The Rhythm of My Heart (12 page)

Grace quickly stands to gather the plates and heads for the kitchen. I can tell she’s avoiding the topic now.

“Let’s get this cleaned up and you can show me what you have in store for the rest of the night,” she tries to divert.

Picking up the remaining dishes, I take her lead and move off the subject. “I have lots in store for you Grace; just you wait and see.”

Chapter 13

Grace….

After the completely mundane chore of cleaning the kitchen together, which felt so natural, we move into Cole’s living room to enjoy more wine. The music is still playing softly in the background as it did all through dinner. When “Give Me Love” by Ed Sheeran starts to play, Cole stands up and holds out a hand to me. “Shall we dance, Grace?”

“Absolutely,” I accept.

Wrapping an arm around my waist and taking my hand in his other hand, we began dancing around the room. Cole is holding me close with our cheeks pressed together. No words are spoken, as we seem to float around in contented bliss.

When the song changes to “Kiss Me,” Cole pulls back and stares into my eyes. Passion and desire are burning from their sparkling blue depths and my core clenches with a longing to be with him in every way possible.

Our kiss starts out slowly, a melding of lips and soft sweet caresses. A sigh escapes me; as my lips part, Cole takes full advantage and pushes his tongue in to meet mine with lapping strokes.

With both wandering tongues and hands, I know exactly where this is heading; I am more than ready. Cole’s kisses move across my cheek and travel down my neck. When he reaches that
oh, so sensitive
spot right beneath my ear, I shudder and moan. “Oh, God, Cole.”

He’s sucking and kissing that spot, and it’s exquisite torture on my senses. The sensation heightens when his warm breath blows across the damp skin, causing my body to quake in his arms and goose bumps to break out everywhere.
I’m a quivering mess.

“Grace, I need you. You have no idea how much I want you right now,” he pants with ragged breaths.

I notice the music has again changed to “Just Say Yes” by Snow Patrol, and I giggle at the irony of the lyrics.

“Yes, Cole. Yes. I want you, too,” I declare, as sensual waves of pleasure ripple through my body.

Cole’s hands move to the hem of my shirt, bunching the material and lifting it up over my head then discarding it to the side. He trails his fingers along the edge of my pink lace bra over the swell of my full breasts and my chest heaves in response.

“You are so goddamn beautiful, Grace,” he murmurs.

I reach for his shirt and he lifts his arms helping me remove it in one swift movement. I mimic his actions and run my fingers across his defined chest; a sexy groan rumbles from the back of his throat in reaction to my touch.

With a hard, bruising kiss to my lips, Cole takes my hand. “Come with me,” he commands and starts leading us upstairs. When we enter his bedroom, I come to a stop. The sight before me takes me aback.

There are large candles placed sporadically around the room on any available flat surface, casting a romantic glow. Yellow rose petals are scattered across the floor and lying in the middle of the huge king-sized bed is a single yellow rose.

My eyes tingle and I can feel tears prick the corners as my heart swells with emotion. No one has ever done anything like this for me before. No one has ever put this much thought and effort into a date with me.

“Cole,” I whisper and it comes out sounding like a prayer. He turns me and rubs his hands up and down my arms. “This is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me. It’s incredible, but you didn’t have to do this,” I confess.

He brushes his thumbs under my eyes to wipe away the few tears that have escaped. He then strokes my cheeks lightly. “Of course, I did. We only get one first time together, Gracie, and I want us to remember every single second of it forever.”

This man could ask me to do anything right now and I would willingly oblige. He has me under his spell.

We’re locked in a tangle of limbs as Cole backs me up toward the bed, while unclasping my bra and tossing it on the floor. As he lowers me down, his hands undo my jeans and he swiftly removes them and my panties in one fluid movement.

His gaze travels my body with an appreciative gleam. He licks his lips slowly; the heat in his eyes causes my core to clench as the ache intensifies. His cock is straining against the denim of his jeans, so I push up off the bed and reach for his button fly, deftly undoing every one. Running my fingers around the waist, I lower them slowly while peppering kisses across his taut stomach and down the lightly defined V I find so incredibly sexy on a man.

My eyes are drawn to his hard cock, which stands proudly demanding attention. With quick precision, I take hold of it in my right hand and stroke it from root to tip, swirling my thumb around the end. Cole lets out a hiss of pleasure and his head falls back as his hips jut toward me.

I lean forward and place a soft kiss on the tip, and then circle my tongue around the head. “Grace,” Cole gasps and his hands find my hair, fisting it. I slowly lick the length of his cock, while following with more, firm strokes. Cole’s breathing comes louder and faster with each slide of my tongue and tug of my hand.

Closing my mouth around him and taking him to the back of my throat, the moan that fills the air is mine. “Oh, shit!” Cole exclaims “Grace, stop, please baby. It’s been a while for me and I don’t want to come like this.”

I slide his cock out of my mouth with a pop and smile up at him. Knowing he hasn’t been with anyone for a time is music to my ears because I haven’t either, and it kind of feels more important that we are breaking our droughts together. “It’s been a while for me too, Cole,” I confess.

He leans over me and uses his strong, muscular arms to cage me in, forcing me to scoot backwards more onto the bed. With slow, deliberate movements, he follows me until he’s hovering above, staring into my eyes. As the seconds pass without any words, he reaches past me, and when his hand comes back into view, I see he is now holding the yellow rose.

As he brushes the rose ever so gently across my lips, I am able to breathe in the sweet perfume of the bloom.
Heavenly!
He continues the rose’s journey across my eyelids and down my nose, causing my eyes to flutter closed. So lost am I in the exquisite softness of the petals’ path that my body convulses when his mouth covers my nipple, and he nips it between his teeth “Oh, God,” I pant.

He works my pebbled bud into a hard point; then trails kisses across the valley between my breasts to provide the other one with the same, blissful torture. I can feel his hard cock throbbing against my inner thigh and not wanting to be selfish, I reach down between us to wrap my trembling fingers around his girth and glide fluid motions over the delicate skin.

Cole pulls away and again uses the rose to circle my well-abused nipples with the different texture. “Your tits are amazing, Grace. Absolutely perfect and utterly delectable.”

Letting go of his cock, I grab hold of his neck and pull his lips to mine, needing to stake my claim in any way possible. Our combined moans echo around us and only serve to heighten the desperation we have to get closer. Releasing my lips and dragging in heavy breaths, Cole’s eyes are burning with emotion as he drops the rose and cradles my face in his palms. “I need to be inside you now, Gracie.”

It’s not lost on me that he just used my nickname; hearing it come from his lips, evokes a longing I’ve never experienced before. I press my lips to his once more. “I need you too, Cole.” He leans to the side and moves to open the drawer of his bedside chest; hazarding a guess at what he will produce, I stop him. “No, don’t,” I implore. “I’m clean, Cole. I was checked six months ago and I haven’t been with anyone since. I’m on the pill to regulate my periods, and you already know it’s basically impossible for me to become pregnant anyway. I don’t want anything between us.”

His eyes study me intently, trying to read any doubt there. “Are you sure?” he finally asks. “We have regular checks at the hospital and I’m fine, but I want you to be sure.”

I lift my hips so my core makes contact with his cock and that’s the only answer he needs. Without any further preamble, Cole enters me with one smooth, delicious thrust. “Goddamn, you feel good, Gracie,” he declares, as he sets a steady rhythm.

My hands are in his hair, and my lips and tongue are moving across his chest and shoulders. When he hits that sweet spot inside me, I can’t help the wanton pleas that leave my mouth as I dig my nails into his firm ass. “Yes, Cole, right there. Yes, harder. Oh, God, harder.”

Cole pounds into me at an almost frantic rate. Our bodies are slapping against each other and sweat is beading on our skin. The pressure reaches its peak and the sound of Cole chanting my name sends me over the edge with a cry of blissful ecstasy.

Before I can come down from the heavenly place I’ve just been, Cole thrusts a few more times and then roars his release. With his weight pressing down on me, the feeling of completeness that surrounds us stuns me. Our bodies fit together perfectly; I can honestly say without any doubt in my mind that was the best sexual experience of my life.

“Wow,” is all I can come up with.

“Yeah, wow,” Cole mumbles, into my neck and presses his lips there.

He slowly pulls out of me, rolls to the side taking me with him, and props his head up on his hand. With his free one, he trails his fingers down my cheek. “Do you know how beautiful you are?’’

My blush is instantaneous and I burrow my face into his chest. Cole runs his hand through my hair. “Gracie.”

I lift my face to meet his. “That was the first time I have ever gone without protection,” he confesses and my heart swells at the realization we just gave each other something special.

“It was my first time without using something, too.”

His action takes me off guard as his lips meld with mine. I know he understands the magnitude of what we just had together. Our kiss deepens and when I feel his hardness against my thigh again, I eagerly throw myself into round two.

Chapter 14

Grace….

Cole and I settled into a routine of sorts. He would work Sunday to Thursday, and then we would spend Friday night and Saturday together. Not a lot of time really but we certainly made the most of every second we had together.

After a few weeks of this and hating only spending one full night together, Cole gave me a spare key to his house. Yes, some may say that it’s a pretty big step after only knowing each other for six weeks, but we had limited time together, and it worked for us. Having the key meant that we could spend Saturday night together as well and Cole could leave for work with me still snug in his bed.

Today, Ruby was due to get her cast off, but when we went to our regular doctor, he’d been called away on a family emergency. Ruby didn’t want anything to do with the replacement doctor, so they told us to go to the ER. I wanted to hug Ruby and thank her for not liking the doctor because now I would get to see Cole.

Arriving at the ER where there are a few people already in the waiting room, we explain the situation to the triage nurse and she asks us to have a seat and wait. After a relatively short amount of time, the nurse who helped Ruby when she broke her arm calls us in.

“Hi, I’m Allison. I remember you guys from when Ruby broke her arm. You’re Grace, right?”

I’m somewhat shocked she knows my name and remembers us; after all, it’s been six weeks since we were last here. “Yes, I’m Grace. I don’t mean to be rude, but how on earth do you remember us?”

Allison laughs. “Well, who could forget this little cutie?” She motions to Ruby. “Plus, Dr. Tierney has sort of mentioned you a time or two.”

“He has?”

“Yeah, he mentioned you when he asked me about learning some basic signs so he could talk to Ruby. And it’s kind of hard to miss the smile that is permanently plastered on his face since meeting you,” she explains.

“Wow, that’s nice to know. He did tell me that you taught him some signs. Thank you for doing that; he told me your brother is hearing impaired, also.”

“It wasn’t a problem, Grace, and yes, my brother, Nate, has about eighty percent loss in both ears. So, Ruby needs her cast taken off today?”

We’re in the exam room now and I have Rubes sitting on the bed next to me. “Yeah, our regular doctor is away and she completely freaked out on the replacement so we came here.”

Allison signs a few things to Ruby, has her smiling, and continues talking to me. “I can get that fixed up in no time. Dr. Tierney is actually on his break; otherwise, I would get him to do it. Do you think she’ll be okay with me doing it?” she asks.

Seeing how at ease Rubes is with Allison, I know she’ll be fine. “I’m sure she’ll be great with you doing it,” I reply.

“Okay then, let’s get it done.”

Allison then starts getting out the equipment she needs and I move Ruby between my legs so I can hold her better. When Allison comes over to start, she signs to Rubes that it’s okay and shows her what she’s holding. Allison explains to me that it’s called a ‘Tickle Saw’. When she starts it up, I’m kind of glad Ruby can’t hear it. I can imagine that for a little kid the sound would make the experience a bit scarier.