Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Grayson
“Breathe, Roxy,” I say in a low voice as I run my nose along hers. Damn, her body feels so good against mine. I know we shouldn’t do this. It’s a bad idea. It may actually be my very worst idea, but right now, all I can think about is Roxy’s insanely hot body. I’ll admit half the reason I put that cardigan on her was to cover up her body from anyone seeing it. That dress left little to the imagination. Fine, that’s a lie. My imagination had zero trouble imagining me peeling it off her.
She lets out a breath and I press my lips to hers again. Her hands touch my chest and then move up to my hair. She scratches my scalp with her nails and fuck that feels good.
“Keep doing that,” I urge as I grip her ass harder. She has the perfect ass. I need to see it. I’ve never needed to see an ass more than hers. I push down the waistband of her pajama bottoms until her entire ass is exposed. Then I purposefully kiss her jaw and neck and peer over her shoulder down at those fucking perfect ass cheeks. The thought of them bouncing as I fuck her from behind clouds my vision.
She places one leg over my hip and starts grinding against my cock as she moans.
“That’s right, baby, make yourself come,” I demand as I press myself against her hot core. My hands come around her waist and I slide a hand inside her pajama bottoms and then slip inside her panties. Her bare skin is hot and wet as I slide a single finger along her folds and then gently circle her clit. She moans again.
“Don’t stop!”
I keep going, wanting to see her come undone from my touch. Her eyelids are closed and her long lashes tremble against her flushed cheeks. She’s gorgeous. Far more gorgeous than any other woman I’ve been with.
My finger circles her engorged flesh, rubbing wetness around as my other hand grabs her breast, my thumb flicking against her nipple.
Her hips grind faster and my cock feels like it’s going to burst. Her hand comes between us and I feel it slide into my sweatpants. She wraps her hand around my tip and then the top half of my cock that she’s not grinding against and God damn, she feels good.
“Fuck yeah,” I whisper against her jaw.
“I’m so close,” she says as I feel her growing wetter, her flesh becoming more swollen. I find a rhythm with my fingers, and when she starts to tremble, I try to keep up the pace which is hard because I’m nearly coming myself with her hand stroking me.
“Right there, don’t stop,” she says in a breathy voice and then her body goes rigid as her lips fall open in a silent cry. Something about watching her unravel from my touch pushes me over the edge. Her strokes pick up pace as her body relaxes, and within seconds, I’m coming all over her hand.
We both pant, our hands still touching the other’s body, but no longer moving. I pull my fingers away first, bringing them up to my mouth to lick them. Her eyelids flutter open and she watches me, her hand still on my cock, wet with my release.
“That’s hot, Gray,” she says with a smirk as she reaches behind her and grabs a tissue. Then she pulls her hand free and wipes it off but not before she brings it to her mouth where she licks it clean.
I groan. “Fucking hell, Roxy. Are you trying to one-up me?”
She giggles. “Maybe,” she says, drawing out the last syllable.
I grin at her and she grins back. I’m about to suggest we take this to the next level, when all of a sudden, she looks over my shoulder, and her eyes go wide.
“Where’s Licorice?” she yelps as she sits up and looks around the room.
I sit up next and pat the pillow but there’s no cat.
“Damn it. Licorice!” I call out as if the damn cat is going to answer me. We both climb out of bed.
“Licorice!” Roxy says loudly as we each begin searching the room. She’s on her knees looking under the bed. I walk into the bathroom but see no kitten.
“Does she know her name?” I ask myself because I literally named her days ago.
“Holy fuck!” Roxy yells and I race out to find her pushing the sliding door. I make it to the doorway and see Licorice on a tree branch that hangs by the small balcony.
“Roxy, wait,” I command as I step forward and put a hand in front of her because I swear this woman is about to climb out onto this limb after a damn cat.
“I can reach her,” she argues, trying to push my hand away from her abdomen.
“No,” I growl as I step in front of her. I push a chair over, stand on it, and reach out toward Licorice. “Come here, sweetie,” I coo.
She meows but doesn’t budge aside from rubbing her little face against a small branch.
“What do we do?” I ask, beginning to feel panicked. Not only did I leave this furry bundle in the car for five minutes, I totally left the slider open and now she could fall to her death.
“Food,” Roxy whispers and runs back to the bathroom. She holds out the food to me and I shake it a little. Licorice looks my way and starts to walk toward me.
“That’s right,” I say. I lean forward a little and she gets within arm’s reach of me. I grab her but lose my footing. I lean back and turn as I start falling and then suddenly I’m crashing into Roxy and we both go tumbling onto a lounge chair. I manage to catch myself with one hand while keeping Licorice in the other.
I stare down at Roxy who has wild eyes and is searching my body.
“Oh my God! Are you OK?” she says as her hands run over my arms.
I let myself relax a little as I realize I’m not injured and the damn kitten is safely tucked between our bodies looking innocent.
“Yes,” I grumble as I look down at Licorice, “no thanks to this furball.”
Roxy starts to laugh and the kitten shakes between us. “Oh my God! We should not be allowed to be parents, like ever!”
I can’t help the smile that forms on my face. This entire thing is ridiculous. I just got cockblocked by a kitten who almost got me killed.
“We should probably go to bed,” Roxy says and then adds, “After we lock all the doors.”
I chuckle as I stand and hold out a hand for her. She leans down and picks up the food bowl that spilled on my fall and then takes my hand as I pull her up to stand in front of me.
“Come on, before we all fall over the deck,” I demand as I put a hand on the small of her back and guide her toward the bed. I slide the door closed and shut the closet door so it’s only the bathroom and bedroom where this little furry missile can run.
Roxy climbs into bed and so do I.
“Tell me about little Grayson Porter,” she says sleepily as she curls up against me. “Put our holy menace in between our pillows.” She pushes the pillows apart and I set Licorice in between them. Licorice, seemingly unaffected by all her adventures today, curls into a ball and falls asleep.
“Fucking cats,” I mutter.
Roxy giggles. “Now, now, we did sort of fuck up…again.”
“I don’t know if we should keep this cat, Roxy. So far we left her in a car and now we’ve left a door open,” I state as I watch Licorice sleep.
“Two rookie moves. But we’ll figure it out. Let’s give it a few weeks,” she urges. “Please.” Her eyes look so hopeful that I can’t say no.
“OK. Three weeks,” I say.
She grins. “Don’t be such a grump. We’ll figure it out. I promise. I’m just out of cat practice. Now, back to little Grayson. Did you always play instruments?”
Careful with facts, I share little snippets of my childhood and how my grandmother gave me a violin when I was eight. How I loved music and would spend hours playing instruments. How nothing brought me greater joy than learning a new piece of music. Eventually, Roxy’s breathing slows. Her even breaths indicate she’s fast asleep. I lie there watching her for hours. Can I trust her? Can I be what she needs? I don’t know.
* * *
“I’m glad we stayed,” Roxy murmurs against my ear as Pierce steers the boat through a canal near his home. Roxy is pressed against my side on a double seat at the back of the boat. My arm is around her shoulders. I hate admitting that I love her here with me. It took all my willpower not to peel off her clothes this morning, but Licorice had made a bed between Roxy’s breasts and the two of them were fast asleep when I woke, so I went for a run in Pierce’s gym and showered before waking her with a gentle kiss.
She called it a Sleeping Beauty moment and smiled against my lips and damn it if I didn’t love everything about that.
“Let it rip, Pierce! We need speed,” Kallen chuckles as we start toward Pierce’s house after cruising around for two hours.
Pierce starts speeding up and heads out around the corner of the channel. As we turn, a large boat appears around the corner. He slows and turns abruptly. I grab the seat cushion as the boat pitches high on one side, then another, and then higher. I go to grab Roxy but then as Pierce tries to throttle the boat to get out of the enormous wake, she grabs the side of the boat, and her hand slips. She goes flying overboard.
“Roxy!” I scream, and without any other thought, I leap in after her.
“Fuck. Man overboard!” Pierce yells and I hear the engine kick off.
I look around wildly, trying to spot Roxy. Her head pops up to the surface and I grab her, pulling her against me as I kick my legs. “I got you, baby. I got you,” I whisper as I hold her trembling body. Thank God it’s not too cold, but it’s still chilly in the morning with the lake breeze.
“Here,” Kallen says as he tosses us a life raft. We stupidly didn’t have life jackets on and I’m kicking myself for yet another failure this weekend that could have ended in tragedy. What the fuck is wrong with me?
I grab the life raft and manage to get us to the little ladder on the back of the boat. Pierce is there, helping to pull us up, taking Roxy from me while Haven wraps her in a warm blanket.
“You OK?” he asks, his face laced with concern.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I say but mostly I’m pissed at the boat that came out of nowhere and almost killed my fake girlfriend…my real girlfriend? I don’t even know what we are now.
“Roxy, you OK?” he asks as he bends down to examine her.
“I—I’m OK,” she stammers as I sit down next to her and begin rubbing her arms, trying to raise both our body temperatures.
“Let’s get her back. She needs a warm shower and some dry clothes. And so do I,” I say, glad we aren’t far from the house.
Pierce carefully maneuvers us home. He pulls up and I help Roxy out of the boat. Her lips are a little blue as I take her in my arms even though she protests.
“I’m fine,” she protests.
“Not happening. We are getting you in the shower now,” I growl as I carry her up to the house with everyone in tow.
“I’ll make tea,” Haven offers.
“Let us know if you need anything,” Pierce adds. “Sorry,” he mouths. It’s not his fault. The other boat was in the wrong, cutting so close to the channel at a speed higher than it should have been. And the fact they didn’t even stop when we went overboard makes me rage with anger.
“She’ll be fine. I’ll just get us warmed up before we head home,” I assure them as I give him a tight smile. I know they are concerned but not nearly as concerned as I am.
I carry Roxy straight into the bathroom and turn on the shower. I start peeling off her clothes and mine. She slaps me away.
“I got it,” she mumbles.
“Let me help,” I offer as I dry myself with a towel from the warming rack and start putting on warm, dry clothes.
“Gray! I. Got. It.” She glares at me.
I put my hands up in defeat. “OK, OK. I’m just trying to help.”
Sighing, she pulls her wet shirt over her head. I swallow hard. Her white bra might as well be translucent and damn her breasts are gorgeous. I’m definitely going to hell for thinking of them like this considering what just happened.
“Uh, I need to get out of these wet clothes,” she mutters as she motions for me to leave.
“OK.” I start to step back, but instead, I step forward and pull her tightly against me, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I’m sorry,” I say.
“It’s not your fault. That other boat was clearly driven by an asshole,” she says.
Her body relaxes a little as I rub her back.
“Get warm. I’ll bring up the tea,” I say as I release her and walk downstairs.
“How’s our fish?” Pierce asks.
I chuckle. “She’s OK. She’s showering.”
“Poor Roxy. Here’s some tea,” Haven says as she hands me a warm mug.
“Thanks. I’ll take it up to her,” I say as I turn and head back upstairs.
“Roxy,” I start as I walk inside.
She’s giggling.
“Roxy?”
“I’m in the shower,” she calls out.
“What’s so funny?” I ask in confusion.
“I have a shower buddy,” she replies.
“You what?” I reply as I step toward the bathroom door which is cracked open.
“Uh, Licorice likes the shower,” she says bursting into giggles again.
My body immediately relaxes at the happy sound. My woman is going to be OK. Shit, my woman ? I push aside that thought.
“Well, when you two finish, I have tea,” I say.
“Thanks, I’ll be out in a flash,” she replies, and I hear the shower turn off.
A minute later, a towel-covered Roxy opens the door. Licorice is also wrapped in a towel. I grin.
“So we have a water cat?” I ask as I peer down at the wet bundle in her arms.
“We do. I suppose it’s payback for our bad parenting,” she says with a giant grin.
“Here.” I hand her a mug and she hands me the cat.
“Shall we go home?” I ask.
She nods. “I think we’ve had enough fun for one weekend, no?”
“Agreed. We can get lunch on the way,” I offer.
Nodding, she sets the mug down and walks toward the closet. When the door opens, she drops the towel, leaving her naked backside facing me.
My breathing stops as I stare at her perfect ass.
She glances over her shoulder. “It would have been more fun if we were skinny-dipping,” she teases as she winks at me and walks inside.
I run a hand over my face as I stare down at Licorice. “I’m screwed, aren’t I?”
“Meow!”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Let’s get your troublemaking ass packed,” I state as I start picking up things in the room, but my eyes continue to dart toward Roxy as she dresses, giving me peeks of her body with each move. Fuck, the drive home is going to suck because I have the worst case of blue balls that I’ve ever had in my life.