“You can’t hide from this, Grace.” Rye had good instincts not to use her nickname at the moment, because that wouldn’t have gone over well. He wasn’t going to sweet talk her into ruining their lives for a second time. She made her way into the kitchen, all but throwing her coffee cup into the microwave. How could he not see that this would put him directly back in the spotlight? “You can’t deny that it’s the right thing to do.”
“For who?” Grace swung open the microwave door after it signaled thirty seconds had passed. She grabbed her coffee, hoping it was enough to fortify her for the battle ahead. “Nothing we did that night can help the police catch the killer. You had a flat tire. I was here at my apartment. How does that help Brad or Detective Nielsen in any way?”
“Because lying by omission is not in our characters. Why leave ourselves open to a lie?”
Grace had needed Rye to stay across the room. She was able to think better when he wasn’t touching her, but then again, he knew that. Well, if he was going to go down that road, so could she.
“Apparently, my connection to Brandon is out for all the world to see and dissect. No one really knows that you and I reconnected, and it needs to stay that way. Now that I’ve been cleared, the media will hopefully move on. The media, police, and public are always looking for connections in cases like these, and they’ll hit pay dirt when they figure out our history. You need to go to work and stick to your daily routine until this whole thing blows over.”
“Don’t you see that this gives us the advantage? Let us be the ones who control the narrative before this asshole tries to use this against us,” Rye suggested confidently, taking the coffee cup from her hand and setting it gently on the countertop. He leaned in close so that the entire front of his body was touching hers, causing an instant reaction. “I know how much it bothers you to lose control of the situation.”
Grace could have easily kept arguing, running them in circles until they each had to call a stalemate. Fortunately, an impasse would be in her favor, but all she could think of was that this could very well be the last time he was in her apartment for quite a while…at least until the police had caught the individual responsible for Brad’s death.
“You’re so mean,” Grace whispered encouragingly, tilting her head back as she finally allowed him to press his warm lips against her neck. Did he truly believe that she would fall for this type of persuasion? It would have been laughable had her body not responded to his in kind. Well, it seemed that she would have to improvise and turn the tables to her advantage. She ever so slowly ran her right hand over his wrinkled shirt until she was cupping the bulge in his pants. The vibrations of his groan traveled to every erogenous zone in her body. “Why don’t we think on the merits each other’s positions while we take a shower?”
Rye pulled back, his smoldering gaze zeroing in on her and clearly trying to find the angle she was working in her bid to get him to see things her way. He was a very highly intelligent man. He had to see that he would lose without her cooperation.
“Are you attempting to distract me with sex?”
“Aren’t you doing the very same thing?” Grace countered, purposely slipping past him and heading for her bedroom without looking back. She made sure to emphasize the sway in her hips as she walked away. “Why don’t we see who comes out the victor?”
CHAPTER FOUR
Rye pressed his hands against the opposite side of the shower stall, all but forcing his knees to lock into place as Grace slowly took his cock into her mouth. The hot water had become lukewarm fairly quickly, but it was the heat of her tongue sliding alongside his shaft that kept his blood boiling. He didn’t have to look at a clock or hear the sound of his cell phone continuously ringing to know she could claim the victory she’d spoken of thirty minutes prior.
“Do you need to get that?”
Grace peered up at him through her lashes, though her look was anything but innocent. Her soft hand had taken over, but the pressure and temperature weren’t nearly enough to compare to her mouth.
“I swear, angel, you’re—” And that’s exactly what she made him do when she cupped his sac and ran her tongue over the tip of his cock. “Fuck.”
He hadn’t thought it was possible for his dick to get any harder than it already had, but he was clearly wrong. Grace then wrapped her index finger and thumb tightly around the base of his shaft. She only ever did that if she was trying to prolong his pleasure…or agony.
He wasn’t so sure it wasn’t the latter.
Somehow, Rye had enough mental fortitude to reach behind him and turn the water temperature hotter so that Grace didn’t become too cold. He could have done without the added heat, but her comfort came first. Steam immediately began to billow around them, not that he cared.
Grace had taken him to the back of her throat, only to skim her lips over his throbbing cock back to his tip. Never once did she stop massaging his sac with her other hand, and the combination of sensations was enough to have him approaching his release. Unfortunately, she’d become rather a pro at prolonging that pleasure by squeezing the base of his shaft just so.
“Grace,” Rye managed to say in warning, though he could barely make out her name when it came out more as a drawn-out groan of agonizing pleasure.
“Hmmm.”
Her throaty vibration only made the urge to come that much stronger, but it was apparent she was enjoying herself too much for that to happen. He obviously needed to take over, because there was only so much hot water left for the remainder of their shower.
Rye desperately reached down and grabbed her underneath the arms before turning her around to face the wall.
He needed her.
He needed her in ways she could never understand, so he held her hands tightly against the tiled surface as he leaned in and caught her earlobe between his teeth as a small warning of what was to come.
“You had your fun, little one.” Rye released her right hand so that he could slide his fingers down her breast, over her toned abdomen, and into her folds. The difference between her thick cream and the droplets of water running over her body was more than evident…as was her swollen clit. “A lot of fun, apparently. Were you touching yourself, Grace? Were you pleasuring yourself while you sucked me off?”
“Yessss.”
Rye had pressed firmly against the sensitive ball of nerves right as she’d answered, pleased to find that he wasn’t the only one on the verge of losing control.
He also needed a moment to gain a bit leverage.
“Tell me what you want, Grace.” Rye licked away some of the droplets on her shoulder while lightly stroking her clit now that he had her attention. He didn’t vary the pressure, even though she tried to do it herself by pressing her mound firmly against his hand. “Say it.”
“Fuck me,” Grace moaned, arching her back so that her heart-shaped ass pressed against his cock. It appeared that if she couldn’t get him to do what she wanted with his fingers, she’d go for his dick. “Fuck me, Rye.”
He’d known that their time in the shower would result in sex as sure as he knew the sun would rise in the east. It always had before, not that he was complaining. They’d both been insatiable since getting back together, making up for lost time. Even the simplest phone call saying she’d be late had him fantasizing about driving to her office and taking her right there on the desk. It had only been at her request to keep their relationship private that he’d respected her wishes and stayed far away from the office building of Manon Investments.
He reached out around the side of the curtain to where he’d set a condom on the edge of the sink, quickly tearing the foil and tossing out the ripped package after obtaining its contents. It didn’t take him long to roll the latex disc over his cock and unroll it to exactly where she’d had her finger and thumb wrapped tightly around the base of his shaft.
In one heavy thrust, he was seated tightly inside of her.
The overwhelming intensity was so consuming that he was
forced to close his eyes in an effort not to give into the impending release. Other than the sharp cry of pleasure that escaped her lips, neither moved as they both allowed themselves time to get used to the extreme gratification that came from their union.
Rye shifted his weight and made sure he had ahold of her hips, tilting her pelvis so that his cock would continuously stroke against her sweet spot.
“Pinch your nipples, angel.”
There had been some slight changes in their time apart, but there was also quite a bit that had stayed the same. One being her love of breast play. She became so wet with just the slightest suckle on her sensitive nubs, and even more wanton when he played with them while fucking her.
She was his perfect match made in every way.
“Harder.”
Rye didn’t have to look over her shoulder to know that she was tugging on her right nipple, manipulating it just right to maintain the ideal pressure. The intense pleasure was driving her to rotate her hips, allowing him the ease to pull out of her until only his tip remained inside her sheath. He thrust back into her and didn’t stop until they were both screaming each other’s names.
Grace was resting her forehead against the tile as he finally pulled out of her, discarding the used condom and setting it near the soap dish. He’d throw it in the garbage after they finished washing each other. The temperature of the water had definitely cooled, so he turned the dial all the way to get the last of what hot water was left in the pipes.
He took a moment to himself while the strength came back into his knees, savoring the heat and steam that began to rise around them once again. Once he was sure he could function and that his thoughts were somewhat back in order, he reached for the bar of soap that held a lavender fragrance with every intention of washing every inch of her body.
“Don’t ruin this moment, Rye.”
“We have to face reality at some point today. As much as I loved this distraction, it’s not going to prevent us from showing up at the station to meet with Detective Nielsen.” Rye began to gently lather the silky soap over her shoulders and back, ignoring the annoyed glance she tossed over her shoulder at his blatant disregard of her request. “Don’t give me that look, angel. You know it’s the right thing to do.”
Grace’s blonde hair hung to the middle of her back, though she rarely wore it down at the office. He made sure to move the wet strands out of the way as he continued to stroke his hand down to her lower back. His attempt to glide over her ample ass was brought to an abrupt halt as she spun around and dug a pointed finger into the middle of his chest.
“Then don’t treat me like I can’t make my own decisions.” Grace took the bar of soap from his hands and quickly took over the job he’d come to love again after so long. “Please explain to me—in detail, mind you—what will happen after this so-called meeting takes place.”
Rye understood the point she was trying to make, but it still wouldn’t change his mind that they needed to be honest with Detective Nielsen.
“The police will focus their efforts on me and the unaccounted time I spent with no one to confirm my whereabouts on the night in question,” Rye explained in detail with sincere honesty, not wanting anything to stand in the way of their future. It wasn’t easy to stand in front of her while she washed her breasts, her toned abdomen, and the folds he’d just been buried in until they could both hardly stand. It wasn’t until she shoved the bar of soap against his chest that he continued. “But this isn’t about me, Grace, and you know it. It’s about your unresolved guilt—needless guilt, I might add—that you can’t let go of because of your brother. What happened in the past has nothing to do with our present situation.”
“You mean stepbrother. And, yes, that situation has everything to do with why I lied for you now.” Grace grabbed her shampoo off the built-in tray and squeezed the bottle generously. The lavender fragrance blended with the billowing steam, but she didn’t seem to notice. She was on a roll, and he wasn’t about to get flattened before he had a chance at rebuttal. “You can’t just sweep what happened with Brandon under the rug as if it never occurred. It did. I encouraged you to hire him because he was my stepbrother. As a result, your firm had to deal with the fallout of his criminal behavior.”
“And then you ran away from me.”
Rye hadn’t meant for his words to be so accusatory, but that restless stirring of the unresolved hurt he thought he’d buried long ago sprang to the surface. He had never blamed her…not once. Yet, she couldn’t seem to forgive herself.
“You know why I—”
“Don’t.” Rye had tried to be patient. He’d done his best bury his anger at her cruel actions by throwing away what they had together all because of some misplaced guilt. “We’re not getting anywhere with this, so you do what you need to do, Grace, and I’ll do what I need to do.”
Rye whipped the curtain aside, stepping out onto the rug and not caring that the spray of water was pooling on the floor. He snagged a towel and walked out of the bathroom.
“Rye, where are you going?”
He didn’t bother to answer as he dried his body off quickly, reaching for the small suitcase he’d taken with him on his business trip. Hell, he’d be dressed by the time she shut off the shower, dried off, and made it into the bedroom.
There was something about Grace Dorrance that had him blindly protecting her from anything bad happening, regardless of the cost to him. Yes, he’d worked countless of hours to reestablish his firm’s reputation at the time of Brandon’s arrest, but he had also been mindful of Grace’s fragile emotional state over what her stepbrother’s crimes had done to her family. He’d kept his own thoughts and feelings to himself, not wanting to burden her the way her mother had done in such a precarious situation.
Obviously, he’d been wrong to treat Grace with kid gloves during their past relationship.
He shouldn’t be doing it now.
Rye had managed to put on the majority of his clothes and was in the middle of buttoning his cuff links when Grace walked out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel.
“You’re not being fair,” Grace accused, running her hands over her wet strands to keep them out of her blue eyes as she spoke her peace. “We were both falling apart back then, and you know it. Our lives had basically been torn in two, and we’d lost our way. We were both guilty of allowing that to happen, and I couldn’t take the additional guilt of being the one responsible for bringing all of that down on our relationship. But you don’t get to stand there and make it seem as if I hadn’t given you ample times to talk to me about what you were feeling back then instead of staying at the office sixteen hours a day. I made the best decision for both of us at the time.”
Rye could have argued with her about what was fair, because he’d let bygones be bygones from the moment Brandon Walsh had been arrested. He’d never held her responsible for her stepbrother’s action, but Rye was guilty of not talking to her about the overwhelming panic of coming so close to losing everything he’d worked so hard for his entire life.
“You’re right.” Rye lifted the collar of his white dress shirt in preparation of tying his grey silk tie. He had places to go, people to see, and alibis to amend. “I could have been more open about what I was going through, and I wasn’t going to unload any of my baggage onto you when you already had a full load from your family. I could see the guilt your parents were piling on you every time Brandon was brought up in conversation or when his name was splashed all over the news. I wasn’t going to add to that.”
Rye quickly knotted his tie and walked around her to grab his suit jacket that he’d hung in her closet. He couldn’t allow himself to touch her or else he’d change his mind about what he was about to do.
“Rye, we should leave well enough alone,” Grace pleaded, as if his opinion on a matter that involved him didn’t count. Well, it sure as hell did. “Let’s just go into work today, and then we’ll sit down tonight and—”
“Angel.”
He couldn’t do that for many reasons.
“Angel, we fucked up our relationship once. I’m not going to allow it to happen again. This time, all of our cards are going to be laid on the table.” Rye shrugged his arms into his suit jacket and firmly positioned the fabric over his shoulders. He left his suitcase on the bottom of her bed and the hanger swinging on the closet doorknob. He did stop in front of her just long enough to look into her blue eyes to let her know that nothing she said or did would get him to fuck up this opportunity to have her back in his life. “I’m going to the station to speak with Detective Nielsen…with or without you. Your choice.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“You all know I’m the compliance officer, so I’m going to pretend that Laurel is pouring grape juice into those plastic cups,” Cynthia said with absolutely no regret. Her red lips were twisted to the side, though, letting Grace know that the time had come to be completely truthful with the only two women who’d never let her down. “Everyone else has gone home, so it’s just us left here in the office. Spill. How did it go down at the station?”
Cynthia kicked off her high heeled shoes as she closed the door to Grace’s office, regardless that no one else was around. She most likely wasn’t willing to take the chance that someone could catch them drinking at work or overhear something so private, and Grace didn’t mind the added layer of protection and support considering the recent circumstances.
She’d reluctantly accompanied Rye to the station earlier once she’d begrudgingly accepted that she wasn’t going to change his mind. It wasn’t like she could ignore the fact that he was coming clean with Detective Nielsen, because all that would have resulted in was her being escorted back into the station with the added benefit of cuffs for misleading the police in her statement.
Motive Page 5
