Chapter 36
GRADY
It’s so good to finally have Tyrell and Dani here.
I help my buddy set up the portable crib from the back of his car, then carry up the last of their bags. Because they’ve come straight from traveling overseas, they have a hell of a lot of stuff. The corner of their room is piled high.
“I know.” Tyrell shakes his head with a rueful grin. “Looking forward to unpacking properly.”
“Settling down for a little while, huh?”
He glances at me, his lips twitching. “Maybe longer than a little.”
I grin and bob my head. “Nice.”
“Daddy?” a soft voice calls from one of the rooms down the hall, and I spin toward it.
I’m pretty sure that’s Nichelle. She must have heard my voice. Whoops. Talking too loud. Hopefully I haven’t woken up anyone else.
Creeping down the hallway, I find Nichelle hovering in the doorway.
“Hey, snuggly. What’s up?”
She rubs her eyes and lets out a sleepy whimper before flopping into my arms. I take her to the bathroom, then get her a drink and carry her back to bed. She’s asleep before her head even hits the pillow.
Giving her cheek a light kiss, I then check on Kendall before sneaking out of the room.
All the kids are officially down for the night, although I can still hear the older boys whispering.
I should probably tell them to keep it down and get some shut-eye, but Zander appears at the top of the stairs and walks straight for their door.
I pivot and head to my room, my chest catching fire the second I step inside and find Blake stretched out on our bed in nothing but the sexy underwear I gave her for Valentine’s Day.
“Damn,” I murmur, my eyes trailing her body as I lock the door behind me.
The black-and-red lace barely covers her luscious curves, and she looks like a fucking supermodel. Praise Jesus for lingerie shops and the sales assistant who swore my wife would love it.
“You are one hot woman.”
She giggles, looking like a sex queen when she lightly bites the end of her nail, then spreads her legs wide and beckons me forward with a curl of her finger.
I’m pulling off my sweater already, leaving behind a trail of clothes as I quickly undress.
I nearly trip over my pants as they bunch around my ankles, and she laughs again before sitting up to her knees and making sure I’m okay. Managing to catch myself on the end of the bed, I jump back up and kick the damn pants off the bottom of my feet.
“I’m good. I am so fucking good.” My eyes rove her sexy body as I crawl across the mattress to her. “Damn, I’ve been waiting to see you in this all day.”
“And you like what you see?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me, and I let out an appreciative growl. “Happy Valentine’s Day, baby.”
I pull her toward me, kissing her deep and relishing the feel of her sweet body pressed against mine.
We’re both still on our knees, lost in this heady moment.
When you have kids our age, you always have to be quick.
You never know when they’ll wake up and need you, but damn I want to take my time with this woman.
She’s fucking fire.
My fire.
“I love you,” I mumble between kisses, working my way down her neck, then nibbling a line to her bra strap.
“Strip me naked, baby,” she whispers, running her arms around my shoulders, a seductive giggle escaping her when I use my teeth to pull her bra strap away. “That’s it.” She moans, tipping her head back and giving me better access to her neck.
I suck and lick, resisting the frenetic urge to devour her, to slap her onto this mattress and just take her hard and fast.
My dick is straining in my boxer briefs, pushing at the fabric and vibrating in anticipation.
I fist the back of Blake’s hair, curling my fingers into those blonde locks and licking a line from her throat to her chin.
“Yes, Bear,” she breathes, squeezing my shoulders before trailing her nails lightly down my body.
Dipping her hands into the back of my underwear, she cups my ass, her fingers digging into me as I kiss my way to her perfect tits.
I suck her puckered nipple through the lacy fabric before pulling it away with my teeth and licking a circle around her sensitive skin.
She’s so fucking addictive.
So beautiful.
“Ahhh.” She lets out a half moan, half cry and I release her hair, grabbing her ass and pulling her close.
We grind against each other, our hips gyrating as a heady friction builds between us.
Reaching into the front of her panties, I swipe my finger across her and smile. “So wet, Bee.”
She smirks.
“I love it when you’re wet for me.” I give her a wolfish grin before diving back for her mouth, kissing her deep and long until her knees are buckling. Securing her around the waist, I rest my butt on my heels and pull her onto my lap.
“How do you want to do this?” I pant. “What feels good for you tonight?”
“You can have me any way you want me.” Her glistening lips kiss the crook of my neck before she shifts back and tugs at my underwear.
My dick springs out with glee, my insides short-circuiting when she goes down on me, sucking me into her perfect mouth and sending stars scattering across my vision.
I groan, running my hands across her back and unclipping her bra.
I love how smooth her skin is. I love gliding my fingertips across it as I reach down, squeezing her ass cheeks before falling back with a groan.
“Holy fuck,” I can’t help whispering. Her mouth is gonna undo me.
Her strong tongue is giving my head the ride of its fucking life.
“I want to come inside you,” I rasp.
Her perfect lips pop off my cock, and she grins up at me through hooded eyes. Damn, I love how blue they are sometimes.
Cupping her cheek, I gaze down at her with an affectionate grin, guiding her face back up.
She kisses me, her tongue gliding over mine as I pull her against me once more.
Her legs wrap around me, and she grinds that lacy lingerie over my cock.
It’s wet and beautiful, and I’m so turned on right now I can barely stand it.
“Get inside me.” She pulls away from my mouth long enough to order me around before diving back for my lips.
I kiss her deep once more and she sucks the tip of my tongue, then throws herself back on the bed.
“Let me get you out of these, then.” I grin at her, and she giggles at my expression before rolling onto her stomach and lifting her ass into the air.
With a playful growl, I bite the back of her panties and pull them away from her skin.
She fucking loves it, laughing and groaning when I slip my fingers inside her and give her a quick ride.
She pistons against my digits, fisting the pillow beneath her and coming in a rush of sexy writhing and moans.
I keep going, working her G-spot and drawing out the orgasm until my fingers are wet with her ecstasy.
“Oh, oh, yeeeesssss.” She practically screams the words, and I have to shush her so she doesn’t wake the kids.
“Sorry.” She giggles, then gasps, still riding out the orgasm that took her so fucking fast her entire body is shaking.
It’s been too long since we’ve done this. She only comes this quick when we haven’t been together in a while. It’s a travesty that I can’t remember the last time we did it. Must have been last month, surely.
Life hasn’t gotten that busy, has it?
“Get inside me now.” She grits out the words, and I stroke her one more time. Her body jerks and she muffles her sexy wail with the pillow before I line up and plunge into her.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she whimpers, rising up on all fours.
I grab her rocking boobs, giving them a squeeze before taking her hips. Damn, I am loving this ride. It’s so familiar. So precious.
This woman is everything, and I will always love her. No matter what friction there might be between us, what crisis we face in a day… she owns my heart and soul.
“Love you, Bear.” As if reading my mind, she whispers those words over her shoulder and I gaze at her, smiling into her blue eyes.
“I love you, Bee.”
She blows me a kiss, but it splits apart with another groan as I hit her sweet spot.
Her eyes roll back in her head and she flops onto the pillow, her hips thrusting back into mine. I go deep and hard the way she likes it, gripping her hips and picking up my rhythm.
“Baby,” she moans, and I’m starting to lose it.
Her sweet voice. Her luscious body.
“I’m coming,” she squeaks just as a white fire takes me out, spreading through me like a liquid flame.
She starts to gasp and lets out these short, panting wails, her body convulsing with fresh waves of ecstasy.
Shit, we’re gonna come together. I fucking love it when this happens.
“I’m coming.” I can barely choke out the words before I’m digging my fingers into her skin and jerking inside her. I take off like a fucking rocket, exploding in a rushed blur and holding on like my life depends on it.
Fuck.
She’s so…
She’s… that was…
The words disintegrate in my mind. I can’t even form a coherent sentence. Not when I’m deep inside my woman.
Her body vibrates with a soft laugh when she slowly comes to, clearing from her daze and blinking at me.
My legs fold and she spins over, lying on her back and ordering me on top of her with a flick of her wrist.
It’s easy to comply. Stretching myself over her body, I nestle between her legs and take the brunt of my weight on my elbows.
As her hands glide up my sides, she gives me a wicked grin and bites her lower lip. “You’re gonna have to get into the habit of buying me lacy underwear, Mr. Newman.”
“As long as you’re in the habit of wearing it all the time, I definitely will… Mrs. Newman.” I wink at her, enjoying that stunning smile.
I love the way she makes my chest expand like my heart is growing too big to house it.
Her blue gaze softens. Now that we’ve both floated down from our highs, her expression is turning serious.
“Baby, what is it?” I search her face.
She swallows. “I’m sorry about today.”
“What do you mean?”
“About the girls going missing.”
I frown and shake my head. “That wasn’t your fault.”
Sniffing, she tries to look away from me. But I won’t let her. Resting my finger on her chin, I make sure she keeps looking at my face.
“I was supposed to find Harley, and…” She trips over her words, and emotion obviously gets the better of her. “And maybe if I was a better mom, Kendall wouldn’t have just taken off without asking first.”
“You’re a great mom,” I quickly clarify, hating the look on her face right now.
“I’m too soft, Grady. And don’t try to say that I’m not. You know I am. You’ve told me I am.”
I wince, wondering if she wants me to get off her, but when I go to move, she grips my waist and keeps me in place, going one extra step and curling her leg around mine.
“I want to do better, but I’m scared that I don’t know how.”
“You do.” I nod, running my hand along her hairline. “You instinctively do. It’s all a matter of listening to your gut.”
She blinks, her eyes getting glassy. “I don’t want to screw up our kids. But I don’t want to raise them in some high-pressure house where they can’t be themselves either. I hated that.”
“That’s never going to happen,” I assure her.
“We’re nothing like your parents. We just need to find a good middle ground for us.
And if we don’t start now, it’s gonna be too late.
” I wince at her. “Nichelle’s six already.
We need to get our shit together, you know?
We need to be a united front. Come up with the way we want things to run and then both stick with it.
We need to support each other. Like you did tonight, when you backed me up with Kendall. That meant a lot to me. Thank you.”
Her expression crumples. “I’m sorry that I haven’t been doing it more. But I’m really gonna try, okay? Because I don’t want my babies wandering off, and I don’t want them walking all over me anymore. Parenting’s just really hard, you know?”
“It is.” I nod. “But those girls are lucky to have us. We love them, and they know that. They just need a few boundaries, and they need to stop playing us against each other.”
“Yeah.” Blake nods, sucking in a shaky breath.
“It’s not a popularity contest. You’re already my favorite. You don’t need to be theirs too.”
Her lips twitch. “I’m your favorite, huh?”
“You don’t know that?” My voice rises playfully and I grab her around the waist, rolling us over so she can lie on top of me for a minute.
She laughs, her hair draping on either side of my head as she grins down at me. “You’re my favorite too,” she whispers.
“Good.” I tuck her hair behind her ears. “Now kiss your favorite, naked lady. We need to make the most of this time while our babies are sleeping.”
“Yes, sir.” She leans down with a giggle, and I swallow up that sound with my tongue.