by Maine, Miley
Her hands clutched tight at my shirt. “Thank you,” she whispered. Over and over, “Thank you.”
“Of course.” I stroked the back of her head, patting her hair down where it had been mussed up from her lying down. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said.
“Shall we go downstairs?” I asked. “I think they’re expecting us. I told them I wanted to talk to you, but I still want to make sure that I sort things out with your brother and your dad. Their opinions are important to me.”
“Let’s.” She took my hand, squeezed it tight, and then followed me downstairs to where her family was waiting for us.
Mrs. Allen stood to greet us, taking Serenity’s hand in her own. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this all covered,” she said, then, louder, “Sebastian, I think you and Grayson have some talking that needs to be done.
Sebastian stood. “Let’s go somewhere else,” he said.
I nodded, and then followed him out of the living room and into the kitchen. He sat down at the table, resting his head in his hands with a sigh.
“This whole situation got out of control,” he said after a few moments of silence.
“Agreed. And again, I really am sorry about the way I went about things. If I could, I would go back and do it differently. I didn’t know that things would turn out the way that they would.”
He shook his head. “You were wrong for doing things the way you did, but I was also wrong for not listening to you. Every time you tried to speak I would blow up, and I’m sorry about that. There were things I misunderstood too. I was just trying to look out for her.”
I set my hand on his shoulder. “I can understand that, that’s something that you don’t need to apologize for.”
He gave me a small smile. “Maybe it’ll take some time for things to get back to the way they were. But I’m hoping they can. Eventually.”
“I hope so too.”
“Now,” he stood, “shall we re-join the others? Serenity looked so sad to see you go that I thought she was going to protest it.”
I let out a short, dry laugh. “Sure, why not.”
We did not walk as close as we might have walked before things happened, but the two of us did still walk together back to the living room, where Serenity and her parents waited for us.
Once we were there, I took her hand in mine and squeezed it tight. Then I turned to her parents. I had one more proposition to make.
“If it is alright with you, I’d like to spend the night with Serenity. The two of us have some things to catch up on, and I think it would be good to spend some time together after everything that just happened. I have a hotel room booked not far from here and the two of us will be back in time for Christmas morning.”
Mr. Allen and Sebastian still looked a bit hesitant, but Mrs. Allen answered for them almost immediately.
“That would be fine dear, lovely, in fact. Just make sure you’re back in time for breakfast.”
“I’ll go grab some things,” Serenity said, ducking out and heading back up to her room.
Sebastian looked at me with a wan smile. “You’ll treat her right?”
“Of course. Who would I be if I didn’t?”
“A dead man,” Mr. Allen said. “This was something that I never thought I’d sanction, or have to sanction, but I’m alright with it as long as you treat her well and she’s happy. She’s been through some rough relationships before so I have every intention of bringing back your head if you put her through that again.”
“Then I will endeavor to do exactly the opposite and give her the best relationship she’s ever been in,” I said. “I’m not going to let her down.”
Mr. Allen gave me one more look up and down, and then finally sighed. “Good. You better not.”
“I’ll join you in the hunt if he does,” Sebastian said, letting out a little laugh. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me close to him. “I trust you,” he whispered in my ear.
“Thank you,” I whispered back, and he let me go.
Finally, Serenity came downstairs with a bag over her arm and a smile on her face. “Ready to go?”
I leaned in to deposit a kiss on her cheek. “With you? Always.”
23
Serenity
I had packed one of the new sets of lingerie I had bought—the red one that tied in the back with a large silk bow.
I wanted Grayson to unwrap me like I was his Christmas present, kiss me all over and make me now that I was his.
Because I was sure of that now. His words, his touches, the way that he had handled my family and the fact that I was pregnant, it all pointed to a future where the two of us would be together. It was a future I was looking forward to, like I hadn’t looked forward to the future in a while.
In the car I struggled to keep my hands off of him. I wanted to touch him already, now that the two of us were alone together. My hand reached for his and he squeezed it tight.
“We’ll be there soon,” he promised. “And then I am going to ravish all of you.”
I shivered at the thought. “I’ll need a moment to get ready.”
He laughed. “I assumed as much. I’m guessing that’s not pajamas in that bag you’re carrying?”
I shook my head, a sly smile crossing my face. “Definitely not pajamas.”
“Then I’m looking forward to discovering whatever secret you’re keeping.” We were at a red light, so he leaned over to kiss me on the forehead. “I love you my dear.”
“I love you too.”
It took us only a few more minutes before we pulled into the parking lot of a luxurious hotel building.
“I figured I needed somewhere to stay if your family ended up kicking me out and you didn’t want to be with me,” Grayson explained. “Though mostly I hoped that we might use it for this exact situation.”
He must have already checked in already, for he had no bags to grab, and we went straight to his room which he opened with a pristine white key card.
The room was absolutely beautiful inside, with breezy white curtains, silky sheets on a king-size bed, and beautiful cherry-wood floors covered in the fluffiest rug that I had ever sunk my feet into.
“The bathroom is right there,” Grayson said, gesturing to a half-ajar door with a beautiful sculpted wood knob. “I’m assuming you’re wanting to surprise me with whatever it is that you have in your bag.”
“That would be right.” I gave him a wink, and then headed into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. As quickly as I could, I changed into the lingerie set and the beautiful white robe that I had brought, then called through the door.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
“Of course babe.”
“Are you sitting on the bed?”
“I am now.”
I took a deep breath, wondering why the fear of rejection was still on my mind, I reminded myself that I had nothing to be afraid of with Grayson. He loved me, I loved him, and he wasn’t going to do me any wrong.
I opened the door, and emerged, putting a sway into my hips and a flutter into my hands. I didn’t have to force the smile on my face at all though. Grayson just made me feel so good, even when he wasn’t touching me.
The expression on his face was something that I wished I could take a snapshot of and frame forever. His jaw dropped, his eyes went wide, and there was such a look of adoration.
“You’re breath-taking,” he finally said, standing to come closer to me. “So this is what you bought from that little boutique.”
“Half of it,” I said with a sly smile.
“And do I get to see the other half?”
“Eventually.”
“Well, I’ll look forward to that, especially if they’re even half as sexy as what you have on now.” He leaned down to kiss me, catching my mouth with his. His lips played over mine like a night breeze, and then he bit down on my bottom lip and I let out a gasp like the wind.
“How lucky am I to have you?” he asked. “Just h
ow lucky?”
“Incredibly lucky,” I replied with a giggle.
“That’s right, and you know it. I’m incredibly lucky.” His hands rested on my waist and he pulled me close to his body so that my skin was touching the starched fabric of his dress shirt. Then he leaned down to kiss me again, his hands running up and down my back. They brushed against the bow and he pulled away for a moment, raising his eyebrows. “Oh? What is this?”
“You want to see?”
“Of course I want to see. Why don’t you show me?”
I slowly let my robe drop down so that it pooled at my feet. Then I turned around so that he could see the big, red, satin bow that was crowning my back, as if I was a present waiting to be unwrapped.
I could hear the sharp intake of his breath as he beheld it, and then he reached out, tracing a line down my back and landing on one of the ribbon ends. “Do you mind if I?”
“Please do,” I said, my voice a low purr. “It’s made for you to do that.”
“I promise I’ll appreciate it more later, baby, but right now I really want to taste you.” He pulled down, and the bow came undone, the satin bralette falling forward as its support was released. I let it fall to the ground, a spot of red in the white puddle around my feet.
Grayson leaned in, planting a kiss on my neck, then kissing a line down my spine before setting his hands on my hips and spinning me around to face him.
“You’re absolutely glorious,” he said with a smile. “And now you’re all mine.”
“All yours,” I echoed, cut off as he kissed me again on the lips. Then down my neck, making me tilt my head back to give him full access. His hands whispered over my skin, tracing lines and patterns that I couldn’t put a name to.
Finally, his mouth came to my breasts and he took each of my nipples into it in turn, sucking on them in a way that made me gasp and arch into him.
“You like that, don’t you?”
“Of course I do!”
One of his hands came up to grab the breast that his mouth wasn’t currently working on, massaging it and then pinching my nipple for a few seconds before releasing it and allowing the blood to flow back. I shivered at the strange new sensation, but it wasn’t something that I disliked. On the contrary, I found that the combination of pain and pleasure was bringing a great deal of wetness to my panties.
“I want to move you to the bed, is that alright?” Grayson asked, looking up at me with half-lidded eyes.
“Of course.”
He scooped me up into his arms and then walked me over to the bed, depositing me onto it with an expression that made pleasure flood through my system. It was one of dominance, of ownership. He knew that I was his, that my body was his, that I responded to this strange play of power between us.
“You know what I really like?” he asked.
“What?”
He crawled onto the bed, hovering over me and pressing a kiss to the base of my neck. “That you dressed up for me like this. You knew what reaction it would bring out of me, didn’t you?”
I nodded.
“Oh you naughty, naughty girl. I like that about you two. You’re always so eager to please, but also oh so dirty.”
I gasped as he bit down on my neck in a way that was sure to leave a mark.
“Like that, that brought you pleasure, didn’t it?”
I nodded, but I didn’t have to. His hand had already creeped down to my panties, and he moved them aside with one finger to confirm the wetness for himself.
“Ah yes, it most certainly did. Do you want me to make you more wet, my little kitten?”
I nodded, unable to speak for the sheer amount of sensation that was running through my body.
His hands came down to my hips, and he yanked my panties off of me, tossing them down to land in the same pool as the rest of my lingerie.
“I did like everything on you,” he said, “but I have to admit, I like you bare just as much, maybe even more, because I can do things like this.” He tweaked my nipple and I let out a little mewl. “Or even this.” He ran his finger along the split in my labia, then inserted it, slowly, before withdrawing it again and bringing it up to his lips.
He took his finger into his mouth and sucked it clean. “You taste so good baby, did you know that?”
I shook my head.
“Well then, I’ll show you just how good you taste.” He moved down so that his face was hovering between my legs. With a smile, he parted them gently and then lowered his head to press a kiss to my inner thigh.
He let out a low groan as he pressed more kisses to my thigh, slowly moving his face closer and closer to my pussy.
“Even your smell is intoxicating,” he said, taking a deep sniff. “I could have just you for breakfast and be just as satisfied as if I had had a five-course meal.”
I wiggled a bit at the praise, and he gently placed his lips against my labia. The spot where his mouth met my skin tingled for several seconds, and then he parted my labia with one hand so that he could access me properly. He licked my clit, making me gasp out loud, and then licked a line down to the opening of my pussy.
“God, you’re so wet for me,” he said. “I don’t think you know how happy you make me.”
“You can try to explain,” I suggested, barely able to get the words out so thick was my desire.
“I don’t know if words will do it justice.” He thrust his tongue into me and I moaned, throwing my head back and squeezing my eyes shut. It felt so good to shut out the rest of the world and just focus on the way that he was making my body feel.
And God did he make me feel good.
With the ministrations of his tongue and the added pressure of one thumb on my clit, it wasn’t long before my pleasure was pushed over the edge and the first orgasm of the night coursed through me.
He gave me a moment to sit in the pleasure, and then he looked at me with a seductive smile that made me wet all over again. “So, do you know it now?”
“Know what?”
“How absolutely delectable you are.” He kissed me, and I could taste myself on his lips, just slightly sweet.
“Not as amazing as you,” I said when he broke away.
“Oh, that’s to be debated. You’re the best I’ve ever tasted.”
I giggled. No one had ever complimented me like this before. “Is that so.”
“Oh yes, I promise.” He squeezed me to his chest and kissed me again, then laid down next to me and traced a line down my chest. “And the most beautiful too. I still don’t know how I was so lucky for the universe to bless me with you.”
“Must be fate,” I said with a shrug.
“You know? I don’t usually believe in fate. But for you? I definitely do.”
Epilogue
Serenity
The two of us got up early that next morning so that we could be back in time for breakfast and the celebrations. Before we left, I set a hastily wrapped package on Grayson’s lap.
“What is this?” he asked, raising one brow.
“Open it and find out,” I said, sitting down next to him.
He tore open the package, revealing a matching set of fleece pajamas printed with snowflakes and reindeer. He let out a laugh and held them up.
“What are these?”
“We have a tradition of wearing matching pajamas for Christmas day,” I said. “I didn’t want you to miss out.”
“I’m guessing this one is for you,” he said, taking out the smaller set and handing it to me.
“That would be right.”
“Man, Sebastian is going to let me have it,” he said.
“Well, he can’t really, because he’ll be wearing the same set,” I said with a giggle. “Mom and I picked them out this year, and as you can probably imagine he’s not the happiest with the design.”
“Oh I can definitely imagine. Let’s put these on.” Grayson stood, and quickly slipped into the pajamas. I followed suite, and then he wrapped me in a tight hug, kissing the top o
f my head. “You’re so cute, matching me like this. It makes me feel so happy.”
“I’m glad, it makes me feel happy too.”
“I promise that you’ll get your present later today.”
“Oh, I’m not worried.” I pulled back to look up at him. “I have to say, the best present of all is definitely getting to spend the day with you.”
“Well then, you’ll be very happy to learn two things. One, that I have another gift for you, and two, that I plan to spend as many days with you as possible.”
I let out a squeal as he lifted me up and into his arms, holding me right to his chest. My arms went around his neck, and he looked down into my eyes with a smile.
“Now, my Cinderella, shall we head out? They’ll be expecting us, and I plan on not having your father after my head.”
“Yes, let’s.”
Grayson grabbed my bag, and then carried me out to the car, depositing me in the passenger seat with a kiss.
We drove to my house and parked nearby. It was beginning to snow, and so the two of us rushed to get to the door, giggling as we knocked.
Sebastian answered, sleepy-eyed and in his matching set of pajamas, then his eyes opened wide as he did a double-take.
“You got Grayson pajamas?” he asked.
I looked down at my feet. “Mom and I went shopping before everything happened. I didn’t want for him to feel left out.”
“Of course you didn’t. You would get pajamas for the cat, if we had one.”
Grayson put his arm around my shoulders. “So can we come inside now? It’s absolutely freezing out here.”
“Oh, of course.” Sebastian stepped aside, letting the two of us enter. As he closed the door behind us I let out an audible gasp. My eyes had landed on the massive stack of beautifully wrapped presents beneath the Christmas tree. There had only been a few there the night before, and now they were threatening to take over the room.
