She blinks before she laughs, the sound carefree and bright. “Your things?” she teases. “Am I one of your possessions now?”
“Lynley,” I tell her seriously, “you’re the most important one.”
Chapter 25
Lynley
The sheets are cool where they lie against my skin—a confusing contrast when every other inch of my body feels like it’s burning up as I rest my leg over the top of Grafton’s thighs. His arm is under me, his fingers tracing a pattern over my lower hip. Every time he creeps too high, I flinch and jerk away, making his chest jump under my cheek as he chuckles.
“Who knew you were so ticklish?” he murmurs against the top of my head, right before his fingers dig into my side, and I yelp.
I swat his hand away. “Stop that!” I admonish. “I’m naked?—”
“Very much aware of that.”
“—and I’ve had children, which means you’re playing a really dangerous game.” His chuckle deepens into a full-body laugh, and I smile as the sound washes over me.
The early morning sun is filtering into the room around the edges of the curtains, brightening up the room, and I know it’s only a matter of time before the kids wake up andcome looking for food. But there’s no part of me that wants to leave Grafton.
It’s been three weeks since our first night together, and I’ve gotten used to waking up beside him. We haven’t told Mase or Ginny yet, wanting them to process everything that has happened with Christopher, but I think they’re ready now.
They adore Grafton, no two ways about it. I try not to think too hard about thewhyof that, because it hurts too much, and it’s easy to start blaming myself for what I let pass over the years.
I don’t want to linger in the past anymore. I’m ready to put it behind us and move forward…with Grafton.
“You alright, darling?” A heavy hand settles against my hip, his fingers kneading. The words are casual, but he has become an expert at reading me, and I can hear the thread of concern woven through the question.
I turn over, lying half on top of him. My hands are folded over his chest, my chin resting on them. “I’m perfect,” I say honestly. “I know that some people might think we rushed this?—”
He lets out a low hum, his eyes darkening. “Not to my face, they wouldn’t.”
“But I can’t imagine being anywhere else,” I continue, like he didn’t interrupt. “Or with anyone else. I know there’s still so much in the air, and that he could still cause problems.” We haven’t heard from Christopher since the divorce papers were filed—not me, and not the kids. But the silence doesn’t fill me with reassurance.
One side of Grafton’s mouth tugs up. “Thank you for not saying his name.”
“You told me it was a rule,” I return cheekily, but thesmile fades away as I say seriously, “Anyway, he doesn’t deserve any space here, not even in words.” Grafton hums, a hand sliding over my head and stroking my hair. “Being here with you? It feels like I’m finally taking a piece of happiness for myself that was always missing.”
His hand tightens in my hair, pulling. I push up, allowing him to tug me up his body until my face is hovering over his. His other hand slides down my back and under the sheet, firmly cupping my ass. I shiver, my eyes drifting shut, but they fly back open when he tugs my hair again, his grip just on the right edge of being painful.
“You’re mine now. Your marriage was over the minute that asshole”—I huff out a laugh, and he smirks—“betrayed your vows.”
The words are firm. But there’s something behind his glacial eyes that makes me think he also needs a little reassurance. I reach out with one hand, cupping his bristly jaw, stroking my fingers over his skin.
“You’re right,” I say quietly. “I can’t even pinpoint when everything changed, but it was long before I saw the proof of his cheating. Maybe that rot was always there, and I was willfully blind… I don’t know, and I might never know. But the day he walked into that hospital with makeup on his pants”—I grimace at the memory—“I only felt… There wasn’t any surprise. Just anger and resignation. I was betrayed, but not the way someone in love should have felt.”
“You can still love someone without being in love with them,” Grafton tells me, his expression severe. “If there’s still a part of you that feels something for a man you shared a decade and two children with, that’s okay?—”
I shake my head. “No. No. The only thing I feel is gratitudethat he gave me Mase and Ginny, but there is nothing else beyond that.”
I lean down, ignoring the way his hand tightens in my hair, my scalp stinging as the strands pull tight. He doesn’t respond as I press my lips to his, but it only takes a second, and then he lets out a low groan. A gasp of surprise escapes me as he rolls us, his body pressing me into the mattress as he sinks his tongue into my mouth, devouring me like he can never get enough. I let my legs fall open, cradling his hips between my thighs as his rapidly thickening dick presses against me.
He slowly pulls back, his eyes heavy-lidded and his tanned cheeks flushed. I slide my tongue over my lips, tasting him, and his eyes drop, tracking the movement with such intensity that I feel the arousal pool between my thighs.
“You’re mine,” I tell him fiercely. “The way I feel about you… I never felt even an ounce of this for him.”
His lips curl into a wicked smirk. “Is that right, darling?” he drawls, and then he presses his hips down, grinding against me. “You confusing lust for something else?”
I whimper, arching my head back, my hips writhing against the pressure. “No, but that doesn’t help.”
