Page 55 of The Harborer
She shook her head. “No. It’s cozy here.” She snuggled a little closer, her warm skin sliding against his.
God, he loved that!
Helovedher.
Chapter 19
Revelation
Shane nuzzled Amy’s hair,loving the silky texture and the lavender-vanilla fragrance trapped in her strands. “I hope you don’t mind that we’re taking a breather. That was … intense.”
“I don’t mind. What you were doing to me … That was pretty intense too.”
He covered her breast and looked down at his hand resting on her chest. “I like these.”
“Everyone’s, or mine in particular?” she snickered.
He snorted. “Let’s say I have a general appreciation, but I especially like yours. They might be my favorites.” With his fingertip, he drew a tiny circle above her breast.
“Good to know.” She clasped her hands and pillowed them beneath her head. “Can I ask you something?”
His alarms came on board and readied for defensive maneuvers. “Yeah, of course.”
“Did you ever, um, sleep with Estelle?”
Relief waved through him. This one he could answer without an iota of guilt, and he rushed to reassure her. “Nope. Never had any interest.” Estelle and he had shared one long, tangled kiss that should have shaken desire loose inside him, but it hadn’t even fanned an ember. Nothing like the way kissing Amy set every cell in his body ablaze. Then again,nothingcompared to kissing Amy, and now his bar was set so high he couldn’t fathom any other woman reaching it. Probably best to stick with kissing only Amy. Oh yeah, he could definitely live with that.
“I have another question.”
“Okay. Shoot.” His cock had gone from full mast to half, but now, as his fingers got a little busier trailing along the underside of her breast, it perked up. He traced more circles, these with more intent as they closed in on her stiffening peak. He pictured sucking it into his mouth and—
“What did Micky say that upset you so much?”
His fingers stopped their meandering, and his dick withered as pieces of the conversation echoed in his mind. His eyes drifted to the foot of the bed. First Micky had railed at Shane for helping Amy move. Then he’d demanded to know where she was. Shane had held his temper and kept his voice low and even, but it hadn’t kept Micky’s tirade from ramping up. The final straw came when he’d yelled, “You tell that bitch she needs to get on her knees and beg if she expects me to take her back. If she’s real lucky, I’ll let her suck my dick. If she does a good job, then I’ll decide whether to let her move back in. And by agood job, I mean better than the ones I pay for from a professional who knows what the hell she’s doing.”
Fury flashed anew inside Shane at the recall, and he quelled a desire to hunt Micky down and bloody the motherfucker’s filthy mouth. Not only had Micky shown total disrespect for an amazing woman who deserved to be cherished, but he’d admitted to cheating on her. With “professionals.” Had he ever considered what diseases he might have passed on to her?
“Shane?” Amy’s soft voice pierced his veil of red.
Raising his gaze, he looked at her sweet face, and his anger melted. He gave her a soft smile.
“Yeah, I’m here. Micky didn’t really say anything we hadn’t heard before. He was being Micky, which is enough to piss off pretty much everyone.”
Nodding, she seemed to accept his lame dodge. For now.
Comfortable silence settled over them once more. He relaxed beside her, feeling soright. His hands began to roam again, his mind along with them as it imagined him burying himself inside her. Anticipation tingled, racing up and down his spine.
“You met my parents when they visited,” she started, “but I know little about yours. Your mom lives out of town somewhere, you have brothers, and your great-greats helped settle the town, but that’s all I know.”
Pillow talk before … pillowing? And she wanted details on his background? Fair enough, considering the forever he wanted from her. As he held her, he filled in some of the blanks.
“I come from a long line of ne’er do wells. My ancestors were outcasts from the get-go, Irish Catholics in a community of Protestants. And while families like the Hunnicutts were getting rich off the mines, my great-great-whatever was a drunk who couldn’t be trusted below ground. So they slapped a badge on him and gave him a gun.”
Amy choked back a laugh. “Wait. So a dangerous drunk miner was given agunand told to enforce the law?”
“Yep. So there you go. I have no idea how effective he was at enforcing, but based on the few records I’ve unearthed from the times, I don’t think he was very well-liked, especially by the bar owners. I think he used his badge mostly to get free booze.”
She let out a cute laugh. “Sounds scandalous. And the rest of your family?”
