CHAPTER 24
GRACE

Walking up to Ryan’s front door, I knocked, but when he opened the door I could see panic in his eyes. He looked around for a second before tugging me inside, then he slammed the door behind me.

“Ryan, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“Jason isn’t answering my text messages,” he said.

“Where is he? Is he okay?”

“He’s supposed to be studying at a friend’s house.”

“Well, I’m sure he’s fine. They’re probably just really tuned in.”

But Ryan simply shook his head before he pulled out his phone again.

He was clearly rattled, but I didn’t know why. There was food resting on the table with fruit juice in glasses, but Ryan didn’t seem interested in it. I walked into the kitchen and sat down, waiting for him to follow me.

But all he did was stand at the window and rake his hand through his hair.

“Ryan, come sit. I’m sure he’s okay,” I said.

“Why isn’t he responding?”

“Because he’s a teenager?” I asked.

“I told him he needed to keep in touch with me.”

“Why?” I asked.

Ryan jumped when his phone went off and relief crossed his face. It must have been Jason, but I still couldn’t understand why Ryan had been so worried about it. He typed away on his phone as he walked into the kitchen, then sent the message off and sat down at his chair. I reached over and took his hand and could feel him shaking.

Like I had been a few nights ago before I told him I was pregnant.

“Ryan, you’re scaring me.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to. He just usually responds to me right away. It had me really worried.”

“Ah, so you’ll be one of those kinds of parents,” I said with a grin.

“That a bad thing?” he asked.

“No. It means you care. Though it might drive me a bit bonkers.”

“You aren’t that kind of parent?”

“I worry a little bit, but I’ve never been like that, no. Dinner smells delicious, by the way.”

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to freak you out.. I’ve just been—”

“Ryan, it’s okay,” I said.

But when my hand came down onto his forearm, he flinched.

I wanted to ask him about it, but I also wanted to have a good evening with him. He had given me the space to come to him whenever I was ready to talk, so I needed to be able to do the same. I massaged his arm for a little bit until his eyes connected with him, then I gave him a kind smile.

“Work rough today?” I asked.

“You don’t even know the half of it,” Ryan said breathlessly.

“Then let’s eat and talk about anything but work,” I said.

We gathered food onto our plates and settled into a comfortable rhythm. I could tell Ryan was still nervous. His eyes kept darting around from time to time. At one point, I turned around to see what he was looking at before he claimed he had been zoning out.

“I’m sorry. I wanted this to be a romantic night.”

“Not all of our moments together are going to be romantic,” I said. “Sometimes they’ll be filled with tension and sometimes we’ll be upset. It happens. I still like being around you.”

“Good. Because you’re not getting rid of me anytime soon,” he said.

I smiled up at him as we picked around at our dinner, but neither of us were really hungry. I had a feeling that whatever was going on in Ryan’s brain was keeping him from eating, but mine was different. I had been nauseous most of the day and was sticking with soups and broths for the time being. But I didn’t want his dinner to go to waste, so I took a few courtesy bites before setting my fork down.

“You cooked, I’ll clean,” I said.

“Are you already full?” Ryan asked.

“As full as I’m going to get for now.”

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” he asked.

“Just a touch of nausea. Nothing serious.”

“No, no. Sit down and let me get you some Sprite.”

“Ryan, stop. I’m not some fragile porcelain—”

“Grace. Sit down.”

His commanding voice sent shivers up my spine. I sat back down in my chair as he gathered the uneaten food from the table. He reached into the fridge and pulled out a small can of Sprite, then sat it in front of me to drink. I watched as he moved around the kitchen with ease.

I loved how dominating he had been in bed lately. All the time, in fact. Even in high school, he had been that way. My eyes took him in as he relaxed against the counter, his hand running through his hair as he sighed.

He was still wound up, and I had the perfect way to help him relax.

I took a few sips of my drink before I stood from the kitchen chair. I sauntered over to him, my eyes raking down his form. He furrowed his brow as I stood in front of him, my hands rising to slide along his chest.

“Do you think you might be up for some ice cream?” Ryan asked. “I’ve got some in the freezer.”

“I was thinking something a little—different for dessert.”

I pulled his shirt from his jeans as his eyes widened.

“Grace, it’s okay. We don’t have t—”

But my lips connected with his, silencing his statement.

Pressing my body into him, my fingers unbuckled his pants. I fell to the floor, dragging his jeans down his thighs. He braced himself against the counter as I pulled out his cock, feeling it bounce against my nose.

I nuzzled it, relishing the groan that fell from Ryan’s lips.

Licking a thick stripe from his base to his tip before pulling him into my mouth, I took him all the way back as Ryan’s hand fell to my hair, wrapping up within my soft tresses. He hissed air through his teeth as I hollowed out my cheeks and I could taste the cum dripping from his tip.

I moaned as I drank him down, my throat closing around his cock.

I bobbed my head, bracing myself against his thighs as they shivered. I felt him pulsing against my cheeks, growing thicker with each stroke. My tongue wrapped around his head, teasing him as he began to thrust into my face. His movements were gaining in speed, and I knew he was close to coming down my throat.

“Fuck, Grace. Shit, your mouth. It’s so—warm and—and—”

I released his cock with a pop before he had a chance to explode down my throat. He groaned in frustration as he pulled me up from the floor by my hair. But I wasn’t allowing him to gain the upper hand.

Tonight, he would know what it felt like to lay back and enjoy the moment.

I untangled his hand from my hair before pulling him down the hallway. I whipped us around and slammed the door, then shoved his body onto the bed. His cock was bouncing against his body and his legs were spread wide. I ripped my clothes off my body and stood there, watching as he slid his shirt off his shoulders.

“You have no idea how hot you look right now,” Ryan said.

I strode towards him, pinning his body to the bed. I straddled his hips and ground my dripping pussy onto him. He growled at me and I crashed my lips to him, silencing his sounds as I took the lead.

“Fuck, you’re so hot when you take control,” he said.

I rolled my hips along his thick dick, slicking him up with my juices. I rose up and trapped his tip, then inched my way down his body. His hands flew to my hips but I caught them, intertwining my fingers and pressing his hands into the bed.

My tits were in his face as I began to buck down onto his cock.

“You like that?” I asked. “You like it when I use you?”

“Anytime, anywhere, anyplace,” Ryan said.

“You like my pussy around your cock? Hmm? Swallowing you down like only I can?”

“You feel fantastic. Fuck me harder, Grace.”

Slamming down into his lap, I felt my clit peek out for a much-needed release. His lips were biting at my tits and kissing the marks he left behind. His fingers were curling into my hand as his hips began to thrust up into me. My body was jumping, my skin was crawling and the fire in my gut was growing to a raging inferno.

I threw my head back and sat up as my pussy throbbed around his cock.

“That’s it. Come around me, baby. Oh, fuck. So tight. So—shit—”

I massaged my tits as my body shook against him. My toes curled and my head began to swim and the room was tilting. I fell into his body, his arms catching me and turning me over.

I was suddenly on my back and Ryan was pounding into my body.

“Come on, Grace. I know you got another for me. Let me have it. Give it to me.”

My eyes sprang open and I managed to turn us back over.

“This is for you,” I said breathlessly. “Let me give this to you.”

Our eyes connected and I watched his features soften. My hands ran down his arms, then planted firmly into his chest. I rolled my hips slowly, feeling his body trembling underneath me. His hand rose up and cupped my cheek, his thumb stroking my bottom lip.

Ryan planted his arms into the bed and shuffled himself up the headboard. He was leaning against it, my body straddling his lap. His hands wrapped around me and I gripped onto the wood behind his head, gaining the leverage I needed to roll as hard as I wanted it.

“Ryan. Shit. You feel—so—so—oh.”

“Grace. Your body. It fits mine so—perfectly—”

I rolled deeply into his body, pulling myself and pushing myself again. His cock dove deeper and deeper, growing and throbbing as it pressed against my walls. My clit was pressing into his body. Electricity was blinding my vision. My face fell to his shoulder and I began to kiss him. Nip at him. Dig my teeth into him.

I felt an animal inside take over as I picked up the pace.

His hands fell to my hips as the headboard knocked against the wall. I moaned and gasped into the crook of his neck. Ryan’s hands were gripping my hips firmly. He was pulling me as close as he could get me. His cock stroked against all the right spots of my body and it left me with a swirling head and speechless. I dug my knees into the bed and rocked it on its frame. The entire bed was moving with us as I fucked the man I loved. His hand cracked against my ass and it made me squeal, and another one was dealt to match the mark I knew would be there in the morning.

My eyes rolled into the back of my head and my body began to lock up. My jaw unhinged and I bit down into Ryan’s shoulder. His fingertips dug into my hips as he began to thrust into me, feeling my movements stutter and grow uneven.

“Come for me. Do it. Do it now, Grace. Release it. Come on. I’m coming, Grace. I’m coming.”

I felt his dick sink into me and I unraveled in his arms. I went limp against him, my forehead dripping with sweat. My toes curled and uncurled and my legs dug into the mattress. I was shivering. Shaking. My fingers were twitching and my back was arching my body into his. Cum started dripping from between my thighs as my pussy sucked him dry. Milking him for all he had as I panted for breath.

Sighing with relief, my body collapsed into him as we slowly slid back down to the bed.

The room was spinning as I laid there in his arms. I could feel how relaxed he was and it spread a smile across my face. He pulled out from between my legs and I shivered at the sensation, and it caused the two of us to giggle.

“Wow,” Ryan said.

“Yep. That pretty much sums it up.”

“I wish you could stay.”

“Me too,” I said. “But I need to get back to Harper. My mother’s watching her and things are still tense with us.”

“You don’t have to explain. I understand,” he said.

We laid there for a few more minutes, gathering our strength before we moved from his bed. I went into the bathroom the clean myself up a bit, then I put on my clothes and met Ryan in the living room. I didn’t want to leave him, I wanted to stay and fall asleep in his arms, but there was still a lot we had to address and neither of us was in a position to talk about anything tonight.

He escorted me tomy car, our fingers interlocked. I leaned against him, but I could feel Ryan growing tense again.

I wondered what was really bothering him.

“I had a great time tonight,” I said.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“When are you free next?”

“I am pretty busy until Saturday night. And I know you work Sunday.”

“Then let’s plan on Saturday night?” I asked.

An odd look crossed his face but was gone before I could put a name to it. “Sure, I’ll make that work,” he said.

I gave Ryan one last kiss before I hopped in my car and drove home. I saw my mother staring out the window. She wasn’t even trying to cover up how much she was trying to snoop. I relieved her with a curt nod and she left quietly, then I proceeded to make my way up to my room. Harper had already been laid down for bed and I didn’t want to disturb her, but part of me wanted to cuddle with her.

I didn’t want to wake her though, and I decided to leave her be until morning.

I was worried that Ryan was freaking out about being a father, which was why I wanted us to sit down and talk things through. We hadn’t spoken about things at all since the night I told him, and his worry was becoming apparent. If he had some answers to his questions, he would probably feel better, and that meant we could spend our time together planning and laughing instead of worrying and tip-toeing around the subject.

Sighing, I shuffled into my bedroom.

I sat on the edge of my bed and kicked off my shoes. I was ready to get some sleep. My body was still humming from the pleasure of the night and I needed to get to sleep before I riled myself up again thinking about it. But my phone vibrating in my purse caught my attention. I pulled it out and saw I had a few missed calls from my boss along with a very long voice message.

Great. What in the world did Lionel want?

“Grace. It’s your boss. I’ve tried calling you a few times to no avail. I need you to come in on Saturday this weekend. I know it’s a bit late, but you can consider it your make-up day for the personal time you took. Trevor quit today—we’ll talk about that later—but now I’m short-handed. I’ve got some interviews on the books, but they aren’t until next week. Thanks again.”

I groaned and flopped myself down onto the bed. So much for spending quality time with Harper this weekend. I shot Amy a message and asked her if she was free Saturday to watch Harper. I’d pay her for her time, even though I knew she would turn the money down. I wasn’t ready to ask my mother to start babysitting full-time again like she had been. She and I still needed to sit down and talk some things through.

Once she got her temper under control.

I tossed my phone off to the side and didn’t bother taking my clothes off. My eyes were already fluttering closed, despite the fact that my phone was vibrating. It was probably Amy responding to my message. Or maybe it was Lionel calling again.

Whoever the hell it was though, they would have to wait.

Because I needed sleep.