CHAPTER 14

          Shawn held her body tight and looked at their image in the mirror. Then he slowly kissed her ear. When Isabelle felt his tongue caressing her ear lobe, a violent desire pervaded her entire body. Turning her head, Isabelle found Shawn's face close to hers; her lips had practically touched Shawn's. This seemingly simple touch became even more intense when Shawn made her face him, ran his fingers through her hair, and pulled her head towards his.

         

His kiss might have been soft, but it sure wasn't wasting time. She felt his tongue pushing into her mouth and heard her own knee-jerk moan of excitement. Shawn's kiss became deep and demanding. It was much more exciting than the other times they kissed. Isabelle's lips ceased being soft and available and began to respond to Shawn's kiss, asking for more... Feeling the evidence of her arousal, Shawn made a low, rough noise and kissed her harder.

          Shawn’s arms were wrapped hard around her, one hand forking again through her wavy hair cradling her head. He angled it to suit his pleasure, while his second hand crushed her left butt cheek. Not satisfied enough, Shawn began to slowly lift the shirt and go underneath, stroking her soft skin, rubbing and squeezing her bottom as he owned it.

          The lingerie Isabelle was wearing wasn’t covering too much and Shawn felt quite excited. This intimate contact of his fingers made her body jolting with an erotic shock so powerful it surprised her too. She sensed a fire inside thinking that soon his fingers would be taking off her lingerie.

          His touch became more intimate and made her gasp against his mouth. It was getting impossible to separate herself from him. Isabelle couldn’t help to feel a tornado of emotions all throughout her body. The atmosphere between them was becoming so sensual, so electrical.

“Shawn...” she whispered his name.

          He tore his mouth away from hers. The eager voice of his wife had brought him back to reality.

“Oh, God… I should…” Shawn gasped, leaning his forehead against hers for a second, then took a little step back. “We should stop for now.”

          Dizzy, Isabelle stroked the pulse throbbing in his neck. She had to touch him again and again, had to feel his skin against her palms. After the night she spent away from Shawn, she felt starved for him, for all this. Going on tiptoe, Isabelle tipped her head up for another kiss.

“Woman...” he whispered with Isabelle still locked in his embrace. “Stop or you’ll end up killing me...”

          His big, broad chest went up and down with his labored breathing. Then Shawn let his hands slide to her elbows and stepped back.

“I want you so, but this isn’t how I want to be our first time here,” he added trying to recover. “Besides, your kisses are making me feel drunk…”

“Well, I would better prepare something to eat, my love... We cannot keep on... drinking like that, on an empty stomach,” she replied caressing his face.

          Looking at each other in the eyes, they began to laugh, just to play down the situation. Making love was something they both wanted to do, but neither of them wanted it to happen hastily. A lot of mistakes had already been made up to this point. This night was important for both of them, so every single step had to be perfect.

          As Isabelle walked toward the kitchen, Shawn followed her with his eyes, totally mesmerized by the goddess who was cooking barefoot in his kitchen, looking so damn sexy with his white shirt on.

          Isabelle was moving around with a certain ease that left him speechless. Every time she was getting up on her toes or bent over to get something she needed, the shirt was moving, exposing her thighs, showing him a taste of what he would have later, for dessert.

“The sauce for the pasta is almost ready,” Isabelle warned him after a few minutes. “I’m sorry, but for tonight, we will have to settle with a simple dish.”

          She put the cutlery, the glasses, and the plates on the kitchen counter and fixed his loving eyes while Shawn was approaching her. Earlier, when he was kissing her in their bedroom, Isabelle hadn’t had the time or the chance to notice Shawn's clothing.

          He had on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt so tight, it showed off his great body. He was also going around the house barefoot. This image of her husband struck her deeply. He was exuding security, sensuality... Shawn was so beautiful that she felt breathless for a few seconds.

          Shawn saw her expression and knew exactly what she was thinking. He tried hard not to laugh.

“The pasta will soon be ready. Would you mind setting the table?” Isabelle added coughing slowly.

“I know that the dinner would be great, baby. All right then, I will set the table and then I will open a bottle of red wine. Is that ok with you?” Shawn asked caressing her face.

          And that simple touch sent Isabelle in Wonderland again. Looking at him at that moment, Isabelle felt elated to have married him; she was very proud to call him ‘husband’. What Danielle had tried to do to them was monstrous and Isabelle knew now that she shouldn’t have run away from Shawn without listening to his side of the story.

          She should have trusted him; she knew that now. But Shawn was loving her so much that, instead of throwing in the towel, he followed her, and showed her the mistake she made. Thank God he brought her back home…

“Sweetie, are you still with me?” Shawn asked again, smiling at her.

“Oh... what...? Yes, I’m here,” she added reluctantly and continued to prepare dinner.

          After a few minutes, they were sitting at the table and an odd silence fell upon them. Isabelle was a bit tense, playing with the food instead of eating it. Shawn looked up at her several times, but Isabelle was staring absently at her plate.

“You seem a little nervous, my love...” he said reaching over the table to take her hand in his. “I know what you are thinking about. Baby, this is not the first time we will be making love...”

“I would have liked it to be so,” Isabelle replied smiling sadly.

“I see what you are telling me,” Shawn replied and all of a sudden, he became quite serious. “From the beginning, I was dead wrong about you. I made absurd assumptions and behaved disgustingly. I hurt you in such profound ways… The thought of not being able to erase what I did to you just kills me. Right now, I look at you and I find it hard to understand that you are here, with me, that you are my wife, a part of my life, of my future.”

          Isabelle smiled at him and her blue eyes fixed Shawn's piercing grey eyes. She felt a strong sorrow in his voice and wanted to calm him immediately.

“What you did or said to me doesn’t make you a bad man in my eyes. You did it just because you were scared of what you were feeling for me, so you thought that punishing me away would bring you peace of mind. You’ve apologized so many times and I forgave you. Shawn, the reason I married you is that I love you and I can’t see myself next to anyone else. You have always been the only man for me,” she calmly replied.

          Those wonderful words were all that Shawn wanted to hear from her. He could no longer wait. He wanted her and he wanted her now. Shawn got up from the table, helped her up, and then pulled her towards him. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly.

“Mrs. Grayson, how about we stop talking?”

“Mr. Grayson, I thought you’d never ask…”