Page 60 of Gravity

"Jesus, Shortcake. You look breath-taking lying there.”

“More. I need more.”

My body becomes a hot mess when he adds another finger and lowers his head, returning to doing dangerously devilish things with his tongue. My legs tremble, my vision blurs and my body comes undone at his touch. Need, want, desire, lust and extreme amounts of pleasure fill every part of me from top to bottom with an orgasm that races to the surface thick and fast.

This. All of this. Every part of this.

“Grayson… I’m…”

“Let me hear you, Nora. Let me hear what I’m doing to you.”

When he grazes his teeth against me, that’s all it takes to have me pressing my thighs against his head and crying his name as the orgasm rips through me.

“Holy shit,” I pant, trying to control my breathing.

Before I can do anything, he’s back over me, crashing his mouth to mine with a kiss that’s full of pure hunger as I taste myself on his tongue.

“Thank you,” I whisper, holding him close to me and not wanting this moment to end, loving the fact his weight is on me, protecting me. “That was better than my dreams.”

“I want you, Nora, because you consume me more than you know. But that only makes this harder.”

After the almighty high, I’m suddenly hit with the reality of what will happen when the sun rises in the morning. And I know that after tonight, not only will I have to fight with my feelings even more, I’ll have to pretend that this night never happened because, in the eyes of others, it never can.

“What happens now? How do we make this work?”

I’m met with silence, his hot breath beating against my neck as I’m left waiting for a response until my heart sinks when he whispers, “I don’t know.”

Chapter Seventeen

Grayson

Resting with my hand on my head, I lay next to Nora and watch her while she sleeps, stroking her nose with the tip of my finger like I used to do when she was younger. I don’t know how long I’ve been watching her, but it’s been long enough for me to realize that for the first time in forever, my heart and mind feel at peace. There’re no anxieties, no demons, no memories that like to come back and choke me when I least expect it. I can’t remember when I last felt this way—so tranquil that my body feels like it’s floating. I usually have to contend with the wall of concrete in my chest making me feel like I can’t breathe, or the vice at my temples that gets tighter and tighter as time goes on. I’ve felt that way most of my adult life, and it all started when I was punched in the ribs and thrown up against the wall by my asshole of a father.

After so many years, I thought freedom had finally arrived when he decided for once in his life to do the decent thing and leave the family home. Only that freedom never came, because like the fucknut he was, he made sure as hell that Mom wouldn’t be able to live a happier life once he’d gone and continued to play mind games with her.

From that day forward, I was back to taking care of a fragile woman who became more broken than she’d been when she was with him. He’d controlled her while he was deployed. He’d controlled her when he was home. He’d had the power to make her quiver just by looking at her, and even when he’d left, he still controlled her from the other side of fucking America.

Life then got twice as hard, and I’d been out of my depth on so many levels—some days worse than others depending on her moods—and I’d accepted the fact that the way I felt was normal. Over time, I’d held onto the hope that one day, I’d find solace, a chance to breathe and escape the twisted world I’d grown up in, no matter how many years it took.

And I believe I have found it.

She lies beside me, she’s entwined around me, and she’s tugged at my heart so hard that I know damn well that she is it for me.

However, no matter how good it might feel now, there’s the little problem that comes in the name of Asher: my best friend, Nora’s older brother and a man who would kill for his family. He won’t see this as it should be; I know damn well he’ll never accept it, and a part of me won’t blame him. I’d told her I wasn’t sure what happens next, because honestly, I have no idea. But lying here in her bed, the taste of her on my tongue after hours of kissing her until we were both breathless, watching her come undone beneath me, and now watching her sleep, what I do know is that I can’t walk away from her.

“Grayson…” she whispers breathlessly with her eyes still closed, running her hand up my chest. “Why are you not sleeping?”

“Because I’d rather lie here watching you,” I murmur.

“What time is it?”

I glance over at the bedside clock before dipping my head to kiss her lips. “Almost five.”

“Too early.”

Rolling her onto her back, I continue to kiss her neck between talking as little whimpers leave her. “Too early to be kissed?”

“Never.”