Page 14 of Guarding Grace

Grabbing my cock, I stroked and closed my eyes, imagining the scene. It got more erotic when I imagined her stroking herself and murmuring my name. I sped up the pace. What if I joined her in bed? After a few more brutal strokes, an electric jolt ran down my spine and I came, spurting ropes onto the wall.

Leaning against the tile for support, I opened my eyes, panting heavily. I was going to drive myself insane thinking about the impossible. I used the shower wand to rinse off the wall, and the fantasy disappeared, just like my cum down the drain. I’d never get closer to Grace than this.

You never fuck your best friend’s little sister—unless you’re a complete douchebag. No, I wasn’t going there.

After drying off, I found a message on my phone.

WILDCAT: Thank you for tonight.

For once, I was honest with her.

ME: I’ve been thinking of you.

Why had I written that? When I reread it, it was even worse. What in the fucking hell had possessed me to write that? Yeah, I’d jerked off thinking entirely inappropriate things about her, but acknowledging that I’d thought anything at all wasn’t a direction I wanted to take this conversation.

ME: I meant I’ve been worried about you, and I hope you’re OK. I’m sorry I didn’t arrive sooner. I hate that you got hurt.

WILDCAT: I owe you. I mean it. Anything you want.

I paused. I didn’t dare ask for any of the things I really wanted but couldn’t have—a kiss, to feel her pressed up against me, or more. The out-of-control lust demon in my head was not helping.

ME: How about a pleasant cup of coffee?

I’d settle for a cup of coffee without any of her usual snark.

WILDCAT: Deal. I’ve been thinking about you too.

ME: Sleep well.

That was not at all my style, but after what she’d been through, she deserved some kindness instead of my usual sarcasm.

I got out of the messages app and called Zane. “Anything out of our two guests yet?”

“Just names from their IDs. The big guy is Marco Vitelli, and the skinny dude’s name is Rocco Esposito. Ring a bell?”

“Nah.” I had a pretty good idea, but I asked anyway. “What did they want with Grace?”

“Don’t know yet. I’ll get that out of them before too long.”

“Thanks. I’ll check back in the morning.”

CHAPTER 4

Grace

I wokethe next morning in Serena and Duke’s guest bedroom to sounds outside the bedroom door—breakfast preparations, no doubt. A quick swipe of my hand revealed a bump at the site of the ache at the back of my skull. Nonetheless, it was time to get moving. I had a business to run and a life to live.

Getting out of bed, I realized my head wasn’t the only area of soreness. After shedding the nightgown I’d borrowed from Serena, I took a quick turn in front of the mirror, revealing bruises on my face and back. Now I knew why I hurt so much.

My phone mocked me from the nightstand. Did I dare?

I gave in and reread the message string with Terry from last night. Heat surged in my core as I read again that he’d been thinking of me.

Watching him destroy those two thugs had been hot as hell. After his texts, in spite of my aches, I’d brought myself to a towering climax as I imagined him stroking his enormous cock and thinking about me. Big, strong, badass Terry. I didn’t know if when he said he’d been thinking of me he meant it sexually, but a girl could dream.

Also, I didn’t actually know he had a large cock. But everything else about him was big and strong, so it made sense. After hundreds of dreams of him holding me, it totally sucked that I’d finally been in his arms last night, and unconscious the whole time.

Terry had always been the ultimate contradiction for me. Although my brother had sworn he was a good guy, around me Terry was always mean as a snake and had always riled me. My body, though, had never understood what my brain did. If I saw Terry with another girl, petty jealousy roiled my stomach. I wanted to know what it would be like to be her, to be in Terry’s arms, to have his lips on mine, to have all his attention on me, in spite of his rotten personality.