| |
Shannon
This time with Lucas built new connections, new bonds, and hope renewed her. When the old fifties style diner came into view, she let the happy memories wash over her. They exchanged broad, sappy grins.
“Once I talked to you at the train depot, I was a goner,” Lucas said. “There wasn’t any going back.”
“What were you scared of?” she asked.
“You were gorgeous, rich, talented, sweet, and I was a kid literally from the wrong side of the tracks, trailer trash, punk fighter raging with angst.” He laughed. “What wasn’t I scared of?”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” She hated it when Lucas talked down about himself. “You rose above a difficult childhood to make a difference. You are smart and talented and strong. I’ve never seen a better father. You take care of your mother when you could easily have turned against her or become like her. I’m not wonderful because my family has money. I’m nothing compared to the person you are, Lucas.”
He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the back. “Thank you for believing that.”
She did more than believe it. She knew it.
He parked, and they walked inside hand in hand.
The diner hadn’t changed much. Nostalgia swamped her senses. The soda fountain, bar, and red-topped stools stretched across the far side of the rectangular restaurant. Booths lined the wall on either side of the door. Tables filled the center. Black and white floor tiles covered the space wall to wall.
“They still have the jukebox,” Lucas said with a sexy grin.
He made his way to the music box while she slid into the same booth they had used on their first date. In some ways, their first date felt like yesterday. In others, she felt like she’d been a kid, a million years ago.
The waitress took their order as the first song Lucas chose filled the air. Their eyes met across the table.
“You remember the song,” she said.
“I remember everything.”
Lucas slid out of the booth and held out his hand. “Come on, dance with me. Let’s do this right.”
Her hand slipped into his, and he pulled her into his arms.
It was just as heavenly as the first time. He held her close, his strength filling her with a feeling of security. Warmth from his body enveloped her as the lyrics and melody wove around them, and he dipped his head to sing the words softly against her ear with his smooth, velvet voice. She shivered as sensations swept through her. How she loved this man.
The slow song drifted off, and an up-tempo song came on. Lucas swung her out and back to him. They swayed together to the faster beat. She laughed as he belted out the words with a grin, not caring who else might hear him.
“Sing with me,” he commanded, pulling her close and swinging her back out to twirl her.
A bubble of happiness broke in her stomach, flowed up to fill her chest, and escaped in a giddy laugh. She joined Lucas in singing the romantic words.
They took a break to enjoy burgers and shakes.
“I was a nervous wreck on our first date,” he murmured.
“I was, too. You were different from anyone I’d ever met, and I wanted to impress you.” She grinned across the table as she remembered. “I wanted you to think I was exciting. You kept surprising me, like dancing with me in front of everyone.”
“After all those months, I finally had you in my arms. I had imagined holding you, how you would feel and smell, but you made me feel things I couldn’t dream. I didn’t know emotions like those existed.”
“Like what?”
“You looked at me like I was a hero. I felt strong, needed.”
“You were my hero, chasing away those guys, defending me.”
“When I talked, you listened to me and asked me questions. You made me feel important, wanted, appreciated. My dreams felt possible with you.”
“Your goals impressed me. You had a plan mapped out, and I’ve always found your work interesting.”
“When we danced, I felt like I belonged to you and you to me.”
“I had never experienced attraction like we had, Lucas.”
He watched her with a hunger in his expression that made her feel beautiful, loved, desired. “You still inspire those emotions.”
“You still surprise me,” she whispered. “You are still my hero. You still make me crazy with sexy.”
Lucas threw some money on the tabletop, pulled her from the booth and out the door.
“Where are we going?” she asked with a laugh that sounded breathless.
“The bluffs.”
“Oh.” Their first kiss.
He swung the driver’s door open and slid his hands around her waist. Their gazes met for a heartbeat, and his filled with such longing a shock of excitement fizzed through her. Then he moved, lifting her onto the split-bench seat. Not a second later, Lucas was beside her.
The air hummed with delicious tension. She stayed close, pressed against him, as he drove outside of town to the cliff road.
The deserted road rose to the top of the bluffs. Once upon a time, a house stood at the top, but a storm had claimed it for the sea long ago. All that testified to a home was a set of stone stairs. The current that sparked between them felt like the static of a storm that powerful and exhilarating, surrounding her with a haze of heat.
He parked under the shade of sea oaks and turned to her, sliding his hand over her knee as if he couldn’t stop himself. “I hadn’t kissed a girl until I kissed you, not like that. I was afraid of messing it up.”
“You rocked my world.”
“Did I?” He grinned that sexy grin of his that melted her insides.
“Your nervousness made it all the sweeter since I knew it mattered. You kissed me like I was precious, as if you wanted to cherish me.”
“I wanted it to be perfect for you.” His warm gaze roved her face, stilling the breath in her chest. “You were the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. I wanted to kiss you right.”
He shifted closer, running a hand from her knee up the outside of her thigh to grip her hip. A rush of anticipation thrilled her as his face dipped close to hers. A breath from her lips, he whispered, “Kiss me, sweetheart, like the first time.”
They kissed with a sweet, tender and slow melting. The sweetness was a healing, refreshing her heart like dew on parched grass. The slow glide of his lips against hers, the teasing warmth of his breath, the gentle press of his mouth lit a simmering heat in the pit of her stomach.
He took his time tasting, exploring her mouth and lips. When Lucas gently pulled her bottom lip into his mouth and sucked its lush softness, the slow burn of desire in her core flamed and burst into a hot explosion of sensation. She wanted more and pressed into his mouth, deepening the kiss, perfecting the reuniting of their spirits.
As he drew back for breath, he moaned her name then claimed her kiss again with a driven passion. Her hands traveled the width of his chest and shoulders, caressed his neck. She felt desire vibrating through him as he controlled his passion, barely leashed need. Shannon became whole in Lucas’s arms, bound to him by the mutual racing of their heartbeats.
He tore apart from her with a shaky breath lifting his chest and eyes deep blue with desire. Catchlights created a million different shapes in the blue, like crystals of light. Beautiful, alluring. With his hands fisting, his breaths ragged, Lucas fought to keep his senses and not ravish her. To see and feel his craving thrilled her, made her heart beat the rhythm of a thousand drums.
As their breathing slowed, he tickled whisper kisses along the edges of her lips.
She murmured, “We should take this slow,” as she tilted her chin up to meet his lips in the softest of caresses. “That would be the smart thing.”
His hand on her hip flexed as hers wandered around to his back, and she reveled in the feel of him under her hands. He groaned, whispered, “Much more of that and I’ll gladly play dumb.”
“Hmm.” She grinned as she ran her fingers up and into his curls.
His eyes drifted closed. “Mmm...you’re killing my...good intentions.” He gave her a look that scorched her but eased away. “Come on, let’s walk along the bluff.”
He held her hand as they explored the bluff trail. Nature seemed to rejoice all around them, as if the universe knew a great love had risen above hardship and pain to soar. Sea birds danced in and out of the air currents in a dizzying ballet. The wind whipped around them echoing the thrilled elation rushing through her nerve endings.
Lucas stopped the walk to study her face. Her smile dimmed with the intense darkness in his eyes.
“Lucas?”
“You were the first person I believed would always love me. I felt secure that I would always have you. These past months shattered me.”
The vulnerability in his expression shredded her. She moved to embrace him, but he gripped her upper arms, holding her still.
“Shannon...every time you rejected me...every time you looked at me with disgust, part of me cracked. I want to find out who sent the photos, but I need to know you want to reconcile, that you trust me. I need to hear you say it.”
“I was broken, too.” She caught fly-away hair in the breeze and swept it behind her. “When I saw those photos, I experienced physical pain. Then I was numb. Or angry. I couldn’t handle the emotion. I’m sorry it took me months to deal with it, to face it.”
A mist of tears turned his eyes glassy as he stared at her. “I’m sorry if I brought this on us, if it was someone I know.”
“I don’t blame you, and I agree to finding who sent the pictures. I believe you didn’t do it. I believe you love me. We will figure this out and put it behind us.” She reached up and ran her fingers across his short beard to grip his face in her hands. With their gazes locked, she said, “I promise you, Lucas, I love you. I trust you. I want us, and I want our marriage.”
“I love you.” He tried to smile.
Shannon flew into his arms, and he took her mouth with a desperate kiss. This kiss left no doubt he knew her intimately, touching, caressing, savoring her in the most pleasantly effective way to ignite her desire. Yet the connection was deeper, more passionate, more enduring than before since it was complete. No past secrets lay between them, no emotional barriers separated their spirits, but they were one in trust in faith in love.
After a long embrace, they continued their walk and enjoyed sharing the view of the sea crashing on the rocks below. It was quiet and easy and just what two hearts needed to heal.
