“Nope.”
“What about a kiss?” he asked, tilting my head so our mouths were nearly touching. “Surely that’s acceptable.”
I hummed as his lips swept over mine, but didn’t claim me. “A kiss often leads to more,” I said, barely managing to restrain myself.
“I can be good for you,” he promised. “I can even beg if it will help my case.”
Goddammit. Here I was setting the rules, and yet he already had me wanting to break them. I had to be strong, though. No matter how badly my body wanted him, I couldn’t go there until we talked about all the things we’d left unsaid.
But a kiss? I refused to deny either of us that much.
“As much as I would love to hear you beg,” I said, loving the way his chest vibrated in a deep growl at my words, “that’s not necessary tonight.”
Just like in the treehouse, we moved at the same time. We were like magnets, bound to collide no matter how hard we fought against the pull. The taste of him was intoxicating. He had me wanting to say fuck the rules and give in. I might be the one begging by the time we finally came back up for air.
Without breaking the kiss, he reached down and lifted me into his arms. I wrapped my legs around him as we began to move, not stopping to think about where we were going or if I was too heavy for him. My only focus was on him and the growing hardness between us. I was just glad my own arousal wasn’t as obvious because I could feel how much of a mess I was.
“Don’t scream,” he said, breaking the kiss. I barely had time to register what he was doing before he winked and tossed me through the air. I landed on the bed with a soft thud, letting out a stream of giggles as he followed me down and settled between my legs.
I thought he would kiss me, but he didn’t. Instead, he just stared down at me. The curtains were drawn, letting just enough moonlight in I could make out the stubble lining his jaw and the subtle curve of his swollen lips. Reaching up, I traced them with my fingertips, feeling the moisture left behind from our frenzied kisses and loving the way they parted at my touch.
“What am I going to do with you?” he asked, lowering to his elbows so he hovered just a few inches away from my mouth. Whether by his own doing or just his body seeking friction, his hips ground against my center. My back bowed and my mind short-circuited from the contact.
“You’re making it hard?—”
“No, actually, that would be you,” he said, repeating the motion.
I laughed. “You know what I mean. We can’t. Not yet anyway. You promised you’d be good.”
Grady bent down, quickly kissing me before he rolled away with a groan. He settled beside me, both of us staring up at the dark ceiling. “I know, I know. I will.”
I let the silence sit for only a minute before I said, “It isn’t because I don’t want to. You know that, right? I’m not doing this to torture you. I want it, want you, just as badly.”
I kept my eyes up as the bed shifted and Grady faced me. He reached out, grabbed my hand, and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “I know, baby. You don’t need to tell me.” I felt him smile against my skin. “But if you want to tell me how wet I’ve made you, by all means… Go ahead.”
“Grady!” I turned around to see the playful twinkle in his eyes. “You’re only torturing yourself.”
“Won’t you put me out of my misery?”
My lips twitched as I suppressed my grin. “No. Only good boys get rewards.”
He groaned, making me laugh. “You’re killing me here.”
“The wait will be worth it,” I said, hoping I was right. It’d been so long since I’d been with anyone. Was it possible to forget how to have sex? What if I wasn’t any good?
His thumb ran along the crease between my brows, smoothing it away. “When it comes to you, it always is.”
grady
. . .
“Daddy?”
I heard Charlie’s voice from down the hall, but there was a hot, sweaty body clinging to my own, and I couldn’t move. Opening my eyes, I looked down to find Cleo curled into my side, sleeping peacefully. Our legs were tangled together, and her arm was banded around my middle, pulling me tighter. Though she would argue with me if I ever said anything about it, Cleo was so fucking adorable when she was sleeping. If this were how I woke up every morning for the rest of my life, I’d consider myself a lucky man.
But my daughter was about to burst through my bedroom door any minute, and while I didn’t mind her knowing Cleo slept in here, I wasn’t sure if Cleo would.
Gently, I reached over and ran circles across her back. Her body stirred, pulling me tighter and moving her leg up until it brushed my already hardening cock—which was going to be an issue if my daughter came in before it’d gone down.
