Bodywork Read online

  “Okay.”

  “And if you don’t freak out on me in another month or two, I’m putting a ring on your finger.”

  Shane pulled out, flipped her onto her back, and entered her once more, watching her as he moved. “Yeah, I’m gonna put a collar on you and keep you.”

  “Collar?” She groaned and reveled in his lips around her nipple. She loved him watching her, because it added a hint of naughty to their loving. “Shane…”

  He bit her, hard enough to jolt a dart of need in her core. “Not a literal collar. I want everyone to know you’re mine. And that I’m yours.” He began making love to her, slowly, and each inch of him was a precious part she wanted to hold onto. Connected physically and now emotionally. Finally.

  “I don’t know. I was thinking a collar might be fun. Not vanilla.” She bit her lip when he turned to her other breast and sucked her nipple with rough pulls. He pillowed his head between her mounds and nuzzled, inhaling her scent. Then he returned to her breasts and made love to them. To her, while he moved in and out of her with a slowness that drove her insane.

  Shane leaned up and watched her while he took forever to thrust back inside her. “I love your tits. Your body. Hell, I love you, Ms. Vanilla.”

  “Soon to be Mrs. Vanilla, hmm?” She put her arms around his neck and hung on while he increased his pace.

  “Damn right.” He snapped his hips, and he brushed something tingly inside her. “You have to say yes.”

  “Yes, yes.”

  His laughter faded into a groan when she squeezed him inside her.

  She gripped his neck and threaded her fingers through his soft hair. “God, I’m coming again.”

  “Good, because I can’t stop. Touch yourself, baby. Come with me.”

  She moved a hand between them and rubbed herself, and in seconds, they both crested another wave of pleasure. Together.

  Epilogue

  A month later, November had turned the skies gray and the weather colder than a witch’s tit. George used the phrase around his family whenever he could, making sure to include Shelby in his antics.

  She rolled her eyes at him and met Shane’s pained expression, aware they looked goofy. They dressed as matching ice cream cones at Vanzant Interior’s quarterly gala. Since Shelby had been depressed over Shane during her favorite holiday, Ron had suggested they make their party a costume bash, and not a week from Thanksgiving. But Shelby didn’t mind.

  Her Halloween had been spent lamenting the loss of a wonderful man. So tonight she planned to make up for her lost celebration. It was a perfect night for them to give each other treats. Chocolate syrup they could lick off one another, and maybe some hot wax for fun. She’d never been so happy, and everyone she knew commented on it.

  She had a feeling Shane was gearing up to ask her something special. Not an engagement, but they’d been talking a lot about moving in together. In her mind, a true step toward commitment. She still had instances of panic, waiting for the other shoe to drop on her relationship, but Shane talked her down off the ledge. And on those occasions when he started talking babies and 401Ks for their grandkids, she reined him in without breaking a sweat.

  Shelby had no doubt Shane was it for her. They promised to keep each other honest, and to never lose that spark that had brought them together in the first place. Lots of bodywork in and out of the massage clinic, and plenty of non-vanilla dates.

  “I can’t believe you came as ice cream cones. That is so revoltingly couple-like.” Maggie sneered at her costume.

  “Please. I’m cute. You’re… what are you, exactly?”

  Maggie opened her large beige overcoat. Instead of a sexy teddy or vampy vixen costume, Maggie wore a flowered frock that looked like something her Aunt May might have worn, loose knee-highs pooling around her ankles, and Mary Janes. She also had stuffed animals strapped to her arms and legs. “I’m now officially the cat lady.”

  Shelby burst out laughing, and Shane ambled closer to her, Mac hard on his heels. Wherever Maggie went, Mac seemed to be near. Shelby had a feeling her friend was due to get run over by big bad Mac Jameson. And that pleased her, because she happened to like him. A gruff, teddy bear of a guy who looked like he ate small children for breakfast, Mac might be exactly what Maggie needed, someone who wouldn’t cater to her every whim. And he wasn’t a loser. From what Shane said, he wasn’t even playing around with random women anymore.

  Shane attributed the loss of Mac’s harem to “one smart-mouthed blonde who looks like God’s personal hooker in pink aerobic tights.” That Mac. He really had a way with compliments. He’d come as a biker, and he wore his jeans and leather vest very well. Shelby had noticed Maggie keeping a wary eye on him throughout the night.

  Interesting things were heating up in Seattle, that was for sure.

  “What the hell is strapped to your thigh?” Mac asked Maggie, his eyes the size of quarters.

  “One of my many cats. I’m the neighborhood cat lady.”

  “You are not.” Shelby sighed. Maggie and her dire predictions about being an old maid.

  Mac choked on laughter and whispered something to Shane, who broke down in tears.

  “What’s so funny?” Shelby had to know.

  Maggie planted her hands on her hips, clearly annoyed. “Yeah. What are you idiots laughing at?” Shelby liked that her best friend and boyfriend got along so well. Maggie treated him like her brother, and he teased her the way he did George.

  Mac wiped his eyes and had a hard time explaining through more laughter, “You have a pussy right near your, um, your, ah…”

  “For God’s sake.” Maggie yanked the velcroed cat nestled almost between her thighs and threw it at Mac’s head. Then she stalked off to join Shelby’s mother, Ron, and Ron’s new man, Justin Harmon. Shane’s boss.

  “You have to admit that’s funny as hell.” Shane chuckled and watched Mac trying to placate the temperamental blonde by giving her back the stuffed cat.

  Shelby bit back a grin, but Shane saw it. “Okay, it’s funny. You know what’s also funny?”

  “What?” He pulled her as close as their puffy cone costumes would allow.

  “You realize Mac now has his hand on Maggie’s pussy.”

  Shane died laughing again, and Shelby joined him. They had so much fun together, and their sense of humor meshed. Hell, everything about them meshed. She spent so much time at his place and he at hers that they were all but living together. She tolerated his neat tendencies, and he allowed her to stack piles of crap everywhere, so long as it remained organized.

  As Shelby glanced around at her friends and family, she couldn’t wait for the holidays. This year was special. She longed to share festivities with Shane, to see what he thought of the Christmas present she’d already bought for them.

  Matching wedding bands and a save-the-date invitation for August 2nd, the anniversary of the day Shane had run into her and turned her world, and her coffee, upside-down.

  About the Author

  Marie Harte is an avid reader who loves all things romantic. Reading romances since she was twelve, she fell in love with happy endings and knew writing was her calling. Over twenty years later, the Marine Corps, a foray through Information Technology, and children, her dream has finally come true. Marie lives in Oregon with her family and loves hearing from readers.

  To read more about Marie, visit http://www.marieharte.com

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