Chapter Eight

 

She moaned when he pulled back, then gasped when he swung her into his arms. Anyone watching would be in doubt about what he intended to do to her as he strode towards the bed and deposited her on the covers, then started to unbutton his shirt. Delicious anticipation pulsed between her thighs, and her nipples were tight, aching beads against the fabric of her bra.

Grant dropped onto the bed and crawled towards her, shirtless, the denim of his jeans moulded intimately against his muscular thighs and the taut curve of his ass. He was breathtaking. She couldn’t resist reaching out to touch him, smoothing her palms over his shoulders and down his chest, enjoying the rough feel of his scattering of chest hair against her fingertips.

He growled low in his throat, a feral sound that made the hair prickle on the back of her neck, not from fear but from arousal. Then he dove in for a kiss that had her toes curling as he pressed her back on the bed. His skin was hot and satin-smooth over hard muscle. His lips were firm and sweet against hers, and he slid his tongue against hers in a seductive rhythm that made her think about what it would feel like to have his cock inside her. Made her ache for it.

Unconsciously, she parted her thighs, and he settled between them, rolling his hips to press his erection against her molten core. Her pussy clenched hungrily and she moaned into his mouth as he worked his tongue against hers, mimicking the motion of fucking, giving her a taste of what was to come.

“You are so damn beautiful,” he growled into her ear, and he flicked his tongue over the end of the scar that touched the side of her mouth, and she knew she was beautiful to him, the scar that she had always been so self-conscious about a mark of bravery, of resilience.

He moved down her body, unbuttoning her blouse as he went, trailing kisses down her throat, over her collarbone and down her sternum. He drew her nipple into his mouth through the fabric of her bra, sucking on it until the satin was soaked and every sensual stroke of his tongue sent a bolt of lust directly to her core. She moaned and wriggled against him, then caught her breath as he yanked her into a sitting position so he could peel off her blouse and bra. Then he popped open the button on her fly and drew her pants and panties down her legs. She wriggled to help him, then kicked them off as he drew them over her feet.

She shrieked a surprised laugh when he feathered a kiss over her instep, but it changed to a moan of pleasure as he traced patterns on her calf with his tongue then moved further up, pressing kisses to the inside of her thigh as he guided her legs apart.

He parted her folds gently, exposing her clit, then went to work on it with his clever tongue, flicking and stroking and massaging. She groaned and dug her fingers into the comforter, bracing her feet on the mattress as he lapped greedily at her pussy. Orgasm coiled tighter and tighter right where he was kissing her, tantalizingly out of reach until he pushed two fingers inside her, thrusting into her wetness and sending her tumbling into a blissful climax. She gasped and writhed, thighs trembling as he lashed her with his tongue until he’d wrung every last spasm from her.

He worked his way back up her body, and she eagerly helped him to strip off his jeans, making a hungry sound of pleasure as his cock sprang free and she wrapped her fingers around its solid length.

He groaned. “Don’t touch me. It feels too good. I want to be inside you when I come.”

She eagerly assented, helping him to guide himself to her entrance, then hooked her leg over his hip so he could push all the way inside her, deep and hard.

They both gasped for breath at the sharpness of the pleasure, and Grant shuddered for a moment, eyes closed, eyebrows drawn together in concentration as he grappled for self-control.

He dug his fingers into her hips as he drew out then pushed back inside her again, stroking her G-spot and catching the last tatters of her orgasm, pulling it back and winding it tighter again.

When she was almost there, breath coming quickly and an aroused flush coloring her throat and chest a blushing pink, he rolled over, pulling her with him so he was straddling him, so she could ride him until she came. She lowered herself onto his erection, working herself up and down, moaning lustily as she came. Her pussy spasmed and pulsed around him, and his cock twitched. His muscles locked and he shouted helplessly as he came, emptying himself into her body.

She watched his face, his features twisted with pleasure and passion, and the sight of it made her come again, collapsing against his chest as bliss surged through her body on a flood of happy hormones.

They lay in tangle of sweat-slick limbs, breathing hard, wrung out by exertion and pleasure. Celeste felt so light she might float away, except that Grant was holding her in his arms, anchoring her to Earth.

“We make a lot of sacrifices for our son, don’t we?” Grant grinned at her.

“We do. We’re incredibly noble. Also, I see how you keep calling him our son. That’s not slipping past me,” she said, with mild reproof.

She rolled out of bed with great regret, looking down at him. The sheets were rucked up around his waist, leaving his flat stomach and muscular chest exposed, and she let her eyes linger. His body would have made Michelangelo weep. The treasure trail of hair leading beneath the sheet tempted her fingers, just the memory of the way he’d touched her making her wet. She wanted him again. Wanted him inside her.

“Subliminal messaging.” He stifled a yawn. “And also it’s very important for us to get into character. We need to be convincing for the case worker, don’t we? If you were my mate – I mean my wife – I’d be having sex with you every night, and sneaking in a quickie every time Jeffrey was otherwise occupied. Of course, that’s not going to happen, since you’re Miss Independent Lone Wolf. But that’s the role we need to play for the next few weeks.” He looked so adorably rumpled that it took everything she had not to crawl back into bed with him.

I can’t sleep with him. Jeffrey needs me. And I won’t let myself get used to this.

He reached out for her. “In fact, since we’re staying in character, my character at this point would be having sex with you again right now. There are a few parts of your body that I haven’t tasted.”

She backed away. “Shame on you, sir. There is a small boy downstairs who needs me.”

“Ouch. Low blow.”

She turned and hurried to the bathroom, summoning up scenes of her horrible childhood to fortify her resolve. Sleeping with a can of pepper spray to keep her foster “brothers” out of her bed in the group home. Family after family sending her and her sister back – because they could see something ugly and unlovable in her. What was it they’d seen? She didn’t know. She stood there in the shower and scrubbed and scrubbed, but still couldn’t scrub away the bone-deep feeling of unworthiness.

When she got to Jeffrey’s room, Mandy was sitting on the couch with headphones in her ears listening to an audiobook, and Jeffrey was in bed under a pile of pillows and blankets. Celeste tiptoed in and settled into an armchair.

“He fell asleep an hour ago,” Mandy whispered to Celeste.

“No I didn’t,” Jeffrey said from under his pillow.

“Jeffrey! Dang, you’re good,” Mandy said.

“See, we’re still here. I didn’t lie,” Celeste called out.

“Tonight you didn’t,” he conceded, his voice muffled.

When she woke up in the morning, he was curled up in a ball on the floor by her feet. Celeste looked down at him.

How can I ever leave you? she wondered.