Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
T heo followed Gretchen into her bedroom, feeling like the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet. And while he could see she truly wanted him and her invitation was sincere, there was something that had been weighing heavy on his mind ever since she’d told him about Briggs.
He didn’t want to bring her abusive ex into the bedroom with them, but he needed one more answer before he proceeded. Because Gretchen had confessed a couple days earlier that her panic attack in the barn hadn’t been driven by the storm or his kisses or even his proclamation that she was his.
He’d inadvertently triggered it by grasping the back of her neck to pull her in for another kiss. It reminded her of Briggs choking her. Theo felt physically ill, knowing he’d put that memory back in her head, even though she reassured him that she knew he would never hurt her that way.
Gretchen led him straight to her bed before turning and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
Theo gripped her waist, holding her back.
His hesitance confused her. “Theo?”
“I have to ask, kitten.” He paused for a second, searching for the right words. “I need to know if Briggs ever… If when you were together…”
Understanding dawned on her face and she quickly shook her head. “No. No. He never hurt me that way. I guess if there’s a small mercy…it’s that. His preferred violence was by using his fists. Not sex.”
Knowing her asshole ex had never raped her was a relief, but that didn’t mean he agreed with what she said. “Nothing he did was merciful.”
She nodded in agreement. “You’re right. I suppose we should have talked about this before…” Gretchen glanced at the bed.
Theo sank down onto the mattress, patting the spot next to him. “I’m assuming he’s the only man you’ve had sex with.” He refused to refer to Briggs as a lover, considering all he’d ever shown her was control and hate.
“He is. And at the beginning, the sex was fine. In the middle, it felt more like a chore, not something I enjoyed but could tolerate. Toward the end, it stopped altogether.” She blushed a little.
“I think he might have had a little trouble…” She crooked her pointer finger, then straightened it.
Theo chuckled at the way she used a gesture rather than saying her ex couldn’t get it up.
“Wow. He didn’t set a very high bar, did he?”
Gretchen shot him a look that was pure minx. “He didn’t. But I should warn you, I read a lot of steamy romance novels, so you’re still going to need to bring your A game.”
Theo barked out a laugh, enjoying this new side of her.
Since coming clean about her past, Gretchen was slowly starting to reveal more of what he suspected was her true personality.
She was funny as shit, a bit of a smart-ass, and outspoken on subjects she felt passionate about.
She’d shed her reservations, no longer afraid to draw attention to herself or be seen.
Theo had a big personality himself, but damn if he didn’t think Gretchen was going to give him a run for his money.
“Challenge accepted,” he retorted before rising again. Gretchen accepted his proffered hand, lifting her face as he bent to kiss her.
They’d spent hours the past couple of weeks necking like teenagers.
He’d never put a ton of stock in kissing, viewing it only as a prologue while waiting for the story to start.
With Gretchen, however, kissing could be the entire first act, leading all the way to the intermission, and he’d still want more.
She ran her fingers through his hair as he slowly untucked her shirt, his fingers dipping beneath to stroke the soft skin of her waist and stomach.
She sucked in a wobbly breath, breaking the kiss. “That tickles,” she confessed with a giggle.
Unable to resist, Theo tickled her again.
Gretchen tried to push him away, her hands pressing on his chest, laughing, which only encouraged him to up the ante.
Wrestling her to the bed, he straddled her thighs, tickling her even more as she struggled and laughed in equal measure.
Given what he knew of her past, he would bet the entire farm Gretchen had never laughed in bed, never realized that sex could be hot and fun.
“Uncle!” she finally cried.
Theo relented, shifting until his body was completely over hers, resuming their kiss as lips parted, tongues touched, breath grew heavy, and their desire rose.
He ran his fingers over her long blonde hair, then cupped her gorgeous face, taking in her pink cheeks and sparkling blue eyes.
Gretchen looked her fill as well, the two of them speaking volumes with the connection of their gazes.
“I have a condom in my room. I better go grab that before things really heat up.”
Gretchen fisted his shirt, holding him to her. “I’m on the pill. If you.” She bit her lip. “I mean, we don’t need to…”
Theo kissed her again, pressing his forehead to hers. “I genuinely believed the day we met was the best day of my life, but I think tonight might rearrange that order.”
“Every single day since that first has been the best of my life.” She smiled, pulling him back down to kiss her again.
In between kisses, they undressed each other, stripping one piece of clothing at a time. She lost her shirt first, and Theo took his time, teasing her tight nipples through the lace of her bra.
Once Gretchen tugged his shirt off, she pushed him back a few inches, her eyes traveling over his bare chest. “It’s like you’re chiseled from stone.”
He drew one finger through the valley of her breasts. “Farmwork is better than any gym.”
Gretchen arched her back to give Theo access to the hooks on her bra. He snapped them free with a practiced hand, and she smirked.
“You’re awfully good at that.”
He started to laugh, but it quickly morphed to a growl when he bared her breasts, his mouth watering for a taste. His dick had been rock-hard since he’d walked into the cabin and discovered she’d made him dinner. Every single thing about Gretchen turned him on, and most of it wasn’t even sexual.
Her tits, though…
Fuck him.
Perfection.
Lowering his head, he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, pinching the other between his finger and thumb.
Gretchen jerked slightly. “Oh! Oh my God. That feels so good.”
There was a tone of surprise in her voice that gave him pause.
Not that he was going to question it, because her ex had no place here.
He wasn’t interested in comparisons or any more horror stories.
His sole purpose tonight was to erase every fucking bad memory from her mind, replacing them with nothing but good ones.
Switching breasts, he treated that nipple to the same ministrations, licking, sucking, even nipping it lightly until she writhed beneath him.
“I need more.”
Theo shared her hunger, but there was no way in hell he was going to rush this.
“Mm-hmm.” Theo continued to play with her breasts.
Gretchen huffed out a laugh. “You’re ignoring me.”
Theo lifted his head, sliding up her body so that he could give her another heated kiss. “Be a good girl, and I promise you’ll get everything you want and more.”
He watched as her already pink cheeks brightened to a darker red, her eyes slid closed, and she drew in a gasping breath.
Awareness dawned.
“You like being my good girl, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
Just when Theo thought this woman couldn’t get any hotter, she turned the heat up from bonfire to inferno.
Theo kissed her again, squeezing her breasts as he did so, pinching her nipples until she whimpered. Not in pain. He’d never hurt her. She’d had enough of that to last her a lifetime. But he knew where the line between pleasurable pain and true hurt lie, and he would never cross it.
Gretchen’s fingers closed into fists in his hair, tugging it roughly as she returned his kiss tenfold. He growled when she lifted her legs, wrapping them around his waist, gyrating against his crotch.
Too much more of that, and his vow to go slow would be nullified.
Theo shifted lower again, forcing her legs to drop. He took a second to kiss each turgid nipple before continuing his descent. Kneeling between her outstretched thighs, he unfastened her jeans, then encouraged her to lift her ass as he pulled off her jeans and panties.
After a week in the cabin together, he knew her first order of business upon returning home from work was to kick off her shoes, preferring to be barefoot around the house. With no shoes or socks to add to the pile, he finally—FINALLY—had Gretchen completely naked.
He remained where he was, on his knees between her legs, her body on full display before him. Kneeling was the appropriate position, because he was fully prepared to worship before this altar for the rest of his life.
She was beautiful, inside and out. Upon her first arrival, she’d been right on the border of too thin, but a couple months of dining on Edith’s amazing cooking had corrected that, adding gorgeous curves in all the right places.
She had a healthy appetite and a huge appreciation for good food, something he suspected she’d never been allowed to indulge in before.
Gretchen’s hands drifted to her stomach, covering it. “I’ve gained some weight.”
Theo drew her hands away from her body. “You’re perfect.”
He slid down, putting himself right over the bullseye, giving her a playful wink before he lowered his head.
Gretchen jolted upward, her hands flying to his hair. “What are you doing?”
Theo gave her a curious glance. “I think it’s pretty obvious I’m going down on you.”
“Oh.” She shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. That’s okay.”
“Don’t have to?” he grumbled. “Gretchen, this isn’t a have to situation. I want to. I want to taste you, want to drive you crazy with my tongue and my teeth, want you to come in my mouth.”