Page 55 of Until Joy

“God, Graham,” I breathed out. The caress blew out my circuits every time, and he knew it.

His hands were just as busy as his mouth, cupping my breasts over the worn fabric of one of his T-shirts.

“Why do you insist on wearing my t-shirt to sleep in? You know it just gets in the way in the morning.”

The truth was, wearing his shirt made me feel safe. Wrapped in something that smelled like him, made me feel like I belonged to someone who would protect me. Good God, my old therapist would have a field day with that one! But I sure wasn’t going to admit it to Graham, at least not yet. But there it was, I was totally gone for Graham Wallace, even if I still wasn’t quite ready to tell him.

When I didn’t answer, he kept his eyes on mine, bent and sucked one of my nipples into the hot cavern of his mouth and sucked hard. Right over the t-shirt!

It felt so good.

Naughty.

I braced my hands against the headboard, arching up, desperate for him to take more of me. He sucked harder, and I moaned his name, then I felt his tongue, but it wasn’t enough. The sensation was too light. I told him so.

He plucked at my nipple with his teeth and I wailed. I needed so much more than just this stimulation. I needed him inside me. Deep inside me.

His cock was rigid against my hip, and I shimmied against it. Trying to tempt Graham to give me more.

“Tell me what you want, baby. You’ve got to say it.”

I bit my bottom lip. He stopped torturing my nipple. His hands that had been delving under the t-shirt stopped and I wanted to wail in protest.

“I told you. I want you.”

“Not good enough.” He traced circles around my bellybutton above the shirt. Again, the sensation was muted, I want to feel his fingers on my skin.

I needed to feel them.

“You’re the dirty talker, not me,” I protested.

“Just one little phrase. Come on. You’ve got it in you. You can say it. Say, fuck me Graham. I want your cock.”

I moved my hand from the headboard and reached down to touch his erection, he caught my hand in his before I could make contact. “Uh-uh. That’s against the rules. You have to earn it.”

I licked my bottom lip, this time on purpose. I’d noticed the way he looked at me when I’d done that. It always got a rise out of him. Both figuratively and literally.

“What are you grinning about?” he demanded to know.

“Nothing.”

“That smile says it’s something, and I mean to find out what it is.” He swooped in and gently nipped my bottom lip, and that quickly morphed into a mind-numbing kiss. Shit, he’d sure won that battle, but I wasn’t done. I curled one of my legs around his hip and writhed against his cock. His big, beautiful cock. Yep, I could say it. In my head, at least.

Graham broke our kiss, then reared up onto his knees and tore the shirt I was wearing from top to bottom. “Dammit, Joy, you’re wearing panties,” he grumbled.

“Don’t tear them,” I ordered. “I like these, and that was my favorite sleep shirt!”

“It was my tee. I’ll let you steal another one.” His fingers traced downward to my panties. I was already lifting up so he could take them off when he stopped. He went completely still.

In the morning light streaming through the blinds, it was obvious what he was staring at. It shouldn’t have been all that obvious. Just a thin white scar about three inches long below my left breast.

“Joy.” His voice was no longer teasing, it was now deadly serious, and I flinched. He saw that. What didn’t the man ever see?

“Shhh, Baby, it’s me,” he whispered as he softly traced my scar. “What happened?”

My mouth dried out until it felt like sawdust coated my tongue. There was no way I wanted to give him my truth. Not now. I just couldn’t.

He looked me in the eyes, and once again he saw what I wasn’t saying.