by Jane Slate
The urge to vomit settled over Landon. He opened the toilet and knelt to the ground, heaving inside of it. A knock on his front door interrupted him.
He wiped at his mouth and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around himself. When he opened the door, he came face to face with Grace. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying.
He looked over her shoulder for any sign of Miller.
“Please,” she whispered. “He’s not with me. Just let me come in.”
Landon hesitated before stepping aside to let her pass. He shut the door behind her and ran a hand over his head.
“What’s going on?” he questioned. “I was just with Miller. He’s not going to be happy when he realizes you’re—”
Grace held up a hand to stop him from talking and closed the distance between them. She pressed her body against his. Landon held up his arms, unsure of how to react, but Grace reached up and placed them around her waist.
Neither one of them spoke.
Her heartbeat was erratic as was her breathing. Landon pulled away from her and escorted her over to his couch. She took a seat and avoided eye contact with him.
It was obvious that something heavy was on her mind and Landon had a pretty damn good idea what.
Miller was a dumbass.
“Grace,” Landon whispered, taking a seat beside her. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Grace shrugged and shook her head. Landon took a risk and edged closer to her, wrapping a tattooed arm around her shoulders. He was known for his temper and erratic behavior but he had always shown Grace a softer side of himself.
It was what had drawn her to him in the first place.
“He wants to go back.”
Her voice cracked. She wiped at her face and fidgeted.
“We’ve been arguing about it for weeks. There’s nothing I can say to convince him not to.”
Landon swallowed hard.
“I know,” he said after a few minutes. “But they wouldn’t let him."
Grace gave Landon a skeptical look.
“Really?” she asked, sitting up straighter.
Landon nodded. An odd look spread across Grace’s face. One of slight disappointment mixed with relief.
“Well,” she muttered to herself. "It doesn't really matter. What hurts the most is that he would even want to."
Tears clouded her vision. Landon could read her emotions just by looking at her. It had always been that way. Out of instinct, he brought a hand to her face and gently pushed a strand of red hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered on the contours of her jaw.
Her blue eyes reflected her longing. It washed over her, spreading and swelling. She grazed her fingers over the scars Landon’s chest and tested the waters.
It was hard for him to push through the mental barrier he had constructed.
She was off limits to him and he knew that. But it didn’t make her any less enticing. As her fingers made contact with his girth through the fabric of his towel, a guttural sigh escaped his throat.
She continued stroking, sending tingles down his spine. He jerked his hips and pulled away from her. A sad expression fell over her face but she masked it.
Landon studied her.
As moonlight leaked through his blinds and illuminated her heart shaped face, he found himself getting lost in her gaze.
“You’re beautiful,” he heard himself say.
He had only meant to think it but the words had left his mouth before he could stop them. He watched as a soft blush covered Grace's youthful face.
“Thank you,” Grace whispered, daring to lean her head against his shoulder.
It seemed harmless enough but Landon couldn’t help but feel guilty. Miller’s face flashed through his mind. He stiffened and pulled away from her but she grabbed his hand and gave it a tight squeeze, forcing him to loosen up. She watched as he attempted to rein in his control. The hard lines of his face strengthened even more as he tried his best to fight off his desire to pull her into his lap.
He could sense that she was just as conflicted as he was but neither one of them were strong enough to stop what had already been set into motion. It was the closest they had come to intimacy in a long time. A spark had been lit. One Landon felt compelled to explore regardless of the consequences.
Grace had come to him for a reason and Landon was beginning to understand what it was.
Eight long years of unresolved feelings came to a head as she closed the gap between them and pressed her soft lips against his. She tasted ever so slightly of salt from crying but he didn’t care.
He kissed her back with every ounce of passion he could muster and buried a hand in her hair.
When she finally pulled away from him she was breathless and unable to look him in the eyes. She clumsily stood to her feet and walked towards the door but Landon grabbed her, turning her around to face him. She hesitated and brought her arms up around his neck. The words that fell from her mouth were soft and barely audible.
“I’ve loved you since I was a teenager.”
Landon swallowed hard.
Grace held her breath and awaited his response.
“I didn’t know,” he lied.
Landon wrapped his arms firmly around her body and she breathed him in. He smelled heavily of cigarettes, whiskey and sweat, but it wasn’t an unpleasant scent. With curious fingers, Grace stroked his damp locks. His buzz cut had grown out quite a bit since he had returned home.
She had always loved his hair.
Landon tensed and avoided looking her in the eyes as she raked her hand through his hair and rested her palms against the back of his neck. He dropped his head and she raised hers. Their lips found each other. Landon didn’t kiss her back right away, but he didn’t stop her either.
Grace pressed her tongue against his bottom lip and begged for entrance, coaxing him on. All the while, a thick layer of guilt settled over Landon. This was wrong. He might not have been the most ethical of men, but Miller was his brother and Grace was his wife. He pulled away from her and held her at a distance as he tried to catch his breath.
“I can’t do this,” he said, shaking his head.
Grace pressed a finger against his mouth and silenced him. His dark eyes shined with uncertainty and shame but she could also see the desire. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak. All she could hope was that her words came out as confident as she had rehearsed them on her way over.
“Landon. Please. Just don’t say anything. Just listen to me for a minute.”
When she was certain that he would let her speak, she removed her finger from his lips and grabbed his hands.
“I love Miller. He’s my husband and the father of my children. But it hasn’t been the same with us in months. Not since he’s come home. And lately I’ve just...I guess I’ve just been thinking a lot. About how it used to be with us when we were kids. And I’m rambling here...I know that. I just...I guess I’ve just missed you.”
Grace paused and looked at Landon, searching his expression for any hint at what he was feeling. But he was good at cloaking his emotions and didn’t react.
She continued speaking, her voice shaky and barely above a whisper.
“When Miller told me he was going back, my first reaction was to come to you. Because I knew you would understand. I feel safe with you and maybe that’s stupid—”
Landon pressed his lips against Grace’s and silenced her. She broke the kiss and blinked back tears, unable to decipher the look in his eye. He studied her for what felt like hours before speaking.
“I feel the same, but we can’t do this,” he said, his voice cracking. “I can’t do this. Not in good conscious.”
Grace tensed her jaw and willed herself not to cry.
“That’s always what it comes down to, isn’t it? Right and wrong?”
Landon looked away from her and didn’t answer. He swallowed anxiously as Grace silently dissected him. She had never seen him look so unsure of himself. His usual brazen, bold
demeanor had faltered into something far more insecure.
She had found his weakness.
It was her.
And maybe it always had been.
Chapter Seven
She squeezed his hand and leaned into him.
“I don’t give a shit about the consequences,” she whispered hotly. “Neither does Miller. He had no problem leaving us, Landon. Leaving me and the kids for a second time to go fight a war that nearly killed him.”
She paused in reflection.
“Why should I care about his feelings?”
Her tone was one of a woman scorned, and try as he might, Landon couldn’t entirely blame her. What Miller was doing was selfish.
Even so, Landon didn’t feel comfortable being part of Grace’s revenge plot. He told her so and she scoffed, rolling her eyes.
“That’s not all this is and you know it,” she replied. “I know you have feelings for me too.”
It might have been the truth but that didn’t mean Landon was going to admit it. He broke her gaze and glued his eyes to the floor.
“How can you ask me to do this?” he demanded without looking at her.
“I took a fuckin’ bullet for the guy.”
Grace tensed her jaw.
“I’m not asking you to do anything,” she whispered, bringing her face a few inches away from his.
She chiseled away at his foundation, willing him to give in.
“I’m just going to kiss you,” she continued, her voice soft. “And if you feel the same way I do just kiss me back.”
It was a simple enough request.
Grace raised her chin and extended her neck, bringing her lips flush against Landon’s once more. She allowed her eyes to slide shut as she embraced him, running her hands over his bare chest. He tensed beneath her but he didn’t object.
She heard him let out a deep breath of air as he shuddered, giving into her. He kissed her forcefully and confidently and in a passion induced fury of clashing teeth and tongues, they became one as their inhabitations melted away around them.
Grace moaned into his mouth as he grabbed her by the waist, bringing her body clashing down against his. He broke the kiss with a gasp and parted his swollen lips to object, but her tongue against his earlobe stopped him in midsentence. She caressed every inch of his exposed flesh, paying close attention to the faded tattoos that covered his pecks and biceps.
His body had only improved with age.
With unsteady hands Grace began to massage Landon’s shoulders, lowering her mouth to his collarbone. She nibbled and kissed his flesh as he coaxed her to lie down beneath him. They fell back together, their arms and legs entangled. She could see the anticipation in his eyes and he could see the slight uncertainty in hers.
What they were doing was wrong but it didn’t feel that way.
Maybe if it had, they would have stopped.
Instead, Grace pulled Landon’s face down against her own and kissed him passionately, sliding her tongue along the ridges of his mouth as his strong hands became buried in her hair. He gripped her legs and wrapped them around his lower back as she worked at removing her jeans, still fully clothed beneath him.
“Wait,” he gasped, pulling back. He grabbed her hands in his as a strained look etched across his face. “I don’t know about this...”
Grace sighed and brought a hand up to stroke Landon’s hair. He gazed down at her and furrowed his brows. She couldn’t help but notice how handsome he looked, even perplexed. She offered him a slight smile and sat up beneath him.
“Don’t worry about it,” she whispered, looking away from him.
But his hesitation was fleeting.
Landon shook his head and pushed Grace back down on the couch, easing a calloused hand between her thighs. He could feel her warmth through her jeans. She opened her mouth to moan, taken back by his boldness, but instead she remained quiet. He kissed her neck as she lifted her hips to accommodate his efforts of removing her jeans.
When they were off, he tossed them to the ground. Grace brought her face close to Landon’s and whispered in his ear, “I want you so badly.”
A shiver ran down his spine at the sensation of her breath warm against his ear. She snaked her tongue along the edge of it, evoking a deep groan from the confines of his throat. He relaxed against her and began to stroke the soft cotton fabric of her panties, lingering with the pad of his thumb against the bud of her clitoris.
Goosebumps covered Grace’s skin as she kissed him. She moved her hands over Landon’s skin in no particular pattern, her heart rate increasing against his. He adjusted above her as she traced a heart along his back with her fingers, a sensitive sensation that caught him off guard. He kissed her hungrily and flexed his muscles as her hands eagerly explored him.
Landon rubbed his hands over Grace’s legs and up above her womanhood. She rested her hands on top of his and encouraged him to continue. Her lips found their way back to his neck. She kissed him tenderly as he shuddered above her.
It was the first time in a long time that either one of them had felt whole.
Grace gasped as Landon slipped a hand beneath the fabric of her panties, his movements slow and deliberate. He looked up at her for approval before continuing. She bit down on her bottom lip and nodded, not wanting him to stop.
Desire raced through her veins as her heart threatened to beat its way through her ribcage.
As their lips met and their mouths parted, Grace lifted her hips once more and allowed Landon to remove her panties. Next off was her blouse. She lifted her arms as he pulled the silky fabric up over her head. A subtle hint of ribs showed through her pale skin. She reached back to unclip her bra and when her breasts came into view, accented by dime sized pink nipples, Landon swallowed hard and found himself incapable of looking away.
She was every bit as beautiful as she had been at sixteen.
She pulled at his towel and tossed it to the ground. He nuzzled her chest and pulled back to look at her. She raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“What’s wrong?” Grace questioned.
Landon didn’t answer.
Grace took the opportunity and crawled into Landon’s lap, positioning leg on each side of him. He gazed at her, still perplexed. It had always been hard for her not to feel shy and insecure in his presence. But the stakes had changed. She traced a finger along the cobra tattoo on his bicep.
“I want this,” she whispered. “Please.”
The sultry smile Grace gave Landon was too much for him to handle. He palmed his girth and pressed it against Grace’s womanhood as a moan escaped her throat. His face reddened and Grace blushed too, smiling shyly.
Landon’s body was manly and refined. His muscles were firm and visible. Grace swallowed hard and traced her fingers over the few imperfections she could find, hesitating on the bullet holes just above his collar bone and navel.
His manhood stood to full attention. With shaking hands she reached out to caress his length. He groaned and tensed his jaw. She gazed deep into his piercing dark eyes, taken aback by the thought of having him inside of her.
She eased herself back into his lap and closed her eyes, continuing to stroke him.
Landon reached out to stop her, grabbing her by the waist. He pressed his groin flush against hers but didn’t fully penetrate her. Grace moaned and begged him not to tease her, but if this was going to happen, Landon wanted to bask in it. Without any warning, he laid Grace back down beneath him and took in her naked body.
She seemed to glow in the moonlight.
He wanted her.
Badly.
Grace lifted her chin to Landon’s and silently requested another kiss from him. As their lips met, she raked her fingers through his hair and pulled his face down against her own, craving more. She quivered when she felt his hands invade her body. He gripped her breasts in his hands and rubbed them tenderly, paying close attention to her erect nipples.
They moved in time with each other, but Landon still
avoided entering her. Grace groaned in annoyance. She could feel his erection throbbing between her legs and wanted nothing more than to feel him inside of her.
She was tired of taking it slow.
“Please,” she begged, breaking their kiss.
Landon smiled a sly smile but regarded her with silence. Grace searched his face for any sign of doubt but came up empty handed. He seemed to simply enjoy teasing her.
It didn’t surprise her.
He had always been arrogant. But regardless, she needed him.
After a few short moments, Landon sighed and began to give in. He gripped Grace tightly by the waist as she leaned forward to kiss him. With gentle fingers, he caressed her cheeks. She shivered with anticipation as he clenched his buttocks and thrusted into her. With a deep moan, she welcomed him inside of her.
Landon groaned as he eased his length in deeper, filling Grace’s womanhood inch by inch. She gasped and arched her back, leaning forward to accept him.
It was electrifying and unlike anything she had ever experienced; with Miller or any other man.
Landon kissed her neck, breathing hot air onto Grace’s flesh as she urged him to continue. She felt safe in his embrace despite how much stronger he was than her. He grabbed her by the waist and began to rock his body against her own. Slowly at first, then with more confidence. Grace moaned as he squeezed her hips and coaxed her to follow his actions.
And just like that, they were one.
She rested her head against his shoulder and dug her nails into his back, closing her eyes tightly. Her body shook against his as he pounded her, picking up rhythm. Both of them had forgotten how good it felt.
Not just the act of sex, but sharing a connection with someone.
It was something Grace hadn’t felt with Miller since he had come home.
A musky sweetness filled the air around them.
Grace let out a loud gasp as Landon repositioned himself above her. He thrusted sharply forward and Grace’s breath caught in her throat. She threw her head back and pushed her breasts against his body, shuddering as spasms racked through her body.
Landon’s breaths became shallow. The muscles in his stomach clenched as he braced himself for his own release. Waves of pleasure flooded over them.