82. Now
EIGHTY-TWO
now
Grayson sweeps my feet off the floor without another second of hesitation.
He carries me in his arms, striding from the foyer, past the dining table and its pearl chandelier. Into the gray marble bathroom, with all of its sparkling mirrored surfaces and Tiffany-blue accents.
He bends slightly to turn on the bathtub’s faucet and promptly spins us, setting me on my feet just in time to press me against the wall. His mouth devours mine, sending delicious tingles through my breasts. His groan vibrates in my core .
“I want to see you,” he tells me, lifting the hem of my dress. “All of you. Up close.”
I’m not sure I understand, but I start to tug my stockings off anyway. His large, warm palms follow the movement, smoothing over the exposed skin of my hips while his tongue glides over mine. Liquid heat pools low in my belly, right where his erection presses through his pants. When I undo his fly, he shucks them, along with his boxers, socks, and shoes.
I have an ugly lavender sports bra on, but he doesn’t give me a moment to feel self-conscious. With a growl, he lifts me off my feet and lowers me into the tub. His emerald eyes glow hotly while he stares down at me. “Sit on the edge.”
Legs quivering, I rush to follow his command, riding a thrill of anticipation. The warm water feels delicious as it rises up my calves, especially a moment later when Grayson unceremoniously flips on the tub’s jets and dumps bath oil into the currents swirling around my legs. Within seconds, a clean burst of eucalyptus fills the air.
My gaze roves over his naked body, cataloging every detail I missed in his dark office and penthouse last week. He stands beside me for a long moment, breathing hard, affording me the opportunity to take in each pristine part of his perfection.
If anything, he looks even stronger than he used to. His chest seems wider, more square. The ridges of his abdominals more defined. Thick muscles bunch over his thighs, his biceps, the broad expanse of his shoulders. Veins rope over his forearms, outlining the brawny strength of his closed fists, and bulge along his glorious cock.
Every inch of him—and there are quite a few inches—gives masculine perfection a new meaning.
A woeful wave of inadequacy washes through me. I fold down, crossing my arms over my grubby bra and closing my legs tightly.
“Hey.”
Gray frowns as he steps into the tub, going to his knees in front of me. His hands i mmediately float to my cheeks, bringing my face up to his. “Baby, what’s wrong? Am I going too fast?”
I shake my head. Limp, greasy hair brushes over my back. I shrink down more. “I’m just—I didn’t know I’d be here, with you, and I’m?—”
Not groomed. Not good enough .
Grayson runs his hands over my head, burying his fingers in the hair at my nape and bending to rest his forehead on mine. “Are you not ready?” he asks.
It’s actually embarrassing how ready my body feels for his. Wetness collects at the apex of my thighs, and I squeeze them together again. His glittering green eyes track the movement, then move to the outlines of my nipples, furled tight in the confines of my bra.
When his gaze finally snaps back to mine, understanding dawns. “You’re self-conscious.”
A desperate swell of mortification bursts out of me. “I don’t shave or?—”
His palms slowly slide up and down my thighs, moving closer to their sensitive inner skin with each pass. “You’ve forgotten,” he murmurs, staring intensely into my eyes. “How I feel about you. How your body affects me.”
He straightens and takes my hands in his, bringing both to his straining erection. He wraps my palm over his length and moves both of our hands over his shaft. “Do you feel how hard you make me?” he asks, lust tautening his features. He brings my other hand to balance the weight of his full, tight sack. “How I’m ready to come just from thinking about all the things I want to do to you?”
Everything below my waist shudders. Molten moisture slicks my pussy. My fist closes around his cock, stroking harder. “Grayson…”
His intense regard does not waver. “We’re in this tub right now because I want to savor every single second of you. And I know if I took you strai ght to bed, I wouldn’t be able to restrain myself. Because you wreck me , Ella.”
He grunts as pre-cum wets my working hand. A second later, he bends back, disengaging from my touch. He braces both his hands on either side of my hips and gazes down at me. “Spread your legs.”
Anticipation courses through me again. My knees wobble as I part them. I expect him to touch me, but instead, Gray just… stares.
His eyes rove over my exposed flesh, smoldering. “I couldn’t really see you,” he rumbles, “before. At my place. And the office. It was dark.” He works on a swallow before his mouth falls open slightly, in awe.
For me ? Surely not.
But he keeps his eyes between my thighs. “You are the most beautiful woman,” he murmurs, utterly sincere. “Ever. Always.”
His words send a blush over my entire body. “Gray…”
“I mean it,” he rumbles, his face drawn. “You should see how you look right now. Your creamy, perfect skin.” He kisses my shoulder. “Your gorgeous face.” He kisses my cheek and bends forward. “These long legs.”
“And here,” he whispers, planting his lips right above my clit. “You’re glistening. Pink and swollen for me. You smell like heaven. And you taste?—”
His words cut off as he seals his mouth over my pussy. I gasp, my hips jumping forward to meet him. He gives a deep, masculine groan of satisfaction, pulling me closer while he licks over my pulsing bud.
I cry out, my hands falling to his head and gripping his hair. He growls, shoving the breadth of his wide shoulders between my legs, tipping me up to expose my entire slit to his hungry lips and tongue.
They suck, drawing on my clit and then my opening. He slips inside the trembling entrance, teasing me with slow half-circles until I start to shake and tug at his roots .
“Gray,” I keen. “Oh my God .”
His approval vibrates over my slick, sensitized flesh. “Mmm. That’s my good girl.”
His hands ghost up my sides, tracing the outlines of my breasts before finding the tight buds of my nipples. He tweaks both and sucks my swollen nub between his lips, drawing more circles over it before finding the sensitive underside and working it with the flat of his tongue.
My body pumps up against him, desperate to relieve the scorching pressure pulling through my center. His fingers impatiently bunch the sports bra up tugging on my taut nipples directly. Rough and unrestrained, exactly the way I want him.
His tongue slips from the bottom of my clit, dipping into my pussy before returning to the sweet spot he loves so well. Two more circuits, and I find myself gasping, crying out his name as euphoria crashes over me, breaking like storm waves on rocks.
Grayson makes a feral sound, lapping up all of the cream that seeps from my core as I come. When he’s wrung the last shiver of pleasure from me, he presses kisses over my belly and hips. His hands give another tug on my sports bra, silently demanding I remove it.
Once we’re both completely naked, he pulls my chest into his, nuzzling his face into my hair. Holding me. The familiar gesture sends tears to my eyes while I stroke my hands down his back.
Gray’s body stiffens. He’s clearly aroused beyond all reason but trying to yank himself back. Turning my head, I take his mouth, my kiss voracious. He catches on immediately, gripping me with the same urgency. One of his hands leaves me for a moment. Then, I feel a towel brush over the small of my back.
He flips me. In one breath, I’m on my knees, facing the mirror surrounding the bath, with my elbows balanced on a folded towel Gray pushes against my ribs.
“Like this,” he murmurs.
His entire chest presses into every line of my back, warming me just as much as the whirling jets of heated water spinning around my legs. The rush of it, rising to the place just below the lips of my pussy, heightens my arousal. As does Grayson’s solid cock, wedged against my backside.
At first, I press back, thinking he wants me bent forward to accommodate him. He repositions me, though, pressing the slick, blunt head of his erection into my opening as he snakes his arms around my body, pulling me upright. One of his hands sprawls over my hip while the other holds my neck and jaw gently, turning my head to the left.
His face looms beside mine. He nods at the mirror in front of me. “Look.”
My gaze flickers to the image reflected back at us. Grayson’s hard, muscled body wrapped around mine, his strength surrounding me. His impossibly gorgeous face nuzzling into the side of mine.
His hips press forward, sinking the first thick inch of his cock into me. “Watch,” he commands. “Watch me make you mine again.”
With that, he buries his face into the curve of my shoulder and bites the tender chords of my throat. I moan, my eyes snapping forward at the same moment he claims my pussy. A soul-deep cry sloughs out of him, curling my toes as he screws his body into mine.
I watch his face in the mirror, riveted by the pure vulnerability and ardent emotion that tear through his features. “I love you, Ella,” he pants, thrusting a second time. Ecstasy and adoration fill his face. “Do you see it?”
I do see it.
Gray loves me .
And he always has.
The truth of that finally sinks into my middle, sending a new sort of bliss sparkling through my blood.
“Yes,” I whisper. “I see it.”
His arms constrict. He works in and out of me, still moving slowly enough for me to feel every inch of him. When I clutch around his cock, he makes a pained noise.
“I love you, too,” I tell him, reaching up to tangle my fingers into his hair. “I’m yours now. I always was.”
Another desperate sound rips from his throat. He lifts his head and looks at my face, and his hips pump faster. “Never leave me again.”
“Never.”
I turn and seal my lips with his, kissing him with wild abandon. It breaks his control. His thrusts pick up speed and lose finesse. The hand at my hip slips down to my clit, while the one around my neck squeezes, a solid, possessive grasp.
Our open mouths move together, sloppy and unrestrained. The edge of the water rises, barely sloshing up to bathe the place where we connect. The warmth feels indescribable, melding with the soft circles Gray draws on my throbbing clit. Unable to help it, I moan again, my pussy sucking him in deeper. He groans into our kiss, his fingers picking up speed while he bucks his hips harder.
“Jesus, Ella, I’m going to come.”
His pained confession sends me over the edge. I tug on the roots of his hair, clenching down on the heavy length of his cock while another climax spirals through my core. Grayson follows me, calling my name into my nape while he slams into me one last time and spills deep.
For a long minute, we stay entwined, breathing together. The second I shift on my knees, Gray pulls out of me and slips into the water.
He brings my body into his arms, tucking my face into the hollow under his throat. His hands smooth my hair back as the jets push pulses of water over my sensitized skin. Along with the glow pumping through me from my climax, it feels like paradise.
Gray hums, the deep sound vibrating under my ear while he shuts the tap off. The jets continue, bubbling quietly around us as silence falls .
I’m already in heaven, but Gray has other ideas. He slides his wet fingers up my back and massages the tension from my spine, holding me closer as I burrow into his hard chest. His lips graze my forehead every few moments.
“Gray?”
“Hmm?”
I tilt my head back to look up at him despite feeling shy. “Would you sing to me?”
A small smile plays at his sculpted lips before he presses them into mine gently. “Of course. Which song?”
I swallow past a lump of gratitude. “Remember Me?”
Unfathomable love flares in his emerald depths. “Always, Ellie,” he vows. “Always.”