Page 31 of Reckless

I don’t know if he senses the shift in my mood or what, but he reaches across the table and cups my jaw. “Hey, don’t feel sorry about me. I’ve come to terms with what happened, and I want you to know if you want me to fight for you, I’ll fight. Stalkers. Professional rules. Hell, I’ll even go to bat against Jackson’s wife. Whatever you want. If what you want is for me to fight, then sign me up.”

You know how some people say when you know, you know?

It’s at that moment that I knew.

Whatever happens, I want to be with Griffin for as long as it makes sense for the both of us. Maybe even when it doesn’t. I know it won’t necessarily be forever, maybe just for now. But if that’s all it is, then I want it.

“Do you think I can stay at your place tonight?”

I’ve never been a forward person, at least not outside of a committed relationship, but I want to be for Griffin. I’ve been careful ever since Paul died, like making a mistake could break me. It’s time to take a page out of Griffin’s book and take a chance . . . on him.

His stunned expression has me biting back a smile as his hand drops to the seat by his side. “Did something happen at your place?” he asks warily.

“No, nothing happened.”

“Are you scared to go there? I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I know you won’t. That isn’t why I want to come over.”

He gives me a warning look. “Don’t play with me, Phoebe.”

I walk across the room until I’m so close my thigh brushes against his, and I lean in and kiss him. At first, I think he’s going to push me away, but then his hands slide to my shoulders, and he deepens the kiss. I shudder as the taste of him bathes my tongue. I thought I’d imagined how good he tasted, but I didn’t.

I kiss him until I forget where we are, how to breathe, who I am.

I kiss him until those hands on my shoulders tighten and pull me close to his chest.

Then I pull back, breathing heavily. “Do you understand now?”

He smirks a little. “I think I got the picture. I’m not going to ask if you’re sure. As soon as we’re done today, meet me at the GT. Don’t be late.”

* * *

I don’t remember much about the drive to his apartment. My thoughts are mired in a fog of lust, anticipation, and nerves because I haven’t been with a man since Paul. But it feels right, and I’m not going to second-guess myself anymore.

Whatever happens, happens, and I’ll live with the consequences tomorrow.

But tonight? Tonight, I’m going to enjoy the bad decisions.

The car rocks to a stop when he pulls into the driveway, and he’s out and at my door before I can get my seat belt off. When my hands fumble with the catch, he reaches over me and undoes it himself. Then I’m on my feet, and he grabs my hand and practically drags me up the sidewalk to his front door.

My heart is thundering in my ears, but now more from excitement than nerves. I’m barely over the threshold before he’s slamming the door behind us and locking it. Then he’s kissing me like he’s been thinking about it since the last time.

We shed clothes on the way to his bedroom. My shirt is first, and he pauses to kiss down my chest and over the swells of my breasts. He pulls down the cups of my bra to tease my nipples with his tongue in one movement. I cry out and clutch at his head, trying to control the zip of lightning arcing through me. I’m not going to last very long at this rate.

“Oh God,” I whimper.

Then his mouth is on mine again, and I’m clawing at the buckle of his belt, ripping it off and then attacking the zipper on his jeans. We stumble into his bedroom, my bra hanging from my arms, his jeans half around his ankles, and his hands struggling to reach down my pants. We don’t bother to turn on the lights and instead feel our way blindly until we tumble onto the bed.

I land on top of him, but he still has clothes on, and that just doesn’t work for me. So, I slide down his body and off the bed so I’m standing by his feet. I can barely see his outline as I tug his jeans off the rest of the way.

“You don’t—”

Whatever he’s about to say is swallowed by his groan as I take him into my mouth. After feeling his impressive bulge the other night, I haven’t been able to stop daydreaming about getting my lips wrapped around him.

The reality is so much better than my daydreams. His hands grip my hair gently, and the sexiest groans I’ve ever heard fill my ears as I suck him deeply and rhythmically, until his hips are rising to meet me. Soon, the salty tang of pre-cum coats my tongue, and his cock is so hard it makes me wet to think about it inside me.

His hands move to my arms, and he pulls me up, making me release his cock with an audiblepop. “Your turn,” he says, his tone full of promise as he rolls me onto my back and then moves down my body.