by Brynne Asher
“Yeah.”
“His property is heavily secured. When Addy had her drama, Crew extended that security to her property. When you’re here, both at home and at work, you’re covered.”
“Covered?”
“Yeah. Covered.”
“Grady, I’ve lived in a heavily-secured property my entire life. I’m familiar with security systems and I don’t have one. What do you mean by covered?”
“Cameras, surveillance, motion detectors. It’s a good system. You’re safe.”
“And you’re still here?” She gives me a squeeze to reiterate her words.
I can’t help my voice from coming out rough. “I am. I’m here because I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
Her face relaxes and she finally whispers, “I’ve never wanted anyone to be here as much as I do you.”
Fuck, she’s killing me. I lean down to kiss her and roll us to our sides. Her hands land in my hair again and I can’t help but to run my own down her side, brushing her tit with my thumb on the way. When she gasps against my mouth, I move to her nipple, sweeping it back and forth across her tip, creating a deeper exhale this time. She pulls her head back to look at me, and her eyelids are heavy, but underneath, those light blue eyes are telling me what she wants.
When I palm her tit and lightly squeeze, I lose her eyes as a small moan sounds from low in her throat. I thought that moan was the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard until I roll her nipple, making her arch her back, pressing her chest into my hand.
There’s no point fighting my dick getting hard, it’s already there, but tonight’s still not the night. Not for me anyway, but for her?
Absolutely.
There’s nothing I want more than to watch her fall apart by my touch.
Sliding my hand up her tank and touching her for the first time, her soft skin is more than I imagined. Her nipple is hard and when I give it a gentle twist, her arms convulse around me.
But I can’t drag my eyes away from her face. When I keep at her, massaging and teasing, she finally drags her eyes open and I say against her lips, “Don’t worry about the trip. I’ll be with you every second.”
She says nothing, but nods slightly.
“I need to touch you. I can’t wait another day.” I let go of her tit and run my hand down the side of her body.
“Holy shit,” she says on a quick exhale.
I don’t ask, but I’ll take that as a yes.
I run my hand down her spine and immediately slide my hand into the back of her shorts to only find skin. More soft, smooth skin.
“Maya,” I kiss her as I squeeze her bare ass, “have you been sleeping next to me commando?”
“Maybe.” Her voice is breathy as her hands grip my neck. When the next words come out of her mouth, I swear I hear a smile. “I guess you’ll never know.”
I yank my hand out of her pants to pull her knee over my hip. “Open up for me, baby.”
When I bring my hand up the back of her thigh to finally touch her, something I’ve been itching to do, her hand slides down my chest and lands on my dick.
I thought having her touch on my bare skin was incredible before, but her small hand grasping my raging hard-on is something else altogether.
Just when she slides her hand down to go for my balls, I catch her wrist to stop her. “Not tonight.”
“But,” she pulls her head back enough to look at me. “I want to touch you.”
“Maya,” I start as I direct her hand back up to my chest before returning mine to her thigh. “Your experience is limited, am I wrong?”
A small frown comes over her face and she doesn’t answer, but her silence is answer enough.
“I thought so.” I trail my hand up the back of her thigh, my touch so light, I feel the effect on her skin. “For tonight, I don’t want you stressed—I want you relaxed and rested. Tonight, I want to focus on you.”
“But what about you?” She presses herself into my hard cock.
“I’ll be fine. I have been since the day I laid eyes on you.” My finger trails up and it’s easy to find her with her shorts so loose. She’s spread wide, but I want more, and hitch my knee raising her leg higher.
When I touch her for the first time, the look on her face alone is worth the wait. Her lids close right before she presses her face into my neck. She’s turned on and wet, wanting my touch just as much as I want her. Sliding my fingers through her pussy, I tease her with barely a touch. “I like you opened wide for me, baby.”
She groans and I swear if her fingers could dig into my chest, they would.
I add more fingers, learning her body. She’s so wet for me, my touch glides through her easily. When she presses into my hand, I ask, “You gonna relax for me?”
I feel her exhale against my neck when she nods.
I slide a finger inside, doing my best to focus on her and not imagine the day I really get to make her mine, but it’s hard. Especially when she presses down on my hand wanting more. I add another finger and move slowly as I brush her clit with my thumb at the same time. I lift my knee farther, opening her more. With each slow slide of my fingers, it’s easy to feel her body heat as it’s pressed against mine.
When I add more pressure to her clit and move my fingers quicker, her body jerks, and I have to hold her tight to me with my other arm to keep her where I want her.
“Look at me.”
She drags her head up, her face flushed and her eyes heavy, but she manages. It’s at this moment, before she comes for me for the first time, that I decide.
I never want to look at another face again. I feel that in my gut and know it in my chest like I’ve never known anything else.
“I want you.” The words fall from my mouth before I can stop them.
She’s breathy, on the verge of coming in my arms when she says, “I told you I wanted to touch you, and I want—”
“No,” I stop her from speaking as I keep finger fucking her but take pressure off her clit. I’m not ready for her to come yet. “For my entire life, I’ve survived. Never have I stopped long enough to want anything, but I want you. More than anything else, I know this is right.”
“Grady,” she moans, pressing into my hand, wanting more, and I give it to her. I can’t wait another second.
It barely takes anything to push her over the edge, she falls, and she comes hard. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
When she slumps in my arms, trying to catch her breath, I run my hands up and down her back, and playing with the loose curls at the end of her hair. We lay like this, her body seeping into mine by the second, and just when I’m wondering when I can make this happen again just to see her face, she mumbles against my skin, “Triple chocolate.”
My hands stop. “What?”
She doesn’t move a muscle, but her words keep coming. “I’m gonna make you a triple chocolate cake with fudge icing and raspberry sauce—and not from a box. I’m gonna make you the good stuff, with two layers so you get extra icing.”
I smile into her hair. “Do I get cake every time I give you an orgasm? ‘Cause I can make that happen a lot.”
She lifts her head to give me her eyes—eyes that are sleepy, sated, and happy. Her face breaks into a small smile to match her eyes. “You’re sweet.”
I grin. “You’re just saying that ‘cause I let you feel me up.”
She barely pushes my shoulder. “Stop.”
“You stop,” I counter, pulling her body up mine so we’re face to face. “Don’t think you can bake me a cake just to get in my pants. I’m not that kind of guy.”
&
nbsp; She starts laughing, her whole body shaking against mine.
“Now you’re not relaxed and I’m hungry for cake,” I say. “We have a trip tomorrow and I need to be on my game to deal with mobsters and your mother. I’m not sure which I’m most worried about.”
That seems to dampen her spirit, because she sighs and sinks into me again. “It’s a toss-up.”
“Go to sleep.”
We lay like this for a long time. So long, I think she must have dozed off when she shifts and whispers, “Grady?”
“Yeah?”
“I think I want you, too.”
That, I feel in my gut, my chest, and my cock.
I pull her up to face me and when I look into hers, I see it.
To confirm this, she nods with a hesitant smile. I kiss her, long and deep before we finally settle. After that, Maya really relaxes and falls into a deep sleep.
After fighting it for a few hours, I finally do, too.
Dreamless.
Chapter 17 - Branded
Maya –
I thought this morning might be awkward after last night, but it wasn’t. Grady’s my second … everything. My second kiss, the second man I’ve slept next to, the second man to touch me, and boy, did he touch me. But I wanted him so much, he could’ve done anything and everything to me.
I know my experience is limited to Weston. I gave him my virginity at the sweet age of seventeen. Looking back, I’m surprised he was patient as long as he was, because he is not a patient man. I might not know what to expect from men in general, but I sure didn’t expect Grady to ward off my advances, insisting to take things slow. Him giving me a body-rocking orgasm like I’ve never experienced was a million times better than any dream. But this morning, he’s is back to his easy-going self.
I’m learning that nothing is awkward with Grady. In fact, everything with him is easy. So easy, I’m officially obsessed. But really, I’ve been obsessed since I started creeping on him.
As addicted as I might be, I’m also confused at the moment. I turn to Grady who just threw his SUV into park. “What are we doing here? We’re going to be late—we’re already cutting it close as it is.”
He turns to me, resting his forearm on the console, and studies me a moment before he answers. When he finally speaks, it sounds like he’s choosing his words carefully. “I don’t fly commercial.”
I tip my head to the side, not understanding. Sure, I’ve flown commercial some, but what I’m not anxious to tell him is that I’m accustomed to traveling in one of the company jets—my father has not one, but three.
“Sooo…?” I let my voice trail off letting him know I don’t understand.
He pulls in a big breath and on an exhale, goes on. “In my work, or my previous work, I had to be prepared to protect myself. In the worst-case scenarios—like I told you about what happened on my last job—I needed to defend myself. That job might’ve gone bad, but I’m still very good at what I do. Now, thanks to you, my shoulder’s back to normal and—”
“Your shoulder’s nowhere near normal,” I interrupt. He keeps trying to tell me he’s going to start back to his weights and regular workouts, but I don’t care what he says—he’s not ready.
He sighs. “It feels back to normal, but that’s another discussion. Right now, I’m telling you I feel good, but I can’t take you to see your brother with the MacLachlans around and not be able to protect you or myself. That means I need to carry and I can’t carry on a commercial flight.”
“Carry?” I ask, wanting to make sure I know what he’s talking about.
“Fly armed.” He confirms my assumption, still choosing his words carefully. “I’m not a federal agent—not even close. I can do a lot of things, but I can’t get around that. So, when I fly, I charter. We’re flying a Learjet today—they’re nice.”
I know Lears are nice—my dad has two. I turn to look out the window, because I don’t know how much a chartered flight would be. There’s no way I can pay him back, not without touching my trust fund, and I’m ready to break away from that part of my life. If I want freedom from my mother, I have to be financially independent or she’ll hold that over me in a heartbeat.
“Hey,” he calls for me, and I turn back to him. “Don’t worry about it.”
“We could’ve driven. It would have been time consuming, but I could’ve made it work. But this?” I jut my thumb over my shoulder. “I don’t think I can pay you back for this.”
“I know. That’s why I didn’t tell you. When I say it’s not a big deal, I mean it.”
I bite my lip and sit back in my seat. Feeling guilty, I decide to bite the bullet and tell him something about myself. In a matter of hours, he’ll figure it out anyway. “I have a trust fund.”
“I know,” he responds quickly.
I’m taken aback. “You do?”
Reaching over, he takes my hand in his. “I told you I read your background, and it was a very complete file. I also know you’ve never touched it. I also know that besides the time you were at Cornell, you’ve always lived in your parents’ house even though you worked. I don’t know exactly why, but now I’m assuming it has something to do with your brother.”
I feel my face relax a bit. “Mostly.”
“If you’re mom’s such a pain in the ass, why else would you stay?”
I tell him the truth. “Joe is in school, but the last few years with Weston were so bad, I felt safer there. When Weston started pressuring me into marriage and then getting back together after I broke it off, living there was the barrier I needed. If I had been out on my own, I’d have been too accessible. Like I said, you’ll see. It’s easy to make yourself scarce there. I’ve done it all my life.”
“Ah.” He nods and then smirks. “See, I don’t know everything about you.”
I roll my eyes and move to open my door. “Doesn’t seem that way.”
My phone dings and when I unlock it, I have a text from Evan that makes me smile and I announce, “Clara had a girl. Jack must be so happy. Her name is Kate Elizabeth.”
He gives me a grin when I meet him at the back of his SUV. I reach in for my bags, but he beats me to them, grabbing the big one. Grady’s looking as hot as usual this morning in a pair of jeans and a casual button down with a jacket.
I picked my outfit carefully, as my mother always made us dress to travel. She always said, “One dresses to their status if they want to be treated as such.” So just to piss her off when we get there, I’m wearing a pair of skinny jeans so faded, ripped, and worn, they could be decades old, when in fact, I’ve only worn them twice. They show as much skin on the front as they do denim. I’m also wearing my pink Converse, because my mother hates canvas shoes, and have topped it off with a camo print jacket. I look like a teenager hanging at the mall.
“You know,” I start and grab my carry-on since he’s not letting me carry my own suitcase. “I might just have to bribe Crew for a full report on you. The scales are uneven. I don’t know nearly enough about you when you know everything about me.”
He looks at me curiously while efficiently carrying our suitcases. Even though we’re going for one night, I had to explain to Grady you never knew what to expect from my mother, and dinner is rarely a casual event. We packed for every eventuality.
“Enlisted in the Army right out of high school, never played an instrument, and basically checked out of life while I was a contractor. That’s it.”
I fall in beside him and look up at his profile. In the midmorning sun his golden highlights shine bright and I do everything I can to take him in—a man who’s gone out of his way to protect me, to make a holiday special for me in his own way, t
o get to know me, and finally, to want me for me.
He wants me.
Who knew when I ran away from my previous life I would be on a path leading straight to Grady Cain. Many months later, when I should be scared out of my mind to go anywhere within the same state as Weston, I’m not scared at all.
Grady gave that to me.
“I guess it doesn’t matter,” I say with a smile before I call to him. “Grady?”
When we reach the office building attached to the hangar, he juggles a suitcase while opening the door for me, but I don’t go through. He looks down at me and raises a brow in silent question.
I take a step and put my hand on his chest. “Thank you, again.”
The next thing I know, Grady drops the suitcase and I’m caught in the steel of his arms, being branded by his kiss.
Branded.
And I took it all, never wanting anything else as much as him.
*****
Grady –
“Can you pull over really quick?”
“Why? We’re almost there.”
“Just do it. Here—pull in here.”
I don’t pull over. I keep driving.
“What are you doing? Grady, pull over!”
I sigh, and pull the rental over to the side of the road. It’s much colder than it was in Virginia and there’s a foot of snow everywhere.
I put it in park. “What?”
Her words come out quick and almost desperate. “My mother’s ostentatious and selfish. My father is mostly absent, but doesn’t see it that way. He sees it as providing for us. Joe is usually fun, but he’s been home all semester because of his epilepsy. I don’t know what kind of mood he’s going to be in because he swore he’d never live at home again.”
“Baby, you’ve basically told me all this.”
“No, Grady,” she stresses. “There are housekeepers who come daily. Cooks who manage my mother’s kitchen, and a staff to serve meals three nights a week because the rest of the time my parents are out.”