by Duncan, MJ
“I…” Grey’s voice trailed off and she shrugged, her lips curling in a small smile as she looked at Lauren. Her heart raced as she held Lauren’s half-lidded gaze, and she shook her head as she trailed her fingers down the sides of Lauren’s throat, unwilling to let go of her quite yet. “Wow.”
Lauren bit her lip and smoothed her hands over the wrinkled fabric of Grey’s shirt that she had been holding onto. The lust-fueled fog that had filled her from the moment Grey’s hand had landed on her face dissipated, taking the carelessness it had wrought within her away with it. Reality, cold and sharp and painful washed over her, and she sighed as she looked over Grey’s shoulder at the group of twenty-something men in cargo shorts and Hawaiian shirts that had interrupted them. A part of her was annoyed that they had intruded, but there was a larger part of herself that was grateful for the interference because, no matter how much she enjoyed kissing Grey, it should have never happened.
She should have never allowed it to happen. Grey was not over Emily, and she knew that she looked too much like her for this to be a wise decision.
Grey turned to follow Lauren’s gaze, and she rolled her eyes at the grins and thumbs up the men were flashing at them. “Assholes,” she muttered, shaking her head as she turned back to Lauren. Her breath caught in her throat at the distant look in Lauren’s eyes, and she swallowed thickly as she reached out to run a gentle finger over Lauren’s kiss-swollen lips. “Lauren?”
The gentle touch pulled Lauren back to herself, and she forced a small smile as she carefully avoided Grey’s gaze. “It’s getting late. We should get back to the boat.”
“What?” Grey’s brow furrowed with confusion as she watched Lauren practically leap from the bench and wrap her arms around herself. She quickly followed, reaching out with her right hand to grab hold of Lauren’s elbow. “What’s wrong?”
Everything, Lauren thought. She closed her eyes, unable to stand the raw emotion burning in Grey’s gaze. “Can we just talk about this back on the boat?”
Grey’s eyes darted automatically to the Veritas, and she was relieved to see that the lights in the salon were still off. Whatever way this conversation was going to go, she knew that they were not going to want an audience. “Okay.”
The air between them crackled with tension and confusion and a latent, simmering yearning for more as they made their way wordlessly back to the boat. Grey kept stealing glances at Lauren as they walked, but Lauren’s expression gave nothing away and Grey wished that she had some clue of what was going on inside her head. From the way Lauren had kissed her, Grey knew that the electricity she had felt between them was not just a figment of her imagination, but she was not feeling at all encouraged by the way Lauren was walking beside her now with her arms wrapped tightly around her middle.
Once they were finally back on the boat, Grey murmured an apology to Lauren as she eased past her to unlock the sliding doors to the salon. Lauren did not make a sound as she stepped out of the way, and Grey closed her eyes as she threw the doors open, letting the heavy glass roll silently on their tracks until magnets on the frame grabbed each one and locked them into place.
Grey’s stomach sank as she stepped into the salon, convinced by the way Lauren was acting that she was going to get some version of the it-was-a-mistake-and-can’t-happen-again speech.
The clarity Lauren had hoped to gain during the walk back to the boat evaded her, and she sighed as she followed Grey inside. Her heart thudded heavily in her chest when the lights flickered on, and she hovered just inside the threshold as she watched Grey wander further into the salon, hoping that the physical distance between them would help her think.
She blinked hard and tried to force herself to forget the taste of Grey’s kiss. If she could just forget the way her skin tingled where Grey held her, if she could just forget the way that kiss had made her feel, then she could say the words she knew she needed to say.
But when Grey turned expectantly toward her, dark eyes shining with defiance, daring her to say that it was a mistake, Lauren could not form the words. It might have been a case of desire overriding common sense, but Lauren could not force herself to say that kissing Grey had been a mistake. It had been stupid and reckless and, god, probably the worst thing she could have possibly done, but the truth was that she wanted Grey. Had wanted her from the moment she first laid eyes on her. She wanted to feel Grey’s hands on her skin, and she wanted to touch her in return. She wanted to kiss Grey, her lips practically tingled with the desire to do it again, and she was just not strong enough to deny it.
Lauren held Grey’s gaze as she closed the distance that separated them in four long strides. She watched uncertainty and hope flicker in Grey’s eyes as she reached up to cradle her face in her hands, and she let out a soft sight as she leaned in and claimed Grey’s lips with her own.
It took Grey a split-second to react to the crush of Lauren’s mouth against her own, but when she did, it was like gasoline to a flame. Her hands shot out, blindly wrapping around Lauren’s waist and pulling her in closer until their hips were pressed tightly together. She moaned as Lauren’s hands slipped around her head, the redhead’s arms locking behind her neck as a demanding tongue pushed boldly inside her mouth.
Lauren’s head swam at the feeling of full breasts pressing into her own as Grey spun them around until the backs of her thighs connected with the edge of the counter. Grey’s hips shifted against her, and Lauren groaned as a lean thigh snaked its way between her own. Their kisses grew deeper, hotter, and hungrier as their hands roamed over each other’s bodies, fingers tangling in hair and tugging as hips rocked together in an unconscious dance of wanton abandon.
It was the feeling of an insistent hand sliding possessively over her breast that snapped Lauren from the lust-fueled fog she had been lost in, and she sighed against Grey’s mouth at the feeling of Grey’s thumb dragging over her nipple. It felt good. Goddamn, it felt so good, but she needed to know that it was her that Grey wanted. “Grey?”
Grey laid a string of kisses over Lauren’s jaw to her ear. “Hmm?” she hummed softly, flicking her tongue over Lauren’s earlobe as she ran her thumb in slow circles around her nipple.
Lauren reached up and covered Grey’s hand with her own. “I just need to know. Is this—” she squeezed the hand on her breast lightly, “—just because I look like Emily?”
Chapter 18
Grey froze at the sound of Emily’s name, and pulled her hand slowly from Lauren’s breast and let it fall to her waist. She closed her eyes, leaned her temple against Lauren’s, and took a long, slow breath in through her nose, inhaling the sweet scent of Lauren’s perfume. She focused on the way her heart beat inside her chest, slowly, steadily, and she felt a gentle warmth radiate through her, like Emily was reassuring her that it was okay for her to move on.
She pressed a chaste kiss to Lauren’s cheek and then took a small step back, not so far to lose contact with Lauren, but just enough that she was no longer pinning her to the counter. Her eyes roamed slowly over Lauren’s face, over kiss-swollen lips and dark, gray-green eyes. Lauren’s cheeks were flushed, and her hair was in mild disarray from the way she had been running her fingers through it. Grey shook her head as she finally answered Lauren’s question. “No. This is not because you look like Emily. If anything, it’s in spite of the fact that you do.”
The breath Lauren had not realized she had been holding left her in a long, drawn-out stream. “What do you mean?”
Grey shrugged and ran her hands through her hair as she tried to find a way to explain it all. “I did not want to feel like this toward you,” she said, perhaps a little too honestly. But, she figured, they were discussing Lauren’s resemblance to her deceased fiancée, so there really was nothing that could be more of a mood-kill than that. “I would have fired you that first day if I knew how to cook well enough to do the job on my own.”
Lauren nodded, not particularly surprised by the confession. “I thought I had done something
to make you hate me and, for the life of me, I could not figure out what it was.”
“You reminded me too much of her,” Grey said softly. “But then…I dunno.” She shook her head. “It was little things, I guess, that began chipping away at me without me even noticing. I mean, you’re obviously different people, but it was hard, at first, to see that when looking at you reminded me of her. But the more time we spent together, the more I started to see it. You’re much more driven—I don’t think I can name one person who would choose to work during their first vacation in a decade. Emily was content to just go with the flow, not really looking to do more than enjoy life. You like the quiet, you enjoy just sitting back and taking it all in like me… I mean, Emily always sat with me like you’ve done these last few days, but she didn’t crave the quiet. It’s just…” She shrugged. “You’re just different. You express yourself differently, New York brusqueness mixed with Midwestern sweetness. You move with a purpose, like every motion has to accomplish something. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Grey…”
Grey sighed. “I know. All of this would be so much easier if looking at you didn’t remind me of her, but I liked kissing you. And I would really like to do it again.”
Lauren nodded slowly as she processed everything Grey had just said. “I liked it too. I would be lying if I said that I’m not attracted to you, and I’m not looking for this to be anything serious, but I don’t want to compete with a ghost. I don’t want to be with you, and know that you’re thinking about her.”
The left side of Grey’s mouth quirked up in a small smile, and she shook her head almost sadly as she reached up to tuck an errant curl behind Lauren’s ear. She lingered in the touch for a moment before she let her hand fall away. “It wouldn’t be like that.”
Lauren sighed. There was an openness in Grey’s expression that told her it was the truth, but she was still not convinced that this was the smart thing to do. For as much as she enjoyed kissing Grey, and for as much as she was sure she would enjoy doing more than just kiss, she did not want to do anything that would hurt her in the end. “So what do you want to do?” she asked, leaving the ball in Grey’s court, trusting that she would make the decision that was best for her.
Grey’s smile widened as she leaned in and captured Lauren’s lips in a slow kiss that simmered with relief and possibilities. “Whatever we want,” she murmured as she pulled away. The sound of excited voices had her looking up toward the back deck, and she sighed as she spotted three little tow-heads bounding into the salon.
“We’re baaaaaaaack!” Peyton and Max sing-songed, swinging t-shirts over their heads excitedly and slashing at the air with plastic pirate swords. “We got shirts and swords!”
“Me too!” Reid echoed, jumping up and down and waving his prizes in the air.
Grey took a discreet step away from Lauren, who was running her hands through her hair to try and put herself back together, and smiled at the boys. “Lemme see ‘em!”
They both listened intently as the boys rehashed their entire trip ashore, including an animated discussion of whether or not the bearded man they saw in one of the stores was a “real life pirate!”, and Lauren smiled when Will and Kim ushered the boys toward their rooms to get ready for bed. “Are you guys going to want a nightcap and dessert or anything?”
“If it’s not too much trouble, that would be great.” Will tipped his head in thanks. “The boys ended up hogging the sundae we got to share at the restaurant.”
“That explains their energy,” Lauren chuckled. She waved at him to go after the boys, and turned toward the fridge. The small of her back felt heavy with the weight of Grey’s eyes on her, and she sighed as she pulled the fridge door open. “You know, I can feel you watching me.”
“Really?” Grey smirked and glanced over her shoulder to make sure they were alone as she sidled up behind Lauren. She ran a light finger down Lauren’s spine and chuckled softly at the way Lauren twitched under the playful touch. “Can you feel that too?”
“Yes.” Lauren let out a shaky breath as she leaned back into Grey. The chill pouring from the fridge stood in stark contrast to the heat coming off the woman behind her, and she shook her head. “And I really need you to stop that now.”
Grey’s eyes fluttered at the roughness in Lauren’s tone, and she could not resist leaning in to brush a soft kiss across her cheek. “Are you sure about that?”
“Go give your mom a kiss goodnight,” Will’s voice carried through the salon.
“Unfortunately,” Lauren whispered. “We are not alone, and if you keep teasing me…”
A wolfish grin pulled at Grey’s lips. “What?”
Lauren shuddered as the many possibilities of what she could do flashed through her mind. “Grey,” she said, the brunette’s name a warning. “Please? I need to make this dessert for Will and Kim.”
“Fine.” Grey nodded as she backed away. “Later?”
“I’m shakin’ my hiney!” Peyton sang at the top of his lungs. “I’m shakin’ my hiney!”
Grey and Lauren turned to find him standing in the middle of the salon in his Spiderman pajamas, wiggling his little ass and grinning like a maniac.
Lauren laughed and reached out to give Grey’s hand a gentle squeeze as Will swept the hiney-shaking boy into his arms and “flew” him into his bedroom. “Later sounds wonderful. Maybe when we’re alone?”
“Yeah,” Grey sighed and shook her head, not even bothering to try and hide the longing she could feel burning in her gaze. “Later.”
Chapter 19
The sound of the sliding doors to the salon closing drew Lauren’s eyes away from the plate she was busy drying. It was impossible to keep from smiling when Grey turned toward her with a playful grin, and she took a deep breath as she forced her attention back onto her work. Although her eyes were on the plate she was drying, she was acutely aware of Grey’s presence, and her pulse picked up speed with every quiet footstep that approached her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end when Grey stopped behind her, close enough to feel the warmth of her body, but just far enough away to not be physically touching. An expectant shiver rolled down her spine when Grey’s hand landed lightly on her hip, and she licked her lips as she set the plate in her hand down and turned to look at Grey.
Grey wrapped her other hand around Lauren’s waist and stepped into her so that their hips were pressed lightly together. She dipped her head to let her lips hover tantalizingly over Lauren’s, and smiled at the sound of Lauren’s breath catching. The last two hours had been torture, forcing herself to play the attentive hostess when all she wanted to do was pin Lauren to the nearest surface and kiss her until they were both completely out of breath. “So…is it ‘later’ yet?”
The feeling of Grey’s breath against her lips kick-started Lauren’s idling libido, but she did her best to not let that show as she gave a small, noncommittal tip of her head. “It is later, yes. And I’m quite tired.” She feigned a dramatic yawn, stretching her arms over her head and pushing her chest out toward Grey. “Was there something you needed?” She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at the absolutely flabbergasted look that flashed across Grey’s face when the brunette pulled back to look at her.
The small twitch at the corners of Lauren’s lips told Grey that she was messing with her, and she smiled as she dropped a quick, friendly kiss to Lauren’s forehead. “Nah, I’m good. See you in the morning,” she said as she stepped away from her.
Should have known she’d call me on it, Lauren thought as she reached out and wrapped her hand around Grey’s bicep, pulling her to a gentle stop.
Grey smirked and stepped back into Lauren, closer this time, so that she was pressed flush against her. “Was there something you needed?”
Lauren shrugged playfully. “I don’t know. I feel like there’s somebody I should be doing, but…” She let her voice trail off as Grey let out a bark of laughter, and grinned. “Do you have any idea who that
is?”
“Hmm…” Grey smiled and wrapped her arms around Lauren’s waist. She leaned in like she was going to kiss her, but pulled away at the last minute, laughing softly at the disappointment that flashed across Lauren’s eyes as she did. “I don’t know…”
“Goddamn it, Wells,” Lauren muttered as she locked her arms around Grey’s neck and held her in place. “Just kiss me already.”
Despite the tension and awareness that had simmered between them all night, the kiss started slowly. Just the briefest clasping of lips that repeated over and over again, each tender connection lasting longer than the last until their mouths opened and their tongues danced lightly together in the space between their parted lips. The passion that had flared between them earlier sparked back to life with every slow, teasing swipe of their tongues, and Lauren sighed as the hands on her hips pressed her back against the edge of the countertop.
One of Grey’s hands once again found its way into Lauren’s hair, her long fingers threading through wild curls, and Lauren adjusted her stance so that one of Grey’s legs could slip between her own. Their kisses grew deeper as their hips rocked together in a slow grind, their hands wandering over unexplored curves and valleys, fingers gripping, stroking, teasing, and pinching as the need for more flared between them.
“My god,” Lauren murmured, her head falling back as Grey’s fingers closed with a delicious roughness around her nipple.
Grey smiled at the breathy exhalation, and dipped her head down to pepper Lauren’s throat with kisses as she continued to tweak and pull at the rapidly hardening nub. She moaned softly at the feeling of Lauren’s pulse pounding beneath her lips, and sucked hungrily against the sensitive spot before soothing it with the flat of her tongue. She blew lightly over the pinked flesh, and her nipples tightened at the way Lauren gasped and shivered against her. Grey brushed her lips over the curve of Lauren’s jaw and back to her mouth. She sighed at the way Lauren’s head turned just enough for their lips to meet, and an intoxicating warmth spread through her as Lauren’s tongue stroked boldly against her own. A shiver tumbled down her spine at the feeling of Lauren’s fingers playing with the short hairs at the back of her neck when they finally broke apart, and she nuzzled Lauren’s cheek as she whispered, “Come to bed with me.”
