CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Riley — 18 years old
My heart drums in my ears, heat blooming low in my stomach before erupting through every little particle in my body.
Grayson lifts off me, breaking our kiss to take his glasses off and place them on the nightstand beside the bed. He drags his shirt over his head before carelessly dropping it somewhere on the floor. My gaze sweeps over his shirtless body, drinking him in. His wide chest, his muscular shoulders and strong biceps, his defined abs and the trail of hair that leads from his navel and… lower. His dark jeans are hiding the rest of my glorious view.
Wetness slicks my thighs, and I squeeze my legs together, trying to alleviate the ache. “Hurry,” I tell him, dragging my fingers over his bare arms. “It feels like I’ve been waiting for this for too long.”
Grayson grins lazily, and I swear I’m swooning. That dimple! “We have all night, Goldilocks. And all day tomorrow too.”
Oh yeah…
I grin at his words. We have all the time together and no one to disturb us. Grayson’s uncle gifted him this penthouse on his eighteenth birthday. I knew Grayson wasn’t exactly happy with the gift and not because he’s ungrateful. But because he hates things being given to him without having to work for it. The only reason he accepted the gift was because it would give us more privacy.
Grayson doesn’t feel worthy of things, unless he has earned them himself. And even then, he’s always skeptical about the good things in his life.
Almost like he’s anxious—waiting for the next tragedy. He doesn’t trust fate.
Neither do I, actually.
But kismet brought us together, and he’s the only good thing in my life.
And I won’t let anyone else steal that from me. This moment. Him. Grayson.
He is mine.
And he’s worthy…
He always has been.
Grayson slowly lowers himself back over me, settling his hips between my spread thighs. My arms curl around his shoulders, welcoming him back into my embrace. His lips brush along my jaw, and then lower, nibbling on the sensitive flesh of my throat. I know he’s trying to go slow, to take his sweet time to savor this. But God, his touch is making me crazy.
My stomach flutters, and the ache between my thighs intensifies.
“I’m not letting you leave my bed until I’m satisfied,” he rasps against my skin, sending tingles through my body and making my toes curl. “But even then…I don’t think it’ll be enough.”
His lips fuse with mine again as he cups my breast over my shirt, caressing my nipple through the thin fabric. My back arches off the bed, silently demanding more.
I rub my hands over his chest, his shoulders and his arms, touching him everywhere I can. Wanting to explore more of his body, desperate to learn where he likes to be touched.
“Clothes. Off,” I whimper into his lips. “Now. I can’t take this teasing anymore, Grayson.”
We break apart, and then I’m practically ripping my clothes off in haste as he discards his jeans. We don’t care where they land on the floor, before he’s on me again.
I catch his fevered eyes when he crawls back over my body.
Skin to skin.
Fire courses through my veins the moment we touch.
I cup his jaw, as sparks tingle across my skin. My lips caress his, and I breathe into our kiss. “I love you. I don’t know how it happened, but I do. I love you, Grayson.”
I fell into him without even realizing it.
I walked into love.
Not knowing when it happened, or how it did.
Somehow Grayson stole a piece of me. With his tenderness. His warmth. His protectiveness. He made me trust him, and I did. For the first time in my life, I trusted someone with my heart first, then my body. Maybe a gut instinct, a voice in my head that told me he is the one. The gift of my patience.
His chest shudders, and Grayson groans my name. Like it’s a blessing. A prayer. “I am not worthy of you, Goldilocks. But I love you, anyway. I am not worthy, but I need you.”
My pulse quickens and his heart thuds against mine.
The pressure at the bottom of my stomach builds, flooding my mind and my body like molten lava. Sweat slicks across my skin, my body flushing with arousal. The feel of him against me…his expert fingers delving between my thighs, seeking out my slick heat, his lips on mine, stealing another bruising kiss.
My body is hyperaware of every inch of Grayson.
When he moves farther down, spreading my thighs with his wide shoulders and lifting my hips to his face, my back arches against him.
Whimpering.
Heady with desire.
He groans at the first taste of me.
Tongue delving deep. Lips tasting my lust.
I lose focus as his carnal words promise me everything dirty and sensual.
His touch entices the tide in me, the storm of ecstasy, sending me into a world of rapture.
My nails dig into his shoulders, and Grayson grunts.
My moans fill the room.
Our bodies slick with sweat.
Grayson fills me, slowly. Deeply.
It’s sweet.
Romantic.
Passionate.
Exquisite.
Safe.
Erotic.
My thighs clench around his hips. My body shudders, his name spilling from my lips in pleasure as I dive over the edge of ecstasy. His grunts of pleasure resonate through me and I wrap my arms around him.
This is all I’ve ever wanted.