by Mia Carson
As his fingers moved, his mouth found her nipple and clamped down tightly around it, drawing it into his mouth and sucking hard. Sharp pains of pleasure rocketed through her body, and her back arched, her hips seeking his as his fingers moved faster, searching deeper until they pressed against her g-spot with ease. Belle cried out, but Greyson’s mouth covered hers, swallowing each cry as he pushed her further over the edge and straight into the storm. Shuddering, her body went limp in his arms. The only thing holding her up was the sturdy wall behind her.
“Do you know how beautiful you look when you come for me?” he whispered in her ear, his voice rough with his own need. “God, I could watch you all day… watch you come undone in my hands.”
His words sent shivers down her spine, but she was too overwhelmed with pleasure, his fingers still deep within her, moving again until the storm raged even stronger. She gasped his name, his other hand pinning hers, merciless as he spread her lips wider, gliding his fingers over her swollen flesh. His palm pressed into her clit, and his mouth claimed hers, swallowing the moans escaping her mouth as he ravaged it. Belle could only let go as the storm took hold and her body came apart for the second time in Greyson’s hands.
Her body shaking, Greyson scooped her up in his arms, never letting his lips leave hers, and carried her to the bedroom. He laid her back and slowly removed her jeans and panties, revealing her full naked body to his hungry gaze. He licked his lips, but Belle was quicker. She scooted back down, gripping his swollen length tightly in her hands. He growled and slipped free, but she grabbed his shirt and dragged him down to the bed beside her. As their hands roamed over each other’s bodies, Belle tore his clothes from him, needing to see him, every last naked inch… touch it, taste it. As his last bit of clothing disappeared over the side of the bed, she crawled slowly up his body, licking a trail from his navel to his nipple. Her fingertip circled the pink flesh before her teeth closed gently around it.
Greyson’s whole body clenched at her touch, and he cursed, running his hands through her hair. Belle grinned, switching to his other nipple as her hand trailed lower and lower until she massaged his hip. Her body slipped to the side of his, but her mouth never stopped its exploration of his chest, his abs, tracing each line and sinew with her finger before lips and teeth followed.
His hips shifted when she grew closer to his swollen member bobbing happily before her. He tried to drag her back up his body, but she laughed and scooted lower until her mouth closed around the crown, sucking hard until she pulled him into her mouth.
“Damn it, pet,” he groaned, and his hands fell limp to his sides.
Belle lowered her mouth over him, taking in as much as she could and closed her hand around what remained. Slowly, her lips moved up and down as her hand followed, pressing deep into his body and finding that extra length hidden within. Greyson clenched the bed, and she smirked, loving how she could make him fall apart so easily.
But he wasn’t going to let her have her fun. Belle gasped when his fingers found her wetness again, and as she lowered her mouth over his fiery flesh, he moved within her, timing it just right. The idea of him filling her this way sent her arousal into overdrive, and Belle increased her pace, licking up his length as she sucked on him. He swelled each time she brought him into her mouth, but she grew wetter with every thrust of his fingers until she could hardly stand it. His hips bucked beneath her when she moaned with him firmly in her mouth.
Greyson’s hand pulled free, and Belle was rolled over gently, her legs spread with his knee, and as he lowered his mouth to hers, he thrust home, burying himself within her hot depths. Belle sighed at being filled so fully so quickly, and her nails dug into his biceps as his hips moved, setting a fast rhythm. He shifted, moving his body lower over hers so her nipples brushed against his chest. Each pass of his body only made her squirm to be closer, needing to feel his touch everywhere. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist, changing the angle, and he growled, his eyes focused solely on hers.
Within their brown pools, Belle’s heart swelled at the outpouring of love issuing from Greyson as they made love. He loved her fiercely, loved the baby she carried, loved their lives together. It was all right there for her to see, to reach out and touch his soul. Every nerve in her body felt struck by electricity when he thrust one final time. Her body screamed to be closer to him as a cry escaped her lips, echoing around the darkened bedroom. Greyson’s fierce growl followed as he held himself deep within her until he was fully spent. His warmth filled her as the storm raged over their coupled bodies before finally subsiding.
Belle laughed quietly as he shifted to the side and dragged her against his body, curling around her and keeping her safe. He was her great big bear of a man, and God, did she love him to death. Their chests heaved in time to their labored breathing, the only sound filling the silence of the house.
When she thought she might be able to speak coherently, she rolled over in his arms and kissed his nose. “You going to tell me about your talk with Brent?”
“You want to talk about it now?” he asked. “Right now?”
“You’re the one who had to wait until everyone else went home,” she said, tugging on his beard. “So yeah, I’m asking you now. What happened?”
Greyson sighed and sat up, pulling her with them so they rested with their backs against the pillows. “He’s a good guy,” he told her and smiled. “You look alike, have the same damn quirks… He’s your brother, Belle.”
Her heart thudded in her chest. “You’re sure?”
“Saw the paperwork to prove it and spent all afternoon with him, just talking,” he said. “He’s an artist, just like you, and has the same strange habit of being a workaholic, according to his girlfriend. I didn’t realize it was a family trait.”
“He’s real… It’s all real,” she said quietly, gripping his hands. “Thanks for going.”
“You’re welcome, and he wants to meet you as soon as you feel up to it.”
Belle watched his face, waiting to hear the but, except Greyson didn’t say anything else. He simply held her hand and smiled. “You’re serious?”
“I wasn’t kidding,” he said. “Your brother found you, Belle, and I think it’s time you met your family.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” she said and hugged him close. “Guess I wasn’t so alone after all.”
Chapter 5
Three Years Ago
Belle flipped through her textbook, muttering facts under her breath between sips of coffee, and wondered what made her think she could take this many classes at a time and not drive herself crazy. Carrie, her roommate from last year and, thankfully, again this year, told her she was nuts, but Belle had to stay ahead of the pack. She had to keep her GPA up and get the hell out of school on time so she could make something of herself. It was all she wanted and all she needed in her life. That one chance to take a shot and show the world what she had to offer.
Her sketchbook fluttered open on the table, and her eyes drifted to the unfinished sketch. She glared at it mocking her and turned back to her studies. There’d be time for her drawings later, she hoped.
“Excuse me, are you Belle Hall?” a woman asked, tapping her fingers on the table in front of her.
She frowned as she glanced up and met the ice-blue eyes of a woman in her forties. “Yes. Can I help you?” she asked, a strange tugging in her chest. Those eyes… They’re exactly like mine…
“I’ve been looking for you all over,” the woman said and glanced away guiltily. “After I dumped you, I mean. Oh, Belle, I’m so sorry.”
Belle’s stomach tightened, and she gripped the edge of the table hard. “Are you… wait… are you saying you’re… my mom?”
The woman smiled sweetly and nodded, holding out her hand for Belle’s. “I am, dear, and I’ve finally found you again. My little baby girl—”
***
“Bitch,” Belle mumbled in her sleep, rolling over, and nudged Greyson. He was awake,
listening to her toss and turn, but the cursing was new. Her face scrunched, and when he reached over to turn on the lamp, she growled out more curses and thrashed on the bed.
“Belle,” he said sternly, gripping her shoulders. “Belle, wake up. It’s just a dream, pet, nothing more. Wake up!” He gave her a little shake, and she shot up, head-butting him in the chin. She gasped in pain, and he held his chin, feeling for a bump on her head. “What the hell is going on in that head of yours?”
“Right now, a headache,” she whined. “Ouch, why is your face so hard?”
He sighed, rubbing the sore spot on his chin. “You trying to kill someone in your sleep?”
She glanced up at him through sleepy eyes and shrugged. “It happens on occasion. Sorry about your face,” she said and leaned in close to kiss the spot.
“Tell me,” he insisted.
“About what? I’m tired, need to go back to sleep… I'm meeting Brent tomorrow, remember?”
Greyson glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “You mean today, in less than six hours.”
She groaned and fell back against the bed, her arm flung over her face. “Damn, so much for sleeping. Ice cream sounds good. You want any?”
Before he could keep her in bed, she hopped out and meandered through the house, humming. His face still sore and not ready to let her off the hook that easily, Greyson threw off the sheet and followed her, his bare chest catching the moonlight pouring in through the back windows until Belle flipped on the kitchen light and blinded him.
“Was that a yes, you want ice cream, or no?” she called from behind the freezer door.
“No, and you shouldn’t be eating it either,” he said mildly, leaning on the other side of the kitchen island.
Belle shot him a look. “Are you calling me fat?”
“I would never do that, but if you keep eating a gallon of ice cream every three days…” He trailed off and gave her a teasing look until she grabbed the kitchen towel and chucked it at his head. “I’m kidding. You’re beautiful no matter how much ice cream you eat.”
Belle grabbed the tub from the freezer, slammed the door shut, and, never letting her eyes leave his, she fished a spoon from the drawer and dug out a huge mouthful. “Lecture me all you want, I don’t care. This tastes too damn good, and you don’t understand the cravings.”
“I guess not,” he said, “but I know when my future wife is upset and trying to hide it.”
She shoved another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth, staring fixedly at the tub on the counter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s three in the morning. You really want to play this game?” he asked, a warning in his words. “Are you nervous about meeting Brent? You can always call him and postpone it a week. He’s waited twenty years. I’m sure he’ll understand waiting another week.”
“No,” she stated firmly. “I want to meet him.”
“Okay, then you’ll meet him,” he said. “Who were you calling a bitch in your sleep?”
She stabbed her spoon into the ice cream as a flash of rage he’d never seen in her eyes before appeared. “No one,” she muttered darkly.
“Belle, you’re murdering your ice cream,” he told her gently.
She shoved it aside and pressed her palms flat on the counter. “Remember I told you I tried finding my family?” she started quietly. “That I’d had enough of hoping to actually find them and it really be them?”
He nodded. “You said you never came across anyone, though.”
“Because I didn’t… But someone—this woman—she found me,” she told him, and the rage grew in her eyes. “She found me and she claimed to be my long-lost mommy dearest.”
Greyson’s jaw clenched, hating the pain crossing Belle’s face. “You never told me that.”
“Because I wanted to forget it, all of it. The worst few days of my life when I actually let myself foolishly believe that my mom came to find me after all those years,” she whispered. “God, I hate her. I swore if I ever saw her again, I’d put her in the hospital for what she did to me.”
“Who was she?”
Belle pursed her lips as she shrugged. “No freaking idea. She showed up on campus one day, saying she was sorry she dumped me when I was so little. That she missed me and was finally able to find me again after so long. It was a bunch of bullshit, and I fell for it.” She rubbed her forehead, and Greyson almost wished he hadn’t brought it up, but it’d be better for her to get it all out now instead of when she came face to face with Brent.
“Let me guess. She wanted something,” he said.
“That she did,” she muttered. “Turns out she overheard a few people at the local gallery mention a new young artist—an orphan—came into a tiny bit of money from selling several of her sketches. Course, the money was gone a few days after I got it. I paid off some long overdue credit cards,” she said and smirked, her eyes seeing something not there.
“She worked at the gallery, then?”
“Nope, no one had seen her before. After the incident—after she tried to take my money, rob me in my sleep, and then destroyed a year’s worth of sketches in her rage when I found out what she was up to—she vanished, just like that. The cops put her face up, but it was months before someone came forward.”
Greyson believed it. People weren’t always as honest as they all hoped, which was why he met Brent first, why he waited so long to tell Belle about him. At least he checked out, but that woman and what she did—to try and steal money from an orphan, claiming to be a long-lost parent… It made him sick. “They knew who she was?”
“They knew she was a heroin addict looking for a cheap fix,” she snapped. “She’d been scamming kids all over the campus, but I was too deep into my books to know what was up.”
“Well, I did a background check on Brent, and you’ll be delighted to know he’s never had a run-in with the law,” Greyson assured her, walking around the counter to pull her into his arms. “He’s real, Belle. If you’re still not sure, at least trust me.”
She sighed and fell against him with a soft thud of her cheek against his chest. “I do. I just… that woman screwed me up for a while, you know? I had a glimmer of hope that maybe my mom did want me, and she turned out to be some damn whack job off the street.”
“Brent isn’t a whack job. He’s your brother, and I think it’s time you put your worrying behind you and embraced this, alright? Go back to bed, get some sleep, and in a few hours, you’ll feel a lot better.”
“What if we don’t mesh?”
Greyson shrugged. “I didn’t mesh with the twins for years. Ask them. I pretended they didn’t exist for a whole month. Until mom slapped me upside the head.”
She laughed, and he kissed her sweetly before giving her a gentle nudge towards the hall. She gave in, and once she disappeared, he snuck a spoonful or two of the ice cream, tucked it back in the freezer, and turned off the light. By the time he’d reached the bedroom, her soft snores filled the room and he grinned. Today would be a good day. He felt it, deep in his bones. All he wanted was for Belle to be happy… well, happier, and having family—real family—would mean the world to her.
***
Belle fiddled with the napkin at the table, tearing it to shreds as she waited. Brent asked where she’d feel the most comfortable meeting, and after Greyson gave her the okay, she invited him to the house for brunch—if she would be able to eat anything at all. All morning, her stomach had rebelled, and she tugged another napkin from the holder on the kitchen table, adding it to the pile of shreds in front of her. Greyson’s heavy boots pounded down the hall, and when his gaze landed on hers, he smiled knowingly.
“You need to relax,” he told her and took the rest of the mangled napkin from her. He kissed the back of both of her hands and set them on the table, sweeping away the mess she made. “You’re freaking out over nothing.”
“I can’t help it,” she muttered, smoothing her hands over her hair. “I feel so ridiculous r
ight now.”
“Why? It’s been twenty years. Just give yourself a break—and him. It’ll be fine, trust me,” he told her. “I’m going to go hide in my office and be out of the way. If you need me, though, just yell, alright?”
Her head bobbed in answer, but no words crossed her lips. He sighed and went to her again, crouching in front of her. “You can do this,” he repeated just as the doorbell chimed. Belle flinched, but Greyson steadied her with a kiss. “Go answer the door and meet your brother.” He stood and slipped away from her outstretched hand as he crept into his office and closed the door.
Belle stared after him blankly as the doorbell rang again. “Right,” she said and pushed to her feet. “I can do this. I am a strong, unstoppable, crazy, spitfire of a woman, and I can do this.”
She shook her hair out of her face, tugged her shirt down, and strolled to the front door. When her hand was on the knob, she paused only for a moment to suck in one final steadying breath before she yanked it open and came face to face with Brent.
“Hi,” the man on the porch said brightly but quietly, blinking as if to hold back tears. “I… uh, I’m Brent and you… you must be Belle.”
He held out his hand for her to take, but as Belle stared at his face, something clicked. Her heart pounded faster and her stomach clenched… not out of nerves, but something so much more. She glanced down at his hand, and before she knew what she was doing, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. Brent sighed, thanking God quietly in her ear, and hugged her back.
“Hi,” she said, muffled against his shoulder. “I can’t believe you found me.”
He nodded, and when she leaned back, wetness covered her cheeks and his. He grinned and wiped the tears away with his hand, fumbling for words. “I can’t… I can’t either,” he said. “I just… wow, you look just like Mom.”