Grayson's Vow

She looked at me, hazy confusion in her eyes, but she pushed the pillow away.

Leaning in, I licked her, swirling my tongue around her swollen clitoris, the taste of her bursting across my tongue and impossibly, making me even harder. I was going to orgasm just from pleasuring her. I had never felt this desperate. She keened softly, pressing herself into my face. I sucked and licked and tasted her slick flesh for long moments, as she moaned and panted, her sounds of pleasure making me feel wild. Finally I pressed two fingers into her wet entrance and she let out a small scream, her thighs quivering, as her body shook and contracted around my fingers. After she'd stilled, I raised my face and kissed back up her stomach. Kira let out a contented sigh, taking my face in her hands as I pressed my lips to hers so she could taste her own passion on my mouth and tongue. We kissed slowly for long moments, my erection still throbbing painfully with unspent lust for the beautiful woman in my arms. Giving her one final kiss, I rolled to the side and pulled her naked body into my arms, bringing the blankets up over her, and smoothing my hand down her hair. "You are beautiful," I repeated, feeling something in my chest that felt startlingly like fear. Why did my feelings for her scare me?

She sighed contentedly again and snuggled into my chest. As I drew lazy circles on her hip, trying to tamp down my still raging arousal and the confusion of my emotions, I recalled how I'd told her she wasn't my type. I almost laughed. Not only was she my type . . . it was as if she were made for me. I pushed that disturbing thought aside, though. I couldn't let myself think things like that. It must have hurt her, though, hearing those words from a man's mouth—even one she disliked at the time—after what she'd been through with her fiancé. Thoughts of Cooper Stratton worked to cool the blood in my veins, but only moderately. I heard Kira's breathing even out and she let out a small, delicate snore. She was asleep. God, if I'd realized being married would be so sexually frustrating, I might have asked for more compensation. She'd driven me crazy, riled me more than anyone else I knew, and turned me on much the same. Yet, she'd made me laugh, made me smile. She'd even bought me a damn dog. And now she'd given me even more. She'd given me her trust with her delectable body. Horny? Fuck yes. Satisfied? Absolutely. I smiled to myself, kissing the top of Kira's head.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Kira

Knocking softly on Grayson's bedroom door, I bit my lip and waited for him to answer. I'd woken alone in my own bed this morning, still nude and wrapped in the hotel sheets. When I recalled what happened between Grayson and me, I felt embarrassed, but underneath that was a deep feeling of tenderness. He had obviously understood the pain Cooper had caused and had sought to remedy some of it. And funnily enough, it had worked. He had made me feel beautiful and desirable, at a cost to himself. In fact, I was pretty sure he had been left severely frustrated. I felt badly about that, but when he finally answered his door and smiled at me¸ I let out a relieved breath. He obviously wasn't angry about it. Still, he'd left my room. I wondered why he hadn't stayed, why he hadn't tried to satisfy his own arousal. I would have let him. I might have begged him if I hadn't fallen asleep directly afterward, half drunk with pleasure and the exhaustion of a long, emotional day.

"Morning," he said.

"You left my bedroom last night," I blurted out, feeling my cheeks heat.

He leaned against the doorframe, his eyes moving over my face for a moment as if trying to read my thoughts. I lowered my lashes to conceal my eyes. "I thought you needed a good night's sleep, and I didn't know if you'd be okay if I stayed. I didn't want to wake you to ask. You’d had a hard day."

His thoughtfulness flowed over me like a warm embrace and I looked up into his dark eyes again. "Thank you," I said. "For, um, everything."

A strange smile crept over his mouth. "You're very welcome," he said. "Ready to get going?"

I nodded, still staring at his mouth—that beautiful, sensual mouth I now knew could bring so much pleasure. When I realized those lips were curving into an even bigger, knowing smile, I ripped my eyes away and looked down at my suitcase in my hand. Grayson chuckled softly as he grabbed his bag and we both walked out to the hall.

"You sure you don't mind making a stop at the drop-in center?" I asked, changing the subject I knew we were both thinking about, eyeing him sideways as we walked toward the elevator. I loved the way he looked fresh from the shower—dark hair partially wet and tousled, his clean masculine smell enveloping me. I wasn't sure how what we'd done the night before was going to change anything as far as our relationship went, so I waited for a signal from him. Maybe it wouldn't change anything at all. That's what he'd indicated to me when he'd first talked about altering our deal. Temporary, I reminded myself. He wants our relationship to be temporary. Don't get any ideas in your stupid head, Kira.

"Not at all," he said. "As long as we don’t stay too long. I'd like to get back to the vineyard early enough to get some work in today."

"We won't stay long," I reassured him. "Just long enough to say hi and write them a check. I have a few other charities I'd like to write checks to as well, but I can put those in the mail."

Half an hour later we pulled in to the drop-in center’s parking lot in the Tenderloin district, arguably the most dangerous neighborhood in San Francisco. But rent here was affordable, unlike most other locations in the city, and there was a high homeless population.