Riptide (A Renegades Novel)

by Skye Jordan

  Grant’s hands covered hers and pushed the ladder back against the house with a clatter.

  “Grant...” she said, annoyed.

  She cut a look over her shoulder just as one of his arms circled her waist and hauled her up against him, forcing all the air from her lungs. But there was no mistaking the erection pressed against the curve of her ass. Or the rasp of desire in his voice when he put his lips to her temple and said, “Why wait?”

  Faith fought to pull her gray matter back together. “Why wait for what?”

  “To take the edge off that need.”

  She groaned and rubbed against him. “Because you have practice in half an hour, I have to close the store, and there are lights hanging off Dwayne’s roof. If you’d stop distracting me, I’d get it done.”

  “If you let me do it, it would get done faster.”

  “Says you.”

  “I don’t want you up on that ladder in the dark.”

  “Same. And you need to let your shoulder rest. You’re supposed to be recuperating, remember?”

  “I stopped by another store while I was in Ashland.” One of his hands moved lower, pressed between her legs and closed over her sex.

  Shock and excitement twined and skipped through her chest. She sucked a breath and rocked away from his hand, only to meet with more pressure behind her from his hips...and that iron swell. “Grant, Dwayne’s going to be home soon.” She glanced around the front yard, to the quiet street and the houses with lights shining in the windows surrounding them. “And we’re in public.”

  “Don’t you want to know which store?”

  He gripped her sex tighter and all the built up lust from the last twenty-four hours spilled between her legs. A groan ebbed from Faith’s throat.

  “Naughty,” he whispered with wicked glee at her ear. “Bet you didn’t even know it was there. I swear it was like a speakeasy, the front door off an alley and unmarked.”

  He clenched and released her sex as he spoke, and within thirty seconds, Faith was dizzy with the same clawing need he’d instilled in her the night before.

  Without warning, his hand disappeared from between her legs, and while a minute ago all she’d been able to think about was getting him to stop, now all she could think about was getting his touch back.

  The man seriously messed with her mind.

  “I want to show you one of the little treats I picked up for you.”

  While he reached into his pocket, Faith forced her head clear. She pushed at his arm wrapped around her waist, but he held her in a vice. And the more she moved, the more she rubbed his erection, exciting them both.

  “I want to see it,” she told him, “after I’m done with the lights.”

  “I can’t wait that long.” He reached around her with the other hand and jerked at the button on her jeans, making her gasp. “And I don’t think you can either.”

  “Grant, what in the hell—“

  His bare hand pushed against her belly and slid down, down, down. Beneath her panties and deep between her legs. The warmth and pressure combined to swamp Faith with pleasure and lust and a need so rabid it clawed at her.

  She grabbed a rung of the ladder with one hand and curled the fingers of the other around Grant’s wrist. But that didn’t keep her from rocking against his hand as if she had no control over her body. “Ah...my God.”

  “That’s just the beginning,” he rasped at her ear. He did something with his fingers, kicking off a vibration.

  “Wh—what—“

  He opened his mouth on her neck, and pushed his hand deep with a low groan. Something attached to one or two of his fingers vibrated over her sex.

  “H-holy—“ A wicked and wild pleasure cut off any ability to think. “Oh my God.”

  “You can’t wait, can you?” he asked.

  She couldn’t answer. The only thing she could focus on was the buzz between her legs making her go cross-eyed.

  He stroked circles around and around her opening. Faith’s mouth dropped open and her breathing grew choppy. Holy fuck. Holy fuck. Holy fuck. She would have said the words if she’d been able to speak. This level of pleasure was unthinkable until this moment. And just when she thought it couldn’t get and better, just when she saw the horizon of that delicious orgasm she’d been craving for hours, Grant pushed two fingers past her opening and up into her pussy.

  Two thick, vibrating fingers.

  She cried out in pleasure, in shock, in need.

  “Shh, shh...” Grant’s whisper at her ear dragged her back down to earth. “We’re in public, remember?”

  Holy shit. She forced her eyes to focus. The night had grown a little darker, but not dark enough for Faith to be letting him do what he was doing. Nor did she have any intention of stopping him. And just how twisted was that?

  “Need more room.” The hand at her waist pushed her zipper down and wiggled her jeans lower on her hips. Then he stroked over her ass, down her thigh and caught her behind the knee. And lifted her foot to the second ladder rung. “There we go...”

  The hands inside her moved freely, pushing deep, immediately finding that place he’d discovered inside her that made her moan and whimper and bed and shatter and manipulating it mercilessly with those soft vibrating fingertips.

  The sensation gushing through her pulled Faith into an arch with a high-pitched “Oh God...” Her head dropped back against Grant’s shoulder, mouth open with sounds she absolutely could not control. “Yes, yes, yes.”

  God she used that word a lot over the last twenty-four hours. Yes and more and please. More than she’d used them in all her years combined.

  Grant covered her hand curled around his wrist and pried her fingers loose. “I need more room, baby.”

  With his hand over hers, he pushed them both beneath the hem of her tee, up her abdomen and beneath one bra cup, so her own hand covered her breast. She barely noticed when his other hand pushed even deeper inside her and Grant finger fucked her in long, slow, deep, vibrating strokes.

  He thrust deep, rubbing her back wall with the vibration and rasping, “You are so fucking sexy.” Then twisted his hand and pulled out half way, holding there to circle and circle and circle. “I can’t wait to get you naked and use this all over your body.”

  “Don’t stop, don’t stop,” she begged.

  “Touch yourself, Faith,” he whispered at her ear. “Pinch and roll your nipple.”

  She did, without question, without resistance. He’d broken down barrier after sexual barrier in one twenty-four hour period and conditioned her for pleasure. And his murmured “Good girl” tipped her closer to the edge.

  “Oh, fuck, please, Grant. Harder, harder, harder.”

  “Mmmm, damn, baby, you’re a trip.”

  He thrust deep and hard and pleasure exploded through her body. “Yes, yes, yes. More, more, more.”

  “Talk dirty to me, Faith.”

  Always pushing her. This was how he did it. He got her to this place where she needed release, craved the pleasure, then pushed her for one more inch.

  “Give it to me,” she said, her voice thin and rough. “If you’re going to fuck me, fuck me, don’t play with me.”

  His laugh was quick and hot followed by a growl of fire and deep, steady, hard thrusts of vibration.

  “Ah, God... Don’t stop. Don’t fucking stop. So good. Mmm, so good. Can’t wait, can’t—“

  She shattered with a scream of shock and ecstasy—one Grant cut off with his hand over her mouth. One he perpetuated with continued hard thrusts and manipulation of her G-spot. Faith could have been in the middle of a crowd and not given a damn at that moment. All that mattered was soaking up every last drop of bliss spilling through her body.

  Faith was panting and still shaking when her mind came to a sluggish focus. She leaned against him, while Grant’s hand stayed between her legs and continued to explore her. “I love how wet you get.”

  “What...in the hell...is that?” she asked, barely able to keep he
r eyes open. Her skin tingled everywhere he touched, and he was getting adventurous.

  “A fucking fantastic investment is what this is.” His fingers stroked her perineum and her blood kicked right back to simmer. She rocked her hips back against him, and he groaned. “Imagine having me inside you, filling you, stretching you, hammering you, while I run these over your body.”

  That thought pushed her breath right out of her lungs. “How long until Dwayne gets back?”

  He chuckled, low and hot. Leaning over her, kissed her throat, grazed the skin with his teeth and pushed his fingers further back, vibrating a path between her cheeks.

  A zing of sexual current cut through her ass and she gasped. He worked circles over the pucker there and shot Faith right back toward climax. “Oh, fuck... Grant...”

  Her whine was wasted on him. His mouth bit paths along her neck while his vibrating fingers stimulated a whole new and intense response. And he dragged her hand, still beneath his own, into her pants and placed her fingers over her cit.

  “Touch,” he said.

  “Grant—“

  “Touch.” His order was final, and he maneuvered her fingers to the very top of her clit where his fingers joined hers in searching for that place—

  He found it first and his touch pushed more pleasure into Faith’s sex from a whole different direction. She was bombarded with sensations so wildly thrilling she wanted to drown in them. Swim in them. She whimpered, but let Grant place his fingers with hers. Let him guide her movement. Let herself rise with the feel of her own touch creating the intense thrill in her body.

  When Grant’s hand lifted from hers and she continued to rub and tease what felt like an expanding bubble, his touch grew more deliberate. More driven. More demanding.

  He lowered his chin, putting his lips at her ear. “Do you have any idea how fucking hot it makes me to watch you touch yourself?”

  Faith’s chest filled with a whole different kind of pleasure. She pried her eyes open and found his handsome face in the darkening shadows, creased with desire and intensity.

  “Now you can find pleasure and satisfaction any time you want it, Faith. No more denying yourself.”

  Emotion rolled through her, intense and sharp. Emotion she didn’t understand. She released the ladder and curved her arm back and around Grant’s head, pulling his mouth to hers. And gifted him with and erotic example of what she hoped he’d do to her when they had more privacy.

  He drank her in, added passion to the kiss and devoured her while his fingers parted, pushed Faith’s out of the way and shocked her clit with and orgasm that burned right to her core. Grant added pressure to her mouth to keep her from pulling away and muffled her cries as he drove orgasm after sweet orgasm through her body until she dropped back against him limp.

  Grant still had his hand down her pants when headlights turned the corner and started down the street.

  “You, Miss Nicholas, have been saved by the cavalry.” He dragged his hand back and jerked her jacket into place a moment before Dwayne turned into his drive. And pushed the ecstasy vibrating fingertips into his jacket pocket. “Because I was just about ready to do you in the front yard. Damn you make me do the craziest thing, woman.”

  Grant was teasing, but in her exhausted state, it struck her extremely funny. She was holding herself up with the ladder, still laughing when Dwayne climbed from his car, grinning.

  “What are you two up to?” he wanted to know.

  “Faith just lost at rock paper scissors,” Grant told him, taking Faith by the arm and sitting her on the front steps. “Now she’s got to sit on her ass while I finish the gables.”

  “Hey...” she complained, then started laughing again. “That’s only because you wouldn’t let me go for three out of five.” And she added a sweet, “The offer’s still open.”

  That made Grant bust up laughing. “I promise to take you up on that another time. But not right this minute.” He grabbed the ladder and walked it to the next gable, telling Dwayne, “we’ll be ready for a show in ten minutes. Get your popcorn ready.”

  “Okay, here we go, boys,” Grant called once the kids were in position for their last drill of the night. “Remember, you’re passing while you’re moving, so make sure to whip that puck hard to get it in front of your teammate. Then pivot, catch the shot from the next man down the line and shoot it up the ice.”

  He blew his whistle, and the kids glided into action. Grant floated on the edge of the rink and rolled his shoulder while his gaze focused on the kids’ feet and hands, on pivots and shots.

  Dwayne paced the sidelines. “Stay low in your turns, boys. Keep movin’, keep movin’, shoot.”

  “Talk it up, guys,” Grant told them. “You should always be talkin’ to each other out there. If you want something, call for it. Pick up the pace, boys. Giddy-up, let’s go.”

  “Giddy-up?” Dwayne said, shooting him an incredulous grin. “Is that the shit they teach you in the big leagues?”

  “Shut up.” Grant grinned. “Parker, move those feet. Whoa, Healy, what the hell was that? You control the puck, the puck doesn’t control you.”

  That brought some laughter. “Good.” He called out encouragement. “Nice.” And as the last few members of the team passed up the ice, Grant clapped to get the team’s attention. “Other way, same drill. Speed, accuracy, focus. Go.”

  His phone chimed. Without looking away from the boys, he answered, but instead of saying hello, he lowered the mouthpiece and yelled, “Jordy, you here to socialize or practice? Cut the bullshit. If I have to tell you again, the whole team’s gonna be doing sprints.”

  A collective groan rolled through the group, and Jordy received a number of shoulder shoves, which shut him right up.

  Smiling, Grant lifted the phone to his mouth. “Grant.”

  “Hey.” A male voice that he didn’t immediately recognize sounded over the line. “Sounds like you’re as much of a hard-ass with teenagers as you are with grown men.”

  By the time he finished speaking, Grant recognized his younger brother’s voice. “Do you mean on the ice or with you? Cause I haven’t seen you enough to be a hard-ass yet.”

  “I know,” Patrick said, “that’s why I’m here to take you for a beer when you’re done.”

  Grant heard stereo and turned to find his younger brother strolling toward the rink, one hand in his pocket, huddled in a parka. Patrick grinned and lowered his phone. Grant had mixed feelings about his brother’s appearance. On the one hand, he was the reason their parents had even entertained the idea of seeing one of Grant’s games. On the other, Grant really wanted to go straight back to the store, pack in some quality Faith time—preferably buried deep inside her driving her to scream his name the way she had last night, then teach her how to edit video and set up her YouTube account. And, yeah, then work on more screaming.

  Damn, his cock was already half-hard just thinking about it.

  “Patrick?” Dwayne turned and held his hand out to Grant’s brother, but he didn’t look all that happy to see him. Still Patrick stepped up and shook Dwayne’s hand. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “Yeah.” He released Dwayne’s hand and scraped it through his hair, looking at the ground. “Well, I’m sure no one missed me.” He looked up and met Dwayne’s eyes. “But I’m clean and sober, eight months now.”

  Shock hit Grant in the stomach. He’d known Patrick had a problem, but not that it had been legitimized or that he’d sought help or that he’d been successful at battling the addiction.

  “Congratulations, kid.”

  Patrick grinned. “Thanks, thanks.”

  “Grant, you go on,” Dwayne said. “I’ve got this. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Grant nodded. “Thanks.”

  He sat down, threw on his blade guards and started unlacing his skates.

  “Thank you,” Dwayne said. “And tell Faith thank you again too. I’ve been getting all sorts of calls and texts about the lights. You made a lot of peop
le happy tonight.”

  Dwayne skated toward the kids calling directions while Grant pushed into tennis shoes.

  “What lights?” Patrick asked.

  “The ones on his house. The system’s been down since MaryAnn passed and we helped him get it up and running again.”

  He set his skates in his duffle, tossed it over his shoulder and started toward the parking lot with Patrick, but his mind was on how happy Faith would be to hear how the lights were affecting the community.

  His brother wrapped a playful arm around Grant’s neck and wrestled him, singing, “Someone’s got a crush...”

  Grant laughed and pushed Patrick off. “You’re still not big enough to do that.”

  Patrick straightened, making a face at how he topped Grant’s height by two inches.

  “Old enough,” Grant corrected. “You’ll always be my baby brother.”

  “Who’s Faith?”

  “Let’s talk about you. Why did you invite me for a beer if you’re sober?”

  “Because it’s the socially polite thing to do. And because it’s good practice. And because I always feel a little stronger when I walk out of a bar still able to count backwards from one-hundred. Who’s Faith?”

  Grant ignored his last Faith inquiry and focused on the glimmer of the good-natured kid his brother had once been. That made Grant smile.

  They agreed to take separate cars and meet at Yuletide Spirits. Grant planned on walking from there to Faith’s and staying with her tonight, and he didn’t want anything interfering with that plan.

  As he pulled out of the parking lot, he dialed Faith.

  “Hey handsome,” she answered. “Hope you didn’t send any of the kids home with marks.”

  “Not a one.”

  “Good boy.”

  And here came their first test. “So...my brother found me at the rink. We’re going to grab a beer.”

  “Really?” She sounded surprised, but in a good way. Grant held his hopes back, waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Which one?”

  “Patrick.”

  “That’s great.”

  He was still waiting. “Why is that great? You don’t like my brothers.”