by Cara North
Ethan sweetly kissed the tip of her nose again, forcing himself away and into the shower. A cold one was in order about now. Damn, she was hot and sweet and tasted better than anything he had known before. He wanted to consume her, head to toe. She would have let him, too. Friends, yes, they were friends, and he owed it to his friend not to let her live life thinking she was lousy in bed when, from the moment he laid eyes on her, he knew the opposite to be true.
Grace lie there in the aftershock of the earthquake that had just happened, little tremors reminding her it was real. The shower hummed; then, the spray started.
What the hell just happened? How could he get up and leave without his own gratification?
The shower.
Well, I need a shower myself now, and this is my house. That is my shower, and friends don’t let friends finish alone!
With a new sense of power and purpose, Grace got up and marched to the bathroom on shaky legs. She was already naked, so she pulled back the shower curtain and caught Ethan red-handed.
Washing his hair.
“Grace?” He looked surprised; then, the shampoo hit his eyes. “Shit.” He pushed his head under the water and scrubbed at his eyes to get the shampoo out.
Grace was not expecting to find him actually taking a shower and wanted to slink out of the room, except she was mesmerized by his naked body and the way the water trailed over every curve and muscle. Shampoo sliding down his abs to his ... she gulped.
Ethan was still rock hard and impressively so. With a deep breath, Grace decided she might as well enjoy this while she had the chance. He may not want to give it another try later. She took another deep breath and stepped in with him.
He flinched at her touch. She straightened with a bit of concern and hesitation. Maybe she had this all wrong. She went to withdraw, but he grabbed her hands.
“That tickles.” Ethan smiled down at her. Grace had followed him into the shower. She was following him as it should be. Now, this should be fun.
“Here stand here,” he said moving, so she could stand under the water.
Grace obeyed and moved under the water. He was quickly taking over again. He seemed to like that role, dominating and directing. Her hair began soaking up the water, and the curls began to get heavy and long down her back.
The water felt nice though it washed away his scent. She lifted her head to see him lathering a washcloth with soap. He was wet and naked and grinning from ear to ear.
Ethan reached out, running it over her shoulder, and she snatched it from him. She then placed it on his chest and began lathering his body in the soap.
She had to touch him. She wanted to touch him everywhere. She wanted to make him feel just an ounce of what he made her feel. For the first time in her life, she wanted to be in control. No, she had to be in control, really in control.
“You’re making me nuts here.” Ethan admitted though it was against his nature to give a woman the upper hand in sexual situations. Grace looked up at him like he had given her the best compliment of her life, and his heart thumped. The woman really had no idea what she was doing to him.
Grace was not about to be lured in again. If he wanted to teach someone something, he had, but she’s a fast learner and listened well when Megan talked. She was dragging it out, not touching his cock until he couldn’t take it any longer. “Really?”
“Yes, woman, can you feel that?” Ethan slid her hand over his erection. His breath caught, and his stomach jumped. “I’m so hard I could hammer nails.”
“You feel smooth and hot to me.”
Ethan groaned. Now, that he wasn’t expecting.
“Here, you stand here under the water.” She licked her lips as he now obeyed her commands.
Grace pushed him back into the water, which was getting cooler the longer it ran. She knew there wasn’t a lot of time before it would be cold, so she had to move quickly.
“You are full of surprises this morning,” Grace said completely in control of her breath. She could detach. She had done it many times with Mitchell though for different reasons. “But I have a trick or two up my own sleeve.”
She bent to one knee and looked the devil right in the eye. “I bet you taste good, too.”
Ethan could not believe how quickly the tables had turned on him. His shy innocent Grace was controlling her voice and ... His head shifted down, so he could watch as she was now on both knees in the shower before him. He craved her touch again, any touch. Those lips, swollen from their kisses, full and delicious, the thought of them on his cock drove him mad. Then, she licked, and he felt it like a lick of fire.
“You want this?” Grace reached out and took his cock in her hand then slid her tongue across for one slow stroke then peered back up at him.
He looked strangled and flushed, his dark skin darker across his cheeks and chest. She had only done this once before, and it wasn’t exciting. But now, with Ethan, the look in his eye, she felt ready to explode again just from touching him.
“Yes.” He strangled on a laugh. Looking down at her stroking him softly, teasingly, she was using his game against him. He would remember that and make her wait longer next time.
“Then, let me please you.” Grace didn’t wait for his response. Knowing he would just repeat her words, she instantly took the head inside her mouth.
Ethan gripped the shower curtain about to tear it down. Grace was breaking him down with every twist of her tongue every stroke of her hand each time her lips met then opened, letting him dive back into the deep end. She looked up at him snaring him with her gaze. She looked ready to come again, but that was impossible. Both of her hands were on him.
“Your mouth is amazing.” He groaned out, bracing himself against the tile wall with one hand and gripping the vinyl curtain with the other.
She moaned a reply sending vibrations through him. He thought he would lose it right then and there. The shower water caused extra sucking sounds just adding to the feel of her hot mouth contrasting the warm water.
She could feel him tightening his muscles. Her left hand was holding on to his thigh for balance while her right worked in unison with her lips. It wouldn’t be long now, but how long? Should she stop, what if he, no, he wouldn’t do that. It was exciting to feel him. Looking up at him, his face twisted and his chest rose and fell in rapid breaths. He could barely speak.
“Grace, Grace, Grace,” he called trying to pull back not wanting to erupt in her mouth. He would love to, but Grace was a lady, and he wouldn’t do that to her without permission. If she were anyone else, he would have taken his release and not cared, but Grace affected him. He would never disrespect her, but the little minx was killing him. She wouldn’t let go, forcing him to hold out longer.
“Grace!” he shouted, pushing his hand between her sweet lips before she could encapsulate him again. The warm liquid erupted like a volcano against his hand, and she stared up at him blinking.
“You never listen,” he said breathless, hovering over her. He had just about pulled the shower curtain down completely. His whole body shook, and she sat there looking at him with a wicked smile.
“Whoops?” Grace said innocently. He was shaking, one hand blocking her lips from the volcano, the other with half her shower curtain in it. She had gotten so caught up and excited when he was calling her name she forgot what came with that. She had never tasted a man like that before. Now, she was curious. Maybe next time. Next time? God, what was she thinking?
He let go of the curtain and dropped to his knees. “I’m sorry, I didn’t, I just didn’t want to...” Ethan was breathless. He was sorry he had yelled and told her she didn’t listen, but damn she took control of him, and that was not what he was taught.
Grace kissed his lips, silencing any words of regret or worry. “Friends don’t let friends finish alone.”
“Promise?” Ethan licked his lips. Grace was teaching him something all right. He didn’t have to be afraid of losing control, at least in the bedroom. Or maybe ju
st with Grace? He shook that thought off promptly.
“Promise.” Grace kissed him again. His lips felt so good against her own. She never wanted to stop kissing him, but the water turned ice cold, and they both jumped with a startled yelp. The shower was over, and so was the fun.
* * * *
In the kitchen, they found themselves alone. Megan and Chase had apparently went out for breakfast. The remnants of the breakfast they had prepared now rest in the trash.
Ethan felt content. He thought for sure he would have Grace out of his system, but that little shower trick just made him want her even more. It wasn’t until afterward he realized he didn’t bring any condoms.
He wondered if she was on birth control. It was a one time thing. Let it be. Though, he couldn’t help think of her naked body, the feel of her soft lips, and that tongue. What the woman did with her tongue. He shivered and felt his groin tighten.
“So, you’re a writer?” Ethan wanted to know more about her. Usually after any sexual experience, he wanted to know less about a woman, but Grace had him curious. He wanted to know everything about her. He wanted more of her. Maybe all of her.
“Not really. I’m trying to write a book, but I’m not a writer.” Grace couldn’t place herself amongst the greats. It seemed silly to think she would ever really be published, especially since she couldn’t seem to get past the first page. It was another dream not reality. Just like Ethan had become her living daydream. She never wanted to wake up.
“A friend of mine is an editor. You should let me talk to her.” Ethan lifted a shoulder and watched her. He loved her hands. They were soft and smooth. God, they felt good on him.
“Her?” Grace lifted a brow. She had no right to be jealous, but after what he just did, she had no choice.
“She’s old enough to be my mom.” Ethan smiled. Grace was jealous? Even friends got jealous now and then.
“So, so was your housekeeper,” Grace said. Why did another woman bother her? She had no claim to him.
“Well, when you put it that way, I never really thought about it. She is pretty hot for an older woman.”
“I need to check the mail,” Grace said out of nowhere.
“Okay.” Ethan waited. “You running out to check it or what?”
“No, I mean I have to go by the P.O. BOX. I was reminding myself. I hate it.” Grace traced the design on the counter with a finger negligently.
“Why?”
“I never get anything but bills. I mean I can go days without checking it because if I don’t get a bill, then I wasted my trip. I ordered a magazine once, so I had something to look forward to but that’s only once a month also. Mail sucks.” She had no idea why she was telling him this other than she didn’t want to talk about the book.
“Well, I can redirect all of my mail here if you’d like. I get everything including bills daily.” Ethan let Stephanie sort out his mail now since it was so ridiculous. “I thought having an e-mail would cut down on some of it, but it just made a new mail monster for me. I can forward all that to you too if you’d like.”
“E-mail I get, but paper mail ... No one takes the time to write anything. I get postcards every blue moon from my friend Evelyn. And a card from Megan on my birthday, but even she has switched to e-cards, so I didn’t even get that last year.” Grace was being too mushy; she knew it.
“When is your birthday, Gracie?”
“October. I’ll be thirty. A real grown up. Officially grown.”
“Well, we have a couple months that you can be reckless with right?” Ethan was formulating ideas already.
“I’m not much of a risk taker or adventure seeker.” Grace shrugged.
“We’ll work it out.” Ethan smiled.
Grace threw a dish towel across the kitchen island at him. We, he said we. Grace felt good. Better than she had in years. Finally, Ethan talked her into cooking. She was nervous about it, but he seemed to have faith in her.
* * * *
It was around lunchtime when Chase coaxed Megan back to the house.
“He’s my brother, not me. Surely they are done by now.” He winked. She was not amused.
Grace and Ethan indeed were finished and decided a little fun never killed anyone. Technically, they still had not had sex so no harm no foul. Friends helping friends relieve stress, they decided.
Even if it was only make-believe, this pretend life was better than Grace’s real life had been in a long time. Grace smiled as she thought of her cousin’s face and how much more it would have flushed had she opened the door to find Ethan face down between her legs. The thought sent a warm flicker deep within.
Ethan may not have been the first man she slept with, but he was the first man to cause an orgasm and so easily. Grace clenched blissfully inside, understanding what Megan was talking about on the beach yesterday. Ethan was written all over her today.
“What?” Ethan could tell that smile came from somewhere.
He was watching her slice the tomatoes for the salad. He had proven one lousy wrong and planned to prove another. Grace just needed to be nurtured. He could help her get her confidence back. God, now he was taking on a project. He felt like Joshua, always the hero.
“Just thinking of Megan’s face.” Grace barely got the words out before the door opened. She locked eyes with her cousin, whose face again filled with the flush of embarrassment.
Ethan looked at Megan, the diva dethroned. He never thought he would see the day when Megan walked in a room and obviously wanted no one to look at her.
“What!” She stomped her Louis Vuitton heel hard against the wood floor.
“Nothing.” Grace smiled and shifted her eyes to Ethan as he shifted his to look at Grace. They shared an inside laugh. She was going to enjoy this. “What have you guys been doing all day?”
Chase answered, nudging his stubborn fiancé through the door.
“Little of this, little of that.” He had no problem looking at Grace or Ethan.
The brothers exchanged a moment of face gestures then smiled at one another. Grace raised a brow at that. They had their own little code. It wasn’t the first time they had done that. Mischief, both of them seemed full of it.
“What’s for lunch?” Megan was quiet, unusually awkward. The sight of Ethan, his bare back hovering over her cousin, the image was burned in her mind.
“I’m making chicken alfredo and a salad.” Grace beamed.
“You’re making?” Megan snorted. “You mean Ethan’s making.”
“No,” he interjected. “She’s making.” He walked around the island in the center of the kitchen and pulled Grace’s long red locks to one side and kissed her neck sweetly watching Megan the whole time. “I’m just watching.”
Chase held back a snicker knowing his brother had been waiting years to unsettle his future bride.
Megan was always rude and unkind to Ethan. Chase knew why. He knew she had liked him all those years ago, knew that if Emma wasn’t in Ethan’s life at the time, he may have indulged her for an evening then sent her packing like the rest.
Ethan didn’t like anything that came too easy. That’s why he went to college before taking over a business he was practically groomed for since birth. Megan made it a point to be ugly toward Ethan. That alone let Chase know she really wanted to prove her love for him. He knew when she actually did fall in love with him, and he had no worries about her affection anymore, but he enjoyed watching her torture his big brother from time to time. Funny, the things that made Ethan dislike Megan were the things Chase liked the most.
“Ch-aa-se,” Megan whined putting her lip out.
“Okay, okay, there is only one way to settle this.” He walked into the living room. “You saw them. Now, they must see us.”
Chase pulled his shirt off and undid his belt. His shorts were around his ankles in an instant. His boxer briefs and sandals were all that was left.
Both ladies gasped. Grace buried her face into Ethan’s chest. He laughed so hard he could ba
rely hold her.
“Come on, babe, shimmy out of that dress.” Chase walked to Megan, who was trying to be furious despite the fact she was laughing. He hugged his little angel and kissed her lips. “See, you saw Ethan. Grace saw me. We’re square.”
“Yeah, Megan, I still had clothes on for crying out loud. It’s not like you saw us naked.” He thought for a moment. “Well, not me anyway.”
With that he got a well deserved pinch from Grace. “Who’s side are you on?” She laughed.
“Yours.” He replied with a kiss on her forehead. “I’m on your side.”
* * * *
After lunch Ethan and Grace took a walk around town. Grace needed to be seen out with him, and he promised to make a good show of it. He held her hand the entire time. They talked about Beaufort, pirates, and ghosts. It was strange how much Grace thought of her mother while she was with Ethan. She wanted to tell him about her, but that would be too much. Too painful, so she stuck with safe, friendly topics.
“It rarely snows here. When it does, the whole place shuts down.” Grace leaned into the rail on the boardwalk.
“We get a lot of snow in New York. I like all the changes of the seasons. We definitely get all seasons up there.” Ethan leaned on the rail next to her. “Are there really wild horses over there?”
“Yep, if you were going to be here a few more days, we could have taken a boat over and seen them.” Grace had gone over with her mother to see the ponies a couple times.
“Next time I come in then.” Ethan grabbed her hand and headed back toward the house.
The rest of the night went along fine. Megan gave up her theatrics, and Grace and Ethan performed at Oscar level. The day ended too soon, and night was falling quickly. One more day and they were leaving. Not a full week as planned but more fun than Grace had encountered in a long time.
Going to bed with Ethan tonight felt awkward. With all of the façade down, it was the two of them in a locked bedroom in a queen size bed that felt more like a twin.
“You should invest in a king size bed.” Ethan broke the silence as usual. They were sitting there. Grace was reading though she hadn’t turned a page the entire time. “I’d be more comfortable in it I think.”