Saving Grace (37 page)

He let his guitar swing behind him and cupped my face with his hand.
"I love
yo
u,
Grace Taylor." It barely came out above a whisper from his lips but it echoed through the microphone. And then he kissed me. In front of everyone,
he kissed me
. A slow, deep kiss that sent heat from my lips to every other surface of my skin
, and completely and utterly set me on fire
.

The crowd roared to life, erupting into an explosion of screams. Ethan's voice boomed into the microphone, "
Go
d,
Grace, were you the only one who
didn't
know?"

Shane laughed at Ethan, still cupping my face. I was paralyzed; frozen with the fear of Gabriel hurting this man, this man that I love and who just told everyone else he felt the same way for me.

I tore the microphone off my body and tried to smile at him, but I could tell he sensed my panic. "I, um, need a drink
." I placed the palm of my ha
nd on his cheek and one tear fel
l from my eye. "Shane Maxton, I love you more than I ever loved another human being." I leapt off the edge of the stage and walked to the bar where Ryan had a bottle waiting for me. The crowd screamed and hooted, but when I finished my first
shot,
the silence was deafening.

"I'm not
don
e,
Grace," Shane's voice boomed through the speaker's. "Look at me
. Really
look at me
,
Grace."

I turned my body to face the stage with
my next shot in my hand.
Lea and Conner were beside me instantly.

Shane's eyes caught and held mine
, "I've waited
for
what feels like two thousand years to tell you how much I love you and to touch your lips again."

The ground seemed to rock beneath my feet and Lea grabbed me to keep me steady. "Listen to
hi
m,
Gray, listen to him," she whispered as tears streamed down her face.

Shane shifted his guitar in front of his body and a hauntingly ancient ballad unfolded from its strings.
Its soft melody
tightened my windpipe and I was gasping for air.
Shane's expression was so breathtakingly beautiful, tears spilled instantly from my eyes.

Then
he sang. Where the notes and melody fell like feathers along my skin, his words tore at the core of my soul and set my world on fire.

I didn't know I was lost

U
ntil you found me

I never knew what love was

Un
til you touched my hand

I lost myself long ago

In between your lips

And now here you are

You
steal my breath
away

Until y
ou I never
really knew heaven

Cause until you it was only ever hell

I didn't know I was so far gone

Until you brought me home

I promise you, girl

I know you're shattered

I'll pick up your pieces

And make you whole again

Cause until you girl

I've been shattered too

Since my very first kiss

It's only been you

When the song ended and the last note of his beautiful voice echoed in my heart, he jumped off the stage and ran to me.

My body
violently
shook with tremors and I sobbed.
Please don't be Gabriel, Shane. Please don't be Gabriel, Shane
.

Shane grabbed my face in his hands crushing me against the bar. Both his hands cupped my face, his thumbs wiping away my tears softly.
He pressed his lips
gen
tly over mine.

"Please don't be Gabriel, Shane."
I squeezed my eyes tight and held onto his arms like they were
the
only things holding me on this earth.

"No,
n
o,
baby.
Grace, it's me," he murmured. Tears fell from his eyes. "A feather, Selah. I gave you a feather. That was my gift to you
. You asked me when I took you from Gabriel
. A feather from an angel's wing."

Whimpering, I threw my arms around his neck and slammed his lips against mine, tasting the salt of our tears.
"I love you. I love you. I love you," I sobbed into his mouth.

Lacing his strong fingers through the strands of my
hair,
he pull
ed
back my face from his and
fixed his eyes on mine. The corners of his lips twisted up and that famous sexy smile of his sent pools of heat right to my center. "Say that
agai
n,
Grace," he begged
,
nipping my lips.

"I love you, Shane Maxton. Now take me home so I can properly s
h
o
w
you how damn much."

The audience chanted for us to kiss again. And we did. Kissing a
nd
walking all the way out the front door.

I don't remember the walk back to the apartment. Shane could have sprouted wings and flew me home for all I knew. I do know Lea and Conner were there, because I remember Lea crying big happy tears next to me, maybe he flew us all home. Like I said, no clue. But who cares really
? The only
important thing,
the only clear thing
, was that I stood in front of Shane in my bedroom. We stared at each other, long seconds of anticipation, of pure raw heat for one another
, of pure true untouched love
that
coiled
tightly
in the air between us. It hummed and danced between us like it was alive
,
fiercely
alive
.

The small lamp on my night
stand cast a warm glow acr
oss the room and I noticed then that
he
had taken
one-step
closer to me
, slowly closing the distance
. I wanted to know everything that happened, how, when why? His chest wa
s rising
and falling
faster, he raked one hand through his gorgeous hair,
and all my questions flew
out the window
.
I
was
completely and forever
his
and
it
was
so real and thick that it completely
suc
ked
all the air out of my lungs.
It
was
so electric and dense
that everything
fe
lt
pure and alive. Me. Him. Air.
The bed. Everything.
Every single cell that was ever created
buzzing between us, sucking us in.

Shane
's
hands touch
ed
my face, touching me like he
d
id
n't
believe I was
real
. And I
d
id
n't
feel real, I felt
like a character in some divine ethereal fairytale and
t
here's my prince, my soul mate to save me;
n
o,
we save each other.

"Shane," I sighed.

"
Grace," he groan
ed
into my mouth as he slowly swe
pt
his warm
lips over mine. "
Yo
u,
Grace, you're my heaven
." There wa
s
such a husky tone in his voice
that
I tremble
d
.

I grasped at his waist, bunching the material of his
shirt in my hands and squeezed
tight. I nip
ped
at his lips and open
ed my mouth
over his. The growl that rumbled from the back of his throat made my body flame with heat. I slid my hands under his shirt and up his smooth hard chest.

"
Gray, I promise I'll be as gentle I can," he whispered skimming his lips along my jaw to my ear. His hands, his body shuddered against mine.

Pulling my lips from his, I yanked his shirt
off, threw it on the floor,
and looked deep into his eyes. "Please don't. Don't hold back, Shane. I've waited to
o
damn
long;
I need every ounce of you right now."

My body slammed against the door. "Thank God, because I have no fucking desire whatsoever to hold back on you," he breathed heavily. And his
tongue slipped
deep between m
y lips and he completely devoured
me
.

Shane lifted my arms and pulled my shirt off
, letting it fall
,
and crashed his lips back against mine pressing my back hard against the cool wood of the door.
He ran his fingertips along my skin until he reached the
lace
cups of my bra and
wrenched
them down.

He spun
me
around
,
pressing the front of my body against the
door and unhooked my bra, tearing
it from my
arms
. Slowly his traced his hands over the skin of my shoulders and crushed his body against mine, burying his face in
my hair.
Wrapping the long dark strands of my hair around his
hand,
he tugged my hair to one side and delicately smoothed his tongue and lips along my tingling flesh.

I whimpered when his warm wet lips kissed my neck and his hardness pressed into my bottom. Grinding my ass back at him he moaned and
turned me
back to face him.

Sliding his hands to cup my breasts, he sucked his breath in, b
rought his head down and took one
nipple into his mouth. Holy crap!
My knees, there are butterflies in my knees!
I
let my head fall
back
hard
against the door and moaned.
With each tug and lick with his
mouth,
I arched my body into
his and he held m
e down, restraining me with
his
tight hard muscles
. "You
r
skin's like sugar," he whispered.

I ripped at the button of my jeans and pulled down the zipper, I needed more. I tore his button out next and his pants dropped heavily to my feet. Mine hadn't drop so easily, so he skimmed his hands against the material and
guided it all the way down my legs trailing kisses down as his head lowered with them.
"So
beautifu
l,
Grace."

I could hear myself breathing heavily as
I leaned hard against the door, his lips kissing, his tongue licking small circles along my inner thighs.
OhmyGodohmyGod
. This was, it was...OH MY GOD!

Shane lifted the back of my right knee and slowly r
an
his mouth over my skin
and
raised it over his
shoulder. I tangled my hands
through his hair as he ran his fingers und
er the front lace of my panties and brushed over me slowly. "
You feel like heaven," he said. "God,
Grac
e,
I want to slide my tongue over every inch of your skin. I can't help myself when I'm this fucking close to you."

He lifted his head and our eyes locked.
Biting
down on his
li
p,
he
stared at me through those long dark lashes as he slipped his fingers inside me. "So wet," he murmured.
Oh God.
I should have done this with him the first damn night I saw him
.

He tore the lace right from my body and his mouth was on me. "Oh," I gasped as I rocked against him.
His fingers pumped slowly in and out of me as his tongue licked in circles.
His skillful hands along and deep beneath my skin were absolutely exquisite.