Chapter 13 #3
“Grace,” he moaned into her mouth. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.” He hitched her up against him, and she immediately tightened her legs around his middle.
“Really?” she breathed, and he replied by letting out a string of whispered words in Spanish.
“I don’t know what you just said.”
He nuzzled into her neck. “That’s probably for the best, because it was filthy.”
“Oh.” He scraped her bottom lip with his teeth, and all the fantasies Grace had been holding back started to play out in her mind. Rafael moving over her, his bare skin gleaming in the dim light, his hands all over her body, and then his mouth…
Suddenly, a loud buzzing echoed through the entryway, and they both froze. It took a moment for Grace to realize the sound was coming from her bag, which had been abandoned on the floor the second she’d stepped through the threshold of the apartment.
They remained completely still until the vibration stopped, and then they looked at each other, each waiting to see what the other would do.
Rafael’s breath was heavy. “Grace,” he said, taking a moment to catch his breath.
“You can call me Graciela.” She smirked, bolder now after everything he’d admitted to her.
His lips twitched into a smile. “Graciela,” he said, and the sound made her tighten her legs around him. He groaned then and nuzzled into her hair. “Should we talk about this?”
Should they talk about this? Yes, probably.
As much as she wished they could just plow forward, full steam ahead, Grace didn’t want to think anymore.
She didn’t want to consider the consequences, no matter how complicated they could be.
Of course, Alma had warned her that this would happen, that Rafael was used to getting his way with women, and it was never anything more than sex.
But the idea of “just sex” kind of appealed to Grace.
She’d just gotten out of a three-year relationship and moved to a new country.
It wasn’t like her life screamed ready-for-a-serious-thing. “Just sex” could be simple and fun.
If only it wasn’t Rafael. All their little ties to each other, not to mention the fact that they were living together for who knows how long since the contractors were in no rush to work on her apartment, added a level of intensity to the whole endeavor.
She released her grip on him, and he let her down slowly, waiting for her to say something.
Before Grace could answer his question, her phone started vibrating again.
Somehow, it sounded louder and angrier if that was possible.
She reluctantly turned away from Raf and grabbed her bag from the floor.
She already knew who it would be, the one person who would call her more than once, the whole reason she was here to begin with, the person who had given her the possibility of a new life.
“It’s Alma,” she said, holding up the cell for him to see. Alma had been expecting her to call hours ago, but with all the distractions of the cave research, and dinner, and Rafael… Her throat constricted at the thought of what her best friend would say about all of this.
“Go ahead.” Rafael gave her a sad smile, acknowledging that the fire between them was extinguished, the moment of recklessness at an end.
Grace nodded and tried to gather her wits.
Half of her brain was still clinging to bedroom fantasies of Rafael, wishing she could forget everything else in the world.
She didn’t know how to answer Alma’s call while still sounding like her usual self, but if she didn’t pick up, Alma would only call again, worried about why she’d never checked in.
Grace put the phone to her ear, and made her best effort.
“Hi,” she choked out, trying to steady her voice. “What’s up?”
“Where have you been?” Alma’s voice was high-pitched through the phone speaker. “You said you would call me earlier! Is everything okay?”
Grace nodded even though Alma couldn’t see her, guilt washing over her. “I know. I was just so busy with grading papers and planning and everything.”
That was partly true. Before Raf had arrived home, she’d spent hours working on her classes.
“Well, tell me about all of it! Have you met Marco’s mom yet? What’s going on with that?”
Alma seemed prepared to settle in for a long conversation, and Grace didn’t know what to do. How could she say, “actually, I’ll have to let you go so I can keep making out with your brother even though you told me not to?”
She couldn’t.
Instead, she looked toward Rafael as she started to answer Alma’s questions.
She tried to convey everything she was feeling with a look—her apology for letting their evening end like this, her longing.
Perhaps her uncertainty was written there as well.
Rafael kept his distance, nodding solemnly before gesturing toward his bedroom.
He was giving her privacy. He was relinquishing his hold on her for the evening.
He wasn’t going to touch her anymore, even if she would have killed for a hand pressed into her back or a kiss on the forehead before he left.
It would be better this way, to quit while they were ahead, before things got messier than they already were.
Maybe they would laugh about that time they kissed and shake their heads, thinking of how foolish they’d been.
It was the right call. Better to forget about all of it.
Better to play it safe and protect herself.