Deuce looked down at her, smiling, knowing she really didn’t understand what he was asking of her. That was okay. Her trust was a good place to start. She would soon learn. And he would be more than happy to teach her.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” he told her finally, leaning forward and kissing her lips lightly before bending and leaving an open-mouthed kiss on her breast. “I’m going to kiss this later when you’re naked,” he told her before turning and walking over to his truck.
She watched him in shock as he walked away from her, unaware of how or when their relationship had become so sexual. She wasn’t complaining. Hell no! She was just freaking stunned by his sudden advances.
She watched as he walked over to his truck and pulled open the back door to drag out the multitude of bags that held some of the supplies they had purchased so they would be ready to take care of Luke and Melanie’s kids.
“Why do we have to get everything inside before everyone arrives?” she called to him as she popped open her trunk and reached in to pull out her suitcase and an overnight bag.
Deuce slammed the back door of his truck closed then turned and walked toward Gracie’s car, his hands filled with the bags of their purchases. He looked down at the suitcases that were on the ground before her.
“Is that all you brought?”
Gracie looked down at the suitcases, confused. “Yes, why?”
“You’re going to have to get more of your things tomorrow, Gracie,” he told her seriously. “You’re going to be here for a very long time.” Forever. The thought raced through his mind.
“Do you think Melanie will be in the hospital a long time?” she asked worriedly.
“No,” he told her immediately. “I just think we’re going to be helping them even after she and Luke come home. We’re not going to give their kids back until Melanie is totally recovered. Luke and I talked about it the other night, and we think they should stay here for a while.”
“Okay. Good,” she said, taking a calming breath. “You’re right. I’ll go and get more of my things tomorrow.”
Deuce nodded, leaning forward to kiss her lips lightly before picking up her larger suitcase and leading the way toward the front porch steps. “Come on, baby,” he called over his shoulder as he saw her reaching down to pick up her suitcase.
“Coming!” she called to him as she grabbed for the smaller suitcase and hurried to keep up with him.
“Not yet, but you soon will be,” he spoke out loud to himself, knowing she was too far away from him to hear. He chuckled lightly, looking forward to making that happen again very soon.
Gracie raced up the steps as quickly as she could, following Deuce through the open front door. He allowed her to pass him then nudged the door shut behind them.
“Head on upstairs,” he told her as he dropped the bags and hung up his hat on the rack next to the door. “I’ll bring up your bigger suitcase. That’s too heavy for you to carry, baby.” He turned to reset the house alarm, keying in the security code on the control panel by the front door.
Ever since the attack on his cousin Jamie, all of the McKade brothers were diligent with the safety of their family. No one was ever going to hurt any of their women ever again.
“Claire?” he called out.
The swinging kitchen door pushed open, and Claire Hamilton’s brown eyes caught his attention. She stepped out into the living room, twisting her shoulder length, black hair nervously around her index finger.
“I’m here, Deuce,” she answered him quickly. “Is everything okay?”
Deuce smiled at the sweet young woman. He didn’t know what they would have done without her. Not only was she helping them by cooking and keeping the ranch house clean, she had been the one who had pulled his brother Jake from sure death after his accident the year before. If it weren’t for Claire’s presence and support, Jake would have given up during his time in the hospital. Claire’s ability to feel the emotions of others had certainly helped her as she brought him back to the mindset of wanting to live. She was an amazing woman that they all counted their blessings to have as a part of their family. But his brother Jake was a stubborn man. He refused to see what was in front of him. Claire was his.
“Yes, everything is fine,” he assured her. “Gracie and I will be putting things away upstairs. I don’t want Luke and Melanie to see the things we bought to take care of their kids. There’s no need to upset Melanie. She’s worried enough about the whole situation.”
“Actually, Deuce, she’s really doing pretty well,” Claire told him. “She’s calm because she knows you and Gracie will be taking care of the kids. She knows everything will work out.”
“That’s a relief. I guess we don’t have to hide anything from her then.” He picked up the bags and started for the large staircase at the edge of the huge, open living room. “Everyone should be here for dinner in about an hour and a half. Do you need any help?”
“No, I’m good,” Claire told him quickly. “Jake will be here to help me in about half an hour. He promised to help me with dinner every night.”
“That’s good. Gracie and I will be upstairs setting up the kids’ rooms. We’ll come down to help in about an hour.”
“There’s no need to hurry, Deuce,” Claire assured him. “Jake will be here, and I already have everything under control. You and Gracie take your time. There’s really no need for the two of you to worry about helping. Set up whatever you need to set up in the kids’ rooms and just come down when it’s time to eat. Jake and I will get everything ready.”
“Okay, Claire. See you at dinner.”
Deuce thought about Claire as he climbed the stairs, smiling secretly. Maybe his youngest brother wasn’t such a stubborn idiot after all.
Chapter 5
Deuce made his way to his room, stopping short of the doorway, wondering where Gracie was. He walked into the bedroom, setting Gracie’s large suitcase in front of the bureaus before carrying the bags through the connecting door to the room that would serve as a nursery. Deuce couldn’t prevent the hope that filled him as he looked at the empty room, dropping the bags of their purchases on the floor in front of the big picture window.
He knew that very soon the room would be filled with baby furniture and, not much longer after that, Luke and Melanie’s baby daughter. He hoped that he and Gracie would be filling it in another nine months or so. He would certainly enjoy trying to get Gracie in that condition.
Walking back into his room, he made his way out into the hallway. Where the hell is Gracie?
“Gracie!” His voice boomed down the hallway. “Where are you?”
Gracie stepped out into the hallway from the bedroom two doors down from his room. “I’m right here,” she told him, laughing. “This is my room when I visit,” she reminded him.
Deuce walked down the hallway, taking her hand and pulling her further out of the room. He released her hand and walked into the bedroom, picking up her suitcase and walking back out into the hallway.
“What’re you doing, Deuce?” Gracie asked him as he strode down the hallway without a word.
She followed him quickly, walking into his room and watching as he set down her suitcase on the floor in front of his bed. She nearly stumbled as she saw the size of his bed. She had never been in his bedroom before, and the sheer size of the bed took her breath away.
She shouldn’t have been so surprised, really. Deuce was a big man, six feet five inches tall, and broad with muscles from years of hard work on the McKade Ranch. It only made sense that he would have to have a custom-made bed to accommodate his size. Her heart fluttered a bit as the thought of sharing that bed with him raced through her head.
Deuce turned to look at her, crossing his arms across his massive chest, his stance firm and strong. “Your old room is going to be Robbie’s room,” he told her calmly. “The room next to mine will be the nursery.”
“Okay,” Gracie answered softly, accepting his designation of rooms. “I can take the room that used
to be Spence’s room. It’ll be right next to Robbie’s.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No.”
Gracie rubbed her forehead tiredly. “I don’t understand, Deuce,” she said quietly.
Deuce dropped his arms, stepping toward her to stand mere inches from her as she looked up at him in confusion. He reached up and touched her cheek with his index finger and followed her jawline tenderly.
“You’ll be staying in my room. With me.”
“What?” She stepped away from him, stunned. This was moving way too fast.
“We should conserve the rooms,” he told her, smiling.
“But there are plenty of rooms in your ranch house, Deuce. We don’t have to share a room.”
Deuce smiled, touched by her total lack of guile. She had no idea how much he cared about her and wanted her. Well, he was going to make sure she knew.
“Gracie,” he said softly, determined to use the right words. “I want you with me.”
“You do?” Her voice held only confusion.
This was not going how he wanted it to. He took a breath to focus, calling on the control he used every day of his life.
“Yes.”
He took a step back and looked down at her, not touching her. If he touched her, he wouldn’t be able to think clearly. “We make a good team, Gracie. We always have. You’re the kindest and most caring woman I have ever met. When you touch me, I feel calm, I feel peace, and I feel right. I want you to be with me and always make me feel that way. How about it?”
“How about what?”
“How about giving a relationship with me a chance?”
To say that Gracie was stunned was a massive understatement. Never in her wildest dreams would she have ever have thought Deuce McKade would ever see her as anything more than a friend. To have him ask her to choose to be with him shocked her beyond belief. The intimate act that they had shared earlier that afternoon should have prepared her for this, but it hadn’t.
Her entire body began to shake, and her knees buckled beneath her, sending her in a smooth glide to the floor. She was grateful when strong arms reached for her and lifted her to settle her gently in the middle of the big bed.
Deuce looked down at the woman who lay in the middle of his bed. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him as he settled beside her. He was at a loss for words for the first time in his life. When she looked up at him, her eyes were wide and filled with fear. He had made her feel afraid. That was not acceptable.
“Gracie, I will not force you to be with me,” he told her quietly, releasing his hold on her waist and pulling away from her so that his body was not touching hers in any way. “This is your choice.”
Gracie reached up to touch his face gently, pulling away immediately when she realized what she had almost done. “Sorry,” she whispered.
Anger flashed in Deuce’s eyes immediately. He reached out and took her hand gently in his and returned it to his face, nuzzling into it and kissing her palm lightly.
“Your touch does not hurt me, Gracie,” he reminded her. “It makes me calm. I’ve already told you that.”
“Deuce, I don’t ever want to hurt you.”
“What will hurt me is not having you touch me,” he told her firmly. “If you choose to have a relationship with me, there will be definite rules you’ll have to follow.”
“What kind of rules?” she asked warily.
He smiled, happy that she didn’t reject the relationship part of his statement. “The number one rule you’ll have to follow is that you are to touch me. Skin on skin, Gracie. You will not get away with just touching my shirt or my clothes. I want your hands on my body. I need to feel your warmth. I need to feel the peace your touch gives me. But I won’t force you to touch me. I hope that you will choose to touch me.”
Gracie laughed out loud, her eyes sparkling with humor as she looked at him. The fact that he wanted her to touch him made her deliriously happy.
“Why are you laughing?” he asked, his heart light with hope at her joy.
“What woman wouldn’t want to touch you?” she asked him softly, winking at him boldly.
“I was hoping you would be the woman who would want to touch me,” he answered, smiling down at her. “It will always be your choice, baby. But it’s something I think we both need.”
Gracie looked up at him, thinking it through as she saw the seriousness on his face. “What other rules, Deuce? Are you going to try to control every aspect of my life? Because if you are, you can just forget it.”
Deuce smiled as he lay on the pillow beside Gracie, relaxed and happy that she was already accepting the relationship and was starting to negotiate the terms.
“Gracie, you’re more than capable of controlling your own life. You’re an intelligent and strong woman. I respect everything that you are.”
“Then what is it you want to control?”
Deuce took a deep breath. It was now or never. He had to lay it out there for her so she could make an intelligent and informed decision. Hopefully, she would decide to continue with a relationship with him. If she did, he knew they would be happy, and she would find that they were destined mates.
“I need to ensure your safety at all times,” he began, watching her face as she openly accepted his words. “I don’t want anything to ever happen to you.”
Gracie smiled at him and nodded. “I can live with that,” she told him calmly. “As long as you understand that I feel the same way about you, Deuce. I’ll need to make sure that you’re safe at all times, too.”
Deuce smiled and leaned forward to kiss her lips lightly. “Thank you, baby,” he whispered against her lips before kissing them one more time and leaning back.
“What else, Deuce?” she prodded him.
“There are things I want to do with you, Gracie. I don’t want you to ever be afraid of me. I only want to give you pleasure. If you ever need me to stop, you just have to say so.”
“So you’re telling me I should pick a safe word,” she said calmly.
The surprise that jolted through him was immediate. “You know about safe words, Gracie?” he asked, his eyebrows rising in shock.
Gracie laughed and touched his cheek lightly. “Deuce, I’m thirty-two years old. I’m not ignorant about sex. I just don’t have a whole lot of experience. The one man I had an intimate relationship with was not exactly a stellar choice for me. Our time together was not good. Whenever he touched me, the pain was far greater than the pleasure. To say that the relationship was a disaster would be kind. It was worse than bad. It wasn’t pleasurable for either of us.”
Deuce couldn’t prevent the growl of anger that left him. The jealousy that gripped him was deep, and he had to force himself to calm down. “I don’t want to think about you with another man,” he told her softly, anger lacing his words.
Gracie looked up at him silently. If they had an understanding that they were going to be a couple from now on, it would make his reaction understandable. But there was no understanding in place.
“You don’t own me, Deuce,” she told him softly, trying very hard not to let him hear the desire she had for that exact thing to be a real part of their lives.
Deuce took a deep breath, forcing himself to center his focus. This conversation was quickly turning down the road to hell. He was seriously screwing this up.
“I know I don’t, Gracie,” he admitted quietly. “I want us to try to enter into this relationship with the understanding that we belong only to each other. I’m a jealous man, baby. I can’t help it.”
Gracie’s heart began to race at his words. She really wasn’t sure what he was asking of her or their level of commitment to each other, but she was willing to give a relationship with him a try.
“Have you been with other women, Deuce?” she asked him softly.
“Yes.”
“And do you think that makes me happy to think about that fact?”
Deuce smil
ed, his anger lessening as he heard her own jealousy. “I’m glad you aren’t happy about that, Gracie.”
Gracie huffed and rolled her eyes. “I’ve watched you over the years and didn’t like any of the women you went out with.” Her voice was firm with a hint of anger as she spoke.
“I felt the same about every date you had, honey,” he told her softly.
“You did?”
He nodded and touched her face tenderly. “Let’s put the past behind us. We’ll start our relationship from this day forward. If you want to start a relationship.”
“I’d like that, James,” she whispered.
“Good,” he said firmly, smiling at the intimacy of hearing her use his given name. “I had a physical last month and had the doctor test me to be sure I was safe.”
Gracie’s heart raced at the thought of him being deep inside of her and filling her with his cock and his cum. She felt her womb clench, and a gush of liquid escaped from between her thighs. She wanted him. She needed him. She was not ashamed to admit how much she had always loved him. She had secretly hoped that someday he would feel the same. Maybe now was that time.
“I’m going to make love to you, baby,” he told her softly. “For now I have condoms, but we can get you tested tomorrow, and then we’ll be together and I’ll be sinking my cock into your sweet pussy and loving how you’ll feel against my skin.”
“That’s not necessary, Deuce,” Gracie told him, clearing her throat nervously.
“What, Gracie?”
“I don’t need to be tested.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ve only had one partner, and that was more than three years ago. Every time we had sex, it hurt too much. His touch made me have so much pain I never enjoyed it. He always wore a condom because he said it dulled the pain he felt. He never came inside of me. Since then, I’ve had yearly physicals and I’ve been tested. I’m clean.”
“I’m sorry it hurt you so much, baby,” he told her softly, thinking about the pain his mate had gone through. “What about oral sex?”
Gracie blushed and covered her face with her hand. “This conversation is not happening,” she muttered.
Touching Deuce [Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 4