Page 11

H onor’s bedroom was quiet except for the soft hum of the fan and the thump of her own heart. Gray stepped close, so close that she could feel his breath on her skin, warm and inviting.

The air was charged with the night’s tension—fear and adrenaline mixed with something deeper and undeniable between them.

What had he said just the afternoon before claiming her body in his bed? Inevitable.

She curled her bare toes into the hardwood floor and waited for what came next.

Though she didn’t know Gray very well, she knew he wasn’t a man who did anything without thinking. Right now, he seemed to be thinking too much. Her body screamed for his, and he just stood there, watching her intently, testing the hell out of her control.

She looked up at him. Curiosity about what he was thinking mingled with desire inside her, but the building want was starting to make her slip.

She took a step toward him to bridge the gap. At the same moment, he moved too.

Grabbing her. Yanking her flush against his steely body and claiming her mouth in the same motion.

She issued a low cry of pleasure. Before the kiss raged even a little bit out of control, he broke it. Staring down at her face, he sucked in a breath. His chest heaved once, then settled.

Confusion flooded through her.

“You’re vulnerable right now. I don’t want to take advantage.”

Now she understood. He was being honorable and treating her with kid gloves after her scare.

She dipped her gaze to his hard chest. All too well she recalled how his warm flesh covered the muscled lines of his chest, how he smelled like fresh green leaves and man and leather…everything about this man.

“I feel safe with you, Gray. Which is odd, isn’t it? We barely know each other.”

He made a quiet sound deep in his chest and caught her by the hand. Leading her a few steps to her bed, he sank to the edge. She started to move to sit beside him, but he shocked her by pulling her into his lap.

She shivered with pleasure and relaxed in his protective arms. “I’m not a woman who ever needed a big, strong man before…but I’m glad you’re here.”

He smoothed his broad palm down her spine, from nape to the small of her back, then back up in a slow sweep. When he reached her nape, he curled his fingers around her neck. His touch was light but left a column of searing heat up and down her back.

“Sometimes knowing someone isn’t about the amount of time. It’s about a feeling you get.” He eased the pad of his thumb over the sensitive spot behind her ear. “And I feel you, Honor. Every damn second I’m around you.”

Her breath hitched. She met his stare.

In that second, all restraint flowed away. She wrapped her arms around him tight. His arms crushed her against him. And their mouths crashed together.

He pulled her down on the bed. Oh god, this wanting was so good. The hard pull of his lips drove her crazy. The confident way he drew her into the kiss again and again stole her mind.

She melted into Gray, moving her hands over the lines of his shoulders, urging him closer.

He slid his hands down her waist, then to her hips as if mapping her curves in his mind. The thought left her struggling for air. A pulse started in her core.

It was apparent he was trying to take this slow, but she didn’t want that. She wanted him.

She arched, pulling him closer, gliding her tongue over his until they were both shaking.

He gripped her hip hard, fingers biting into her in a way that pierced her core with need. “Tell me to stop if this is too much.”

In answer, she rolled her body against his. Slowly. Deliberately. The friction of his stiff cock against her lower belly seemed to be all the encouragement he needed.

With a primal growl, he took over, trapping her face in his hands and kissing her over and over in deep passes that stole her every thought.

She moaned into his mouth and ground her hips into his.

When he stripped her top off, he dived for her breasts, nuzzling, kissing, lapping his tongue over the rounded swells.

“Fuck, I missed these.”

She issued a mewl of desire. “It’s only been a few hours.”

“Long enough. I wasn’t finished with you when you left my bed.”

Gooseflesh broke out on her arms, belly and hardened her nipples into stiff peaks. He clamped one in his fingers and rolled it lightly, sending her arching off the mattress.

“Gray!”

She tore at his shirt, eager to get to the warm velvety steel that reacted to her touch even as he ripped off her shirt and cast it aside without a care.

In seconds, they were both nude, hands groping and learning every inch of each other. When he urged her up his body, she stilled with the realization of what he wanted her to do.

Straddle his face.

Her stomach pitched with desire. Her pussy squeezed, and juices beaded between her thighs.

“I have to taste you. Come here.” The gray depths of his eyes were stormier than she’d ever seen them. Even when he told her about the tragedy that befell his comrades on that ship, he looked different. She’d never seen him look like this.

Issuing a shaky sigh, she let him draw her into position. With her pussy hovering over his lips, she panted for air.

He gripped her outer thighs and dragged her an inch lower. When she felt the heated flick of his tongue grazing across her slick folds, her gut clenched.

“Oh god…”

Her inner walls gripped. He swirled his tongue around and around her clit, working the bundle of nerves into a frenzy. Her head dropped back on a moan of bliss. The man had more talent in the tip of his tongue than most people gained in a lifetime.

Liquid heat blazed through her. When he eased a finger inside her drenched opening, she bit down hard on her lip to squelch a cry.

She didn’t know how thin the walls of her sister’s house were, but she didn’t want Felicity giving her that look again.

Honor rocked on her knees, unable to stop moving as Gray drove her higher and higher. Her orgasm ripped through her, pounding along her senses and searing her to the core.

She stifled a low cry and her entire body shuddered with release.

Her mind blanked. She floated, eventually becoming aware that he was digging in his pocket, flipping open his wallet and finally, tearing open a condom.

Next thing she knew, Gray had her on her back, hands pinned above her head in one palm. He was totally naked, his condom-covered cock poised at her apex.

“Tell me you want this, sugar.”

She nodded, unable to form words.

“Say it. I need to hear you say you want my cock buried in your pussy.”

Her breath whooshed out. “Yes! Bury your cock in me, Gray!”

Never in her whole life had she been one for dirty talk in or out of bed, but the gleam of primitive lust in his eyes was addictive to her senses.

She rocked her hips upward. “I need you. Please.” Her whimper wasn’t like her at all. But it was with this man.

In one smooth glide, he filled her to the hilt. Sparks of bliss rocketed through her. She found his lips and kissed him with all the passion brewing inside her.

When he kissed a path down her neck, she savored every little shiver he caused. The mattress dipped beneath his every thrust. As soon as he released her hands, she dug her nails into his muscled back, loving the surge of power under her fingertips.

The sight of him, cords on his neck standing out with each stroke of his cock through her grasping walls, sent a rush of pure need through her.

She wrapped her legs around his hips, riding every twitch of his hips.

“Show me how much you want me,” he roughed out.

She stared into his eyes and kissed him. The tension in his muscles wound tighter until their movements grew jerky.

“Gray!”

“I’m going to come, sugar. Hold on to me!” He stiffened. Tossed his head on a low growl. Heat flooded her insides as he let go, and the sensation shot a thrill straight to her own core.

She followed, sailing over the edge of bliss in sharp waves that went on and on. When they mellowed into gentle swells, she raised her head and met his tumultuous stare.

“God, you’re beautiful.”

This thing between them…it was heat and fire. But it was also soft and steady—something she didn’t expect at all.

She hadn’t come to Willowbrook looking for any ties, yet after mere days, she felt tangled up with Gray. The serious expression in his eyes told her that he just might feel the same.

They lay together, bodies fitted like they were meant for this. She rested her head on his chest, and he traced lazy patterns over her back. She let out a contented sigh when he brushed his lips over her temple.

“I think I like where this is heading,” she whispered.

He tightened his arms around her in that same protective embrace she felt when she threw herself into his arms. There was still danger out there. A threat looming. But here in this moment, she only knew one thing for certain.

Gray was far more than her safe place in the storm.