. His laughter echoed in the room again, and he was glad he wasn’t going to have to explain it to any female he knew.

“Just tell me—are you intending to marry the woman?” Will asked.

“Yes, I am—and I don’t care much what anyone thinks about it,” Shane said firmly, smiling at the bed. “The universe delivered Reesa as a gift to me, and I’m keeping her.”

“Well, if you’re keeping her, then it’s a damn good thing you fixed the bed. Women get nervous thinking there’s a chance of being overheard,” Will said, grinning and pushing on the bed to test it himself. Completely silent, he decided, grinning even more.

“Noise is damn distracting,” Shane said, cleaning up the rest of his supplies.

“Yes it is—most of the time,” Will said reasonably.

He looked at the bed and smiled again. Maybe he and Jessica needed a bed like this. Not that her solid brass one didn’t have its own allure. The sound of the brass knocking against the wall was kind of nice when there was no one around but the two of them to hear it. It called cadence for the love they shared.

Still—there was nothing quite like solid wood. When he brought her by to meet Reesa and the kids, he’d have her take a look. Will certainly loved the size of it and the sturdiness. It would look great in their new house. He and Jessica could have a bed like this for the rest of their lives together.

“I hear the van pulling into the driveway. We got it done just in time,” Shane said. “Thanks, Dad.”

They headed back down the hall to the living room.

Reesa came in the door carrying a load of groceries in her arms. “Hey, Will. Shane didn’t say you were coming by.”

“Minor distress call. All fixed now,” Will said, holding up his never-used drill driver and winking at her. “Where’s Sara?”

“Turns out Jillian is home for a couple days. She called and wanted to take Sara for new clothes before she heads to Maui again. She met us at the grocery store,” Reesa explained. “I’m sorry Sara missed you, Will. And you rode your bike too. If I told her, she’d be really disappointed.”

“I’ll be by again soon. I’d like to bring Jessica to meet you all. Shane, let me know if you need my help with any—adjustments. Take it for a test drive as soon as you get a chance and make sure it works,” Will said, grinning when Shane’s face turned red.

“Shane? Are you feeling okay? You have got to stop working all night and spend some serious time in bed before you collapse,” Reesa said, walking around him carrying her load to the kitchen counter.

Shane looked at her exiting back and blinked. Then he looked at his father, his gaze silently asking for help to escape his own thoughts.

Will looked away and took a deep breath, doing the only thing he could in the situation.

“Don’t turn those puppy dog eyes on me. I’m leaving you to work this out for yourself,” he said to Shane, who was still speechless.

“Bye, Reesa,” Will called loudly, heading to the door.

“Bye, Will,” she said, coming back out of the kitchen to stand by Shane.

***

“I suppose the van is full of things to carry in,” Shane said, trying to make his voice sound less dejected than he felt.

He knew he couldn’t keep dragging Reesa off to the bedroom in the middle of the day for sex when she had errands to run and work to do. In the short time they had been dating, he had learned that it took a lot to keep a household the size of hers going. The last thing he wanted was to make life more difficult for her.

“Yes, it’s pretty full, but I got the perishables in on the first trip,” she said. “Why? Do you need me for something?”

Shane thought he must be in bad a shape to be interpreting everything Reesa said as a sexual invitation. He walked to her, cupped her cheek in his hand. “Yes. I need you. More than I ever imagined needing anyone. I’m trying to learn to wait my turn for your attention.”

“Is that a request for some time right now?” she asked, smiling.

“If I said it was?” Shane whispered hoarsely.

Reesa turned lips into his palm and closed her eyes. “I would tell you Jillian and Sara won’t be home for a couple hours.”

Shane reached down and lifted her, surprising a giggle out of her when he hugged her close. Reesa hooked her legs around Shane’s waist and hugged him back.

“I fixed the bed,” Shane told her happily, his tone betraying his arrogant pleasure about it. “It needs a test drive. You interested?”

“Maybe. How did you fix the bed?” Reesa asked, laughing, but her tone was incredulous. “We never even figured out how it was making noise.”

“I’m learning to be more handy around the house,” Shane told her, making her laugh as he carried her down the hall. “The best part is that I fixed it without damaging the bed.”

He carried Reesa to the foot and climbed up the center of the bed with her hanging from his front and still laughing. Laughter ended when her back hit the bed and Shane moved against her, already rock hard.

“Shane,” she said, choking on his name as he moved against her again. “I’ve decided I’m interested.”

“Good,” he said, stopping and looking down into her face. “I may need more than ten minutes. It isn’t just sex this time.”

Reesa closed her eyes and swallowed. She was starting to admit to herself that it rarely was just sex with them. And the man
always
needed more than ten minutes.

“Want me to be on top?” Reesa asked.

“No. You’ve done enough. I want to give to you,” Shane said, pressing against the heat of her as he pulled her T-shirt up and off.

“What you’re offering is my favorite present,” Reesa said, teasing in return.

“What? This?” Shane asked, pressing down with all his weight and relishing her attempts to squirm into a better position around his erection. “You can have this anytime you want.”

Reesa breathed out slowly. If only that could be true, she thought, silently damning her complicated family situation.

“Here, hold this,” Shane said, passing her the last condom from his pocket as he pulled off his jeans and hers. They had used the other two this morning.

When they were naked at last, Shane watched Reesa tear the packet open with shaking hands. Her trembling fingers were his undoing, and Shane buried his face in her shoulder as she rolled protection onto him. Their hands always trembled when they touched each other. How could she not see the love between them?

“Reesa,” Shane said, raising his head and positioning himself to slide into her. He got distracted for a moment as he rocked gently and fit himself into her with as much care as he could in his excited condition.

“God, Reesa,” Shane said hoarsely, trying again to speak his thoughts, fighting to keep his voice steady, but it was hard when he was buried in her heat and she was arching up to take more of him. “Oh God, lady—open your eyes and look at me. I have to tell you this. I love you, Reesa Callahan. Can I keep you forever?”

“Shane,” Reesa said, her voice shaking as much as her hands. “Don’t ask me for promises right now. You know I can’t give them to you.”

“Okay,” Shane said sadly, trying not to be hurt by Reesa’s continued refusal to talk about a future. “I’m still going to tell you how I feel.”

Reesa nodded hard and closed her eyes more tightly. If Shane got tired of their current arrangement, tired of coming in fifth all the time, what was she going to do? She couldn’t even think about never making love with him again.

“Shane, I’m truly sorry I can’t be completely yours,” Reesa said, her body giving under his as he moved her entire body with virtually every push.

“That only makes me love you more,” Shane declared, his words more of a statement than a question, but they captured exactly how he felt. “Shush now—give yourself to me.”

“
Shane
,” Reesa whispered roughly, wanting desperately to do what he asked—in bed if nowhere else.

Shane kept kissing her even as she shimmered, pulsed, and relaxed around him. Reesa’s pleasure meant more to him than he was ever going to be able to convince her, no matter how many times he told her, or caused it, or found ways to express it.

“Your turn,” Reesa said, bending her knees and lifting her hips higher to let Shane slide even deeper into her depths.

Reesa heard him groan and hugged his waist with her knees to show him she was ready. She was also desperate to stop thinking about his confession of love that kept looping through her brain.

“Move the bed Shane. Let’s see if you fixed it,” she said, running her hands across his shoulders and down his impressive arms.

How had she made a life without room for someone like him in it? Yet ironically, without the life she currently had, Reesa would probably have been married to another man. She would never have known Shane.

The thought was too bleak to hold in her mind for long, so Reesa rolled her hips in rhythm with Shane’s movements and tried to not to think about anything but the two of them. She wasn’t surprised to find herself quickly heading for another cresting wave. It was the way Shane fit inside her, the way he moved with such deliberation.

Shane’s heartbeat was thunder in his ears and from far away he heard a man groaning as if in pain. He vaguely recognized it was him. He rose on his knees and stroked the outside of Reesa thighs which bracketed him.

Not wanting to end it so soon, he pulled out almost completely before thrusting hard back in again, banging her head against the headboard accidentally in his excitement. Instead of complaining, Reesa only laughed and tightened her knees on his waist to keep him inside. Shane tumbled harder in love with a woman who was his perfect match in every way. Whatever secret it took to keep Reesa in his life, he was damn well going to find it.

And he was going to make himself indispensable to her, in bed if nowhere else.

“Sorry about that. We need three of those giant square pillows,” he said, the words rough against her disbelieving laughter. “What are they? Oh yeah—Euro pillows. That’s what we need.”

“
Euro pillows?
What are you talking about? We don’t need pillows. We need precision here. You’re supposed to be moving the bed—not me,” Reesa laughingly protested, feeling herself growing more and more interested as he stroked slowly.

Maybe she shouldn’t be rushing him. She shifted and gave Shane some resistance, reaching one hand behind her and putting it next to his on the headboard. She could almost feel the macho in Shane falling into place, and her heart beat hard in her chest when Shane began to press harder into her with every thrust after that. He thrilled her completely.