Enlightened End

by Audrey Carlan

The moment was so powerful I knew right then and there I’d remember it for the rest of my days. Grant swallowed, his lips coming open as he dipped his head down and kissed my lips over his thumb.

  He still hasn’t moved, his manhood twitching inside me. I blink and run my hand through his dark hair.

  Grant closes his eyes and rests his lips against mine, not in a kiss, just touching in every way possible. Bodies, hands, lips.

  “Nothing could ever be this perfect,” he whispers against my lips, his words seeping through my skin and straight down to my very soul.

  I run my fingers once more through his hair and cup his cheek. He eases back, and his eyes are on fire. Midnight blue like the very base of a lit match.

  “No. I don’t think it ever could.”

  He closes his eyes, nods, and then shifts his hips back and thrusts forward. A burst of pleasure ripples from between my thighs and through every one of my pores all the way to my fingertips. Each plunge of his thick penis takes me higher.

  Takes us higher.

  I expect Grant to take my body with the same ruthless confidence and drive he exhibits in his business dealings, but that is not what I am experiencing.

  With every touch of his fingers, he focuses on my pleasure. Watches my eyes as I respond to him. Each kiss he bestows is a promise of more to come. Every breath he takes against my neck, my mouth, my breasts, he worships me in a way I’ve never felt in my life.

  Grant wraps his arms around my back and plunges deeply, his body shaking. Mine is wound tightly, readying to release, and right there he consumes my heart and soul through his kiss.

  Together we reach the light, a height so intense I gasp for air. I have no need to strain, for Grant is there, breathing life back into me with his kiss, as together, we start our descent.

  He eases in and out of me softly, working his length until he is spent. Grant runs his lips over my neck, my collarbone, between my breasts, where he takes each nipple into his mouth and sucks briefly. It’s as if he is making every inch of my body tingle with aftershocks.

  Once he has kissed his way down to my belly, he licks a circle around my navel and then continues down where he places a closed-mouth kiss on my curls and then moves to each hip, where he nips and teases until I giggle.

  He’s not done with his journey. He moves down my thigh with a long line of kisses until he reaches the knee. Then he switches sides and repeats the gesture. On my shin, he licks a long line down before nibbling on my ankle.

  “Grant!” I laugh when he makes it to the end of the bed, where he steps off, naked as the day he was born, lifts my feet, kisses the tops of each, and then places a closed-mouth kiss on each big toe.

  I pull my feet out of his grasp, laughing hysterically.

  “Bathroom over there?” He hooks a thumb in the direction of the frosted blocks in the corner with the single door. It is the only closed-off room in the entire loft.

  “Yeah.” I turn onto my side.

  “Be right back with a cloth.” He turns and gifts me a spectacular view of his toned bare ass, back, and thighs.

  Wow. Grant is handsome everywhere. I sigh and close my eyes, enjoying flashbacks of our lovemaking.

  His mouth between my legs.

  I shiver.

  His body pressed flat against mine.

  I moan into the pillow.

  His penis, thick and hard inside me.

  I mewl with renewed desire.

  “You starting round two without me?” Grant’s laugh hits my dreamlike state, and I sit up fast, pushing my hair out of my face.

  “What?”

  “Lamb, your legs were rubbing together, and one of your hands was squeezing your breast.” He chuckles. “I totally caught you starting without me. Which I one hundred percent approve of because it means I get to watch the show and then join in.”

  I cringe. “I was not starting without you. I mean, I’ve already had two incredible orgasms.”

  “Baby, you were too.”

  “Was not!” I scold and watch while he crawls along the bed, one arm on each side of me.

  “Lamb, you were. Now open your legs so I can clean you up for round two.” His expression is filled with cockiness, and as much as I want to call him on it, I would much prefer round two, so I do as he asks and spread my legs.

  He uses the cloth and cleans me thoroughly. Then he produces a second cloth and doubles up on the job.

  “Two cloths?”

  “Yeah, the first to clean the bulk of my mess, the second to ensure a pristine pussy.”

  “Oh, my God!” I toss my body backward and yank the comforter up and over my naked body. “Do you always talk about this stuff so directly?”

  Grant gets off the bed and goes back to the bathroom, where I hear the water running, and I assume he’s washing his hands…again. The man really does have a germ issue.

  He pads back on bare feet, grabs the comforter, and flings the entire thing off the bed.

  “With you, I’m direct. Yes. I don’t want you to ever think I’m not telling you the truth. And when it comes to sex, there’s nothing you ever need to hide from me. Not this sexy-as-fuck body”—he runs a hand from my neck down over my breasts, belly, and between my thighs, where he cups me like he did before in the studio—“and especially not with this perfect pussy. I want no bullshit between us. I deal with liars and cheats every single day. With you, I want full disclosure.”

  I like that. Full disclosure. Gives me hope that he’ll be completely honest with me about what he decides regarding my building and my friends’ buildings.

  “What are you going to do to my building?” I ask.

  Grant’s shoulders slump, and he lies next to me, elbow to the mattress, head in his hand. He uses his other hand to trace figure eights around my breasts.

  “Honestly, I don’t know yet. The plans are already in the works, money has already changed hands with the investors, contracts signed. I’m still thinking about it.”

  I nod and watch as his eyes change color.

  “You have the loveliest skin.” He glides just his fingertips down the center of my chest to my belly, where he lays his palm. “What do you want out of life, Luna?”

  The air around our little bubble shifts into more serious territory, so I turn sideways. It doesn’t change his touching me, but he’s moved to the dip in my waist and swell of my hip.

  I inhale fully and deeply and rest my head against the pillow so I can watch his eyes change color while we talk. He may be a hard man to read, all big-business tycoon, but his eyes give him away. I can tell he’s feeling something very deep, and I have a feeling it’s all about me and the love we just made.

  “Well, I’ve always taught yoga. My mother is a career yogi, as you know. I love the practice, and I believe in what I do, how my teaching helps people. I’m never unhappy at the end of the day, always filled with positive energy and the knowledge that what I do is making others feel better.”

  Grant traces a line from my shoulder all the way to my hip. Gooseflesh rises along my skin, and he smiles as if he has created magic with his touch.

  “What else do you want?” His eyes flicker a deeper blue while he watches me respond.

  “I want to be a wife and a mother someday. Raise a couple children, teach them the art of yoga, share the beauty of nature and the earth.”

  He chuckles and curls a hand around my hip. “You are a hippie.” He grins.

  I shrug, smiling. “Yeah, I guess. It’s what I know. I had fun dressing up for your charity event, and dancing with you and donating the money to the charity were the highlights.”

  His gaze turns pointed, colder. “Do you think you could handle going to one of those types of events every week, along with at least one or two business dinners?” His voice is rough with a dagger of seriousness I wouldn’t have anticipated while lying naked in bed after a couple awesome orgasms.

  I cup his cheek, using my thumb to pet his bottom lip the way he did mine. “If it meant being wit
h you at those events and those dinners, I believe I could not only handle them, I’d enjoy them. Because I enjoy spending time with you, learning about the things that matter to you.”

  His voice softens as he cups my neck. “Luna, you’re too good to be true. I don’t deserve a woman like you in my life, but I want you. I want you so fucking much.”

  I smile wide, push at his chest, and straddle his hips, laughing. I place my hands on his chest as he holds on to my hips. “Don’t you see, my silly big man, you already have me. When you begged me for a second chance today…I was yours.”

  Grant curls his hand around my neck, tugging me forward until I’m flat against his chest. “Come here.”

  He kisses me hard, wet, and so deeply, I’m squirming all over his naked body, ready to get started on round two.

  When Grant finally lets my lips go, I ease back, leaving about six inches between our faces but not our lower bodies. I move my hips up and back, glorying in the fact that I’ve made him hard as stone, while I coat his length with my arousal.

  Grant groans, lifts his hips to control the movement, but I lock my thighs against his side. “No way.” I press my fingers to his lips before he can comment. “My turn to play.”

  Both of Grant’s hands leave my hips, and he cups my face. He holds my cheeks and stares into my eyes. “There isn’t another woman on this earth I want more than you. I’m going to find a way to keep you. Mark my words, lamb. You’re mine.”

  * * *

  Later that afternoon, we walk hand in hand down to Rainy Day Café. A sexually sated Grant is, not surprisingly, a happy Grant. I glance over at him as he swings my arm back and forth while we walk past Sunflower Bakery and Tattered Pages Bookstore down to the café.

  “You’re smiling a lot more than usual,” I remark, even though I can feel heat color my cheeks.

  He smirks. “Lamb, we just spent the last five hours fucking. My dick is worn out from how tight your little body and mouth can squeeze it. What man wouldn’t be on cloud nine after a day like that?”

  I cringe. “You don’t have to say it like that. I mean, have you ever thought to call it making love instead of, you know…”

  “Fucking.” He says the word so loud I swear everyone on the entire block can hear him.

  I tug his hand and force him to a stop. “Yes,” I hiss. “You don’t need to say it so loud.”

  Grant pulls me into his arms, his hands on my booty. “You are so damn cute!” He kisses my nose. “Do you ever cuss?”

  I glance around to see if anyone is looking. “Of course, I do. Perhaps not as liberally as you…”

  “Your man.”

  “What?”

  “You do not cuss as liberally as your man does.”

  A flush of arousal and excitement roars through me at his words. I place my hand over his heart and look up at him. “You want me to call you my man.” My voice is but a whisper, but he hears it.

  He dips his head until we’re eye to eye. “Abso-fucking-lutely. I am your man, and you are my woman. We are together.”

  I smile. “As in, we’re in a relationship. Grant and Luna.”

  He swallows and purses his lips. “I can’t say that I’ve ever been in a ‘relationship’ before.” He uses air quotes before he grins. “Huh. Yes. I’m okay with it. We’re in a relationship.”

  “You know that means you’re my boyfriend.” I continue to poke and prod at him, making sure he understands exactly what he’s saying.

  He grins. “I am aware of societal titles for when a man and a woman agree to become a couple.”

  “Ohh…a couple! I like that even more.” I place my hands to my chest and clap with the tips of my fingers.

  “Jesus Christ. Fuckin’ cute.”

  “You know, you really don’t need to be so profane.”

  One of his eyebrows rises up toward his hairline. “I’m pretty sure you enjoyed my profane abilities back in your apartment. Did you not?”

  I smack his chest. “Grant!”

  He hooks an arm around my shoulder. “Come on, I’m starving. Besides, I need to fuel up.”

  “Fuel up?”

  “Yeah, for round a hundred and six,” he says as if he’s dead serious.

  “You can’t be serious. You can’t want to have sex again today.”

  He runs his hand down to my ass and squeezes the cheek hard. His head cants, and he curves against my body, placing his lips on my neck, where he proceeds to skate his teeth up the column. A bout of intense arousal flutters through my body, soaking my panties with renewed excitement. He sucks at my neck while squeezing my ass.

  “Oh, my God.” I grip his form and hold on as my body reacts in what feels like a million pleasurable tingles.

  “Case in point. If I put my hand down your pants, you’d be slick and ready to take me. So yeah, I need to fuel up because my woman is insatiable, and as her man, I need to fill every last one of her needs.”

  He bites down on the edge of my earlobe, and I jerk in his hold, my hips thrusting against him.

  He chuckles. “Still hungry?”

  I nod dumbly.

  “For food?”

  “No.”

  He laughs out loud, turning me toward the café and opening the door for me. “Lamb, you are too fuckin’ easy. Now get your ass in there so I can feed you.” He smacks my booty hard enough to sting.

  “Owee!” I rub at my sore bum.

  He comes up behind me, resting his body against my backside. “Don’t worry, there’s more where that came from.”

  I’m wide-eyed and lost in a sensual haze as we enter. Coree, one of the owners, waves. I smile and offer a wave of my own while Grant leads me to the counter.

  He scans the board, and I just look at him. His profile is exquisite. Dark hair, cropped at the sides, the top layers falling longer to frame a chiseled face. His nose is long, strong, and straight. His lips are beyond kissable, like soft little pillows I can’t get enough of.

  Grant turns his head and says something, but I don’t hear it; I’m so focused on how attractive he is.

  Eventually he smiles and cups my cheeks. “Lamb, you awake?”

  “Um, yeah.” I shake off the simmering desire sitting right on the surface. It’s as if we opened Pandora’s sex box, and now I can’t get enough.

  “I asked what you wanted to eat for dinner. We skipped lunch altogether. Not that I’m complaining.” He smirks.

  My cheeks heat and I glance at Coree, who smiles wide, looks at me, and then looks at Grant and back. She lifts her hand and gives me a quick thumbs-up. Now my cheeks are flaming. I know they must be bright red.

  Grant notices, of course, and runs his thumbs along them. “Lamb, you’re getting hot. You okay?”

  I swallow and nod. “Yeah. I’m fine. It’s uh, warm in here. I’ll have the turkey club with a cup of cream soup. Whichever you have today.” They always have a vegetable, cream, and meat soup of the day, and they’re always fabulous.

  Grant orders a heated ham and cheese on rye with a cup of soup and drinks for both of us. Once he pays, he puts a hand to my lower back and leads me across the space to an open table.

  After we take our seats, he looks around. “Place is interesting. And packed. It’s four o’clock. You’d think it would be dead in here.”

  I shake my head. “It’s always packed. More so at other times, of course, like lunch and brunch times and then again at dinner. A lot of people take it to go, too. And, of course, as you may know, they were going to expand to the small store next door and open it up so there was a patio area. Extend the rainforest feel but leave it fully covered so that, even when it rains or it’s cold, they can warm it up and still have the indoor-outdoor vibe.”

  Grant nods. “Interesting clientele.”

  I grin as I notice what he notices. “They’re mostly a bunch of suits, and the rest are yogis.”

  “Yeah, seems like it.” He tilts his head as if he’s assessing the crowd.

  “You putting that business
mind of yours to work, big man?”

  He grins, and his eyes flash to mine. “Trying to figure out a way to make you happy and keep my father and our investors off my ass at the same time.”

  Grant’s shoulders seem to stiffen at the mention of his father.

  “You and your dad have a very tumultuous relationship,” I declare rather than question.

  He sighs. “Most of the time, I despise him.” He shakes his head. “In business, though, he’s the chairman, and I want…”

  “To impress him.”

  Grant lifts his head and winces before shrugging one shoulder.

  I reach out to cover his hands on the table. “It’s okay to want to make your father proud of you. You’ve taken over the helm of the ship, and you want to prove you are a good captain. I get it. I want my mother to be proud of me when it comes to Lotus House. She worked her bum off to provide this legacy, and it’s my job to continue it and show my appreciation. Except my mom tells me all the time how much she loves me and how well I’m doing. I get the feeling your dad doesn’t give you many pats on the back.”

  He sits back, releasing my hands, and laughs out loud. “My father has never once told me I’ve done well, even though the company has seen skyrocketing profits since I took over. He just adds to the never-ending pile of shit I should be doing better.”

  “Grant, you aren’t responsible for making him happy. He doesn’t seem like a very jolly man to begin with.”

  “He’s not,” he says flatly.

  I rub my arms and twist my fingers together, wanting to ask about the one person he’s never brought up.

  Coree walks over and sets down our plates of food, soup, and iced teas.

  “Looks amazing. Thank you,” Grant says before picking up his sandwich and taking a big bite.

  I suck in a deep breath, the smell of the food making my mouth water. “Will you tell me about your mother?”

  Grant stops mid-chew, sets down his sandwich, and leans back, putting as much distance as possible between the two of us. For a few seconds, I sit with fear, thinking he’s going to ice me out again. When he doesn’t want to talk about something, he turns cold, frigid in his body language and word choices.