It all made sense now.
“I’ll have waffles ready by the time you’re done.”
“Orange juice?” he asked hopefully.
“Bacon too,” she promised.
Gray tugged his footwear from a disappointed cat and got off the couch and went to the front door. When he put his hand on the doorknob, he frowned.
“Riya,” he called out.
She poked her head around to the end of the hall. “Yes?”
“You didn’t set the alarm.”
He watched her brow furrow. “Darn it. That’s the first time since you installed it that I’ve forgotten. I had it set last night before you came over. I think your arrival just took me by surprise.”
“This is important,” he cautioned.
“Gray, I’m not being flighty about this. If you thought it was essential that it be installed, of course I’m going to use it. You showing up at three in the morning made me forget. I’m sorry.”
He looked at her and saw that she was sincere, and soon to be sincerely pissed if he continued to make a big deal out of it.
“No need to be sorry, Honey. Your safety is important to me, that’s all.”
Her expression smoothed out into a smile. “I know it is, Gray. If I didn’t realize you were coming from a place of caring, I would have booted you and your friends out on your collective asses when you came over to install the damn thing.”
She would have, too.
Gray grinned as he walked out into the cool, early morning air. He grabbed the duffel out of the backseat of his SUV. It was Friday morning and he didn’t need to be back to base until Monday. He was going to do his best to see if he could talk Riya into playing hooky with him today.
* * *
She heard the shower turn off upstairs, which was her cue to pour the second round of batter into the waffle iron, turn on the burner underneath the bacon and start beating the eggs. The coffee was already brewing. Riya was going to be sad to see all that delicious blond scruff shaved away. It hadn’t developed into a full-blown beard, it was just that right amount of whiskers that made him look oh-so-sexy.
“Smells good in here.”
Egg mix went flying out of the bowl as she whirled around to see Gray standing in low-slung jeans and a white t-shirt.
“Didn’t mean to startle you.” He grabbed a paper towel and wiped up the egg that had spilled while she just ogled him. In the bright morning light she could see the white interspersed with the blond in his whiskers.
How gorgeous was that?
Pull it together.
She sidestepped him and snagged a glass from the cupboard and poured him a big glass of orange juice, then gave a chin tilt toward one of the stools at the kitchen bar. “Do you want to just eat here? Or in the dining room?”
“Here’s great. But, why don’t I help you?” He sipped from his glass and his left hand swept down her back. She’d forgotten Gray’s habit of casual touching.
“The kitchen is too small for the two of us. You sit there and talk to me.”
Riya knew it was because he’d been on a mission. He couldn’t tell her anything. Same went for her, she couldn’t tell him that she’d been to DC, and she sure as hell couldn’t tell him that she’d been trying to recreate things from memory. He must have seen her hesitation.
“I’ve got a better idea, you talk to me. I want to hear about microbes, microcosms, and Microsoft,” Gray said with an easy smile.
“Microsoft stock is up, even though there is a bug in their latest Windows release. I’m going to leave the microcosms to the ecologists, and which microbes do you want to talk about? Bacteria? Eukaryotes? Protists?”
“I give, I give?” The man’s laugh was a thing of beauty. “Tell me gossip. Or tell me if you’ve babysat. Tell me if you visited your parents or your sisters. What’s the latest with Anika?”
Riya flushed with pleasure as she plated the two waffles, mounds of eggs and six slices of bacon and put it in front of Gray. He always remembered what was going on in her life. She would bet her bottom dollar that he’d done some reading up on molecular virology the same as she had on Navy SEALs, and he might even know a little bit about Eukaryotes if push came to shove. The man was crazy smart when he studied up on something.
She noticed he hadn’t picked up his fork. “Come on, dig in.”
“I’ll wait for you.”
“It’ll get cold. I have to wait for the next waffle to come out.”
He just lifted his eyebrow and she turned back to the counter, willing her waffle to hurry up and cook.
Damn Southern manners.
She grabbed her food when the timer went off, and sat across from him. Their eyes locked, forks forgotten.
Gray reached out and tugged her hand across the smooth bar top. “I missed you.” They were the same words he’d said last night. He’d even used the same rough voice.
Riya blinked back tears.
“I was scared,” she admitted softly. “I tried real hard not to be. I concentrated on the Microsoft stock, but it didn’t do it for me.” Her laughter was forced. “Can you tell me anything?”
“I can tell you that I work with the best team in the world, and that they’ve never let me down.” His eyes roamed over her face, then flicked down to her plate for just an instant.
She pulled back her hand. “Eat. Then we can talk. You can tell me the stuff that isn’t confidential. Then I’ll return the favor and tell you about my stuff that isn’t classified.”
Gray grabbed the butter dish and slathered half a stick onto his two waffles, then proceeded to drown them in syrup. He laughed at her expression. “One of the things I can tell you, is that there weren’t a lot of carbs, fats or sugars where I was. I’m making up for it.”
Riya ate some of her food, then got up and put another serving of batter into the waffle iron.
“You’re a goddess,” Gray said looking up from his empty plate. She brought the bottle of orange juice to the countertop and filled up Gray’s glass then snuck one of her slices of bacon onto his plate.
“I’m not taking your food. Anyway, I’m still not done with my bacon.”
“I’m done. If I wanted it, I’d eat it.”
Gray eyed her carefully, then grinned. He broke it in half. He popped one half into his mouth, the other he dropped onto the floor for Einstein.
“Gray, he’s going to be begging at the table for weeks now,” Riya complained.
He didn’t look guilty in the slightest. Einstein was already finished with the bacon and was looking up at her expectantly.
“No,” she said to him.
He gave her a snooty meow, then stalked out of the kitchen.
Gray burst out laughing.
While he was laughing, Riya pulled the next waffle out of the iron, and put it on his plate. This time he didn’t use as much butter or syrup.
“Cutting back?”
“I have my eye on tasting something sweeter after breakfast.” The look in his eyes, and the rumble in her voice left her in no doubt as to what he was talking about. “Riya, stop staring and tell me some stories, otherwise we’re heading to bed.”
“Aren’t you,” she started, then gulped. “Don’t you?” Dammit, her voice squeaked. “Aren’t you tired?”
“Not when I’m looking at you.”
Riya damn near knocked over her glass of orange juice as she reached for it. Her mouth had never been this dry.
“Stories Riya, I need stories.” He took a leisurely bite of waffle, his eyes drifting down her torso, settling on her breasts. She gulped down more juice. Stories. She could talk. She knew she could.
“My sister Anika came over. I was proud of her for leaving her boys with Mom. I thought Dev might have to be surgically removed from her hip. She and I went clothes shopping.”
“Anika?” Gray’s eyes darted upwards in surprise.
“I know, right? She didn’t do anything drastic like try on jeans. But she did try on a pair of tailored slacks
.”
“But she just ended up with dresses,” Gray guessed.
“You got it right. However, one of them showed her knees. I almost fell over in a dead faint. Maryam told me that there is a man at the community center who has been asking Anika out. Gray, she’s been divorced for three years now, so I think my sister might actually go for it. We’re all praying for her.”
“From everything you’ve told me, she deserves happiness.”
What a sweet thing for him to say.
Riya looked down at Gray’s empty plate. She took a deep breath. “Let me show you where you can sleep.” As she walked around the counter, Gray’s arm reached out and wrapped around her waist and he tugged her toward him.
“Come here.”
She fell against his body, her hands landing on his muscled chest.
“If I moan, will you know it’s with pleasure?”
His eyes twinkled. “Now that you’ve warned me, I will.”
“Uhm,” her voice trailed off. What was she going to say? She was going to say something, wasn’t she?
Gray pushed back a lock of her hair, and ever so slowly pushed it behind her ear. Weeks ago he’d realized that she was sensitive there, and he used that knowledge now, gently tracing his fingers along her delicate skin. Riya sucked in air.
“That’s not a moan,” he whispered warmly against her ear.
Oh God, the feel of his breath made her heart speed up and her head fall back.
Would he?
She gasped as his teeth closed down softly on her lobe, then his tongue licked. She needed to do something, but the world was getting fuzzy.
Think.
Don’t just feel.
Think.
Her hands drifted downwards, savoring the heat and hardness of his toned torso. She yanked at the soft cotton of his shirt, and shoved her hand underneath so that she could touch the warm, muscled flesh. Her hands pushed against him, enjoying the feel of her man. She pushed higher, until her fingers threaded through the hair on his chest and found his heartbeat.
So caught up in the beauty of Gray’s body, Riya shuddered as she felt long fingers stroking beneath the waistband of her jeans. When had he unbuttoned her? When she felt his calloused palm skim under her panties and cup her butt, all questions flew out of her mind, all that mattered was his touch setting her on fire.
“We have a moan.” His voice was hoarse. “That means pleasure, right?”
“That means bedtime,” she corrected.
“Thank God. I’m sick of your couch.”
Her fingers pressed into his chest as he swept her up into his arms.
“Don’t you dare try to carry me up those stairs. They’re too narrow.” Riya tried to wiggle out of his hold.
Gray looked down at her and laughed. “Dr. Patel, if you don’t behave, you’ll find yourself over my shoulder.”
“You wouldn’t.”
The gleam in his eyes said he would. She stopped moving.
When he got to the top of the stairs he went directly to her room. How did he know which one was hers? Then she remembered he’d showered up here. He’d done that damned reconnaissance thing again.
“Pulling up the comforter over a messy bed is not the same thing as making your bed, you know that don’t you?” Gray asked as he pulled down the comforter and the blanket and sheet and settled her on the bed.
Riya shot back up and off the bed.
“What are you doing? I liked you where you were.”
“I have to get naked, don’t I?” She pulled her sweater over her head and folded it up. She put it on the chair beside the bed. When she turned around, she saw Gray just standing there. Hesitantly, she started to undo the front of her bra. He walked over and stilled her hands.
“Can we slow down just a little bit?”
What the hell? Did I read this wrong, too?
He’d carried her up the stairs for God’s sake. She looked down at the front of his jeans. Yep, still interested.
“I don’t understand.” She tried to stop her voice from quivering.
“I kind of get that. It’s just that I like unwrapping my own gifts. And the first time I get to make love to you is a gift I will treasure for the rest of my life.”
Riya bent her head just a bit then looked up at him through her bangs. She didn’t want him to be able to see her eyes in case he was teasing. He couldn’t really mean that could he? But please say he did.
Please.
“Riya?” His voice stroked softly across her heart.
She’d never seen anything shine like the brilliant sincerity in his eyes. This man meant every word. He was honor. He was beauty. He was truth.
“Nothing in my life has ever felt this right,” she whispered.
10
Her words pierced his soul.
He grasped her wrist and kissed her fingertips. “Ahhhh Riya, you mean the world to me.”
He could drown in the mystery of her black eyes. He kissed her. How could he not? The feel of her lips against his, so plush, so soft, felt like heaven. He slowly turned her so that he could lower her onto the bed, her arms falling above her head. He loved watching her mass of dark hair contrasting against her lavender sheets.
She was beautiful. Gray trailed his knuckles from her fingertips to the insides of her elbows, watching her undulate as he continued downwards. Inwards. Until his fingers drifted softly over the mounds of her generous breasts to the clasp, and then he slowly unfastened her bra. He moved the lacy cups aside so that he could touch her pretty brown nipples. They peaked as he caressed them.
“You’re so soft and sensitive.” His finger traced around and around. Gray smiled tightly as he watched her shudder.
“Please,” she begged.
It was his pleasure. Her breast was supple and firm, he ached as he caressed her. He thumbed one nipple as he bent his head and lashed the other with his tongue. He’d imagined raspberries, but this was so much better, it was the taste of Riya. He needed more.
He lifted her up, as he continued to torture them both. Soon her bra was gone, then he had her jeans off and was tracing the front of her silk panties when she grabbed his ears.
“Do I get to unwrap my package?” Her voice was sultry.
“Honey, holding my ears is not the way to get me out of my clothes,” he pointed out.
In a flash, her hands moved, and she was grabbing the neck of his t-shirt and pulling it over his head. Gray helped. He liked her purr of satisfaction, but he liked the feel of his skin against her skin even better. She did a slow slide along his chest, her nipples rasping against his flesh.
“My God, Woman, you’re going to be the death of me.”
“I can’t help it. I need this. I need you.”
He heard the chaotic tremor in her voice. He kissed the side of her mouth, she turned her head and captured his lips in a frantic kiss. Gray slid his hand down the front of her panties and found her swollen flesh. Riya arched up with a cry of need. He had a moment of primal satisfaction go through him as he realized how caught up Riya was in their intimacy. He had never had a woman who so equally matched his passion.
Gray parted her wet folds and relished the sounds of satisfaction that she made. He circled the nub of her clitoris and she began to shake, then she thrashed her head to the side. He pinched, and she buried her teeth in his shoulder, muffling her shriek.
As she came off her high, she laved the bite marks she had made with her talented tongue.
He levered off the bed, trying to remember where he’d left his duffle bag.
He needed the goddamn condoms.
Now!
Gray pulled out the foil package and turned to see Riya looking at him with glittering eyes. One leg was crooked up. He yanked off his belt and had his jeans stripped off by the time he was back at the bed.
“You weren’t wearing underwear.” She sounded kind of taken aback as he pulled off her panties and spread her legs so he could stare at her. “Why weren’t you—”
<
br /> As he thought, when he took that first subtle taste of her exquisite flesh she stopped asking inane questions. It was a good thing, because all he was capable of was relishing Riya and praying he would be able to muster enough control so that he could give her an orgasm when he entered her. Gray caressed her silky thighs and held them open as he lavished attention on her swollen flesh. He was drunk from the essence of Riya.
Once again he felt those tell-tale shimmers start vibrating through her body. He pushed up so he could see her face as she gasped in pleasure.
“You’re beautiful. I could spend a lifetime watching you like this.”
She mewled in protest. Gray stood, and sheathed himself. He stroked his hand down the outside of her thigh. Such soft skin.
“Don’t tease.”
“I’m not, Honey.”
She reached out with her hand. “Come closer.”
He put one knee down on the bed, and positioned his cock at her entrance. He couldn’t wait a moment longer. He pressed in slowly, and felt her welcoming warmth.
“So good,” she sighed on a long breath.
Gray couldn’t even get words out to agree. He pushed in further, incredulous that the sensations kept getting better and better as she tightened around him. He eased himself down so that he rested some of his weight on top of her, her soft skin a delight against his.
Her smile was tremulous, so he pushed the hair off her face so that he could clearly see her eyes. They held so much emotion. It was as if his heart were reflected there. His gaze roamed along the beautiful lines of her elegant jaw to the rapid beat of her pulse. He peppered kisses down her neck toward her breast, as he began to move inside her.
Riya’s sighs shot through him, like lightening in a desert sky. When her nails sank into his back, he sucked her nipple deep into his mouth, gorging himself on her flavor, on her uninhibited responses.
She scored her fingers down his flesh until she gripped his ass, her heels dug into his thighs and she undulated upwards, her efforts eager and a little uncoordinated.
Her Captivated Hero: A Black Dawn Novel Book 6 Page 11