Chapter Ten #2
Maybe she hadn’t gone as hard at the bar as her cousins had.
Which made sense for what I knew about Gracie, who was supposed to be one of the more responsible of the group, a little more cautious.
She was more like the mom of the group. She had her fun, but she also seemed to feel the need to keep an eye on her cousins, to make sure they were all making good decisions.
“Did you have fun?”
“It was kind of more fun being here than at the bar. I’m not really a bar person.”
“Why not?”
“It just kind of takes away the intimacy of a party, I guess. But Layna is a lot more extroverted. And, well, a teensy bit of a flirt.”
“Not you?”
Why did I care?
“Not really my thing. And drunk guys are…”
She didn’t need to finish.
We all knew what drunk guys could be.
Creepy.
Annoying.
Dangerous.
“Did everyone pass out?”
“Most of them. Layna challenged Spike and Cain to a poker game, though.”
“Those poor fucks,” I said with a snort.
“I know. Did no one tell them that she is a professional poker player?”
“Dunno. Guess they’re finding out right about now, though.”
“Why aren’t you sleeping?” I asked as she let out a dramatically long yawn.
“I don’t know,” she said, the notes in her voice not quite landing true. “I tried,” she added. “But I couldn’t fall asleep.”
I could sense her wanting me to press.
And knew I couldn’t.
So I kept my damn focus forward.
The air felt like it was slowly getting thicker, harder to breathe in. I couldn’t tell if it was Gracie, or me, or what.
Then, suddenly, Gracie was moving.
Up onto her knees.
Then moving over to straddle me.
“Gracie,” I said, tone pained. “What are you doing?”
Her body tensed.
Her eyes went wide.
The sense of rejection practically vibrated off of her.
“Oh,” she yelped, her eyes suddenly looking glassy.
Like she was going to cry.
“I, uh, sor—” she started.
But my hands moved out of their own volition, sinking into her hips, keeping her in place before she moved away.
“Did I read this wrong?” she asked, voice tiny, unsure.
Read it wrong?
I was already fucking hard.
Just from sitting next to her.
“No, baby. But this—”
“No buts,” she said, voice a whisper. “Please? Just for right now?”
I was going to object.
In another second.
But then she was lifting up.
Then her soft hands were framing my face.
And then her lips hesitantly pressed to mine.
Any chance of stopping what was happening here melted away as a sweet little whimper escaped her at the first press of the kiss.
My hands flexed on her hips, pulling her closer until her chest crushed to mine.
There were a hundred reasons this was a terrible idea. Not the least of which being someone could be outside, look up, and see.
Suddenly, though, I didn’t care.
Gracie’s hands slid down the sides of my neck, then moved around the back of my neck, pressing closer to me as her lips pressed deeper.
My own were helpless but to respond, to slant, to nip, to run my tongue across hers, my lips muffling her little sighs.
It wasn’t long before she was wriggling, writhing, aching for something more.
What was my choice?
To push her away?
To reject her?
No.
No, it wasn’t even an option.
I couldn’t have what I wanted.
Not without guilt and consequence.
But I could let her take from me what she needed.
Gracie shifted, dropping down on my lap.
A deep, long moan escaped her as the center of her pressed against my hard length.
My hands shifted down, sinking into her ass, dragging her against me again. And again.
It wasn’t long before she didn’t need any help.
She rocked, rolled, ground down.
The kiss got needy and reckless.
Her teeth nipped my lower lip, dragging a growl out of me.
My hands drifted up under her shirt, desperate for her bare skin against my palms.
And the way she shivered had every muscle in my body tightening.
Her movements got faster, more desperate.
Then her lips broke from mine, her head falling back with a throaty moan.
My hands went down to her ass again, dragging her down more firmly against me.
“Take what you need,” I said, my lips going to her neck, my tongue tracing up her throat.
A little whimper escaped her, but she ground down and rocked harder, faster, driving herself up until her muscles were tensing, until her body was shaking.
“That’s it,” I murmured, my lips by her ear. “Come for me.”
Then she was.
Her body shuddered.
I grabbed the back of her neck, pressing her mouth to my neck to muffle her cries, not sure how far sound carried from the glass room. It never occurred to me to care before.
She clung to me after, little aftershocks racking her body.
And fuck if I didn’t go ahead and wrap my arms around her, keep her close.
Then, once she was calm again, I leaned back, shifting my legs open so her ass fell between them, hopefully making her less aware that my own desire was still painfully evident.
Her legs draped over my thigh; her side rested against my chest.
Neither of us said anything.
We just sat like that.
And, little by little, I felt her body going lax, her breathing going slow and deep.
Glancing down, I saw her eyes closed, her face all soft and sweet in sleep.
What did I do?
I held her.
For an hour.
Then two.
Until the barest hints of gold started to spread across the sky.
Only then did I force myself to slowly lower her down to the ground, pushing a pillow under her neck, then spreading a blanket over her body.
I wouldn’t let myself look back as I made my way to the trapdoor then disappeared down the ladder.
As expected, a couple of the girls were out cold in the bunks in the basement, so I was careful to creep up the steps so I didn’t wake anyone, so they wouldn’t put things together if they saw Gracie come down in the morning.
I was about to make my way to my bedroom when voices in the common area made me pause.
Then there was Layna at the table.
Spike and Cain were also sitting there.
Mostly naked.
Catching my brow raise, Cain shook his head. Spike let out a huff of a laugh. “When we ran out of cash, she accepted clothes,” Spike admitted.
I barely noticed them.
With how closely Layna was looking at me.
All I could do was cross my fingers that she crashed in the prospect room so she didn’t go down and see Gracie missing from the bunk.
Because I’d managed to hold myself back from getting any kind of relief with Gracie.
It would be fucking criminal if I got caught and kicked out just for letting her take what she needed from me.
Layna’s shrug felt loaded.
But I chose not to harp on it as I turned and made my way into my room and right into a cold shower.
It didn’t help.
All I could do after was lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about Gracie, and trying to ignore the feeling in my chest that I knew was something more than desire.