The way he touched her was reverent. It made her want to weep. This big man treating her with such gentleness in the middle of his wicked carnal assault on her senses wrecked her.

She felt her orgasm coming, begin to burn in her muscles. He had two fingers inside her and his thumb applied just the right pressure to her clit. There was something to be said about a man who’d been with a lot of women. He certainly had experience.

Shane moved his mouth to her ear. “Let me have it, darlin’. Give me your orgasm. I want to feel you come around my fingers, I want to hear the sounds you make when you climax.”

A cry, low and deep, broke from her lips as orgasm opened up around her and swallowed her deep. Pleasure soaked her, sapped her strength and she held on to him as it buffeted her over and over again.

Her parched cells filled up, replenished, and she began to feel whole after being broken for so long. Serotonin flooded her brain and lethargy, warm and heady stole over her as a smile crept over her lips.

It was his chuckle that made her open her eyes finally. His face was flushed, eyes desire-dark as he put her shorts back to rights and planted a kiss on her lips.

“I do believe I have never seen a more beautiful sight. Your neck arched, lips parted, a flush on that gorgeous face. You’re amazing, Cassie.”

She felt the tears in her throat but she didn’t free them. They were bittersweet tears but she felt like giving in to them would have let Terry win and continue to f**k with her head. Instead, she embraced happiness and the thought that she might be able to have a real life, a real future and that just maybe, Shane Chase would be a part of it.

“You’re good with the compliments, Chase. Now, it’s your turn.” She raised a brow and he laughed and shook his head.

“Not tonight. I want this first time to about you. We have so much time, Cassie. We’ll take our baby steps and when we end up in bed, it’ll be right and incredible.”

She must have had a distressed look on her face because he laughed and kissed her again. “That look is almost as good as sex, Cassie. I like that you want me too. But we’re not ready to go there yet.”

She wasn’t? She didn’t know. She didn’t think it was a problem. She wanted him to f**k her and right then. But she also didn’t know if she’d freak out either and so close to their fight and the panic attack yesterday, he was probably right. She vowed to make it extra good when she did get her hands on him. She hoped she could.

Shane led her to the couch and pulled her down with him, pulling her into his side and snuggling with her. “A whole lot is going on in there.” He tapped her head. “You wanna share?”

Terry had seriously eroded her confidence about sex. Not just about her own sexuality but her ability to please men. He’d always told her she was frigid and lousy in bed. What if he was right? What if she couldn’t please Shane?

“Hey, no, get that look off your face right now. Talk to me, please. We can’t move forward if you don’t share with me.”

“I’m fine. I’m working on getting past all this stuff with my therapist. Man, I never thought I’d say, my therapist in this context, you know? It’s just something that Terry, my ex, made me feel like.”

Shane took her hand and kissed her fingertips. “Like what, darlin’?”

“Unattractive. Frigid. Like I couldn’t please a man.” Her voice went quiet. She knew Terry was wrong, but what your mind knew and what your heart knew were sometimes very different.

“Cassie, your ex-husband is an ass**le. You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. I’m not lying. And the way you just flew apart in my arms? You telling me that’s frigid? He’s the one with problems. Any man who’d force a woman has big issues with sex and power. That is not about you. And I’d scare the bejesus out of you if I put your hand over my c**k to show you just how pleased you make me. Trust me, you do.”

With a soft sigh, she snuggled into his body and he held her tight while they watched a movie.

He waited until she’d fallen asleep in his arms and then carried her to her bedroom. Checking to be sure everything was locked up tight, he set the air conditioning and left her a note, telling her he’d call her the next day.

Outside, he double checked that the door had locked behind him and scanned the area for anything amiss. The lighting was good on her porch. He’d noticed she’d put in a higher watt bulb and made a note to himself to put some security lights out back for her. He was sure Chuck wouldn’t mind him doing it. The added security was a plus for any future tenants anyway. He’d also put in a new deadbolt for her, after he figured out a way to make it seem like her idea.

Chapter Eight

“Is there anything I can do to help planning this shindig?”

Penny looked up at Cassie, who’d just come into the room, bearing the day’s receipts.

“No. And you can give those to me and go meet Shane. I know he’s out there flitting around, waiting for you.”

“He can wait.” Cassie sat down. “Penny, do you date at all?”

Penny pushed her glasses up her nose and paused. “It was hard, losing Ben. He was like the other half of my heart. For the longest time I couldn’t even imagine being with anyone else. In the last year or so I’ve been on a few dates here and there. I haven’t met anyone who could hold a candle to Ben’s memory. Still, it hurts less and I feel like I’m waking after a long sleep. Why? You’re not planning on fixing me up are you?”