But now isn’t my time.This is about him and how underneath it all is the ache for everything Erica cost him.The years.The version of himself he must have slowly stopped recognizing.
So I stay right here, close enough to share the warmth of the fire, close enough to let what he’s trusted me with settle into something solid between us.
Chapter32
Maddox
We sit in comfortable silence, and when Grace looks up at me with those soft, searching eyes—when her fingers find the collar of my shirt and twist—I don't think.I just move.
My mouth finds hers, and the fire at our backs has nothing on the heat that tears through me.She tastes like whiskey and want.
“Upstairs,” Grace whispers the word barely a breath against my lips, and I pull her to her feet without breaking the kiss.
We don't make it upstairs smoothly.We knock into the banister, and she laughs into my mouth on the landing.I press her against the hallway wall because I can't go another three steps without my hands on her.
By the time I get her through my bedroom door, whatever careful restraint I'd been holding together downstairs has completely unraveled.
I kick the door shut behind us and she's already pulling at my shirt, fingers clumsy with urgency.I help her and yank it over my head, tossing it somewhere I'll never think to look for it.Then her hands are on my chest, my stomach, tracing the lines of me like she's memorizing something.I catch her wrists and slow her down just enough to hold her gaze while I find the hem of her top and peel it off, letting it drop to the floor between us.
She reaches back and unclasps her bra herself—one quick, deliberate motion—and the breath leaves my lungs.Grace’s bra straps slide down her arms to bare her breasts, and an unbearable heat spreads through my body.Her nipples pebble instantly, rosy and tight, and I grit my teeth to keep from coming in my pants.
Lowering my head, I close my mouth around one rosy-pink bud, tongue circling, teasing until her back arches.A broken moan spills from her lips, and the sound shoots straight to my hard cock.
For several long seconds, I stay there, worshipping her chest, switching my attention from one breast to the other.I take my time with her, savoring the soft weight of her, the way she writhes and whimpers with every flick of my tongue.
Grace reaches down, unzips my jeans, and wraps her hand around my cock.My vision narrows as her fingers tighten their grip, and she strokes me, slow and sure.Her eyes darken, pupils blown wide as she learns exactly what that does to me.
“Fuck, Grace.If you keep that up, I’m not going to last.”
“That’s okay.”Her smile turns wicked as her hand squeezes the base of my cock.“We’ve got all night.”
“I like the sound of that.”I claim her mouth, kissing her hard, tasting whiskey and heat and her.
She meets kiss for kiss fiercely, tongue sliding against mine while my cock throbs in her grip, needy and leaking.Fuck, this woman.
Her other hand tugs my jeans down, and I kick free of them, my hands already at her waistband.She loops her arms around my neck, pulling me back into the kiss like she doesn’t want to give me an inch.In turn, I lift her, hands cupping her phenomenal ass, and her legs lock around my waist.
My knees wobble.“Fuck.Grace.Condom.”
We move together to the side table, mouths never quite parting.
“I’ve got an IUD, and I’m clean.”
Still in my arms, I rasp, “So am I.I got tested three months ago.Routine part of my annual, even though I hadn’t had sex in over a year.”
She places two fingers over my lips, and her smile causes my balls to twitch.“We’re good, then.”
Her mouth latches onto my neck, and though my need for her is overwhelming, I have to make sure she’s saying what I think she’s saying.“You’re okay without a condom.”
She wiggles in my grasp, teasing my cock with every slide of her pussy against me.“Yes.Now, please.”
As my mouth takes her, the thick tip of my cock sinks into her sweet pussy bit by bit, giving her time to take all of me.She whimpers, fingers digging into my shoulders, and I fight the urge to drive deeper.
“Mad… shit.”
I press my forehead to hers, breathing her in.“You feel so fucking good.”
“So do you.”Her breasts sway, nipples grazing my heated chest as I move inside of her, slow and deep, every thrust deliberate.