Page 31

chapter twenty-one

Jillian

I knew before Graham even pulled up to my house that we were going to have sex. I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist when he saw me in this skimpy, too-short robe.

(It shrunk in the wash.)

But fuck, fuck, fuck , I didn’t know he’d press his hard body against my back and secure his tie around my eyes like a blindfold.

My plan to seduce him worked a little too well. One of my wildest fantasies was playing out in real time, and I was so excited and overwhelmed, I could barely breathe.

As turned on as I was, this anxious voice nagged at the back of my head, worrying he would get too rough and take things to a place I didn’t want.

I knew I needed to communicate that to him, somehow, before this continued.

“Graham?” I whispered as he tightened his tie at the back of my head. “Can you be… dominant, but gentle?”

I felt his hot breath on neck, his rough stubble on my cheek.

And then, gently, he tugged on the back of the tie to pull my body backward against his.

“‘Dominant but gentle’ is my entire MO, sweetheart,” he said, his breath tickling my ear as one of his hands rubbed the soft fabric of my bathrobe against my core.

I gasped in response. “Now close your mouth and let me take care of you.”

I did as instructed, snapping my mouth shut.

I felt his body disappear from mine for a few seconds, and then he returned, taking me by the hand.

“Found your bedroom. Let’s go.” I wanted to laugh, but I held it in as he led me to my room, carefully maneuvering around the kitchen table and down the hall.

I couldn’t see a thing, but with him leading me, I wasn’t worried.

Graham spun my body around and nudged me backward toward the bed until the backs of my knees touched the mattress. He kissed my lips as his hands fumbled with the knot at my waist. My breath caught again when he lowered the robe off my shoulders and down my arms before letting it pool at my feet.

“Lie down,” he commanded. I sat down and slid backward until it felt like I was centered on the bed, and then I lowered myself onto my back.

I touched my knees together and bit my bottom lip as I felt the mattress shift beneath his weight.

Placing one knee on either side of me, he gripped my wrists, holding them both with one of his big hands behind my head.

I gasped as he secured them together with something soft, tying them to one of the rungs on my headboard.

Was that my bathrobe sash? Clever.

I couldn’t help but smile just before Graham leaned down to kiss me, his tongue slowly gliding over mine like he wanted to consume me. And just when I got really into it, he pulled away, making me whimper in his absence.

His hand grazed my wrist. “How does that feel?”

“I love it.”

“Good.” I felt him scoot backward, a cool rush of air replacing where his body had been hovering over mine.

I was naked and exposed before him with my hands bound above my head, completely at his mercy.

I couldn’t even tell what part of me he was looking at, though I had a pretty good idea.

The thought alone made my nipples peak with anticipation.

Graham let out a low, desperate grunt like he couldn’t take another second of not touching me, and I felt his hands cup the sides of my breasts. A second later, his mouth found one of my nipples, flicking it with his tongue before bringing it all into his mouth.

I’d never felt so vulnerable.

Maybe that was why I loved this. Because for once, I didn’t have to lead, didn’t have to hold everything together. I didn’t have to make any decisions. I could just feel . I could just be his.

His lips tugged gently at my nipple, releasing it with a satisfying pop before he turned his attention to my other one.

Then, his warm tongue traced a slow path between my breasts before he planted kisses along my abdomen.

I felt his hands on my waist as his mouth drifted lower and lower, lingering just above where I craved his touch most.

I gasped when he planted a kiss on the inside of my upper thigh, his cheek brushing against my core. His breath felt hot on my skin, excruciatingly close; but still, he avoided the sensitive bundle of nerves at my center.

Instead, he kissed along the curve of my other thigh, deliberately avoiding my clit like this was a game to him.

I might’ve been imagining it, but I could almost feel his wicked smile against my skin.

“Now tell me, Jillian,” he said, pausing to breathe against my skin, his mouth hovering in exactly the right spot.

His hands slid around to my inner thighs, gently easing me farther apart.

“Should I keep teasing you like this, or are you ready for me?”

I swallowed. “Please.”

Graham let out a low, sexy laugh that vibrated against my skin.

My clit was already throbbing for him, and he hadn’t even touched me there yet.

“Hmm,” he groaned, like he was thinking it over.

He pulled back just enough to drive me crazy and dragged his lips along the side of my aching center.

I arched my back, trying to position myself under his mouth, and he gave my thigh a gentle, disciplinary squeeze in response. “So impatient.”

“Graham,” I gasped. “Please. I need you.”

Finally, Graham parted me with his tongue, diving right in and stealing the breath right from my lungs. I let out a strangled cry and my hips jerked upward. “Oh my God,” I whimpered, feeling the instinctive urge to run my fingers through his hair.

But I couldn’t.

My wrists strained against the soft fabric as Graham kept control of my body, deciding exactly what I could feel and when I had permission to feel it.

God, it felt so fucking good to hand my body over to him like this. This man owned my pleasure. His tongue moved in slow deliberate strokes that made my thighs tremble against his shoulders. He wasn’t in any rush.

I whimpered when he closed his lips around my clit, sucking with the exact right amount of pressure. “Oh my fuck,” I said, only half-aware I wasn’t making sense. I couldn’t stop the squeaky, breathless sounds that escaped from my mouth.

And then… he stopped. His mouth pulled away just slightly, and the sudden absence of his touch made me cry out. His mouth hovered just above my skin, and I could still feel his breath. “Are you having a good time, Jillian?” he asked with a smug tone.

He knew exactly what he was doing to me.

“Yes. Don’t stop,” I begged.

He gently dragged his tongue over my clit, making my legs tense up around his head again. But once again, he stopped. “It sounds like you really need me.”

“I do. I need you. Graham, please ,” I said, arching my back in desperation. “Please let me come.”

That was all it took.

Graham sank his mouth against my center again, his tongue moving faster now.

And this time, he didn’t relent. He didn’t slow his movements to tease me.

He knew I was close, and he knew just how to move his tongue to push me even closer.

I felt the pressure build and build until, finally, it snapped.

I shattered beneath the overwhelming pleasure, screaming his name and arching my back off the bed.

I was lost in it. Graham didn’t stop, licking me through every last wave until neither of us could breathe anymore.

Again, I tried to reach for him with my hands, but that sash held me firmly in place.

It reminded me that he was in control of all of this.

I only had a few seconds to reel from the intensity of that orgasm before I felt him rise from the bed and heard the sound of his discarded clothes hit the floor.

And then he hesitated. “Do you have any…”

“Top drawer of my nightstand,” I interrupted, knowing exactly what he was looking for. He didn’t say a word, but I heard him move toward my bedside table and open it before pulling out the box of condoms.

The mattress dipped beneath his weight again and my heart started to flutter, as if I wasn’t still having aftershocks from the orgasm he’d given me moments ago.

He surprised me with a kiss. “You still okay?” he asked, brushing his nose against the side of mine.

“More than okay,” I answered, wishing I could look into his eyes.

Graham kissed along my jaw, and then I felt him position himself between my open legs. His hands curled around my thighs as he eased inside of me, moving slowly like he needed me to savor every inch.

“You’re mine,” he whispered, folding his body over mine so our mouths could collide again. His hips rolled forward again and again, every thrust deeper than the last. “All mine.”

He was hitting just the right spot, making me gasp against his open mouth. Our sweaty foreheads pressed together, and I tugged against the silk sash binding my wrists to the headboard. I couldn’t touch him, but I could feel him, taking ownership with every move he made.

We quickly fell into a rhythm. And then without a word, he reached up and slipped the blindfold off and let me see him. His tender expression as he gazed into my eyes almost made me fall apart right then and there. With every breathless moan he pulled from me, I trusted him even more.

My body tensed beneath him as he buried his face into the crevice between my neck and shoulder, squeezing my thigh until it hurt. My mouth opened in a silent cry as a second orgasm rippled through me. Graham groaned, grinding into me one last time until he lost himself completely.

We stayed tangled up like that, sweaty and breathless, until my phone rang on the nightstand. He rolled off me, but I ignored the call—until it rang a second time. “Graham?”

He grunted in response.

“Can you please untie me?”

He ran one palm down his face, smiling as he leaned over to untie the knot. My wrists ached as I pulled my arms down, but I ignored the pain, sitting up to reach for my phone.

It was Meghan. “I’m just checking on you,” she said. “And I know you’re supposed to be resting, but… I’m kind of on my way to your house. With your favorite peach ice cream.”

My blood ran hot, and beside me, Graham moved at lightning speed to the bathroom, picking up his clothes along the way. My eyes followed him to the bathroom, where he gave me a wide-eyed “oh shit” look just before closing the door behind him.

“Um, hello?”

“Sorry, I’m a little out of it. Took a painkiller.” I slid off the bed and looked for my panties before I remembered I hadn’t been wearing any. “How close are you, exactly?”

“Just left Kroger. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t asleep. Or naked. I know how you are.”

I let out an awkward laugh, and said I’d see her in a few minutes.

I quickly slipped my robe over my shoulders and fumbled between the pillows for the sash.

My fingers hadn’t even found the loops on my robe before Graham emerged from the bathroom again, fully dressed—minus his tie. “I need to skedaddle, don’t I?”

My arms rested at my sides, giving up on tying my robe. “The faster the better,” I said, but a small smile tugged at the corners of my lips as he moved close to me. I stared up into his eyes as he slid his hands onto my hips.

“Are you in any pain right now?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“And you’re not lying?”

With an inhale, I reconsidered my answer. Truthfully, there was a slight ache settling into my hips and thighs, but it was so minor, it almost wasn’t worth mentioning. But Graham wanted the truth, so I wouldn’t downplay it. “I’m only in a little pain. This is just my normal.”

Graham’s thumbs rubbed slow circles on my hips. “Normal is… waking up and going to bed every night without pain.”

“I’ll never have that.”

He opened his mouth to say something and closed it again, almost like he was about to argue with me. Instead, he leaned in for a slow kiss. “Well,” he said, stepping away. “I need to go or I’m going to have to face Meghan. And I’m a little scared of that woman.”

“You should be.”

Graham just grinned, scratching the back of his neck as he turned to go. “Thank you for… this.”

“The pleasure was all mine,” I said, tucking my hair behind my ear with a grin.

He turned back toward me, smiling from one side of his mouth. “No, it wasn’t.”

And then he was gone. I didn’t remind him to take his tie with him, because I fully intended to keep it.

I scrambled to get dressed, smiling as I tugged on my clothes. There was no chance in hell I could smooth the sex hair, so I didn’t even try, deciding I would call it nap hair if Meghan questioned it.

When I peeked out the window and saw my best friend heading up the steps with a pint of ice cream in hand, I bit my bottom lip and grinned even wider.

She had no idea I was sitting on the sexiest secret of my life.