The Billionaire's Second Chance (29 page)

When it was time to head back inside for the night, Shannon lurched around on the inelegant crutches bringing Nick to her side in case she need
ed
assistance.
Staying close
,
he reached around her shoulder to push aside the French door when she suddenly stopped short
,
stranding him in place lest he continue forward and thump her back.

Whipping her head and upper torso around she fixed him with a bold gaze
,
reach
ed
back with one hand gripping his chin
,
and
guided the
m both to a mind blowing  kiss.
His hand never left the its grip on the door and he did everything he could not to spin her toward him, molding her voluptuous  curves against his mighty profile, deepening the kiss until she was melting in his arms and mindless with desire for him.

It was reason which kept him in place letting her play out whatever she was comfortable with.  The powerful skills of a serious business tycoon helped him keep his baser instincts in check.
This was clearly not about him or
what he wanted. 
No, this was about letting her come to him on her own terms and in whatever way was necessary for that bond they'd shared so long ago
to
be reformed.  Like a flame which had gone out it must now be reignited or both of them would simply perish from
the
endless
,
empty ache left by the other's absence.

He let her lead the kiss and allowed her to pull away when she was ready. The look of smoldering sensuality on her face as they separated lit up Nick’s soul. He licked his lips, savoring the aftermath and smiled in male approval when her eyes flared with arousal
while silently watching
his tongue smooth over his hungry mouth.

With a slight grunt that sounded like equal parts satisfaction and frustration, Nick swung Shannon up into his steady arms making her crutches go crashing to the patio floor. Kicking them away he strode forward, his eyes barely leaving hers before ending at the sofa where he lowered her slowly as he leaned in and stole a heart pounding kiss that was as quick and sexy as a wet kiss with plenty of tongue action could be.

While Nick cleared dinner away Shannon found a movie for them to watch which turned out to be a little bit too much in the way of a ladies rom com than most guys could sit through. She let him struggle through half the movie laughing in her head at how he was so clearly taking one for the team
;
sitting
there pr
etending
to be interested in the god-awful
film
.

She found
it
amusing
;
the lengths he was willing to go in order to let Shannon think she was making all the decisions. My god, men were so dense at times she thought.  It wasn’t deciding what their entertainment choices would be that got women worked up. It was the Me Tarzan, You Jane approach where all the big stuff got handled without female input that drove her crazy.

E
ventually
she
let him off the hook after she’d had enough amusement at his long-suffering expense. Sending him off to the kitchen to make microwave popcorn, Shannon checked the channel guide and switched on a baseball game which she knew would hold his attention much better than a group of women discussing men and relationships
,
no matter how funny the dialogue was.

When Nick returned a few minutes later with a huge bowl heaped with hot buttered popcorn, he tried to get her to change the channel back to the movie in some weirdly modern show of chivalry that made Shannon laugh.

“Oh, so you were enjoying the movie?” she queried with raised eyebrows and a humorous smirk.

“Uh sure.” He replied. “It was, um …. well written and I like that actress with the accent.” Shannon all but fell over giggling at that. The entire cast had accents which ranged from English to Spanish to Indian. He was cute as hell when he was trying to placate her.

She popped a few kernels of buttery popcorn delight into her mouth and
with a deceptively innocent delivery
asked what part of the movie he liked the most so far
.
When he couldn’t answer right away Shannon burst out laughing and grabbed his shirt pulling him forward to share a salty, buttered kiss. “Nice try but no points!” she giggled at his shocked but pleased expression. “We’ll save the dripping water torture chick flick for the next time you act like a typical man and need a quick apology intervention!”

Her use of the phrase
next time
and her obvious reference of them in the future tense settled around Nick’s heart like a warm caress.  Smiling into her eyes he kidded her right back by saying
,
“Ah, so you fell for my devious man-plan, did
you?” 
S
he nudged him playfully and told him to be quiet and enjoy the game before she changed her mind.

Their playful conversation and flirtatious exchanges steadily heated up as they cheered and jeered the ballgame playing out in gorgeous HD on Shannon’s massive flat screen TV. At some point they might have even thrown popcorn at one another as they each took on cheerleading duties for the opposing team.

He enjoyed doing point and counterpoint with her. She wasn’t at all afraid to challenge him and debate a point
,
even whe
n arguing in sports metaphors. The w
oman got his adrenaline pumping on several levels for
sure,
Nick
had to admit
when
blood flow to his brain got sluggish as the result of every cell in his body
tuned in
to the growing erection in his jeans.

When it was time for the seventh inning stretch
,
Nick’s idea of the traditional short break played out as a hot and steamy make-out session that quickly blazed out of control
once
he’d hauled her onto his lap
where he
proceeded to kiss her silly while roaming hands brushed softly against every part of her trembling body where she was cradled on his sturdy rock hard thighs.

He tasted like sin with a dash of salt and butter throw in. Shannon melted in his embrace as his clever mouth and tongue played havoc with her senses. When she
let
her quivering lips part giving him intimate access to the deep recesses of her mouth, he pressed his advantage with a bone-melting oral onslaught; swir
ling his tongue around hers,
nipping and sucking on her lips as she moaned in helpless surrender.

Shannon framed his face with her hands and held him in place as she demanded more and more of the kiss. It felt so good and so completely right. She’d never been kissed by anyone the way she was being kissed by Nick. He was
shredding
her senses with his
intoxicating
masculine presence which
,
once they began kissing
,
was unleashed in a masterful, plundering storm of long-starved desire and earthy sensuality. He was devouring her, no question about it, but she was also answering each sweep of his tongue and every groan of pleasure with those of her own.

Shannon lay back in his arms and ran her fingers up and down the muscular torso she could feel under his shirt. He was magnificent to touch; all hard bodied and oh so very manly. It was intoxicating to experience him through touch with each sweeping caress causing Shannon to fall deeper into the erotic haze which swirled around them.

Nick watched as she closed her eyes and lay her head on his shoulder
,
tentatively m
emorizing
his body with a tactile exploration that made his heart thump and the erection she was sitting on top of become bolder.

She smelled wonderful
. H
e bent his head to hers and inhaled deeply while his face moved lower snuggling into the hair
tumbling
over her shoulders. After sucking in a deep lungful of her scent, he released his breath next to her ear bringing
a shudder of awareness rippling
along her body.  He felt the
tremor
as it ripped through her from where her delectable bottom wiggled on his lap
,
up her quivering spine and across her shoulders. The feminine hands stroking his chest trembled
and
the head lolling on his shoulder
turned
towards his as they nuzzled each other in open enjoyment.

Shannon couldn’t get enough of touching Nick everywhere she could reach. Her sense of how big he was intensified in the slow motion examination she was conducting of his chest and arms. When he lowered his face into her hair and she burrowed into his touch, Shannon had reached up and laid her soft hand against his neck, cupping and stroking his skin as she sat shivering in sensual thrall.

H
er fingers eventually speared into his hair
; massaging
his head
making him growl
low and dangerous
in her ear
.
Shannon arched and squirmed on Nick’s lap making his grip streng
then on her hips.
The craving she felt
to get as close to him as possible
made
Shannon
want to crawl
inside him.

His growling, masculine response to what had begun as just another series of kisses emboldened Shannon in her sensory exploration. Suddenly it wasn’t enough to touch him through his clothes. Her fingers were desperate to contact skin; feel the heat coming off his powerful body.

Nick had been leaving quick, hungry kisses along her neck and jaw. When he went searching for her mouth Shannon yielded to his mounting need and threw herself with abandon into his kiss. From her perch atop his lap Shannon returned to wanting to be a part of him and sent trembling, clumsy fingers to loosening the buttons on his shirt so she could slide her palms across his chest and up over his shoulders.

When she succeeded with the buttons and stroked his amazing chest
,
Shannon was rewarded with a response from him that felt primal and erotically charged
.
Becoming bolder, h
er touch skimmed over his sensitive male nipples and pawed the light smattering of soft hair on his upper body. He shuddered and she sensed more than heard a deep, rumbling groan well up from inside him.

He deepened the kiss until each of them was desperate for air. After filling his lungs Nick zeroed in on her neck where he licked, nipped and suckled making her squirm all the more. When he pressed an open mouth kiss where her neck met her shoulder and then bit down
,
he all but gnawed at her like a hungry animal, marking his prey while she went over the edge.

His hands
found their way under her shirt,
gently caress
ing
while the warmth from her skin seeped into his brai
n. She was shaking all over
,
moaning softly while he helped himself to her body. When his big hands finally moved to cup her lace covered breasts
,
Shannon gasped into his mouth. With thumbs stroking slowly across her beading nipples, Nick got lost in the sensations crowding his brain.
They went up flames then, with Shannon totally surrendering to her desire.

He briefly thought his manhood might very well explode from the
ache
coursing through him. He loved the way she felt in his arms. Nothing had ever felt quite
as
right as this did. Shannon lit him up from inside and shook his soul with a need so strong it staggered him.

Nick caressed Shannon’s bare skin and lingered wherever his touch fell. She was wearing another pair of those soft yoga pants that fit her like a second skin and offered scant impediment to his questing hands. He swept his palm across her stomach
,
tracing
the band of the pants. Dipping his fingers briefly under the stretchy fabric he kept on plundering her mouth deeper still until she was writhing and moaning in his embrace. Nick didn’t think he could take much more while pure male instinct made him reach further into her pants until he touched the soft satin covering her femininity.

The temperature soared between their aroused bodies as the fire they’d been stoking burst into an all-consuming conflagration that threatened to consume them both.

Shannon was dimly aware of Nick’s big hand fluttering back and forth against the front of her brief satin panties while she was consumed by his voracious mouth and wicked tongue. Shaking uncontrollably her legs fell open enough for Nick to press his advantage with a sweeping caress between her thighs that ended with Shannon arching her aching mound into his hand. When he cupped her and ground the heel of his palm against her female core she undulated in aroused abandon and whimpered her need into his questing mouth.