AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ian pulled his own shirt off and Cassie reached out, quickly unfastening his pants. In no time he was reaching for her, wearing only a smile.
“Tell me you know this is more than sex,” he muttered against her lips. “I want you to know that to me, this is so much more.”
Tears pricked the backs of her eyes as she nodded. The lump in her throat left her speechless. She really didn’t know what label he wanted to put on this relationship, but right now, she couldn’t think beyond the fact that Ian’s hands were sliding into her panties and gliding them down her shaky legs.
Cassie wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and kicked aside the flimsy material. Ian’s hands cupped her bottom as he guided her backward.
“Tell me where your room is,” he muttered against her lips.
“Last door on the right.”
He kissed her on the throat, across the swells of her breasts, all the while keeping his hands firmly gripped on her backside as he maneuvered her down the hallway and into her room.
A small bedside lamp gave the room a soft glow. Ian gently shut the door behind him and looked her right in the eyes. There was an underlying vulnerability looking back at her, and Cassie knew what he was thinking.
“I’ve never had a man in this room,” she told him. “And there’s no other man I want here.”
As if the dam had broken, Ian reached for her, capturing her lips once again and lifting her by the waist.
When she locked her legs around his hips and they tumbled onto the bed, Ian broke free of her lips and kissed a path down to her breasts. Leaning back, Cassie gripped his hair as he tasted her.
“Ian,” she panted. “I don’t have any protection.”
His dark gaze lifted to hers. “I didn’t bring any. I hadn’t planned on ending up here.”
Biting her lip, Cassie said, “I’m on birth control and I’m clean. I’ve only been with my ex-husband and you.”
Ian’s hands slid up to cup her face as he kissed her lips. “I’ve never been without protection and I know I’m clean, too.”
She smiled. “Then why are we still talking?”
Cassie moved her hands to his waist. Before she could say another word, Ian slid into her. Closing her eyes, Cassie let out a soft groan as he began to move above her.
“Look at me,” he demanded in that low tone. “I want you to see me and only me.”
As if any other man could take his place? But as she stared into his eyes, she saw so much more than lust, than sex and passion. This man was falling for her. He may not even recognize the emotion himself, but it was there, plain as day, looking back at her.
When his pace increased, Cassie gripped his shoulders and arched her back. “Ian...I...”
Eyes still locked on to her, he clenched the muscle in his jaw. “Go ahead, baby.”
Her body trembled with her release, but she refused to close her eyes. She wanted him to see just how affected she was by his touch...his love.
When his arms stiffened and his body quivered against hers, Cassie held on, swallowing back the tears that clogged her throat.
One thing was very certain. The night in the attic may have been all about lust, but this moment right here in her bed, Cassie had gone and fallen in love with Ian Shaffer.
* * *
“I have to be on set early,” Ian whispered into her ear.
Pulling himself away from the warm bed they’d spent the night in, Ian quickly gathered his clothes and dressed. Cassie eased up onto one elbow, and the sheet slipped down to stop just at the slope of her breasts. All that creamy exposed skin had him clenching his jaw and reliving what had just transpired hours before between those sheets.
“How early?” she asked, her voice thick with sleep.
“I’d like to see Max before he starts.”
Okay, so the lie rolled easily off his tongue, but he couldn’t stay. He couldn’t remain in her bed, smelling her sweet scent, playing house in her little cottage, with her innocent baby sleeping in the next room.
What did he know about family or children...or whatever emotion was stirring within him? His career had always taken precedence over any social life or any feelings. With his parents’ example of the epitome of failed marriages and love, he knew he wanted something completely different for his own life, so perfecting his career was the path he’d chosen.
How could he put his career, his agency and the impending addition of Lily to his client roster in jeopardy simply because he’d become entangled with Cassie Barrington? She was the poster child for commitment, and an instant family was something he couldn’t get wrapped up in.
Cassie was a beautiful, intriguing complication. His eyes darted to the bed, where she studied him with a hint of desire layered with curiosity.
