A Risk Worth Taking (9 page)

Abby’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand. You and Heather seem to get along so well.”

“We try to be on our best behavior,” he answered, thinking about a terse conversation the two of them had last week over an overflowing trash can. “As long as we keep things to the Help and Hope Foundation and Grace, we manage.”

“It sounds like an ingenious plan,” Abby said. She touched his arm, her stiff smile replaced with a warm, gentle look. “Another of the things you do very well.”

He seized the thaw in the icy wall she’d surrounded herself with, taking her by the hand. “I’ve put up with a lot of shit from people over my living arrangements with Heather but all I’ve ever wanted to do is to look after my family and be a good dad to Grace.”

This was the man that kept drawing Abby back, entangling her more fully each time she caught a glimpse. “You’re one of the best men I’ve ever known.” Then she touched her lips to his cheek. The feel of his whiskers against her lips as she feathered kisses across his jaw ignite a fire in her belly and change her admiration into lust. Their lips met then moved slowly, deepening with each touch. Responding to his heated touch she sank deeper into him, pressing her sex against his erection.

He groaned against her mouth. “God, that feels so good.”

Abby jerked away from his embrace.
Had she lost her mind?
She touched her fingers to her lips. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

He captured her hands but stopped short of pulling her back. “I’m not.” His hand trailed up her arm to cup her cheek. “In fact, I’d like to do more than that.”

She shook her head. “I’m not trying to get you to chase me, or some silliness like that.”

He stared at her from hooded eyes, seeing through her better than an x-ray. “I never thought you were. You’re just a little on the careful side.”

Her answer held a plea for understanding as well as an explanation. “I am, for a reason. Listen, I’m terrible with relationships.”

He barked out a laugh that held a cold edge. “So, you’re saying it’s you, not me.”

Her mouth crooked up. “No, it’s definitely me.” Abby’s heartbeat ticked off the seconds as she waited for him to respond.

The icy-blue of his eyes had softened to the color of worn denim. “I’m not asking for all of you.” His hand brushed over her hair as he spoke. “If you can only give a small piece of yourself, I’ll take it. Just so long as you’ll let me have something of you.”

Her resolve hung by the finest of threads. “You make saying ‘no’ very hard.”

His hands suddenly pulled her back. “Then don’t.”

She attacked his mouth, dying to recapture the hungry feel of his kisses. She leaned in, loving the way the hard plane of his chest felt against her breast. After a moment that didn’t last nearly long enough, he pulled back enough to survey her cautiously. “Is that a yes to something?”

She smoothed her hand along the sharp edge of his jaw. “It’s something, but God only knows if I could tell you what it is.”

As Grant began kissing her again, Abby’s breath came in pants. He brushed back a lock of her spiraling hair. “I’m willing to let this be on your terms.”

“How do you always know the right thing to say?” She reached to caress the angle of his jaw.

His smile broadened, giving her a glimpse of his dimple. “Give me a minute, and I’ll probably say something stupid to screw things up.”

She laughed. “Then let’s don’t talk for a while.”

He led her out of the house, and the two of them stumbled in the dark over to his private space. His hand on the doorknob, he said, “I can’t believe I’m asking this, but are you sure?”

Her pulse thrummed in her ears knowing one more step and there’d be no going back. “Is this how it feels to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?”

“Pretty much,” he answered, then led her inside.

Chapter 10

Abby barely noticed the open space and clean, modern lines of his cottage, too focused on Grant’s hands as he unbuttoned her blouse. He pulled hungrily, sending a couple buttons flying. When he’d loosened the last button his movements slowed. Brushing the blouse from her shoulders, his fingers traced the lace cups of her bra before cupping her breasts. “God, you’re beautiful.”

She felt beautiful. How could she not the way he worshiped her. “Make love to me, Grant, please.”

With a wicked grin and a flash of dimple, he began backing them further into the cottage. “I have every intention to, beautiful lady.” When they reached his bedroom, he scooped her onto the biggest bed she’d ever scene. Nothing about this man seemed moderate or ordinary, especially not the way his attention focused on the job at hand. In a pair of seconds he’d unlatched her bra, and began kissing his way down her neck. Reaching her breasts he cupped them again before latching on to a nipple.

Abby arched her back as he suckled long and hard. After a moment he moved to her other breast, twirling his tongue in a circle around her nipple then took it into his mouth. As intense as the feel of his mouth was, she wanted, no she
needed
more of him. Fisting his sweater, she pulled him closer.

Grant pulled away, kissing her hands as he extracted himself from her grasp. “Patience. We’ve waited too long to rush this,” he said, jerking his sweater over his head. “Besides, this is too rough for your tender skin,” he explained as his hand trailed over her.

Abby trembled as the heat from his hand sent tendrils of desire licking through her body.

“You’re shaking,” he said. “Let me cover you.”

He did—with his body—then fused their mouths.

She parted her lips and slipped her tongue into his mouth. Abby tangled her tongue with his, but just as he dominated her thoughts, her heart, her soul, he took over the kiss. Invading her mouth, he stroked her tongue into submission. She surrendered to the pleasure he brought. He knew exactly how to drive their kisses to a frenzy of lips, tongue, and teeth only to retreat and begin again.

Abby wedged a hand between their bodies to slide down his flat stomach and over the arrow of dark blond hair that started below his navel. She stopped when she reached the bulge in his pants, touching him as carefully as he’d done her. Through his pants she traced the outline of his sex as it pointed up, reaching to his belt. Then she slid her hand down to cup the twin weights below. She repeated the cycle, adding pressure with each pass.

When Grant moaned his appreciation and began to thrust against her hand, she moved to undo his belt. He stilled and moved from her grasp. Propping up on one elbow, he shot her a mischievous grin. “Ladies first.”

As if compelled by some dark emotion, his expression heated. Abby watched as Grant’s easy charm gave way to determination. He placed an almost reverent kiss against her lips before he methodically worked his sensual mouth down her body. Her breath came in gasps as he nipped her delicate skin only to kiss away the licks of pain. The yin and yang of pleasure and pain sent twinges of erotic electricity coursing through her veins.

Her anticipation reached new heights, when with deft movements he unfastened her pants, easing them below her hips. Then he was back to his maddeningly slow torture as he circled his tongue languidly around her navel, letting it dart in and out and hinting of things to come.

He’d stoked her desire with such skill that with the mere touch of his calloused hand as it slid down her belly, she drew in a shuttered breath and gripped the bed beneath her. He slipped beneath her panties letting his palm rest on her mound. Then he caressed her lightly letting the tension ease again before he slipped a long finger between her folds. The legato tempo as his fingers danced over her most private places teased her toward a hypnotic frenzy.

Each touch brought her closer to the edge. Then just as she felt herself at the tipping point, his hand retreated. She groaned from the loss, but frustration was quickly replaced with anticipation as he drew her pants off.

Abby watched mesmerized as Grant sank to the floor. Starting at one ankle, he kissed his way to her thigh, stopped, and then began a fresh assault on the other leg. He shot a devilish grin from between her legs then tugged her hard across the bed till her legs hung from the edge. By the time his mouth reached the black lace of her panties, she was dizzy with need. Raising her hips off the bed, she slid her panties down her hips.

As he’d done with everything else, Grant dove into her secret folds with single-minded focus. He licked, sucked, and teased her sex, all the while avoiding the one spot that was sure to drive her over the edge.

Suddenly, the tango of advance and retreat they’d been performing, became too much to bear. Abby pushed against him in a vain attempt to meter his assault on her senses.

He raised his head to look at her. “No, beautiful,” he growled, his voice low and insistent. He touched her thigh, easing her legs further apart. “Open. Let me make you shatter.”

Abby dropped her head back to the bed and she complied, giving herself over to his command. He homed in on the bundle of nerves at the top of her sex and she came with such intensity her vision narrowed then darkened. He held on as her hips bucked, making her ride out the orgasm. Finally, when she was boneless and still quivering with aftershocks, he crawled up her body to whisper, “You were so worth the wait.”

She’d have thought it was he who’d just had the reality altering orgasm. Abby lay sated, recovering her senses and the ability to breathe normally, until he trailed a hand over her hip and the driving need was reborn. “Condom?” she asked as she rolled on top.

“Nightstand.”

She tore through the foil, sheathed him quickly, and eased herself down over him till she’d taken all of him. His eyes shot wide, and he gripped her wrists as she began to ride him slowly. After a few thrusts that grew in tempo and force, he took her by the hips and stilled her. Spurred by the urge to please him as much as he’d pleased her, she leaned forward. “Tell me what you want.”

His heavy arms enveloped her and in one fluid movement he rolled them over. “I want to make love with you until we both forget everything that’s come before,” he answered. He punctuated his desire with deep, pounding thrusts that once again drove her toward the edge.

Finally, his thrusts became shorter and less rhythmic as he lost his considerable self-control. As he came, his orgasm ignited hers. In the end, he collapsed beside her and they lay breathless on top of the covers. “I’d give everything I own to spend the rest of my life doing that with you,” he murmured before closing his eyes.

No one had ever laid themselves so bare to her the way he did. She squeezed her eyes to block the image of the two of them fulfilling Grant’s wish. As she descended from her euphoria she reminded herself, one perfect hour did not a future make.

****

Lying on his belly, Grant metered his breathing, pretending to doze as he lay inches from Abby’s bare body. He’d been at it for the hour since they’d both collapsed onto his bed. The urge to cocoon her had him nearly as amped-up as before they’d made love. But crowding her, even as she slept, was probably the last thing she wanted given he’d already had an attack of way-over-sharing.
So much for your promise to give her space.
He reined in the urge to run his palm over the flat plane of her stomach by planning an extended, slow-motion round two.

When he felt the bed dip as she eased off the bed, he rolled on his side in time to catch a spectacular view of her bare back. Her hips curved to the globes of her ass, forming an upside down heart. “Hey.” He reached out to her, brushing his fingers across the back of her hand. “Where are you going?”

Abby looked over her shoulder as she worked her black lace panties up her long legs. “I need to get home.”

His pulse, which thanks to the vivid imagery his brain had been cooking up, hadn’t returned to normal range. Watching her leave his bed had it kicking into aerobic levels. She couldn’t be going so soon.

He levered upright. “Are you okay?” he asked, looking for telltale signs of regret.

She scooted back on the bed and folded her legs underneath her. Watching her sitting naked to the waist and inches from him wasn’t helping him give her space. His hand ached to caress the gentle swells of her breast. Instead, he singled out a spiraling tendril of her hair to wrap around his finger. “Having regrets?”

Her teeth bit into her bottom lip. Then after a long moment she shook her head. “Are you?”

He gave up the pretense of giving her space, taking her by the hips and pulling her on to his lap so that she straddled him. After kissing her lightly, he feathered more across her cheek. “Good God, no. How could I?”

She let him hold her for a few precious moments before she eased herself back to peek up at him. “I learned something about you just now.”

He didn’t think his desire for her would come as a surprise given the growing erection beneath her or the fact that even on his very-best-good day subtlety wasn’t his strong suit. “You did?”

Her smile spread from her lips upward till her whiskey-colored eyes sparked. “You make love like you live.”

He barked out a laugh. “Are you saying I’m an impulsive lover or a pushy one?”

“No, a wide open and full tilt one.”

He clamped his lips together to keep from asking if that was a good thing.
Give her space.
But when she slid from his arms and began fumbling on the floor for her pants, he knew he couldn’t let her go. “I really did want to ask you a couple questions earlier.”

“So, it wasn’t just a ploy to get me down here?” she asked, mischief dancing in her eyes.

“No, just the happy result.”

“I really do need to go,” she said, her eyes pleading as she headed for the other room.

Grabbing his own clothes, he reached the living room in time to see her breasts swaying like a pair of erotic pendulums as she lean over to snag her hastily discarded clothes off the floor. Then he watched mesmerized while she eased the straps over her shoulders and fastened the lace cups of her bra. Not nearly as much fun as seeing the process in reverse but sexy as hell to see her fingers move across her perfectly smooth skin.