Grace is not sure if she wants James to know or not. She knows he is not stupid, he will figure out what she and Ian are up to eventually, if he has not already, and besides, she is furious with him.
“Don’t tell him a thing.”
“Okay, whatever you want. Please call me and let me know when you get there and give me your new address.”
Grace hears the strain in Michelle’s voice and she fights back the tears. “I will, Missy, don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
“I know you will,” Michelle says, softly.
Grace hangs up the telephone. She sits on the flashy motel bedspread, facing the window. She watches the storm through the open curtains. The sadness in Michelle’s voice reminded her of everything that happened.
For a brief moment in the car and when they first walked into the motel room, she almost felt as if they were just on a quick vacation.
Ian walks over to the bed and sits next to her. Nudging her with his elbow, and with a smile, he asks, “You okay, baby?”
Grace faces him and gives him a weak smile. She is trying to be strong and keep her feelings about missing her family to herself, so she does not upset him again.
A loud crash of thunder makes her jump. Ian throws his arm around her back and pulls her to him. She lays her head on his shoulder as he takes her by the hand.
“I love you, Gracie,” he says, placing a soft kiss on her head.
“I love you, too.”
He lifts her head up so that her lips are inches away from his. Warm breath escapes through a tiny part in his lips, hitting her cheek. He kisses her again, this time easing his tongue inside her mouth. She welcomes his kiss by returning it back to him. Ian breaks from their kiss and walks over to the window, closing the curtains. He walks to the door, grabs the Do Not Disturb sign, opens the door, and hangs it on the outside. He double-checks the deadbolt to make sure it is locked and gives the door a little tug. This little gesture shows concern for her safety and makes her appreciate him all the more.
Standing still, taking deep breaths into his lungs, he stares at her. Her chest becomes heavy as she watches his rise and fall. His eyes wash over her entire body making her feel timid. He tilts his head and his mouth sweeps into a smile. The twinkle in his eyes tells her that he loves her. Without words, only with the smile he is wearing and the gleam in his eyes, he tells her that he wants nothing but the best for her and that he would protect her with his life. She smiles at him, and this only causes his smirk to grow wider.
Ian walks to the bed and lifts her wet blouse up slowly. The sensation the wet fabric brings to her cold, damp skin is tantalizing. Her arms rise as he slips the blouse over her head and off her. As he looks down at her she cannot help gasping at how beautiful he is. Leaning down, his lips graze hers. His hot breath moistens her awaiting lips. He struggles shortly with her bra, but then finally frees her from it. As he slips it off, her body tingles with the anticipation of what he is about to do to it.
He drops to his knees on the floor before her, in between her legs, and gently grabs her breasts with both of his hands. Tilting his chin up he takes her breast into his mouth. The warm wetness of his tongue sends shivers over her body. He sucks on her nipple harder. She lets out a breath she felt as though she had been holding in for a lifetime, as her head falls backwards in delight. Ian sucks on her breasts, moves his lips along the side of her torso, and onto her stomach. He is devouring her. Slowly he lays her on the bed and peels her damp skirt from her body, leaving her only wearing her moist panties that are not wet from the rain.
“I love you, baby,” he whispers.
With an abrupt movement, he pulls on her hips, bringing her backside to the edge of the bed. His nose slides up and down her panties as he inhales. The uncontrollable throbbing between her legs threatens to drive her insane.
“You always smell so pretty.” His words are heavy with heated breath that warms her skin.
She squirms with desire while he continues his sweet torture.
With delicate hands, he opens her legs wider and then with his tongue he deliberately flicks at her panties. She whimpers softly. She cannot take much more of his delightful torment. Very slowly, he slips her panties off, leaving them resting at her ankles. Excitement overcomes her, as she waits for what he will do next. He teases her, not seeming to be ready to fully give it to her just yet. With his fingertip, he traces around the outline of her sensitive parts, up to her belly button, and in between her thighs. Her body, with a mind of its own, rises off the bed as he rubs her clit with his thumb, the pressure sending shockwaves through her. He smiles with a sense of accomplishment washing over his face. He slides his thumb slowly up and down the wetness that has formed between her legs. As he slides his thumb down, he inserts it into her, and then he gently pulls it out and then slides his wet thumb back up to her clit, moistening it even more and rubbing it more aggressively.
“Oh my gosh, Ian!” Grace gasps.
Ian takes his thumb out of her, sucks on it, and then places it in her mouth. Her reaction is to suck on it, even though it completely takes her by surprise.
“I’m so hard for you, it aches. I want to replace all your heartache with desire and satisfaction.”
He grabs her foot, slides her panties from her ankle, and sucks on her toe. She squirms and laughs loudly.
“Ticklish?” he asks, laughing.
“Yes! Ian, stop!” she cries out while giggling.
He laughs and does it again.
“Stop!” She laughs as she tries to shake her foot free from his hand, but his grip on her is far too strong. Every ounce of sorrow has left her, replaced by utter happiness and yearning for him to touch and lick her again.
“Ian!” she cries out as he runs his tongue across the arch of her foot.
“Okay, okay I’ll stop,” he says, with a chuckle.
He then bites her gently on her ankle. She groans with pleasure. With delicate sucks, he kisses up her leg and stops at her thigh. His hair tickles this sensitive area as he sucks heavily on her thigh. His warm wet mouth arouses her. He is trying to torture me, she thinks as her body fidgets without her permission. Finally, his hot, wet mouth covers her. His tongue swirls around her clit. He slides his tongue up and down her and she can hear the sound of her wetness colliding with his mouth, and then he slides his tongue inside her and moves his head, making love to her with his mouth. She is astounded. Never before has he done something like this to her. It feels so dirty and so right all at once. She erupts into a long orgasm.
Ian climbs on top of her and lifts one of her legs as he rests it on his hip. With a tantalizingly smooth movement, he slides inside of her, filling her and pressing against her walls. Slowly he moves, all the while looking into her eyes with a loving but seductive expression.
“I love you so much, Gracie,” he looks into her eyes with an intense, deeply lustful look.
He continues his appetizing movements until they both erupt into moans.
Later that night, as Grace lies sleeping in his arms, Ian stares at her. The room seems to glow crimson from the dated alarm clock with large glowing red numbers that is on the lopsided nightstand next to him. Ian holds Grace close to his body and listens to the sound of her breathing. A steady flow of breath emanates from her parted lips.
He closes his eyes and savors the feeling of her breath on his bare chest. The feeling of contentment, because he is holding her, is mixed with feelings of nervousness over what is to come, and hurt feelings from the words she spoke earlier that day. Although he wants to put the fight they had behind him, his mind keeps replaying the scene of the fight. Their uncertain future fills him with angst. A crushing amount of guilt sits on his chest from what he has done to her life. Before he came into the picture, Grace was a typical teenage girl whose most stressful plans consisted of which college she would choose, not how they would come up with rent money or money to eat once they arrived in Los Angeles.
He has destroyed Grace’s life, but
he can still make it right. He vows to himself that he will take care of her. She will never go without a roof over her head or worry where their next meal will come from. Even if he has to work two jobs, she will live her dreams. My dreams are coming true, why shouldn’t Grace’s? Leaning down he places his lips on her forehead and lets them linger there. “We won’t be a statistic. We will prove to the world that we belong together.” He whispers with his lips inches away from her skin, even though he knows she is sound asleep.
Early the next morning, they have breakfast in a small, quaint diner, situated next to the motel. Grace’s mood has changed drastically from what it was the day before, and she seems to have a more positive outlook on their new lives. He watches fondly as she chews on a piece of bacon and laughs at the joke he just told, admiring the glow on her face. One night has brought back the Grace he knows and loves, instead of the cruel and broken girl she was yesterday.
After breakfast, they set out on the rest of their trip to Los Angeles, blaring music, and singing to each other, with the windows rolled down, and their hair blowing in the wind. The love Ian has shown her seems to have suppressed all of her anxieties. As he lays his hand on her thigh and squeezes it, she turns from gazing out the window and returns a smile that fills his heart with joy.
They drive for hours, but it feels more like days to Grace. She can barely make out the landscape through the car window in the pitch dark, night sky. Ian’s humming along to the song on the radio catches her attention. “Are you doing okay?” she asks. “Aren’t you tired?”
“I’m fine, babe.”
“We’ve been driving for hours. You’ve got to be exhausted.”
“I’m getting there, but I’m okay for now, trust me.”
“If you say so.” She smiles. Grace brings her leg down from the dashboard and slides her butt across the bucket seats so that she can rest her head on Ian’s shoulder. Silently he kisses the top of her head.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, turning his attention back to the road ahead of him.
“Tired.”
“I mean emotionally, babe.”
Leaning up she kisses the side of his face and then settles back onto his shoulder. “I’m good. I feel much better now.”
“I’d never seen you as upset as you were the day we left. You kinda freaked me out.”
“I’m sorry, Ian. I was just upset because of everything that happened. Not only was James a complete ass, but it was so embarrassing.”
Ian lifts his arm and pulls her tightly up against his body. “I’m sorry that all went down. I wish it hadn’t.”
“Everything happens for a reason, right?” she asks, as she lays her hand on his thigh and traces hearts on his leg.
“It does, but I wish things hadn’t of gone down the way they did. I’m just glad you’re feeling better. You had me worried that you were going to go back home and dump me.”
“I would never dump you, Ian. Ever. Never ever. I’m actually excited to start our new lives. No more sneaking around. No more lying. We can just be us.”
“You have no idea how happy that makes me,” he says before he yawns.
“I think we should find a place to stay,” Grace says, sitting up straight to examine him.
His eyes are small and under them are dark circles.
“I just want to hit the California border, then we’ll stop. Promise. Now lie back down and get some rest.”
“I’m not sleeping while you drive. I need to keep you company.”
“I’ll be fine,” he says, as he pushes her head back onto his shoulder.
The screech of the tires and the jolting motion of the car jerk Grace out of a deep, peaceful sleep. When her eyes open she sees that the car is far too close to the edge of a cliff, with raging waves below.
“Ian!” she screams as she turns to look at him.
With both of his hands gripping the wheel, Ian struggles to get the car under control. “Blow out! Hold on, babe!”
The first thought that enters her mind is that the last words between her and her brother were hateful ones. I can’t die, she thinks, not with the way I left things with James.
The Nova swerves left, then right, coming dangerously close to the road’s edge. Grace grabs onto the handle and braces herself for the worst as the car swings back to the left and into the opposite lane.
“Hold on!” Ian screams, as he grips onto the wheel and steers the car back to the right.
“I love you!” Grace shouts, fearing the worst as the car skids onto the dirt on the side of the road.
The car comes to an abrupt stop and Ian shifts it into park.
Grace’s heart pounds in her chest and she gasps for air.
“Baby, it’s okay. It’s okay,” Ian says, as he reaches for her and takes her into his arms.
“I thought we were going to go off the cliff!”
“I told you,” he says. He pulls her hair away from her face and clasps it into a ponytail. “I’m going to take care of you. I’ll never let anything happen to you.”
Not only do his arms comfort her, but so do his words. He kisses her forehead. “I gotta go survey the damage. We’re gonna need a damn tire now. Hopefully the spare will get us somewhere that we can buy a new one.”
Turning, she watches Ian slide along the car, being careful of the traffic passing by. When he gets to the passenger side of the car, she reaches out the window and adjusts the side mirror so she can watch him work. She does not know anything about changing tires, but she wants to help. She grabs her sweatshirt from the backseat and hops out of the car. She pulls her sweatshirt over her head. The wind whips her hair around her face, and she takes an elastic band out of her pocket to pull her hair up as she walks toward Ian. Crossing her arms, she stands over Ian, who is crouched on the ground, jacking up the car. He looks up at her with an eyebrow raised and an amused smile. “And just what do you think you’re doing?”
“Helping?”
He laughs while shaking his head. “Okay, cool. Let me get these lug nuts off and I’ll hand them to you. Whatever you do, don’t drop them. We’d really be screwed then.”
“I won’t!” she says, laughing.
Ian pushes on the tire iron and Grace licks her bottom lip. The muscles in his arms flex and the sight of this makes her tingle between her legs.
“You’re so flippin’ hot when you work on cars, Ian. I should have been in the shop watching you work from the day you started there.”
He rolls his eyes, but the wide smile that spreads across his face says he is flattered by her comment.
“Okay,” Ian says, as he pulls the tire off the car, “now I just have to put the spare and the lug nuts back on, tighten them up, and we’ll be back on our way.”
As Grace watches him finish up putting the tire on, she is overwhelmed with respect and admiration for him. The simple act of him changing the tire makes her feel secure and unafraid of what lies ahead.
After they find a service station to put on a new tire, they continue down Highway 1 through Ventura. While the scenery stuns Grace, she is astounded by the number of cars on the freeway, bumper to bumper and moving at a snail’s pace. “I’ve never seen so many cars crammed onto one freeway in my life,” Grace says, as she reaches into the glove box for her lip gloss.
“Welcome to California,” Ian says, as if he has been there before. “Baby, can you look at the map? Do I take that exit?” he asks, pointing to a sign.
Grace examines the map and nods.
“I think we’re only about an hour away,” Ian says, with a gleam in his eyes.
“Make that three in this mess.” Grace laughs.
Just as Ian said, they arrive in Los Angeles about an hour later.
“Holy shit!” shouts Ian, his eyes wide, as he leans forward to take in the view of the city. “This place is huge!”
He parks the car on an overlook off of Mulholland Drive and gets out in a quick stride, waving for Grace to join him. Ian grabs Grace and sweeps he
r up into his arms, flinging her in the air. Millions of lights twinkle in the massive valley below.
“We made it, baby! We freakin’ made it!” he shouts, before planting a long, passionate kiss on her lips.
Before they made their way up the road, Ian stopped at a gas station to use the phone to get directions from Jaden. Ian reaches into the pockets of his jeans and pulls out a small piece of paper with his handwriting scrawled across it. Grace watches as he studies it.
“I guess he lives on the outskirts of the city. These directions are crazy.” Ian says, as he walks back to the car, Grace in tow.
“So you and Jaden have known each other since what grade?” asks Grace, forgetting the exact number.
“Since fourth grade,” Ian says, proudly.
“And he was in your band, in Massachusetts?”
“Yeah, he sings like me, writes amazing songs, and he can also play killer guitar!”
They climb in the car and fasten their seatbelts.
“Well, you’re here, babe! Finally starting to live out your dreams,” Grace says, with a huge smile on her face. She is truly excited for him.
“Jaden already has some guys lined up for our band!” Ian exclaims.
“What?” Grace shouts. “You didn’t tell me that!”
“He just told me when he gave me the directions. As soon as I told him we were on our way from Ocean View, he got right on it,” says Ian.
Things are moving so quickly, Grace thinks nervously.
Grace squints as she tries to make out the foliage that lines Mulholland Drive, the city lights now far beyond her gaze. The twisting and turning of the roads is equal to the nerves that are stirring in her stomach as they get closer to Jaden’s home. She worries if Jaden will approve of her and if she will be comfortable living with two people she has never met. The wide eyed, excited look on Ian’s face, when she turns to look at him, helps to diminish some of her nerves.
After a long drive up a tree-lined driveway, they pull in front of an old rundown Victorian home. Grace looks at it with her mouth wide open. The house is just her style and reminds her of homes in Ocean View. She cannot believe this is where she will be living.
The Falling of Love (The Falling Series Book 1) Page 11
