40. Grady
CHAPTER FORTY
Grady
She eases beside me on the piano bench—two beauties I’ve denied myself together in the same place. She slips one hand behind me and flashes her sweet smile that encourages me to go on. With a deep breath, I close my eyes and think of Sara, for once letting the memories come, knowing it’s time to let them go. Trading what could’ve been for what is makes room for the beautiful future that still could be.
That’s what I want—a future with Marina.
When I finally lift the key lid, it’s like releasing my paper boat and everything that should’ve made the page.
I don’t sing, preferring quiet. I stroke the keys softly, and Norah Jones’s “Come Away With Me” comes to life under my fingertips. I’m rusty and nervous at first. Tears blur my vision, thinking of times I played this piano. Memories slip through me onto the ivory keys and fade behind the slow, soulful notes, easing my guilt away with them.
I breathe. Straighten my back. And the song emerges like a gift, assuring me that it’s okay to move on. To smile. To play.
To love again. Marina nestles to my side like she was always meant to fit there, and I feel like an ass for ever saying she was too-anything for me. She’s only perfect.
I don’t know when I stop playing or if I even finish the song. But drained of all those bad feelings, I lean against the keys, head low, and relax.
Truly relax.
Soon, Marina stands and shifts my left arm. I push the bench back, and she moves between my legs and the piano, her ass lightly grazing the keys. Her pink lips curl into a soft smile as she looks down at me. I’m struck by how beautiful and understanding she is. This couldn’t have happened without her. The orange glow from the fireplace flecks her eyes like fireworks, and her gorgeous red hair trails down her shoulders like ribbons. She’s my celebration. My heart’s song.
I latch onto her by her hips, dragging her closer. My ear presses against her stomach, hearing the gentle thump of her heartbeat underneath. Her fingers slide around my neck and shoulders, accepting me fully. I caress her lower back, her hips, her ass, bringing her as close as possible like this.
But soon, she drags back, bumping the keys again. My gaze draws up as she starts unbuttoning her dress, opening herself up to me a few inches at a time. She smiles and nods when I find the bottom-most button and undo it, racing upwards to meet her.
Her dress falls open. Her hands drift to her sides as I explore her. Pink lace on pale, speckled skin, satin-soft and flushed warm, she’s glowing and hopeful and sexy as fuck.
Her scars catch my gaze, and I trace them with my fingertips. The surgical incisions are barely there, just ghosts etched into her skin. The knife wound is darker, more jagged, and longer—a forever scar. The deeper scars within, I only imagine. My lips follow my fingers, kissing the wounds, tugging her into me, tears in my eyes once again. Loving her, kissing her pain away like I’ve longed to do all along.
Part of me wants to whisper I’m sorry one last time. Sorry for how I hurt you. Sorry for what I took from you. Sorry for what will never be.
But she doesn’t need it. Neither do I. We are exactly as we should be. No more. No less. Just us. And that is enough.
My hands graze the edges of her pink panties, unabashedly discovering her. I steal a glance at her daring expression. Her eyes meet mine, and she nods again. I lock my fingers around the lace and rid her of them completely. The sweetest moan escapes her. I push her against the keys, instigating a clanging cacophony, before peppering her with delicate kisses. Her inner thighs. Her lower stomach. Then, the triangle between her legs. And when she whispers my name in a moan, I take her… desperately… fully… achingly in my mouth.
Her legs spread, hitting random keys, but the sound doesn’t distract me from my feast. She perches one leg against the piano bench and wraps the other around my shoulder. I take my time, tasting, teasing, and then devouring her with my tongue. Her hands slip, banging the keys on her sides and creating a strangely beautiful background to this, her sweet undoing.
“Grady, please,” she breathes out as she gets close.
My fingers push into her gently. Her breath hitches in a low moan. Then, she comes, convulsing deliciously against my fingers. I drink her up, relishing it. My dick aches against my jeans like it’s never been this hard before—fuck, maybe it hasn’t—but I’m patient. I want to take my time with her. Go slow and easy until I can’t anymore.
Her legs return to the floor like she’s melting off the piano. She fists my shirt at the neck, bringing me to her. “Kiss me, Grady.”
She doesn’t have to ask twice. Her kiss enflames every tight and throbbing muscle in my body with its sweet intensity. Her lips are strong, and her tongue playful as she taunts mine. Her hand slides down my chest to the bulge in my jeans, making me groan and bite her neck.
She laughs and utters breathlessly, “You are terribly overdressed.”
“A problem easily remedied,” I return, my tongue slipping behind her ear. “Want to move upstairs?”
Her eyes go wide, and she nibbles her bottom lip. “To your bedroom? For more? Absolutely, yes!”
A laugh catches in my throat, and she launches into a full-on giggle when I scoop her into my arms, whisk her through the living room, and carry her up the stairs. I lay her on the bed, but she doesn’t stay there.
“Oh, Grady, this is…” She rushes to the sliding glass doors of the upper deck overlooking the backyard and lake. Moonlight highlights her as it does the water below. Even at night, it is a gorgeous view, but my eyes are fixed on her. She lingers at the doors, taking it all in, still wearing her dress, open like a robe.
She’s the first woman I’ve had here. I already know she’ll be the last, too. My last love. I move behind her, easing the dress off her shoulders and unclasping her bra. Everything falls to the floor. She twists in my arms but does nothing to shield herself from me.
Open. Lovely. Mine. All fucking mine. A truth I’ll honor and take joy in every day for the rest of our lives. She smiles like she reads my mind and concurs with every thought. I want to explore her breasts with my mouth, play dot to dot on every freckle, and memorize every curve. But there’s time, and tonight, I want to give her something I doubt she’s had before.
I corner her against the glass, my hand perched over her shoulder and lean in. “How do you want me? What would you like?”
Surprise alights on her face, but then her brow pinches like she doesn’t know how to answer. “Um, downstairs was nice.”
“ That was me saying thank you. This is the start of us.” I edge closer and run my finger down her bare breast. “How do you want to play, Marina?”
Her mouth falls open in a giddy smile, blushing. “Truth?”
“Truth.”
Her lips curl, matching my gaze like a predator ready to pounce. She presses her naked body into my clothed one, busily undoing me. My shirt lands in the clothes heap, followed quickly by my jeans and socks. Her eyes wander over my chest, her fingers drifting like feathers across my skin.
Then, she drops to her knees, bathed in moonlight and smirking like she’s already won. She maneuvers me out of my underwear like she means to…
“Fucking hell, Marina,” I sigh as my boxer briefs fall to the floor.
“Just a taste.”
She kisses the head, sliding her tongue over it, and then slips me into her mouth, soft and slow, taking enough of me to make me groan, almost destroyed by it, especially when she reaches for my hand and gently places it against her cheek. She wants me to guide her, feel her doing this, to enjoy her fully, and to know I have her trust. In all my years, I’ve never felt anything more intimate. Or been so turned on with each tongue stroke.
I can’t take it long, and I don’t want our game to hit pause over this. Not tonight. I bring her back up to me, stroking her cheeks and pushing her hair away from her shoulders.
She smiles. “I like this game. Your turn.”
“You’re going to come again before you’re ready for me. Get on the bed.”
She obeys, shifting further onto the bed on her back. “Oh, Grady, I don’t think you could possibly make me come again,” she jokes, with a coy smirk that assures me she wants me to try.
She laughs when I crawl after her, stopping to kiss her feet, her legs, and her thighs. Then, I climb between her legs to continue my kisses up her stomach, her breasts, and the crook of her neck. I intend to kiss every inch of her, to worship her, tonight and every night after.
It doesn’t take long until she’s writhing with release again.
Whimpering, she tugs on my shoulders. “My turn. I need you in me.”
I obey, positioning myself just right so that she feels me inside and against her at the same time. She moans at my sudden thrust. I groan over how damn wet and warm and tight she is. Just like with her mouth, I won’t last long.
“My turn,” I say, nearly fucking breathless. I shift her into my lap so she’s straddling me and curse at how deep I get this way. Her back arches as she grinds against me. She drapes her arms across my shoulders, bringing me closer. We kiss as she rides me. I stroke her hair, and she rests her forehead on mine. Her soft smile captivates me, assuring me that this is as unbelievably good for her as it is for me. My hand drifts to her clit, bringing her with me as the beautiful pressure nears its end. Tangled like this, two feathers caught in the wind, we build and come together. Music. Magic. Pain. Sadness. True love. This is it. Always.
She stills, resting against me with my head on her chest, heartbeat racing underneath. “Three to one, I win,” she chuckles lightly.
I laugh. “You have a distinct advantage, but I’ll let you have it. The next round? We’ll see.”
Her giggle is infectious, and, damn, I don’t giggle. But here I am, unraveling with her once again.
“I love you.” The words jump from her like she can’t contain them. Her brow pinches uncertainly as they escape. She shuts down her unease with, “I’m sure.”
My mouth quirks into a smile, taking her in, kissing her lips, and squeezing her closer. “Then, I get the prize, after all.” Her coy grin fills me with immense satisfaction. “I love you, too.”
Her eyes dance over my face, flecked with moonlight and dilated with delight. My fingertips skip slowly down her back.
“I want to stay the night, sleep with you, wake up next to you,” she whispers, nuzzling me. “Be here, like this, for as long as we can.”
Her voice catches with sadness, creating the list like she thinks our time will run out.
I cup her cheeks, locking eyes with her. “ This is us now. Stay tonight. Every night. Bring the cats. Move in. Or I’ll be at yours with the dogs. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter where we are as long as we’re together. This is home.” I motion between us, and moonlight catches the gleam in her eyes.
She laughs, letting a tear slip. “We’re Brady-Bunching our pets now?”
“Whatever it takes. I mean it. We are family. I’ll say it as often as you need to hear it. Understood?”
She nods, holding back tears that make me hope she believes it.
“I’ve never been happier, Grady. Never.” Her words are barely a whisper and sound sad.
Hearing her say that should please me, but it doesn’t. For her, happiness is a mirage, a gorgeous, dream-like oasis in the desert that vanishes as soon as she gets close, and she believes this will disappear, too.
I’ll prove otherwise.