20. Isabella
I’m not sure how we make it to his penthouse. One second, we’re kissing against the wall of a building, the next we’re entering a cab, and now we’re at Graham’s house. And we’re still kissing. It’s like we’re starving. We’ve denied our bodies for so long and now we’re simply ravenous for each other.
Our clothes go flying as soon as we step out of the elevator leading inside the penthouse. The air in the room thrums with urgency as we strip each other bare. My dress, his jacket, his shirt. I moan into his mouth when he unclasps my bra before squeezing one of my already hard, achy nipples.
I grind against him, desperate for friction, for more. There’s no rhythm to our actions, to the ferocity of our desire. I can barely think of anything else but him, and in this moment, he completely owns me, body and soul. My lips part when his fingers skim over my shoulder and up my neck until he’s fisting my hair in his hands.
“Take off your panties, Isa,” Graham says quietly.
I don’t even hesitate before sliding the lacy material to the ground. My eyes don’t leave his as I completely bare myself to him. I’m standing naked in his home and this is the most vulnerable I’ve ever let myself be with someone. But with Graham, it just feels right.
He swallows. “You’re fucking art, Sunshine.”
Heady anticipation explodes into even more lust and I let out a short gasp when he starts to kiss me again. His hand reaches down to palm my ass. He squeezes one cheek before delivering a light smack that further intensifies my arousal.
“Graham,” I moan.
“I’ve got you, baby,” he growls before his fingers tease at my entrance.
He closes his mouth over one of my nipples at the exact moment his fingers thrust in. I gasp, my eyes rolling back as pleasure billows through me. My mouth drops open but no sound escapes. His long middle finger slides in deep, then slowly drags back out. I grip his shoulder, then his neck, his bicep, trying to stabilize myself as best as I can as he draws out pleasurable shivers from me with his actions.
“You’re so fucking wet, Isabella. Is all this for me?” he murmurs as his fingers continue to slide in.
His head falls to the crook of my neck and his breath warms my ear.
“No,” I lie in a soft whisper and I’m immediately punished with a smack on my ass.
“God doesn’t appreciate liars, sweetheart.”
I scoff. “Why do I get the feeling you’re referring to yourself as God in this scenario?”
Graham smiles roguishly. “I don’t know about being God, baby. All I know is that I’m about to dominate your world.”
And that he does. His finger circles and circles, dipping inside me and bringing the slickness back up to my clit several times. When he thrusts in with two fingers, I have to fight very hard not to scream.
“I can feel how close you are, Isabella,” Graham whispers, his voice in my ear, making this feel even dirtier, hotter. “Are you going to come with my name on your lips?”
I start to shake as I feel myself unraveling. “You wish,” I gasp.
A burst of pleasure washes over me when he slaps his hand over my pussy lightly.
“Come for me, Isabella. And scream my name while you’re at it,” Graham rasps, his voice commanding.
And I wish I was strong enough to resist. But when he adds a third finger into the mix, sliding them easily inside of me, sparks start to fly behind my eyelids. I grip onto his arm like he’s the only solid thing in the world, shaking as he circles my clit with his thumb.
“Ah,” I cry out in pleasure. “Graham.”
Graham kisses me through my orgasm and I feel his smile against my lips. He holds me until I grow limp in his arms. His kiss is tender and sweet enough to cause an ache in my chest.
When I finally stop coming, he lifts me up and settles us down on the couch. I lift my head to look at him, feeling breathless at the sight.
Graham’s eyes gleam bright and turbulent. The soft light spills over the hard contours of his body, tracing the ridges of his abs and a hot ripple wavers through me, coupled with a surprising pinch of uncertainty. His hand curls around mine and he squeezes gently, like he can tell I’m starting to freak out.
Because no one has ever looked more beautiful to me before. No one has ever looked more real.
“It’s okay, Sunshine,” Graham says soothingly. “Just breathe.”
He’s the only air I want to breathe. I sit forward in his lap and wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him hard. Desire springs taut between us. I run my hands over his chest, my fingers coming to rest briefly on his nipple, specifically the pierced one.
“You never did tell me why you got this,” I say softly, twirling my hand around the diamond embedded in his chest.
“A string of bad decisions,” Graham murmurs, his eyes darkened with lust.
I smile, a second before I drop my head, my tongue reaching for his nipple tentatively. Graham curses under his breath when I wrap my mouth around the piercing, sucking softly. His hands tighten around my hip.
“Fucking hell, Isabella,” he groans.
I reach down to unbuckle his jeans and he sits up enough that I’m able to tug them down as well as his boxer briefs. Soon enough, his cock is hard in my hand. Graham’s eyes fall closed as I glide my closed palm over him, up and down until he grows another inch in my hand. I want so badly to feel him inside of me. Without any barriers.
“I’m clean,” I find myself saying. Graham looks up at me in surprise. “And I’m on birth control.”
His eyes roam across my face. We both know doing this would take a tremendous amount of trust. And I’m not sure exactly when it started to happen, but I trust him wholeheartedly.
Every inch of my heart belongs to him right now. Beats for him.
He cups my cheek with his hand, his green eyes boring into mine. “I’m clean too, baby.”
I nod once, my breath caught in my chest. Very slowly, I lift myself up until my entrance settles over his hard cock. I swallow softly, feeling a twinge of fear.
“It’ll be okay, Isa,” Graham says comfortingly.
He holds on to my hips as I settle down on top of him, feeling him sliding inside of me and filling me up in the most perfect way. He watches me as I take him in, his eyes burning with a fierce hunger as his hands grips my ass and he presses me down so hard, I moan in pleasure.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Sunshine,” he breathes.
I rock my hips, bracing my hands against his chest as I ride him. His hands are everywhere as he meets each of my thrusts with a sharp jolt of his own hips, drawing cries from my lips that echo so loudly through the house that I’m immensely glad there’s no one else here.
My hands fists in his hair when he reaches for my breasts, pulling each of my nipples into his mouth in turn. Goosebumps pepper my skin and I groan when he moves his hand to the bundle of nerves at the apex of my thighs.
“You have no idea how perfect you look, baby. Riding my cock like it was made for you,” Graham praises.
His fingers start moving at a heady rhythm in time with each thrust inside of me. Every muscle in my body tightens with energy and my head starts to swim. This is torture—painfully beautiful, blinding torture. I try and fail to catch my breath as he drives into me hard, fucking me into oblivion.
We’re both panting with need and exertion. Graham growls into my ear, voice coated with desire.
“Come for me, darling,” he commands.
With one final punishing thrust and stroke of his thumb, he sends me toppling over the edge. I cling to him as his name falls from my lips and my whole body writhes with the most intense pleasure I’ve ever felt. He follows me right over the edge, his grip on my ear tightening to the point of pain as he holds me against him, coming inside of me with a growl of pleasure.
I sag against his chest, our heavy breathing filling the space. Graham press his forehead against mine as we both try to recover from the destruction racking our bodies. Just as I’m starting to catch my breath, his arms wrap around me and he draws me into a kiss unlike any other we’ve shared.
His tongue pushes into my mouth slowly and his hand slides up my spine. The earth could be falling and splitting apart and nothing else would have mattered in this moment. The only thing left is the two of us. He’s all that matters. My fingers trail his chest and I cup his jaw between my hands, feeling like the kiss might just consume me entirely.
We break apart to catch our breaths after a few minutes.
“We should have been doing this the entire time,” Graham mutters, his lips twisted with displeasure.
I smile softly. “I’m sure we can catch up.”
His lips lift in a dazzling smile and I only get a second to prepare before he’s standing up and carrying me with him.
“Tell me, Sunshine, how many times do you think I can make you come tonight?” he asks, carrying me in the direction of the stairs in the house.
“Reach for the stars, Graham,” I say on a laugh when he bites my ear playfully.
The day ends on the most perfect note. I finally let myself be with man who makes me feel a terrifying amount of emotions. And there’s no other place I’d rather be.
I wake up wrapped in Graham’s arms. And nothing has ever felt more right. He’s still sleeping soundly, which is to be expected considering he thoroughly wore himself during the night. The smile on my face refuses to disappear as I stare at him. He doesn’t so much as stir when I slowly untangle myself, lifting his arm and sliding out.
I get up from the bed, my feet padding across the bedroom floor and toward his closet. I put on the first shirt I see. His scent engulfs me almost immediately and I fight the urge to sniff it. Graham doesn’t so much as move when I open his bedroom door, walking out and heading downstairs to the kitchen.
My mind replays every detail from the night before. The most I’ve ever gotten from any guys I’ve dated throughout my life has been flowers. Last night, Graham completely outdid himself, and I’m so grateful. No one has ever taken the time to think so deeply about a gift for me and then gone above and beyond to fulfill it the way he did. I’ve been trying hard not to think about how difficult it must have been for him to not only secure some of Vinetto’s time but also his recipes.
I figure I might as well show him just how grateful I am. And the perfect way to do that would be to use his gift to me and bake him something nice from Vinetto’s recipes.
Unfortunately, Graham’s pantry has little to no ingredients to whip up something good. Cinnamon rolls will have to do. He can eat them with the breakfast burritos I’m planning to make. Thirty minutes later, I’m almost done with cooking when he appears at the doorway into the kitchen.
His green eyes smolder as he takes me in. “I thought I smelled something good,” he murmurs.
“Hey. Did you sleep well?”
He nods, walking toward me. Once I’m within reach, he grabs me, pulling me into his arms. My hand settles on his bare chest and I smile up at him.
“You look good enough to eat, Isabella,” he growls before his lips meet mine.
He kisses me for so long that I lose all sense of reality. When his hand slides down to cup my ass, reality snaps back into perspective. I bat his hand away, looking up at him with a grin.
“Breakfast first,” I tell him. “I’m almost done.”
He sighs. “Baby, I appreciate you cooking for me, really I do. But I’d much rather eat you,” he says earnestly.
I stare up at him for a couple of seconds, preparing to think that over. “How about you eat this first and then we’ll see?”
“Good enough for me. Now what is that magnificent smell?”
We have our meal right there in the kitchen, eating our burritos before dessert. Graham especially loves the cinnamon rolls.
He and I clear the table together, and then it’s time to do the dishes. I cross my arms as I stare him down.
“Why can’t you do the dishes?” I question.
“Because the housekeeper will be here in a couple of minutes. She can take care of it.”
My eyes narrow. “You’re so lazy.”
“No, I just have better things to do right now. Come here, Sunshine.”
I laugh, “No. If you can’t do something as simple as dishes then you’re not getting any.”
His eyes darken. “Wanna bet?”
I squeal when he lunges for me, narrowly escaping his grasp. I run out of the kitchen, laughing my ass off the entire way. Of course, Graham catches me as soon as I step into the living room, pulling me backward by the waist.
He places kisses on my neck, making me giggle even harder.
“Stop,” I gasp through tears.
“Never!” Graham retorts, laughing like a maniac.
I don’t think I’ve ever laughed this hard before in my life. He’s practically lifting me in the air at this point and I’m fighting to get back on my feet. Right when I’m about to push him away, the sound of someone clearing their throat reaches us.
My movements fall to a stop and I look up at the person standing across from us at the entrance into the living room. It’s a dark-haired middle-aged woman. Her brown eyes are glinting with amusement as she watches us. There’s a large brown suitcase behind her.
Behind me, I hear Graham curse softly under his breath.
“Mom? What are you doing here?” he asks, and I can hear the slight anger in his tone.
My eyes widen. That’s his mother? Holy fucking shit.
I push away from him, feeling my cheeks heat. This is so embarrassing. I’m literally wearing nothing but his T-shirt right now.
Great. Just fucking great.
His mother looks younger than I expected. She’s probably in her early to late fifties, although there’s not a single gray hair in sight. Her complexion is dark, her skin smooth. Her brown eyes have a kind, youthful look to them.
“Hi, honey. This is unexpected,” she says, smiling as she looks between us. “And what do you mean, what am I doing here? I told you I’d be coming to New York this weekend.”
“Sure, but not first thing in the morning. Was someone chasing you?”
His mother smiles, apparently deciding to ignore his grumpiness. She looks at me, her gaze studious.“Hello, dear.”
“Hi,” I say quietly.
“Honey, is this the woman you only knew for five days?” she asks her son.
My eyebrows lift at that and I look at Graham questioningly. He doesn’t meet my eyes, though. He’s visibly upset, muscles tensed.
“Yes,” he replies curtly.
“How long have you known her for now?”
“A lot longer than five days,” he mutters.
His mother sighs before looking at me again. “It’s wonderful to meet you, dear. What’s your name?”
“Isabella, ma’am,” I reply.
“Nonsense, you don’t need to call me ma’am, honey. My name’s Ava.”
“Nice to meet you, Ava. If you don’t mind, I’m just going to go and change and then I’ll go home,” I tell her, still feeling embarrassed about the position she caught us in.
Graham’s gaze turns to me sharply and his frown deepens.
“You don’t have to leave because of me, Isabella,” Ava says softly.
“No, it’s fine. I’m sure you and Gray have stuff to talk about. I need to get back home, anyway. My cousins are probably wondering where I am.”
I remembered to send a text to Enzo and the twins that I wouldn’t be coming home, but I didn’t tell them where I was staying the night. I’m sure they’re worried by now.
“Alright, dear.”
I don’t waste another second before turning around and practically fleeing up the stairs. As soon as I walk through Graham’s bedroom door, my gaze zeroes in on my clothes, which are in a pile on the floor. I’m picking them up when Graham walks into the room.
“You don’t have to go,” he says softly. “Actually, I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”
“I know. But it’s a little awkward staying here after my boyfriend’s mom walked in on us in an incredibly telling state of undress.”
His eyes gleam at that. He stalks toward me, placing a hand on my cheek.
“Boyfriend, huh?” he asks, clearly pleased.
“Yeah. What else am I going to call you? Fuck buddy?”
He rolls his eyes, “You’re such a smartass.”
He kisses me in the next breath. One hand grabs my nape and pulls me closer, the other splays across my back. My mouth parts in a moan and his tongue pushes inside, caressing mine in lazy, sensual strokes. I let him kiss me for as long as he likes.
And it doesn’t even occur to me to be terrified anymore. Graham makes it seem like everything will be okay.
He makes me feel safe. And that’s all I’ve ever really needed.