Fall From Grace(83)

Pulling back the covers of his bed, Shane delicately laid me down and sat beside me.  His bed was soft and smelled like freshly washed linen; I closed my eyes.

“Get some sleep, Grace. We’ll be right outside if you need anything,” Shane whispered.

I reached my arm out and tugged his arm toward me.  I can’t even say why I did it.  I was tired, scared, and angry, and it was the only thing that felt right.  “Don’t leave, Shane,” I whispered back.

Shane squeezed my hand softly and moved off the bed.  I opened my eyes to see Ethan close the door and Shane stroll across the room to his dresser.  He pulled off his shirt and jeans and threw them into a large wicker basket in the corner.  I watched the tattoos move against his muscles as he looked through his drawers wearing only a pair of boxers.  He pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms and nothing else.

He switched off the light and crawled under the covers right beside me.  He ran a single finger along my arm from my shoulder to my elbow.  “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes, I just didn’t want to be alone.  I’m sorry,” I whispered.

He pulled me closer to him and my body fit into his perfectly, “Don’t be sorry.  I get to hold a beautiful woman in my arms all night, so I’m definitely making out on the deal.”

“Thank you,” I said.

I could feel his raspy chuckle against the back of my neck, “For what, saying you’re beautiful?  Like you don’t hear that from every freaking guy that looks at you.”

“No, not that.  For saving my life tonight.  You could have gotten killed, Shane.  Don’t do anything like that for me again.”

He softly placed his lips on the nape of my neck, just below my ear, and kissed me.  “Shut up and go to sleep, Grace.”




Chapter 13

The very first thing I was aware of when I awoke was Shane’s body against mine.  His hands were snuggled around my stomach and his face was buried in my hair.  His breath came out in smooth even puffs along my shoulder.

I nudged him and tried to escape from his grasp, but he only smiled and held me tighter.  I tried to roll over and fling my legs onto the floor, but that only got him to roll on top of me and start a full-fledged wrestling match.  I finally pinned him down and freed myself from him and the bed, only to have him tackle me to the floor; both of us laughing.

There was a knock at the door and both of us bolted off the floor as if we were just caught by our parents, which only made us laugh even more.

Ethan came in holding a steaming cup of coffee, “Hey, I got coffee and bagels inside!”  His eyes looked back and forth between Shane and me, his face reddened and he looked down at the floor.  “Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

It was my turn for the heat to rise to my face.  “Ethan, you didn’t interrupt anything. We were just wrestling to get to the door first.  There is absolutely nothing going on between Shane and me.”

Ethan shrugged and nodded his head.  “Well, breakfast is inside anyway.  Everybody is packing up now, so we should be heading out soon.”  He didn’t even wait for another response. He just turned his back to us and left the room, closing the door behind him.

I felt Shane’s glare as if it was a burning laser on the back of my head. I turned to face him.  “What’s that look for?” I asked, already knowing the answer.  I just damaged his ego.

“Why do you do shit like that?”  He was pointing to the door.