Greer put her hands on his shoulders and counteracted his movements. The shudder of his body and low moan rivetted her. Beckett’s hips picked up speed and she watched his eyebrows pull together. Stillness invaded him and she watched all of the tension leave his face and body at the same time she felt the wetness slide down her leg.
With their foreheads plastered together, Greer listened to Beckett’s breathing gradually slow down. The fullness filling her heart scared her, but she pushed it aside. Right now, she was enjoying this moment in time.
Her hands slid to Beckett’s warm neck and let her fingers enjoy the soft texture of his hair. The nightmare that had held her immobile was gone and she would forever remember this moment.
Beckett’s eyes slid open and his slumberous gaze met her shy ones. He cupped her cheeks. “That was unbelievably amazing.”
Greer wasn’t sure what to do or say, but she completely agreed and smiled back. Beckett’s grin overtook his face. And together they shared the moment of what had just exploded between them.
“I’ll be right back,” Beckett whispered and slid his lips across her in a lingering kiss.
He got up and went to her en-suite bathroom. Greer looked down at Beckett’s, milky-white release and brought her hand down and rubbed it around. Curious, she lifted her fingers and put them in her mouth.
“Shit, Greer, that is the hottest thing I have ever seen.”
She felt the fire in her face and reached down to pull up the sheet as if that could erase what he had just seen.
“Oh, no it is too late for that.” And he pulled the sheet back down. Gently he proceeded to pull her panties down, which were covered with him.
He brought a washcloth up, cleaned between her legs. She shivered at the aftershocks flowing through her.
He pulled the washcloth away. “I was going to wash the rest of you, but I like your idea better.” And he proceeded to rub his remaining cum into her belly.
Greer knew she should stop him, and it should not feel as right as it did, but all she did was lay there in a pile of goo and let him do what he wanted.
When there was no glistening liquid left on her Beckett brought the washcloth back to the bathroom. Greer looked for her discarded t-shirt and pulled it over her head. Beckett came back, climbed into bed with her, urged her to her side, and brought his front to her back by wrapping an arm around her middle.
“Go to sleep, Greer.”
Greer closed her eyes but spent the next few minutes appreciating the protective warmth enclosing her before she drifted into a blissful, nightmare-free sleep.
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Chapter 33
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Her cheek was in the crook of his neck and she breathed in filling her soul with Beckett. Her hand felt the study thud of his heart and her front side was aware of every point of contact along his hard, muscular body.
He was still in her bed. Contentment filled her up. Gradually she became aware of the light shining through her eyelids. Greer inhaled a panicked breath and lifted herself up to look at the clock.
Beckett’s arms tightened preventing her from seeing the clock, and his gruff voice filled her ear, “Relax, Greer. It’s only 7:30.”
Greer planted her elbows on the bed and looked down into Beckett’s slitted eyes, rumpled hair, and morning stubble. It was ridiculous how bad boyish he looked and how badly she just wanted to run her hands along his jaw and into his hair. His cocky half grin told her he knew what she was thinking. She snapped her eyes to his amused gaze.
“You can’t be here,” she hissed.
A full grin. “But I am here.”
“You need to leave.”
“No,” was his cheerful response.
“You can’t be here.”
He started laughing. “I think we’ve covered this.”
Greer slapped her hand over his mouth. “Shhh. Our parents can’t know you are in here.”
His eyes twinkled and she could feel his mouth curve under her hand. Why didn’t he understand the seriousness of this? Then she felt his lips moving and heard his muffled words.
She cautiously lifted her hand.
“Greer, if they didn’t hear you screaming last night, they are not going to hear us now.”
Her cheeks turned red at the recollection of her behavior last night. She plopped down on her back on covered her eyes with her forearm. Now she wanted him to leave for an entirely different reason.
“Will you please leave, Beckett?”
Of course, he did the opposite. She felt his weight on top of her and he pulled her arm away from her eyes and trapped her arms on either side of her head by interlocking their fingers together.
“Open your eyes, Greer.”
His playful tone was gone, but she refused to listen to him. The pictures of her rubbing herself against him frantically were burned in her brain. She refused to look at him.
“I was talking about when you were having your nightmare, Greer.”
Well shoot, now she felt like even more of an idiot. “Oh.” Was her brilliant response, but still refused to open her eyes. When he still didn’t move, she forced confidence into her voice. “Thank you, for the clarification. I should go take a shower.”
He growled out a response, “You are not going anywhere until we talk.”
She was not talking about what happened last night. Especially since she had thrown herself at him, again.
With one swift movement, Beckett lifted himself off of her, put his hands under her, and she found herself straddling him as he sat against the headboard.
“We are going to talk about homecoming.” Beckett’s tone didn’t leave any room for disagreement.
That subject was only a slight improvement over discussing what had happened last night. Beckett knew what had happened for most of it, so despite the wariness in her gut, she told him what had started it.
“I was in the atrium because I overhead you talking to Jason and Mark in the lobby…about me.” Greer swallowed hard and ignored the twisting of her stomach. “It was humiliating, Beckett.”
Greer raised glassy eyes to Beckett. She drew in a breath and with every piece of determination she could muster declared. “And now, I’m confused. I thought you would want me to stay out of your way, but you are here.”
She was on a roll and the words that had been rolling around in her head and heart poured out as she pleaded, “Please, just be honest with me, Beckett. I can’t feel the way I felt that night again. It was like someone punched me and I couldn’t catch my breath. Everything just crumbled.”
Greer was stunned with what had come out of her mouth. She waited with her heart pounding and her eyes on his chest for what he would say.
Beckett gently lifted her head back up and determination lit his face. “Listen to me, Greer,” after searching her face, he continued, “I know you overheard us and I know you think you understood.”
Disappointment rippled through her. There had been times Beckett was cold and uncaring, but he had never lied. She had been there. She knew what she heard. She jerked her chin, but Beckett held on.
“When Evan told us that you were by the pillar, I was appalled because I knew what you would think.”
Greer blinked her eyes closed to hide the welling in her eyes.
Beckett’s other hand came up and he cradled her head.
“Listen to me, Greer.”
His soft pleading caught her off guard and she didn’t pull away, but she did keep her eyes closed.
“Greer, I was confessing my sins to Mark and Jason, NOT making fun of you. I was being derogatory about me, Greer. About me. I am so sorry.”
His tortured words made her blink her eyes open. “You were telling them why you decided to be nice to me. You weren’t talking about you.”
She wasn’t going to be played or lied to again.
Beckett nodded. “Yes. I was telling them the whole st
ory, everything I had done, and why I did it. I was NOT mocking you. Ask Jason or Mark they will tell you.”
Greer studied Beckett and she wanted to believe him, but she still didn’t understand.
“Why? Why did you do it?” That had been the question burning in her brain.
Beckett ran his hand through his hair and hung his head before he lifted it and looked at her. “My mom left when I was four. I only have vague memories of her.”
Looking over her shoulder Beckett paused, gathered his thoughts and continued. Greer sat as still as possible, not wanting to do anything to interrupt so she could hear the answers she had been dying to hear.
“But most of them involved yelling. I don’t even remember what about. After she left, Dad was always there for me. I had nannies, but he was at almost every science fair, baseball, basketball, and football games.”
“One day after middle school football practice Jason’s mom brought me home and I went looking for Dad.”
Greer drew in a breath intuitively knowing what she was about to hear was not good. Beckett’s body tensed and his mouth pinched together.
“He was on the phone in his study. The door wasn’t closed, so I waited in the hall for him to be done.” As an afterthought, he added, “He had taught me it was rude to interrupt, so I was waiting until he was done.”
“It turns out he was talking to my mom.”
Softly, after a couple of moments of silence, Greer prompted, “What did you hear, Beckett?”
Beckett snorted and turned his bitter eyes to her, “Judy, I paid your lying, manipulative ass to stay away from Beckett. You signed a contract to that effect and if you think you can weasel more money out of me you are sadly mistaken. You deserved nothing. But in return for giving me Beckett, I was generous…more than generous. I suggest, if you don’t want me to come after you, and make sure you are living in the street, you never contact me again.”
She knew those were the exact words Beckett had overheard and she could see the devastation they still caused. She leaned forward, put her hands on his cheeks. “I’m sorry Beckett.”
Their foreheads came together as they spent a moment absorbing the bomb that Beckett had just dropped. Eventually, Beckett took one of her hands in his, lifted his head to the headboard, and continued.
“From the moment I started showing an interest in girls the message I heard was they are fun, but with our kind of money most of them were predators.”
“That is a sad, cynical statement. It doesn’t sound like David.”
If anything, it sounded like Beckett. David had been nothing but welcoming, protective, and concerned about her.
A warm smile, complete with sparkling eyes lit up Beckett’s face. He said, mischievously, “That’s because your last name is Smith.”
“What?”
Beckett chuckled at her confused expression. “As soon as David met Vivian Smith, he was a changed man.”
“What do you mean?”
“For their first date, he came to me worried about what to wear. By their second date, he was a man determined to break down her barriers.”
“David was the first guy I ever remember her dating. I was relieved she had started dating.”
“Why?”
Greer smiled at his confusion. “I was going to be a senior in high school and I then I was going away to college. I didn’t want her to be by herself.”
“My reaction was the complete opposite.”
It was Greer’s turn to be confused. “Why?”
“My whole life I’d been cautioned to be wary of girls motives. Then after a couple of dates, my dad has stars in his eyes for a secretary he met at a lawyer’s office.”
Greer was starting to catch on. “You thought he wasn’t taking his own advice and being swindled.”
Beckett nodded and then reluctantly continued. “If Vivian was able to get my dad’s walls to lower, her daughter must be as accomplished.”
Beckett paused and studied her reaction. She was careful to keep her face blank. What he was saying hurt, but Greer wasn’t sure she wouldn’t have reacted the same way.
“If I could get you to show your true colors, then maybe my dad would open his eyes about Vivian.”
“You don’t like my mom?” Greer could hear the hurt in her own voice.
Vivian was her mom, but she wasn’t sure what there was to not like. The more she thought about it the more upset she became. This situation was just as hard for her mom as it was for Beckett, probably harder. Her mom had come into a new home, with her teenage daughter, taking a risk that she would be thrown out with nowhere to live. And she had never seen her mom be anything other than pleasant to Beckett.
Just as she was ready to blast Beckett, his mouth quirked. “Settle your feathers, Greer. I didn’t like the idea of any woman coming here and taking advantage of my dad.”
That didn’t sound any better and it sounded ridiculous. “You really think my mom would take advantage of your dad?”
“Not anymore.”
She breathed out. “What changed your mind?”
“My dad called me to the carpet and that’s when my thinking started to change.”
“So, when David got upset, that is when you decided to pretend to like me?”
Beckett’s hand came up and cupped Greer’s cheek. She stilled and absorbed the sparks the contact created. She dreaded hearing Beckett’s confirmation, but couldn’t pull away from the comfort his hand was offering.
“Greer, that’s how it started. I’ll never forget the tone of Dad’s voice that day.” Beckett looked away, and then a heartbeat later he looked back. His regret was evident.
“He was mad, but I’ll never forget the hurt and disappointment. The more he talked the more passionate be became. Vivian was the real deal for him.”
Beckett dropped his hand from Greer’s cheek and took her hand.
“When my dad told me his intention to take away my credit card, I knew it wasn’t a threat. I hadn’t ever seen him that…earnest.” Beckett laughed ruefully. “But, I still needed to test you. I couldn’t give up the notion that my dad was being suckered. The only difference was I had to do it more covertly. I had to do it being nice instead of an outright asshole.”
Both of her hands were gripped. “When you wrapped the football team around your finger in such a short amount of time, I convinced myself I was right about you.”
“Really?” Greer was laughing so hard she had a hard time getting the words out. “You thought I was some kind of femme fatale? You make it sound like the entire team wanted me.”
“They did.” Beckett ground out.
“Whatever.” She wiped the tears out of her eyes. “What changed your mind about me?”
“When you were pushed against the bathroom wall and didn’t want to tell anyone. You weren’t coy about it. You really didn’t want anyone to know.”
The surprise in his voice grabbed her attention. It was like he was completely stupefied that any girl did not want to be the center of attention. “It made me take a couple of weary step backs in my assessment of you. I was also mad, which surprised me. I couldn’t believe someone had threatened you. I wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again.”
Greer looked away. It did funny things to her insides to hear Beckett say he wanted to, in essence, protect her. Two hands cupped her face and she looked up into his earnest face. “From that moment on, everything I did and said was genuine. I might have still been fighting my feelings, but it was all real.”
A little kernel of hope was seeded in her with his words. Greer searched his face and saw nothing but genuineness. She held her breath as she dared to ask, “Even by the fire pit?”
Heat sparked in his eyes. “Especially at the fire pit. I didn’t like the guys flirting with, you Greer.”
“They weren’t flirting, Beckett.”
Beckett nodded. “Yes. They were, Greer. And it was my mission to make sure everyone understood you were mine.”
Greer was still processing when Beckett’s next statement made her catch her breath, “I want more with you, Greer. I will do everything in my power to earn your trust. I am yours and I will not stop until you consider yourself mine.”
Happiness exploded in her, but she tried to tamp it down. Too much had happened for her to just jump in without taking a breath. That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try.
She didn’t have to avoid him, she could feel what she was feeling. Cautiously, she took a breath and admitted.
“You have consumed my thoughts since the first time we kissed.”
It was her turn to smile at his sharp inhale. “I know you did it to manipulate me and I hated myself for responding. Like everything else involving you, I couldn’t seem to help myself.”
She remembered how frustrated she had been with her inability to completely ignore him. “It’s like my body is somehow linked to you. It starts humming as soon as you are in my vicinity and no matter how hard I ignore it, I can’t.”
“I feel the same way, Greer. It drives me crazy when you are not where you are supposed to be.”
Even as he spoke his hands slipped under her t-shirt, held her hips, and let his thumbs caress her abdomen. Her shiver of awareness kindled the fire in his eyes.
Beckett pulled her to him. Her mouth was caught up in a thorough kiss that immediately made her forget their conversation. She gladly sank into the heat licking all along her body and brought her hands up to touch and explore everywhere her hands could touch along his heated, welcoming skin.
As quickly as the kiss started it ended. Beckett declared, while breathing heavily, “No more hiding us. We are telling our parents.”
That gave her pause, she wasn’t sure what her mom would think.
“Although, I’m pretty sure my dad already knows.”
“What? How?”
“You and your mom are a lot alike.”
Greer was baffled. “What does that mean?”
“You were so stubborn about driving my truck and when I exploded on you, my dad was amused.”
Battling Beckett Page 25