Up to Me (Shore Secrets) (28 page)

Gray’s face relaxed back into an easy smile. “Whatever you want.”

“It’s true that Joel’s soufflé is a symphony of flavors and textures on the tongue. But you know what?” Ella reached for the dimmer switch and lowered the lights even more. “He’s my employee. I can get him to make us one any old time.”

Good thing Joel wasn’t nearby to hear her so grandiosely offer to boss him around. But she felt audacious, fueled by Gray’s obvious desire. She could always bribe or beg Joel into making the soufflé again. After enduring a tongue-lashing for wasting tonight’s precious version of it.

“Like I said, I’m not so much hungry. Not for food, anyway.” He snaked out an arm to catch her, but Ella darted out of his reach.

“I’m okay with skipping dinner, too. We don’t need the fancy meal or the expensive bottle of wine. We don’t need the hours of verbal foreplay.” A few turns of the wheel switched the music over to the mix she used when giving couples massages. Lots of Pink Martini and sultry French jazz. Songs that thrummed a beat straight into the blood. She lit three more candles, scented with ylang-ylang, a soft and flowery aphrodisiac. Then Ella perched on the low stool to remove her teal sneakers. “All we need is to get naked, as quickly as possible.”

Gray grabbed her hand before she could unbutton the first of the long row down the front of her teal-and-white-striped shirt. “What’s your rush?”

Um, wasn’t he the guy who’d just climbed on top of a table to get his hands on her? Ella was darn sure that she wasn’t the only one burning up with need. But, okay, she’d spell it out for him. If that’s what it took to get him to shuck those running shorts, she’d write it out a hundred times on a piece of paper. She clasped her other hand around his and craned her neck up to stare straight into those deep, dark eyes, turned pure indigo in the shadows.

“I want you, Gray. And I haven’t wanted anyone this much in a very, very long time.”

His hand tightened. Just this side of pain, he clenched so hard. “I want you, too, Ella. If you only knew how much, how I’d risk everything to be with you—”

“There’s no risk. I’m a sure thing,” she stated with a laugh.

“Not at all,” he said, his tone surprisingly serious. He dropped to his knees, bringing his head even with hers. “But I will do my damnedest to make you sure that you’ve made the right decision.”

Gray’s words verged on freaking her out. What was with the second-guessing? Now it was her turn to lighten the mood. “Have you ever successfully brought a woman to orgasm?”

It took six rapid blinks of those crazy-long dark eyelashes before he managed to answer. “What the...of course! Not just one woman. Every single one I make love to walks away satisfied. This is about mutual pleasure.”

Ella put a finger to his lips to stop him from continuing his defense. “I don’t want to count the notches on your bedpost. I just wanted to remind you that you’ve got the basic technique down. Which means I won’t ever regret a moment of our time together. As long as you quit stalling and get on with it.”

A double blink. Then he wrapped both arms tight around her back as his lips claimed hers. The move pulled her forward to the edge of the stool. Until, a moment later, the force and eagerness of his embrace pushed the whole stool back until it stopped flush with the wall.

Ella didn’t care. She wouldn’t have cared if he rolled her all the way out into the lobby. Gray could do anything as long as he kept kissing her with such ferocity. It left no doubt about how much he wanted her. His tongue swept into her mouth, and corresponding shivers of delight swept through her body. There it was—the matching hunger, the naked lust. Ella wrapped her legs tight around his waist and entangled her fingers in his hair. Wished with all her might that there weren’t two layers of clothes between all their body parts, which were currently touching.

Ripping his mouth away, Gray growled against her neck. “You brought a match to a bonfire. You ready to burn up?”

“Too late. I already am.”

Sliding his hands to her ass, he lifted her and set her on top of the massage table. His deft fingers made quick work of the top button of her shirt. Then the second. And then he looked down at the row of at least twenty more. Shook his head. Using both hands, he ripped her shirt apart, buttons tinkling against the wall in counterpoint to Ella’s surprised laughter.

In a blur of speed, regret crossed her mind at not having had a chance to change into sexy lingerie. Or at least, if not sexy, at least something more colorful than her current plain white bra. But Gray didn’t seem to mind. He pushed what was left of her shirt down her shoulders, eyes never straying from her chest.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said in a hushed, reverent tone. With one finger, he traced along the top of the cups before unfastening it and dropping it behind the table. “I can’t tell if I’d rather stare at you, or touch you.”

“
Two
breasts, in case you haven’t noticed. That means you can do both things at the same time.”

“Smart and beautiful,” Gray corrected himself with a grin. And he proceeded to do just that. Palmed one breast, rubbing wide circles with his thumb, while flat out devouring the other. The flat of his tongue laved across her nipple slowly, arced around, came back to flick at it, quick and hard.

Ella didn’t know which she liked better. But she was more than happy let him keep alternating while she tried to decide which version of sensual amazingness could possibly be
more
fantastic. But then he planted his lips around her nipple and sucked. Hard. While his tongue did something she could only describe as semi-orgasmic at the same time. Whatever the technical term, it translated to hot pulses of passion zinging to her core. She dropped her head back and let loose a moan.

“Like that, do you?”

Moistening her suddenly dry lips, Ella said, “I’d call it a good start.”

“And you’d be right. Because this is only the beginning.”

Hmm. Good and bad news. Good, because she couldn’t wait to see what he did next. Bad, because Ella was already so worked up that it didn’t seem at all improbable she could come at any second, with just one more kiss from him.

In that way peculiar to men, Gray grabbed the back of his collar and whipped his shirt up and off. Kicked his running shoes into a corner and tossed his socks in the same general direction. Stuck his thumbs in the waistband of her white, gauzy skirt and tugged it over her hips. Ella lifted up just enough to let him scoot it out from underneath her to puddle on the floor.

This shouldn’t have felt any more naked than when they’d been in the pool together. But it did. Maybe because she knew they were about to get a whole lot more naked. Or maybe it was the way the candlelight flickered shadows across his broad muscles. The quiet intimacy of the small room, the only sound their panting, the low music and the sputtering of the wicks.

So Ella had one more moment of hesitation as he stood there, looking his fill with wide, appreciative eyes. And then she promptly slapped her self-conscious silly. This wasn’t some random hook-up just to banish the ghost of three years of celibacy. Gray was a man she knew well. A man with a quick brain and a good heart who cared for her. The man she’d fallen in love with, despite the unassailable fact she’d probably have to wave goodbye to him in a handful of days. This was miles away from being just sex. It was making love, and there was no way she’d waste another second of it with self-doubt.

Ella slowly trailed her hands down his chest. From sharp collarbone, across defined pecs to linger in the line of dark hair along his sternum. Then she spread her hands wider to fully take in the six-pack effect of his abs. Raked her nails across that tanned skin just to make him shiver.

He looped his arm around her legs and lifted them onto the heated table. Gray gently unknotted the scarf around her ponytail. Combed through the strands with his fingers, eyes closed and a half smile on his face. Rubbed them against his cheek, inhaling deeply. Then he pressed her down, spreading her hair out across the pillow.

Eyes flying open, he asked, “Stupid question. But I’m pretty desperate, and I didn’t plan on doing this right now.” Gray shot a wild glance from the cabinets over to the corner shelf unit. “I don’t suppose you stock condoms in here?”

Funny. Timing really was everything. “Normally, no. But we do in the room where we give couples massages. I’d planned to restock and hadn’t made it there yet. So there’s about twenty in that glazed clay bowl on the counter.”

He padded over, grabbed one and tore a strip off the top of the package with his teeth before tossing onto the edge of the table. “That ought to hold us—until tomorrow.”

“I like this goal-oriented side of you.”

“Then you’re going to love what happens next.” Gray pulled off her panties, turning the simple act of undressing into a lingering, sensual caress of both her legs. To her surprise, he walked back to the counter and rustled around.

“Uh, nobody called for a time-out.”

“Just getting prepped. Now close your eyes and roll over.”

Ella complied, thoroughly confused. She pillowed her cheek on her hands and wondered what on earth he planned to do. And how long it would postpone him from being inside her, which she so fervently desired right now.

“You work so hard, Ella. People care
about
you, but I don’t see that anyone cares
for
you. I told you on our first official date I wanted to make you feel special. This won’t be near as good as one of yours, so I hope you cut me a little slack. A solid hour of watching YouTube videos didn’t come close to making me an expert.”

Well-oiled hands softly stroked down her back. Ella arched into his touch. Back up he went, then down lower all the way over the curve of her ass. Up to her shoulders, where he used his thumbs on the solid knot of muscles corded across her shoulders. It felt...heavenly.

“Is this okay?” he whispered. The uncertainty in his voice touched her heart. Almost as much as the fact that he’d gone to the trouble to study how to massage her.

“It’s wonderful, Gray. Thank you.” Ella flipped her head to the other side to catch a glimpse of him in the mirror on the back of the door. The bunched line of muscles on his back as he worked on her was one of the sexiest things she’d ever seen. Minutes passed as she grew hypnotized from the combination of staring at him and feeling his hands mold their way down her back. Her eyes fluttered shut in delight as the strong kneading of her ass softened into a caress. And then it became impossible to hold still.

With a firm nudge on her hip and arm, Ella got the clue to turn back over. As she flipped, she watched Gray shed his shorts. And gasped. Running on pure instinct and need, she reached out a hand, bursting with impatience to touch the long, hard length jutting out from a thick nest of dark hair. Again, he pushed her away. Didn’t he realize that she craved the feel of his body as much as he did hers?

“To further clarify my answer to your earlier question, I’m not aiming to give you a successful orgasm. I want to give you a spectacular one.” Gray lifted the squeeze bottle of her massage oil high, then loosed a steady drizzle onto her nipple.

Ella’s eyes must’ve rolled back in her head. Or she’d closed them. She just knew that instead of Gray’s face, she was suddenly seeing stars. The stream of oil moved over to her other breast. Needing to touch him even more, she flailed out an arm. Grabbed onto his thigh and clung, digging her fingers into the solid core of muscle.

He knelt on the table. Straddled her, which brought his dick tantalizingly close. The tip brushed against her, but not enough to give any relief. Using both hands, Gray spread the oil in slowly widening circles across her torso. Ella quivered. His slick touch set her aflame. Again, she wrapped both her hands around his thighs, trying to tug him closer.

Instead, he sat back. Picked up the bottle again and drizzled a line down her stomach, past her bellybutton, until the warm oil fell directly on the burning center of all her desire. Ella thrashed. There was no other word for it. She needed him inside her like she’d never needed anything else in her life. Her hips bucked. And then he covered her mound with one big, warm palm and spread the oil there, too.

“Gray, please, please, please,” she chanted. “Don’t make me wait any longer.”

Another quicksilver flash of a grin. “As long as you’re sure.” He rolled on the condom, then lowered himself until his wonderful heaviness covered her from chest to toe. Slowly, he nudged her legs apart. Ella let her knees fall open. In one long, deliberate thrust, he entered her. Then held perfectly still. “Christ, Ella, you’re so tight and hot. You’re—” Gray shuddered out a breath. Dropped his head to the curve of her neck. “You’re hotter than the sun.”

“Let’s burn up together.” She moved her hips, writhing sinuously beneath him. Gray matched her rhythm. Stroke after stroke. Sigh after gasp after moan. In sync, they sped up. He seemed as much in a hurry all of a sudden as she was. Driving into her harder and harder, Gray covered her mouth in a deep kiss. Ella arched up, screaming into him as he set off a chain reaction throughout her body that culminated in a firestorm of passion exploding. One final thrust, and a guttural moan tore out of his throat as he spasmed inside her.

They lay together, able to do no more than gasp in unison for a few moments. Ella didn’t know what to say. Those first words after sex set a tone for everything that happened after. And in her experience, no matter what either person said, it always sounded inane. Like nothing could possibly compare to the actual experience.

This time, with Gray, that was particularly true. He’d exploded her senses. Made Ella see fireworks and feel earthquakes and gasp at the shooting stars of sensation pulsing through her body. No way to put that into words without basically calling him a sexual superhero. So she waited. Let Gray bumble his way through it first.

“Ella...you...I...wow.”

Whew. Totally lame. Anything she said would sound Shakespearean compared to that. Ella lazily stroked the line of his toned, tight ass. Guess all that running he did paid off. She’d cut him more slack for skipping yoga with these kinds of results from pounding on the pavement. “That’s all you’ve got to say? Thought you were a smooth talker,” she teased.