After several long moments, her tears ebbed and her breathing eased into a normal rhythm again.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “I haven’t been able to talk to anyone but Taylor. And she’s so busy. Managing this place by myself…” She exhaled. “It’s been so hard. So many people don’t know how to deal with grief or death. I didn’t want to show any kind of weakness or emotion that would make them uncomfortable and keep them from coming into the store. I’m already struggling to stay open.”
Grant pulled back and looked directly into Faith’s eyes. “You can always talk to me. And I’ve found a number of ways to help you stay open. I want to talk to you about them. Later, when you’re ready.”
She nodded and worked up a smile. The movement pushed more tears from her eyes. Grant leaned in and soaked up the trail with kisses, drawing a shaky sigh from Faith that did crazy, twisty things to his heart.
When he drew away, he met her eyes again. “My turn. It’s important to me that you know everything Natalie said was bullshit. That woman lives in a fantasyland. I agreed to judge the contest because—“
“Your mother.”
“My mother—” They said at the same time.
“I know,” she said. “I figured that out thirty seconds into my conversation with Natalie.”
Grant explained his family’s end game to Natalie drawing Grant back to the family business, and the fight they’d had the night he returned home with the Christmas tree.
“The only reason I even stayed in town after that was because I’d already told Dwayne I’d work with his team. If I’d had any idea this festival or the contest was so important to you, I would have set my family straight from the very beginning. And I absolutely did not agree to do anything with Natalie. If I was forced to spend more than an hour with her, I’d be homicidal.”
That got a laugh from Faith and lightened Grant’s heart.
“You’re the only woman I want, Faith.”
This would have been the perfect moment to slip in, And I really want to continue seeing you. But given how much turmoil she currently had in her life, he was sure bringing that up now would have drastically increased his chances of losing her. And he didn’t want to give her up until he absolutely had to.
So he pulled her in and kissed her the way he’d wanted to kiss her for hours. She dropped her head back and opened to him. The warm touch of her tongue spread fire straight through Grant’s chest, and he groaned. Her tears made the kiss salty and real. So honest. So raw. The connection wrapped around Grant’s heart and took him under.
He combed one hand into her silky hair and stroked her flat belly with the other, then slid his hand down her silk-covered thigh and moaned into her mouth. Faith kissed him deeper, harder, hungrier. The way she wanted him set him on fire and he slid his hand up her inner thigh and settled between her legs, cupping her sweet, hot center beneath the silk. Faith groaned, broke the kiss and pushed her hips into his hand.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about—“
He kissed her again, hooking his arm around her neck and pulled her closer. Grant explored her breasts, molding the silk to the bare mounds, teasing her nipples when they hardened beneath his fingers.
But that didn’t last, because he needed skin. He needed Faith’s smooth, warm, glorious skin, and slipped his hand beneath her tank and lifted it out of the way. Then moved his mouth from her lips to her breasts. And feasted.
The first scrape of his teeth made her arch and whine. She threaded her fingers into his hair and massaged and scratched his scalp as he ate at her. Still, it wasn’t enough. He was beginning to believe he’d never get enough. While his tongue circled her breast toward her nipple in a teasing spiral, he sipped his hand down her body, beneath the thin silky layers of PJs and panties and right over her sex.
Her pussy was smooth and soft and warm. And when he stroked her plump lips, he found her wet. His growl sounded low and hungry and animalistic.
Faith broke the kiss on a gasp. “God, I love you touching me. Is that weird? I can’t believe how good that—“ Another gasp. A high pitched, “Mmmm. Grant...”
He lifted his mouth from her breast and watched the building pleasure wash over her face. “That’s hot. That’s an incredible turn on. That’s sexy as hell. That is not weird.”
“Oh good,” she breathed. “Because you are so fucking good at it.”
The woman made him feel as amazing as a packed st
adium on a stellar night. And he pulled out every trick he knew to draw shivers and moans and gasps from her lips. “Open for me Faith.”
When she dropped one knee to the side, barring herself for his touch, a hat-trick-worthy rush pumped through his blood. He stroked, he teased, he thrust, he stretched, he rubbed. He wet his fingers and strayed toward her backside, which earned him and extra pulse of her hips. And when she finally couldn’t take any more, he pushed deep with his two middle fingers and rubbed her inner wall while he used his thumb to massage circles over her clit.
And the sight of her climbing to that peak was so beautiful, Grant purposely made it a slow climb. A steady climb. To give him time to get his mouth back on her breasts. To absorb more of those sexy sounds she made that exploded in his groin like firecrackers.
But before long, she was rocking into his hand, seeking out more pressure. And damn that was so hot. By the time morning broke, he planned to have her riding his mouth like an expert.
“Grant...Grant...Grant...Ah...”
Her muscles contracted and pulled her into a curl. Her pussy spilled juice over his fingers and shuttered around them. And she continued to shake and shiver for long moments afterward.