Fall From Grace(82)

I tried to smile, but I was beyond exhausted at this point, “I guess you do mostly the undressing of women, huh?”

Shane reached out his hands toward my face.  I really should stop him; he really shouldn’t touch me.  But man, do I want him too!

He laid his hands against my cheeks and gently wiped the moist skin below my eyes, as if wiping away my tears.  “You were crying,” he murmured, as his thumbs trailed softly along my skin.

“Well, I was just in a fire that Tucker says someone purposefully set, so yeah, I’ve been crying.”

His hands stilled on my face, “Tucker said that, huh?  That ass couldn’t just give you one night of rest?”  He glared at me, “I swear, Grace, I will not let anything happen to you here, and tomorrow we’ll all go up to Tucker’s place and get away from Carl Sumpton and his sick twisted games.  No one will know where we are.”

So, everyone still thought this was Carl Sumpton trying to kill me, just some sick delusional guy that’s been stalking me for the last six months.  I wished it were so simple.  I felt myself shudder and Shane’s expression softened.

He drew me into him, slid his hands around my back, and held me close.  Every point of his body that touched me sent shivers down my spine.  The shivers became much worse when my hands, all on their own accord, slid up the length of his arms and gripped his shoulders.  Far worse was the thought that there was only a thin layer of material covering me and it was riding up as I lifted my arms, and I didn’t even have underwear on!

As if he had read my thoughts, Shane leaned back, reached for something, and shoved it into my hands.  “Here, I can’t stand here with you like this, so wear a pair of my boxers, please.”

Without taking my eyes off him, I slid the boxers up my legs.  Ripples of heat surged through me as his jaw clenched tighter and his eyes dilated into huge pools of blackness.  My God, did I want to dive in.

We just stood there, face-to-face, eye-to-eye until I felt the room start spinning.

“I’m really tired, Shane. In fact, right now I kind of feel like I’m going to pass out.”  I leaned my hand on the sink to help myself stay upright.  Before I was even aware of what was happening, Shane picked me up and cradled me in his arms.  My eyelids were so heavy that I automatically wrapped my arms around his neck, slumped my head on his shoulder, and closed my eyes.

I felt him open the bathroom door and the cold air from the hallway sent goose bumps up my arms; I could have sworn he held me tighter.  I heard Ethan’s voice mumbling near us.

“She just conked out in my arms,” Shane said.

“Yeah, Lea just passed out on Conner in the living room. He had to carry her into bed.  Where are you going put her to sleep?”

Shane was moving through the hallway with me, the motion rocked me gently.  “Open the door to my room,” Shane said.

“Shane, that’s not the best idea.  She’s going to wake up pissed at you.”

“I’ll sleep in another room.  I’m not putting her in the Bone Room, Ethan.”

I opened my eyes as Ethan flicked the light on in Shane’s room and I lifted my head off his shoulder.

Ethan smiled at me sweetly, “Hey, Grace, can I get you anything?”

“No, Ethan, thank you.  I’m just wiped out.  I don’t care where I sleep, I just need to sleep.”  I looked around the room quickly.  A beautiful dark cherry wood bed took up my view, and my guitar case was leaned up against it.  I turned my face into Shane’s, “You saved my guitar?”