Chapter 20
How are things at the hotel? I saw the trial’s started. Ethan looked miserable in the courtroom. How’s he doing?
Message from Logan to Henry
Ethan
“Want me to help you remember?”
Grace teasingly called me Beelzebub, but given how long she made me wait for her reply, pushing my patience to its limits, she was clearly the wicked one.
Ever since that night in the pool, I hadn’t been able to think of anything but her—her soft curves, her smooth skin, the sounds she’d made as her muscles clenched around my fingers.
“Sure, why not?” she finally replied with a performatively casual shrug.
I didn’t need to be told twice. I closed the distance between us and kissed her.
This time, there was no hesitation, no holding back.
This kiss wasn’t happening in a haze of nighttime intoxication.
Grace knew exactly what was happening. I slid my tongue into her mouth, tasting her, because I couldn’t get enough.
And it had nothing at all to do with the fact that I’d just endured the longest dry spell I’d had in years.
It was entirely because of her, her tempting lips, her intoxicating taste, the way she drew me in.
“Do you remember now?”
She shook her head.
I smirked. “Liar.” As punishment, I bit her lower lip.
She whimpered, but in pleasure rather than pain. The sound only fuelled my own desire. My fingers slipped under her top and beneath her bra. She shuddered as I cupped her breast, just as I had done in the pool, to help jog her memory.
“How about now?”
“Yeah . . . something’s ringing a bell.”
Our mouths moved feverishly against each other.
Without breaking the kiss, I guided us onto the sofa.
I sat down and pulled Grace onto my lap.
Straddling my thighs, she pressed her hips against mine.
I gasped for breath, and she let out a startled sound as my erection pressed between her legs.
I could have sworn I already felt her damp warmth through the fabric of her trousers.
Our eyes met, and the pull between us reached new heights.
My entire body tingled, and my crotch throbbed with longing.
“Is this OK?” I asked hopefully.
She nodded and pressed her lips to mine again.
I slid my hand to the back of her neck and kissed her more deeply. She sighed, contented, and leant against my chest. And even though I had fantasised about fucking her in her maid’s uniform, I suddenly wished she were naked. I missed the feel of her skin against mine. I made to pull off her top.
“Don’t,” she cut in. I took my hand away. “It’s your turn today. Because if I remember correctly, I still owe you.”
Oh, fuck.
Grace barely gave me time to process what she had said before she was kissing a trail from my lips down to my neck.
She sucked lightly at my throat, and I imagined what it would feel like if she did the same to other parts of my body.
Her kisses moved lower—from my collarbone to my chest, then to my stomach.
My breathing quickened as she traced the contours of my abs with her tongue, lower and lower, until at last she was kneeling before me.
She looked up at me with an innocent smile that was at odds with the glow of longing in her eyes.
My heart pounded and my cock throbbed.
Grace wrapped a hand around my erection—confidently and without hesitating, the way I’d come to expect from her.
She began to stroke me skilfully through the fabric of my shorts.
I pressed myself eagerly into her hand. Having to take care of myself on Thursday made it feel all the better now to finally be touched by her.
“Do you like that?” she teased. It was the same question I’d asked her in the pool, when she’d barely been able to speak.
“Yes, but it’d be even better without the shorts.”
“Maybe I’ll take them off for you—if you ask nicely.”
I laughed hoarsely. “Would you please take my shorts off?”
Grace gave a thoughtful hum, as if deliberating whether my request had been nice enough.
It was pure torture. But at last she relented and reached for the waistband of my shorts.
I lifted my hips before she could change her mind.
Luckily, Grace didn’t draw out the game any further, and pulled off not only my running shorts but my boxers as well.
The appreciative look in her eyes worked on my ego like Viagra. I grew even harder. So hard it hurt.
Grace reached for me and let her fingertips dance lightly over my hardness.
I groaned, from both pleasure and frustration. Her ghost of a touch was too much . . . and yet far too little. I thrust my hips towards her.
“Impatient?”
“If I say yes, will you put me out of my misery or keep torturing me?”
She shrugged. “You’ll find out.”
I gave a frustrated hiss. I should have known this woman would be my undoing. “Yes! I’m impatient.”
It seemed to be the answer Grace had been hoping for, because she wrapped her hand around me and began to stroke.
After a few seconds, she brought her other hand into play.
I groaned, which brought a smile to her lips.
She was clearly enjoying driving me wild.
My hips began to move instinctively in rhythm with her hands.
Her eyes darted back and forth between my face and my erection, fascinated, as if she were taking just as much pleasure from this as I was.
Then, suddenly, she let go. I was about to protest when she shifted her weight to bend over my lap.
Her warm breath brushed against my hot skin.
Holy shit! She wouldn’t, would she?
Oh yes, she would!
Her lips closed around the tip of my cock, where I was most sensitive.
My hips jerked towards her of their own accord as she began to alternate between licking and sucking.
I bit my tongue to stop myself from coming within the next five seconds.
Grace was absolutely perfect, and I wanted to savour the fantasy of her in that uniform, on her knees for me, as long as possible.
I didn’t want it to end before it had even really begun.
I reached out a hand to her, stroking her hair, encouraging her to go on, to take me deeper.
With my fingers tangled in her blond hair, I guided her until our movements fell into a rhythm that felt right.
I had never imagined that a woman who never tired of challenging me, and who claimed she didn’t even particularly like me, would trust me in this way, but she did.
And she was right to. I’d never do anything she wasn’t comfortable with, so I kept a close eye on her.
The throbbing in my groin grew stronger with every rise and fall of her head, until I couldn’t take it any longer.
I pulled Grace away from me. “Stop.”
She seemed uncertain. Her pupils were dilated, her hair tousled from my fingers. She looked so fucking beautiful. “Did I do something wrong?”
I laughed, my voice hoarse and rough with desire. I’d never heard anything more absurd. “No, not at all. You were perfect. But I want to be inside you when I come. That is, if you want that too?”
She nodded without hesitation, and a warm wave of pleasure shot through my body. I touched Grace’s flushed cheek one last time before letting her go and reaching for the dark-cherrywood box on the sideboard next to the sofa.
Grace rolled her eyes when she saw what I was holding. “Of course you have condoms lying around in your living room.”
“You can’t deny it’s coming in handy right now,” I said with a grin as I tore open the foil and rolled the condom on.
She rose from the floor and, with the same easy confidence she’d shown in touching me, slipped off her shoes and trousers, until she stood before me in nothing but her top and black underwear.
I held out my hand invitingly, and she climbed onto my lap. The mere thought of what was about to happen was enough to push me right back to the brink Grace’s lips had just taken me to.
“You really want this?” I asked, just to be sure.
Because if we went through with it, there’d be no going back.
The night in the pool could perhaps still be swept under the rug—one time barely counted.
And the blowjob had just evened the score.
But if she chose to lower herself onto my cock, it would be because we truly wanted each other.
I waited for Grace’s reply, but none came—at least, not in words.
Instead, she guided my hand between her legs.
Her underwear was soaked, even though I had barely touched her.
I stroked her through the fabric, and a sound of pleasure escaped her throat.
She let me ease her into what was about to come.
Her hips began to move, pressing against my hand.
I pushed her underwear aside and slid a finger into her easily.
Her muscles tightened around me, leaving no doubt as to how ready she was for me.
I drew my hand back and wrapped it around my hard cock while Grace positioned herself above me. My other hand rested on her thigh to steady her, helping her to take me in. Slowly, she lowered herself onto me—and nothing had ever felt better than sliding into her.
I held my breath to control myself and give her time to adjust to the sensation.
In this position, I filled her completely.
When I leant forward to kiss her, she no longer tasted sweet like she usually did, but salty—like me.
It was a primal thought, but I liked it.
It was as though I’d marked her, even if it was only for now.
“Is this OK?” I asked.
“Yes. Just give me a moment.”
“You can have as many moments with me as you want.”
She smiled. Bracing her hands on my chest, she began to roll her hips experimentally.
We moaned in unison. Being joined like this felt incredible.
Then Grace started moving on top of me in earnest, and from then, there was no holding back.
We took what we needed from each other, the sound of bare skin meeting bare skin filling the room.
Our movements were slow at first, then grew faster.
Our ragged breath fell into the rhythm of our bodies.
Sweat pooled on our skin, and Grace’s fingernails dug into my shoulders as she rode me.
Her eyes were closed, but I couldn’t take mine off her.
In that moment just before she lost control, she looked ravishing, almost unreal.
I slid a hand between our bodies and pressed a thumb against her clitoris.
Her eyes flew open. “Ethan!”
I grinned. I loved how she said my name.
Even more than that, I loved how she moaned it.
I moved my thumb in rhythm with our bodies.
Her thighs trembled. And then she came. Her muscles clenched around me, holding me tight, pulling me with her.
My whole body shuddered, and I thought I saw stars as I lost myself inside her.
When it was over, I collapsed weakly onto the sofa.
I leant my head back and stared up at the ceiling, barely registering Grace climbing off my lap.
The cushion beside me shifted, and her face came into view.
She looked pleased with herself. My heart pounded so hard that it felt as though it might leap out of my chest towards her.
Though I could barely move, I raised a hand to pull her towards me. I kissed her softly on the mouth, feeling a tingling low in my body.
“I like the way you return the favour,” I murmured against her lips. Either I was suffering from memory loss and had forgotten over the past weeks how amazing sex could feel, or it had simply never felt this incredible before Grace.
“That was pretty good,” she replied.
“Give me five minutes, and then we can do it again.”
“There’s no time. I have to work.”
“Let the hotel guests live in their filth.”
She stood up from the sofa with a laugh and adjusted her underwear, which I’d only pushed aside. “Forget it. We’re not starting that. What just happened was a one-off, because I owed you. New rule: No sexy time during working hours.”
“Boring . . . but fine.” I pulled off the condom and tied a knot in the end, though I didn’t bother getting dressed. I’d have to shower anyway. “But just to be clear,” I said, “when you say no sexy time during work, does that mean this”—I gestured between us—“can still happen outside of work?”
Grace pulled on her trousers. “I wouldn’t be opposed.”
“I knew you’d get hooked on me.”
“Best be quiet before I change my mind.”
Silently, I ran two fingers over my lips as if zipping them shut.
Grace slipped on her shoes and walked past me to the cleaning trolley. She wheeled it towards the door, gave me one last dazzling smile—and then she was gone. She left behind not just silence but also a strangely warm feeling in my chest.