by Maine, Miley
10
Grayson
When I woke up and saw Serenity sleeping next to me, so absolutely beautiful, so perfect in the way that her hair fell in front of her face and her breathing made her chest rise up and down, I knew that this was no good.
I was falling for her. Hard.
I couldn’t do that to either of us. I needed to live my own life and she needed to live hers. This was only supposed to be a temporary arrangement to keep us both entertained for the holidays and nothing more.
I supposed then that I would have to cut things off early and return our relationship to one of professionalism and friendship. I couldn’t afford to have it any other way.
“Wake up,” I said, gently shaking her shoulder.
“Hmmmm?” Serenity turned over and slowly opened her eyes, blinking back at me. God, she was so perfect, even all mussed up from sleep.
She rubbed the tiredness from her eyes. “Is it time to get up already?”
“Yes. Did you get enough sleep last night? Or do you need to stay home?” I asked, unable to resist pushing back a lock of her hair.
She shook her head. “I should be able to make it. I didn’t have much trouble falling asleep with you there.” She smiled up at me, and I knew then that this was going to be hard to end. How was I going to manage to do it?”
“Alright, well, you should get back to your room and get ready then.”
“Of course.” She smiled, then slid out of my bed and walked to the door. I watched as her hips swayed, and then at the doorway she turned to look back at me and blow a kiss over her shoulder before leaving.
I groaned, falling back into bed. God, this was going to be difficult to end, especially because I felt like I could definitely get used to having her in my bed and watching her hips sway that way every morning. It made me want to grab her and kiss her and tell her that the two of us should just stay in and make out all day.
She was definitely a big distraction, and one that I didn’t know if I could afford at the moment. But what was I supposed to do when she gave me that kind of a look?
Come on, Grayson, you can fight it. You have to. You don’t want to ruin things with Sebastian and you definitely don’t want to make his kid sister cry when this inevitably blows up in your face. The longer you put this off, the worse it’s going to be for all of you.
I forced myself up and out of bed, heading into the bathroom to splash some water on my face. I was hoping it would wake me up and shake this silly idea out of my head, but it only succeeded in the first thing. Sighing, I took a quick shower and then got dressed before heading downstairs to grab myself a cup of coffee and take some time to read the paper. It had become my morning ritual, the few moments of the day I took and kept for myself.
Serenity came down several minutes before we were supposed to leave, looking like an absolute dream. She had showered and styled her hair, and was wearing a cute but professional outfit—a pencil skirt that came down to her knees along with a yellow blouse and some practical black flats. She had on a bit of makeup and her face looked like it was glowing from within.
I smiled up at her. “You ready to leave?”
She nodded. “I’m hungry, too.”
“Well, I promised we’d get you some baked goods and I intend to follow through on that.” I offered her my arm and she took it, letting me lead her out to the car.
It wasn’t a very long drive at all to get to my work, but a bit longer than the one I might have had if I’d caved in and bought an apartment instead. I had seriously considered the possibility for a while before settling on either, but I soon realized that I liked living in a house much more than I enjoyed being in an apartment. In my mind, it was worth the slightly longer drive. I had more privacy, more quiet, more space, and a sense of permanence that I found apartments didn’t provide. So, I found a cute house in an expensive neighborhood and called that my home, no matter how little time I actually ended up spending there.
We parked the car and walked over to the bakery instead of asking Ryan to get something for us. It was a block away from my building and thrived on the morning crowd of workers from all around the area. Indeed, there was already a long line and workers were rushing about to fulfill the orders. They were pretty efficient, so it wasn’t long before Serenity and I had grabbed a couple of croissants and a cup of hot cocoa for her and were on our way back to the office building.
“It’ll be a busy day,” I said as we walked back. “I’ll have you do some basic paper filing for now. I’ll be in and out of meetings for a good part of the day, but I’ll make sure that there is someone around in case you have any questions.”
“Okay,” she said, looking up at me with a smile. “Do we have any plans for lunch? Or dinner?”
“I’ll be taking lunch in my office, but you’re welcome to go out if you want. I can make sure you have the money for it. Depending on how things go, I might be staying late at the office, so I’ll probably have dinner there, too. I can have someone drive you home if you would like to leave early.”
She shook her head. “No, I think I’ll stay.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, well, just let me know if you change your mind. I don’t want you to get too tired,” I said. The two of us went up to my office, greeting people on the way.
I called Ryan in to get some paperwork for Serenity to file, and then it was off to my meetings.
It wasn’t until after lunch that I came back to my office. I was surprised to see that Serenity wasn’t there, but perhaps she had gotten caught up in the crowd and would be back soon.
My question as to her whereabouts got answered soon enough when I sat down and almost jumped out of my seat when I saw that she was kneeling under my desk.
“What are you doing there? I thought you were filing paperwork.”
“I, ummm, finished, and I thought you might be back soon,” she explained, a flush of pink covering her face. “I wanted to help you relax.”
It clicked then what she wanted to do, what she was trying to suggest.
“Serenity….” I wanted to tell her about what I had thought earlier, and that the two of us really shouldn’t be having this type of relationship right now. But the way she looked up at me made the words stop in my throat.
Fuck that, I wanted her and she wanted me, too. I could figure out how to deal with things later if they got too messy, but for the moment all I wanted was for her to do exactly as she was suggesting.
I smiled down at her before putting on an aloof expression. “Is that how it is? Were you bored waiting for me? Do you crave my taste that much?” I reached down, tracing one finger along her jawline. She shivered beneath my touch, and my cock began to throb. Fuck, she made me hard.
“I want to please you,” she insisted, looking up at me with wide eyes. Gently, she set her hands on top of my knees. “Let me please you.”
“You ask in that voice, looking up at me like that, and expect me to refuse? Of course I’ll let you please me.”
When I noticed that she seemed hesitant, I asked, “Do you need me to walk you through it?”
She nodded. “Yes, please. I want to know how you like it best.”
I groaned. “Well, obviously, I love having a pretty girl suck me off. But I love telling her how to do it even more.”
“Then tell me how to please you,” she said. She was looking up at me with such wide and innocent eyes that I almost couldn’t believe that this was happening.
I yanked down my pants and then my boxers, exposing my cock for her to see. The nature of my desk was such that my cock and Serenity were both well-hidden, but I still knew that it would be bad for someone to walk in. I didn’t want anyone to question the validity of her being here, least of all her, and I definitely didn’t want to lose my own authority and dignity.
“You have to be quiet, my dear,” I said, smiling down at her. “We wouldn’t want anyone to hear us, now would we?”
&nbs
p; She shook her head. “I’ll be quiet, I promise.”
“Good.” I grabbed the base of my cock and offered it towards her. “Lick the tip.”
She moved her weight forward and licked the tip of my cock with her tongue. I squeezed my eyes shut at the pleasurable feeling of it.
“That’s it, baby, keep licking, then I want you to take it in your mouth and suck it.”
She obeyed, and I let go of my cock, reaching to grab her hair instead and guide her up and down the length of my shaft. She moaned as it went deeper into her, continuing to swirl her tongue around it and creating a tight suction.
The throbbing continued, getting more and more intense as she continued to work her way up and down the length of me. God, I was glad that I decided to let her do this. It felt so incredibly amazing! She felt so incredibly amazing. I would have to see about paying her back tonight when I got home.
“That’s right, baby,” I said, encouraging her. “You’ve got it. Keep going.”
She did, and it wasn’t long before I was releasing, cumming into her mouth.
“Be a good girl and swallow it all for me,” I implored her. “We can’t afford to leave a mess, now can we?”
She shook her head, swallowing all of my cum and then licking the rest off my cock without even having to be asked.
“That’s a good girl,” I said, petting the top of her head. “You were absolutely wonderful.”
She perked up. “I was?”
She sounded so surprised that it made me wonder how her exes had treated her. Who had made her think that she wasn’t good at these things, that she wasn’t pleasing enough to be praised? She might not have been the most skillful I’d ever had, but she certainly made me feel more than anyone else ever had.
“Of course you were. Why would I lie to you?”
She shrugged, looking down at the ground. “I don’t know.”
“You know why you don’t?”
“Why?”
“Because there isn’t a single reason. I’m not going to lie to you, Serenity, you were wonderful and you made me feel so good.”
She blushed. “I’m glad.”
“Now, while that was just what I needed after the stressful morning I’ve just had, I need you to smooth down your hair and get back to your desk before anyone walks in and gets suspicious.”
She nodded and scurried to comply, getting out from under my desk and combing down her hair as she went to go sit back down. I pulled up my boxers and my pants and tried to get back to work.
It took me a moment to clear the thoughts of Serenity from my mind, and then several more to clear the post-orgasm daze long enough to figure out exactly what it was that I needed to be doing. I was not excited about getting back to work, but it was something that needed to be done if I wanted to have the kind of weekend with Serenity that I was already planning in my head. I had a lot of work ahead of me to get there, but once I was, I planned to enjoy every minute of it.
11
Serenity
The week was long and full of work, but Grayson promised me that we would spend the entire weekend together. After a long Monday staying until Grayson was satisfied enough with his work to leave the office, I decided that I would take him up on his offer to send me home early for the rest of the week. I had unpacking to do, and reading I wanted to complete, and my harp to practice after all. And I needed rest. I wasn’t used to doing this much work all at once.
There were even a couple of nights that week when I didn’t see Grayson until the next morning, looking more tired than ever until he had a cup of coffee. I was still struggling with the nightmares, but I was a little bit better at coping with them now so I respected Grayson’s wish to not have us sleep in the same bed for the time being. I didn’t really see the point in it as we were continuing to grow closer and closer, but I was sure he had his own reasons for wanting it that way. For the moment, I wasn’t much up to questioning it.
On Saturday, Grayson informed me that he wanted to spend the whole day together and that he intended to start things off by taking me on a shopping spree. I definitely wasn’t opposed to this, but was perhaps a little surprised. I hadn’t necessarily expected anything like this from him, as it didn’t seem to fit into our kind of relationship. But it was a good chance to spend some time with him, and I wasn’t going to say no to that.
I got dressed in a cute pink dress with a matching cropped sweater, and slipped on some long socks and flats as it was colder today than it had been this past week, and I had no idea where Grayson intended to take us. Then I headed downstairs to grab some breakfast.
Grayson was already sitting in the kitchen, a muffin on the plate in front of him and a cup of coffee in his hand. “Feel free to take what you want,” he said, gesturing to the spread in front of him. I grabbed an orange and a croissant and took a seat across from him, looking up at him with a smile.
“Any plans for where we’re going?” I asked.
“I figured we would just go to one of the malls. There are some shops that I want to take you to, but I’m also open to suggestions if you have any. I want to make sure you have your share of LA experiences.”
I shook my head. “No, that sounds lovely.”
He smiled. “Good, because I’m looking forward to spoiling you.”
I squirmed in my seat and looked down at my hands. I’d never really had anyone who wanted to spoil me before, so this felt nice. It was a way that Grayson was showing me he cared. “Thank you, but you really don’t have to.”
Grayson came around the table, grabbing my hand and making me look up at him. “But I want to. Believe me, I’m not doing this out of any feeling of obligation. I want to make you happy. I want to buy you things and see you shining and looking as lovely as ever. Can you accept that?”
I nodded, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. “Yes, I can.”
We finished our breakfast and then headed out to the car. I strapped in and Grayson turned the key, the car humming to life beneath us.
“You hungry for anything else?” he asked. “I can pick you up some hot chocolate if you want.”
“That would actually be wonderful,” I said. “Is there somewhere we can get peppermint hot cocoa?”
“I think Starbucks has some around this time of year, and there’ll definitely be one at the mall.” Grayson laughed. “They’re everywhere these days, really. Sometimes you can’t go two blocks without seeing another one. Almost like they’re breeding them.”
“They’ve even reached our town now,” I said, chiming in.
“And that is how you know they’ve gotten fairly influential. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a Starbucks there when we were growing up.” Grayson was speeding down the highway now, and I settled into my seat, watching as the Los Angeles cityscape passed by me.
It wasn’t long before we arrived at our destination: a large outdoor mall that made me glad I had worn a cozy sweater. There were strings of lights draped over every storefront and the Christmas greenery abounded as decoration. A lot of the shops looked incredibly high-end, but I didn’t get much of a chance to look at them before Grayson was dragging me along to the coffee shop to order me a hot cocoa.
“Thank you,” I said once it was handed to me, warming my hands against the cup.
“Don’t mention it,” he said, his head tilted in a kind smile. “I don’t know how many of the shops will want you to have a drink while we’re inside, so let’s go find somewhere to sit.”
“Can we just go to the bookstore?” I asked, gesturing to the large building next to the Starbucks with book displays in its windows.
“I should have known,” Grayson said with a laugh. “Why not, come on.”
I followed him into the bookstore, sipping at my hot cocoa. As we entered, I took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of pinecones and paper, a combination that made me feel completely at home.
“Why don’t you lead the way,” Grayson said. “I don’t have much of an intere
st in anything here.”
“What, you mean you don’t read much?” I asked, my brows furrowing together.
“I don’t have much time anymore,” he said with a shrug. “Work is a lot, so I don’t have the downtime to really let myself be absorbed by a story. Usually, by the time I’m done, I don’t want to do much at all.”
“But you can always find the time,” I insisted. “When I had a hectic schedule before, I used to read books at lunch or right before I went to bed—whenever there was a moment really.”
“See, that sounds nice in theory, but sometimes the work takes so much energy that you’re too physically exhausted to really concentrate on a story.”
“Then you have to find a story that doesn’t require energy, one that takes you far away from whatever world you’re in at the moment.”
A smile was slowly breaking out on Grayson’s face, and I realized I was probably sermonizing but he didn’t seem to mind. “And I imagine that you have books you would recommend for this?”
I nodded. “I don’t know if they’ll be your taste, but I certainly have a few books that I really enjoyed and I think you might, too.”
“Is that so? Why don’t you show me?” Grayson gestured for me to lead the way, and I did so with a large smile on my face. I spent the next hour or so taking him on a tour of all my favorite books and finding a few that I still wanted to read. He caved in and bought a few of the ones I recommended for him, and then insisted on buying me some of the books that I was interested in, even though I told him I still had plenty to read back at his place.
“You’ll get to them eventually,” he said by way of explanation. “Besides, you’re so pretty when your face lights up like that.”
This made me blush, and I accepted the books without any more protest. By this time, I had finished my drink and the two of us headed out to look at the clothing shops that Grayson had wanted to take me to.
