Shane laughs, flipping him off. “Fuck you, man.”
I don’t get the inside joke between them, but it seems good-natured as they bro-hug. Shane shakes hands with a few of the girls and gives a quick hug to Allie, and then we’re done. As we approach the door, I look up, seeing Dominick watching us. He doesn’t say a word, just stands in the doorway of his office, watching us, but I wave goodbye and smile anyway. Dominick had sent someone for Shane’s truck days ago, so it’s waiting in the parking lot for us.
I curl into the passenger seat, tears already starting to slip down my cheeks. Shane looks over and wipes them away with a gentle thumb. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
I shake my head, kissing the ball of his thumb softly. “It just feels . . . final. Like I’m not going to see them again, you know?”
“Angel, you literally just made plans with Allie for this weekend,” he reminds me. “You two are going to be thick as thieves, and I doubt I’m gonna get two minutes of you to myself. That’s the definition of not final.”
I smile through the tears, chuckling. “You’re right. It just feels like I’m saying goodbye.”
Shane is thoughtful, considering that for a moment, then puts his truck into drive and pulls away. “Well, you are saying goodbye to a lot of things. Your job at Petals, your job at the tabloid, your innocence at how the city runs. But you’re starting a lot of new things, like this with me. It’s not the end of things. It’s the beginning of new things.”
I lean across the seat to wrap my arms around his arm, laying my head on his shoulder. “You’re right. Let’s go home.”
It doesn’t occur to me that I didn’t say ‘my place’ or ‘your place’ until Shane pulls into the parking lot of my apartment. “Oh, if you need to go to your house, we can. Sorry. I didn’t mean—”
Shane puts a finger to my lips, shushing me. “Maggie, you are my home. My apartment in the city is a front, part of the assignment. For the past year, I’ve basically lived out of a duffel bag. My place is more of a pit stop than anything else. I like your apartment, it’s like you, sweet, innocent, warm. If you don’t mind, I could use a little more sweet innocence in my life.”
I smile shyly, nodding. “Okay, then let’s go home.”
We walk up the stairs, and I feel like we’re walking hand-in-hand to something bigger, better. At the landing, Shane swoops me up into his arms and carries me across the threshold like a bride. It makes me warm and bubbly inside.
He kicks the door closed and bends down for me to lock it, and then continues his trek to my bedroom. He sets me down gently on the edge of the bed before looking around. “Bathroom? I sorta forgot.”
I point behind him, and he disappears for a minute. I can hear him digging around, looking for something, and I call out. “You okay? Need something?”
“Nope, got it,” he says, then I hear the bathtub turn on, the water echoing out in the quiet apartment. “There, that’s perfect.”
Shane reappears, pulling me up from the bed. He begins stripping me, and my body responds instantly, knowing what it wants, and I try to kiss him.
Shane steps back, his eyes twinkling in amusement. “Nu-uh, Angel. I will always give you what you want, but trust me to know what you need too.”
Confused, I let him undress me the rest of the way and then watch as he strips too. Once we’re both naked, he leads me to the bathroom. I’ve always liked this bathroom. It’s why I put up with the rest of the place. The big garden tub is full of steaming water and fluffy bubbles, and there are tea candles lit on the countertop.
The bubbles in my belly rise again, the happiness bursting out as I giggle and turn to Shane. “Are you giving me a bath?”
Shane holds me, our naked bodies pressed together as he kisses my temple. “Angel, we’ve had a rough few days. And tomorrow, I’m going to have to start the process of becoming Agent Guthrie again. But for now, I want to wash all the roughness away, start fresh and clean and honest with each other. Never lie to me, never hide from me. Give me all of you. And I’ll do the same for you.”
I nod, tracing a fingertip along the designs covering his chest. “I love you, Shane.”
He presses his lips to mine, smiling. “I love you too, Maggie. Now let’s get in.”
He steps in first, holding my hand to help me in too. I grab a hair band from the tub edge and quickly twist my hair up into a messy bun on top of my head.
We sit, my back to his front with his legs spread wide around me. Settling in the hot water, the suds tickle and tease against my skin. Shane grabs my pouf and pours body wash on it, working it to a foam and inhaling the scent deeply, grinning. “Mmm. I figured it was a special soap that makes you smell so good. Makes me want to eat you up.”
I smile, too dreamy to reply as he moves the pouf along my skin, covering my arms and my chest in the warm vanilla sugar scent of my body wash. “I’ll make sure to buy another couple of bottles this weekend.”
Shane nods, reaching down and motioning for my foot. “Give me a leg.”
I raise a foot toward the ceiling, not as flexible as the dancers at Petals, but not too shabby, if I say so myself. I can feel Shane hardening against my back as he washes down the length of my calf to my thigh, where it disappears into the water. He repeats the move on the other leg, his forehead dotted with sweat, either from his arousal or the warm water, or both.
Once I’m curled back under the surface of the warm water, he shifts, pressing me forward so he can wash my back. The pouf drops into the water, and I feel Shane’s rough palms tracing along my back, washing the bubbles away and massaging my soft skin. His lips follow the path of his hands, kissing and nibbling along my shoulder and up to my neck. “Angel . . . so sweet.”
A moan rolls past my lips, and I feel like I could lie in his arms forever, but I want to do for him what he’s done for me. I want to wash all the past, the lies, the fear away. I want him to know that I want to be by his side. Even if the FBI says that we have to move, or that he has to go man the office in Alaska or something, I’ll be there with him. I sit up, breaking his embrace for a moment before turning to face him and sitting between his splayed legs.
I feel around for the pouf. Finding it, I use more body wash to work the lather back up as Shane watches me with hooded eyes. “Hope you don’t mind smelling like me,” I say flirtatiously as I start to swirl the pouf along Shane’s chest. “I happen to love covering you in my . . . scent.”
Shane growls, his hands resting on my hips and pulling me closer, bit by bit. “Pretty sure I told you I’d smell like you anytime you’d let me. I meant I liked your juices marking me, reminding me and everyone else that I’ve been between those sweet thighs. But I’ll take any damn thing you want to give me, Angel. Although I am hoping that normally I can use some regular soap.”
Having washed his thick chest, the bumps of his washboard abs, and along the length of his powerful arms, I move my hands lower. His cock jumps as I lick my lips, leaning in. “Good . . . because time for getting washed is over.”
Under the water, I let the pouf go, wrapping my hands around his thickness and giving him a few strokes.
Shane groans, his fingers tightening on my hips. “Fuck, Maggie.”
I keep the pace slow, wanting to control how fast he builds, but he bucks against me, fighting for more. I move to straddle one of his thighs, forcing him still, and lean forward, licking his earlobe. “Shane, let me love you. Let me jack you off, let me mark you the way you mark me. Let me . . . let me be your woman.”
His body is strung tight, using all of his control to hold back and let me have this. I move down his neck, kissing and licking and nibbling the way he does to me.