Chapter 19
When I opened my eyes, I lay on my side spooning against Garrett’s hard body, his arm possessively circling me, our legs intertwined. I stayed still, listening to the sound of his breathing and holding on to the moment for as long as possible, because soon we would be home…and I knew things would change.
“Hey.” He pulled me tighter against him.
“Did I wake you?”
“No.”
Slowly I rolled to face him, finding a hint of grey shadowing his beautiful chestnut eyes. He looked completely worn out, his gaze weary.
“Did you get any sleep at all?”
“A little.”
“You need more rest.”
“I’ll sleep tonight.”
“It’s okay if you need to move to the other room.”
He groaned, and his lips curved upward in an amused grin. “Then I wouldn’t sleep at all.”
“I’ve grown so used to sleeping next to you, it’ll be weird climbing into my cold bed alone when we get back.”
Garrett stilled for a second before running the tips of his fingers up and down the curvature of my spine, stroking the skin at the small of my back before trailing upward again. “Your aunt called while you were asleep.”
In a whirl, I shuffled to a sitting position with wide eyes. “You should have woken me! What did she say?”
“I would have if it were urgent. You were sleeping too soundly and needed the rest. She said they’re going to try to wean her off the ventilator tonight, and if that’s successful, they plan to move her out of the ICU into a regular hospital room tomorrow. She also said your mother squeezed her hand when she told her you were on your way home.”
My eyes instantly misted. “That’s wonderful! I can’t wait to see her.”
He pulled me down to snuggle against his chest. “Two days...we’ll be home.”
We lay in silence, my hand over his beating heart, enjoying the gentle soothing motion of the ship trudging across the calm seas. His soft eyes warmed the blood in my veins like melted chocolate ready to be drizzled over fresh plump strawberries…so delicious and seductive.
Dipping my gaze to the stubble lining his jaw, I shivered at the thought of the roughness against my skin.
Oh what he does to me.
“I kept it so you could decide if you like the feel of it on the insides of your thighs.” His lips curled at the corners and he flashed a searing grin.
I felt the blush tinting the skin of my face and met wicked amusement dancing in his expression.
“I’m glad you did.”
Garrett let out a husky groan and rolled me onto my back in a flash. His lips found my neck, driving me mad, teasing me with his tongue all the way to the peak of my already beaded nipple. He palmed the other breast before licking his way over to join in on the play. I gasped and tugged at his soft hair when his teeth grazed my sensitive flesh. The scruffiness of his face prickled along the path down my stomach, and a whimper escaped my mouth.
Trailing, licking, and nipping, he worked his way between my thighs. His hands grasped my hips, pinning me in place as he ran his tongue through my crevice in a slow devouring swirl.
“God, I could taste you all night.”
His delved his tongue inside me, lapping with deep greedy strokes, working me up and down. He flicked and sucked the bundle of nerves, and they screamed in response. I pulled at his hair fisted in my hands, lost in the way he worshiped me.
“Oh my God.” I panted and tried to buck against his mouth, but he kept me pinned in place on the mattress while he took me closer to the edge.
Tingles engulfed my entire body as the delicious roughness of the stubbly hair made me grind against his face. He sucked me deep into his mouth and swirled his tongue one final time, lapping me into oblivion.
“Yes. Oh God, yes! Garrett!” I cried his name in my sweet release, quivering as wave after wave of pleasure rippled through me.
When he pulled back, his mouth glistened and, my body hummed with the aftershocks. His teeth nipped the inside of my thigh before sliding his face against my sensitive flesh.
“The look on your face when you come brings me to my knees. It’s fucking gorgeous.”
I reached down to unfasten the snap of his shorts but his hands found mine. “No. This is about you.”
“Take your shorts off.”
“No. I want to be just for you.”
“Do you like giving me pleasure, Garrett?” I purred.
“More than the air I breathe.”
“If I asked for more…asked to come again, would you make me come again?”
The wicked glint in his eyes told me I had him right where I wanted him. He looked like he held a bottle of bourbon and hadn’t had a single sip in months.
“I would make you come all night long.” He sucked my nipple into his mouth and flicked his tongue over the tip.
“I want you to fuck me. I want to come with you inside me.”
He leaned up on his elbow with fire in his eyes before kissing me hard like he was starving for me… starving for what I’d demanded.
This time when my finger sought the metal button, he just stared deep into my eyes.
Pushing him onto his back, I crawled my way over his body, straddling him in the center of the bed. He drank in my every move as if I were his last meal. Heavy hooded eyes and deep ragged breaths turned me on even more.
Without waiting, I guided him inside me and slammed myself down, filling myself completely and grinding against him. We both moaned in unison, and I rocked my hips up and down, faster and faster.
“Fuck!” He blew out the word several times, his hands on my hips, guiding my rhythm.
Garrett arched, thrusting and meeting each rock of our hips with a deep plunge. His hands moved to my hair, fisting and pulling, gentle and rough at the same time.
In a quick move, he rolled me onto my back. With us still joined together, he thrust into me, fierce and hard, grinding into me.
“Oh God, Garrett,” I cried out.
“You’re mine,” he whispered as the ripples coursed through me. “Keep your eyes open. You wanted to come with me inside you. I fucking own this one.” He growled through clenched teeth and I knew he struggled with restraint, holding back so we could come together.
As he drove into me, my head fell back against the pillow, burning in pleasure. I met his eyes as the world shifted off its axis and I screamed his name. My entire body quaked, and the pure pleasure pulsed through the center of my soul.
As he supported himself with the palms of his hands flat against the mattress, satisfaction nipped at the corners of his lips and he looked directly into my eyes. He plunged into me one last time and shuddered hard, my inner core clenching and eagerly accepting his sweet release.
“God, that was good.” His body spasmed powerfully and he buried his face in my neck, holding me tightly in place.
He trembled as hard as I did, and our skin glistened with a fine sheen of ardor. I felt undone, limp, and totally, amazingly spent. My heart slowed, coming off its high, and I wanted to stay like that forever, entangled with him.
He kissed my forehead, still buried deep inside me with a semi-erection. “I want to stay like this…buried inside you.”
“Then stay.”
“Whatever it is you’ve done to me, I can’t get enough.”
Sighing, I felt the same way, but I didn’t reply. He searched my eyes before leaning down and resting his forehead against mine. His breath ghosted across my skin, and I had the most frightening thought.
Holy hell, there is so much more going on than I’ve allowed myself to admit.
Falling in love with him was the dumbest thing I could ever do.
The worst.
I knew better than to fall in love.
And yet…I had.
“What’s going on in that mind of yours?” he mumbled against my cheek.
“You scare me. What we’re doing scares me.”
Slowly he eased out of me, propping up on his elbow and staring into my soul. “Brooke, no one has ever scared me like you do. There may come a time when you think you don’t want this, but I won’t be able to walk away.”
“You don’t even know me, not really.”
“I know more than you think, enough to make me want to know more.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but you’ll find out I’m pretty boring.”
“From the first time I saw you, you’ve been anything but boring—except for those fucking clothes you tried to hide behind.” He let out a soft chuckle. “There’s always been something about you.”
“Well the first day I met you, I thought you were an arrogant asshole.”
He rolled me over on top of him, clutching my hips. “And now?”
I let out a chuckle, placing my hands on his chest. “Arrogant, yes. Asshole, not so much.”
“Do you want me to show you how arrogant I can be?” He squeezed the cheeks of my butt. “I’m arrogant enough to know I can make you come more times than you can count, and my name will be all you can scream—all. Fucking. Night. Long.”
Damn.
His words intoxicated all my senses and muted my vocal chords. His lips flattened, and I could tell he was suppressing a wicked devilish smile. His blazing cocky eyes said he wanted to devour me, and although I could see the exhaustion written all over his face, I knew he would make good on his word.
Swallowing hard, I replied, “I want that. I want to scream your name until I can’t remember my own, but not until you’ve slept.”
“Sleep’s overrated.” His hands massaged my ass, pressing me into his hardness.
“Maybe, but I’m drained, physically and mentally,” I lied. “I just want to sleep in your arms and wake up knowing we have all the time in the world for me to give you everything I have to give.”
“Where have you been?”
Puzzled, I narrowed my eyes. “What?”
“All my life women have wanted me to lavish them with gifts, to give and give some more. It’s always been about the money, but you? You want to give me everything. That makes me want to give you the world.”
“I just want time, Garrett. I’m not about hearts and flowers. I don’t need those kind of things. Actions, honesty, and integrity mean more. Gifts, large or small, are sometimes just empty gestures.”
“I can give you time, so much time you’ll be sick of me.”
“Tell me how a man like you is single.”
“That’s easy—I’ve been waiting for you.”
Emotion filled my heart, but I didn’t dare say anything. That very moment was far more perfect than I could have ever dreamed.
Rolling to my side, I nestled against him as he wrapped his arm around me. In a matter of seconds, his breathing evened, and I knew he’d fallen fast asleep.
I closed my eyes with a smile on my lips and drifted off into the sweetest dreams.