Chapter 12 Echoes and Epigraphs
Chapter Twelve: Echoes and Epigraphs
Graham woke to darkness, and someone trailing a finger down the patch of hair below his navel. They repeated the caress over and over, always stopping at the waistband of the tuxedo pants he realized he was still wearing.
He was lying in bed beside Hannah Snow and she was probably still wearing the lingerie. And she was stroking his abdomen like he’d watched her stroke his cat between the ears. He cleared his throat. “Are you awake?”
If she wasn’t awake, he was going to find her bathroom and take care of his raging erection himself. But if she was awake…
“I’m awake,” she murmured. “And I’m sorry if I disappointed you earlier.”
He reached over and flipped on the light beside the bed before tipping her face up. “You could never disappoint me. I deserve canonization, remember?”
She lifted her head just enough for their lips to touch and sighed when his mouth slid against hers. “Maybe I don’t want you canonized,” she said as she moved closer and threw her left leg around his waist.
He gripped her thigh. “Then what do you want, Pi?”
“Well, for one thing, I want to know why you call me Pie. Is it a reference to apple pie or cherry pie or is it something vulgar?” She asked as she wrinkled her nose.
The laughter rumbled between them. “I’m a math teacher, remember? When I call you Pi, I’m not referring to a pastry. I’m talking about 3.14, because you’ve become my constant.”
“Since that’s what you mean, maybe I need to come up with a better nickname for you than Grinch.”
“You can call me Grinch. I mean he gets the girl in the end — at least in the Jim Carrey movie.”
“What makes you think you got the girl?” She moved her leg and rose to her knees.
“I don’t want to jinx anything.”
“You’re not jinxing it,” she said as she straddled him.
“So you’re saying I got the girl?”
“If you want her, she’s yours.”
“Oh, I want her. All of her. Starting with a fashion show that features the lingerie she was teasing me about.”
She scrambled over him and stood beside the bed. When he saw the outfit in its entirety he palmed his face. “You’re lucky I didn’t know about your lack of underwear. I definitely would’ve thrown you back in that truck instead of escorting you inside.”
She twirled around and snapped the elastic of the garters. “You like?”
He set his hands on her waist and she moved closer. “I love,” he confessed.
Her breath audibly hitched.
“I love,” he repeated, and pushed one bra strap down her shoulder, until it was dangling at her side. He planted a kiss at the top of her cleavage and pushed the other strap off. When both straps were loose, he deftly unhooked the entire thing.
“Love,” he said, and he meant it as both a confession and an endearment. Her breasts were like peaches, her nipples a dusky pink. The longer he looked at them the tighter and more furled they got. When he brushed a thumb across one hard little nipple, she jerked in his arms.
He bent forward and rubbed his beard across both of them. Her body tensed in response but then she moaned and clasped his head to her chest.
“As much as I want to see you get all red from beard burn, I want to taste you more, Pi.”
When his tongue swirled over her skin, the grip on his head grew tighter, her hands like claws. Graham reveled in it and wanted to lick and bite every inch of her.
He made himself let go.
“I want to watch you take it off.”
She lifted one foot to the bed and he watched as she unfastened one of the garters and rolled down the first stocking.
She was biting her lip in concentration, her hair a tawny curtain hanging between them.
Graham unzipped his pants and lifted his cock from his boxers with one hand, groaning in relief.
“I thought you wanted to watch me,” she pouted wickedly. “You’re not allowed to start without me.”
“I’m not starting yet,” he rasped. “Just relieving a bit of the pressure so I don’t suffocate.”
“Hmm. I don’t know if I believe you, but I’ll forgive this one transgression,” she crooned as she unbuckled the other garter and rolled down the other stocking. Once she was finished, she practically leapt on top of him. “You have access to all my most important bits now.”
His hands closed on her arms. “Do you have protection?”
She nodded. “I have an implant. What about you?”
“Pi, I haven’t had sex with anyone since grad school almost twelve years ago. I’m surprised my obsession with you hasn’t given me tendonitis.”
“Then there’s no reason for me to reach inside the drawer and grab a condom,” she said as she rose to her knees.
“Can I get rid of my pants and underwear first?”
“I’m tired of being patient,” she said as she sank down. The silky warm slide of her over every inch of him was like heaven.
He raised his hand between them so he could stroke her clit with every rise and fall of her hips.
She shuddered and threw her head back, her hands going to the breasts he’d teased.
She pinched her nipples and ground against him harder.
He surged beneath her, the fabric of his clothes chafing them both.
When he pinched her with his thumb and forefinger, she cried out and her muscles clenched around him.
He followed her over the edge with a shout and she collapsed on top of him, nestling her chin under his ear.
“I don’t want to move,” she mumbled.
“I don’t want you to move. But I also don’t want you to be sore or get an infection,” he said as he smoothed his hand over her lower back.
“We could wash each other off in my shower.” Her suggestion was drowsy.
“We could. Or I can get up and grab a washcloth.” Before she could protest, he lifted her away from him.
“The bathroom’s across the hall,” she said as she flipped onto her back so she could watch him.
Graham walked across the hall with a hint of swagger because he knew her eyes were on him the whole time. When he returned with the washcloth, she was propped against the pillows with one foot flat on the bed, her other leg at an angle so she was spread wide.
She was pretty and pink and luscious and he was going to taste her soon. But first he needed to completely strip so the redness on her inner thighs where they’d chafed against his clothes wouldn’t get any worse.
He bent over her with one knee on the bed and gently ran the cool cloth over her. When he was satisfied, he tossed it into the hamper and took off his pants and underwear. She crooked her finger and he obeyed, cuddling her close.
“Are we going to talk about what just happened, Pi?”
She snuggled against him, curling her hands under her cheek. “You called me love.”
He nodded and tangled his fingers in her hair. “I did. Because you are. You’re what I’ve been wishing for.”
The smile lit up her eyes. “Then I guess we really are giving Principal Miller the enemies to lovers story she wanted.”
“So this isn’t one sided?”
She rubbed their noses together before giving him a chaste peck. “No, Grinch. I’m all in. I love you too.”
THE END