Chapter 20 Pip
TWENTY
PIP
My brain keeps trying to piece it together, trying to make sense of the last few hours, but every thought feels slow, syrupy, and too thick to hold onto.
But now, I’m here. Lying in bed, wrapped in the arms of the one guy I willed most into my life.
I’ve never delved seriously into destiny, fate, and all that la-di-dah bullshit, but I’m not about to question it if that’s what this is.
He feels safe and warm… and erect. Jesus!
His hard cock is pressing against the fresh bruise forming on my lower back. After a marathon sex session downstairs by the fire, he carried us up the spiral staircase. But before we could make it to the top floor, he dropped to his knees and took me on the hardwood stairs.
After showering off the dirt and grime and cleaning wounds from the run, we collapsed in bed, spent.
But waking up like this? It’s nice. I’ve never felt so sore yet so content.
I try to pry myself away from the heavy mass wrapped around me. Nearly free and pleased I didn’t wake him, my sense of accomplishment is promptly scattered to the wind when he reaches for me, dragging me back snugly against his body.
“Where do you think you’re going?” His husky, sleepy voice makes my pussy tingle. Dammit, vagina, ain’t you tired?
“I didn’t give you permission to leave me; should I add that to the list of punishments?”
I shoot him a glare over my shoulder with a grin. He chuckles, releasing his grip and slapping my ass as I roll away.
Finishing my business in the bathroom, I’m mortified with what I see in the mirror. Dark circles under my eyes, birds nest hair. And the bruises and scratches… I look like I got into a fight with a mountain lion.
“I can’t go to work tomorrow looking like this,” I say, marching back in. “What will people think?”
“That you got boned real good?” he remarks, tongue in cheek with a smirk, ripping the sheet back for me to jump in.
“I mean it!” I laugh out, hopping into bed only to be pulled on top to straddle him. “They gave me a few days off because a psycho tried to attack me at work. He’s still on the loose last I heard. They’ll think he found me.”
Grayson sits up against the headboard, dragging me with him. “Yeah, about that…”
O-oh, this doesn’t sound good.
“Pip, I want to be upfront and honest with you. You might not like what I tell you, but you have been warned from the very beginning about me.”
Grabbing a pillow to cover up a bit, I settle in to listen. “Shoot.”
He sighs. “Tanner is dead.”
A few beats pass. I slowly blink and squint, processing this. “Wait. I thought I heard you say he’s dead.”
“Very dead.”
“Are we talking fair and straight, accidental, or did he have a helping hand to the afterlife?”
“I suppose he had a helping hand to accidentally offing himself. Still low-key pissed about that actually.”
I cock my head. “I don’t follow.”
“It means I abducted him to hurt him, hunt him, and kill him for what he did to you, but he died of his own hands in the chaos.”
A shiver runs down my spine. “And…you’ve killed before?”
He points to the wall where he has military service medals mounted in a frame. “On the job, yes.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Outside?”
He shrugs. “Yes. My methods are questionable but always warranted. When the system can’t or won’t deliver justice, I do.”
Grayson watches me intently. I stall for a moment, still processing. “And Danny?”
“He’ll turn up with a shovel, no questions asked. I’d do the same for him.”
I swallow a hard lump in my throat.
He pulls me close and tips my chin up to look at him.
“I’d kill for you, Pip. I’d die for you, too.
But I’d never, ever let harm come to you.
By my hand or anyone else’s. My choice is simple.
I’d choose you every single time.” He bites my bottom lip, sucking it slowly before growling, “You’re mine. Now and always.”
I sit upright, wanting to ask the question that bothers me most about all this. “Do you remember your first?”
He takes a deep breath. “Yes. The drunk driver that killed my mom. He’d also pleaded not guilty to a separate hit and run and got away with it. I was sixteen.”
Shock washes over me. Sixteen? He was still just a kid.
“I’m so sorry for your mother,” I say, looking down.
A beat of silence follows.
Shit. Fuck. I feel guilty for even asking. He was a child getting justice for his mom.
Grayson caresses my cheek with his thumb, but I can’t bring myself to look up and meet his gaze. He allows his fingers to skate down my neck, across my shoulder, and down my arm to my hand. Softly. Cautiously. My skin pebbles under his comforting touch.
He leans forward and brings my hand to his lips, kissing each digit before leaving a lingering kiss on the palm of my hand and placing it on his chest across his heart.
I feel his steady beat. Strong and steadfast.
With his other hand, he gently tips my chin up and hesitantly plants a kiss on my lips before resting his forehead on mine.
“Say something. Are you scared of me? Do you hate me?”
I shake my head. I couldn’t hate him if I tried.
“I’m not sorry for killing those who hurt my loved ones, Pip.”
“You killed Tanner.”
“Because he hurt you.”
Oh God, what kind of sick love confession is this? And damn if it doesn’t make me smile like a loon.
I bite my lip, pull back, and roll my neck to crack it.
“I need therapy, I think. I’m hearing you say you’re a bad guy that’s done bad things for justified causes and…
” I shift uncomfortably, “…all my ovaries can do is internally beat me up screaming, LET HIM AT US! I mean… that’s not a normal response to admission of murder. ” I awkwardly laugh.
He smiles, kissing the tip of my nose. “You’re wired differently. I knew that.”
Darting down the side of my face, he playfully nips at my collarbone. I squirm and squeal under his firm grip against him as his teeth graze my flesh. A mischievous warning he could and would bite.
And I’d want him to.
“I knew you’d be pissed about the hunt last night, but you could handle it. I’ve watched you; I’ve learned. You don’t get easily rattled. I’m sure you’ll tell me why one day, but it doesn’t have to be today.”
I nod and give an appreciative smile. One day.
“On the topic of owning up to things, whose house is this?”
“Mine. Well, ours. I finished it off after discharging from the forces.”
“Ours?” I look at him confused. “You waste no time, do you?”
“I gave you the spare key, didn’t I?”
“Is there an expectation to give you mine?”
His eyes glint with a mischievous grin. “You already did.”
Before I can protest, he rips the pillow out, pulling me into an embrace and smothering my lips with his. Goddamn sorcery! He tends to my bruises and scrapes with gentle pecks and tongue swirls, turning me boneless to his touch.
Leaning into my ear, he whispers, “About that punishment, are you ready to pay up?”
My back stiffens, my brain and body immediately go into battle. Wetness lines my slit with anticipation filling the air. He groans, breathing it in. I know he has something sinister lined up for me. He reaches into his nightstand pulling out a black box with a gold bow, handing it to me to open.
“My… what a large trinket you’ve got there,” I remark to his awaiting smirk. I open it and gasp. “Whoa, Rambo, that’s… huge! I hope you’re gifting me some lube, too.”
He nods. “Of course, baby. I’m not an animal.”
I lift the gigantic, Godzilla-sized, sparkling blue, vibrating, silicone dick out of the box. The cock throbbing beneath me tells me he’s looking forward to another show.
“Where do you want me?”
“On the balcony. I won’t be happy ‘til we’ve fucked in every room of this house. Balcony included.”
I shake my head, giggling. His intensity drew me in to begin with. It’s his way.
We head out to the balcony, where he bends me over the banister overlooking the river.
He treats me to back kisses, and his hot hands trace my curves. It’s the sensory overload with the cool air and the scent of pine and earth around us. Lubing me up good, he presses on my spine to lower and taps my leg to widen my stance.
Teasing my entrance with the toy and drawing circles around my clit with his thumb, he turns it on and pushes the tip in slowly.
“Oh God!” I cry, squeezing my eyes closed. “It’s too big. I can’t!”
“Shhh. Relax, baby girl. Just breathe.”
I breathe through the intrusion as he gently teases my entrance with the tip. He inches it in bit by bit until it’s fully seated inside me, filling everything and stretching my already sore lady bits to the max.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful. You take it so well,” he praises, still circling my sensitive nub.
I begin rocking into him as I relax into it more.
It’s pleasure and pain all at once as the burn of the initial intrusion fades.
He turns me around, propping my legs on the deck chairs as he fucks me with the toy.
My legs shake and threaten to give out from under me as an orgasm builds deep in my core.
“Fuck! Grayson!” I moan, clawing into him as I begin to tip over the edge and see stars. Without warning, he rips the toy from me leaving me empty, unfulfilled, and slapping his shoulder in frustration.
“What? No!”
He reads the rage in my eyes and responds with a smirk. Before I can get another word in, he clamps a hand over my mouth and replaces the toy with himself. I quiver against him, blissfully full to the brim once more. Sighing loudly as he begins fucking me.
“This is your punishment, Pipsqueak. Not mine. I’ll never knock back the chance to bury myself in your perfect, little cunt.”
I bite down on the heel of his palm to silence my screams as my core tightens, his pace rhythmic and brutal. Jesus Christ, I love how he uses me. He removes his hand, smashing his lips to mine, as an orgasm threatens to rip through me once more.
“Come for me again,” he commands.
My legs turn to jell-o. He trails his sinful mouth to my breasts, pinching one while sucking the other.
Sure enough, my spine bows, and I come undone, shattering what remains of my soul like glass.
He lifts me up, plunging deep into me. Letting out a roar, he climaxes.
Now, all the forest knows who the apex predator is.
His droopy eyes and sly smile exude satisfaction as he holds me tight against him.
“Such a good girl. I love watching how your body reacts to me. It’s addictive.”
“If that’s punishment, I’ll have to misbehave more often,” I taunt. He bites my lip, playfully.
“Should we grab breakfast and coffee? Danny will likely be over at some point to grab his boat key.”
I groan into his shoulder. “The dreaded walk of shame…”
“I got you.” He walks us back inside into the warmth of the house. In the duffle bag are some of my clothes and a toothbrush.
“When? How?”
“I planned everything to the minute yesterday, right down to when I thought your vibrator would run out of battery,” he explains, starting up the shower.
Well, shit. That’s very mindful and demure.
“You’re also out of milk.” He smirks.
For fuck’s sake.
We jump in the shower together. Like a switch, he turns from a commanding dom to the most tender of lovers, caressing my body and soaping me up between erotic kisses.
“You know, I don’t think you’re as bad as you think you are.”
Instead of answering me, he kissed me. Deep, hungry, and oh-so delicious.