Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
I looked down at Graham’s hand as he shifted gears. I remembered the feel of him caressing my bare skin and shuddered. Every so often he’d glance over at me, and I could feel the electricity arcing between us. As far as I was concerned, we couldn’t get to his house fast enough.
“Do you mind if I roll my window down?” I asked as we got to the slower streets. I needed something to cool me down.
“No,” Graham said as he turned off the air conditioning and rolled down his as well. The breeze felt nice, and it carried a scent of honeysuckle and magnolias. Nashville had too much concrete to get this scent. I’d missed it the six months I’d lived in London and the three years in Nashville.
I watched as the wind tousled Graham’s dark hair.
It gleamed in the moonlight and made me itch to run my fingers through it.
I looked down at his hands as they gripped the steering wheel.
I’d had dreams about his big, strong hands and what they could do to me.
He must have sensed me staring at him because when we hit a stop, he glanced over at me.
He took in a long, deep breath. “Tonight sure didn’t turn out as I expected.”
I waited for him to say something more, but he didn’t. I looked around. Nobody else was at the four-way stop.
“No, it didn’t,” I agreed.
“Do you want me to take you back to Miss Laverne’s?”
I frowned. “Why would you do that?”
A car pulled up behind us, and Graham took a right, then pulled over to the curb and killed the engine. He turned and gave me his full attention. “I just didn’t know after everything that happened if you still wanted to go back to my place. After all, you said you don’t drink tequila.”
My heart melted.
I turned in my seat to fully face him. “I want to go to your house. Unless, of course, you don’t want me there.”
He reached over the console and threaded his fingers through mine. “Hell yes, I want you there, but I don’t want to coerce you into anything.”
I laughed. “Three shots in three hours aren’t likely to get me drunk.”
“You don’t sound tipsy.” He gave me a considering look.
I untangled our fingers and crossed my arms over my chest. “I might not drink tequila, but I have two overbearing older brothers. They thought it was mandatory that I knew how to hold my liquor. And, since I was born and bred in Tennessee, I’m a Jack girl.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “Are you shitting me?”
“For real. You need to meet Seth and Randy to understand.”
“I don’t think I’m at the point where I want to meet your two older, overprotective brothers.”
I tilted my head and gave him a considering look. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-two. You’re twenty-four, right?”
“I’m going to be twenty-five next month,” I countered.
“Fuck me. You know someone is young when they try to age themselves up.”
“Whatever you say, Grandpa. So, are we going to your house or not?”
Graham turned back to the front and started his truck. “We’re definitely going to my place.”
I grinned and did my darndest not to wiggle my tushie in excitement.
Graham’s house was cool and dimly lit as we stepped inside. He locked the door behind us and ushered me into the living room, turning on the overhead light as we went. Then he headed to the kitchen.
“Water?” he asked.
“God, yes. I’m parched.”
“I imagine. I was blown away by your singing. Is that something you ever thought of doing professionally?”
I giggled. I couldn’t help myself. “I wasn’t even the best singer in my church choir. There is no way I could make it as a professional.” He handed me a bottle of water with the top off, and I took a long pull.
“I don’t believe it. I bet you were the solo act every Sunday.”
“Nope, that honor belongs to my cousin, Emmie. She’s the one who should go to Nashville. My family tells her that all the time.”
Graham took a deep swallow of water, then held out his hand. “Do you want to go out on the deck?”
I nodded.
He opened the sliding glass door, and we stepped out. Besides the table where we had eaten before, he had a couch and two chairs that I assumed were weatherproof. He motioned for me to sit on the couch, then sat down beside me.
Perfect.
As soon as he put his arm around me, I snuggled closer. We didn’t say anything, we just sat there, listening to one another breathe and the sound of the crickets.
“You’re soothing.”
I looked up at him and raised my eyebrow.
“You don’t have to fill every silence with talk.”
I shrugged. “Well, neither do you.”
I watched the muscles of his throat as he finished his water, then set the bottle down. “Are you finished?” He nodded at the bottle I clutched with both hands.
“Yes,” I whispered.
He tugged it out of my hands and set it on the low table beside his.
“All I could think about this entire week is our kiss. What about you?”
I shook my head.
“No?” He sounded surprised.
I lifted my hand and splayed my fingers over his shoulder, then dragged my hand down until it rested over his heart. “I kept imagining our next kiss.”
“Oh, that’s a good answer,” he crooned.
“The truth usually is.” I watched as his eyes lit up.
“Come here, you,” Graham said as he pulled me close. Tight. Breast to chest. Just how I had been imagining. His calloused hand cupped my cheek as his arm kept me in place. When his thumb traced my lower lip, I trembled. Graham must have felt it because he whispered in my ear.
“I’ve got you, Joy. We’re just going to share some kisses tonight. We’re not going to do anything more than you want to do. Trust me.”
Graham didn’t understand. Damn, maybe I didn’t either.
It’s not that I was worried he was going to take things too far tonight.
I was afraid he wouldn’t take it far enough.
And that scared the hell out of me. I’d never felt so desperate for a man’s touch, this willingness to be completely vulnerable.
“Are you with me, Doll?”
I slowly nodded.
“Words, baby.”
“I’m with you.” I couldn’t wait a second longer.
I reared up and took his mouth. It was electric.
The feel of his beard against my face, compared to his soft lips, was out of this world.
He was magic. Then Graham took over. His hand tangled in my hair, pulling me back so that I stretched out along the couch until my head rested on the pillow at the arm.
Even then, his fingers continued tugging at my hair—not enough to hurt, just enough to tingle and let me know he was in charge.
His lips were fierce, demanding, claiming.
He stretched over me and pinned me in place, his leg insinuating itself between mine, and I gasped.
He took advantage, his tongue sweeping inside, tangling with mine in a kiss that left no room for doubt, as if I had any.
The man wanted me. And he wasn’t holding back.
Heat exploded in my veins, racing down my spine, pooling low.
I arched up against him, needing more. A low growl rumbled in his chest, and I swallowed hard as his hands slid lower.
He traced the top of my dress, caressing my quivering breasts, but never stopped his ravishing kisses.
My nails bit into his shoulders, holding on as his mouth devoured mine, hot and unrelenting.
When he finally pulled back, I was wrecked—lips tingling, chest rising and falling, wanting him to do it all over again.
“Again?”
“Again, and again and again,” I answered.
“What are you saying, Joy?”
“There was a reason I brought my bigger purse tonight. I needed to pack moisturizer, a toothbrush, and clean panties.”
I watched his eyes widen, then go half-mast.
“I like a woman who’s prepared. You just keep showing me different sides of yourself that make me like you more and more.”
“Wanna go to your bedroom and see if I can impress you even more?” I asked with what I hoped was a sexy grin.
Even in the moonlight, I could see his hazel eyes get dark, and his slow smile made my stomach flip over. Graham moved his thigh so that it pressed against my core, and I jerked upward, trying to catch more of the sparks that his motion was causing deep inside me, where I ached.
“Stop teasing,” I begged.
“But you respond so well.” His leg pushed higher and harder, grinding against me. The lace of my panties was scraping against my clit. It was a friction that was unimaginable.
“You like that?”
“Graham, it’s too much. I want to go to the bedroom. I want you inside me,” I cried.
“Are you saying you don’t want to come?”
He followed up with that question by pulling down the top of my dress and sucking my nipple into the hot cavern of his mouth as he ground his thigh against me in the most glorious way.
“So close,” I cried.
Then he scraped my nipple with his teeth, and it was game over.
“Graham,” I screamed. It was the only word that mattered. The word that encapsulated every ounce of pleasure I was feeling… all my wants, all my needs.
I screamed his name again as I tumbled over into bliss. Melting into the moment, I realized I was lost and shattered.
“Now the bedroom.”
I vaguely heard the words. Graham’s heat lifted off me, and I heard a sound of protest. I soon realized it came from me. Then I was in his arms, and I smiled because I could snuggle against his chest.
Orgasms and cuddles.
This was the life.
Soon I was in his bedroom. I didn’t have to look or be told. It smelled like him, clean and crisp. But underlying it all, there was a whisper of something dark and dangerous—the mix of his own chemistry, sweat, and pure masculinity. I drank it in.
He moved me so that I slid down his front until my bare feet touched his rug and I was looking up at him.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.
“I was just thinking the same thing.” I smiled.
“What? That you’re beautiful?”
I loved the twinkle in his eye.
I spread my arms and did a pirouette. “Yep, that’s exactly what I was thinking. I’m beautiful, and you’re gorgeous.” I pulled on the collar of his dress shirt, forcing his head down so I could steal a kiss.
He chuckled and nipped at my bottom lip, making me shiver.
“You like that?” he asked.
“Do it again, and I’ll tell you.”
He captured my lips again. This time he lingered, letting the heat build up until I was clutching his shoulders, pulling him closer.
Soon I felt the bed at the back of my legs, and he lowered me down onto the mattress, then stood up.
There was something about him towering over me that made me tingle.
“Take off your shirt,” I demanded.
He smirked as he slowly unbuttoned his dress shirt, then unbuckled his belt and pulled it out of his pants.
“All the way off.” This time, I waved my hand in command.
“Yes, ma’am.” Oh my God, that grin should be illegal.
He threw his shirt over his shoulder, muscles rippling under the dim light, and I gasped. Yep, my mouth was open, and I prayed I wasn’t drooling. Judging by his smug grin, the man knew exactly what he was doing to me.
He came closer, which was perfect. It allowed me to push my fingers up, delving through his chest hair. I stopped when I felt a bump. I looked up at him. He grimaced.
“It’s just a scar, baby.”
I pushed back and saw another scar on his left shoulder. It was round and puckered. I touched it tentatively. “Is this a…?”
“Yeah, I took a bullet.”
“Oh, Graham.” I laid a gentle kiss against it. He stiffened, then relaxed, his hand tracing through my hair.
“It was a long time ago.”
“But scars never really fade, do they? Not really.”
“Honey, let’s save this for another time, okay? I’ll let you kiss me all over, and we’ll delve into the deep and dark then, but tonight is for us. It’s for everything I feel for you. I want to hold you… take care of you… and show you a little bit of heaven.”
With those words, it felt like my heart cracked open. I’d been trying to keep myself together for the last couple of years, and here was Graham offering to be strong for me. The relief almost overwhelmed me.
I couldn’t speak, or I would cry, so I nodded. Somehow, I even managed to smile.
“Off with your pants,” I teased.
“You’re sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” I whispered.