“Oh, God, Shane I’m going to come.”
“Not yet,” he answered roughly, pulling his fingers from her warmth. She whimpered, but the sound only served to heighten his desire.
He hauled her out of the hot tub, ignoring her shriek when he wrapped her legs around his waist. The deck was too hard, the patio doors too far away so without another thought he strode across the deck to where the snow lay just beyond, where the forest watched like silent soldiers.
He stepped down, his heated flesh immediately on fire from the cold, white stuff that came up to his knees. All around them the snow continued to fall and the steam from their bodies rose like smoke from a fire.
“What are you?” she whispered hoarsely, slippery in his grasp as she struggled to look down.
He took another step and she shot him a look, her chest heaving.
“Shane,” she said, a warning in her voice. A warning he ignored because before she could utter another word, he fell to his knees and set her back in the snow.
“Holy-Christ-almighty-and-heavens-above,” she shrieked.
He knew what the shock of the cold snow felt like against her skin and before she could protest he plunged inside her, her squeal turning to a moan of pleasure as they sank into the ground and melted into the earth.
He was hot—super heated—and as he settled deep inside her, she sighed, her fingers in his hair, urging him down to meet her lips. She kissed him with such passion that it made him weak, and when he finally began to move, she broke away and gasped.
“This feels so,” she arched against him, her eyes feverish as the snow mingled in her hair with each thrust, as his body withdrew and then plunged in again. “God Shane,” she managed, her legs wrapping around him as he slid inside again, going as deep as he could.
There were no more words. There were just two bodies moving slowly in the melting snow. As large flakes continued to fall, as the moon continued to watch, steam rose from them and haloed their straining bodies in a cloud of mist.
Shane relished the feel of her around him. He bent down and claimed her lips once more as he increased the rhythm of his thrusts.
“I can’t take much more,” she whispered into his mouth.
“I know.” He bent forward, inching his body into hers just a little more and when his mouth closed over his tattoo, the one there beneath her ear, he began to pump harder, faster and when she clenched around him, he suckled on her flesh.
The only sound was skin on skin, bodies slapping against each other and he groaned, feeling his body break apart as his release built. She screamed once more, thrusting her hips up at him and as she came, as her beautiful eyes widened and went dark, he couldn’t hold back.
Under the stars, and under God’s eyes, he claimed Bobbo Jo Barker as his. He held her tightly as he came inside her, his eyes never leaving hers. He couldn’t. He watched every nuance in her expression, every breath exhaled, every quiver and sound.
And he thought he heard her whisper, just before she shattered beneath him,
I love you.
Chapter Nineteen
The sun was just starting to peek through the windows, enough to light the darkened corners of the room. It was a few minutes after seven—at least according to the massive Grandfather clock across the room—and Bobbi knew they had to leave soon. Shane had to go to work and so did she.
Their time-out from the world was nearly over, so where did they go from here?
They had eventually made it back into the cottage sometime in the night, two maybe? Half frozen and totally satiated. How many times had she and Shane tasted each other? She sighed and leaned across his chest, felt the steady rise and fall as he slumbered, and just…watched him.
His thick hair was all over the place, errant curls waving across his brow, while the stubble on his chin had thickened in the last few hours. His features were relaxed, and just as she remembered from years past, he looked so much younger asleep.
She sighed and traced a finger along his Celtic tattoo, the one that matched hers and for some stupid reason tears stung the corners of her eyes. Everything about this moment felt so right and yet…
And yet she’d been in this place before—with this man—so who’s to say she wasn’t on the road to heartbreak again? Should she stop now while she still had a hope in hell of coming out of whatever this was, intact?
Could she?
Her cheeks burned when she remembered her declaration of love and a groan escaped as she winced.
I love you.
She’d said it. The three words that changed everything.