Chapter 11 #2
Already they were more than strangers. They were almost friends. Yeah, friends. That was new to him, too. A loner all his life, and now he had a woman who he wanted to call his girlfriend and who was definitely a friend.
And Gracie.
He had a little niece that a part of him wanted to be a father to. Wanted to step up the way he saw in Ava’s eyes she was expecting him to.
Except that didn’t feel as comfortable as Ava. Probably because she was grown and could handle herself if things went south. Gracie couldn’t.
That little one had been through more in her short life than many had. Losing her mother, being left at a fire station…not the way anyone wanted their story to start. She needed a father who could shower her with love and ensure that she never felt like she hadn’t been worthy.
A man who knew his own worth.
Chay wasn’t there yet. He could admit he had value at the station and to his grandmother.
But anywhere else he struggled. He wanted to be Ava’s man, but at the same time, did she deserve someone without his baggage?
Maybe. But he wasn’t stepping aside. He wanted her and was going to do everything in his power to try to keep them together.
Gracie fell asleep after Ava fed her, and she knew it was time to leave. Past time to get her stuff together and go home. But the fire was cozy and Chay…Chay was incredible. There was nothing she wanted more than to stay right next him for the rest of the night.
But she had work tomorrow. Also, it hadn’t been bullshit when she’d said Gracie had never slept away from her crib.
Of course she might have before she’d come into Ava’s care, but Ava was following some child development tips from a book she’d read.
Routine was key to socializing and raising someone to function as an adult.
A lot of those behaviors started in the early stages.
“So…am I coming home with you?”
A little thrill went through her. “Don’t you have work tomorrow?”
“I need to catch up with Jacob about the investigation, so I can start my day there. It’s up to you.”
“Yes. I’d like that,” she admitted. Her body had been in a low-level hum all evening. There had been lots of kissing and touching while they’d eaten, talked and played with Gracie.
“I’ll grab my work clothes and stuff and be ready to go,” he said.
“Chay?”
“Huh?”
“Adult sleepover,” she said just because she wanted to be clear she wanted him in her bed.
“My thoughts exactly.”
She gathered up all of Gracie’s things and carefully put the sleeping baby into her car seat carrier before tucking her blanket in around her. Gracie gave a little coo in her sleep, and Ava brushed her lips on the baby’s head.
Chay might have been unsure about being in Gracie’s life, but she could tell he wanted to be. It was so clear the way he played with her and encouraged her to crawl. Her heart almost ached for how clear it was that Chay needed more than his grandmother as family.
Aponi was the best and had done a wonderful job raising Chay, but it was clear to Ava that they both craved a larger family. She saw it in the way that Chay watched Gracie.
“Ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s go,” she said. She’d put the leftover lasagna in Chay’s fridge so he could have it for dinner tomorrow. She was working a later shift at the hospital. She rotated being on call with two other therapists at the hospital to cover anyone brought in overnight.
Chay carried his duffel and Gracie’s car seat. After getting the baby settled, he lifted Ava into the driver’s seat, kissing her hard and deep. “Just to give you something to think about.”
As he walked to his truck, she watched him until she realized he was waiting for her to go. The drive back to her house was a million times better than the drive to his. The stress she’d put herself under earlier had dissipated.
It seemed like something she should have remembered.
The power of the mind was immense, and a real or imagined threat could be just as strong.
She pulled into the left side of her double-car driveway, leaving room for Chay’s vehicle.
They both got out and hurried inside, as the temperature had dropped below freezing.
They got Gracie into bed. She didn’t feel unsure or awkward as she led Chay down the hall to her bedroom. She showed him where to put his clothes, and they both washed up and brushed their teeth.
Which was a bit awkward. “I don’t like to spit in front of other people.” Her toothbrush was in her mouth.
“I won’t look,” he promised, turning away as he continued brushing his own teeth. She spat and rinsed and then moved aside so Chay could and then he pulled her into his arms, his breath against her cheek a moment before she felt his lips on hers.
“Minty fresh,” she said.
“You still smell like strawberries,” he muttered, his mouth moving down her neck.
“They make me feel sunny.” Her words might sound like gibberish, because all she could feel was the heat coursing through her body.
He lifted her off her feet, carrying her into the bedroom and falling onto the bed, keeping her on top of him. “You make me feel that way.”
Framing his face with her hands, she was glad she’d changed into her nightshirt while he’d been putting his clothes away, feeling his big, warm hands on the back of her thighs as she straddled him.
“Same.”
He’d taken off his shirt and wore only a pair of boxer briefs. She’d spent most of the time in the bathroom trying not to ogle him, but now that he was in her bed it was a different story. The bedside lamp was on, casting them in its warm glow.
She leaned back on his thighs, and he stacked his hands behind his head, watching her. Taking her time, she drew her hand down his chest and back up again. Pushing down on his muscly chest.
“What are you doing?”
“You have no give. I like it. You’re a strong man,” she muttered. Chay was so masculine in so many ways…so physical and gruff. Ava found she really liked that.
His hands moved to the front of her thighs and then slowly upward until the nightshirt was pushed up to reveal that she didn’t sleep in her undies.
The back of his fingers brushed against her. She moaned, parting her thighs to give him access as she pulled the nightshirt over her head and tossed it aside.
Her hands were on his body again, pushing his boxer briefs lower until his cock was in her hand. Hard, warm, thrusting up toward her. She stroked him and then reached for the box of condoms he’d put on the nightstand, tossing one to him.
He put the condom on, and she straddled him as he sat up, wrapping his arms around her so that as she took him all the way inside her, she felt as if she were enfolded into his body.
His mouth was on her neck and shoulder, biting, kissing that made her hotter and drove her higher. He thrust up into her, one hand on her waist, the other on her butt, urging her faster and faster until she felt her orgasm wash over her. She threw her head back and cried out his name.
He continued thrusting and, a moment later, sucked hard on her neck as he came, too.
His hands roamed up and down her back as they both clung to each other. Neither wanting to move until he rolled them gently to their sides, drawing the cover up over her, leaving her only for a moment before he came back and held her through the night.
It was the best night of sleep she’d had in a long time. Confirming that she wasn’t falling for Chay. She already had.