Page 63 of Exposed Ink

“You feel that?” he murmurs, locking eyes with me.

“What?” I breathe out, half dazed from the way his cock is filling me.

“This.” He presses his hand to my chest, right above my heart. “Your heart is beating wildly.” He pushes up from the bottom, and his cock hits a spot deep within me, making me moan. “Your body is on fire.” He slides one hand around and reaches between us, his thumb grazing my clit and making me squirm in want.

“You’re alive,” he says, rubbing my sensitive nub in a way that has my insides clenching. “And every fucking day, I’m going to remind you of that.”

“Shane,” I choke out, fresh tears welling up in my eyes.

“You’re alive,” he repeats, continuing to circle my clit with the pad of his thumb. “Now, the question is, are you ready to start living?”

When I don’t answer him right away, he brings me to the brink of my orgasm, only to take it away, making me cry out in frustration.

“You want to come?” he says, leaning in and nipping at my bottom lip. “Then, answer me.”

He adds a bit of pressure to my clit, enough for me to feel the stirrings of my orgasm. He does it again and again, bringing me to the edge and then pulling me back.

“Shane, please,” I beg, knowing what he wants, but unsure if I can give it to him. “You said you’d help me forget.”

“But that’s not what you really need,” he says as he continues to wind me up so tightly that it feels like I’m going to implode if I don’t get some relief soon.

“Don’t you see, Kins?” He applies more pressure to my clit. “You can’t push what happened to the side and pretend it didn’t happen. It happened. Two people you loved died, and you survived.” His brown eyes lock with mine, and it’s as if he reached into my body and tugged on my soul. “And now, it’s time for you to live.”

My heart pounds against my rib cage as his words penetrate deep, filling the fissures in my heart like a soothing balm. Butterflies swarm my chest, and my head feels fuzzy. It’s all too much, yet not enough, and even though I’m scared shitless, as I look into Shane’s eyes, there’s nothing I want more than to live with this man. So, I give him the only answer I can …

“Yes,” I choke out. “I’m ready to live.”

His lips curve into a beautiful smile, and then his mouth is back on mine, nipping, licking, sucking, as he breathes life back into me one thrust at a time. His thumb presses against my sensitive clit, and with a couple more skillful strokes, I detonate around him, screaming his name as he takes me straight over the edge with him.

* * *

“I wantto take you out on a date.”

I glance up at Shane from beside him on the bed, wondering if I heard him right because after everything that’s happened between us, he wants to take me out on a date?

“Huh?”

I know I’m a bit dazed from all the sex we’ve had—after we got out of the bath, we rinsed off in the shower, and then after drying off, he carried me to his bed, where he worshipped my body until I couldn’t take it anymore and I collapsed against his chest, curled into his side, where we both passed out—but did I hear him right?

Shane chuckles and kisses my forehead. “I said, I want to take you out on a date.”

“We are dating,” I say with a laugh.

“Exactly.” He reaches around and strokes the side of my bare breast, making me squirm. “Yet we haven’t gone on a single date.”

He rolls us over so he’s hovering above me and cages me in with his arms. “What do you say, Kins? Will you go on a date with me … in public?”

Ah, so that’s where he’s going with this. We live in a small town, and the second we’re seen together, people are going to talk. And before we can even order dinner, everyone will know that Brookside’s very own hero and single dad is dating the town’s recluse.

“I don’t know,” I say in a serious tone that has his face falling. “If I’m seen out with you in public, people will assume that I’m off the market, and now that I’m ready to move forward, I’m not sure I want to tie myself down to one man.”

His eyes narrow in confusion, and as much as I’m having fun messing with him, I can’t keep my straight face going. He’s just too damn sweet.

“I’m just kidding,” I say with a laugh, reaching up and poking his hard stomach with my fingertip. “Yes, Shane, I would love to go on a date with you in public.”

“You brat.” With one hand holding himself up, his other reaches between us and tickles my side, making me bark out a laugh. “Keep that shit up, and I’m going to lock you up in here and never let you go.”

“Mmmm,” I moan, pulling his face down to mine. “Is that a threat or a promise?”

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