“Yes.” He cut the small space between us and lifted me up, my legs wrapping around his waist, my hands resting on his shoulders. I wondered, how the hell had this become my life?
“I want all of you, too,” he whispered roughly, and my eyes turned glassy.
“Well, if you insist.” I winked, blinking away tears. We both laughed right before he lifted me into his arms, carrying me like a child would a teddy bear, like it weighed nothing, then he took us to the bedroom to have his fill of me.
Garrett
Stroking her hair, her face on his chest, her body slack, her weight on the side of his body, infused a stillness in him he didn’t know existed. A serene strength she seemed to give off and somehow penetrate through him. He fed off it. He couldn’t help it. He hadn’t felt this way in longer than he cared to remember.
Garrett’s phone vibrated on the nightstand. He picked it up before it would wake her. He had come to find she was a very light sleeper.
“Hello.”
“Garrett?”
“What’s up?” he asked his brother, staring at the clock on the wall wondering if something was wrong.
“She talked to you?” he asked, his voice low. Garrett swallowed hard wondering if he had fucked up telling the kid to talk to his brother.
“Marc—”
“Thank you,” his brother said, his tone full of emotion. He closed his eyes and took in a long, deep breath. “I was over it. The shit in Montana that went down between us, I could get through and try to work on forgetting. But whenever I let myself think about the way you talked to Grace, the way you laid into her, the way you risked my future with her and Lexi, man, G, I gotta be honest with you, I’d get pissed all over again.”
Garrett couldn’t blame him.
He had been a dick of epic proportions.
“I hope one day, you meet a woman who means even just a third of what Grace means to me, just so you can understand the protective nature that overcomes a man in love. And before you bust my balls, I know that sounds fucking cheesy.” Marc chuckled, but Garrett looked at the beautiful woman snoring lightly in his arms, and he knew exactly what his brother was talking about.
“Marc, about Montana—”
“Thank you for talking to Lexi,” he quietly interrupted, ignoring Garrett’s words. “She called me Dad.” Marc cleared his throat, and Garrett knew why. Lexi calling him that meant a fuck ton to Marc. “I didn’t know she was having a problem with it. I thought she would just say it if she ever felt right about it—”
“That’s what she has her uncles for, dipshit,” Garrett teased as he cut off his little brother and heard Marc grunt.
“We’re good. You and me. Nothing, all the shit from then… I just wanted to call and say thanks.”
“At two in the morning?”
“Jet lag,” Marc confided. “Plus, Don mentioned you were going to the cabin. Figured you would probably be up anyhow. Your old ass never sleeps.”
“Whatever.” He opened his mouth wanting to tell his brother about his bit of sunshine, but he closed it.
“Okay, well, I should get going. I have a scene I need to memorize. You still up for doing that stunt this week?”
“Sure.” Stunt work and training some of the stuntman were a side gig he had no clue how the hell he had picked up, but he didn’t shrug his nose at it. It kept him active, and it made a nice chunk of change he could put away. That, his low overhead, and investments had been one of the many reasons he had been able to purchase the cabin without blinking.
“See you then.”
“Night.”
“Marc,” he called out before his younger brother ended the call, “I’m sorry I was such an asshole.”
“You don’t—”
“It had to be said.”
“So, it was. Now, all that shit’s done. Come out and have dinner with us this week,” he invited. Garrett grunted, not wanting to commit, and he didn’t miss Marc’s sigh. “Maybe let Grace fix you up with someone.”
“I don’t think so,” his voice rumbled. Stef shifted in his arms. He had to tell his family about her. Just not at that moment. “Look, I gotta go.”
“Think about dinner.”
“Right.”
“Night.”
“Night.”
“Late night calls, soldier?” she nuzzled her face into his side, and he felt his lips tip up.
“My brother.”
“Kinky.”
“Why do you have an answer for everything?” he wondered out loud, not that he was complaining. He really fucking liked it. He really liked her. Mine.
“Mmm… I’m good like that.” She lifted her head and stretched. The sheet dropped, and he could see her bare-naked body come into sight, and his body came back to life.
He was closing in on forty, but she had him feeling half that.
“You’re fucking perfection.” He groaned as she lay back, her hand up over her head, her hair fanned over the pillow. He lifted himself up on an elbow as she sleepily looked back at him.
Jesus, the woman was innocence and sultry seduction all wrapped up and shaken up together.
“Far from it, soldier boy.”
“Far from a boy, sunshine.”
“Hmm.” She bit her bottom lip, and just like that, he was ready to go. That plump flesh bitten into by her made him fucking crazy. “Show me,” she tempted sweetly, his body waking up from half to full mast.
“Show you…” he repeated. Need and desire wound him up. There was something about her that made him go from zero to sixty in a ridiculously small amount of time. “Show you how much of a man I am?” He tilted his head, nuzzling her neck, taking in a long breath, inhaling her intoxicating scent. “Show you how you belong to me?” his voice rumbled.
Belong to me. His own words made him pause, and his cock jerked behind his pants. Hell yeah, she belonged to him.
“Garrett.”
“Say it, sunshine. Tell me you belong to me. That I’m the only one you give this sweetness to.”
“You are. Baby—” she gasped, and he felt her fingers dig into his shoulders. He couldn’t help but smile against her neck.
“I bet that sweet pussy’s dripping for me, isn’t it?” he goaded. Jesus. He felt like a feral animal, wild with lust. Starving for her body and her sweet little sounds.
“Soldier,” she gasped, and his lips quirked up.
“Dripping.” He nipped her skin as he continued dirtying her up with his words.
“Coating your sweet thighs.” He opened his mouth, taking a swipe of her flesh, feeling her tremble beneath his touch. “All mine. My sweet, sunny girl. Only I get this.”
Before she could respond, he rolled them around, his body caging hers. He lifted her up in his arms, her hands going around his neck. She rested her forehead on his, skimming her nose over his, and he stopped dead in his tracks. There was something about that moment. Something huge and spectacular, so much he knew he needed to stop to savor it.
He had never, in his thirty-eight years of life, felt whole.
Complete.
Not until that very moment.
Not before the bombing.
Not before enlisting.
Not ever.
He was whole with her.
No frayed edges or missing pieces. The idea left him breathless. He had found her. He knew she was special and unforgettable, but holy fucking shit. She was it. She was irrevocably his.
“Garrett?” She searched his eyes, snapping him out of his epiphany. “What is it?” she asked. Her hands held his face. Her small but strong hands felt so damn good. He breathed in, exhaling slowly before rolling them over and getting both of them off the bed. He didn’t take his eyes off her as he set her down gently until her feet touched the ground.
“Stef.” The ragged tone of his voice was filled with so much emotion he hardly recognized it. “Let me show you.” Let me love you, the words clung in the air without being spoken.
“Anything,” she br
eathed, and his lips quirked up along with his heart rate.
“You should be careful who you offer anything to, baby.” His face dipped, and his lips touched her collarbone, stealing a glimpse of her bare body.
“I trust you.” She moaned the moment his mouth touched her skin.
He went ball achingly slow.
He had no idea where this need to make love to her was coming from. He was flying by the seat of his pants like some virgin, but with every slow lave of his tongue against her flesh, he gained control.
He wanted her to feel everything she meant to him.
As he moved unhurriedly down her body, her hands moved to his shoulders and then to the top of his head. His lips kissed around her sweet little belly button. Her hands on his body… Fuck. He had flashes of her taking care of him. Touching with him so much kindness he couldn’t help but wordlessly hope he was returning it in kind.
Her soft whimpers and mewls filled the room. She wasn’t loud, but he could hear the way her breathing was off. He could feel and see her sweet body writhe below him.
“You’re a feast for my senses, sunshine.”
“You’re teasing me.” She gasped as he licked right above his promise land.
“Mmm.” He blew warm air and brought his mouth down to give her a soft kiss. Slowly but surely, the heat between them burned hotter. Brighter. His mouth tasted the ambrosia of her body, and he savored it.
He took his time as the temperature rose between them. He brought her to the precipice of pleasure with his hands and mouth, and before he could pull back, she fell over and all he could do was watch her. Her body undulated on the mattress, like a goddess. His goddess.
Kissing his way back up her body as she caught her breath, he had no idea how the fuck he was holding his shit together. How he had managed not to sink balls deep into her sweet pussy, but he’d found the strength to have some kind of semblance of control.
“Garrett,” she panted, pulling him up on her, kissing him. He liked her tasting her feminine essence on his lips. It made him feel powerful. He’d made her go over the edge of pleasure.
“Please,” she said, pulling away and opening her legs wider. He aligned himself with her entrance. Bowing his body over her, their eyes pinned on one another, he felt her brace, and when he sunk into her slowly, he nuzzled her nose.
“Slow,” he gritted through his teeth, the feel of his tip at her dewy entrance so fucking good he had to fight shutting his eyes. “Slow, baby,” he repeated, sliding back and forth, not going in as deep as they both needed him to.
The mushroom tip of his cock entered her, and she hissed. Fuck, that little sound made him want to lose his control. But he held on.
He stretched her little by little. She might have come on his mouth, but she was still tight. He took his time as her hands roamed his shoulders and back. The room was silent apart from the sound of their heavy breathing and moans.
There were no words, dirty or sweet, spoken between them.
Time faded away, and everything around them blurred. Her hands clenched, and his speed picked up. Before he knew it, their mouths fused together, sharing the same sex-filled air as they fell over the edge and crashed into a pool of bliss almost simultaneously.
It was intimate and intense. Two things he avoided, but staring into her eyes, he found he didn’t mind it.
He liked it.
He wanted more.
Chapter Thirteen
Stefanie
“Honey, I’m home,” I joked as I stepped into my apartment. I couldn’t help the cheesy smile I’d been wearing all day long. Who was I kidding? I’d been cheesy smile girl since Big Bear when Garrett said we were basically moving in together.
It was insanely fast, but there was something about him that made my gut keep telling me to take a chance.
Live boldly.
So, I was.
A week had almost passed since we’d returned and I started my work week. I had to admit, the first week of living with someone who wasn’t being paid to do so was, well, going pretty great. A lot smoother than I had dreamt of.
We got home from Big Bear on Sunday, and he’d stayed. In my apartment, sleeping right next to me. He was really there. Not at a neutral place where whatever we had been doing could continue to be string-less, like the hotel.
In the morning, we had both left at the same time, and if I was honest, I’d held my breath. Living boldly and by the seat of my pants wasn’t really my forte, so I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. For him to say ‘just kidding.’ But within an hour of me being home from work, he was walking in through the front door, and by the size of his duffle bag, he was serious about staying with me.
The rest of the week was about the same, except yesterday.
Yesterday, he had left earlier than I did. He had a stunt to do and an early call time. But he had come home. Tired and sweaty, but he had come home. With every night that passed of us being under the same roof, I had to admit, I was getting used to it.
“Garrett?” I called out. The living room was empty, but the scent or garlic and something else was in the air.
“I’m in the kitchen,” he called out, and I rolled my eyes.
My apartment was the size of a shoe box, but he acted like I would have a hard time finding him. Kicking off my flats by the door and dropping my cardigan and purse on the coffee table, I headed right to the kitchen, the smile on my face only widening as I took in the sight of his large body in my itty-bitty galley kitchen.
“Hey.” I sighed.
“Hay is for horses,” he joked as he threw a dash of some kind of spice into the pan before turning to look at me. “Why you so far away, sunshine?”
“Mmm,” I hummed as I stepped closer. “Feeling cold?”
“You gonna warm me up?”
“Are you mine?”
“What do you think?” He smirked, and I got lost in it. In him. Garrett standing in my kitchen, holding me in his arms as stuff cooked and we flirted like we had done it over a million years went to my head. And when I opened my mouth, I almost choked on the words.
“I think I love you.” When the words slipped out, I wanted a big black hole to swallow me up and take me away.
“What?” His eyes narrowed, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
I had never ever said those words to a single living person. Not out loud.
“It’s what someone in a cheesy chick flick would say,” I awkwardly croaked as I shook my head, getting out his arms. “Need any help?”
“Stef?”
“Salad?” I asked over my shoulder as the temperature from the refrigerator cooled me down.
“Yeah, babe.” His tone was cautious, but as he continued talking, I knew he would let me off the hook. We were nowhere close to saying those three words. “Salad sounds good.”
“Good.”
“Hey, so, um…” He cleared his throat as something sizzled on the cast iron pan. “I talked to Bryan today. He wants to have a family thing this weekend. Marc’s in town, and my parents are in from the ranch.”
“How fun,” I mindlessly said, wondering what that was like. Keeping track of all those people.
“He wants me to go.”
“Oh.” I nodded. That made sense. His entire family would be together. “You will have a great time.” I looked over my shoulder feigning a smile, trying to shrug off my awkwardness.
“I told him I would talk to you.” His brothers know about me?
“For what?” I almost croaked, my eyes wide. It wasn’t like he needed my permission.
“To see if you’re up to going. He has a guest room we could crash in if we didn’t wanna drive back…” He kept talking, but I couldn’t seem to focus.
“What?” I asked, trying to get my brain to process what he was saying.
“He offered it. Not like I’ll be drinking, but in case we’re tired. My parents alone could wear anyone down, and if Nicola is in town—”
“Wait, what?”
/> “They want to meet you.” They wanted to meet me? His family. Someone’s parents and siblings wanted to meet me. Talk about uncharted waters.
“Oh,” I muttered, closing the fridge without taking anything out and turning to look at him.
“Oh?”
“Oh, umm, that’s nice of them, I guess.”
“Nice of them?” I could tell he was trying to get a read on me. Trying to see if I was being a goof, and if I had been prepared, I might have been able to turn it around, but I was already feeling off from having said three stupid words earlier. “Stef, what’s up?”
“Nothing. I just…” I couldn’t breathe.
I’d seen people do it. Watched in on TV series, even read about it in books. Countless times. The concept was easy enough. Meeting the family. But at that moment, I genuinely couldn’t breathe.
My space, the apartment I was so damn proud of, felt smaller. Too small.
The walls were suddenly starting to creep in. Closing in and around me. I needed to do something that would help getting oxygen into my lungs because they were starting to burn.
But I couldn’t move.
I watched him turn off the stove and walk to me.
As he held my hand, his eyes searched mine as he gently spoke, “Stef, what’s up?”
“I think this is, umm… a lot.”
“A lot?” he repeated. “Sunshine, talk to me.”
“Umm… I need, I think I need a moment,” I stupidly said, turning around and leaving him standing in my kitchen.
On autopilot, I picked up my keys, slipped on my flats, and stepped out of my apartment with no idea where I was going or what the hell I was doing.
_______________
I didn’t know where I was going or why. I just drove.
Not that I was able to drive far. Not when my gas light turned on and I was in a residential area, realizing I had left without my purse. I pulled into a nearby park. One I was all too familiar with. I’d been here during my childhood. I scoffed at the thought, shaking my head, then resting it against my headrest.
I had run away.
From Garrett.
How did that even make sense? I wasn’t a kid anymore.
Growing up the way I had was my past. Garrett wanted me to meet his family. His family wanted to meet me. That was a good thing, not a bad one. He probably thought I was crazy, or crazier. When I reached for my phone, I realized my mistake. I had forgotten my purse, and my phone was in my bag.
CHEAT (Right Men Series Book 3) Page 11
