Gaming Grace

by Piper J. Drake

  Bryan put his phone face down on the table and ran his hand through his hair, irritably. He should be staying focused on the end goal: making this app a successful, viable business. So why was he thinking about Grace constantly?

  Below, one of her friends got up and left with a wave to the others. Another started to pull together their belongings and clamber out of their lounge chair. It looked like the group was breaking up.

  Forget it. He wasn’t going to fight this. Besides, more of Grace wasn’t a conflict for his main goal of testing this app.

  By the time he made it down to the pool deck, another one of her friends was sitting up and looking like they were heading off on their own.

  “How many pineapples is that now?” He winced as soon as the question left his mouth. Not smooth. He didn’t want to come across patronizing, or worse, like a control freak.

  Grace’s friend paused in the motion of getting up and instead looked at him over the tops of her sunglasses.

  “Sorry.” Bryan held up his hands. “Can I get any of you ladies a bottle of water?”

  Sunglasses snorted. She didn’t even bother to say hello. Instead, she turned to Grace and the other friend. “I’ll see you both later. Grace, let’s give him a redo opportunity for introductions another time.”

  Grace sighed.

  Bryan gave them all his best harmless, aw shucks, I’m just the charming guy next door, smile. “I’d appreciate that.”

  All of them huffed out a laugh at that and he relaxed a fraction. The one left and he remained standing, considering the vacated lounge chair. He hadn’t been invited to join them and really, he didn’t want to. He had a different goal in mind.

  “Could I tempt you ladies into heading up to the lunch buffet?” Because Grace was definitely flushed, either from being in the sun all morning or from too many mystery slush beverages disguised as pineapples. Also because he was coming close to gnawing on his own arm.

  The remaining friend sat up, smiling broadly. “Thank you for the inclusion in the invitation, but I think I’ll pass. I wanted to spend a little quiet time back in my room.”

  That left Grace, staring after her friend.

  He waited, then figured a light prompt might not be too much pushier than he’d already been. “Grace?”

  She looked at him, then. “A late lunch would be good.”

  Excellent. He held out a hand to help her to her feet.

  She caught her lower lip under her teeth. “My friend has something going on.”

  “Did you want to follow her and check?” As much as he wanted to spend time with her, Grace was here to spend time with her friends. Sure they’d just been hanging out but if Grace was concerned about one of them, he wasn’t about to compete for her attention. He wasn’t that kind of selfish.

  Grace shook her head. “She’ll tell me if she needs help. Honestly, it could be a good thing, whatever it is. She’s looking less distressed than yesterday.”

  He relaxed. “Then let’s get something to eat.”

  “I have an idea.” She glanced up at him, then snagged his hand and started leading him.

  Amused, he let himself be dragged toward the elevators. “Do I get to know the plan or am I finding out as we go?”

  “We’re going to raid the buffet, because you’re right and I need food.” She pulled him into the elevator and he might have exaggerated the momentum he had going as an excuse to continue forward until he had her loosely pinned against the glass wall. She laughed, reaching around him to hit the button for the floor with the buffet. Then she looked up at him. “How do you define hooking up?”

  He froze. It could be a trick question, but Grace was looking up at him with an earnest expression that was so damn cute, his brain scrambled. “I don’t know if my definition matches yours.”

  “You didn’t have that expression in school?” Playful. She was definitely being playful.

  He liked to play. “I split my school years between Thailand and the US. My early grade school years were in Thailand, but I spent some of middle school and all of high school in the US. I also completed my undergrad studies in the US. I’m familiar with the expression, Grace.”

  “See, I went to the same college as my friends.” She tipped her head to one side. “We just realized today that my concept of hooking up differs significantly from theirs.”

  He gave her a mock leer. “I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I’m willing to bet my understanding of hooking up is more in line with the definition your friends have for it.”

  Her mouth twisted into a very charming pout. “I figured.”

  The elevator reached their destination floor. Bryan considered hitting the door close button. They seemed to have a lot of fun conversations in or near elevators. He didn’t though, and he turned to give Grace space to exit, because she really ought to have a chance to eat.

  She did take his hand again, “Grab what looks good to you and we’ll meet back here to go have a picnic someplace more private.”

  He lunged and wrapped his arms around her. “Mission complete.”

  Her laughter was bubbly and light as her body melted against him. “Sustenance. Go acquire sustenance and I’ll do the same. Meet you back here.”

  “As my lady wishes.” He released her and got a kiss on the cheek as a reward. Watching her saunter into the buffet, he wondered what about Grace brought out the knight in shining armor in him.

  Maybe it was because everyone who knew him, from family to friends, assumed they knew everything about him. Grace kept giving him chances to delight her and he liked the sound of her laugh.

  6

  “A balcony picnic was an excellent idea.” Grace nodded to herself as she reached for the last strawberry. She bit into the juicy fruit and enjoyed the burst of sweetness as she looked out over the ocean. The blue of the waters around them was changing and she was starting to realize this trip wasn’t just a huge floating luxury venue. They were also heading toward tropical paradise.

  “Mmm.” Bryan took a drink of his iced tea and placed it back on the small table between them. “Agreed. Can I tempt you to come to my balcony next time? Your view is nice, but there’s a little more space on my balcony and we could spread a few towels on the floor to actually stretch out, instead of perching in chairs.”

  He could tempt her into a whole lot of things and she was reasonably sure he was aware of the fact. Bryan was far too charming to be real. He was also incredibly attractive and she kept catching herself looking at him, taking in the lines of his body and enjoying the relaxed confidence he had at all times as he moved around the ship. He was always wearing the softest looking clothing, fabric that invited her to touch him. She didn’t think he’d mind if she did.

  She stood and leaned over the rail, looking aft, toward the back of the boat. “Your balcony was that way, right? I guess the view is pretty amazing.”

  Bryan’s hands gripped the rail on either side of her, the heat of him just brushing against her back. “I take it back, I like this view better at the moment.”

  He kept making her smile and she really couldn’t even ask herself how. It was obvious. He made her feel good about herself. She turned to face him, tilting her face up to his. That was when her brain stuttered to an awkward halt. “I want to say something incredibly witty or seductive right now and nothing but random trivia is coming to mind.”

  He didn’t laugh—thankfully, because she’d have curled up in sheer embarrassment over her own awkwardness—but his smile was sinful enough to steal her breath. “Like what?”

  “Like baseball terminology.” She whispered. She couldn’t look away from his lips. They were so close, her eyelashes almost brushed against his smile when she closed her eyes. “Which doesn’t make any kind of sense, especially because I don’t really know anything about baseball, but that’s what happens. I’m a font of random information and I babble in ways that don’t connect with the ways the people around me might be thinking. Unless I�
�ve got a clear objective and topic to present, I’m left scrambling, and maybe this cruise is also a good opportunity for me to improve my ability to relate to people I don’t know in a context outside of a corporate presentation.”

  “Always looking for homework to do,” he murmured and tipped his head to one side, pressing a hot kiss high on her cheek, almost at her temple but not quite. “You know what I think?”

  Nope. Note the reveal three seconds ago in which she’d admitted she didn’t connect very well. She asked instead. “What?”

  “I think you’re thinking about bases in baseball.”

  He remembered her question about hooking up. She looked up into his eyes in surprise, mouth open to say something, but he caught the words with a kiss.

  His lips were warm and firm against hers, and when his tongue teased her own lips, she opened for him. He deepened their kiss then, tasting her. When she tasted him in turn, he made a noise of encouragement deep in the back of his throat.

  When their kiss broke, she looked up at him and was pretty sure the both of them were a little short on breath. Maybe a lot.

  “First base.” He wasn’t smiling. The look in his eyes was intense and the want was unmistakable. Everything inside her tightened in response. His voice was low and dark when he spoke again. “More?”

  Her heart rate was already going strong but it kicked into high gear. She didn’t have any words, only a matching desire. All she could think to do was give a tiny nod.

  He kissed her again and she melted into him. This time, he wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her steady against him as he moved the other up her side until he cupped her breast. She gasped against his mouth as his thumb brushed over her nipple. His tongue swept past her parted lips as he continued to tease her through the fabric of her sun dress and swimsuit top. Suddenly, there were way too many layers of fabric between them and she closed her fist around the soft linen of his sleeve in frustration.

  He chuckled. “Second base.”

  She held her breath, waiting for him to ask another question but he dropped his head and sucked gently at the side of her neck, just under her jaw.

  “You know, there was some debate among my friends, back in our school days, about whether you really reach second base if you haven’t had skin on skin contact.” His words whispered hot against her pulse point. He briefly stopped his teasing caress of her breast, tracing a fingertip over her collarbone before he very gently hooked a thumb under her swimsuit strap and slid both it and her dress sleeve down her shoulder. “I personally didn’t count an encounter as second base if mouth on skin didn’t happen.”

  She was listening. How could she not? His voice did amazing things to her all on its own and combined with the rest of what he was doing, her knees were starting to give out.

  “Of course.” Grace hadn’t ever thought of herself as generously endowed, but her breasts felt as if they swelled under Bryan’s attentions and she arched her back to help at least one breast pop free of her clothing.

  He made another groaning sound of encouragement. “I’m starting to get on board with your insistence on executing with excellence.”

  She protested, not believing he’d remembered she’d said that, but his gaze caught her and anything she might’ve tried to verbalize got lost on the way from her brain to her mouth. Instead, she could only fall into the deep brown of his eyes, the look he was giving her one of serious concentration.

  He cupped her breast in his hand again and squeezed. There was a moan coming from somewhere, and oh hey, it was her. She held onto the balcony railing before her knees gave out for real. No one had ever made foreplay so incredibly devastating for her before this.

  His gaze still on her, he hooked a chair from behind him and sat. His knees bracketed her legs on either side, giving her a little more stability. The change in elevation put his face at just the right level, but he still didn’t look at her exposed breast. Instead, he kept eye contact as he shifted his grip just enough to brush the pad of his thumb over her tight nipple.

  The shock of the sensation shot through her and she whimpered.

  “Good?” His whisper had gone hoarse.

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “I want to taste.”

  She wasn’t prepared, wasn’t sure she could handle it. She didn’t care.

  “Yes.”

  His lips parted and everything was sensory overload for her. She shuttered her eyes closed, focusing on the feel of his hot mouth closing over her nipple. His other arm slipped under her skirt and came back around her waist, pulling her to him as he suckled her breast gently. Her lower body clenched, her panties wet and she was too caught up to even be embarrassed anymore. She wanted this, wanted him.

  A moment later, he proved he could multitask. The arm around her waist released her, his hand coasting over her hip and finding the side of her swimsuit bottom.

  He released her nipple, then flicked it with the tip of his tongue. “Third.”

  It wasn’t a question anymore. He wanted and so did she.

  “Yes.”

  If he’d touched her through her swimsuit bottom, she might’ve died of frustration. Thankfully, he pulled her bottom down and she even wiggled her knees a bit to help the piece of clothing fall. Then she lost her mind because his mouth closed over her nipple again and he laved attention on her breast. Her mind had fallen to pieces as she felt his fingertips skim over her lower abdomen and trace their way even lower. He timed his movements so he sucked on her nipple as he cupped her most sensitive area, bold but still gentle. His fingertips pressed at her opening but didn’t enter. He had to know she was wet for him, he couldn’t miss it at this point.

  “Bryan, please.” This was the most delicious torture.

  “I like hearing you say my name.” Whispered words tickled the curve of her breast. Then he stroked his fingers over the very sensitive flesh over her opening.

  She couldn’t help it, she tilted her hips forward for him, wanting. Aching.

  Bryan stared up into Grace’s face, her long lashes casting shadows across her cheeks and her expression was completely and utterly unguarded as she finally let go of her careful self-control. His heart stopped.

  He’d never forget this image. Somehow, he’d hold this moment in his memory forever. He didn’t ever want to forget Grace.

  Those lashes swept up and the sun lit her eyes until they were more gold than brown, liquid heat. “Please.”

  He was spelled. Shifting his grip from her breast to bracket her rib cage and help hold her steady, he slid one finger inside her.

  They both let out groans and she grabbed for his shoulders with both her hands. She was so hot around his finger, and very tight. He wanted to be inside her so much, his cock strained in his pants. But he was enjoying making this about Grace right now. This was almost enough.

  He continued to slide his finger inside her, in and out, making tiny adjustments and listening to her tiny sounds of pleasure. Learning exactly where she was most sensitive was his new favorite hobby and he planned to be amazing at it, right from the beginning.

  She called out, her fingers digging into his shoulders, and he did his best to remember this particular spot, then curved his hand until the heel of his palm was grinding ever so slightly at her clitoris as he continued to stroke with his finger inside her. She suddenly reached down with one hand, catching his wrist in a surprisingly strong grip and let out a cry of absolute pleasure. Her inner muscles spasmed around his finger and her hips jerked as the orgasm took her.

  He continued to cup her, petting her through her orgasm, and gathering her close into his lap.

  The sound of a sliding door cut through their breathing and someone stepped heavily out onto the neighboring balcony. Grace went stiff in his arms, every muscle in her body suddenly so taut, he worried she might hurt herself.

  A loud voice started speaking on the other side of the partition. “Wanna sit out here and chill with a beer, hun? You could give me that B
J you promised me. With the right incentive, I might scream your name until everyone on this ship knows it.”

  A feminine cackle met the comment and a chair screeched as it was pulled hard across the floor on the other side of the partition.

  Grace’s head jerked up, barely missing Bryan’s chin, and her gaze was filled with sheer panic.

  He didn’t even wait for her to pull her thoughts together. It was obvious she was no longer enjoying the atmosphere out here, so he shifted forward on the chair and slid his hands under her bottom. Then he stood, lifting her with him, and took them both back inside her cabin.

  As he pulled the door closed behind him, her legs were wrapped tight around his waist. She was shaking her head. “Kendall is in the cabin on the other side of this one. I really hope she doesn’t hear my other neighbors.”

  “Let’s stop there.” He placed her carefully on her bed so she was sitting on the edge.

  If he laid her down, he’d have been too tempted to climb on top of her and that would completely go against what he’d just suggested.

  “What about you?” She lifted her strap back up her shoulder.

  He was right to suggest they stop there. Despite how much Grace had been into what they were doing out on the balcony, she was still self conscious. When they slept together, he wanted it to be when she was so sure of herself that she asked him.

  When she did, he was going to do his very best to make sure she had no regrets.

  “I very much enjoyed giving you pleasure.” He smiled as she blushed for him. Maybe he should walk away, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking one more thing of her. “Do you want to play the game with me again tomorrow?”

  The smile she gave him was sure and not a bit shy. “Yes.”

  He had lied to himself. He was going to ask one more thing. “Do you want to do more than meet up to play the app?”