Naked, they fell onto the bed. Warm skin brushed against each other. Heat and passion soaked inside her, grounding her to the soft mattress. He caressed her, moving up her body. His hard length brushed against her inner thigh.
“I’m trying really hard for finesse,” he murmured.
“Finesse is overrated and totally for later.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” He leaned away from her to fumble with his bedside drawer. A wrapper crinkled. She focused on his flesh pressed against hers. This was her fantasy from the past several months, finally coming to pass. He was better than she’d imagined.
He propped himself up, and his finger slid down her wet folds. The tip of him brushed her. He entered her with slow precision that argued against his earlier insistent words. He pressed inside her until she was filled.
“Oh.” The sigh escaped her.
He froze. “That sounded better than your last ‘oh.’”
“It was.” He felt so good inside her. Every second stretched her patience. She wanted him to continue. “Now move.”
He was smiling when he kissed her again. He moved back and pushed forward again, his speed maddeningly slow.
She broke their kiss. “Harder. Faster. I thought we were in a hurry.”
“We are.”
“Then by all means.”
He took her to the brink fast and hard and sharp. When they fell over the edge, it was only a few minutes later, but they went together and it was the most perfect sensation she’d ever experienced.
She came for a long time after he’d finished. He stayed with her, inside her, and waited until the last of her orgasm pulsed. The aftershocks lasted longer than the main event, but she wouldn’t have changed a thing.
As Griff’s breathing evened, he wondered if Hannah was sleeping. He didn’t want to shift and wake her. Her head rested in the crux of his neck and shoulder, and he liked holding her tight against his side.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been tempted to ask a girl if the sex had been okay. She’d contracted around him and gone over the edge. He’d wanted a little more buildup, but the last several months hadn’t offered him much patience.
She sighed. “That was fantastic.”
He exhaled a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding.
A playful snickering noise escaped. Not one he’d ever heard from her. “You stopped breathing, and I got concerned.”
“I wasn’t going to ask you how it was.” At least, he could pretend he hadn’t been. Pretend he’d kept his manliness intact. “I like knowing.”
She snuggled closer to him. “I don’t get off on playing coy.”
“Good.”
“Sometimes, I really hate foreplay.”
Well, hell. Not something he’d ever expected to hear a woman say. He couldn’t help a stab of disappointment.
She laughed again. “Don’t sigh so heavily.” She mock slapped his stomach. All he could think was...lower... “I like it other times.”
Good to know.
“I figure we have lots of time to figure out our preferences,” she said.
He liked the sound of a long, long time. He wasn’t sure if the sexual attraction was enhanced because he liked her so much, or if it had been there all along. Whichever it was, it formed an intimacy he’d never experienced.
Her head popped up. “Just not all one hundred times tonight.”
All he thought was, huh?
“When I found out about all the packs of condoms, I worried you might have some mad, insane marathon planned.”
He laughed. “Can’t blame you. We can do whatever you want. I haven’t ever gone more than a few times in a row.”
She straddled him again. Fingers danced over his hardening length. “Are you ready now?”
“Yeah.” This time when he slipped inside her, he went slow and made sure she knew sometimes he could wait too. He’d offer her whatever she wanted. Night after night. For the long-term. He was so screwed. Literally and figuratively. At the moment, he didn’t mind either.
Chapter Five
A few days later, Hannah stretched out in Griff’s bed with her arms over her head. He moved against her, distracting her and making her think of a better way to start their morning. It was early because she was used to getting up for work, but with winter break, she was getting spoiled. It was kind of nice to relax.
A sharp ringing noise ruined her chipper mood.
Griff groaned next to her. Fumbling echoed through the room. A grumpy voice asked, “What do you want?”
She smiled and moved over onto her side with her back to him to hide her amusement. She also made a mental note not to call and wake him in the morning. Not that she planned to wake up anywhere but beside him like she had every day since they’d been together the first time. She’d slid into his life with ease, as if she’d always been there. She had no plans to point that out. Yet.
“Shit.” Griff’s tone sounded resolved.
She wouldn’t be starting her day how she’d become accustomed. She’d always enjoyed sex, but Griff was a lover a step above the rest. She hadn’t disclosed this information to him. Yet.
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He clicked off the phone and got out of bed.
Frustration beat through her bare body, but she snuggled against the covers and watched him grab some jeans from the floor. She bit her tongue to keep from telling him to get a new pair from the dresser. They probably weren’t at the point in their relationship where she could suggest that. They might never be at that point in their relationship, because she honestly shouldn’t care what jeans he wore. Fighting the urge could be another battle against Haughty Hannah. The old nickname was a solid reminder of what she didn’t want to be.
Griff hesitated when his attention caught on her in the bed. There was an awkward moment she couldn’t explain that went beyond being without clothes. “What?”
“That was Steve. There was a hardware store delivery problem, and he needs a hand with some heavy lifting. He’s always offering to help everyone for nothing in return. I owe him.”
“Okay.” Why wasn’t he leaving? Why was he hesitating? Was there something she was missing?
“So I have to leave now. It’s blocking traffic on one of the roads. Kind of urgent.”
Okay, she was definitely missing something.
“You better hurry.” He gestured toward the door.
The embarrassing truth dawned on her. “You want me to leave before you leave?”
He nodded.
Her stomach sunk with a deepening ache. Damn. POW. A blow she hadn’t been expecting. “You don’t want me alone in your house.”
He didn’t deny it.
Wow. She hadn’t seen this disillusionment coming. He was drawing a clear line here, whereas she’d started thinking they were beyond lines. He hadn’t said anything about not having a serious relationship. He seemed like the kind of guy who would lay down the law if this thing was casual. He hadn’t breathed a word.
Her movements were jerky as she got out of bed. She couldn’t stop her temper from rousing. If a man was going to use a woman for sex, the least he could do was tell her ahead of time. She’d known he was rude, but there’d been more underneath.
She told herself not to say a word. To get in her car and go. She grabbed her jeans from the floor and stuffed her legs into the holes. The material scratched against her skin. He didn’t deserve for her to speak to him. She would stay silent and leave. Like he so obviously wanted.
“I didn’t realize this was a fling.” She couldn’t stop the words.
His face remained blank. He revealed nothing. His hand came up and rubbed against his neck. “What are you talking about?”
She stared at him. “You’re treating me like a one-night stand you don’t want in your house anymore.”
He shifted his weight. “I am not.”
“Yes, you are. I’m obviously very stupid. I read more into this than I should have. I guess I
thought this might be exclusive and—”
He got all up in her space, a solid wall of muscle. “This is exclusive.”
Her breath caught.
She stared at his angry expression. She’d pissed him off.
His hand snaked out and pulled her to him. “Tell me you haven’t been with anybody else.”
“Of course I haven’t. I’ve been spending all my time with you.”
He kissed her, drawing out the sensation and making her want to go back to bed. His fingers trailed down her exposed breasts. Her mind kept repeating, lower.
When her bones were liquid, he broke the embrace. She sighed with lust.
“Neither have I.” He drew away.
Even though she’d known he wouldn’t have had a ton of opportunity to go catting around, she still felt much better about life.
“I’m going to stop touching you now because I have to go do Steve a favor. I really do owe him.”
“Okay.”
He did that stupid hesitating thing again and completely destroyed her fantastic mood. She crossed her arms. “Why are you stalling again? We established I’m your girlfriend.”
The corners of his mouth lifted. “Oh, did we?”
Some men needed the law laid down. “Yes.”
“Fine.”
“Your exclusive girlfriend who you’ve spent all of your free time with for weeks.”
“I’m not arguing that point with you. You still can’t stay in my house.”
Oh. He knew exactly how to irritate her. How inconvenient. “Why not?”
“You’ll snoop.”
Outrage shot through her. “Why of all the—”
He lightly brushed her lips with his. “Don’t lie to yourself.”
She stopped short. “I wouldn’t.”
“I know you.”
“If you really knew me, you’d know—”
“That you’re going to snoop.”
She snapped her mouth shut. She sniffled and shot him her sad kitten eyes expression. It had worked on her sisters growing up. “You don’t trust me.” She sniffled again.
Horror spread across his face. “Don’t cry.”
She sniffled a third time.
“Good god. Stop that.”
She released a shuddering breath. “I wish you trusted me.”
Helpless lines spread on his forehead, and he rubbed the back of his neck.
“I understand.” She conceded, going for the win. “You don’t want me here.”
All at once the fight fled his stance. “Fine. Stay. The spare key’s on the hook in the entranceway. Take it. Just don’t go through my things. I have to go.” He stomped out of the room. She stood there and told herself not to react. Not how she’d seen him giving her a key, but she’d take it. This was not her proudest moment. She accepted that.
His truck rumbled to life. Pavement crunched as he drove off.
She smiled once she made sure he was gone. She threw on her bra and shirt so she was no longer topless. There was no reason to be with Griff gone. She waited another five minutes before grabbing her cell phone and calling her sister.
“If you’re not dead or critically injured you’re certifiably insane,” Janey said. “Leave a message. Beep.” The beep was her sister, which meant this was not a recording.
“You know I don’t like it when you use the word insane in a negative context.” Janey never listened to her PC lectures. The same ones their mother had given, and the ones Hannah had given up on trying to stop.
“What do you want? I’m sleeping.”
“Griff got an urgent call and he left. But he didn’t want me to stay in his house.”
“I can’t imagine why not.” Why did her sister sound sarcastic?
“Exactly. Me neither.”
Janey snorted through the phone. “He knows you’ll go through his stuff.”
Why was everyone so off base? “I would never.”
“You must be there now. He let you stay. Why?”
“I might have used the kitten eyes.”
“He fell for that? My estimation of him just went down.”
Funny. Because Hannah’s had totally gone up. “I need your help.”
“Uh oh. I’m not getting involved.”
“He’s obviously hiding something. Now I have to look.”
Janey groaned. “You can’t fault him for knowing exactly what you’d do.”
“If he had nothing to hide, he wouldn’t be so intent on not leaving me here alone.”
“He did leave you there.”
“Only because my fake crying deserves an award.”
“How many times do Cate and I have to tell you we never fell for it? You were annoying and we let you think it worked because then you left us alone.”
They were still going with that lie after all these years? “I’m going to start with his office. I’ll just look through a few things.”
“This is a really bad idea.”
“I know but—”
“Think of this as a test,” Janey said.
Hannah shook her head. “What?”
Janey sighed through the line. “I know you can’t stand failing tests.”
Instantly aware of the seriousness of the situation, Hannah tried not to shudder. “That doesn’t have anything to do with—”
“It’s a test,” Janey insisted. “If you leave now without snooping, you get an A. If you go through his stuff, you fail.”
She really hated failing. Failing was bad. Failing was forbidden. Wait, did Janey tell her not to snoop? Her brain finally caught up with the rest of her. “Oh my god. Please tell me I wasn’t going to go through his things. That’s horrible.”
“I stopped you. You’re welcome.”
Sure, Janey sounded reasonable. But... “If he had nothing to hide, he wouldn’t be worried about leaving me here.”
“Then have that conversation later. You step out of that house right now. And lock the door behind you.”
Hannah hated when Janey sounded reasonable. She hardly ever did. “I’m leaving.”
“Good girl.”
“Stop acting like I’m a child.”
“Then stop acting like a child,” Janey snapped back. “I’m going back to bed.”
Hannah sighed, but her sister didn’t hang up. “Thanks for helping me make better choices.” Better choices meant she was moving on the path toward normal, surely a good sign.
Janey’s snort was the last thing she heard before the line clicked off.
Forcing herself to leave, Hannah grabbed her things and made it out the door. Everything inside her was dying to know what Griff was hiding. Things had been going too well. She should have known something was going to come between them.
That was life. You lived every day knowing the love of a parent, and then they were ripped from you. Her mood plummeted as she got into her car to drive home. She should have known she couldn’t have a perfect relationship. No such thing existed. Because relationships always ended, one way or another.
* * *
Griff wiped his forehead with his sleeve. He’d have to take a shower before Hannah got within three feet of him. A surprised jolt smacked him. When had his thoughts started going to Hannah first before anything else? He’d have to stop asking himself that question. When didn’t really matter, it was natural now.
Steve exited the store and threw him a water bottle. “Thanks for your help, man.”
“No problem. Anytime.”
“I’m not sure how to explain stray cement blocks, but Doug is pretty embarrassed he forgot to latch the truck.”
“At least no one was hurt.”
“True. Still appreciate you coming out here. Rumor has it you might have been engaged in something a lot more interesting.”
Griff couldn’t remember ever talking women with the guy before. “Is that your small town showing?”
Steve laughed and shrugged. “You caught me. I usually manage to act disinterested, but I did grow up here with all
the town gossips. Sometimes you get used to knowing things, and it doesn’t seem right not to ask. Plus, those girls are like my sisters.”
Oh man. Griff picked up on the subtle shift in tone. “You going to warn me off?”
Steve grinned. “If I was going to do that, I would have done it before now.”
“Good to know.”
“Just wondering about your intentions.”
This was an interrogation dressed in jeans. “I haven’t even thought about my intentions.”
“There are a lot of people wondering.”
About the town’s favorite volunteer? No shit. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”
“Fair enough.”
There was something Griff couldn’t leave unsaid. “I left her alone in my house.” He watched Steve’s expression.
The other man’s features turned suspiciously blank. Unlike him. “You left Hannah unsupervised in your house? Huh.”
He didn’t like the sound of that short phrase. “I don’t know what made me hesitate to leave her there.”
“You hesitated?” Steve whistled. “I bet she hated that.”
“She was all offended I wasn’t enthusiastic about her staying.”
“Can’t say I blame her for that.”
“I don’t know. Something about the gleam in her eye made me nervous.”
Steve gulped down more water.
“You know the sisters well,” Griff said. “Why do you think I’m having that kind of reaction?”
Steve stared him straight in the eye. “I know the sisters well.” He nodded to confirm his words. “They’re kind of like cats.”
“Cats,” Griff repeated. What the hell did that mean?
“Yeah, you know. Curious. Sleek. Sneaks, but somehow classy.”
Griff thought Steve had thought a lot about this, but he didn’t mention it. The man said he thought of the women as sisters, and he chose to believe him, because frankly, well, he didn’t care as long as the man stayed away from Hannah.
His possessiveness kind of threw him for a loop. “I can see that.”
“But you’ve got yourself a problem now,” Steve continued.
The way Griff saw it, he had quite a few. After all, he was trying commitment. “And what’s that?”
For My Own: A Contemporary Christmas Anthology Page 31