34. Monroe
THIRTY-FOUR
MONROE
“HAVE YOU BEEN—” I WON’T SPOIL THE LINE, BUT IT’S SO FUCKING HOT WHEN HE SAYS THIS.
Blood pumped in my ears.
Every second felt like an hour, waiting on pins and needles for her decision. I was close enough to feel the warmth radiating off her skin, to count her eyelashes if I wanted to—and god help me, part of me wanted to. I wanted to know everything about her.
The urge to stroke her cheek and to pull her in and just kiss her pressed against my ribs from the inside. But I didn’t move.
Every muscle in my body ached from holding myself back. From giving her the space I knew she needed.
Graciella’s eyes flashed with something, and my heart plummeted to my feet. She wasn’t ready. She was going to pull away, put that wall back between herself and anything that scared her.
My chest ached, but I couldn’t say it was a surprise. Just because I’d finally gotten out of my own way and figured out what I wanted didn’t mean she felt the same.
Fine.
She could run. I was good at chasing down what I wanted.
I brought my thumb to the corner of her mouth, grazing the soft edge of her lips. Just to feel it one last time before she stepped back and rebuilt her barriers, locking me on the outside of the fortress around her heart.
I started to pull away, but her fingers closed around my wrist, pressing my palm back against her cheek, and then—fuck—that pink tongue of hers traced the path my thumb had just made.
“I like to sleep with a lot of pillows.” Her smile was soft yet confident.
My brain took a minute to comprehend what she was saying. When it finally caught up, the pressure sitting on my chest eased, and my lungs could finally take a full inhale.
“I think I can arrange for that,” I said, my hand refusing to let her go.
This was all I needed—a chance. A sliver of an opening in that barrier around her heart to slip in and prove this was worth a shot.
We were worth a shot.
The drive home after we snuck out of the stadium separately was filled with anticipation and anxiety, the same mixture that bubbled in my chest before a game. And more than once, I thanked the universe that Itzel had driven herself to the game.
I kept my hand on her thigh the entire time, fingers curled into her warm skin, half convinced that if I let go, I’d wake up and none of this would have happened. That she’d still be on the other side of that invisible line we’d been dancing around for weeks.
My thumb traced an absent-minded circle against her leg.
Nerves coiled beneath my skin as we pulled into the garage.
The door groaned shut behind us, sealing us in the dim yellow light, and I cut the engine. Silence settled over the cab, nothing more than our labored breathing.
I gripped Graciella’s thigh, fascinated with how her tanned skin dimpled under the pressure. There were so many other parts of her body I’d love to dig my fingers into. My dick jumped.
I didn’t want to take my hands off her—not even to go open her door.
Actually…
“What the hell, Monroe,” Graciella yelped when I flipped the center console up, slipping my arms under her thighs and dragging her into my lap bridal style.
“I don’t want to stop touchin’ you,” I answered truthfully, grunting when her ass grazed my cock. The sensation nearly sent my eyes rolling to the back of my head.
Fuck. I didn’t think this all the way through.
I was half-hard already.
She blinked in surprise at my honesty, but it shifted to a smirk. “You happy to see me, or is that a hockey stick in your pocket?” she asked, looping an arm around my neck as I shuffled us out the driver’s side.
“You’re hilarious.”
My voice was strained. Getting out of a truck with a hard-on was straight torture.
“I think I’m offended by all the grunting you’re doing, Monroe,” she teased. “Are all those noises because you think I’m heavy?”
“No,” I gritted, keeping to myself that my cock ached to sink into her—to fuck her on every surface of my home.
But I didn’t want it to be a one-time thing.
The tension in the truck’s cab had nothing on what it ratcheted up to once we crossed the threshold.
“You going to put me down or carry me through the house?” she asked when I’d yet to move.
“Not sure yet.”
The long line of her tanned throat bobbed, lashes fluttering open and closed.
“We should probably do something other than just stand in the kitchen all night,” she said, voice quiet despite the fact that we were the only ones home.
“You’re right, we should do somethin’,” I said, keeping a tight hold on her upper body, releasing her legs so they slid down mine.
She shuddered when her hip rubbed against where my jeans were tented. Adrenaline coursed through my body, hitting my chest when she dipped her eyes to my cock. Graciella’s sharp inhale was embarrassingly good for my ego, and the curve of her bottom lip practically begged for my attention.
Fuck, did I want her.
But not only in the way she thought.
Maybe that was what prompted me to say, “Go on a date with me?”
“What?” She reared back, her inky tendrils flying around, but there was nowhere for her to go. I’d caged her against my counter. “I can’t go on a date with you, Monroe…”
It was more of a question than a statement.
Something possessive and territorial bubbled up, demanding that I push for what I wanted. I didn’t give two shits how many others she’d gone out with or let buy her things—fix her things.
I just wanted a chance to show her how I would treat her.
“We both know you go on dates. Why can’t I take you out?” I lowered my head, running my nose along her throat, breathing in her sweet scent.
Now that I’d touched her, I couldn’t stop.
I nipped at the tender part near her ear, loving the moan that it pulled. The way she pressed her chest into mine, those metal barbells taunting me. I wanted to see them, taste them, roll her stiff peaks between my fingers with one hand while I filled her with the other.
But I wouldn’t do anything like that until she agreed.
“Monroe.” She said my name breathy and low, like a caress. “I didn’t even like any of those guys. I only went out with them because…” She let out another moan before pushing at my chest. “I can’t think with your mouth on me.”
“Good,” I grunted, lifting her up and setting her ass on the marble, parting her thighs so I could step between them. My mouth was back on her skin, this time the open space on her chest. “Come on, Trouble. Tell me why I can’t be the one to take you out,” I said between kisses.
Her fingers threaded through my hair, every tug sending heat straight to my cock. I couldn’t tell if she was trying to pull me away or yank me closer.
I wasn’t sure she knew either.
“I don’t date, Josh.” Another statement that sounded more like a question, as if she were uncertain of its truth.
“Clearly you do.” I ran a hand up her waist, coming to rest right under her breast, teasing her nipple through her jersey with my thumb.
Loving how she tipped her head back, and the slew of words in Spanish that spilled out.
I didn’t know what she said, but took it as an open invitation to run my tongue up her throat.
“No, I just—” She shook her head, like she was trying to remember what she was saying. “I just let people take me out to dinner to entertain me, because I’m…bored.”
I paused mid-kiss. The primal part of my brain had taken root, and all my focus was on the fact that she sounded disappointed—unsatisfied.
I could fix that. I could satisfy her.
“Did any of them fuck you well enough?”
“What?” she stammered, shoving back, her eyes wide.
The palm of my hand met the warmth of her thigh, and I slid my hands under her skin-tight shorts.
“Have you been fucked properly, Trouble?” With each word, my fingers traveled higher and higher. “Or is this pussy of yours needing proper attention?”
Her eyes flashed with defiance, getting me hotter. I loved when she fought back, didn’t take my shit.
“I can take care of myself,” she said, jutting her chin and curling her hands around the edge of the counter.
“Is that so? You don’t want any help at all?”
Her throat worked up and down, eyes blown out with lust as the tips of my fingers skimmed the crease where her hips met her thighs.
I stilled, quirking a brow.
“Bare.” I smirked, loving the way her body tensed as I inched closer to her center. “And fuckin’ soaked. What do you have to say for yourself, Trouble?”
“Forgot. To do. Laundry,” she panted out, head tipped back as she writhed on the marble.
I ran a single finger along her slit, and her hips tipped forward ever so slightly to meet my touch. It took every ounce of discipline not to delve knuckle-deep into her. Long, dark lashes fluttered closed, dusting her cheekbones. A whimper slipped out as she wedged her lip between her teeth.
“Fuck.”
The word tore from my chest—it didn’t even sound like it came from me.
This had all been a ploy, an act I’d put on, pretending I was in control of the situation. It was all bullshit. In reality, I was threadbare and unraveling quickly. The feeling of her slick pussy alone had me on the verge of coming.
There was no fucking chance I’d last long.
Graciella leaned forward, nipping at my lip.
The sight of her like this, completely gone to lust, sent arousal coursing through me. I wanted her so badly I couldn’t stand it. I cupped her ass in my hands, yanking her off the island, careful to set her down gently before I turned her around.
“Grip the counter, Trouble,” I whispered in her ear, sucking on her lobe. Her moan shot straight to my cock, and I pressed it against her ass.
She clutched the marble edge as I scraped the soft skin of her shoulder with my teeth. “This is what you’ve done to me for weeks. Now show me how well you follow directions.”
I pulled out a condom, the sound making her catch her breath. “Knew you were getting lucky tonight?” she sassed over her shoulder.
“I was hopin’ so.” I kissed her pouty lips, savoring her taste.
“No condom, Monroe. I want to feel every part of you.”
I stilled at her words.
“You sure, baby?” I reached into the front of her shorts, swirling my fingertips over her clit. “Because I’d love nothin’ more than to fill you with my fucking cum, but I wanna make sure that’s what you want.”
She nodded, blissed out from my finger swirling on her center.
“Tell me, Graciella,” I whispered. “Tell me what you want.”
Her eyes popped open, flames in those pupils.
“I want you to fuck me bare, Coach. Drip down my leg like you dripped down my tits.”
“Fuck.”
“Now stop talking and fuck me with those fingers,” she moaned, white-knuckling the counter, head lolling from side to side against my shoulder.
I chuckled. Of course she was still a brat.
I pulled away, earning a frustrated growl from her lips. “Beg.”
Black strands whipped around, those little flames dancing in her eyes again, the way I loved. “What?”
“You heard me.” I gripped her chin with my thumb and forefinger, gently forcing her mouth to form an “o,” and fuck did it make me lose my mind. “On your knees and beg for my cock.”
Those eyes of hers shone with defiance. She wanted so badly to do the exact opposite of what I said.
“Come on, baby, what are you going to do?” My tone was smug and teasing as I unzipped my pants, boxers already wet with precum.
She zeroed in on where my tip peeked out over the band, weeping for her. I swiped up the droplet, rubbing it along her bottom lip, fucking living for her moan. She dropped to my feet.
“Would you look—”
“Be quiet,” she cut me off, hands reaching for my pants.
I could barely string together coherent thoughts. “You’re fucking gorgeous, Graciella,” I rasped before she tugged down my jeans, pulling my boxers down with them.
A thrill moved through me when she licked her lips like I was her favorite fucking meal. I threaded my fingers into her hair, gripping it to tilt her head back.
A curse slipped out, breathy and needy, making my cock twitch.
It was better than I’d imagined, the way she sounded when she was turned on, how she’d moan for me.
Fuckin’ hell.
She looked up at me, mischief twinkling in her eyes as she gripped my length. “Monroe, will you pretty please fuck my mouth?”
She trailed a red-nailed finger up and down my length, and my eyes fell closed, need racing through me
Her mouth curved into a wicked smile. “Is that a yes?”
She stroked me, and pleasure tightened in my groin. My mind spun from her touch. “Yes, for fuck’s sake, put me in that bratty mouth of yours.”