by Becky McGraw
Maybe later she’d borrow Brenn—no Dex’s phone to at least call the translator. Stop it! This is about you right now. It had been so long since anything was just about her, Grace had forgotten how to act when it was.
She sighed as she waded to the side of the tub and sat in one of the cubby holes. Her hair was getting sopping wet when she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, but she really didn’t care. The jets soothed her sore muscles and washed away her anxiety.
“Red or white?” Brennan asked, and his voice soothed her more. She opened her eyes to find him standing beside the tub with two bottles of wine. It looked like he still had the ability to read her mind and a little thrill raced through her.
“White, please,” she replied, swimming over to the ledge to take the bottle from him, but he pulled it back, reached down beside the tub, then came back up with a wine glass. He wasted more precious time she could be spending kissing all that delicious, naked skin that his towel didn’t cover by pouring the wine in the glass.
“I should’ve remembered those boxes of cheap white you always brought to my apartment,” he said with a laugh, as he handed her the glass.
“Don’t laugh at those boxes, they got you past first base,” she reminded, then took a healthy sip of the slightly dry white wine.
He waggled his dark brows, then held his glass up in a toast. “This wine is a little better than that rotgut, so here’s to a home run, hopefully.” He took a sip of his red wine then set the glass down on the ledge and dropped his towel.
Grace’s heart stopped, then did a hot lap around her chest. Wine or not, there wasn’t a chance in hell this man wouldn’t be sliding into home, she thought, as he stood on the step of the tub looking like a chiseled marble statue of the male form she’d seen on display at the Museum of Fine Arts. A statue that had fascinated her when she was a teenager, but enthralled her now as her eyes couldn’t take in every nuance fast enough before he stepped into the tub and it disappeared beneath the swirling water.
“Wow,” she said, standing to reach back and set her glass on the ledge, her hand shaking and her heart racing. He just stood there a moment, staring at her, his hot eyes raking her upper body and her nipples hardened.
Grace took a step toward him, and his eyes met hers. She’d never in her life seen such hunger in a man’s eyes, even his, and it was for her. She had a feeling that nothing about this first time would be relaxing and slow, and she was on board with that as with a fierce growl, he reached for her and jerked her into his hard body.
Her breasts slammed into his solid chest and a tremor rocked him. He shoved his hand in her hair to pull her closer, but this felt good, not painful, like—no, she wasn’t going to think about that man when she had the only one she’d ever—no, she wasn’t going to think about that either. When Brennan’s hot mouth slammed down over hers, Grace couldn’t think at all.
“Mmm…” she murmured into his mouth, rubbing her wet body against his, enjoying the sensual feeling. Desire washed through her in a red-hot wave, hotter than the water, hotter than the man who was causing it. Her clit throbbed and need was her pain now.
He slid his mouth from hers, took her hand and led her to one of the seats in the tub. The cooler dusk air brushed her shoulders and she shivered as he sat down. “We can watch the sunset from here,” he growled, as he pulled her down on his lap, facing the orange and yellow desert sky.
“I don’t care about watching the sunset, Brennan. I need you,” she moaned, and he groaned when her hip made contact with the silk-covered steel of his erection.
He buried his hand in her hair again, pulled her mouth to his and devoured her. She opened and his tongue found hers, communicated his own need and her body jerked when his hand landed on her upper thigh.
One leg slid from his to brace on the floor of the huge tub. Water rushed between her legs and excited her, but that sensation was nothing compared to feeling of his fingers slowly raking though her wet flesh to find the sensitive, engorged bud at the top of her thighs.
A gurgle of pleasure rushed up to her throat to float into his mouth. He kissed her deeply as his thumb moved in slow, determined circles, while his fingers dipped just inside her body. A band of tension tightened around her chest, her back arched and her nipples ached to feel his hot mouth on them too as he kissed her deeper, and her body melted lower into the water, her hips reached for his touch.
He dragged his mouth from hers breathing hard. “God, I love those sounds you make,” he growled, his fingers closing around her ankle. “I always loved that tune you sing.”
“Tune?” she asked, her breath coming in short snatches.
“Yeah, the tune that says I’m hitting just the right notes,” he replied with a laugh. She shivered and he smiled. “Let’s see if I remember how to play the chorus.”
Brennan placed her foot on the seat beside them, spread her knees wider, but his hand was right back to tease her. He leaned her back over his arm and her hair drifted out in the water. Liquid sound became her own melody, the powerful jets and her out-of-control heartbeat worked toward a crescendo in her ears beneath the water.
Intense, wet heat covered the center of her throat and she whimpered. He suctioned his mouth there and she gurgled as he dragged his lips down to her collarbone. His quick, hot breaths scorched her skin as his tongue dipped inside the indentation at the base of her throat. Grace mewled and shivered when he trailed his tongue down to just above her nipple.
Her skin twitched, her breathing hitched, and anticipation flowed through her as he licked a large circle around her nipple but didn’t take her into his mouth.
“Please, Brennan,” she begged, lifting herself toward his mouth.
His growl tickled her skin, his beard stubble abraded her flesh, and she sighed as he finally covered her right breast with his heat. He arched her more to flick her nipple with short strokes of his tongue inside his mouth and she whimpered. He nuzzled her breast with his rough jaw and she moaned loudly as fire ripped through her. Lick by lick, flick by flick, the anticipation built to become agitation, but he didn’t give her satisfaction.
He dodged and parried around her nipple and worked her body into a frenzy with his rough beard scruff on her skin. His thumb circled her clit faster, pressed harder, while his long fingers dipped deeper to find that spot that always drove her wild.
Grace squirmed, her hips moved with his hand, and her heart became louder than the swooshing water. With each note he played on her body, she jerked, sang and moaned for him, begged him for more.
At last, he sucked her breast hard into his mouth and Grace wailed. He rolled her clit harder between his fingers and she felt the incredible pull down low. Water lapped at her face in angry waves and her body tremored, as he whipped the storm brewing inside her body into a raging tempest.
He sucked her harder, added more pressure to her clit and pleasure ripped through her body to drown her. She screamed, opened her eyes and vivid color was added to the blinding orgasm that rocked her.
A wail rose from throat, her body shook as Brennan’s teeth gently closed on her nipple. He pinched her clit to send her higher, harder still, until she splintered to fly out and join that beautiful sunset. His arms closed around her and he shook too, his ragged breath burning her ear as he held her tightly until she settled.
When he pulled back, their eyes met, his filled with an inferno of need, his cock which dug into her hip testifying to that too. But his arms loosened, and his mouth drifted down to drop a gentle, sweet, soul-stirring kiss on her mouth, before he hugged her tightly.
“That’s the sweetest music I’ve heard in eight years,” he said, his voice raw. He kissed her forehead. “Thank you.”
Thank her? She hadn’t given him a thing yet, she thought, reaching down between them to wrap her fingers around his thick cock. His smooth flesh pulsed in her hand as he gritted his teeth and threw his head back to moan. Grace slid off of his lap to kneel in front of him. She spread his thighs wid
e and his eyes whipped back to hers. His face flushed, his jaw worked and his muscles tensed. Grace pushed back her wet hair and smiled at him.
“I’ve never done this underwater, have I?” she asked, and he groaned as she took a deep breath then plunged her head beneath the surface. His hands appeared beside her head, then he shoved his fingers into her hair, tried to tug her back up but she shook her head.
Bubbles tickled her face in the swirling water, but she forced her eyes open and found his beautiful erection standing proudly between his muscular thighs. Need to show him pleasure drove her forward to rest her lips on the bulbous head and his fingers dug deep into her scalp. She kept a seal to slide her mouth down on him and cupped his tight sac with her hand. Relaxing her throat, she took more of him and a violent tremor rocked him. Grace hummed her pleasure at his salty taste as she slid him out of her mouth, then went down on him again.
She tightened her lips, squeezed him harder with her hand and his muscles tightened like rubber bands beneath his skin when she stroked him with her mouth again. Her lungs hurt, but she didn’t need air, she just needed to give him the same pleasure he’d given her. She added her tongue on her next upward stroke and he pulled her hair. Her scalp tingled and sent electric charges through her body as she sucked him, licked him and stroked him faster.
His cock jerked and another tremor rocked him, before his salty essence burst on her tongue. Shocked ripped through her when he gripped her skull and jerked her to the surface and before she could catch a breath, his mouth crashed over hers. His body quaked, as his tongue found hers and went deep into her mouth, as his hand reached between them to finish the job she would’ve finished herself. His hand stilled, he pulled her into his chest and continued to kiss her deeply as his body wilted into the water. She was dizzy and sucked in a deep breath when he finally pulled his mouth from hers.
“That was fucking incredible—but I need more,” he growled, his voice tight, as he stood looking like Triton emerging from the sea, with water pouring off of him in steamy waves. He reached down and grabbed her hand, then dragged her to the side of the tub.
Hands shaking, insides quaking with need, Dex grabbed a towel from the ledge of the tub to wipe his face, then found the condoms and pulled Grace to the sofa where he laid down the towel, then pushed her to her back. He propped her heels on the sofa, then spread her knees wide and her rosy pink flesh winked at him. He knelt between her knees and she gasped.
That’s right, baby, two can play this game, he thought, lowering himself to bury his face in her dewy flesh. He inhaled her scent, spicy and sweet, and let it fill his senses. Leaning in, he tasted her, then sucked her into his mouth and she moaned as he settled in.
He slurped at her, drinking his fill of her delicious juices, then licked the cherry at the top of her folds and her body jerked violently. The sound of her wail echoed in his skull and he smiled as he sucked her into his mouth, rolled the bud between his lips and drove her as wild as she’d driven him a moment ago.
Her body twitched frantically, she squirmed, begged him to stop, but not. He held her thighs, continued the sensual assault with his tongue, abraded her inner thighs with his cheek. Her scent grew stronger, her juices flowed and he lapped them up, dipped inside her passage to tongue her until she screamed. Her fists curled in his hair, she murmured incoherent words, they gurgled in her throat, she whined, but Dex didn’t stop until her body tensed and she screamed his name hoarsely. Oh my God, Brennan.
The breathless sound of his name on her lips, his real name, sent remembered pleasure washing through him. But not enough. He need more from the woman who wanted everything he had to give her. Where Grace Wentworth was concerned, Brennan could do no wrong.
Even when he didn’t believe in himself, she’d always believed in him, told him how wonderful he was and propped him up. Her validation and trust were the biggest turn ons of all. It was why he lov—liked her so much. She made him feel normal, not like the freak his family had always unintentionally made him feel like.
Her breasts shook with her uneven breaths and her glazed eyes met his when he lifted her leg up to his side and positioned himself at her opening. He scooted closer, pressed himself into her soft, wet heat and pushed the head of his cock inside of her. Her loud groan intensified his pleasure and the intensity of it took his breath, ratcheted up the need inside him.
Nothing, no one, had ever felt as good as her, fit him as perfectly as her, he thought, as her body pulsed around him.
“God, Gracie—you feel so damned good, baby,” he said, his throat tight, his emotions very near the surface. He gripped her hips, and hissed as he pushed farther inside the tight fist of her body. She stretched, her wet heat urged him further, but he swallowed and clenched his ass against the need to come.
“Condom,” she whispered hoarsely and he thought she said God, more.
With a growl, his fingers dug into her hips and he thrust into her body to the hilt. He stiffened and held still as his breath left him and his balls tightened painfully. When he found control again, he slowly slid out of her body, then glided back inside again.
“Condom,” she moaned, her fists curling on her belly. This time, he heard her and stiffened, then withdrew before lowering her to the sofa.
That’s why being inside of her this time was so damned intense he almost came right away. Sweat beaded on his forehead at the near miss as he reached for the gold packet on the floor beside the coffee table.
Yeah, it had been a year since he had sex, but he’d never forgotten a condom. His hands shook so badly he could barely get it open and himself sheathed. When he finished, he turned back to her, but stopped cold. That man definitely needed to be castrated he thought as he suddenly noticed the random bruises on her thighs, her wrists and arms.
Dex was being a little rough with her, and she could be sore there too if he had. Anger boiled inside of him that the bastard dared touch her, much less abuse her.
“Grace, did he—ah—penetrate you, baby?” he asked and her eyes flew open. She looked confused for a moment, then her eyes filled with disgust and Dex’s stomach rolled.
“No, he didn’t, thank goodness,” she replied, then slammed her eyes shut. “Please don’t talk about him. Just help me forget.”
Relief washed through him as he knelt on the sofa. It was obvious she’d cooled with his reminder, and so had he really. Instead of resuming, he grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Her beautiful green eyes met his, and his heart twisted when he found fear there.
“You’re always in control with me, sweetheart,” he said, sitting, then pulling her with him as he laid back on the sofa. He put his hands behind his head, her eyes glittered and she smiled as she strummed her fingers down his abs then straddled him.
Dex did not want to move, as he looked down at the top of Grace’s damp, auburn hair. Craning his neck, he kissed her crown and she nuzzled her face into his chest. They’d just spent two hours of the four they had to gather information on her sister, though. A nap with her on top of him would be hugely welcome, but he didn’t have time.
“Gracie, I have to get up,” he said, stroking her hair.
“No—you’re staying right here,” she mumbled, and the feeling of her lips brushing his skin excited him again.
“I can’t, baby. I have to get on the computer to try to find your sister.”
Finding Marcy Wentworth was the last thing on his mind when Grace ground herself into his still rock-solid erection. With a groan, he pushed her to the side, and slid from underneath her to stand by the couch.
With a shuddering sigh, Grace sat up and flipped her hair out of her flushed face. Dex’s eyes automatically glided down to fix on her proud, rose-tipped breasts and his mouth watered. Fists clenched, he forced himself to turn away and walk to the loveseat where he’d draped their clothes. He quickly put on his jeans and t-shirt, then carried her clothes and a towel to the sofa. He picked up the condom from the coffee table, and walked to the bathroom to flus
h it.
When he turned toward the door, Grace blocked the doorway, clutching the clothes to her still-naked body. “Third time’s a charm, you know?” she said with a sexy smile and a wiggle of her eyebrows. “We could make it a quickie in the shower?”
Dex groaned as he reached down to adjust himself in his again too tight jeans. With this woman who inflamed him like none other, he knew there would be no quickies. Every time he had her, he found a new erogenous zone on her delicious body to explore and exploit like a sex-starved maniac.
“I have to find your sister and get her away from that guy, Gracie. Just think about what could be happening to her right now,” he said, and wished he hadn’t when her face pinched and her lips wobbled. She averted her eyes, but not before he saw the terror there.
“I won’t be but a second,” she replied, her voice full of emotion as she walked into the bathroom to drop her clothes on the counter. “And then I’ll help too.”
Dex grabbed her shoulders, and tilted her chin up to find her eyes glassy with tears. “We’ll have plenty of time for this, but don’t have much time to find your sister. I know you want to find her for Callie, right?”
“Yeah, I do.” She sighed, then stepped in to slide her arms around his waist. “I’ve just given up so much for Marcy for so long. I know I’m being selfish, and the trouble she’s gotten herself into is serious, but I just wanted to reclaim a little bit of my life for myself. I only have a few days to do that too. After I leave Vegas—and you—I’ll be right back on that hamster wheel that is my world.”
“Let’s find her fast then,” Dex said, a funny twist happening in his gut at the thought of going back to his own hamster wheel in Dallas, where she wouldn’t be. He pushed her away to smile down at her, but it felt tight on his face. “I’ll try to find her by the time you’re dressed so you can get undressed again and we’ll test that third time theory.”
