Dare to Rock (10 page)

She thrust her pelvis up, grinding into his mouth, needing the pressure of his lips, the suckling, and the occasional gentle scrape of his teeth. She shattered, taking her pleasure, her orgasm coming in waves that seemed to never end. She clenched and unclenched her fists above her head, bound by his words and her unspoken promise. Unable to touch him or ground herself, she rode out her climax, grasping at air with her fingers. He didn’t let up until the tremors subsided, and she fell limp against the mattress, her arms still useless over her head.

The sound of ripping foil reawakened her senses, and she opened her eyes to find Grey poised over her, the hard tip of his erection nudging her sex.

“You’re gorgeous when you come, sugar,” he said, eyes glittering, jaw hard and taut.

She bit down on her lower lip, embarrassed … and yet … not. Because it was Grey.

“It’s my turn to see you come apart,” she said, arching her hips and attempting to pull his cock into her needy core.

But he held out. He was barely inside her, a mere tease of what could be, and he still clearly maintained control. Unacceptable, she thought. She wanted to render him senseless. She needed to see it, to believe she had the same power over him that he clearly had over her.

Finished following his rules, she ran her hands down his chest, scoring his skin lightly with her nails, scraping over his dark nipples. He groaned and arched his hips, causing him to slide deeper.

“Fuck it,” he muttered and thrust his hips, filling her completely.

“Grey.” She sucked in a startled breath, unprepared for the flood of emotion that rushed her from all sides. A harsh combination of panic and fear that the feelings surrounding her were too close to love.

“I feel it too,” he said as if he understood she needed the reassurance.

But he couldn’t know. Couldn’t possibly still possess the emotions threatening to pull her under and prevent her from walking away from this, from him, unscathed.

She blinked back the tears that threatened, and when he shifted and began to move, nothing else mattered. His solid thrusts took her out of herself until she was aware of only Grey and the pounding of his body against and into hers as he took her into an explosive orgasm that consumed her, body and soul.

Chapter Five

N
ight crept into morning. Grey woke Avery up once by settling between her thighs and licking her sweet pussy until she began yanking his hair and coming hard, only to realize it wasn’t a dream, and a second time by pulling her back against him and fucking into her from behind. They fit like two pieces of a puzzle. She filled the holes he’d always been aware of and some he hadn’t known existed. He still had shit from his past to fix. Avery gave him hope that he could do that soon. She gave him hope, period, and Grey wasn’t letting her go.

A cute snore sounded from the other side of the bed. He debated waking her up again but decided against it, instead heading for the kitchen to fill another kind of hunger. He was drinking a cup of coffee when he heard a sound.

He turned to see her walk into the kitchen, wearing nothing but one of his tee shirts. Long legs she’d had wrapped around him last night beckoned to him. Her hair fell in messy waves, the blonde streaks appearing like a halo around her makeup-free yet still beautiful face.

He wanted to drag her back to bed but offered her food instead. “Coffee? Muffin?”

Her eyes opened wide at the last choice. “Muffin, please. I’m starving.”

He chose not to touch that remark or she’d never get her food. “I’ll run downstairs and grab us some from the corner bakery.”

Violet eyes met his. “How about we pick them up together? I have to go home soon, shower and change. I have a meeting at the hospital.”

He pushed aside the disappointment that she was leaving so soon. “On Saturday?”

She shrugged. “That’s when the head of the Children’s Committee can meet. I have an idea I need him to approve.”

He drank the last of his caffeine fix and put the mug in the sink. “What’s your idea?”

She blushed but explained, “I want to throw a prom for the teenagers in treatment.”

He blinked, surprised. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t think these kids have enough to look forward to. There’s a lot they miss out on. I saw the idea on the news. Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York ran the event last year. I have the connections to make it happen here. I want to bring in a makeup team, a hair team, wigs if necessary for those cancer patients who lost their hair.” Her hands flew with expressiveness as she continued. “With Ella’s help, because she works with designers, I can get dresses donated, and these kids can go to their own prom. I don’t care how old they are, imagine how excited they’d be!”

Her enthusiasm sparkled from her eyes, determination in her voice and expression. He loved watching her get so animated about a subject.

He leaned back against the kitchen counter, the cold granite at his back. “I don’t think anyone will be able to resist your enthusiasm,” he said, awed by both the idea and the selflessness behind it. When she’d given bone marrow at such a young age, the choice hadn’t been hers exactly, but now the way she gave back, it was.

“I hope you’re right. Dr. McCann holds tight to those purse strings, but I already have promises of people and businesses who will donate, so I’m sure that will help the cause.” She blew out a long breath and laughed. “Jeez, enough about me. What are you doing today?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Not sure. I was thinking about visiting my mom but …” He trailed off, wishing he’d never brought up the idea.

“But what?” she asked.

He turned away, not wanting to admit how badly he’d screwed up with his family. Avery had issues with her father, but her old man deserved it. Grey’s mother was selfless and wonderful, and he hadn’t understood her. Hadn’t treated her with the love and respect she deserved. If he told Avery, she’d be disappointed in him, and he wasn’t sure he could handle seeing condemnation in her eyes when he admitted that he hadn’t been home to visit since his return to Miami.

“Grey?” Avery placed a hand on his arm, bringing him back to the present.

“I haven’t been over to see her yet.”

“What? Why not?”

He blew out a deep breath and turned to face her, finding Avery looking concerned as she stared at him. “I just haven’t been back in a while.”

“What’s a while?” she astutely asked.

He closed his eyes as he answered. “Years.”

He let the word hang in the air while she digested the information. Even to Grey it was ironic. When he was struggling, and later making some money, he’d come home. Called often. Once he’d hit the big time, he hadn’t had time to visit. Hadn’t made time, he amended. Oh, he’d sent money, bought his mother and stepdad a house, provided items that he thought they should have to make their lives easier.

None of which made them happy. Having each other made them happy. A visit from Grey would make his mother ecstatic. And he hadn’t given her that. Because he was ashamed.

“Grey,
why
? You love your mom, and I know she loves you.”

“I …” He stammered, searching for the right words to explain the inexplicable. “For years I was embarrassed about my stepfather’s job as a janitor. Even though it was perfectly respectable and honest work, work that put food on the table.” He shook his head, remembering how he’d avoid the hallways if he saw his stepdad at school, ducking the other way.

“You never said anything to me.”

“Because I was humiliated. Your father owned buildings; my parents cleaned them.” He hated how shallow it all sounded now. “That judgment I felt, it was part of my need to run, to get away and make something of myself.”

“I thought that had to do with how your real father treated you,” she said quietly.

“It was, in part.” Grey’s biological father had molded his mind and warped his perspective in so many ways. “I wanted to be better than the good-for-nothing son he said I was. Although my brain didn’t work like his or my sister Julia’s,
I
was worth something,” he said, jabbing himself in the chest.

He felt a pinch and looked down to see her nails curling into his arm. “You’re worth everything,” she whispered.

He shook his head, unable to let himself believe her words. Maybe one day, when he’d made things right at home, he’d appreciate what she was saying. “I didn’t treat my mom or Ricardo any better than my father treated me. I didn’t realize it until …”

“Go on. Say it. Whatever it is, get it out.” At some point, she’d come up beside him, her soft body curled into his, as if she knew he needed her close.

He blew out a breath, dizzy with the word bouncing around his brain. “I never understood her second marriage or their happiness at just being together until I had everything … and realized I was still empty inside.” That was the point when he’d decided he needed to walk away from that life and come back, find the person he used to be. Find Avery.

“Oh, Grey.”

He shook his head hard. “Don’t feel sorry for me. I don’t deserve it. I’m more ashamed of how I felt about them than I ever was
of
them.”

She stepped in front of him and clasped his face in her hands. “That’s why you’re such a good man. You aren’t your father. You learn from your mistakes. So you were young and stupid.” She shrugged. “Your mother loves you. Not only will she understand, she’ll be so happy to see you she won’t even think about the past.”

But he would. He’d remember the real estate listings he’d sent them for mansions that required servants, not understanding when they’d turned him down. He wanted them to have anything he could afford. He hadn’t begun to comprehend at the time that money couldn’t buy happiness or fulfillment. Now he knew differently.

Now he had to face them again. And he didn’t want to do it alone. “I know I shouldn’t ask, but will you go with me to visit them? After your meeting.”

“Of course I will,” she said, her eyes suspiciously damp.

“Thank you.”

She smiled. “Now can we get dressed so I can eat my muffin?”

He was ready for a mood lightener. “Not unless I can eat your muffin first.” He squeezed her ass in his hand.

She squealed and turned, taking off for the bedroom. He followed … and it was a long while before they made it downstairs to the bakery.

He drove her home, and she kissed him good-bye and ran into her building, last night’s clothes balled in her hand, his tee shirt and a pair of old running shorts on her sexy body.

*     *     *

Avery made it home from Grey’s, waved to Ella, and rushed to shower and get ready for their appointment at the hospital. She was running late, which left no time for conversation about Avery’s love life on the way to the hospital. Instead they prepped for the meeting.

By the time they survived the pitch and discussion with the ever-so-pleasant Dr. McCann, Avery was exhausted. And being woken up by Grey’s tongue and other body parts last night was only part of the reason. She was sore in places she hadn’t known existed, and muscles she’d rarely used felt a sweet ache that reminded her of Grey. She’d done her best to keep her mind on task and any goofy smile off her face during the meeting. She’d have plenty of time to revisit things later and sort out her overwhelming feelings.

By the time she walked out of their meeting with Dr. McCann, she was glad she’d scheduled the meeting before Ella’s upcoming business trip, so she could have her friend there with her, pushing the cause. Ella often volunteered too, both of them having a unique perspective and understanding of both the patients and their situations. The prom was a dream they shared, and both were determined to make something special happen for these children.

Dr. McCann had been his usual dour self, but he was impressed with the idea. Avery waited until they rounded a corner, made certain they were alone, and turned to her friend.

“Well? What’s your take?”

Ella leaned against the nearest wall and groaned. “I’m cautiously optimistic. I just got the feeling that he didn’t think we could pull this off with no budget. Easier to put the load on us than to just say no,” she muttered.

Avery nodded. “That’s his M.O. But we are going to show him what happens when he challenges two determined women. At least he said we can hold the event at the hospital. I’d have been willing to ask my father for a ballroom at his hotel, but then the most critically ill kids would have missed out.”

And those were the kids whose smiles she wanted to see the most. “And this way nobody has to leave the premises. They’ll have medical staff and equipment surrounding them should they need it.”

Ella’s eyes swam with relief at that too. “So venue is one thing we can cross off our to-do list.” She glanced at her notepad. Avery had a similar list in her purse. “But now we have to find music, get the food donated, handle setup, and clean up ourselves, not to mention everything we already have to plan for pre-prom.”

Avery nodded. “Dresses for all ages, tuxedoes for the boys, the makeup, hair …” Her shoulders drooped as the list grew. “And Dr. McCann won’t agree until we have all our i’s dotted and t’s crossed.”