by KB Winters
“Megan, what’s wrong?” His voice was so alarmed and I started to cry all over again, heartbroken by the sound of concern.
“I need help. I was with my friend, and he tried to—” my words broke and I sniffed loudly. “Anyways, I told him no and he got really, really mad, and he threw my keys, so I can’t go home and the busses don’t run this time, and I don’t know what else to do.”
“Stay there, I’m coming right now. I’m calling the police.”
My heart leaped inside me and thud out a new, even more frantic rhythm. “No! No, please, Grant. Don’t do that.”
“He hurt you, Megan,” Grant said, and I knew his teeth were grit together.
“No, he scared me. He didn’t—we were drinking—it was just…”
There was a pause, and I desperately wished I knew what he was thinking. I hoped I didn’t sound stupid. “Grant, please. Just you, okay?”
“Okay,” he agreed, his voice low and thick. “Where are you?”
“At the corner of Central and West Thirty-second.”
“Oh God, Megan, stay there, and swear that you will call the police if he so much as looks at you until I get there.”
I nodded and licked my lips, looking back over my shoulder, as though Grant’s words would conjure Max from the bushes.
“Megan!”
I whipped back around. “Yes, yes, I’m sorry. I promise.”
“Good. I’ll be there soon.”
I clicked off the call, my hands still shaking, and shoved the phone deep into my pocket. I checked behind me one more time but the street was deserted. I found a bus stop a little ways down the block and sat down at the bench, my eyes staring, unfixed at the road, waiting for Grant’s car to roll up.
He arrived minutes later, and for a brief moment I wondered how many traffic laws he’d broken to arrive so quickly.
“Megan,” he breathed, as he exited the car and found me sitting on the bench, my knees pulled up into my chest.
In that one word, my heart broke all over again, and I couldn’t catch a full breath in between the rush of tears.
Chapter Nine — Grant
My Ferrari couldn’t get me to Megan fast enough. I pushed the gears, flying through the streets, and making sharp turns on the fly as the GPS system directed, until I finally arrived at the corner she’d told me. I saw her and came to a stop in front of the bus stop where she was waiting. Seeing her balled up, her feet tucked under her, her hair a mess and her eyes glossy with tears, ripped my heart out of my chest. She smiled when she saw me, but there was no light in her eyes. “Megan.”
I went around the front bumper and she came into my arms automatically. Her body trembled against mine and I knew she was crying but trying to stifle the sounds. “It’s going to be okay. I’m here now.”
Megan nodded against my chest. “Thanks for coming. I didn’t know what else to do.”
The fact that she’d called me filled me with warmth and a streak of fear. I wanted Megan, and hearing her in distress had riled me like nothing else, but the thought of her placing all of her trust in me…terrified me. I’d never given any woman anything significant to hold on to before. I was a shadow. I didn’t leave behind my number, email address, and half the time, the women I was with didn’t even know my last name. On the odd chance I’d left behind a personal effect, a jacket or sunglasses, I went out the next day and bought a replacement rather than expend the energy to track down the woman and get the item back.
Megan not only had my full attention—and had become the only object of my desire, but she was dangerously treading into an entirely new territory—and she didn’t even know it.
I gripped her tighter and pushed the fear from my mind. For tonight, it wasn’t about me, it was about her. Whatever she needed from me, I would give to her. Her body against mine was enough to stir my desires for her, and fill my mind with an endless stream of possibilities of things I wanted to do with her, but again, I set those things aside.
“Come on,” I said gently, keeping an arm around her as I walked her the three feet to where I’d parked my car alongside the curb. “I’ll send someone to get your car in the morning.”
She stopped short of the car and looked up at me, her eyes wide with terror. “Grant, I can’t…I can’t go home tonight.”
A new shiver crept over me as I tried to interpret her meaning.
“After the stuff at the gallery, things are rocky. That’s why I was here,” she continued, giving a sharp nod back at the dark outline of the apartment complex.
The hair on my neck stood up, rackled at the thought of the smug son of a bitch who was sitting in his apartment probably thinking about how he’d almost had Megan. “You’ll come to my place.”
She cut her eyes away from me and looked beyond me for a moment.
She was scared. I could feel it radiating off of her. “Megan,” I said, placing my finger under her chin and directing her eyes back to mine. “I’ll take care of you. Nothing bad will happen to you.”
“I know,” she replied, her voice a hoarse whisper.
I opened the passenger door for her and waited until she swung her legs inside before shutting it softly behind her. I paused for a moment, fighting the internal urge to go and kick the guy’s ass but then shook it off and turned my attention back to taking care of Megan. She was all that mattered right now.
* * * *
I watched for a flicker of recognition in Megan’s eyes as we stepped inside my condo. She looked around but didn’t blush as I’d expected. Her pale skin tone was particularly susceptible to blushing, and I’d figured that the memories of the night we’d spent here in the past would be coming back to her, but she remained unphased as she walked through to the living room.
“Do you want anything to drink? Eat?”
She shook her head and sank into the deep cushions of the L shaped sofa that looked out over the city. There was a flat screen TV that dropped down with the push of a button but was currently hidden, retracted into the wall. I flicked a switch and a fire roared to life in the fire and ice style fireplace on the wall. In LA, it was more for aesthetic than anything else, and Megan smiled at me and nestled down, basking in the glow. She looked like she’d been on my couch a million times. I watched her for a moment as she stared out the windows taking in the view, and then turned away and silently went to the kitchen. I made two cups of hot tea and grabbed a tray of cut fruit from one of the drawers before going back to join her.
“In case you change your mind,” I said, setting the tray down on the glass coffee table.
“Thanks.” She pulled her legs up underneath her and reached for a mug of tea. The room was warm, set to a perfect 72 degrees, but she wrapped her hands around the cup as though she needed the warmth.
I took the other mug and sat beside her, leaving only a small gap of space between us. “You wanna talk about it?”
She shook her head and stared out the window for a moment, before saying, “It’s just so messed up, you know?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry that you had to go through that.”
She looked at me and considered me for a moment, as though deciding how much to say. “Thanks.” She sipped at her tea, and I hoped she didn’t burn her lips on the scalding water. “I guess in some ways I should have seen it coming. The signs were probably there. I just always thought we were friends.”
“Was it the guy from the gallery?” I asked, instantly hating myself for asking. I didn’t want to sound like a jealous prick, but the curiosity was eating a hole in my brain.
“No. That was Logan.”
I held back a cringe—I’d remembered the name just fine.
She didn’t seem to mind that I’d asked the question, and continued—her voice soft and distant. “It was Max. We go to school together. He’s friends with Taylor and Jeanine. They were my friends, too. Not anymore.”
For the second time, I didn’t know what to say. I sipped at my own tea and waited.
“That’s w
hat I mean,” she looked at me again before shifting her eyes to the wall of windows. “My family thinks I’m a self-righteous bitch, my friends don’t support me, I’m behind in every single class no matter how hard I work, and now this. My life is nothing but a clusterfuck—a disaster.”
I wanted to touch her, every fiber in my body yearned and begged to reach out and run down the soft skin of her leg that was displayed. She was wearing a short emerald green dress that flared out at the bottom, and when she’d been standing, was actually quite modest—more than I would have liked, especially thinking of some douche taking advantage of her—but with her legs under her, on the couch, the fabric had slid up her thigh and she didn’t seem aware just how much of her leg was showing. I remembered the way her silky skin felt on my fingertips and I was a moth to a flame, reaching out and then pulling back.
Megan took a long, slow sip of her tea, and then leaned forward and set the mug back on the tray and picked up a slice of apple. She looked at me for a moment before biting into it, and I nearly lost my resolve to let her have her space, as her lips wrapped around the slice and came away coated with the sticky, sweet juice of the ripe fruit. “Thanks for coming to get me, Grant. I really appreciate it, you know.”
“It was the least I could do. Trust me, there’s a lot more I’d like to do…” Her eyes widened and I jumped in to add, “I mean, I’d like to beat the shit out of that guy.”
She released the breath she’d sucked in. “Oh, right. Well, I got a pretty good kick in. If society is lucky, I’ll have rendered him unable to breed.”
I held back a laugh at her wry comment. “Are you sure you don’t want to call the police? File a report?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not worth it. He didn’t hurt me, and nothing happened.”
I hadn’t known Megan all that long, but I knew her well enough to know that she was a fairly stubborn individual, and that she wasn’t likely to change her mind. If I kept pushing the issue, she would probably leave, and that was the one thing I couldn’t handle. I needed her to stay with me. I’d been aching for her for weeks, and now that she was finally back in my life, I needed to keep her there. “All right, but promise me you will if anything else happens.”
“I promise.” She finished the apple slice and grabbed another, nibbling it while her eyes roamed around the room, landing on the various pieces of art set throughout the space. I realized that the last time she’d been here, we’d spent the entire time in the bedroom and she’d never had a chance to see much more than that. “I like that painting,” she said, her eyes fixed on an abstract piece I’d picked up on a trip to Madrid. It was the most colorful of the pieces in my collection and didn’t quite go with everything else in the room, but I knew I’d never take it down.
“My father bought that, actually. We were all on a trip, a rare Christiansen family vacation. My dad was normally so busy with Timeless that we never got away, but that year, my mom insisted and so we all went to Madrid for two weeks. That was actually the year before he died.”
“I’m so sorry, Grant.” Megan brushed my arm with her fingers.
I kept my eyes on the painting, not able to look at her. “He bought that painting at the local artisan market and had it flown back home with us. He hung it there, and it’s been there ever since. This used to be his condo, actually. I took it over after…”
Megan’s fingers wrapped around my wrist and the warmth from her simple touch radiated through my arm and spread all over my body. I’d never really talked about my father’s death, it had been such a shock, and then I’d had to dive right into the deep end of running Timeless that I’d never given myself much of a chance to get over it. Three years later and it still seemed too fresh, too raw, when I thought about it more than just in a passing moment.
“It was a great trip.”
“Sounds like it,” Megan replied. She scooted over and closed the gap between us and laid her head on my shoulder, barely stifling a yawn as she relaxed against me. The smell of her hair, a sweet mix of coconut and strawberries, filled me with a strange mix of desire and contentment. I wanted so much more, I wanted all of her, and yet, there was something sweet and comforting about just sitting pressed together that had me hesitant to move a muscle.
She yawned again and laughed. “I’m too comfortable, I guess.”
“That’s okay. I’m glad you’re relaxed.” I looped an arm behind her and she nestled closer, breathing a contented sigh against my chest. I felt her hot breath through my shirt, warming my skin and stirring the constant ache for her body. “Do you want to go lay down? The guest room is all made up if you want.”
She tilted her chin to look up at me, her eyes soft and warm. “Can I stay with you? Would that be okay?”
My heart swelled in my chest and I nodded. “Of course.”
Neither of us made a move for another handful of minutes, and I could tell she was getting drowsy. Her head was heavy on my chest as she started to nod off. I stood and gathered her petite body in my arms and carried her down the hall to my bedroom. As soon as I stepped into the master bedroom, my body lit with a new fire as the memories of our one night together called out to me. I laid her on the bed and she mumbled thanks into the soft pillows. I slipped her shoes from her feet and set them on the floor next to her before stripping off my shirt and jeans and climbing into the bed next to her. I gathered her in my arms and let myself be content with the gentle rise and fall of her chest. As much as I wanted her, I knew it was the wrong timing, and with a girl like Megan, it was worth waiting for the right time.
Chapter Ten — Megan
Release.
With a breath, it all went away, and I sank into Grant, letting him fill my thoughts and senses, stripping away everything else. Somehow, Grant and I had ended up naked, our bodies tangled together under the sheets in his bed. His scent surrounded me, and I felt warm, safe, but as his dark eyes stared down into mine, something shifted. A new edge of excitement raced through me as our breaths came in the same, sharp staccato rhythm. “Is this what you want?” he asked, his lips inches from mine.
I nodded. “Yes, Grant, please.”
He shifted against me, his rock solid body pressed against mine. “Megan, tell me, tell me what you want.”
“I want you, Grant.”
His eyes darkened in the low lights of the room and he brought his lips to mine in a hot kiss that stole the breath from my lungs and sent trembles over my entire body. My legs wrapped around his back, my ankles locked above his ass, my inner thighs gripping his hips, hanging on as he entered me, moving slowly, letting us both savor every explosion of sensation as he filled every inch of me. Our bodies pressed together so tightly that it was impossible to tell where one body started and the other ended, our limbs a tangled, frantic mess as I clung to Grant as though he was a life boat.
I moaned into his shoulder as he pulsed in and out, driving me to a new level with each careful stroke. His breath was hot on the side of my neck, his face buried in my hair. The intensity and heat climbed quickly, leaving me panting against his chest, crying out for more as he thrust deeper inside me.
“Let go, Megan. Give in to me.” Grant pulled back and met my eyes. I moaned out again as he continued, his words getting me even hotter than before. “Give in to the pleasure, baby girl…”
Everything inside me was tight, like a loaded gun, ready to explode. I arched against Grant and he lifted one of my thighs, pulling it higher on his torso, his body slick with sweat. His fingers gripped my skin, and with one more thrust, even deeper and harder than before, I fell over the edge. He continued the deep thrusts as I shuddered and vibrated beneath him, and within seconds, I felt him release into me. He groaned as his cock throbbed inside my clenching pussy and then we both went still, letting the pleasure wash over us.
He was still inside of me as he lowered to the bed, rolling us to our sides so we were facing each other. “You’re so beautiful, Megan Louise.”
* * * *
Grant’s eyes opened slowly and I sucked in a breath as his dark stare found me. “Morning,” he mumbled, his face half buried in the plush pillows.
“Hi.”
He adjusted himself to lie on his back and I missed the feeling of his arm around my waist. Fragments from the night before came back faster, and I remembered laying underneath his powerful form, the hot kisses, and the way my fingers had clawed into the sheets as he’d driven into me.
Shit.
I pressed my eyes closed again and took a deep, steadying breath.
When I opened one eye, and shifted it in Grant’s direction, he was already staring at me.
“Grant, last night, did we—? I mean, we didn’t—?” The questions died on my lips. I was still wearing my green dress from the night before, but my brain was fuzzy and struggling to process everything.
“No, we didn’t. I assure you, we shared a completely PG rated evening,” Grant answered, a small smile lighting up his face. He looked absolutely irresistible and although his answer filled me with relief, I was surprised by the tiny flicker of disappointment that lingered for a moment after his words faded.
It had been a dream. An incredibly vivid and delicious dream, but a dream nonetheless. Thank God.
I pushed up to a sitting position and fought the urge to readjust my bra so the underwire wasn’t cutting into my skin. “Good. That’s good.”