Jezebel Page 21

Oblivious to her innuendo, he stood up and pulled her chair out. “I hope you like meatloaf. I used my mother’s—”

  Celeste wrapped her hand around his neck and kissed him. It was a slow, closed mouthed kiss, but the message was as direct if she’d used her tongue.

  “Missed me?” he said against her lips.

  “Just appreciate you being you.”

  Shane used that moment to slip his tongue between her lips. The moment their tongues collided, his taste filled her mouth, rocking her. Thankfully, he’d wrapped his arms around her or she would’ve slipped to his feet like the witch from the Wizard of Oz.

  Melting, lost in desire, she felt the spark between her legs. The sensation intensified as he sucked on her tongue, drawing on her. And when he took her bottom lip between his teeth, she came damn close to finishing before things even started.

  Desperate and filled with a hunger, Celeste arched into him. Her heart had never pounded this hard. Her blood was racing. Their chemistry was damn near perfect, off the charts. It was one of the reasons he always tied her in knots.

  Shane had rushed through conditioning so he could cook dinner for her. To say he was mildly disappointed by her tardiness was an understatement, but she more than made up for it with her welcome.

  Rocked off balance, Shane closed his eyes and enfolded her in his arms. He walked them backward, and then ever so gently placed her on the bed. He was thick and ready as he settled on top of her, yet careful not to crush her.

  Shane kissed her slowly, his blood burning hotly through his veins. Needing the coolness her skin offered, he set hands to undressing her. First, he removed her long-sleeved blouse and matching cardigan followed by a pair of high-waist slacks.

  Before now, Shane never saw the appeal of women in pants—too boyish in his opinion. And yet, his woman’s pegs in a pair of britches made him harden.

  Sliding his body downward, Shane trailed hot kisses across her shoulders and collarbone. His kisses fell in the valley between her breasts and his tongue licked out and lavished each one lovingly. He circled her areola with his tongue worked his way inward toward her nipple. He drew the puckered bud in his mouth. He gently pulled and sucked until she moaned and moved beneath him. Her thighs fell open, beckoning him. Unable to resist, he palmed them, his fingers gliding over her soft brown skin.

  Shane took her fully in his mouth, while seeking her heat. Inch by inch, he pressed into her. Moist and tight, she fit him perfectly and he responded at the most primal level. His muscles bunched and his penis filled with blood, stretching toward her center.

  Her moans turned into short gasps for air. Her fingers tangled in his hair as he moved against her.

  “Don’t stop,” she whispered, arching her hips.

  Stopping was the furthest thing from Shane’s mind. He needed her the same way she needed him.

  Growling, Shane slid his hands under her bottom, gripping her to him. She locked her legs behind him and he shuddered at the delicious imprint of her body against his.

  “Celeste?” Shane closed his eyes. With each stroke he was sinking deeper and deeper until he finally bottomed out. He tried to pace himself, go slow, but all he wanted to do was drive her into the mattress and wipe out the memory of every single man before him.

  In and out he moved, her honey walls holding him tight. He began to sweat. Beads of moisture dotted his shoulders, ran down his spine. Goddam! He was burning up. Expelling a deep breath, he tried to remain focused.

  First her pleasure and then his.

  “So warm and tight,” he growled, the head of his cock bottoming out at her womb. His testicles slapped her ass. She arched her hips forward again and again, sliding over his erection. Sensations tore through him. He squeezed his eyes shut.

  “Hold on tight.” His hands slid along her hips to grip her waist. She obeyed him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, pressing herself into him. The combination of sensations buffeted him. He increased his tempo, pumping his hips working her.

  “ShaneShaneShaneShane,”she panted over and over. She writhed beneath him.

  She was close, so close he could taste it, feel it.

  They remained skin to skin as he looped her legs over his arms. In this position, she was so completely open and exposed, she immediately spasmed around him, a climax gripping her. She shuddered under him. She held him tight, her fingers digging into his shoulders.

  While she crumbled, crying out his name, he drank her in. Her body seemed to vibrate and even glow in the aftermath. Sated, she never looked more beautiful. The affect was just as powerful as her sex sucking at his cock, and it almost toppled him.

  Still, Shane kept going. He didn’t let up. In and out, moving quickly, he hurtled to the same earth shattering finale. His gut clenched. His balls tightened. He kept going. He pulled out and pounded forward. Over and over again, he drove deep and hard.

  “Feel…so…damn…good,” he panted, her hot cream coating his cock with each thrust.

  He gave a final, hard thrust and the dam broke. Shane never felt more powerful. Strength pulsed through his veins and he felt inordinately protective. He never wanted her to leave his side. And he would do anything to make it so.

  Even maintain the lie that chafed at his conscience and threatened to undo everything.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  Over the ensuing weeks the city grew colder deeper into the throes of winter. Shane and Celeste had become, practically inseparable always seeking each other’s company.

  In turn, she’d developed a running list of his likes and dislikes. Shane never complained about her mindless chattering and his endless silences didn’t drive her mad.

  The time they spent together had become a whirlwind of activities. One could find them on the floor of the Roseland ballroom, enjoying midweek matinees, riding the Ferris wheel at Coney Island, eating hot dogs in Central Park or watching the Giants play at the Polo Grounds.

  They even had a standing date for dinner every night with either Shane cooking dinner or Maggie automatically setting the table for two.

  It was after supper one evening Celeste decided to buy a Christmas tree. The holidays were already in full swing with the big day less than two weeks away.

  “What do you think about this one?”

  Huddled in his over coat, Shane didn’t look the least bit pleased. “It looks fine to me like the fifty other ones you’ve picked over.”

  Celeste worried her bottom lip. Maybe shopping for a Christmas tree in twenty-eight degree weather hadn’t been such a great idea. But now that she had someone to share the holidays with, she found herself swept up in all the traditions. “Found what you want, miss?”

  “I’ll take this one.” Celeste pointed to a cedar tree.

  “Do you want the bottom cut?”

  Can you bundle it on the taxi for us?”

  The lot attendant nodded as he hoisted the tree over his shoulder. “How far are you going?”

  “To the Navy Yards.” Celeste handed the attendant a five dollar bill.

  “I’ll string it up nice and tight.” he said, shoving the money in his pocket.

  As soon as the man walked off, Shane enveloped her in his arms. Celeste shivered. After all this time, days and weeks in each other’s company, his touch still gave her goose bumps.

  “You’ve added your womanly touches and now a Christmas tree. Am I ever going to get rid of you?”

  Despite his teasing tone, Celeste felt the sting of rejection. And she hated it. Would it only be a matter of time before he completely lost interest in her? How long would it take for his eyes to wander in search of someone with less of a past who was more biddable?

  “I–I guessed I overreached.”

  “Yep, it’s the last straw.”

  Growing prickly with anger, Celeste stepped away. She didn’t get very far because his arms caged her in.

  “You sealed your fate with that tree.” He kissed her temple and a spark ran down her spine and settled between her legs. “You’
ve made the place ours. Now you’ve made it harder for me to let you go.”

  “Do you really mean that?” Celeste bit her bottom lip. She sounded so darn vulnerable.

  His arms tightened and a nauseating silence stretched between them. Great. Now she’d ruined everything by becoming one of those clingy women she’d abhorred.

  “I think I’ve wanted to be your man from day one,” he whispered in her ear.

  The blood rushed to Celeste’s head so fast she thought she was going to faint. The effect his words had on her resembled a flood after a long rain. All the feelings she had for him roaring to the forefront.

  Celeste knew in that moment that no matter what challenge this relationship threw her, she would bravely weather it because she was in love with him.

  Too bad she was grappling with telling him. Even though the word was on the tip of her tongue, she found it hard to form the word and voice it. So she decided on a roundabout declaration.

  “You know if you break my heart, I’ll rearrange your face.”

  His lips brushed the fine hairs at her temple. “You’ll rearrange my face?”

  Celeste turned around in his arms and hugged him back. “Completely pulverize it,” she said, snuggling into him.

  “Only one problem, I have to have your heart to break it.” He lowered his head and whispered, “Are you giving it to me?”

  Celeste searched his eyes as if she could discover an inkling of his feelings for her there. All she saw was the man she’d fallen in love with. “For safekeeping as long as you want it.”

  “Is this a reciprocal deal?”

  Celeste slowly nodded. She couldn’t do much else. Her heart was beating faster than a locomotive.

  “Then you got it lock, stock and barrel cause’ I love you.”

  Celeste’s toes curled in her galoshes. “I love you,” she said hesitantly. The word rolled off her tongue as if she’d said the word bonjour.

  Chuckling, Shane tipped her chin with his index finger. “You sound like you’ve never said it before.”

  Embarrassed, Celeste looked away. His green gaze seemed to penetrate the depths of her soul. “I have. This is the first time I really meant it.”

  Shane frowned. “What about your mother and father.”

  “My mother died in childbirth and The Reverend he never acted like a father.”

  “What do you mean?” He asked so quietly and with such purpose there was no way she could backpedal. In truth, she’d kept silent about her and her father’s relationship not to tarnish Shane’s memory of The Reverend.

  “He just never had any time for me. To this day, I don’t think I ever remember him hugging me or even shelling out a kind word.” Shane’s expression turned south. Celeste didn’t stop, getting her father’s ill treatment off her chest proved to be cathartic. “There was nothing but derision and criticism especially over my wanting to become a performer. Things came to such a head we agreed I would be better off on my own. So, I left home at the age of fifteen.”

  Shane cursed softly. “And here I had The Reverend on a pedestal.”

  “You should keep him there, baby.” Celeste grabbed the edges of his overcoat and tugged. “People put on different faces for different people.”

  Celeste felt him stiffen under her hands, but she chalked it up to learning about her father’s alter ego.

  “Your tree’s ready.”

  Shane grabbed Celeste’s hand and steered her over to a waiting cab and their Christmas tree.

  “Where you headed?” the cabbie asked.

  “Navy—”

  “Hold up a minute will you?”

  The cabbie nodded as he flipped the meter. “Take as long as you like, but it’s gonna cost ya.”

  Shane ignored the implication. He turned to her and enfolded her hand in both of his. Celeste tensed, waiting for the axe to fall.

  “Marry me.”

  Okay, a marriage proposal was not what she was expecting! “W-why?”

  “I’m in love with you and I don’t want to lose you.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. So stop playing games.” She was suddenly getting cold feet and it had nothing to do with the temperature.

  “I want you to be my wife. I want you to be the mother of my kids. I want to wake up the rest of my life seeing your face in the morning.”

  Celeste groaned. It wasn’t exactly poetry, but it hit all the right buttons. “Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll marry you.”

  Shane let out a loud whoop and banged the car’s roof. “Manhattan courthouse! And make it quick.”

  “Were going right now?” The car swerved from the curb and Celeste grabbed for the door strap. “What about the tree?”

  Shane tried the rope running along the roof. “The tree’s good and tight. It should hold while the clerk processes the license.”

  “Why the rush?”

  Shane glanced at his watch. “It’s almost five o’clock.”

  His obliviousness was almost laughable, but this was a serious matter. “Why do we have to get the license today?”

  Shane pressed their foreheads together, while his thumb brushed across her bottom lip, causing her to sigh and thank the stars he’d walked into her life. “I want you sitting ring side as my wife.”

  Why did he always have to say all the right things? “We’ll have to get blood tests and rings,” she said falling in step with his plans. Who’s going to marry us? I haven’t stepped foot in a church since I stopped wearing curls.”

  “I can call on Father O’Malley and see if he can fit us in before Christmas.” He lowered his head and kissed her lips. “Other than that,” he kissed her again, “we can be married and on our honeymoon before the fight.”

  This just couldn’t be happening. She’d set out to buy a Christmas tree and now she was getting married.

  Two days later, they were standing at the altar in Vinegar Hill’s St. George’s Church. With the promise of a hefty donation, Father O’Malley agreed to officiate and Trudy and Lenny sat in the congregation as witnesses.

  “Dearly beloved, we have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony.”

  Shane’s hand found hers and he entwined their fingers. Celeste wasn’t sure if it was proper, but she welcomed the anchor his strength provided. Right now, she felt like she was floating.

  “Shane Brennan Colin McAllister, will you have this woman to be your wife; to live together in the covenant of marri—”

  “Colin McAllister?” Celeste interjected.

  Shane cleared his throat nervously. “Shane Brennan’s my fighting name,” he said, leaning close and keeping his voice barely above a whisper. “Shane Brennan Colin McAllister is my full birth name.”

  “Like a stage name?”

  “Like a stage name?” Shane parroted.

  Although alarm bells sounded in her head, his excuse sounded perfectly logical. Half of the entertainers she’d worked with used a pseudonym.

  “Are we ready to proceed?” Father O’Malley asked.

  “Go ahead, Father.”

  O’Malley finished the Declaration of Consent followed by prayer and exchanging of rings. He’d barely blessed their union when Shane snatched her up and captured her mouth in a fervent kiss. Celeste felt like she was caught up in a dream. However, the desire that settled in her belly, caused by his lips upon her own, felt very real.

  “I need both of you to sign the marriage licenses.” Father O’Malley tapped Shane on the shoulder, interrupting them.

  Breaking from her, Shane set her down. Somewhat wobbly, Celeste held onto his jacket sleeve as she took the pen from Father O’Malley.

  “Will this be legal?” A little late to ask, but she needed to know that what they’d done would be recognized by the state of New York.

  Father O’Malley smiled. “Unlike a good portion of our states, Mrs. McAllister, New York has never outlawed marriages between a man and a woman regardless of the
color of their skin.”

  Reassured, Celeste signed their marriage license and then handed the pen to Shane. Afterward they celebrated in the church’s rectory with sparkling wine and a two-tier cake Trudy whipped up. And to make use of the daylight hours, they were driving north on Route Twenty-two before noon.

  Shane knew what he was doing was wrong. He loved Celeste with all his heart, but their marriage was his insurance policy. If she ever found out the truth, she would leave him in a heartbeat. With a band of gold around her finger, a few curly-haired kids, maybe she would think twice about leaving him.

  “Wake up Mrs. Brennan,” he rubbed Celeste’s cheek to wake her.

  She’d fallen asleep as soon as they merged onto the Triboro Bridge. It didn’t help matters that the Paddy Wagon should’ve been christened the Tug Boat, since it topped out at forty miles an hour. What should’ve been a five hour trip had stretched into seven.

  “How long was I asleep?” Celeste smiled sleepily at him. Unable to resist, he bent down and kissed her. “About five hours.”

  Sitting up, Celeste asked, “Where are we?”

  “Big Otter Lake.”

  “Still clueless,” she said.

  “We’re up near the Adirondack Mountain Park.” Shane held out his hand. “Want to see the sunset?”

  She allowed him to lead her from the bus and gasped the moment her feet hit the ground. Shane smiled. He’d hoped she would be pleased with the view. He’d fought up here for an exhibition a couple of years ago and fell in love with the place. And a little of him hoped she would love it too.

  “I’ve seen a number of sunsets in my day, but this is breathtaking,” she whispered.

  “Just like you.” When he pulled her into his arms, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Ready to get settled in, Mrs. Brennan?”

  “Love to! A hot bath is calling my name.” When he picked her up, she squealed.

  Setting her down just inside the cabin door, he watched her absorb her surroundings. Their two bags were neatly stacked in the far corner next to a large brass bed covered with a pink and blue quilt. A kitchen table sat in the middle of the room, separating the living room and sleeping area from the kitchen.