Chapter Twenty #2
“I don’t think it’s selfish. It was brave to reach out in the first place and to turn to him when you didn’t know how that would turn out.
” Hmm. Maybe that meant they were brave for even trying to explore the chemistry between them.
No one knew how anything would go in the end.
He’d made vows to a woman he thought he’d love for the rest of his life.
People changed, life happened. Stealing this little piece of happiness was a risk, but what wasn’t?
“I think you look at me through lust-colored glasses,” she said with a teasing smile.
He backed her toward the couch, his arms tightening around her waist. “Just because I’m incredibly attracted to you and see how sexy you are doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
“Sexy, hmm?” Her knees hit the couch.
Gray lifted his head from where he’d been trailing kisses along her jaw. “Extremely.”
Her fingers scratched over his neck, sending mini shudders through his body. When they drifted up into his hair, his fingers flexed on her hips and he eased her into the cushions, coming down over her slowly so she could stop him if she wanted to.
Instead, she arched up into him when her back hit the couch, pulling him down so she could kiss him so deeply it tied him up in knots, drove him wild, and made him forget that forever wasn’t the end goal. Because he could actually kiss this woman until the end of time and still want more.
She’d ditched her hoodie and wore a soft pink T-shirt that rode up on her stomach enough for his fingers to graze a tantalizing expanse of smooth skin.
He wanted his mouth in that spot. On all of her spots.
Everywhere. Charlie moved under him, like she couldn’t stay still, wrapping one of her legs around the back of his, pulling him even closer.
He groaned into her mouth even as he changed the angle of the kiss.
Shifting against her, into her, he reveled in the way her breath hitched, her leg around him tightening.
With one hand under her, he let the other roam down the side of her breast to the skin of her stomach, tracing his fingers over it as he moved his mouth across her cheek to her ear, sucking the lobe between his teeth.
She shivered beneath him, kissed his neck and any part of him she could reach.
A gentle hiss escaped when she ran her hands under his sweater, over his back, her fingers digging in to bring immense pleasure with a slight sting that he didn’t mind.
He was too far gone to do anything other than absorb and feel.
“Touch me,” she whispered as her tongue traced along the shell of his ear, her hands pushing his shirt up.
Gray leaned back, his muscles tight, and levered up enough to see her.
With one hand, he touched her face, his thumb stroking over her lips.
She sucked the tip into her mouth and he had to close his eyes to maintain his composure.
When he opened them, she was smiling up at him, the heat in her gaze casting a spell on him.
Had he wanted like this before? He couldn’t remember in this moment.
Moving slowly, he traced the back of his fingers along her neck, down the center of her chest all the way to her belly button.
Then he spread his hand over her stomach, curled it around her waist as he trailed back up, stopping exactly where she wanted him.
When his thumb stroked over her breast, she sucked in a breath and whispered, “More.”
Grayson closed the space between them, taking her in an intense kiss that sent them into a time spiral. It ceased to exist while she lay beneath him, kissing him back with every bit of passion coursing through him.
When he felt like he was so close to the edge there was no choice but to dive over, he pulled back, softened their kisses, eased his touch. Charlie sighed sweetly when he kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, her forehead, and finally her nose.
She grinned at him. “Thanks for showing me what I missed out on in high school.”
He laughed, acutely aware of all the spots where they were pressed together. “I’m not sure I know how to take that.”
Charlie ran a hand through his hair, then dropped it to his shoulder.
“I don’t think I had the typical high school experience.
I only had one boyfriend, and really, all we did was text and hang out a few times.
But I had a couple of friends who bragged about making out with their boyfriends in their cars or on couches.
At the time, I didn’t think I was missing anything, but I might have been wrong. ”
He sat up, pulled her with him so they were both seated in the corner of the couch.
He used two fingers to tip her gaze up to his.
“I promise you that if I’d had this make-out session in high school, I definitely would have embarrassed myself.
I can’t say I didn’t kiss a few girls in cars or on porch steps, but it was nothing like this, what’s between us.
Nothing has been like that for me, so, I guess it’s a first for both of us. ”
The truth of his words sucker punched him.
He really liked Charlie. And apparently, he still had the capacity to feel a lot more than he’d thought.
It was like his heart dusted itself off and said, About time, buddy.
It was a little wobbly and definitely beat up, but, to his surprise, it still worked.
She laughed, the sound dancing over his body like her hands. “I’d have to say it was worth the wait. Maybe I should make a list of other things I feel like I missed out on.”
He dropped his hand and tickled her waist, which brought her almost onto his lap. “Oh, yeah? What would be on that list?”
Moving herself so she was sitting in his lap, she put one arm around his neck, rested her other hand on his chest. “Definitely more kissing.” She leaned in, kissed his cheek. “Spending time with someone who makes me laugh and turns me on.” Her lips whispered across his.
“I will make it my mission to do both of those things.”
She laughed again and he worried he might crave the sound when she left.
“That’s just it. You do both effortlessly and I’ve never had that.
There’s something about you. So much about you, actually.
” Her lips trailed along his jaw. “There’s one more thing I’d really love to do right now that I can’t say I’ve ever done.
” Her mouth covered his and Gray shifted, tangled his hands in her hair, but she pulled back.
His breath caught in his lungs. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
She lifted her head to gaze down at him. Her hair, which he’d pulled out of its confines earlier, curtained her beautiful face. “Eat leftover spaghetti after making out with a guy I really like while watching a movie.”
Gray’s chuckle was cut off with Charlie’s kiss. But he said against her lips, “How have you never done something so simple, Charlie? Surely you must have dated after high school. Shared meals and then kicked back and watched TV?”
Lifting her head one more time, she held his gaze.
“Sometimes the most everyday things that people do and take for granted are the ones I feel like I missed out on the most. I’ve had a few boyfriends.
I’ve been attracted to guys and kissed them.
And yes, I’ve shared meals with a few guys more than a few times.
But never all together like this. I can sit here beside you and be insanely attracted to you while also wanting your brother-in-law’s spaghetti and then look forward to watching something with your arm around me and not feel any pressure to do or be more. ”
Grayson had to swallow down his own protective instincts at the idea of anyone making her feel like what she gave, in any capacity, wasn’t enough.
If the guys she dated were foolish enough not to show her how incredible she was, to share as much as they could with her for the time they were lucky enough to be with her, then that was their loss.
It wouldn’t be Grayson’s. He didn’t have to give her forever to show her how she deserved to be treated.
Or cherished. He thought of an old quote his mom used to tell him; he couldn’t remember it exactly, but it was something about people coming into your life for different periods of time, giving you what you needed in that moment.
Maybe he and Charlie were what the other needed. Right now.
“Then I guess, even though I’m sad you haven’t had those experiences, I’m honored to be the man to share them with you.
I care about you, Charlie. I wouldn’t have gotten closer to you if I didn’t.
For as long as you’re here, you can count on me appreciating you, cherishing you,” he whispered, leaning in.
“Turning you on and making you laugh. Though not in that order, I hope.”
She tipped her head back, her laughter flowing freely before she looked back at him again. “I rarely look to others for my own happiness. But you make me happy. Being here, with you, like this, and just at the lodge has made me happier than I’ve been in a long time.”
His hands tightened on her hips, his breath uneven. “And you’re insanely attracted to me.”
She murmured, “Mmm-hmm,” right before kissing him again.
He hugged her against his chest, emotion making his throat thick and his chest tight. After a couple of minutes, he kissed the crown of her head. “Let’s get you some spaghetti.”
“The perfect guy,” she whispered.
He heard the smile in her tone and vowed, for as long as this lasted, to keep being one of the reasons for it.