Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Wren stared at Grayson, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Because it always dropped.
He merely stared back at her—then something dangerous flashed across his face.
It wasn’t directed at her but at the man who’d hurt her, at the story she’d told, and the years she’d carried it alone.
“I fucking hate what that man did to you, and I’m so sorry you’ve been alone and hurting all these years.
But, Wren, I’ve told you before. I’m never leaving. ”
There was that beautiful word again.
Never.
Wren didn’t have a response to that because…it sounded too beautiful. Too perfect, too good to be true.
However…she’d spent enough time with Grayson to know she could believe him.
No. More than that.
She trusted him.
She’d fallen hard for this man. Probably that very first weekend they’d spent together at the wine festival. And losing her heart to him hadn’t been hard, because he was so easy to love.
But for her, trust was so much more important. She realized that, except for her family, she’d never trusted anyone enough to share not only her secret…but herself.
Not Jake, not Charlie, not her high school or college friends.
No one except Grayson.
“What about the legend?”
She hadn’t meant to blurt that question out, but it was apparent, she still wasn’t quite finished fighting her fear that this couldn’t be real, that it couldn’t last.
“Legend?” Grayson asked—before the light came on. He grinned widely. “My family’s legend?”
She nodded.
“I didn’t know you knew about that.”
“Your cousins and Edith talked about it at book club one night,” she responded. “When we touched at the wine festival…”
“The world shook so fucking hard, I nearly fell over,” he said.
Wren blinked, wondering if she’d heard him correctly. “It did?”
“Jesus, yes! Which was problematic, because I thought you were Lark at the time. I think we can both agree that your sister and I would be the mismatch of the century. Even more so than her and Tommy.”
Wren put her fingers over her mouth, desperately trying to hold back a laugh. Because holy hell, was he right about that.
Grayson tugged her hand away. “Trust me when I say, we’ve definitely reached the point where we can laugh about the switcheroo.”
His words set her free, and she barked out a loud laugh, and he joined in, the two of them laughing for so long, they were soon gasping for air.
“You could never be with Lark,” Wren agreed, once she was able to talk again. “You’d kill each other within five minutes.”
“Never gonna be an issue, because the legend has spoken. You’re the one for me, Wren. You and only you.”
Her lip trembled, though this time, the tears threatening to fall were happy ones. She nestled into him, feeling that same sense of safety and comfort she’d experienced at the festival. “My world shook too,” she confessed. “I felt it the second you held me.”
Grayson pressed his lips to the top of her head, the two of them curled together contentedly. Neither of them sought more, both satisfied with simply sharing the same space, the same air.
Wren wasn’t sure how much time passed as they sat there, letting the confessions of the last hour sink in deep. She also wasn’t sure who moved first. Perhaps they did so as a unit, but one minute, she was merely sitting on his lap, and the next, they were kissing like the plane was going down.
Wren shifted until she was straddling his lap, Grayson’s hands cupping her ass as she gyrated against him. They’d been here before, and it had been amazing…until…
Grayson broke the kiss and leaned away, piercing her with a look. “We’re adjusting, remember?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that until we identify all your comfort zones, we talk things out first.”
“It’s my discomfort zones that are the trick.”
Grayson chuckled, lightly tugging her hair. “Then we’ll find those instead. Are you okay sitting like this?”
She nodded, punctuating that answer by grinding against his thick cock. “So okay.”
Grayson responded with a half groan, half laugh. “Dirty girl.”
No one had ever accused her of that before, but damn if she didn’t love the sound of it. Unable to resist, she lowered her head, the two of them kissing again, their tongues dueling. She nipped his once with her teeth, and he reciprocated by sucking her lower lip into his mouth.
They parted, gasping. Apparently, they were going to spend most of this night fighting for air. Either through laughter or kissing.
For a girl who panicked whenever she felt as if she was suffocating, she suddenly learned that not all drowning was bad.
“Gray,” she said. “I want you.”
“We don’t have to rush into—”
She cupped his jaw, forcing him to look her straight in the eye. “I. Want. You.”
His wide grin told her that she’d convinced him with just those three words. “Stand up,” he said, in that deep voice that had her nipples rising to attention.
She rose, and Grayson followed suit. They took their time, slowly undressing each other, caressing and kissing every exposed inch until Wren swore her body was made of pure electricity. She tingled from head to toe.
Once they were both naked, Grayson resumed his spot on the couch, patting his thighs. “Crawl over me again, like before.”
She was there, on his lap, before he’d even finished his request. They kissed once more, but this time, she was focused less on his lips and more on his hands…and hers.
Grayson’s large palms cupped her breasts, squeezing her flesh while lightly pinching her nipples. Meanwhile, she ran her own hands over his muscular chest, teasing the light smattering of hair in the middle.
When the heat between them became scorching and Wren’s arousal hit fever pitch, she slid her hands lower, gripping Grayson’s thick, hard cock in her hand, stroking it the way he’d shown her previously.
He hissed in a sharp breath, letting her know she was doing it right.
“Goddammit,” he grunted, when she jerked him with one hand, the other drifting down to cup his balls. “Wren…baby, you keep doing that, and this night isn’t going to end the way either of us wants.”
She stilled for a moment, before the playful tease inside her—the one she never even knew was there—emerged, tightening her hold and stroking him faster.
Grayson quickly grasped her wrists, halting her movement, even as she fought him.
“Hold still, little bird.” His gaze left her face, searching the floor in front of the couch.
“What’s wrong?”
“I need to grab a condom from my jeans.”
“I get the birth control shot. To help with my periods,” she quickly explained.
Grayson stilled. That was when she recalled the woman who’d lied to him about being pregnant.
“Sorry. I forgot about…” she started, not finishing her sentence. She started to scoot off his lap so he could grab his jeans. “I wasn’t thinking.”
Grayson stopped her, his hands firmly gripping her ass. “Are you sure, little bird? Because there’s nothing I’d love more than to take you with nothing between us.”
She liked the sound of that. So, so much.
“I’m sure,” she whispered.
Grayson kissed her as she writhed against him, his cock bumping against her clit until she saw stars. She thought she’d been turned on the other night, when he’d gone down on her and given her that mind-blowing orgasm.
Her need then was nothing compared to now.
It honestly felt as if she’d die without him inside her.
“We’ll do it like this,” he murmured against her lips. “Lift on your knees and put me inside you. You’re in control. Take what you want, what you need, and if it feels like too much or you get scared, all you have to do is stop.”
She appreciated his offer, even though it wasn’t necessary. His drugging kisses, sweet words, utter understanding, endless patience, and sexy touches washed away every bit of fear and doubt, leaving her with an overwhelming sense of rightness.
Wren lifted to her knees, his cock still in her hand as she guided him to her opening.
“Go slow,” he advised. “You’re tight, little bird, and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t,” she said.
Grayson would never hurt her. She knew that as surely as she knew her own name.
His hands shifted to her hips, and she got the sense he’d put them there to make sure she followed his direction.
They both hissed when she placed the head of his dick just inside her soaking-wet pussy. She’d never been so aroused in her life.
“Slowly,” he said again, though this time through gritted teeth.
He was right. It was a tight fit and she needed to stop to catch her breath.
He stroked her sides with his thumbs, a bead of sweat sliding down his temple.
Wren wiped it away with a fingertip before slipping it into her mouth, her taste buds exploding with the salty flavor.
“Fuck me,” he murmured. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
No one had ever said anything like that to her before, so she didn’t realize just how powerfully those words would impact her.
They’d reached the point of no return. She could feel her body resisting him, feel the pinch that told her the next glide was going to hurt. But she wasn’t afraid.
Instead, she was overwhelmed with an emotion too strong to hold in.
“I love you,” she blurted—freezing as the words slipped out.
Her chest tightened as panic struck hard and fast.
Because…Jesus. It was way too soon for that.
“I mean—”
“I love you too, little bird,” he replied. “I’ve been swallowing those words down for weeks. Feels good to be able to finally say them to you.” Then he grinned. “Of course, it feels even better to hear them.”
She closed her eyes when the tears she thought she’d finally beat down wet her lashes again. Not because she was sad, but because she was happy. Happier than she’d ever been in her life.