by Raine Miller
Oh, that sounded bad.
Worse than bad was a lot more accurate of just how I had sounded in my pathetic attempt to converse politely with Speaker Olivia Morris.
So, I topped off my “worse than bad” with a little shot of “stupid fucking moron” by asking, “What are you ladies up to tonight?”
Audra Carlin, Secretary of State of the United States of America, shot me a quick wink. “Nothing we can discuss, Mr. Lash, but I assure you it’s not as interesting as whatever you have planned with Ms. Pinkarver this evening.”
Chapter Seven
GRAY
Reese was still giggling as we burst out of the stairwell that opened up into the hallway leading to my suite. Our encounter with two of the nation’s highest ranking public servants inspired us to get off the elevator and take the stairs the rest of the way.
It crossed my mind that she’d had a little too much to drink for what we were about to do, but the part of me that wanted her so badly just couldn’t stop from taking what she was offering. There was no more ability for rational thinking on my part. Nothing left in me to steer us in another direction.
The sound of the door shutting behind us worked like a signal for me. I was on her the second the wine was abandoned on an entryway table. With two free hands I could touch and feel her properly—and keep my promise to make her forget her name.
She lifted her lips, offering them so sweetly it made me pause for a second, because I knew once I gave in, it would be the end of my restraint. I’d do every dirty thing she’d let me do to her, while honoring any special requests, of course.
I had been trained to remember a gentleman listens to a lady.
I took her face in my hands and backed her up. Her lips parted and her eyes opened wide as I flattened her against the wall and kissed her for the first time. A real kiss with my lips pressed against hers, intimate and deep. I pushed my tongue inside for a taste. When she responded by meeting me stroke for stroke, the sexual tension increased tenfold. I felt her hands touching me, her palm pressing against my hard cock through clothing I wished would die in a fire. If she kept stroking me, a fire was probably a real possibility. I needed to take in more of her, but couldn’t stop with what my mouth was doing.
I moved my hands down her body simultaneously, our mouths never separating as I found new parts of her to explore. Her slender neck, the curves of her magnificent tits, and finally, all the way down to her equally magnificent ass. My hands stopped there, and I used my grip on her ass to pull her off her feet and up against my body. I felt her legs wrap around me securely, and also the throbbing of my cock from having her so close to me. Desperately linked in a frenzy of kissing, it went on and on, our bodies moving against each other. Connected by heat and seeking friction, the barriers of clothing were our only enemy.
Shoes dropped from her feet with clunking sounds as they met the floor.
I started walking at some point, carrying her wrapped around me with her legs split wide—right at the spot where my cock was agonizingly waiting for an introduction inside.
Somehow I got us to the bed.
By sheer force of will, I separated my mouth from hers, and dropped her down onto the bed. She fell back onto the mattress with a soft bounce and stared up at me. Her eyes were wild as she caught sight of the tenting from my cock. The admiration in her eyes as she swept them back up to focus on my face was pretty fucking clear. And so goddamn sexy I had to suppress the urge to whip out my cock and come all over her pretty pink lips.
We stared at each other as I toed off my shoes and shrugged out of my jacket, letting it drop to the floor with a soft thud.
Reese sat up on her knees in the bed and reached down to find the bottom edge of her dress. I held my breath as she pulled it up her body and then over her head, sending it down to land on top of my jacket. This left her only in some really sexy lingerie that needed to be peeled off her body.
With my teeth.
The black lace served as a mere enhancement to what she’d been born with: long legs I wanted wrapped around me again, a delectable ass I wanted in my lap, and perfectly round tits I wanted overflowing in my hands once I took the bra off her.
She lifted her arms, beckoning me toward the edge of the bed. Her small, delicate fingers started in on my tie, and then my shirt. I stood frozen in time and space, while her hands were busy with my clothes. Once my shirt and tie had met the floor, she efficiently removed my belt, then my pants. I was right in step with her, working in tandem to get us closer to that place we both wanted to be.
Naked. So very naked.
“Take off the rest,” I said, while peeling off my socks.
It was her turn now.
And she did not disappoint, because her hands went behind her back and released the tiny hooks of her bra at lightning speed, the tight hold of the lace cups coming loose as the two halves separated.
I held my breath as she brought her arms through the straps…and then the bra was gone.
Just Reese, remained.
And also a pair of lacy black panties that were dangerously close to a violent death.
Restraint was all but gone, once I could see her beautiful, beautiful breasts with my eyes.
God in heaven, help me.
“You are so perfectly stunning,” I said, closing the distance between us.
My mouth went to her neck first and then trailed down to the curve at the top of her right breast, all while kissing my way to the tightened bud at the center. My mouth found her nipple and sucked around the peak, drawing back on it until it popped out from between my lips. She protested the loss of my mouth on her with a sexy moan that only served to spur me on.
I went in again and again, alternating between the two with sucking pulls, until she was an arching, writhing creature ready to be fucked. It sounded so much dirtier in my mind than it was. Because this act was a thing of beauty between us. Reese was beautiful, and we were beautiful together.
Feeling her grinding against my thigh in desperation sent me into overdrive. I pulled back and stripped out of my shorts, freeing the beast before he turned violent on me. I did the same thing to her black lace panties as I had with my shorts—flung them somewhere across the room.
“I want in you, Reese.”
“I want it too. Gray, please—please I need to feel you.”
“I’m clean, but do you want me using a condom?” I managed to ask at the last second.
“No—Depo shot—it’s okay if you don’t. I trust you,” she breathed up at me, her hand smoothing down my stomach and abdomen to find my cock and wrap around it in a tight grip.
I hissed out a groan of pleasure as she gave it a stroke. Her touch…It was like nothing else I’d ever felt before. I’d noticed earlier when she touched me through two layers of clothing, the electricity fired off shocks throughout my whole body.
I slipped my hands to the back of her thighs and spread her wide open. The sight of her wet slit waiting for my cock was all I needed. My tongue and her pussy would get to know each other a little later on. Right now my cock wanted in, and he wasn’t waiting for a second request. Just the first one from her was plenty.
I nudged the tip between her folds and pushed in just enough to test her readiness. Slippery wet heat burned through the sensitive flesh, and we both gasped at the contact. Reese lifted her hips to try to take in more of my cock, and that was the tipping point for me.
I was done with limits.
I thrust forward all the way to my balls, fitting like a glove inside her. She cried my name as she took in every inch of me, gripping my shaft with a heat so intense, I was sure we’d both incinerate. My mouth came down over hers with a deep plunge of my tongue, swallowing her soft cries and moans greedily. I wanted—I needed her mouth and her pussy together at the same time. As I started to move in and out of her in a building rhythm, I realized I needed every part of Reese she was willing to give me. I just needed her.
We were going to fuck until we bo
th came.
And then we’d switch it up and fuck in a different position until we both came some more.
We would fuck and come as many times as we wanted, until we needed sleep more than we needed to fuck. It would happen eventually, and when it did, she would be in my bed sleeping next to me for the rest of the night.
Then in the morning, I would ask her to marry me, again.
And this time she would say yes.
Chapter Eight
REESE
My head hurt so badly, I was surely in aneurysm territory with the pounding. But no, the real reason for the headache was too many glasses of wine the night before, combined with who was naked and snoring softly beside me in the bed. Gray was a beautiful man in all of his glory, just as God had made him. I could watch him sleeping for a long time and be fully entertained. The rise and fall of his sculpted chest, the shock of sandy hair across his forehead, the calmness showing in his features while at rest. In fact, he looked so very peaceful, I made the decision not to wake him.
It would be best this way.
Easier on him, and better for me.
I had no business sleeping with Grayson Lash, and pretending this could become something real and permanent. My heart was still broken by Tim, unready for more torture. And it would end up being torture for Gray, if he persisted in this marriage thing with me.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember any specific details about the sex from last night, but it was clear we’d done it. There had been a lot of sex, from what I could figure when I went into the bathroom to put myself back together. I might not remember all the erotic details, but I did recall the conversation Gray and I had at dinner about love and marriage. He didn’t believe in love for himself, but was willing to give his theory a shot with me. That being, if he made love to me, he might feel differently about me afterward. I didn’t buy into his theoretical argument, but I didn’t blame him for trying either. Gray wasn’t using me. If anything, I was using him. He was simply hoping to make the best of a situation into which we’d both been born. I understood Grayson Lash better than most people probably ever would. I had the very same baggage to carry around on my shoulders, forever. But the fact remained, he didn’t love me, and I was too raw from Tim to open myself up to more heartbreak. And I was certain Gray could break my heart, if I gave him half a chance.
I looked like Sleeping Beauty in a reverse negative when I let myself out of his hotel suite. I had my walk-of-shame through the lobby of The Jefferson, before making my way into the waiting Uber I’d requested from my phone.
Gray would find my note on the elegant stationery supplied by the hotel when he woke up. He’d be angry at first, but eventually he would understand where I was coming from. In time, we’d go back to our normal relationship, and last night would feel far less important than it probably felt right now.
* * *
Dear Grayson,
* * *
I don’t want to discuss what happened last night between us. Please respect this request from me, as your dear friend you would not want to hurt, any more than I would ever want to hurt you. I am not able to do this with you right now, so I ask you to please understand where I am coming from on the heels of a broken relationship. My heart requires more time to heal before I try to open it up to another person. I know the content of your character is excellent, just as I know you are a fine man, who will do so much good for others in your role as a public servant, however highly you aspire to serve. Please take care.
With love,
Reese
Present day…
Horatio matched Gray’s suit perfectly. The exact same monochromatic festival of gray-ness blended together so well it looked intentional. My usually very protective kitty planted himself on Gray’s lap, and proceeded to purr himself into an enchantment broken only by the occasional twitching of his tail. Traitor.
Once we were inside my apartment, I told Gray to have a seat, and wait for me while I changed into something that wasn’t a wedding gown.
As I roughly removed the silk and tulle creation, and kicked it into a corner of my bedroom, I realized Gray had followed my directions without a word of challenge. For once. The mood between us was tense, and we were both exhausted, but I’d let him know earlier that he and I were having this conversation tonight. He wasn’t excused until I said so.
Maybe he was indulging me because he’d been so traumatized by my asthma attack/ambulance/hospital ordeal. Even though I was fine, and had responded to my rescue inhaler exactly as I was supposed to, Gray was not yet convinced. His experience tonight with me at the ER had really scared him.
When I emerged from my bedroom wearing yoga pants and my favorite pink sweater, Gray and Horatio’s bromance was in full swing. This from the cat who hissed at everyone, except for my grandmother. I wouldn’t care to lay odds on my cat being a beneficiary in my grandmother’s will, either.
I sat down opposite of them in my big fluffy chair, actually feeling comfortable for the first time in many hours.
“Don’t the two of you look cozy,” I offered as a greeting to break the ice. Everything felt awkward now, but I was determined to forge ahead and get my answers to some questions that had been bothering me for a while now.
Gray’s eyes flicked over me quickly and then refocused on Horatio. “He’s awesome,” he said, while repeatedly stroking down Horatio’s back from head to tail. “He would love it at Mount Laurel.”
“My grandmother got Horatio for me two years ago as a birthday present.”
“I remember you telling me he and Dr. Voldemort did not get along,” Gray said, while keeping his eyes focused on Horatio. “Smart cat.”
“I don’t think I have ever heard you refer to him by name, Gray.”
Silence infused with strains of purring cat was all I got by way of a response.
“Tim. His name is Dr. Timothy Pellton—”
“I know the cocksucker’s name—I just don’t want to speak it.”
I sighed. “Why do you hate him so much?”
“Why don’t you hate him enough?” he asked angrily.
“Are you afraid I would take him back? Is that why?” God, I would never take Tim back after what he did to me.
Again, with more of the silent treatment combined with ultra-focused cat petting.
“Gray?”
“Hmm?”
He finally looked up to meet me eye to eye. Gray was teetering on the edge of losing his self-control, and I sensed it wouldn’t take much to push him over.
I decided to give him a shove anyway.
“You’d better start talking, Grayson Lash, or you can get the hell out of my house.”
“Okay, you want honesty, you got it, baby,” he snapped. “Where do I fuckin’ start?”
“How about start with why you hate Tim so much?”
“He got you to fall in love with him and then agree to marry him.”
“Why do you care who I love or who I marry? It’s all so very stupid. You never wanted me until I was with him. That’s the honest-to-God-truth, Gray, and you know it. Please tell me why you want to marry me now and not before.”
“I have always cared about you, Pink. Always.”
“That is not what I am asking you. I know you care about me. Can’t you just be honest with me for two damn minutes?”
“You were always supposed to marry me,” he shouted back.
Horatio howled and took off like a streak of gray smoke, disappearing from Gray’s lap in a nanosecond. Most likely he was now hiding under my bed, and would stay there until he felt good and ready to come out. Horatio did what he wanted, when he wanted.
“But you never cared who I dated. You told me we could never be together right after your father died. You did not want me, Gray. It was not the other way around.”
“Well, I changed my mind, okay? I do want you. I want you to marry me, and be my wife, and live with me, and together we will make a wonderful life.”
“I’ve heard
that part loud and clear, Grayson. What you won’t tell me is the reason why.”
“Well, I’d like to know why you keep running away from me. Why you left me with no explanation beyond a fuckin’ Dear John on hotel letterhead, after the night we shared two months ago. It must not have meant much to you. It did to me, though. That night we had together was something so right—”
“But I explained in my letter that I need some time. Why can’t you accept that I need time to put Tim behind me?”
“Because we don’t have any more motherfuckin’ time to spare!”
“What does that even mean?” I snarled.
“It means the difference of a billion-dollar fortune going to our son—or not.”
“I knew it. This has been about money from the very beginning. How disgusting.” I pretended outrage, but it was nothing I hadn’t already suspected. Gray was simply putting legs to the idea.
“Do you even grasp the concept of a billion-dollar legacy, Reese? Talk to your grandfather if you don’t believe me. I went to Harvard with his contracts lawyer. James Blakney in Boston can give you every detail. Theodore set this plan in motion with my father fifteen years ago. We get married before you turn twenty-five. And then we make some sons whose surname will legally change to Pinkarver-Lash. How can you even act surprised by this news?”
I felt my heart drop to the floor. My grandfather was going to try to control my life from beyond the grave. To manipulate me by influencing the destiny of my innocent children who hadn’t even been born yet.
“This is our game plan, devised by others long ago.” He gestured with his hand back and forth between us. “We are merely the players in the game. Did no one ever mention the rules to you, princess?” he asked bitterly.
No, they did not.
“But what about love?” The tears were coming so hard now I could barely see his face anymore.
