by Bliss Carter
Walker could hardly believe it. Here he was, laying on a bed with his dream girl, kissing the shit out of her. He knew their time was limited and he also knew not to push too far, so he wanted to make the most out of this moment. He cradled Grace against him, feeling her breasts push against his chest as it hovered over her. Their legs were entwined, her bare feet rubbing against his sock-covered ones. Walker shoved the fingers of both hands into her hair, loving the feel of her soft curls cascading over his hands and arms. Her mouth was delicious. It tasted like, well, Grace. Sweetness, ripe and fruitful in the pleasure she returned to him. Her tongue dueled against his, over and over rubbing his lips, tongue, the roof of his mouth. He loved the feel of it as it chased his. He took more control and gave gentle suction to her mouth, sucking on her tongue for a bit, then going back to rock his mouth over and over on hers, one direction, then the opposite.
Grace groaned into his mouth, spurring Walker on to kiss her more deeply. Soon, their pants filled the room, the shifting of their bodies on the comforter and quilt the only other sounds in the room. Walker knew he needed to ease back and did so, gently easing his tongue away, kissing her lips, her cheeks, nose, and chin. He buried his face in Grace’s neck, gently opening his mouth there and licking her throat with his tongue. Her hands ran up and down on his back, as if to sooth him and sooth herself by continuing to touch him. He loved the feel of her fingers on his muscles, gently massaging him. Eventually he pulled his head up to look down at her beautiful face.
“Angel, that was the most amazing kiss of my life. How are you even real?”, Walker asked quietly. “Two years of wondering and now I could kick myself for not pushing more than friendship with you sooner.”
Grace blushed, but was secretly thrilled at Walker’s words. “Before today I haven’t kissed a man in more than seven years. And I can honestly say that this kiss was worth the wait. I’m glad you were my first after having Jaxson.” Her voice was quiet, but intentionally firm in the words she gave him. She wanted him to understand that she didn’t take his kiss lightly. Not one bit.
Walker soaked in her words, realizing how much trust that Grace must have in him, in his ability to excite her and make her happy. It was a beginning of everything that he wanted with Grace and Jaxson. She’d understand soon enough. But for now, her words were like a match that reignited the fire within him. So, Walker did what felt natural and honest. He took her mouth once again, voraciously kissing her, shoving his tongue into her mouth and leaving no space within untouched by him. He made sure not to touch her anywhere else besides her face and hair. He knew this was going to happen in stages, on Grace’s time. Not his. He gently pulled back until there was a few inches of space between them. He reached up and pulled on a few curls of her hair that had gotten caught on his stubble. He continued to play with them as he spoke.
“As much as I would love to kiss you for the rest of the day – and don’t doubt that I could – we only have a certain amount of time left before I bet a precocious little boy will come back inside, wanting me to challenge him to a game of Mario Cart.” Walker grinned down at Grace and seeing her questioning look, he continued. “I told Jax that I would play video games with him this afternoon while you napped. So, I would love it if you could go back to sleep for a while longer, baby. You need it. I’ll take care of Jaxson. Once you’re awake, I’ll help you prepare dinner. Do you trust me to take care of him so you can have some quiet time?”
Grace’s answer was immediate and heart felt, which relieved Walker and warmed his heart. “I trust you to take care of Jaxson, Walker. There is no scenario that I could possibly think of that would make me doubt your ability to handle Jax and to keep him safe and entertained.” Her smile was so beautiful, so genuine.
“Thank you, Grace.” He kissed her once more on the lips, lingering on her closed mouth. He told her to flip back over to her other side and he spooned her again, just like when she woke up earlier. “I’m going to lay here with you until you drift off back to sleep. Sara has Jaxson preoccupied until I let her know otherwise. Go to sleep angel. Let me keep the demons away.”
Grace snuggled back into his chest and pushed her feet and legs between his. Walker put his hand on her hip and proceeded to stroke her there, down her thigh, and back up in repetition. And soon she felt her eyes begin to droop in surrender. The last thing she remembered before drifting off to sleep was the feel of Walker’s lips on the side of her neck, just resting there. The warm feeling and his heavy breath were the balm she needed to sooth wounds. Sleep came and with it, some healing.
Walker laid with Grace for several minutes after she drifted back off to sleep. He loved holding her and could imagine doing this with her for the rest of his life. Which should scare the shit out of him, but it didn’t. Maybe the last two years with Grace, getting to know her little by little, seeing how she was with Jaxson and the Anderson girls, helped him form a more solid idea of what he wanted. He was old enough to think in a more long-term capacity. If this were six years ago, things would have been different. But not now. Grace and Jaxson were a gift he’d been waiting on for a very long time. And with any special gift, you treasure it. He would treasure them. And make sure they knew it. It had already begun. With one last sweet kiss against her neck, Walker eased away from his Gracie, making sure not to jostle her. He left his shoes where they were, and eased out of the bedroom, softly closing the door behind him. Now to find Jaxson, let Sara go home and get to playing some Mario Cart. Boomer had a feeling that he was going to get whooped by a 6-year-old. And he couldn’t wait.
∞∞∞
Three hours later, Grace groggily woke up to two sets of eyes peering down at her. The light was dimmer in the room than it had been before, but she knew it was still daylight outside. The night lights were on and she could only think that Walker had turned them on for her. The two pairs of eyes looking down at her belonged to her beautiful baby boy, who was only wearing a pair of shorts, and her gorgeous, sexy as hell boyfriend – wow, boyfriend – Walker. Someone needed to pinch her.
“Hey sleeping beauty. Time to wake up. We’ve got a hungry T-rex here and I accidentally mentioned chicken pot pie to him. So, he’s here to motivate you to get going and feed him,” Walker said with much humor in his voice. He was standing by the bed, bent over Grace with Jaxson standing on the edge of the mattress, secured around the waist with one of Walker’s arms.
“Come on mama, rise and shine. I’ve waited on you forever to wake up. I’ve beaten Boomer like five gazillion times at Mario Cart already. He really sucks at it,” Jaxson stated, giggling hard at the end when Boomer began tickling him for his summary of his video game skills.
“Little dude, you’re not supposed to let your mama know that I have any flaws. You’re supposed to have my back. A lady is supposed to think a man can do anything and do it right every time.” Walker paused for a second, thinking about what he just said. He looked down at Grace and saw a slight blush bloom on her cheeks, but a mischievous smile and wink let him know that she got the double meaning and wasn’t offended.
“Well, I guess I need to get up and rescue Boomer from T-Rex’s torment, huh? And can I guess that T-Rex hasn’t made his bed today? Or picked up his room?”
Jaxson rolled his eyes slightly and shook his head no. “No mam, but it’s my off day today, mama. You get an off day. So, I do, too.” He shrugged his little shoulders as if what he said made perfect sense.
“Yeah, it was my off day today, and do you know what I did? I made my bed and picked up my room before I left this morning. Remember what I always say about our house?” Grace asked Jaxson with a quirk of her eye brow.
“Yes mam. You say that God don’t like ugly, so we gotta make sure the house stays pretty for Him. I’ll go to my room and do my chores, but when I get done, can I play on the iPad?”
“When you get finished, you can have a timer for one hour on the iPad playing the game app I approved. That’s it though. One hour and then you’re done. No whining,
and no arguing. Capiche?” Grace asked, roughing up his hair and tickling his stomach slightly.
Jaxson giggled and said “Capiche. Okay, gotta go, Boomer, so I can get my chores done. Let T-rex go.”
Walker released Jaxson from his arm’s grip and watched him scurry out of the room, trying to roar like a dinosaur, taking gigantic steps out of the doorway. He held out his hand to Grace to help her sit up and then he knelt in front of her on the floor beside the bed, pushing her curls back from her face. “How do you feel angel?”
“I’m okay, I think. I slept hard. Which feels good. Thank you.” Grace looked intensely at Walker, his hazel eyes looking at her earnestly, tenderness up front for her to see. She leaned towards him, placing her hands on his broad, muscled shoulders. Her lips met Walker’s and she leaned in to give him a sweet, but heated, closed mouth kiss. “You know, Walker, your brownie points are starting to build up quite nicely.”
“Brownie points? Woman, that’s for Cade and Kresley. We need something different than brownie points. More epic. More...us,” Walker said with a flirty wink. He kissed Grace again, sliding his mouth over to her cheek and on to her ear, where he nibbled on her ear lobe and pushed his wet tongue into the crevice of her ear. He felt the shivers that raced over arms. Her soft moan of pleasure instantly put his body on alert.
“Well, we’ll have to think on that then. For now, a little boy will be barreling in here soon demanding to be fed. I also want to take things easy in front of him until I tell him about us...uhhhhh, Walker, oh my gosh, that feels good...dating now.” Grace said the last two words, dating now, as a slight question. Walker continued to suck on her ear lobe, caressing her hips and back with his wide, broad hands. How was she supposed to think and talk with his mouth there?
Walker pulled back from tasting Grace’s ear and neck. They tasted damn good. “Gracie. Look at me. There you are. Those big blue eyes can’t hide from me. Baby, we are dating. You are my girlfriend. I’m your boyfriend. If labels are important then I just handed them over to you to use as often as you like. Regardless of what we tell others, including Jaxson, I know what you are to me,” Walker said with a warm smile. His thumbs were stroking along her jaw line, over and over again as he spoke. It was driving Grace mad with want.
“What’s that?” She was able to articulate at least those two words without sounding like a stumbling mess. Didn’t Walker know how seriously hot he was? How he could render her almost speechless with just a look? He was now officially her man candy Monday. She needed to be sure to get some good pics of him tonight or tomorrow so she could message them to her group chat with the girls. They would appreciate the Monday pick me up. Grace wondered if Cade knew that Kresley sent out a hot pic of him on group chat every Monday? It was usually a candid picture that he didn’t even know she took. Last week’s pic had been very, uhhhhh, inspiring. It was of Cade at the gym, lifting weights, sweaty and chest bare. Kresley didn’t realize that she had gotten half of Walker’s body in the pic as well and Grace had nearly had heart palpitations at the sight of that glorious chest, rippling with muscles, chest hair glistening with sweat as Walker was clearly concentrating on lifting the heavy weights on the machine. And now he was kneeling at her feet, his mouth having just vacated from pushing his tongue into her ear. Wow. Just wow.
Walker took Grace’s face into his palms, gathering back her attention to the present, so she had no choice but to look deep into his eyes. Walker tenderly stated, “Everything. You are everything to me, Grace. You and Jaxson.” Grace blinked, remembering the topic of discussion…what she was exactly to Walker, in his life. She soaked in the words he just uttered. Everything. Wow, was it that simple? In her experience, men were never that simple. Not that straight forward. Never completely honest and forth coming. How is it that Walker could break the mold?
Grace absolutely felt the world fall away. Man candy Monday was forgotten for the moment. Hell, she couldn’t even tell you what day it was. Saturday, maybe? Her focus sharpened and her insight narrowed down to the 6’3 massive man who was kneeling in front of her, letting her see inside his heart. Tears turned her blue eyes into sapphire glass. She cleared her throat, trying to push down the words that just wouldn’t stay buried.
“Why have you been hiding from me this past two years, Walker? I’ve needed the man who’s on his knees in front of me for a very long time. Longer than I’ve even lived here, in Mercy Springs. Be careful with me. I know I come across as a strong brick wall, but on the other side is delicate shards of glass that can easily be broken. Don’t be scared of what I’m about to say, please?” Grace softly said, her hands clutched in her lap, fearing to reach out to touch him like she wanted. At Walker’s nod of encouragement, Grace took a deep breath and said gently, but firmly, “I think I’m falling for you. I have been for a while and just didn’t realize it. But I’m not ready to think further on it. I’m just not.” She could hear the panic in her own voice, so she was pretty sure Walker could as well.
Walker groaned from deep in his chest, closing his eyes to concentrate on the words that she just said and let them spread around his heart. He opened his eyes again and reached out to grab her hands in his. He squeezed them, letting them rest in her lap. “Gracie. Baby, all you have to do is just tell me when you’re ready to fall 100% completely because I’ll be right there, ready to catch you. I’m meant to be your protector, especially of your heart. I’m here for the long haul. As for where I’ve been these past two years, I’ve been right in front of you angel. I was just waiting for you to open your eyes and see me beyond some guy who you were friendly with, but wouldn’t open up to. I can thank Cade joining in and waking Kresley up to relationship possibilities, which wound up helping you to actually see me. You and I are going to take this relationship one day at a time, together. We’ll figure out sooner rather than later how fast or slow to take things. But it’s your decision Grace. You’ve got Jaxson to consider in any decisions you make and I won’t try to force you to ignore that. He comes first. Always. But I’m here, ready when you are.”
Walker pulled Grace from the bed and into his arms. Her legs straddled his bent knees, wrapping around his hips. Her arms wrapped around his neck, holding on tightly and her face became buried into his massive chest and neck. He spread kisses over her hair, face, ears, anywhere he could reach. They stayed together like that for long minutes. Finally, Grace began to pull away to stand up. She gave one last loud smooch on Walker’s firm, glorious lips.
“Okay, I’m going to need a sous-chef in the kitchen to help get dinner done. How handy are you with a knife?”
Walker grinned at her and said simply, “Just call me Mack.”
“Huh?”
“You know...Mack the Knife? The song by Bobby Darin?”
“Oh my gosh you are so lame!” Grace proclaimed, as she giggled loudly, ending with a snort. “This will be in group chat later tonight with the girls. Mack the knife…” Grace dodged around him and started towards the great room that was the living room, dining room and kitchen, all in one area.
Walker called after her. “I am not lame! You’ll pay for that later, angel. Just wait,” he said with a wide grin as he caught up to her and looked around for Jaxson. Not seeing the little guy, he smacked his hand firmly against Grace’s butt, loving the whack noise that echoed in the room.
Grace shivered, peered up at Walker from her dark lashes and said in a husky voice, “I can’t wait.” Grace the flirt was set to make an appearance soon. Just for Walker. Grace hadn’t let her out of hiding for a very long time.
Both adults soon turned to the duties of prepping everything for dinner. Jaxson finally finished tidying up his room. Now he sat on the couch nearby, playing on his mom’s iPad, as promised. He wore earbuds so the noise wouldn’t drive Grace crazy. Walker watched his animated face as he played whatever kid’s game fascinated him. He kept poking his tongue out from time to time in deep concentration. Damn, kid. Way to grab hold of my heart. Walker turned back to knife duty an
d finished dicing the vegetables for the pot pie.
“I was supposed to bring dessert tonight, but I got sidetracked by this smokin’ hot blonde in my truck earlier,” Walker slyly said, needing to dole out as many compliments as Grace would let him. Grace giggled at his statement.
“No dessert is needed after a meal like this. Carb overload is an understatement. But it’s Jaxson’s favorite foods, so I don’t mind. Do you? I know you try to maintain a certain weight and body for your job.” Grace blushed at that, giving Walker something to smirk and chuckle about. He stepped back from the counter, took a quick look toward Jaxson, and held out his arms at his sides.
“Take a good look baby. This body was built by hard work and trying to eat healthy. But there is no way in hell that I’m going to give up the chance to eat a homemade meal cooked by my girl. Especially not chicken pot pie. Which, by the way, is my favorite dish. Ever. I’ll just go to the gym and workout an extra hour or run an extra 5 miles tomorrow or Monday. You’re worth it.” Walker winked at her and went back to finishing up his prep work. He heard Grace say something about photo ops and man candy Monday, whatever that was supposed to mean. Living in a world of Anderson women and Grace, he suspected it was a game that they played.
Grace opened her mouth to ask Walker for some physical evidence of his workouts with a glimpse of his naked pecs up close, when the most gosh awful sound echoed around them. She was trying to make out where it came from. She knew that sound. Living with a boy, even a young one, meant she heard it. A lot. Grace looked at Walker suspiciously. She noticed that he was looking at her the same way. Now she was irritated. Did he really think that she would? In front of him? No way, not this early on in a relationship. That was dating suicide. Walker put his arm over his nose and mouth, trying to filter the smell somehow. Grace gagged.