“Please, Grayson. I was so close.”
Dear God there was that sexy grin again, just seeing that smile and the hunger in his eyes was nearly enough to push me over. “I know.” He captured my lips with his, cutting off any further protest I may have had.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I lifted my legs, crossing my ankles around his lower back while our tongues wrestled. Gently I bucked against his dick, hoping to spear myself with his shaft but it was useless, he wasn’t playing fair tonight.
“Please, Grayson.” I begged when he pulled away from the kiss to look down at me. “You’re so cruel.”
Chuckling, he lowered his head, kissing me again, but this time with a fierceness that I’ve never felt before from him as he lined the head of his penis to my entrance and in one powerful, fluid motion slammed into me, causing me to cry out against his lips as his dick stretched me to my limits, sending a surge of pleasure through me.
Once fully embedded inside me he remained there a moment, ending our kiss to looked into my eyes and ask, “Am I still cruel?” His gaze was locked onto mine as he pulled out, until the head barely breached my entrance before slamming back into me. The slow movements in combination with the heated look in his eyes as we stared at each other was driving me near insanity.
Closing my eyes and arching my back I tightened my legs’ grip around his waist and began to move under him, with each thrust making it with one of my own. Our bodies worked in a slow rhythm, in and out, up and down, the head of his dick rubbing against my G-spot, keeping me on the edge, but not quite putting me over.
“Riley.”
Hearing my name, I opened my eyes and looked up at him.
“Come with me baby, we’re in this together.” He began moving inside me at a quickened pace. But it wasn’t just the feel of him sending me wave upon wave of pleasure that was about to be my ultimate undoing, it was the look of pure love in his gaze that did it for me.
“I love you!” I gasped just as he thrust into me one last time, so hard that it nearly hurt as he exploded, his seed filling me to the brink and breaking the dam that was holding back my own flood of pleasure as I orgasmed with him, screaming out as my body tensed and then vibrated under him as my juices mixed with his, deep inside my core.
Lowering himself fully onto my body he buried his face against my neck and sighed. “Love you too, Riley. God help me I love you more than I ever thought possible.”
Tears filled my eyes as I clung to the beautiful man that I couldn’t believe I was fortunate enough to meet.
18
Grayson
A friend of mine who I’d known for over a decade working on projects together, Kenneth, let out a low whistle as he opened the ring box and peered down at the ring I planned on proposing to Riley with. Normally after work I’d eat and go to sleep, rinse and repeat for my week, but tonight a co-worker who I was close to had asked if I wanted to grab a few beers and some decent food—on him. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.
“Are you sure about this, man?” he asked, passing the ring back to me. Closing the box, I tucked it back into the inside pocket of my jacket.
“Never been so sure of anything in my life, man.”
“How long have you known her?”
“Little less than four months now.”
“Crazy, dude.” He shook his head. “But you know, I’ve been married and divorced three times now. I took my time each of those times and guess what?”
“Each of them ended in divorce,” I offered up with a chuckle. Grabbing my glass of beer, I brought it to my lips and took a hearty drink.
“Exactly. Maybe I should have just went balls to the wall. Bet there were tons of women that may have been the one but left because I took too long to pop the question. If she’s as amazing as you say she is, perhaps it’s a wise move to lock her down ASAP.”
“She is that amazing and that’s exactly what I’m thinking. I know it seems crazy, but I just know.”
“What does your kid think of it?”
I shrugged. “I told her I was going to propose, and she seemed behind the idea. She likes Riley well enough. She thinks it’s super cool that Riley is an author. She’s met Riley’s kids who are the same age as her; they seem to get along fine. She did say that she’d only agree if she could be a bridesmaid so I may need to pull a string with Riley if she says yes.”
“Is there a chance she won’t say yes?”
Straightening up on the bar stool, I clucked my tongue off the roof of my mouth. I wasn’t sure. We liked to tease each other about being stuck together until one of us kicked the bucket, but I wasn’t sure entirely how much of that was just good-natured ribbing and how much was serious.
“There’s always a chance, but I’m willing to take that chance.”
Chuckling, Kenneth took a drink. “How’s this all planned to go down anyhow?”
“With Chyna’s help and a lot of luck on my next set of days off.”
Giving me a pat on the back, Kenneth nodded. “Well good luck man. If anyone deserves a good woman, it’s you buddy.”
~*~ TT ~*~
Riley
“Take it!” Charlotte thrust a small drug store bag at me, giving me a stern expression the moment I opened the door to let her in. “I’m serious.”
I looked at the bag as if it were the enemy but accepted it anyway. “It’s pure craziness. I’m forty years old for crying out loud. That’s not the issue.” She didn’t even give me enough time to close the damned door behind her or even take her jacket off.
“Then you have nothing to worry about, do you?” She gave me the smug look she liked to hit me with when she knew she was right.
“And keep your voice down, the last thing I need is for Violet or Christian to find out.” Closing the door behind her, I motioned for her to follow me into my bedroom where we could talk without being overheard.
“Do they not like him?” she asked, following behind me after removing her shoes and leaving them at the door.
“No, they both think he’s a great guy. No issues with that. It took some time for them to fully like him, but he won them over quickly enough.”
“Then what’s the problem?” She asked as we entered my room and I closed the door firmly behind us.
“Well, I don’t know. It’s just that I’m forty. Not like I’m young anymore.”
“You always said you wanted more kids.” She plunked herself on the foot of the bed as I began to pace back and forth in front of her, the drug store bag dangling from my fingertips.
“Yes, but I didn’t think I’d be able to have any more. Just a few years ago when I went to the fertility clinic they told me my chances were slim to none. This shouldn’t have happened.”
“Well, first off you won’t know if it is true or not until you piss on that stick, so how about you do that now and then I can give you the lecture on how you’re too old for me to be giving you the use protection talk.” There was a wide grin on her face.
“You’re not helping.” Looking down at the bag, I took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled. She was right, there was only one definite way of finding out and that was in the bag.
“Then go!”
“Fine! I’m going.” Leaving the room, I closed the door behind me and entered the bathroom. Removing the stick from the bag and packaging, I looked down at it. One straight line and it was negative. A plus sign and it was positive.
Straightforward enough, I thought, tossing the bag and box into the covered garbage can. The kids would never see it unless they did the bathroom garbage, which was a laughable idea. They’d pile waste on top of the can before they’d empty it.
Undoing my jeans, I pulled them down and did my best to squat while holding the stick under where the perceived stream of pee would be before releasing the several bottles of water I’d consumed while waiting for my sister to arrive.
It was just an overreaction. People missed their periods all the time. People got sick all the time. It was
just one big coincidence that the two things were happening at the same time—that’s all. I’d just pee on this stick, if the damned pee would come, and then I’d prove to myself and Charlotte that this was crazy.
We’d use condoms from now on. Should have been all along really.
Why can’t I fucking pee? I groaned inwardly.
After a little insistence and patience I finally managed to pee, questioning how much I managed to get on the stick.
Done.
Intentionally not looking at the stick, I finished my business and washed my hands. Grabbing some toilet paper, I picked the stick up and without looking at the result exited the bathroom.
“Hey, Mom.” Christian’s voice called from behind me.
My entire body froze. Shit. Shit. Shit.
Slowly, I turned, putting the pregnancy test behind my back. “Christian…. Hey. What’s up?” Dear Lord my heart was freaking out in my chest!
“I was hoping we could order a pizza tonight.”
I released the breath I was holding. “Yeah, of course.”
He nodded grinning. “Awesome. And about tomorrow, how long are we going to be staying at Gray’s lake house?”
“A couple of days.”
“Cool.” We stood looking at each other a minute. Fuck, I felt like a kid caught doing something bad. “Are you okay, Mom? You look all pale and shit.”
“Yeah.” I nodded my head. “Of course. I’m just going to go lay down now.”
“’Kay, Mom.”
Turning, I grabbed at the door handle and opened the door, slipping into the room and locking the door behind me. Forgetting that I was trying to not look at the results of the test I brought the test up to my line of sight and gasped. “Oh, fuck me…”
“By the look in your face, fucking you has caused you enough problems,” my sister said.
“I…” My eyes were glued to the bright pink plus sign on the stick. “I…”
“You’re pregnant,” Charlotte offered, getting up from the bed and coming over to verify her suspicions for herself. “Well, shit girl. Guess you’re not as broken as you thought you were. Either that or he’s got some super swimmers.”
“Ohmygod! I’m…” Walking over to the bed, I flopped down on it not taking my eyes off the test result.
“What are you going to do?” Charlotte’s smile faded and she came to sit beside me.
“I’m not sure. Tell Grayson this weekend, I suppose. Take one more test to be sure before that.”
“How do you think he’ll take it?”
I shrugged. “It’s not something we’ve discussed. This wasn’t on our radar for happening.”
“Well if you spin the roulette wheel enough times it’ll eventually hit your number.”
Giving her the side-eye I shook my head. I was shocked, but at the same time I wasn’t extremely upset over the result. “There’s no doubt that as long as the baby is healthy, I’m keeping it. That’s not up for negotiation.”
Charlotte nodded, slipping an arm over my shoulders and giving me a comforting hug. “Don’t blame you. It wouldn’t be up for negotiation with me either.”
“I just hope that he’s not too freaked out over this. I think he’s done. I don’t think it was something that even crossed his mind. He has all these plans of traveling and retiring. His daughter is the twins’ age, minus a year. This is going to be a shock for him.”
“He chose not to use protection either. You both made that choice knowing the consequences.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I know. I know.”
“Do you think he’ll tell you to pound salt? If he does I swear to God I’ll—”
Putting a hand up I stopped Charlotte before she could really begin her rant. “He’s not that type of person. He’s very family oriented. If this goes the distance he’ll be there for his child. He’s an amazing father and his daughter seemed to turn out pretty well and certainly loves him.”
“That’s good news. Then I guess you had better figure out a good way to hit him with the news. Just keep in mind men don’t take surprises like this quite as well as women do.”
I laughed. “Yeah, this is going to be one doozy of a surprise.”
“Yes, yes indeed it will be.” Things were going so damned well between us. I’d never been in such a healthy relationship in my life. Pregnancy and a newborn baby had a tendency to cause major stress in relationships. Then there were the health issues, I wasn’t a spring chicken anymore. My only other pregnancy was when I was fit and twenty-two years old. That was one massive difference.
With a loud groan I fell onto my back on the bed and stared up at the white ceiling, trying to process the information and formulate a way to tell Grayson that wouldn’t freak him the fuck out!
19
Riley
“How long is the drive?” Violet asked as she closed the door of the Camaro. The trunk was filled with our stuff. We were only going for a couple of nights, but the kids had packed enough to last them a week. The plan was for us to meet him and Chyna at the lake house at 8pm.
“A couple hours, it’s not overly long.”
“Is there Wi-Fi?” Christian asked from the back.
Catching Christian’s gaze in the rearview mirror I cringed. “Sorry buddy. You’re SOL on the Wi-Fi.”
“That fucking sucks,” Christian grumbled as he sank back into the leather seat.
“Excuse me?” Raising a brow, I turned in my seat to shoot Christian a dirty look. “How about you watch your mouth. Eighteen or not, I can still take you out.”
Christian rolled his eyes, but a hint of a grin touched his lips.
I wasn’t in the best of moods this morning. I’d spent a solid twenty minutes revisiting everything I’d eaten that morning for breakfast and then supper the previous night. I never remembered pregnancy being this shitty.
“Chyna and Grayson are already there so they should have everything out like the water skis and kayaks for tomorrow.” The twins didn’t seem interested, placing earphones over their ears and engrossing themselves in whatever was on their phones. That was okay because I had to work on how I was going to give him the news that we were indeed pregnant, and I was terrified on how he’d take it.
Not a word was said until the car slowed, and I pulled up behind Grayson’s truck in the yard. It was nightfall and the sky was crystal clear, with the stars shining brightly as if they were competing to outshine each other in the dark sky. It couldn’t have been a more stunning night. The first thing I noticed was the strings of lights set up in the yard past his truck. Those were new. That observation was quickly followed by my hearing John Mayer’s music playing in the back yard. He really didn’t care for John Mayer so that was also odd. Had he read another of my novels and was he trying to recreate a scene?
“What the hell?” I said to myself, the twins quickly following suit and exiting the vehicle.
Leaving the luggage behind for now, I walked around the truck to find Grayson and Chyna sitting by the fire. As soon as he caught sight of me, Grayson stood and came to meet me. He looked incredible tonight, wearing a pair of dark jeans and a black button-down shirt, making me feel underdressed in a pair of black leggings and flowing sheer, floral blouse over a tight black tank top. He never wore button-down shirts…
Taking my hand, he guided me to the fire.
Confused, I looked back at the twins, who shrugged and went to sit on the far bench next to Chyna, who had her phone out and seemed to be taking...a video?
“Is Chyna videoing us arriving? Why?” This was so freaking weird right now. My eyes narrowed as I stared at Grayson. He looked nervous. He was never nervous.
“I’m just going to do this…”
My brow furrowed. “Do what?”
He suddenly dropped to one knee and took my left hand in his.
Ohmygod…
“Riley, I know this hasn’t been a long relationship, but I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. I love you, I think I’ve loved you from the
first moment I saw you. I never bought into the love at first sight idea until I met you and I know I’d be a fool not to want to make you my wife. So…. Riley….” Reaching into the pocket of his jeans he pulled out a velvet ring box and opened it up to reveal a diamond solitaire ring. It was absolutely breathtaking, with the light from the fire bouncing off the jewel. “Riley Vaughn, will you marry me?”
My mind went honest-to-God blank. While I wanted to cry out yes at the top of my lungs, it wasn’t what I said. Instead what came from my mouth was, “Grayson, we’re pregnant.”
I swear to God the world went quiet as we stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Even the kids fell quiet, opting to simply stare at us parents, no doubt unsure of what to say or do. Violet and Christian were no doubt as shocked as Chyna.
“Pregnant? With a baby?” He stared at me in disbelief. I couldn’t discern whether he was happy or upset.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, our baby. I’m pregnant with our baby.”
“Umm. Okay.” He looked down at the ring and then back up at me and then gave me a reassuring smile. There was another insanely long silence. I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he processed the information.
“Grayson?” I chewed at my lower lip, unsure of what to do or say.
“Let’s deal with these issues one at a time.” He nodded to the ring. “Riley, will you marry me?”
Looking into his gray eyes, all of my fears washed away. It was going to be okay. Looking down at the ring and then back up into the eyes of the man I loved more than I ever could have imagined, I nodded, excitement racing through me. I was going to have that fairy-tale ending that all my characters had, but I’d never gotten to experience for myself, with my very own prince charming. “Yes. Of course, yes!”
Hold On To Me Page 12
