By the time we made it to the car, Shelby’s head was buried in my neck, and she was shaking. Once safely inside, I pulled her onto my lap, holding her close.
“Sorry, Beaker,” I mumbled, pressing my lips to her hair. “All right there?”
She nodded against my shoulder, and I let her rest there and gather her thoughts as we finally cleared the area and the car picked up speed. At least we weren’t being followed.
“It’ll get better,” I assured her. “Like Everett said, this is new. Someone or something else will get their attention.” I gathered her closer. “It’s like a wave, Shelby. It will crest and ease off, but we have to ride it out. Don’t let it scare you away, please.”
She tilted her head, and she offered me a shaky smile. “It was…loud.”
“It was.”
“Are they always that obnoxious?”
“Unfortunately, yes. There’s a group of them that will do anything for a reaction. You have to ignore them, as hard as it is sometimes. We’ll keep Mark close for the time being. And I think maybe Everett and Cassidy will come with us the next couple of appearances. No one messes with your brother.”
“Do you think it will die down that quickly?”
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “It depends…”
“They’re going to have a field day with the fact that I’m married.”
“You’re not married—there is a separation on file. Your ex deserted you, and you’ll be divorced as soon as we find him or move to the next step,” I stated firmly. “One of those will happen soon. Everett already has a statement prepared. It’s covered.”
“My age…” she whispered.
“Is not an issue for me. Case closed.”
She sighed. “Well then, I guess we can only hope there is some big scandal, or an actor gets caught fucking a goat to take the heat off us, right?”
I burst out laughing. “There’s always a scandal, Beaker. But the goat might work.”
She cupped my cheek. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I huffed a sigh of relief. “Good.”
“But I need something.”
“Anything.”
“I need you. Tonight. Make it all go away, but you. Us.”
My mouth covered hers. “Yes. Fuck…yes.”If I thought Shelby was sexy the other night in her red corset, the sight of her tonight in front of me, in a lacy, barely there bra, almost did me in. I wanted to fall at her feet and worship her. Thoroughly. From the nervous look on her face, as she stood in front of me, biting her lip, I decided that was exactly what needed to be done. Keeping eye contact, I slowly sank to my knees in front of her. Gently, I pulled off the low-heeled, Liam-approved shoes, running my thumbs along her instep, smirking at her low moan as I placed her bare feet on the floor. I ran my hands up her legs, tickling the backs of her knees as she giggled, her muscles bunching against my fingers. Her eyes widened as I stroked higher, finally cupping her firm ass and pulling her toward me. I kissed her stomach as I stared at her, spreading my hands wide against the skin of her back. Her chest moved rapidly while the air around us grew heated as I stood, drawing her close. My mouth hovered over hers. “Tell me you want this, Shelby, please.”
“I do,” she whispered. “And I’m covered. Birth control-wise. I got tested after Malcolm…” Her voice trailed off.
I nodded in understanding. “It’s been months—longer—for me. I was tested, and I’m clean too.”
“Then we’re good.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Good. Brilliant.”
I crashed my mouth to hers, our kiss desperate and needy. She pushed and tugged off my jacket as I made quick work of the pretty red scrap of lace covering her breasts. Small clicks of buttons hitting the floor and bouncing off the dresser made me smile as Shelby pulled off my dress shirt impatiently.
“Easy, tiger,” I growled against her mouth, lifting her from the pool of red at her feet and carrying her to the bed. My bed. Placing her in the middle, I stood back, grinning at the sight before me.
Shelby, naked except for the wisp of lace that covered her center, her dark hair spread across the pillows. My pillows. Her chest was heaving, her nipples erect and begging for my mouth. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes glazed as she watched me shrug out of what was left of my shirt and loosen my belt, letting my pants drop to the floor. She bit her lip when she realized I was once again commando.
“Like what you see?” I teased her.
Her eyes widened. “You’re…you’re uncircumcised. You have a hoodie, Liam.”
I looked down. Was this a problem? I was British after all.
“Shelby?”
“I’ve never…um, never seen or…”
Oh. OH.
Grinning, I stroked myself. “Nothing to be scared of. Just a little extra skin.”
She arched her eyebrow at me sexily. “You got a lot of extra…skin…there.”