Love's Taming (The Love's Series) (13 page)

After helping her
up the stairs to her apartment, he looked around carefully to see what work had been done.

“Shane, what is this?” Annie was looking at a box next to her front door.

“Security system, baby.”

“Since when do I have a security system?”

“Since this shit-storm hit you and your clinic. Now, I’m workin’ to keep that from blowin’ back on you again.”

Her eyes cut over to a similar box on the wall next to the kitchen…
door?
“What happened to my kitchen door?”

“Baby. The one you had was old, coulda been kicked in easily, and was half glass. Seriously? A shit door, baby.”

“But, it had a window. I could look out.”

“Baby, what the fuck? Yeah, you could look out, but then anyone could look in.” Shane saw the irritated look on her face and rubbed his hand through his hair. Not used to explaining himself to anyone, he realized that he needed to get her on board with the new security changes.

Walking over to where she stood, he held her in his arms, feeling the tension radiating from her. Sighing, he began again. “Annie baby. The door you had was an old wooden door with a full window at the top. Yes, it let in some light, but it also offered no privacy or protection. This is a steel door, with a peep-hole at the exact height that you are so that you can easily see who is on the other side. It even has one-eighty degree viewing so that you can see if there is someone on the steps.”

Turning his body to face the front door, with her still tucked in his embrace, he continued. “You got a security system on both doors. You arm them when you leave, even if you are goin’ down to the clinic, and then you arm them again when you come back in.”

Annie shifted in his embrace, wincing slightly, a movement that did not go unnoticed by him. Looking up, she said, “I appreciate all that you have done. Really. But, I can’t afford this. The clinic is doing well, but once all the clinic expenses are paid and my student loan payment is sent off, there isn’t a lot left over right now.”

Looking down, he felt lost in her green eyes. Cooper hair fell in waves framing her face. Shiny. Clean. Sunshine. “What I said in the hospital is true, Annie. What happened with us was real. We’re gonna ride that as far as we can and see where it takes us. Things go the way I think they will, you and I will be movin’ out and you’ll get that clinic in the country, and we’ll leave this shit behind. Something happens and we decide we’re not an
us
, then you still got a security system that’ll give me peace of mind. One way or the other, I want you safe.”

Confusion wrinkled her brow as she murmured in his chest. “You think we’re an
us
?”

She felt his chuckle rumble against her cheek.

“Hell yeah, baby. I know we’re an
us.
Told you, I never played you. We were an
us
from the moment you let me in to take care of Sarge. We continued to be an
us
when we first kissed. And we were solidly an
us
when my dick was inside of you.”

Gasping, she looked back up into his face ready to give a pissed off retort then she looked into his eyes. Blue eyes that no longer hid his thoughts. Blue eyes that she could now read. Blue eyes that were twinkling.
I didn’t know they could twinkle.
Deciding that she liked that look, she gave in.

“Okay, the security system stays.”

“Thank fuck,” he replied, “cause I sure as hell wasn’t callin’ my friends back in to remove it.” He moved her over to the sofa where he sat and gently settled her down on his lap, carefully avoiding her injured side.

“Friends?” she asked.

“Yeah, baby. I got friends. I’m enjoyin’ spending some time with them since I’ve been under and off the radar for two years. Got some friends workin’ in security systems and they jumped at the chance to help me make you safe.”

“Why would they do that?” she wondered out loud. “They don’t know me.”

“No, but they know me. Know I haven’t had a woman I cared about in years. Know I’ve been drownin’ in shit for two years and am just now comin’ up for air. Know I’ve got a woman that needs protection and one call was all it took. They were over here yesterday makin’ sure my woman was safe.”

“You keep saying
your woman
. I’ve never said I was your woman. In fact, I don’t recall you asking.”

“I told you, baby. You became my woman, the first time my dick was in you.”

She looked up and pierced him with a glare. “So you’re saying that any woman you have slept with has been ‘your woman’?”

His expressive eyes changed from amused to something else she couldn’t read, but was very visible nonetheless.

“Baby, part of us seein’ where this goes is hammering out things from the past. But that is not a conversation we want to be havin’ right now.” Seeing her eyes narrow he continued,

“At some point, we’ll share about our pasts. Gonna let you know right now, mine is not pretty, but you already know a lot of that. I’m no saint when it comes to past women, but again, that is not a conversation we want to have now. But you were different from the moment I laid eyes on you. Never felt that before. Never cared about watching a woman come before. So yeah, since our first time, you’ve been my woman.” He paused, spearing her with his sharp gaze. “Now can you honestly say you don’t want that?”

Sighing loudly, she agreed. “You’re right. I’m too tired to have a conversation that will undoubtedly piss me off. She lowered her head, studying her shoes for a moment.

“What’s goin’ on in that pretty head of yours, baby?” he asked gently.

She lifted her eyes back to his, feeling as though she could really see him now that she had expressive blue eyes to peer into. “Shane, I’ve never done any of this. I barely date much less have the craziness that we have had. Leon told me that I should be more spontaneous and have some fun. Look where that got me? Questioned by the police, men breaking into my clinic trying to kill me, me needing a security system…” Shaking her head again, she sighed. “It just seems so backwards. We should have met. Been honest. Got to know each other. Then and only then, if we were sure there was a connection, have sex.”

“In a perfect world, baby, that’s exactly what I would have wanted to do with you.” He leaned closer until they were almost touching, keeping his eyes on her the whole time.

“Shane, how do I know that I’m not just the first girl that gave in to you that wasn’t in that other world? I mean, this could all seem bigger to you because you’re not undercover anymore.”

He could see self-doubt cloud her expression as he lifted his hands to cup her face. “Annie, I haven’t been undercover my whole life. Hell yeah, the last two years sucked. But before that, I dated, and never met anyone that made me want to know them the way that I want to know you. I can’t give you promises right now, but I can honestly say I want to explore what we have.”

Peering up into his eyes, she nodded and whispered, “I’d like to see where this goes too. But I want to back up, Shane. I need us to do this slower.”

Smiling, he pulled her in for a kiss. One that started out slow. Gentle. Then with a touch of her tongue, went wild. Untamed. Wet. Unrestrained. Just like him.

T
hat evening, Shane
ordered Chinese and he and Annie sat at her little table eating. He noticed that she was quiet. Almost uncomfortable.

“What’s up baby?”

A guilty look crossed her face as she raised her eyes to his. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“Don’t want you to be sorry, Annie. I just wanna know what is goin’ through that beautiful head of yours.”

“Shane, I don’t know anything about you. I was just thinking that I’m sitting here with someone that I know intimately, but don’t know at all.” Shrugging, she added, “It just seems weird that’s all.”

Finishing his food, he stood and took their plates to the sink and rinsed them out. Returning to the table, he took her hand and assisted her to her feet before leading her over to the old sofa. Sitting down he pulled her down into his lap. “So let’s talk, baby. What do you want to know?”

Smiling, she said, “Now I can’t think of anything with you staring at me like that.”

“Okay, how about I just start out telling you what I think you might want to know.”

Giving him a curious look, she agreed.

Shane settled one hand on her hips while the other rubbed lazy circles on her back, willing her to relax.

“Okay, baby, here it is. My full name is Shane Patrick Douglas. I grew up outside of Richland in a suburb and my mom still lives there. I’ve got a younger brother, Rick, in college. He’s thinkin’ about going to the police academy but mom’s hoping he decides to go into something safer. I’ve got one sister. Megan. She’s the middle one. Married to a good guy and they’ve got a couple of kids. They live near mom so I know they’re close if she needs anything.”

He paused, watching her carefully. Her brow crinkled as she pondered what he had just said.

“You didn’t mention your dad,” she said.

Shane inhaled deeply and let his breath out slowly. “Yeah. My dad. He was a policeman and was killed about seven years ago while on duty.” He heard the gasp from Annie’s lips as he continued. “Drug bust gone bad.”

The silence loomed between them, each lost to their own thoughts.

“Is that why you do it? Why you go after them so hard?” she asked softly.

He looked beyond her for a moment, then pulled his gaze back to hers. “Baby, I can’t tell you exactly why I went into police work. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Dad saw me graduate from the academy and hoped I would come work with him on the force.”

Annie looked at him sharply. “You don’t blame yourself, do you? For what happened to your dad?”

“Maybe if I had been there with him instead of here, things would have been different.”

“Shane, you can’t possibly believe that. Who knows what would have happened, but you can’t blame yourself,” she said adamantly.

He gave her hips a squeeze while shaking his head. “Don’t know, baby. But I know I can’t go back and change anything, so I just decided to do whatever it took to bring those fuckers down.”

“What does your family think?”

His hand continued to move up and down her back as he continued. “Rick? He gets it. Understands it. Hell, he may even be after it himself. Megan and mom? They wish I’d do something else. Mom knows I gotta do what I gotta do, but I know she’s afraid of the phone call in the night, just like with dad. But she gets it.”

They sat quietly for a few moments, each to their own thoughts. His hands drifted upward until they cupped her face, holding her gently. His pale blue eyes captured her green ones before he pulled her forward. His lips met hers in a kiss that held promise, then quickly became wild and untamed again. Just like before, sparks ignited. He pulled back, waiting to see what her reaction was going to be. He didn’t have to wait long.

Annie grabbed his face in her hands, pulled him forward and latched her lips onto his. Tired of waiting. Tired of analyzing. Tired of sitting on the sidelines. Tired of overthinking everything. In that moment, she decided that the sparks she felt every time she was with him were worth jumping into the unknown. He seemed unsafe, but when she was with him, she never felt safer. Slanting her head to give him better access to her mouth, she kissed him with all that she had.

Feeling her moan in his mouth he immediately stood, lifting her in his arms with his hands on her ass. Striding to the bedroom, his mouth never left hers. He slowly lowered her, holding her steady until she was standing. Feeling her breasts pressed into his chest, he slid his hands up under her shirt moving it upward until he peeled it off of her. His hand quickly divested her of her bra and it landed in the floor next to the shirt.

While she was being undressed, her hands were pulling his t-shirt off of him as well. She began to unbutton his jeans when his hands came to hers and covered them.

“Hold on, Sunshine. We keep goin’ this fast and it’ll be over before I’m ready.” Looking deeply into her eyes, he continued, “You asked me earlier about bein’ my woman. We do what we’re gettin’ ready to do and this time will be different. This time, make no mistake, I will be makin’ you my woman. Just want to check, Annie girl, you with me on this?”

She peered into his pale blue eyes…eyes that no longer seemed hidden, unexpressive. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw into the depths. He was looking at her with compassion. She could actually see the care in his eyes. Warm. Glowing. Just for her.

Nodding slowly, she replied, “Yeah, I’m with you.”

Closing his eyes he lowered his head, touching his forehead to hers. “My sunshine,” he whispered. “Only light in my darkness.”

Before she had a chance to speak he took her mouth again, this time possessively. His lips latched onto hers, kissing her with a force that threatened to overtake both of them. Plunging his tongue deeply, he explored every crevice. Sucking on her tongue, nipping her lips. She wasn’t aware he laid her back on the bed until he stopped kissing long enough to slide her pants and panties off of her legs, tossing them into the ever growing pile of clothes on the floor.

While standing, he quickly divested himself of his jeans and boxers after pulling a condom out of his pocket. Sliding it over his impressive cock, he joined her back on the bed, covering her body with his own.

He looked down at the woman beneath him, knowing she was different. Knowing she was the one he wanted. Knowing she was the one who saved him. And yet frightened. This one tiny beauty held so much power over him.
What if she’s repulsed once she knows what I have had to do for the past two years? What if she decides that I’m too much of a wild card? What if…

He felt hands gripping his face as his eyes moved back to hers.

“Hey, where’d you go?” she asked. “You were laying with me but your mind was somewhere else.”

Smiling down into her perfect face, “Sorry Sunshine. I was chasing shadows, I guess. But I promise, right now with your body underneath mine, there is nowhere I’d rather be.”