“Prove it.” Gray’s blood pulsed through his veins like wildfire. He wanted to hear her admit it—that he wasn’t the only one using his false bravado to get through each day.
“Prove what?” she snapped, hands clutching the edge of the countertop on either side of her.
“Prove you don’t like me, Terra.”
“And how the fu—”
His mouth was on hers before she had a chance to finish her exclamation. Terra let out a muffled sound of protest, her hands instinctively coming up against his chest.
She didn’t push him away. Instead, she let Gray kiss her hard and passionate, their tongues tangling intensely and tasting each other’s mouths with unbridled curiosity.
Gray had never kissed someone with so much unexplored need in his life. If there was any chance he’d been wrong about Terra’s desire for him, the way she kissed him back quashed any doubts he might have harbored. He pulled away, feeling a smug sense of satisfaction at the way her chest heaved with each breath she took.
“See,” he said. “I knew you liked me.”
Terra didn’t smile. She just continued to stare at him, a mix of shock and fear shadowing her gaze as she struggled to catch her breath. Whatever she wanted to say, whatever she wanted to do, there was a war raging through her about it.
“Fuck.” The curse came out as barely a whisper on her tongue, and suddenly she was melded against him, her mouth colliding with his just as perfectly as her body. She pressed up against him, and Gray could feel every delicate curve and contour, a heady sensation that only sent his body further into overdrive. He wanted her. Needed her. In a way he couldn’t understand.
And she was losing herself in the same battle. Hatred was replaced by incessant desire. It made no sense, and yet perfect sense at the same time.
To hell with whether it was right or wrong—Gray didn’t care. He lifted Terra, his hands cupping her ass and silently pleading with her to wrap her legs around him. He carried her down the hall, his lips never leaving hers, unable to break their kiss in fear that he would come to his senses and step away from her.
He kicked the door shut, immediately stiffening at the thought that he could wake up Allie and this whole rendezvous would be over. He fumbled around in the dark, flicking the lock into place.
“I’m going to make it really hard for you, but I need you to not scream my name and wake up Allie across the hall.” He tugged at her T-shirt, pulling it up hastily over Terra’s head.
“Get over yourself,” she panted out, peeling away his shirt with rushed movements.
They were a flurry of hands and fingers, grasping and tearing at every piece of fabric that came between them. Gray scoffed in between the kisses he trailed down the side of her throat. “You still want to hate me, don’t you, sweetheart?”
“Wanting to do something and actually doing it are two very different things, Gray.” The desperate moan that escaped her lips betrayed her icy tone.
She might have meant it as an insult, but he grinned in the dark, nipping at her collarbone. “Then let’s get past the wanting and get straight to the doing, Terra.”
He wasn’t the only one through with words, as Terra tossed his shirt to the floor and fumbled with the button of his jeans as she stretched up on her tiptoes to meet his lips again. This time, there was no hesitation, only determined fingers desperate to get the barriers out of the way that kept them apart.
Gray pulled her hands away and backed her up until her calves hit the bed, then he laid her back on it. His eyes never left hers as he quickly undid his jeans and pushed them down his thighs, dragging his boxer briefs down with them. In the pale moonlight, another wave of smug satisfaction rolled through him as he saw Terra’s eyes grow wide at the sight of his long, thick erection jutting out before him.
“Jesus...” she whispered, only adding to Gray’s smugness.
“See something you like, sweetheart?” He left his clothes in a pile on the floor and climbed onto the bed, hovering over her. On his way, he dragged his lips and tongue up her bare abdomen to her chest, biting at her hardened nipples through the thin fabric of her bra. The desperate moan it elicited from her only encouraged him, and he continued his trail up to her throat, then her mouth, claiming her as his own.
“Oh God,” Terra breathed against his mouth as he devoured her, hell-bent on tasting every inch of her. “Oh God, Gray...”
He was pretty sure that nothing had ever sounded so beautiful and sexy as his name falling from her lips in a desperate plea.
“What, Terra...” He grunted the words against her skin, nipping at her collarbone again just to hear the sensual gasp that followed. “Tell me, baby,” he goaded. “I want to hear you say it.”
The words didn’t come in a hurried rush, but Terra’s hands seemed to have a mind of their own, undoing and pushing her jeans down, the turmoil written on her face as her hips bucked upward, desperate to feel his rigid length against her.
“I want you inside me,” she admitted finally on a sigh. “Please, Gray. God, please.”
Her confession almost undid him then and there, and a low growl escaped his mouth. Between the two of them, they managed to peel away the remaining clothes Terra wore, and Gray stared down at her sexy naked body. He could feel the relentless lust coursing through his veins like wildfire, and surely that truth was ignited in his eyes, too. The desperation that stared back at him was unnerving, and it cut through Gray to the core.
He’d never seen such unadulterated desire, especially not for him.
He crashed his mouth against hers again, just as hopeless, giving over to his primal need to possess this woman. He kissed her hard, tasting every whimper and moan that came from deep in her throat as he positioned his rock-hard length against her damp entrance and sank into her. Every sound she made was like a bullet to his brain, killing every brain cell and leaving him only able to comprehend the here and now, the physical need and the desperate desire that pulsed through them in perfect synchronicity.
Snippets of rational thinking managed to cut into the sensual haze that consumed him, and Gray knew he should be gentle, give Terra time to adjust to his size...but he couldn’t. Gone was his ability to do anything but take her and claim her body.
He began to move steadily, his hips thrusting to bury his hardness deep inside her. He growled low in his throat, when Terra began to roll her hips up to meet his, taking every slam of his cock in stride despite the panting and whimpering that hinted at the pain mixed with her pleasure.
Everything within Gray tensed and twitched and throbbed with the need to have her, to get as close as possible and make her succumb to him. But even buried deep inside her tight core, he knew he’d never be close enough, never be strong enough to overpower the force that was Terra Payton.
She owned him just as much as he possessed her.
“You feel that, sweetheart?” His damp forehead was pressed against hers, and stared into her hooded eyes, watching the fire in her eyes as she took everything he gave her. Terra tightened around his thick cock, making the intense throbbing so severe that Gray wasn’t sure he could hold off much longer. “Let it go, Terra.”
He thought he saw a flash of willful determination in her eyes. She wanted to defy him, to refuse to shatter beneath him purely because he’d commanded her to.
He couldn’t let that happen.
Gray increased his pace, slamming into her with renewed force, dominating her, forcing her closer and closer to the edge.
“Come for me, Terra,” he demanded through clenched teeth. “Don’t hold back.”
Terra, in a bid to fight back, bucked her hips upward, driving his rigid length deeper into her and meeting every furious thrust head-on.
“Oh God,” she gasped, clenching around his rigid length, making him ache with the intensity of his need to come apart, too. “Oh my God—”
Gray was about to utter another demand, desperate for her to obey him, when the sharp intake of breath that came from
her mouth made her eyes spring open and her body tense and constrict under his.
Terra shattered completely with the weight of her release, succumbing and submitting to her desires as Gray’s thrusts pounded out every wave of her orgasm as it pulsed through her.
It was too much and not enough, all at the same time, and Gray clamped his mouth down on hers, desperate to muffle his own animalistic growls as his own release rocked through him. He didn’t let up until every wave of tightened muscles and sharp breaths had subsided, rolling onto his side beside her.
“If that’s how you fight with people you hate, sweetheart, you can sign me up.”
She turned her head to look at him. There was a hint of amusement at the corners of her mouth. “Shut up, Gray. You’re going to ruin this.”
Chapter Six
Terra
In the morning light, she really wished her first thought had been how freaking incredible sex with Gray had been. And it was—incredible, that is. But her first thought hadn’t been that.
It had been that she’d made a huge mistake by letting her impulses take over and letting herself end up in Gray’s bed.
What the hell was I thinking?
That’s just it—she hadn’t been. She had somehow allowed him to cloud her judgement. His kiss, the way he pushed her up against the kitchen counter and pressed his body against hers. He made her feel wanted, desired.
And she wanted him just as much. At least, she did in that moment.
Did she want him now? She wanted to tell herself she didn’t, that Gray was her employer and nothing more, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t willing to truthfully answer that question.
That didn’t mean she didn’t realize what a mistake last night was, though. Gray, surprisingly, didn’t seem to see it that way.
Terra managed to get out of his bed before he awoke and made herself look presentable before she had to face Allie. The last thing she wanted was Gray’s daughter seeing her come out of her daddy’s bedroom. She was five, and she was smart. The girl would ask questions.
Thankfully, it didn’t come to that. Allie was still fast asleep when Terra padded up the hall to the bathroom, and she was still sleeping when she came out and headed to the kitchen to make coffee. She’d never needed good, strong coffee more than she did right now.
“Good morning.” Gray rounded the corner into the kitchen, smirking with a sleepy grin as he ran a hand through his hair. Terra hated herself for noticing how delectable he looked in a tight black t-shirt and charcoal jogging pants that hung low on his hips. Visions of the way those hips moved against hers last night flashed in her mind, and she shook her head to clear the thoughts away.
“Good morning,” she said, not meeting his gaze as she grabbed two mugs from the cupboard. “Coffee will be ready in a minute.”
“Sounds good.” He closed the gap between them and reached out for her.
Terra flinched and pushed his hands away as gently as she could. “Gray...don’t.” Then, she realized how crass she sounded and she gave him a half-hearted smile. “I mean, you don’t have to. There’s no use pretending this is something it isn’t.”
Gray’s eyebrows shot up and his posture stiffened. “Right. There’s also no use pretending last night didn’t happen, and no use pretending we didn’t want it to.”
“Right.” Again, she sounded half-hearted at best as she turned away from him to focus on getting the milk from the fridge. “But it was a mistake. We both know that, Gray.”
“Don’t speak on my behalf,” Gray snapped. “Where the hell is this coming from, Terra? You didn’t seem to think that way when we were—”
“Gray, stop.” She held up her hands as she whirled around to face him. “This is getting complicated.”
“No shit.” A hollow smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, but Terra knew he was getting angry. “But it’s always been complicated, Terra. We’re fake fucking engaged, remember? It just stopped being a game when you realized I wasn’t the complete asshole you thought I was.”
Terra sighed. “I’m not going to argue with you about this, Gray.” She looked up at him pleadingly. “We’ve got to end this charade.”
“What the hell are you so scared of?” he demanded to know. His chiseled features were tight, his eyes alight with anger. “That you might actually like me?”
It was more than that, Terra knew that much. She more than liked him. Obviously, or she never would have given herself over to her desire for him the night before. “Gray, this was supposed to be temporary. I had plans to leave this town. I have plans to leave.”
A dark chuckle passed Gray’s lips and he shook his head in disbelief. “Ah, so that’s it. You’re just scared you might actually find a reason to want to stay.”
“Gray, come on—” She stepped towards him, but Gray stepped back, holding his hands up to keep her away.
“No, that’s fine, Terra.” He grabbed one of the mugs from the countertop with such a furious grasp that Terra thought it might crumble between his fingers. “You don’t want to play games, sweetheart? That’s just fine. Because I don’t, either.” He poured himself a mug full of coffee and then pointed towards the front of the house with the other hand. “Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.”
“Gray—” This wasn’t how she wanted things to go between them, and she felt on the verge of tears because things had gone so awry.
He pointed at her, cutting her off mid plea. “You fucking heard me, Terra.” He jabbed a finger towards the front door again.
Defeated, Terra stared at him, waiting for his defences to come down just enough that maybe they could talk this through.
They didn’t.
Instead, he turned away from her and headed back towards the hall, probably to get Allie out of bed.
Yeah, she thought painfully. I heard you. Loud and clear.
Chapter Seven
Gray
Gray had never been so fucking relieved in all his life when he found Terra gone from the kitchen by the time he wrestled Allie from bed and got her out into the kitchen to make her breakfast. He didn’t need her wondering why she was here on his only day off, and he certainly didn’t need her picking up on the tension between them.
Unfortunately, as Allie padded barefoot down the hall and into the kitchen, still wiping her eyes and dragging her feet heavily, the first thing she did was mention the one person he was hoping not to talk about.
“Is Terra coming today?”
Any other time, Gray would’ve seen the humor in that statement. No, pumpkin, she sure as fuck came last night, though. But, right now, he couldn’t even bring himself to faintly smirk at her innocent question. There were just too many emotions and hurt feelings flying around in his mind to even know where to begin.
“No, pumpkin. It’s just you and I today.”
“Can we see if Terra wants to come and hang out, too?”
Come on, Allie, give your ole’ dad a break, will you? “Not today, Allie,” he replied as gently as he could muster. “Now, get up at the table and I’ll get you some cereal, all right?”
“With the rainbow marshmallows?” she asked hopefully.
Finally, something he could bring himself to grin about. “Of course. Is there any other kind?”
Gray went about fetching the Lucky Charms from the cupboard and pouring Allie a generous bowl of them. He poured the milk, too, not trusting her to do it herself without having the entire gallon on the floor.
He placed the bowl in front of her and then took his coffee cup with him to sit adjacent to her while she ate it. Steam billowed from his cup, and Gray watched it rise between them as Allie dug into her cereal.
The minutes passed. The silence was nice, mostly because he’d always enjoyed the contentment that he and Allie shared with each other. She was young, but she understood the value of quietness just as much as he did. Especially in the mornings, which he figured was a learned behavior from him. Either way, it gave him a chance to sit with
her and enjoy letting the caffeine hit his bloodstream slowly.
“Is Terra gonna be my new mommy?”
Gray just barely saved himself from spitting his coffee all over the kitchen table, clasping a hand over his mouth until he had himself under control again and knew for sure he wasn’t going to choke on it.
Shit, so much for the easy silence he loved so much.
“What? Where did you get that idea from?” His daughter was smart, but she wouldn’t ask a question like that without having heard it from another source.
“Isabella and Sophia. They said it at recess yesterday. That Terra’s gonna be my new mommy.”
Son of a bitch. He should have known that his fake engagement would get around town and eventually make its way onto the playground at the school.
“I’m sure you’re going to hear a lot of talk about that kind of stuff, pumpkin,” he explained to her. “But Terra is just your nanny, okay?”
Allie shook her head. “Nuh uh. Terra’s my friend, Daddy. She told me we could be friends. I asked her.”
Jesus, she always has to be right. Wonder where she gets that from. “Okay, so she’s your friend and your nanny. But remember what I said before Terra started hanging out with you? It’s only for a little bit, until the daycare opens back up.”
Allie seemed to think about this. A little too much, if Gray was honest. “Maybe I’ll just keep hanging out with Terra after school instead of going to daycare.” She said it so matter-of-factly, nodding, like that was her decision and it was final because she said so. Her assertiveness made the corners of Gray’s mouth turn up.
“Nah, pumpkin, I’m sorry. It doesn’t work like that. You’ve got to go back to daycare.”
“But I want Terra to be my nanny instead.” Her eyes widened, rounding in that puppy-dog way she’d perfected far too young. Allie knew that look usually ended up in her getting her own way when it came to Gray. This was one time it wasn’t going to work, however.
“I’m sorry, Allie,” he said, meaning it. “You have to go back to daycare.”
A Nanny For The Mechanic Page 3
