Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Helena shyly tugged her shorts down, maybe exaggerating the curve of her hip just a little as she bent over like the forties pin-up girl she secretly wanted to be.
“You’re a tease.” He smirked as he ran the bath, complete with lots of bubbles. The smell of lavender filled the bathroom as she stripped completely.
Grayson tested the water, and motioned for her to step in once she tied her hair up.
Instantly, her body relaxed and allowed him to take over her care as his hand massaged beneath the water. She was unsure of how to speak of what just transpired. Becky asked if she was his wife, and more than anything Helena wanted to say yes. Scream it, shout it from the rooftops. Was it too soon to affirm what she knew she truly wanted? Her mind lingered to the possessive hold on her hip as the girl’s father clearly thought he had a chance.
How dare he assume anything about them.
Helena took it as a sign of blatant disrespect and couldn’t help but wonder if Grayson would be treated differently in her presence if he wasn’t in a wheelchair. But he staked his claim, made her feel safe, and that was all she wanted.
“Don’t worry about him.” He paused and looked down at her in the soapy water.
“I don’t want you to be upset about your neighbor, but I understand if you are.” Helena fiddled with her now clean fingers.
Grayson dragged his wet hand over her cheek. “Baby, I worry about nothing and no one else in this world but you. Fuck him. People can assume whatever they want about us but we know the truth, don’t we, princess?”
She felt herself blush again, turning her eyes away. Grayson wouldn’t allow it, gently bringing her chin back.
“No. Look at Daddy.”
She peeked at him below her long lashes, which were beginning to smudge from her mascara.
He wiped away the black specks with a rag, freeing her face from any other makeup.
“For me personally, baby, I’m unfazed. I’ve been in this body for twenty-eight years, and I’ve had a lot of time to process my emotions. I’m in control, so I inform people without allowing myself to internalize any negative thoughts. Others’ opinions mean nothing to me. But it doesn’t mean it isn’t hurtful to others. So I make it a point to correct the situation when it comes.”
Helena listened, now even more proud to call him her Daddy. He commanded their private space.
“Does it happen a lot?”
Grayson shrugged.
“We may not have another situation like this for a long time, or it could be tomorrow. What’s important is we gently but firmly shut that shit down.”
Helena’s nose wrinkled as she grinned, almost looking forward a little too much to the next time she got to publicly display who she belonged to.
“I didn’t mean to be so forward. When I said I’d be your wife—”
His hand splashed to the surface, cupping her cheek. “Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how happy it makes me? How fucking bad I wanted to take you right there knowing you want what I want?”
Helena watched the corners of his eyes wrinkle with his grin. His rough but well-kept beard tickled her face as he claimed her lips.
She would have pulled him down in the water with her if she didn’t need to come up for air.
“You mean… you don’t think it’s too soon to think about marriage?”
She watched his chest slowly inflate and fall.
“Do you love me, Helena?”
“More than anything.” She leaned her head against the edge of the tub, maybe unconsciously exposing her throat where she was begging to feel his teeth again.
“Do I love you?”
“Mhm.”
“Say it, babygirl.”
She closed her eyes and exhaled, allowing herself to feel only him. “You love me.”
“Then that’s what matters. I know what I want, and when I want something, what do you think I do to make it happen?”
Helena cocked her head. “What do you do?”
Grayson leaned in close, almost nose to nose. “Everything in my power.”
Helena swooned as he wordlessly washed her. In bliss, she allowed him access to her body at the mere tap of his finger to her knee. She submitted and bent her knees as he cleaned her most private areas.
“Do you think you could handle me forever? Mrs. Helena Edwards?” A deep growl radiated from his chest. “Fuck, I love how that sounds.” He squeezed the loofah across her back, watching as the soap slid over her shoulders.
She repeated the name over and over again in her head as he finished washing her.
“Let’s do your skin care.”
He backed up to the sink with the cabinet-free area beneath it to make room for his chair, grabbing her serum and moisturizer.
“Oh, I can do it. You probably wouldn’t want to bother with it.” Helena wasn’t sure a single man in her life knew the steps of her skin care routine, let alone that she even had one.
She lifted her wet hand out of the water.
“Nope. Daddy’s job. Head back.”
Helena dropped her arm back in the water, dropping her neck to the edge of the tub to enjoy her homemade spa treatment.
Grayson sparingly dabbed the clear serum from the dropper bottle on her forehead, cheeks and chin, then rubbed it into her skin with a gentle touch.
“Mmm. How did you know what came first?”
“I’m observant. I see everything that goes on around me. I know how you tend to your skin, how you brush your hair in different sections. I know how you turn to the side in the mirror and run your hands over your hips as if you could smooth out what belongs to me.”
Helena swallowed as his fingers found the column of her throat. They applied gentle pressure and he lowered his mouth to the outer shell of her ear.
“I’ve memorized everything you do. There’s nothing you can hide from me.”
Helena felt her jaw go slack as he tightened his fingers just barely. Her legs parted, as if he’d pressed a button to garner the response. Her nipples pebbled as her chest heaved just above the water. Realizing her body was doing its best to offer itself to him, she bit her lip, unsure how to ask what she wanted. Her brain couldn’t process the words anymore as he applied her moisturizer one handed, keeping the other protectively around her neck.
Helena mewled as that hand dipped below the water to find her breast.
“Shhh. Quiet for Daddy.”
His hand around her throat never tightened beyond a point, recognizing her squeeze when it became too much. Grayson growled as he rolled the peak between his wet fingers, just watching how she squirmed in the tub.
“You’re my good girl.”
Helena rapidly nodded as he pinched her nipple, opening her mouth to cry out a “yes”.
“Ah ah. No talking.”
Her eyes rolled in the back of her head as she gave in to his demand. Grayson touched everywhere he could until he leaned further and reached between her legs.
“I’m going to make you come. You can moan, but don't talk until Daddy says so.”
A sound escaped her lips, beginning a word. But she snapped them shut. He had worked her so well, she knew she wouldn’t last. She desperately wanted to convey that to him in case he wouldn’t be happy for not lasting for him. Too late, it dawned on her that this was precisely his goal. She couldn’t warn him how close she was. Grayson would remove her ability to speak, forcing her to simply enjoy the pleasure, no matter how long or short-lived it was. He was enabling her to just let go.
Small waves accumulated around her as his arm snaked down her body, his hand working her beneath the water. She pressed her knees against the sides of the tub, giving him full access between her legs. Grayson whispered utter filth in her ear, further testing her self-control.
“Good girl, good girl. Keep those knees wide open for me.” His teeth found the edge of her ear, making her yelp.
“I—”
Grayson applied pressure beneath the water.
“No talking, Helena. I’ll have to take you to bed and spank you if you do. You won’t be able to talk then either. Maybe afterward I’ll hold your hands behind your back and just use you. I won’t even let you moan then. You’ll be silent. Fucking silent taking your Daddy’s cock.”
Her hands gripped the edge of the tub. She contemplated opening her mouth so he would do exactly that, consequences be damned. Once she began to buck her hips, he hastened his movements.
Helena was right on the edge, only able to nod her head to urge him further.
Her body began to explode with white heat, splashing the water as her mouth opened in a silent scream. But one final sentence he whispered in her ear sent her over the edge.
“Be my wife.”
It did her in, her body took over and answered for him as she convulsed beneath his hand.
His other hand left her throat, bringing his fingers up to her mouth. Helena suckled them without a second thought. Her hazy eyes gazed up at him
“You can talk now, sweetheart.” He pulled his fingers from her lips, but she snapped her teeth in protest.
“Yes…”
“Yes?” Grayson sat up straight, his shoulders tensed. Like they were waiting for clarification.
“Yes, I’ll be your wife.”
As the tub drained, he wrapped a towel over her body, not bothering to ask her to seat herself on his lap.
She did so without complaint, resting her head on his shoulder as he rolled them to the bedroom.
He repeated the ritual as they usually did after a shower or bath, selecting her favorite moisturizer she had brought from her apartment, and spread it meticulously over her nude body. Helena no longer covered herself.
“Now you’re off tomorrow, right?” Grayson asked.
“Yeah, last minute cancellation.”
“Good. Because once you’re flat on your back in this bed, you won’t be getting up for a while.” A devilish grin spread across his face, and he pulled her roughly into his lap, then tossed her back onto the sheets.
With a squeal and a giggle, Helena darted up, backing up on the bed playfully.
“What if I try to run off?”
“Then Daddy will have to tie you to the bed and make sure you never want to leave.” He practically tore his shirt over his head. His belt was ripped from its loops and Helena licked her bottom lip as he loomed over her, using her hips as leverage to turn her body away from him.
“Preview of the wedding night?” She craned her neck over her shoulder.
“Don’t tempt me; I’ll march us over to the justice of peace right now and bend a paperclip to make you a ring. At least until I can buy you a real one.”
With a growl, he pushed on the center of her back. Helena was now on her tummy, with her ass on full display.
Within a few swats, she arched and flipped her hair.
Thank god she was off tomorrow.