He squeezed her fingers. “I did.”
She shook her head. “How?”
He smiled at her, his face so familiar, but his features were that of a man now, instead of a boy. “It wasn’t hard, it came on the market and I bought it.”
“Griff. I—”
He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed each one. “I didn’t buy it because of you, I bought it because I’d always wanted it.”
She nodded. They used to drive past this very house, sometimes stopping to park in front of it. Every time he saw the house he’d tell her he was going to buy it and they were going to live in it someday. They’d spin fantasies of living there, of raising a family, and she’d loved him so much she never wanted to tell him no. Never wanted to tell him that she wanted to go when he wanted to stay. Those nights, sitting with him in front of this house while he told her his dreams and hoped she’d wanted what he wanted. Had wanted to believe in that life and a future that included him and her forever.
She nodded, clearing her throat. “I know. You got it, everything you wanted. You got it all.”
His expression flashed, twisted, and then he gave her the most heartbreaking bittersweet smile. “I did. All but one.”
And in that moment, she knew. Knew with complete certainty what she’d been avoiding since she saw him at the Christmas party that night. She still loved him. Some part of her had never stopped loving him.
He was her perfect man.
She blinked tears away and wiped under her lashes. “We can’t do this, Griff.”
All his muscles tensed. “We’re doing it. I have to have you. I’ve known it since the moment I saw you.”
With her free hand she pressed her fingertips to her lips. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
He was silent for a long time, the tension thick between them, filled with too many emotions. Finally, he said, “I know you’re leaving. I know we have no future. I have no expectations.”
His words, they crushed her. Made her want to weep, because she heard the belief in his voice. Knew he meant every word. And she hated herself for it.
She wanted to be the woman he deserved.
Wanted to love him the way he deserved.
She bit her lip. Tonight she would. “Then take me inside.”
After a silent walk through the house, where Darcy barely paid attention to the house they’d had so many dreams about, they’d climbed the steps and now stood at the threshold of his bedroom. The massive bed dominated the room. The headboard was carved wood, with a heaviness that could only be handcrafted. It was loaded with pillows, and the deep wine bedspread was lush and inviting.
One look at the bed and Darcy knew it would be heaven to sleep in.
She licked her lips.
He pressed behind her, his hands on her hips. He whispered in her ear, “I’m almost afraid to start.”
She understood. She felt the same way. Like once they took this step, everything would change. “Me too.”
His lips brushed the lobe of her ear. “I want you so much, Darce.”
She leaned against him. “I want you, too.”
His hands slid around her waist. “Turn around.”
She did, and with his hands on her hips, he walked her back until her legs hit the mattress.
She blinked up at him. She practically trembled with desire and he’d barely touched her.
He curled his hand around her neck. Leaned down and brushed her lips with his. “It’s been a long time.”
“It has been.”
“I feel like I should take my time and learn you all over again.” He nipped at her bottom lip, his teeth sinking into her flesh, and she groaned. “But that’s not what I want right now.”
Her knees were weak. “And what do you want?”
“I want to fucking devour you.”
She sucked in a breath. “Yes, please.”
He growled low in his throat, and his lips finally, at long last, claimed hers.
His mouth was the best thing she’d experienced in forever. Hot and demanding. Full of tongue and teeth. Dirty and mean.
Completely Griffin.
She rose to her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss was like an explosion of heat and lust and everything pent up between them. Fighting and desperate to break free.
His hands ran the length of her body. He ripped away from her and said in a harsh, guttural tone, “Off.”
She disentangled herself long enough for her dress to be whisked over her head and tossed to the floor at their feet, leaving her naked except for her bra, underwear, and shoes.
His big palms gripped her hips, branding her.
His gaze raked down her body, and he muttered something under his breath, and then he pushed her onto the bed. Before she could process the feel of the mattress under her body, his lips were on her lace-covered nipple. Licking her through the fabric. Biting her. His hand slid over her other breast, before he rolled the hard bud between his thumb and forefinger.
She arched. “Griffin.” She ran her hands through his hair and pulled him closer. “Oh God, you feel good.”
He sucked harder. Deeper into his mouth.
She writhed under him. “I want you. Please. Take me.”
A low rumble from his throat. His hand slid from her breast and pressed between her legs. Circling his fingers where she wanted him most. Creating a delicious friction as he continued to lave her nipples.
It was a tease.
Sheer torture as he rubbed and licked her through the fabric of her lace lingerie.
Her breath came fast and she cried out as he bit her nipple, tugging it with his teeth as he stroked her clit. She arched off the bed. “I’m going to come.”
God help her she was.
He pulled away. Then he was moving down her stomach, licking a path over her skin.
His mouth covered her silk-covered mound.
She keened off the bed. Gripping the fabric in her hands as he teased her through the strip of lace that separated them.
He gripped her hips, holding her down as he tormented her.
Until she was mindless.
Until she was begging.
“Griffin, please, God, Griff, now.” Incoherent chatter while she desperately tried to communicate the depth of her desire.
He stripped her panties down her legs before rearing up and ridding her of her bra. He looked down at her, shaking his head. She was naked now, except for her shoes, and he was still completely dressed.
She moaned. “You have on too many clothes.”
Hands bracketing her head, he leaned down and kissed her. Hungry and demanding. Until she could no longer breathe.
His lids hooded, he whispered against her lips, “Play with your nipples while I lick your pussy.”
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“You can.”
“I’ll come.”
“I know.” He skimmed down her body, his lips everywhere, driving her crazy.
His mouth covered her, licking the swollen folds.
She cried out, bucking up against his lips.
He licked her clit, circling over the sensitive nub. She could only look down at him and rock her hips against him, powerless against his onslaught.
With his mouth still on her, he looked up and met her eyes. Electricity pulsed between them, and her body clenched.
He lifted his head. “Your nipples look needy.”
She shifted so she rested against the headboard, and he followed her up, because she wanted to watch him, and she knew he wanted to watch her, and she never could deny him anything. She ran her hands over her breasts, watching him. He lowered his mouth, licked her.
She played over her nipples.
He played over her clit.
They watched each other.
She couldn’t describe the eroticism of what passed between them. Connected as they synchronized their movements. Her fingers pulling in a slow, rhythmic pulse in time with the grind of his
mouth and the roll of her hips.
Their eyes locked together.
It was the hottest, dirtiest thing she’d ever seen, and she never wanted it to end.
But the need to come was barreling over her, and she gasped as her body tightened. “I’m going to come.”
His lips lifted slightly. “Then come.”
She shook her head. “I want to come on your cock the first time. You need to be inside me.”
He growled and licked once again before raising his head and kneeling between her legs. He slipped off her shoes and tossed them to the floor before standing. He unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt, three buttons at his neck, before ridding himself of his shirt over his head.
Her breath came fast as he reached into his pocket and withdrew a condom, which he threw onto the bed, and then unbuckled his pants.
Darcy was sure she’d never seen anything as sexy as Griffin stripping out of his clothes with that look in his eyes. That primal, possessive look she hadn’t seen in forever.
Finally, he was naked, and he climbed between her legs, ripped open the condom, and rolled it over his erection. He ran his fingers between her legs, stroking over her soaking flesh before gripping her thighs and yanking her down the bed.
He lifted her hips and impaled her.
She cried out. Rolling up to meet him.
He pulled out and slammed back in again.
He cursed. Repeated.
She reached for him and pulled him down so he covered her. Their lips met, fused, and parted on a gasp as the angle deepened the contact between them. She moaned. “Please take me.”
He started to move in earnest.
And the words came from her throat, unbidden, but what she wanted so bad. “Make me yours.”
The statement seemed to explode everything between them.
He pounded into her. Faster. Urgent and desperate. He growled in a low, primitive voice. “You are mine.”
“Yes.” Her body quickened. “Always.”
“Always.” He thrust, taking them higher as he took her harder and harder.
She didn’t want it to end. She wanted it to last forever.
But it was too much. Too intense. And she’d been on the edge for so damn long.
He hooked her legs over his elbows, driving so deep inside her she screamed and burst.
On a mad rush, the climax pummeled through her in wave after wave of pleasure so ruthless she thought she’d pass out.
While she was lost in the power of her orgasm, he came, shuddering above her on a loud groan, calling her name over and over again.
They moved together, grinding their hips as they fought to capture every last bit of pleasure before he collapsed on top of her and they lay gasping for breath.
“Wow,” she panted out.
He laughed. “We’ve still got it.”
“Do we ever.”
He lifted onto his elbows. “I’m never going to be satisfied.”
She ran her fingers over his damp temples. “Me either.”
She wouldn’t. She’d never get enough of him.
Not ever.
Chapter Seventeen
Darcy sat down at the kitchen table and looked at her mom.
Tammy smiled, her expression sly. “Did you have a nice evening?”
Images of the night before flashed through her mind like a peep show. Last night with Griffin had ruined her forever. It had been so good. He’d taken her in every way possible, in that way only he could manage. Now she was sore and swollen. Her muscles ached. She was marked. In more ways than one.
And her heart was breaking.
Because she knew what she had to do.
“It was lovely, thank you,” she said, her voice shaky.
“The whole town is talking,” her mom said, her tone giddy. “You’ll have to make an honest man of Griffin.”
Darcy recalled this morning, at his front door, him leaning against the wood. On her knees, she sucked his cock like her life depended on it.
The good people of Revival would have heart attacks knowing what she’d done with their mayor last night.
She’d given herself one night, and now she had to give Griffin what he deserved.
Darcy folded her hands on the table and met her mom’s happy, interested gaze. Darcy’s throat closed over, not wanting to say the words but knowing they couldn’t be helped. This was the beginning of the end, and she couldn’t deny her reluctance, but it had to be done. There was no other choice. “Mom, we need to talk.”
“What is it, baby?” Tammy’s expression turned a bit wary at the edges.
This was it. Once she started there’d be no turning back. “You need to sell your house to Revival. I know this is the house you grew up in, I know you have history here, but it’s time to let that all go for the good of the town.”
Tammy blinked, before her eyes widened. “You think it’s for the good of the town?”
“I do.” Darcy nodded for emphasis. “I’ve talked to a lot of people, Mom, and they all want this. I’ve also talked to more than one lawyer. If you choose to fight it, you’ll lose and end up with nothing. So take what the town offered for the land. You can buy a new house a couple blocks away with the money. A good house, the kind you deserve that’s not falling down around you. If Revival is your home, and you care about the town, let it thrive and prosper.”
“You think this is best?” Tammy’s voice took on a shaky quality.
“Yes.” It was one thing she could give Griffin. His project would go on. He’d see his dreams for the town come true.
It was the only thing she had to offer.
Tammy bit her lower lip, glanced around the kitchen, and her eyes filled with tears. “You’re going to leave, aren’t you?”
“I am.” She’d booked the red-eye back to New York as soon as she’d returned to her mom’s this morning. “It’s time for me to go home.”
“You’re making a mistake.” Tears spilled onto her mom’s cheeks, and Darcy’s chest squeezed. “I’d hoped you’d see that.”
Darcy’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean by that?”
Tammy stood up and scrounged around in her cabinets before she retrieved an ashtray and a pack of cigarettes. She sat back down at the table, shook one from the pack, and lit it.
“I thought you’d quit?” Darcy frowned.
“I did.” Tammy shrugged and took a long drag. “Sometimes I just need to take the edge off.”
Darcy decided this wasn’t a battle she wanted to fight at the moment. “What did you mean, you ‘hoped I’d see’?”
Tammy blew out a plume of smoke. “I hoped if you came home, you’d realize you belong here.”
Darcy’s heart gave a hard thump. “I don’t belong here. New York in my home now.”
“I don’t think so.” Her mom gave her a long, searching look. “I think you belong here, with your family. Me and Griffin.”
The truth sunk in, and Darcy blinked at her mom. “You planned this, didn’t you? You were always going to sell the house, weren’t you?”
Tammy took another drag before she spoke. “Yes.”
“Did Griffin know about this?” God, please don’t let him have been involved.
“No.” Tammy stubbed out her cigarette. “He wouldn’t have approved.”
Relief flooded through Darcy. Although she should have known, manipulation wasn’t Griffin’s style. And she didn’t have the energy to be mad at her mom right now. She had to conserve all energy for what she had to do next.
“I’m sorry you had false hope, but nothing has changed. And holding the town hostage is not the way to get what you want.” She’d be properly angry later, after she’d had a chance to cry. Darcy pushed the contract her mom had stuffed into her mail drawer across the worn linoleum. “Here’s the contract that agrees to the terms of the sale. I had both Mitch Riley and a lawyer in New York review it. Both of them said it was more than fair. You’ll have until January thirty-first to give you time to move. With
the sale, you’ll be able to buy a nice little house and have no mortgage, just like you do here. Sign it.”
Tammy picked up the papers, and Darcy handed her a pen. She looked at Darcy with a big, watery gaze. “Are you bringing it to Griff?”
Darcy glanced at the clock over the ancient fridge. “As soon as we’re done here.”
“And there’s nothing I can do to change your mind about staying home?”
Darcy’s mind filled with the image of Griffin’s house, that house of her teenage fantasies. He’d given her a tour last night, after they’d finally exhausted themselves. Naked and curled in a blanket, she’d walked with him, listening to him talk about all the changes he’d made. She’d watched his face, the way it had shone in the soft light, and fallen even deeper in love with him.
He’d done it. All the things he’d talked about growing up. It was then that she remembered he hadn’t really ever talked about travel like she had. She’d talked, and he’d listened. House, family, and community, those were the things Griffin had wanted. And he’d accomplished everything he’d dreamed of and more. He’d turned himself from a troublemaker into the pillar of the community. He was liked and respected.
She’d made her own successes—just not here in Revival. She had a life, and she needed to return to it. She shook her head. “No. This isn’t my home anymore.”
“This has always been your home, baby.” Her mom smiled, sad and bittersweet. “You’re just too stubborn to admit it.”
Darcy understood her mom believed that. But she knew the truth.
Her mom signed the document and pushed it back to Darcy.
She stared down at it. It was time to face Griffin.
Time to say good-bye.
Chapter Eighteen
Griffin stared out his office window onto Revival’s Main Street, unable to concentrate on the proposal for new streetlamps that sat in front of him. His mind kept wandering to Darcy. Last night and all the things he’d done to her. All the things he wanted to do to her.
He didn’t delude himself where Darcy was concerned. She wouldn’t stay. He’d learned that lesson when he was eighteen and he’d tried so hard to convince her. She’d never wavered, and she’d never looked back.
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