by Mia Carson
She laughed as she lowered her mouth to his, her hair falling over them as their laughter echoed around his office.
Chapter 9
Greyson yawned as the sun hit his eyes and a warm body shifted beside him under the sheets. He opened one eye and looked at the brown, wavy hair draped over his shoulder and Belle resting in the crook of his arm.
“Morning,” he whispered and ran his finger down her nose. She twitched and squinted one eye open before burrowing back under the blankets. “Nope, time to get up,” he told her as he threw the quilt off, revealing their naked bodies.
“Too early,” she mumbled and reached for the blankets, but he rolled over, pinning her to the bed.
After last night in his office, he couldn’t get enough of her, and as he’d promised, they made it to a bed where he proceeded to explore every inch of her delectable body. As he kissed her, his tongue dancing across the plump lips still swollen from his kisses, his knee spread her thighs and he pressed his swollen head against her.
“You’re already wet,” he groaned, and she laughed.
“I dreamed of you all night,” she replied and tugged his beard until he kissed her again.
His hips rocked forward, and their heavy breathing filled the room, their lips unable to kiss each other hard enough or fast enough as he plunged deeper within her. When her back arched, the angle shifted and he groaned as she moved with him, meeting each powerful thrust until he moaned and his body shook, trembling from her touch. Her muscles clenched him hard, holding him there as she sighed, whispering his name before a cry breached her lips.
“I think… I think I could get used to waking up like this,” she mused.
He pulled her close and replied, “Same.”
She eyed him warily. “Who are you and what did you do with my stubborn-ass boyfriend?”
He laughed and grabbed her ass as he kissed her hotly before climbing out of bed. “Come on, we have somewhere we have to go today.”
“And that would be where?”
He sighed and knew he’d never hear the end of it. “My dad’s grave, so get showered and dressed.”
She tried to hide her knowing smile, and he could tell she wanted to give him crap for it but held it in and darted into the bathroom. “Are you coming?”
“In a second,” he called back and grabbed his robe.
He padded through the house as images of Belle soaking wet in his shower filled his mind, but it would have to wait a few minutes. Once inside his office, he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a Post-it with a number on it. He glanced back down the hall before picking up the phone and calling it.
“Yeah, listen, we need to make a deal. When are you available to meet?”
“I knew you’d come back,” Aiden crooned. “How’s tomorrow sound?”
“Don’t get any ideas, Aiden. I need information, and you’re going to help me track it down in exchange for a check instead of secrets. That’s the deal, take it or leave it.”
He waited impatiently for her to reply before she finally sighed. “For now. But one of these days, you’ll come back to me. What do you want to know?” she asked, all business now.
Greyson thought of the woman in his shower and how much he cared for every aspect of her well-being and knew how much she’d hate him if she figured out what he was doing. For her happiness, it was worth the risk. “I need to find Belle Hall’s parents.”
THE PLAYBOY’S
VIRGIN #3
Chapter 1
Running water echoed through the bathroom door. Greyson grunted and rolled over, his arm stretching out to the other side of the bed to find it warm but empty. One eye squinted open, followed by the other, and he rolled over on his stomach, yawning loudly.
“Belle?” he called out, but she didn’t answer.
Scratching his beard, he rolled over and sat up, a smirk immediately curling his lips as he surveyed his bedroom. Her clothes were scattered over the floor, along with his. Her bra hung over a fan blade and her thong over the dresser mirror. His boxers hung close by, and the quilts were mostly on the floor. His body protested when he climbed out of bed, stretching his back and arms, but damn, had it been worth it. After their first few times, she had showed him new moves and was just as feisty in bed as she was out of it.
He had the scratch marks on his back and thighs to prove it.
Steam billowed out of the doorway, and he peeked at Belle’s deliciously naked, beautifully wet silhouette through the glass doors of the stall. She tilted her head back, letting the water stream over her hair as she ran her fingers through the tendrils. He licked his lips, and every cell in his body sprang to life, including a throbbing erection he couldn’t ignore. Hunger filled him for the woman he was unable to get enough of. She drove him crazy with her stubbornness and her hatred of being taken care of, but damn, did he love her.
Gradually, he slid the glass door aside and caught the crooked grin she shot him before he stood behind her after closing it. He kissed her neck, the heat of the water a shock before he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.
“You’re going to burn your skin off,” he growled before sucking hard on her earlobe.
“Maybe I like it hot,” she breathed, squealing when he tickled her sides. “That’s not fair!”
“After last night, you should know I don’t play fair,” he murmured, remembering how many times she’d screamed his name and how her body writhed at his touch, wanting to be closer and farther away at the same time. “I’m going to be sore for days.”
“My poor bear,” she teased, turning in his arms, a pout on her face. She stood on her toes and kissed him sweetly, the water cascading down her back. She tugged at his beard and he ground against her hips, but she smiled and pulled away. “I think it’s my turn to take care of you.” She winked and slithered wetly down the front of his body.
Greyson frowned, ready to pull her back, when she clutched him and her mouth covered the crown of his swollen length. “Jesus,” he groaned and shot a hand out to support himself.
Belle sucked hard, and his head fell back as his hand buried itself in her wet hair. She licked the tender flesh, and when he saw himself disappearing into the depths of her mouth, his whole body shuddered. Her eyes glimmered as they stared up at him.
Greyson’s hand pressed hard against the wall of the shower, trying to maintain control, but with Belle, he was never really in control. He never had been. Her hands stroked the rest of his erection to the base, pressing against him, and he wouldn’t last much longer. Gripping her arms, he hoisted her to her feet, picked her up, and wrapped her legs around his waist as he backed her into the wall.
As his mouth captured hers, exploring hers mercilessly, his tip pressed against her wet and swollen lips. With a shift of his hips, he penetrated her, and she trembled with a moan in his arms, gripping his shoulders as her nails bit into his skin as they had the night before.
“I thought… we talked about… being fair,” she said breathlessly as his hips ground against hers with each thrust.
“I told you,” he growled roughly and thrust harder. “I don’t play fair.”
He plundered her depths as the water swirled around them like a hurricane, their skin hotter than the water pouring from the shower-head. Greyson’s hips struggled to hold a steady pace as need drove him, and Belle gripped him tightly deep within her sheath. They fit together perfectly, as if they were made for each other. It’d barely been two months, but he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this difficult woman who set his blood on fire. Who drove him to push all the dark thoughts of his past aside and embrace a future with laughter—and definitely more showers like this one.
Her moan quickly grew louder until she cried out and pressed one hand back against the shower wall for purchase as her whole body went limp in his arms. Greyson thrust two more times until he groaned, burying his face against her neck as he spilled deep within her. Carefully, he set her down on
wobbly legs and leaned against the wall, his shadow covering hers as his body blocked the water from reaching her. With one hand on either side of her face, he leaned in and kissed her, barely letting his lips brush against hers.
When her eyes flickered to his shoulders, she grinned sheepishly and reached up to rub the sensitive skin. “I think those might be my fault.”
He glanced to the right and left then shrugged. “Casualties of love and war, pet, nothing more.”
Her light blue eyes crinkled at the sides when she smiled, and he wrapped her in a tight hug, shoving them both under the spray of the water. His booming laughter mingled with her shrill shrieks, and he held her tightly against his chest, never wanting to let go.
“Unless you plan on taking another day of vacation and explaining to Tim why he has to take over again, we should probably get ready for work,” she laughed.
“I’m just a figurehead anyway,” he said with an exaggerated sigh. “Everyone uses me.”
“They sure do,” she agreed with a crooked grin. “Because you are the worst boss in the world, let me tell you. A real slacker, total narcissist, rude, obnoxious—”
He cut her off with a kiss. “Right, you made your point. Let’s go, pet.”
She hopped out of the shower, and he frowned when the view of her curves was covered by the over-sized, blue, plush towel. She wrung out her hair and went to the sink as he rinsed quickly and stepped out behind her.
“Mom called,” he announced, wrapping another towel around his waist.
“Are you in trouble again? You told her about your visit to your dad’s gravesite, right?”
“Yeah, I did, and she cried she was so damn happy, but I told her not to get too excited about it,” he grumbled. “I still hate the man.”
Belle rested her hand on his arm, and he stared at it as she said quietly, “No, you don’t.”
“Either way, she wants us over for dinner soon. A sort of official family dinner, I guess.”
Her hand fell away and she nodded, but Greyson noted the sudden stiffness of her posture and the way her eyes darted wildly around the bathroom before they landed on him. “Dinner with the family should be great. Perfect.”
“Belle,” he began, but she pulled away.
“No, I’m serious, really looking forward to it. Who’s going to be there?”
He breathed out heavily through his nose, watching her closely. “Mom, the twins will fly in, I’m sure, and my aunt and uncle who live close by. Maybe a few cousins and their kids.”
Her hands stilled on her hair. She stared at her reflection as she responded, “Sounds… sounds crowded.”
Greyson walked behind her and tucked her wet hair behind her ears as he stared at their reflection in the mirror over her head. “I know you’re not used to a big family, but they’ll love you, I promise, and maybe you’ll enjoy yourself.”
She leaned back into him. “I know, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s understandable, but I don’t want you to worry about it, and if you’re really not ready, I’ll tell Mom to keep it to just the three of us.”
“No,” she argued and straightened her shoulders, nodding firmly. “I can do this.”
“If you’re sure,” he said.
She nodded again and pushed him away gently with a grin. “Yeah, I’m good. Now go so I can get ready without you distracting me.” She laughed when she said it, but he knew she was serious.
He left her alone to get dressed and debated calling his mom later to limit the number of people she invited. They needed to take it one step at a time, until Belle was ready to meet the whole brood that made up his family.
One glance at his cell as he walked into the large closet told him that, so far, he had no news from Aiden. She thought she had a lead a week ago, but the woman she’d found turned out to be a different Belle Hall living across the country. She was still searching in the dark. She was charging Greyson an arm and a leg, but if she found Belle’s family, it would be worth it.
As he stood in the walk-in closet, he heard Belle humming to herself as she padded out of his bedroom and into hers. A few minutes later, she called out to him. “We have to swing by the dorm soon. I’m running out of clothes!”
He laughed as he joined her, leaning in the doorway of her bedroom. “I do have a washer and dryer, you know.”
“That’s not what I meant. I’ve worn the same four outfits over the past two weeks. People will notice,” she argued, but he held out his hand for hers. “What?”
“Just come here,” he said and tugged her back towards his room. “I don’t know how you manage to catch everything else going on in our lives but miss this.”
He dragged her to the closet and stood her there. “Your clothes? What am I looking at?”
He sighed and turned her head gently from behind to face the right side of the closet. “I don’t think those clothes will fit me, and I’m pretty damn sure you don’t want to see me in a bra. The thong, maybe,” he teased and crossed his arms smugly over his chest when she walked slowly into his closet, running her hand over the new clothes hanging there.
“You bought all of these for me?”
“I notice more than you think,” he smirked. “Everything should fit perfectly.”
“How did you know my size?” she asked with a raised brow, glancing at him over her shoulder.
He followed her in, admiring his choice of off-the-shoulder sweaters, tight fitting jeans, and shimmery black tops. “You went shopping with my sisters. Those stores kept your sizes on file for me. You don’t like them?”
The struggle was plain on her face as she tugged at her piercings and her other hand fiddled with one of the sweaters. “I do, but… this is a whole new wardrobe,” she whispered. “I can’t accept it.”
“Yes, you damn well can, and you will,” he glowered, turning her around as his broad body blocked her in. “You’re going to have to get used to be taken care of, remember? We had this conversation.”
“No, you did, and you assumed I’d accept it,” she argued, but there was no real fight in her words. She pulled the sweater from the hanger and held it up, her eyes lighting. “I’m assuming if I try to take it all back, it’ll just wind up here again?”
He nodded. “They’re just clothes.”
“To you,” she said quietly. “But you’re right, I love them and I won’t give you a hard time about them. But listen here, bear,” she added and poked him hard in the chest, “no more big surprises like this, alright? You drive me crazy enough as it is.”
“That’s my job,” he said with a wink and left her to get dressed, taking his turn in the bathroom to trim his beard and gel his short hair.
Every now and then, he’d poke his head out of the bathroom to see her trying on different outfits and grinning excitedly. She caught his gaze and shrugged, apparently helpless against his charm. She’d broken through his walls—or at least some of them—and it warmed him to see that she was slowly letting him in, too. He reconsidered canceling the dinner with his family then decided some tough love was just what Belle needed. They’d go ahead with the dinner. Maybe spending time with a full family would do her some good, help take the edge off her past struggles to get by.
She hadn’t gone into detail about her time in foster care, and though he wanted to ask, he thought it best to wait. She’d tell him if and when she wanted to. And if not, well then, he’d just be kept waiting.
Before they walked out the door, he checked his office phone to be sure Aiden hadn’t let him a message there, but there was nothing.
“Ready?” Belle called out.
“Yeah, be right there,” he replied and tapped his desk. “Come on, Aiden, find something. Anything.” He hurried to the front door and to Belle wearing one of the black shimmery tops and a deep blue sweater that hung low in the back. “I knew that’d bring out your eyes,” he murmured and bent to kiss her.
“Yes, you’re such a fashionista. Can we go now? I’m sure your e-mails are
piling up after that deal went through.”
“What did we agree?” he argued, his hand on the door.
She sighed and said as he rolled her eyes, “No worrying about work until we’re at the office.”
“This is not the office,” he reminded her. “Besides, don’t you have mid-terms to worry about?”
“Please don’t use the m-word like that in front of me,” she complained sarcastically. “It's going to give me nightmares.”
“If you need time off, just ask,” he insisted and refused to open the front door.
She shook her head, her wavy brown hair dancing down her back. “No, I’m fine, everything’s under control. Now can we go? Really, I’d like to leave for the office sometime today or I will be behind.”
He eyed her, taking in the twitch to her lip as she smiled, and knew she was nowhere near finished with her mid-terms. That was an argument for another day when they weren’t late for work. When he could drag her back to bed and ensure she was relaxed and ready to face the day, but she was right. They didn’t have time, and since the deal went through with the other gaming company, his office had been a mess. Not only had it created new jobs, it nearly tripled their workload. If Belle had not appeared and agreed to be his personal assistant, he’d be in a six-foot hole with no way out.
He expected her to be on edge with mid-terms so close at hand and graduation just around the corner, but she was the calmest he’d ever seen her. Either she’d gotten better at controlling her anxiety or she hid it better. The whole ride up to the fifth floor in the elevator, they kissed, their lips moving swiftly against each other’s as she backed him into the corner. If only they had a few minutes longer, but the loud ding had them springing apart and straightening clothes as the doors parted and Tim greeted them with a raised brow and a wolfish grin.
“Well, good of you two to join us,” he teased, winking at Belle as she hurried past him towards her desk. She smacked his arm playfully, and he laughed harder. “Damn, I never thought I’d be jealous of you.” He nodded at his boss.