Gravity: A Salvation Society Novel

by K. L. Jessop

  “I’m not telling them. And I don’t want you to either.”

  He’s got to be fucking kidding me. “Excuse me? You expect me to keep this from them?”

  “I expect you to be my friend. So yeah. What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”

  I glare at him as I hiss out my words. “I don’t like lying, Asher.” Which is contradictive because of my night with Nora. But still.

  “No one is lying here, Grayson. I’m just not explaining the full reason why I’m having to leave.”

  “Hiding the truth is just the same as lying. Can’t you see that?”

  “I’m not hiding anything. I’m still going away, aren’t I?”

  Unbelievable.

  I sit back, shaking my head, keeping my voice low. “And what do I tell Nora? What do I tell her when she starts asking questions? Because we both know she will.”

  “Anything you want. I’ll be preparing myself for the backlash when I come home.”

  “Then I’ll have great pleasure in telling her you’re a big ass fucking prick who only thinks with his dick.”

  “Fine. You do that. But something tells me she’ll know that already.” He eyes me for a second before the side of his mouth tugs and a grin spreads across his face.

  I’m still annoyed to fuck with him that he’s leaving me here to pick up the pieces once he’s gone, and I despise the fact he’s making me have to lie to Nora and his parents, but I can’t help shaking my head and agreeing with his comment.

  “Yep. Everyone knows that.”

  “I can’t do this without you, Grayson. You know I need this.”

  I nod, agreeing with him once more.

  I’m about to reply when Fiona calls him inside, telling him he needs to get a move on if he’s meeting the guys at Cole Security before they fly out.

  Heading inside the Nelson house, my eyes instantly search for Nora.

  She’s right where I know she would be, sitting next to Pete, holding his hand and chatting to him with the most breath-taking smile on her face. Pete arrived home this morning in time to see Asher off. He looks exhausted but still has spirit inside him that brings out his character to its full potential.

  “Asher, are you ready to go?” Fiona asks with a soft smile. “I can drive you.”

  “I’m fine, Mom. I can drive myself.”

  She hugs him and they hold each other tight. “I hate it when you leave us.”

  “It’s not for long, Mom.”

  As he turns to Pete, Asher’s shoulders lower and his body language screams that he’s hating every second of this. And it’s only me who can see it.

  “Pop. I’m sorry I have to go so soon. But it is what it is.” Taking his dad’s hand, Asher grips hold of it tight and lowers his forehead to Pete’s whilst cupping the nape of his neck.

  “Not. For. L-long.”

  “I’ll be back before you know it.”

  Discomfort settles in my stomach, and I focus my eyes on the wheels of Pete’s chair, not wanting to take part in the family farewell because it’s based on lies and dishonesty, and that’s not who I am—it’s not who I was brought up to be—but the respect I have for this family is what keeps me from telling them everything.

  And that is who I was brought up to be: someone respectful. That’s what makes this so fucking difficult to be a part of.

  “Make. Me... P-proud.”

  “Always,” he whispers, an edge of sorrow in his voice.

  Once he kisses Nora goodbye, Asher comes back to me. This time there’s more than melancholy in his eyes. They are laced with the ghosts that I’m now beginning to recognize.

  Wrapping his arms around me, he squeezes me tight and whispers. “Promise me you’ll look after them?”

  “You don’t have to ask, Asher. And you don’t have to do this either.”

  “I’ve got to. I can’t stay. Please respect that.”

  I smack him on the back and squeeze him just as hard in return. “I love you, man. Be safe.”

  “I always am.”

  With that, he picks up his bag to head out of the door, leaving three people behind with the understanding that he’s just doing his job. Meanwhile, I’m left to hold everyone together while he runs away from his feelings, insecurities and demons.

  “Enjoy your meal. Please let me know if I can get you anything else. I’ll be more than happy to help,” Nora says to the elderly couple who are seated by the window of Hot Tuna. There has been a steady flow of people during the lunchtime hour, and where I should be helping out, I take every opportunity I can get to watch her.

  She’s in a black tank top that fits her body perfectly, but today has replaced the denim shorts with a short black skirt that leaves little to the imagination. Working with her is both fun and torturous—the little side glances she provides; the way she goes to move past yet brushes herself up against me. All of it has been driving me insane.

  However, my dick is loving every minute of it.

  “I’ll be more than happy to help out,” Lacy mocks under her breath, entering my side of the bar and walking up to me.

  Irritation rattles my bones. One, because she’s too close, and two, because I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say a good thing about Nora. “God, that girl makes me cringe at times.”

  I turn to face her, taking a step back in the process. The more her attitude changes, the more I’m beginning to dislike her by the second. “For doing her job?” I ask. “Maybe if you were to try and be a little more pleasant to the customers like Nora is, Lacy instead of scowling every time they ask you for a meal, you may just get more tips that you’re forever complaining about not getting.”

  “I’m a bartender, Grayson. I serve drinks not food.”

  “When you work in my club, you do whatever damn job needs to be done at the time. Now, table eleven has just become vacant. Clear it and wipe it down,” I order.

  With a huff, she stomps off, muttering something under her breath just as I hear the soft chuckle of Nora coming up behind me.

  “You know, you should have just put a smile on her face and slept with her once and for all. It would have stopped the teenage strops.” Entering the bar, she comes to stand beside me, her back facing the floor of the club.

  Like they usually do, her eyes cover every inch of my face as if she needs to take all of me in.

  It’s been a week since Asher left, and things are finally starting to settle down at Nora’s. Pete is comfortable but has showed signs of seizure activity from time to time even though they’ve been nowhere near as fierce as his first. On the nights I’ve had to work late, Nora has spent time with him and Fiona. In our spare time, we’ve been with each other, getting as much time together as we can while we can. To say keeping us a secret is difficult is an understatement. I don’t like the thought of our relationship being confined behind closed doors, but if it means protecting Nora then it needs to be done. However, when she stands as close as she is now and my body hums with her presence, it’s fucking hard to stay in control.

  Stepping closer, I inhale her fragrance and take advantage of the fact we are alone for a moment. “First, why would I have to do that when I’m not interested? And second, the only woman whose face I want to place a smile on is the one standing right beside me.”

  “Oh really?” she grins.

  “That and other things.”

  “Well, this woman approves.”

  “Good to hear.” My eyes drop to her tan legs, the hem of her skirt too tempting. “Although, I have to ask if you wore that skirt today just to drive me wild?”

  She rises on her tiptoes, pushing her chest out to give me a better view of her cleavage. “That depends.”

  “On?”

  “On whether or not it’s working. Am I driving you wild, Mr. Bennett?”

  “You know you are.”

  “Well, there’s your answer.”

  Needing to touch her and suddenly not giving two shits about where we are or who will see, I slip my hand be
tween her legs to trail it up her thigh, feeling her heat the further my hand rises. Her hands instantly grip the edge of the bar behind her and she inhales sharply.

  “Grayson. What are you doing? Not here.”

  “Don’t move and stay quiet. No one will suspect a thing,” I whisper, looking out across the bar at those eating their meals while I’m desperate for my own.

  “There are too many people.”

  I push her panties aside and slip my fingers into her heat and have to work like fuck to stop myself from letting the snake in my pants come out to play when I find her wet for me. “Oh, Jesus.”

  Within seconds I’ve gone from being Club Manager to a hungry animal who has no control over anything. She’s brought me to my knees, capturing me so fast my feet have barely touched the ground. And as much as that scares me shitless, I’m thriving on how fucking good it feels.

  As I smile at a gentleman who looks over toward the bar, I continue to rotate my thumb over Nora’s swollen bud before I push another finger inside. I don’t move them: I just let her feel my presence as she starts to come undone. Her hands continue to grip the edge of the bar, her knuckles white, and her eyes drift close, breathy whispers playing beautiful melodies from her lips. All the while my cock aches like you wouldn’t believe.

  “I’ve not been able to take my eyes off you all day,” I whisper, wanting to kiss her so fucking bad.

  “That makes two of us.”

  “You look too good in my club. And you look too fucking hot right now as I work you to the point where I know will have you crying for me.”

  “Grayson, please,” she breathes.

  Her hand leaves the hardwood and grips onto my arm, her legs begin to quiver as I feel her getting tighter around my finger.

  I hear Lacy head back to the floor and I pull out, clearing my throat, while Nora gasps and quickly has to compose herself.

  “Table four has just left,” I order as she eyes us with suspicion before going to collect some more plates. I have to think fast in order to make this little situation with Nora look professional, so I turn to her and compliment her on her work.

  “You did good today, Shortcake. Now, I believe your shift is over for the day.”

  “Yes.” She clears her throat and stands tall. “I believe it is. I’ll be heading off then.”

  As she goes to leave, she takes hold of my hand that rests at my side and clasps hers around the fingers that were just inside her, pulling on them slowly to wipe them clean. Her devilish eyes lock on mine, her teeth sink into her bottom lip and the flush of her cheeks make her eyes dance with lust.

  “I need a shower. This shift has made me feel a little… dirty.”

  Her words alone are enough to have something inside of me snap with greed and have me fighting the urge to push her against the bar and fuck her senseless. But I do the next best thing.

  Grabbing her hand, I march her out of the bar and down toward my office without a word, confusion in her voice.

  “Grayson, what’s going on?” I don’t answer, I can’t because my body is now burning with desire. “I don’t understand.”

  I enter my office, pulling her in behind me, before slamming the door closed and pushing her up against it. Crashing my mouth on hers with a kiss that finally makes me feel like I can breathe, I don’t hold back. It’s fast, hot, and ravenous, but her response is just as explosive as her whimper seeps out between us and her hands latch on to me like she needs to regain her strength from falling.

  Lifting her thigh, I hold it in my grip and grind myself against her, letting her know just how fucking hard I am for her and always will be; letting her know that the longer we go on like this, the more I’m losing self-control and want nothing more than to bury myself deep inside her; letting her know that, although I said I’d wait because I want her to be sure, it’s also fucking killing me.

  “Do you understand now?” I question, both of us now panting. “You’re driving me fucking crazy, Nora. Every time you are close, it’s not enough and every time we’re apart, I can’t bear it.”

  “I thought I’d done something wrong,” she breathes, her eyes a beautiful cloud of longing. “I thought you were mad.”

  “I’m mad for you, not with you.” I kiss her nose. “But now, I need you to go home.”

  “Not yet. I need you to touch me. I want you.”

  I can’t.

  I can’t because if I touch her again, I won’t be able to stop.

  Leaning in close, I latch my teeth onto her earlobe, giving it a little tug before I whisper. “And I’ve wanted to touch you for this entire shift, but I’ve not been able to—not in the way I’ve wanted. So now that I’ve teased your pussy, you know what it feels like to ache so bad you feel like you’re going to explode. You want me to touch you, Shortcake?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you will have me. But at my place where I can make you scream and have that sound only for my ears. You hear me?”

  She nods.

  “Now, I need you to go home and wait for me, but I also need you to do one more thing.”

  “Anything.”

  Pulling back to find her eyes, I place my hand once again between her thighs, this time cupping her. “Don’t touch yourself. I want you aching so bad that you won’t know what to do. I want you so wet that you’ll be dripping; I want you naked and begging for my touch, whatever way that touch maybe.”

  Her eyes close and she moans on a whisper. “Grayson, you’re killing me here.”

  Lifting her chin, I give my final demand as her eyes find mine and I fight the beast inside me from giving in and taking her in my office.

  “Wet, Shortcake. I need you really. Fucking. Wet.” With that, I kiss her nose and head out of the room, walking straight to the bathroom with an ache so bad it’s almost painful, grinning to myself.

  Nora Nelson will be the death of me. And I fucking love it.

  Chapter Twenty

  Nora

  I’ve never ached so much to have a male body against mine—his body. I’ve never craved something so strong that it has me on the verge of going crazy, but that’s what he’s made me: fucking crazy. From the moment his eyes were on me in Hot Tuna to the moment he seduced me in the bar, Grayson had me lost under his touch. It had been difficult to work—hard to focus—but I put everything I had into doing my job because the last thing I’d wanted to do was falter and cause others to catch us out. But he’d put that on the line when he pushed his fingers inside me. I’d wanted him to stop because of where we were, but the truth is, I fucking loved it. I’d thrived on his touch. Electricity had shot through my core at the thought of someone seeing us, and with that excitement and the overwhelming pleasure of the way he’d worked my clit, I’d practically been on my knees. When he’d pushed me against the door of his office and kissed the living hell out of me. Jesus Christ, I’d been ready to combust. I’d known there and then that I don’t want to wait any longer.

  I want him.

  After coming home and taking a shower, I’ve spent the rest of the afternoon with Dad, playing board games with him and Wade before heading out into the garden with them to spend another hour with bubbles.

  This time, Wade changes it up by getting Dad to do bubble painting through a straw. We laugh so hard at Dad’s attempt to blow the bubbled, colored paint across the paper that I practically cry with hysterics. The funniest part of it all though is that Dad is the one making all the jokes about his disability.

  Having him home and getting used to another new change in our lives has had me a little more anxious than I’d like. I’d been dreading his return home after his stay at the hospital, and it hasn’t helped matters that he’s been having regular focal onset seizures where he looks to be daydreaming. There have been enough to make me question if he’s had them before and we’ve not realized. I’d been worried about what the days would bring, and when I’d known Asher was leaving, it hit me even harder. But I’ve never showed my fear to my parents, I c
an’t. I came home from college to spend the summer with my family, especially Dad. I can’t let them see my internal struggle or that I’ve become anxious about his new diagnosis. So, I’ve swallowed it down, and with the help of Grayson—my strength—I’ve pushed through it.

  Now we have more fun than ever.

  Dad continues to laugh, and the uneasiness I’d felt has slowly left me, allowing me to enjoy my time with him without any worry.

  The butterflies fly high in my stomach as I hear the familiar sound of Grayson’s truck coming down the road. I’m sitting out on the old swing at the front of his house, waiting for him. If he knew how long I’ve been out here in the dark, alone, he’d go crazy. It’s not late, it’s barely even eleven, but his protective side will show no doubt. Other than a quick text message to say that he’d had to work a little later than planned, I’ve not spoken to him since I left work earlier, and yes, my body still aches for him.

  I smooth my hands down the front of my dress as my heart begins to race at the thought of seeing him. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the reaction my body has to him, the rush, the way my heart picks up speed… All of it. It’s crazy how he has this effect on me, but I don’t want it to stop.

  When he steps out of his truck, the moonlight catches the broadness of his shoulders and my mouth waters at the way his muscles flex. Every part of his physique that is wrapped in snug jeans and a tight T-shirt makes my body scream, causing the pulse between my legs to throb. He’s pure perfection: a man with both delicate hands and a devilish tongue.

  Like he’s sensed me, his head turns, his shoulders immediately relax, and a soft smile graces his face. “Shortcake?”

  Stepping down from the swing, I walk toward him without a word. Unlike any other time when his eyes have traveled down my body leaving goosebumps in their wake, this time my body hums as heat covers every inch of my skin, awakening the desire that has been laid dormant all day.