“This is pretty close, baby, but I don't think this amount of clothing would work because my little scenario had you riding me, oblivious to anyone else that might see us up here,” he told her with an arched brow.
Eve studied Gray for a moment and then smiled.
“What are you thinking, Evie?” he asked watching her carefully.
“About sex,” she blurted, making him laugh.
“Really? You? What a surprise,” he said sarcastically.
Getting to her feet, wondering if now was the right time for this conversation, she suddenly felt nervous and embarrassed.
Sensing and possibly seeing from the expression on her face how she was feeling, Gray reached for Eve's hand. “Hey, come back, I was only joking,” he said making her smile down at him.
“I know, but I need something to eat,” she explained, holding his hand and his gaze.
“Then let's have breakfast.” He got to his feet to follow her.
Standing in the kitchen Eve opened the cupboard door where Gray kept the breakfast cereal. She found his that had contained the free cards but there was no sign of her granola.
“Where did you put my cereal?” She scanned the other shelves.
“Ah,” grinned Gray.
“Grayson, what have you done with my cereal?” she asked, suspicious suddenly.
“I missed you being here,” he started. “So, I had a bowl of those crunchy balls of nuts and stuff you chose and they're really tasty, so I may have had them for a couple of mornings for breakfast, but that was a very small box,” said Gray as if defending himself.
“You’ve eaten my cereal rather than your own crappy chocolate, additive fuelled, comes with free cards, cereal?” asked Eve to clarify what he was saying.
“I guess that sums it up, but I like to think that what I have is yours too, so that should be reciprocal which means I have eaten our cereal,” he said stretching across the counter, kissing her gently on the lips.
“You think one kiss is going to make up for me going hungry this morning?” she asked pouting slightly.
Suddenly, Gray was behind her and spinning her around so that she was backed up against the counter, her front pressed firmly to his.
“I can give you so much more than one kiss, baby.” He tilted her head up before dipping down to take her mouth in a passionate kiss. “I will take you to lunch before this bloody garden party too. So in a minute we are going to go and pack a bag for our date night at The Stanford and then get showered and dressed before lunch and then we will endure my mother's charity fund raising efforts and my reward for that will be you. A whole night of you in our room at The Stanford, so pack your shoes, Evie,” he told her with an arched brow.
“What's our scenario tonight?” She gazed up at him, unable to take her eyes of him or prevent her mouth from curling into a smile. “I'm just checking what I need to pack because virginal Eve will not need crotchless panties, will she?”
“What? Crotchless panties? You have crotchless panties? If you do, I would like to know why you have them and why I have never seen them?” Gray pressed an erection into her belly making her smile turn into a full grin.
“I don't, but I have purchased a couple of items, so I was checking, that's all, Mr Sharp.” She looked down at the outline of his firm erection pressing against the denim covering his lower body.
“Well I think that Mr Sharp would quite like to deflower Mrs Sharp this evening,” said Gray pushing a few loose strands of hair off Eve's face making her arch a perfectly threaded brow.
“A virgin bride, eh?” She was happy with that plan and thought that if she was Mrs Sharp tonight then maybe that did make her a virgin bride.
“Oh God, Eve! I hadn't even considered that option, but you have yourself a deal, not to mention a wedding night to look forward to.” He grinned down at her, pressing himself into her firmly. “Now tell me what sex you were thinking about outside.”
“I too have imagined us out there together, having sex, and when you said it, I was thinking that I should have worn a skirt this morning, rather than shorts.” A mild flush crept up across the skin of her neck and face. “I’d also been thinking that leaving you in bed alone this morning may have been a bad idea on my part, but you were fast asleep and looked so peaceful.” She smiled a warm and loving smile at the memory of a sleeping Gray.
“Mmm. Anything else?” asked Gray obviously suspecting there was.
“Maybe, I suppose I was thinking about last night and contraception as well,” she admitted.
“What about last night?” He placed a hand on each of Eve's hips, ignoring the contraception comment, for now.
“You know,” she replied attempting to break free but to no avail as she was essentially trapped between Gray's arms and now his legs as stood astride her.
“Eve, I can guess, but I don't know, not unless you tell me.”
After swallowing hard and taking several gulps she expanded on her you know. “You said you loved me.”
“Yes, I did,” he replied with a slightly unnerving flatness that had Eve questioning if he’d really meant it.
“Do you? Do you love me, Grayson, because I don't need hearts and flowers or false sentiment,” she told him honestly. “And if it was just the moment, I understand that.”
“I had no intention of saying that to you, Eve, and as heated as the moment was it wasn't that. My feelings for you have been strong from the first morning when I woke up and you were gone, maybe even before then.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Eve attempted to absorb the words and the implications of them.
“Nothing to say, Evie. I began falling from the second I saw you,” Gray said with sincerity as he stared into her eyes.
“You’ve fallen for me?” Eve asked, a little disbelief and a lot of glee clear at the prospect of his response.
“Still falling, baby,” he replied with a serious tone and a flat expression, but his eyes? They told her that he was deadly serious with their glimmer and glow that seemed to be lighting up his whole face.
“Wow,” gasped Eve, wondering if she should say something, but what could she say to that, it was huge. Huge, beautiful and the most romantic thing she might ever have heard, and he hadn’t just said it, he’d said it to her.
“Yeah, well it hit me like a fucking shovel to the face.” Gray grimaced and then softened slightly. “I knew you were different and you made me feel different, but I couldn't name the feeling until last night; the rush I felt at the idea of seeing you again, how much I'd missed you, seeing your car parked outside, knowing you were inside and then the sight of you sleeping in my bed. Phew, that was like nothing I have ever known or felt and how I stopped myself from getting into bed and waking you up to kiss you and hold you and to touch you, I still don't know, but you woke up anyway. I wanted to make love to you, Eve. Not just fuck you like a man possessed and it felt really good, and right. When I told you I loved you, I meant it. I realised as I was saying the words that that's what I was feeling and I was rather relieved that you didn't say it back.”
“Why? Don't you want me to love you and to tell you that I do?” Eve asked confused.
“Of course I do, but not as a response to me saying it to you, not for the first time anyway. This probably makes no sense, baby.” He lifted her up to sit on the countertop in front of him, putting them eye to eye. “If you’d said it back to me immediately I would have been unsure if you'd said it because you felt obliged to or whether you really meant it, but I have never loved anyone before, been in love with anyone until now and I too wish you'd been wearing a skirt this morning rather than your little shorts that half of your sexy arse hangs out of.” He stepped closer, between her open legs that were now wrapping around his hips and pulling him closer still. “I think we may have to combine a shower and a shag before we go out or I am going to explode, baby. Now talk contraception to me before I relieve you of your little shorts.”
Laughing, Eve pulled Gray's face
until it was almost touching hers and very briefly brushed his lips with hers.
“Eve.” Gray whispered her name, making her fix her eyes on his before he continued, “You are teasing me and I warn you now that if you continue I will return the favour, so talk contraception to me and behave.” His tone was serious, but he still wore a smile on his face.
“Okay, contraception. We talked before about our previous sexual practices as far as protection is concerned and we both said that we’d always used condoms, right?” She suddenly felt nervous.
“Go on,” he encouraged gently with a nod.
“So, I was wondering, as I am on the pill, if you wanted to try without condoms,” she seemed to splutter out and then panicked slightly forcing her to back track. “Not that we have to and if you don't want to that is fine, absolutely fine, I don't mind and I would hate for you to think that I might be trying to trap you in some way and I suppose its efficiency is unproven for me as I haven't had sex before you whilst on the pill....”
Gray smiled before closing his mouth over hers, stopping the jabbering she was at risk of now. Slowly releasing her mouth and tongue he smiled at her before answering, “Eve, I love the idea of having sex with you without anything between us. I love even more the knowledge that nobody else has ever shared that with you so yes I want to try without condoms.”
Smiling, and her confidence suddenly bolstered by the knowledge that he wanted to do this for her and with her, Eve pulled his face towards hers again and said, “I love you too.”
Chapter 25
Gray drove through the gates of a large country residence and physically tensed as they proceeded down the drive until they were about halfway down it.
“Grayson, pull over, please,” said Eve feeling suddenly worried and overwhelmed.
He stopped the car on the furthest edge of the road so as not to block anyone else's way. Turning to look at her Eve thought he looked beyond tense now, worried, scared even and certainly older than his years. Removing her seat belt Eve turned to face Gray and considered how to proceed before deciding on her approach.
“We don't have to do this if you don't want to, but I know you will, for Sam. So maybe I should say that I will do whatever you want or need me to do to help you through this afternoon and get you all the way to The Stanford to start our honeymoon,” she added with a grin making him smile at her.
“Thank you, for that and for being here, but I'm unsure what will make getting through this afternoon any easier, Eve.”
“I can think of a few ways to ease your tensions,” she said with a raised brow.
“Well, you be sure to remember those for later, baby, especially as we managed the shower if not the shag earlier, but for now let's get on with the bloody nightmare that awaits us.”
“Okay,” agreed Eve and refastened her seat belt. “But if you think of anything you let me know.”
“Deal.” He smiled as they continued the journey to the very large country house at the top of the drive.
“Whose house is this?” Eve suddenly thought that it was very grand.
“My maternal grandparents. See, she was never going to be destitute, was she? And yet Sam and I were not enough reason to stay.” Gray sounded sad.
“She was stupid, selfish, spiteful, whatever you want to call it, but for the record I think she made the biggest mistake of her life, to leave you and not just because you're her son. I mean that I can't imagine anyone wanting to leave you. I can't imagine ever leaving you,” she said as an admission, almost having started this particular conversation with no intention of saying any of that beyond some reassurance that his mother had made a mistake in leaving her children.
“Promise me.” Gray stopped the car momentarily to turn and face her.
“What?” She was confused and conflicted by his piteous words and sad expression.
“Promise me that you'll never leave me, Eve,” he said seriously, but more than that there was a desperation in his voice, a necessity in his pleading tone.
“I promise,” she whispered even though she wasn't sure that she could really make that promise, not because she didn't want to. She did. But because she was unsure if you could ever make that kind of promise to anyone. Nobody knew what was around the corner, yet she'd said it and was going to say it again. “I promise I will never leave you.”
“Good, I can't imagine my life without you anymore,” he declared before completing the parking manoeuvre leaving Eve even more shocked than she had been the previous night when he'd told her that he loved her.
Staring across at him she wondered if this was real; they had known each other such a short time yet their feelings were strong and intense, his and her own, but was it too soon for love and declarations and promises of til death do us part? She had no answers to her own questions so pushed them to the back of her mind, for now.
Once parked, Gray took her hand and led her to the rear of the house, towards the garden where music could be heard, something soft and gentle, classical. Eve felt his grip tighten as they got closer to the other people who were assembled in the huge grounds to the rear of the house. A few people turned to look, as they would when anyone new joined a party, but a whisper seemed to spread like wild fire through the relatively small number of people on the patio and lawn, but as the whisper picked up pace more and more people appeared from the massive marque that filled the bottom part of the grounds and housed the string quartet and buffet if that's what you called the vast spread of food for afternoon tea.
“Gray! Eve!” called a smiling Sam as she rushed towards them, hugging each of them followed by Tim who was wearing a grimace more than a smile.
“Thank God you're here. I don't think I could have suffered much more on my own,” explained Tim, making Eve smile sympathetically.
“Where is she? Let's get it over with,” was the only response from Gray.
Before anyone could reply a very petite blonde woman, probably in her early fifties appeared before them and although she smiled, Eve found her quite cold looking with steely blue eyes and her hair styled perfectly in a poker straight, short bob added an edge to her sternness. She was dressed immaculately in a knee length floral shift dress that accentuated her perfect legs, well-toned arms, sun kissed skin and flawless complexion.
“Grayson,” called the woman in a low, even tone. “You came, darling. I'm so pleased,” she said, almost sincerely.
“Mother,” he replied curtly as she stretched and landed a kiss on his cheek.
“There are some people I'd like you to meet.” She grabbed his arm and began to drag him away, which in turn meant Gray was dragging Eve whose hand was firmly gripped in his.
“Later, Mother,” he snapped, pulling himself free from her grip.
“Diana, you haven't met Gray's girlfriend, Eve,” interrupted Tim grabbing his mother-in-law's attention immediately.
“What?” she asked with clear agitation in her voice.
“Eve, Mummy. She's Gray's girlfriend. I told you he was bringing her along today.” Sam smiled as she gestured towards an embarrassed Eve.
“Oh, you're a brunette,” she said as she eyed Eve, looking her up and down, from her hair in a French plait, across her body that was covered by a teal cocktail dress that stopped just above her knees. The flattering shape included a cowl neck, asymmetric shoulders, short sleeves and fitted waist. She continued her gaze across Eve's bare legs before finishing at her feet that wore black, wedge sandals.
Eve stared at her unsure what the correct response to her boyfriend's mother's first words to her being a description of her hair colour.
“And you're a blonde,” replied Eve holding the other woman's glare.
“Isn't she gorgeous?” Sam grinned, almost proudly.
“Are you sure she's your brother's girlfriend dear?” Diana asked, her catty remark making Sam wince at her mother's acidic tone.
“Of that there is no doubt.” Gray placed an arm around Eve's waist and a kiss to her temple but
she was unsure whether it was a show of protectiveness or possession.
“Well, well, well, if it isn't big brother and the beautiful Eve,” called Lucas as he appeared and seemed to ease the tension between them all.
Eve returned the smile that the skinny, blonde man gave them and even Gray managed a small curve of the lips that wavered slightly when he leaned in to kiss her gently and smiling still, said, “Nice dress, although I was hoping for a second view of your bikini.”
Gray frowned sternly at his stepbrother who had now turned to Diana.
“Dad was looking for you, Mum. He appears to be having a bit of a crisis with the wine.” Lucas hugged his mother with a natural warmth that neither Sam nor Gray seemed to possess where their mother was concerned.
The older woman stared up at Lucas and smiled as she gently stroked his cheek with tenderness before turning back to Gray. “Grayson, I need to rescue Edward, but when I come back, we should talk and then I will introduce you to some people.”
Gray made no response beyond a resigned shrug, then she turned to Sam.
“Samantha, will you find Poppy and make sure she's okay, you know how I worry about my little girl.”
Eve stared at Diana with a certain amount of disbelief that she could be so cold and callous in her dealings with Sam, but her thoughts were broken by the woman turning to her.
“Thank you for coming and well, have a nice life I suppose, Nieve.”
Eve smiled wryly knowing exactly what that one sentence meant; she was saying that Eve was nothing and nobody to her son and she would never see her again. That Gray would soon tire of her and that her name was of such insignificance that she refused to acknowledge it, although Eve doubted that she had genuinely misheard or forgotten it. Watching the back of the other woman disappear Tim and Lucas looked at her uncomfortably while Gray pulled her closer to him.
Looking up at Gray, Eve said, “Your mum's a bit a bitch.”
New Beginnings Page 30