5. Chapter Five
The storm caught up with them before they could get to Brody’s house, and by the time they arrived, they were both soaking wet. Brody grabbed a couple of fresh towels from the laundry room, handing one to Grace as he snapped his open and began to towel dry his hair. It had been a long time since he had drunk top-shelf bourbon, and he was feeling the effects of the shots he shared with Grace and the old man. He wasn’t drunk, far from it. But he was, as Pink Floyd would put it, comfortably numb. He stared at Grace as she struggled with the wet mess that was her hair and felt his body tighten.
“Dammit,” she hissed. “Help?” she laughed.
“I was wondering if you were going to ask.” He reached out and found the pins that held her braid in place and began to pull them out. “How are you feeling?” he asked softly.
“Tipsy. Tipsier than I wanted to let on. I definitely didn’t want to go to the station like this,” she admitted. She stood there and let him slowly work the pins out. As soon as she felt the last one come free, she stepped away from him, moving deeper into his kitchen. Her hands were shaking. She wasn’t expecting to have this reaction to Brody touching her. Was it the alcohol? Or was it the elephant in the room that they had yet to address? She turned and looked at him. He was leaning in the doorway, arms folded over his now bare chest, his ankles crossed. “Oh boy,” she whispered.
“You know we need to talk about this, Grace,” he said quietly. The unspoken tension between them seemed to crackle in the air. “Or are we just going to forget about what we had?”
“That was high school, Brody,” she commented.
“And yet, here I am, at the request of the Sheriff of New Orleans,” he pointed out. “How did you pull that off, by the way? How did you manage to get me the choice spot as the head of your forensics department?”
Grace swallowed, leaning against the wooden table as she untangled her braid. “I called in a lot of favors when I heard you were leaving the FBI to come to New Orleans,” she admitted. She couldn’t look at him. Every time she did, her heart raced, and her hands itched to touch him. The last few days had been the worst. She knew the moment she saw him on the ladder in the living room that the feelings she had for him in high school were still there. Brody Whalen had been front and center in her mind and her dreams from the day his grandmother told her he was leaving the FBI. “I didn’t mean to bring you onto the force in the middle of a murder spree.”
Brody pushed away from the doorframe and approached her, each step deliberate. “Anyone know? Does anyone know about us? Our history?” he asked. He stood in front of her, pinning her between his body and the kitchen table. He took her braid in his hands and slowly began to unwind it, gently working the knots free.
“No,” she said quietly.
“Good. Let’s keep it that way. We don’t need our coworkers knowing that there might still be something between us,” he stated. When her hair was free of the braid, he threaded his fingers through it, fanning it over her shoulders. She looked up at him, and he gave her a soft smile. “The FBI wasn’t as much fun without you,” he admitted. “You would’ve made a hell of an agent.”
Grace felt her cheeks flush at his praise. “Yeah, well…I wasn’t ready to leave home. Brody, I’m not…I’m not sure this is a good idea,” she blurted out.
“Which part? Us being partners or this?” he asked before lowering his lips to hers. He wanted to kiss her when he saw her standing in the middle of his living room. She looked so good in the Sheriff’s uniform, and there was something about the way she kept her hand on her sidearm that turned him on. He noticed how she ran her thumb along the side of the pistol’s grip like she was caressing a lover whenever she was in deep thought. She used to do the same thing when he held her hand. He slid his hand to the back of her neck, keeping her from getting away. She tasted like bourbon mixed with her sweetness, which was more intoxicating than the alcohol.
Grace’s head was spinning. Brody’s kiss was very much welcome, and if she was honest with herself, she asked for Brody because she wanted him back in her life. Yes, he was good at his job. Yes, he’d worked with the FBI long enough to make a name for himself as a profiler and forensic investigator. He was the perfect candidate for her department. She leaned into the kiss, her hands reaching for the buckle of his duty belt and undoing it quickly; she worked the button of his trousers as her tongue dueled with his.
Brody was surprised at Grace’s boldness. He leaned back, ending the kiss and watching her. Her hands were shaking, and she felt cold. “Hold up. Stop. You’re freezing cold, and I’m not being a very good host. Let’s get out of these wet uniforms and catch a hot shower.” He stepped back, running his hand through his brown hair. “And see where this goes.”
Grace swallowed hard and nodded. She followed him from the kitchen up the back stairs to the bedrooms on the second floor of the old house. Thunder rumbled overhead, the windows rattling in their panes. As soon as they reached the landing at the top of the stairs, Grace pulled Brody back to her, kissing him hungrily. He was not about to pass up her boldness and they wrecking ball danced up the hallway to the bathroom, leaving a trail of clothing behind them. She didn’t care what anyone had to say if they found out. They were consenting adults with a history. She wasn’t going to waste this chance to be with Brody.
Brody had no idea what came over Grace, but he enjoyed every last moment of her newfound forwardness. He managed to get her to stop kissing him long enough to start the shower before he pulled her naked body to him. He grasped her behind, her breasts pressing against him. She was soft and warm, and she was everything he remembered from when they were together in high school. His mouth trailed the line of her neck until he found the soft hollow of her shoulder blade. He nipped lightly, making her moan and rub against him in need. Reaching out one hand, he felt the water. It was just right, a little on the hot side, so it stung slightly when it hit the flesh. He backed her into the doorless shower, a feature his grandmother had added over the last ten years. She hissed and then moaned at the feel of the hot water on her skin.
Grace reached for Brody’s cock, wrapping her fingers around his hardened length. There was no denying he wanted her, and she could feel her body slick with need at just the thought of having him. She let her fingers graze his scrotum just enough to tease and elicit a moan from him. “Brody,” she groaned as she stroked him, her hand tightening around him as he shivered in need.
“Mmmm?” he answered. His hands drifted to her breasts, his fingers teasing her taut nipples until they were hard buds beneath his palms. He lowered his mouth to one, drawing it in and soothing her flesh with his tongue. He let his hands wander lower, finding the juncture of her thighs. She was already wet with need, and he easily found the bud of her desire. Slowly, he stroked his forefinger over it, making her gasp in surprise.
As soon as he touched her, all reasonable thought went out of her head. She leaned her head back against the wall, her eyes closed. When he took her hand away from his cock and kneeled in front of her, she could do nothing more than hold onto the grab bars in the shower. He lifted one leg over his shoulder and lapped at her sweetness, sucking her pearl until she wiggled against the wall, rocking over his tongue as he lapped at her juices. He didn’t stop teasing her with his tongue and fingers until she cried out his name in release. Only then did he set her back on both feet and stand up. Without saying a word, he washed her hair and ran the soaped-up loofah over her body, pampering her like she deserved to be.
He quickly washed and shut the water off, handing her a towel before leading her into his bedroom. He barely got the bedcovers pulled back when he found himself on his back on the bed, Grace standing over him. The look on her face was one of lust and need. He settled back against the pillows and watched her crawl up the bed from the foot, nipping at his calves and thighs before straddling him. They both groaned in satisfaction as she lowered her body onto his before settling into a steady rhythm.
Grace needed more, though. She needed to feel Brody deeper, so she shifted over him, grabbing the headboard with both hands. She deepened her strokes, his hands cupping her breasts as she fucked him, riding him like he was some wild bull at the rodeo. He felt her velvet sheath tighten around him as she cried out in release, milking his orgasm from him. He grasped her hips, stopping her wild motions as he spilled into her, the release leaving them both sated and drained.
Brody held her to him as they came down from their euphoria before reaching out for the towel at the edge of the bed. He gave it to her, letting her clean up before using it and returning it to the bathroom. She was curled under the blankets on one side when he returned to the bedroom. Her hair was a mess, and the peaceful look on her face was his doing. He smiled at her as he slipped under the covers next to her, pulling her into his arms. “Oklahoma, huh?” he teased, referring to the comment she made to him the day she walked into his home.
Grace grinned as she nestled closer. “Well, it was all I could think of at the time.”
Brody nodded. “Fair enough,” he whispered, nuzzling the top of her head. The storm continued to rage outside, lulling them into a peaceful sleep.