“This is gorgeous and definitely my favorite room,” she exclaims. She goes to the chaise longue arranged near the fireplace and plops down on it.
“I’m glad you like it.” Her pleasure feeds mine, and I grin like an idiot. I move to the French doors and slide them open. I gesture to Grace, and she joins me out on the balcony. It looks out on the pool and the back garden.
“This is the only room that looks out onto the pool. It’s completely private, so if you feel like swimming in the nude, go ahead.”
She giggles. “Highly unlikely.”
I take her hand to tug her back into the room and shut the French doors. “There’s something else I want to show you.”
“The bathroom?” Grace says sweetly.
“No. The bed. I trust you to test it and tell me if it’s good quality,” I tell her with a straight face.
She doesn’t crack a smile and instead adopts a thoughtful look. “I see what you mean.” She sits on the bed and then bounces on it. “I can’t quite tell. I’m going to have to take drastic measures to inspect it. Do you mind?” she says.
“Not at all.” I lean back on the wall to watch her.
Her movements are as fluid as a dancer’s as she stands up and slowly starts to undress. My breath is caught in my throat at the impromptu show happening in front of me.
Grace moves as if she’s alone in the room. She unbuttons her blouse, taking her time with each button until they are all opened. My heart beats crazily with anticipation as my eyes feast on the sexy woman that I’m lucky to call mine. My dick strains against my pants as each curve is revealed to me. My fingers itch to touch her soft skin, and I fist them to keep them distracted. She turns away from me, reaches back to unclasp her bra, and then lets it fall. Her lace panties barely cover her ass, and her bare tanned skin looks good enough to eat. She covers her breasts and looks at me over her shoulder.
That’s as long as I can last, and with a growl, I take two strides to reach her. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her shoulder and neck. She smells so good. Like fresh fruit on a hot summer’s day. I press my cock against her ass as I slip my hands around her and gently pry her hands away from her chest. I replace them with mine and tease her taut nipples. Grace pushes her ass against my cock, causing wild sensations to charge through me. I turn her gently around and kiss her hard before guiding her to the bed.
I quickly undress and arrange myself between her legs.
“I haven’t tasted you today,” I tell her as I pull down her panties.
“You have,” she says, her breath coming out in sweet pants.
“My memory must be failing me,” I tell her. “Spread your legs, babe. I want to look at what is mine.”
Her sharp inhale reaches my ears. I want her to know that this is not a game to me, not a short affair. I want her permanently. From the moment she walked into the chief’s office in the fire station, I knew she was special. I just need to convince her that we are meant to be, and a few inconveniences like lack of privacy are worth it.
She spreads her legs, and I stare down at her pink wet pussy. “Beautiful.” I go down and take a swipe. Grace cries out softly and grips my head.
I flatten my tongue and drag it along her clit. I know all of my woman’s weak points, and it doesn’t take long before she’s coming. I love seeing her like this, thrashing her feet and shouting my name in wild abandon. She gushes out honey juices, and I lick her clean.
“Jack … Kyle, I want you now,” she says, her tone urgent.
I trail kisses up her body while she tugs at my head impatiently. The plan was to tease her for a few more minutes, but I can’t wait to be inside her. I brace one hand on her side, and with the other, I line up my dick to her entrance. I slide deep inside her and groan as sheer pleasure envelops me. I brace my other hand on the other side and lower my head to kiss Grace while buried to the hilt.
It’s erotic as fuck to hear her moan into my mouth. She tastes hot and sweet. She scrapes my back with her nails, but I feel no pain.
I pull away and withdraw my dick and then slam back into her. I look down at her as I claim her. Grace is so fucking beautiful. For the first time in my life, I understand what they mean when they say that someone is beautiful inside and outside. That’s my Grace.
I know she’s not all in. I see the wariness in her eyes. But all I needed was to have one foot in. Slowly by slowly, I’ll inch all of myself into her heart, and she’ll want to claim me as hers.
My thighs slap against hers, and the room fills with the sounds of our lovemaking. I love looking at her when she has no guard up and all she cares about is the music we are creating with our bodies.
“Oh God, Kyle, I’m almost …”
Hearing Grace calling me Kyle jerks me out of the moment. Her eyes gleam with ecstasy, and I realize that she did not even notice the name she used. It doesn’t take long before my jaw is clenched in concentration.
“Oh God,” Grace whimpers and reaches for the headboard as if she’s worried that her orgasm will launch her off like a rocket. Her pussy walls clench around my cock, setting me off on my own orgasm. I come hard and violently as if my body has been saving everything for this moment. Grace wraps her hands and legs around me possessively as if she never wants to let me go. I wish it were true and not the result of a particularly good sex session.
I nudge her and lie down on her side and hug her to me. I kiss her forehead, and she looks up and smiles at me.
“You’re so beautiful; you know that?” I tell her, fighting to control my emotions.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” she says playfully, and then a serious expression comes over her features. “It’s weird doing this knowing there are people downstairs.”
I smile inwardly. The women I dated before wanted to be heard. To them, it was making a statement that we were together. I smooth back wisps of Grace’s hair from her forehead.
“No one can hear you from this room. The walls were made to be soundproof.”
The relief is evident on her face. “That’s good to know.”
“I’ve wanted to have you here in my bed for so long,” I tell her.
“Is that why you wanted to give me a tour?” she says.
“Maybe.” I kiss her cute slim nose.
She seems thoughtful for a few minutes, and then she speaks up. “I can sort of understand why you didn’t tell me who you are. More so after I told you my feelings about people in the limelight.”
“Has that changed?” I ask her and hold my breath as I wait for her answer.
She draws back to look into my face. “You’ve become very special to me, but I don’t think I can do life in the limelight.”
It was just as I suspected. She’s with me temporarily. As long as the press don’t find out about us, she’ll be here. I more or less knew this, but hearing it is tough.
“Why don’t we cross that bridge when we get to it.” I know nothing I’ll say now will push her to a decision. It will just spoil our day. “Hey,” I pinch her nose lightly. “You called me Kyle.”
“When?” Grace demands.
I laugh. “Right before you came.”
A blush pinks her cheeks. “You know, I’m starting to think of you as Kyle, especially after coming here today and hearing everyone call you that.”
“Just so you know, there’s no pressure. You can call me whatever you want. As long as you call me.”
She laughs. “So, do you have a nice big bathtub I can soak in? My apartment doesn’t, and I love tubs.”
I adopt a hurt look. “And I thought it was me that made you come.”
She giggles. “It was the tub.” She throws away the covers and gets up.
She pads to the bathroom stark naked, and I swing my legs to the edge of the bed and follow her.
“Wow,” Grace exclaims. “I love your bathroom.”
“Yeah, that was one of the attractions.” The color scheme is white and black, with a massive tub that comfortably fits both of us.
I fill the bath while Grace sits on the edge of the tub chatting. For the first time in my life, I wish I really were a firefighter. For sure, Grace and I would be together permanently. I love my job, and I’ve worked hard to get where I am. It’s not just a job too. I love that I get to entertain people and with every role I take on, I enter another person’s shoes and view the world through their lenses. That’s huge for me.
But with Grace, I’ve found something special, and the thing I love the most, which is my job, is what is coming between us.
“You look so thoughtful,” Grace says.
“I’m thinking that I want you in my arms right now.”
Chapter 17
Grace
“You’ve had this happy grin all day,” Isla says from the kitchen where she’s washing lettuce. It’s a twenty-four-hour shift and our turn to cook dinner.
“Can’t a person be happy for no particular reason?”
She stares at me. “I’m so happy for you. For what it’s worth, I think that Kyle is a pretty decent person. Everyone here says so.”
“I think he’s great too.”
“So what is his place like?” Isla says with the enthusiasm of a child, making me laugh.
I describe his house for her in excruciating detail and tell her about his staff, who seem to be in his house all the time.
“That’s to be expected, though, isn’t it? His personal assistant probably works from his house as well as his driver and bodyguard,” Isla says.
“You make it sound so normal to have five or so people in your house,” I tell her.
“It is normal for him.” Isla has a point there.
“Something else happened. Kyle told me about this friend of his. He owns one of the largest galleries in New York, and he saw my paintings at Kyle’s place. He wants to see the rest of my work.” My heart pounds as I say this. I’ve never harbored dreams of going to the next level with my artwork. It’s always been a hobby and an escape for me when life gets tough.
“Oh my goodness, what exciting news,” Isla cries out. “When is he going to see them?”
I wear a sheepish look. “I told Kyle I’d think about it.”
Isla places her hands on her hips. “Oh no, you’re not doing this. This is a heck of an opportunity to get your beautiful art in front of people.”
“I’m not sure it’s what I want.”
She drops her hands from her hips and looks away. “You have a special talent that brings joy to people. Remember the first piece you gave me? The landscape of the beach.”
I smile. “You loved that piece.”
“I still do, and it will always be my favorite. When I look at it, I feel happy, even when I’m sad and low. It’s a promise that tomorrow will be a better day and I won’t always feel sad. Imagine having that effect on other people, not just your best friend and boyfriend.”
Guilt kicks in. I know that art impacts people in a deep and meaningful way, but I’ve always told myself that I wasn’t yet good enough. I always put off showing off my art until a few years down the line, but now the opportunity has brought itself.
“I don’t get it,” Isla says. “What is stopping you?”
I think fast. I hadn’t planned on telling her about my past, but something makes me think again. I remember how it felt when I found out who Kyle was. I felt angry and betrayed. I saw it as proof that he didn’t trust me. When you trust someone, you’re open with them. Isla and I call each other best friends, but I don’t behave like one. I inhale deeply and make a snap decision to tell her because I trust her.
“It’s a long story.”
“We have all night,” she says.
It’s a good thing that we can multitask because, in an hour’s time, the guys are going to want dinner.
“I told you I was adopted, right?” I ask her.
“Yes.”
“Well, what I never told you was that I went to live with my adopted parents when I was ten years old. For the first decade of my life, I lived with my birth parents.”
“What was that like?” Isla asks me, creases of worry on her forehead.
“It was horrible,” I tell her. “You see, my parents were famous. My dad was Rick Ross.”
Her eyes widen. “The rock star?”
“Yeah, and my mom was a musician too.”
“I’ve read about them,” she says quietly. “My sister was obsessed with rock stars growing up. Oh my God.”
I can imagine what is going through her mind. She’s probably remembering the horror stories she’s read about my parents.
“I’m so sorry,” she says. She gets it. I might have grown up surrounded by wealth, but I lacked what I needed the most, which was love and stability.
I tell Isla a little bit about my childhood, and talking about it again, after Kyle, is not hard at all. I’m not emotional at all. I could be talking about a visit to the grocery store.
“Now that you mention it, there’s a resemblance to your dad,” she says and then goes still. “This is weird, but you resemble your adopted mom too.”
I grin. “That’s because she is his sister. That’s why it was easy for her to take me in.”
“That makes sense. I always thought it a wonderful coincidence that you and your aunty look so alike,” Isla says.
“I told you this because I know from first-hand experience how hurtful it is when someone you love and trust doesn’t come clean to you.”
“I’m glad you told me, though I do understand why you didn’t at first. It’s something you want to shove in your past,” Isla says. “So what does it have to do with your work?”
“I’d hate the attention it might bring to me. I know you can’t compare painting and singing but still … I like my adopted parents’ lives. Quiet and private. And that’s how I want to live as well.”
“That may be but Grace, what if it’s not your destiny to live a quiet life?” Isla says.
I swallow hard and shudder internally at her words. “I don’t want my destiny to be in the limelight. I’ve seen what it does to people.”
“Is that why you became a firefighter because it’s sort of safe?”
I raise an eyebrow. “I fight fires every day. I wouldn’t call it safe.”
Isla stares at me, but she does not pursue my deliberate misunderstanding of her words. “Text or call Kyle. Don’t let this chance go. Besides, artists are not usually in the limelight. It’s their work that is.”
I’m frightened at the thought of an expert looking at my work, but then again, I really want it. I grin at Isla. “Okay, you’ve convinced me.”
Isla jumps up and down. “Awesome. This is so exciting.”
Before I can respond, the bell goes off. Isla and I groan simultaneously. It always happens. Just as we’re about to ring the bell for dinner, a call comes in. It’s a fire, and it’s in a building downtown. I hate those, and I’m tense as I race to the bay and pull on my safety gear.
I hop onto the driver’s seat and pull on my headset. Minutes later, we are driving to the sight of the fire. We see the smoke from a distance. The tension is thick in the rig as we get closer and closer. Our response time is faster at night as there are no crazy drivers or traffic to contend with. I park the rig as close to the building as I can.
“It’s abandoned,” one of the guys says, and relief floods me.
The next two hours are crazy as we force entry and spray the building with jets of water. Even if the building is abandoned, we have to check it out carefully in case homeless people have found their way in and made it their home. Plus, there’s the issue of the next buildings catching fire.
When we have the fire out, Isla and I are given the duty of going into the adjacent apartment blocks and checking if there is smoke inside. We split up, and each takes different buildings.
I knock on the first apartment. I do this several times before the door swings open, and a giant of a man in a robe stands at the doorway glaring at me.
“What do
you want at this time of the night?” he bellows.
“There was a fire in the building next to yours. We’re just checking that you folks are all right and can breathe just fine.”
His eyes almost pop out of his head. He drops the attitude and clutches his robe tighter. “A fire?”
“Yes, but we’ve put it out; there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”
He looks visibly relieved. He lets me into the house, and the living room and kitchen are okay. Normal air. I do this with several apartments, and when I’m done, I go back downstairs and meet up with Isla.
It takes another couple of hours before we can return to the station, and by then, it’s way past midnight. My stomach growls with hunger, but I need a shower first. Isla has the same idea. Lucky for us, there’s just the two of us and four shower cubicles.
Afterward, we all congregate in the kitchen/dining room to have dinner. Later, after dinner and cleaning up, the guys all return to the dorms for naps before another call comes through. We’re all hoping nothing else happens tonight. We are tired, but emergencies don’t care about that.
Isla yawns as she changes out of her clothes into a nightshirt. I do the same and slip into the bed.
“Goodnight,” she murmurs sleepily.
“Night.” I’m too wired to sleep, and I reach for my phone and click on it.
I smile when I see a message.
Kyle: Have a good shift and take care of yourself. Text when you can; I’ll be up late, working on some scenes.
Me: Hey. I’m good; just come from putting out a fire downtown. Luckily, the building was abandoned so no casualties.
He is not asleep as a message soon comes in from him.
Kyle: I wish I’d been there. Not to fight the fire, but to keep you safe. Yeah, I know you’re trained and can look after yourself. But you’re my woman, and it’s my job to keep you safe.
Wild sensations race around my body. I should be offended, but I’m not. It’s flattering that he feels so strongly about me. I would feel the same, but I refuse to allow myself to. I don’t know how long this affair will last. Kyle is a movie star. I don’t know his track record with women, and I refuse to Google for this information. It could be a few, or it could be a truck load. Either way will hurt, so why do it?
One Hot Secret: A Second Chance Romance (Love on Fire) Page 10