The Design(42)

“Do you want this?” he asked, reaching for the hem of my blouse, already working it up over my stomach before I could reply.

My mouth dropped.

Who the hell was this person and how was I supposed to keep up?

“I… think so,” I answered, proud of the truth.

I wanted to do this. God, I wanted to do anything with this man. But to say I was scared of the aftermath was an understatement. It was impossible to lose myself in the moment as he gently tugged my blouse over my head. My mind worked overtime, firing off question after question.

Why did he suddenly want me?

Was he drunk?

What would happen tomorrow when he was back to wanting nothing to do with me?

“Relax,” he whispered as my silk blouse brushed against my cheeks on its way over my head. The cool air conditioning hit my bare skin and I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t stand there as he undressed me. We had to be on an even playing field. I reached for the top button of his shirt and slowly worked each button loose until I could slide my hands inside, over his hard chest, and push the shirt to the ground.

“How many men have you been with?” he asked, twisting me around and pulling me back to press our bodies together. His pecs brushed the top of my shoulder blades. His arms encircled me. He bent to take my earlobe between his teeth as his palms slid down the front of my stomach, down over my belly button. My muscles tensed with nerves, but his hand continued its descent as my head fell back against his shoulder.

“How many?” he asked again. His lips tickled my earlobe as he spoke.

“A few,” I answered, truthfully. I hadn’t counted. Maybe five or six, but he didn’t need to know the exact number.

“Were you in love with any of them?” he asked, keeping one hand on the base of my stomach as his other hand trailed up the center of my chest, over the lace of my bra and around the edge of each cup.

“Not always.”

My eyes fluttered closed for a moment.

“And what about you? Do I even want to know?” I asked.

His right hand unbuttoned the top of my pants as his left hand slid the strap of my bra down over my shoulder. I let his touch roam over my skin, trying to ignore the sound of my heavy breath in the silent room. His right hand slid farther down my stomach, inside the waistband of my pants and then past the hem of my panties. I squeezed my eyes closed harder and gripped the front of his thighs as my heart rioted inside of my chest.

“Enough,” he answered, emphasizing the final syllable by sliding a finger inside of me.

I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from crying out. It was all too much, a complete sensory overload. My mind was screaming, “Why me? Why now?” and my heart was yelling, “Shut up and enjoy the ride.”

I’d never experienced someone like him. I’d fumbled around with guys in college, boys who were curious and just as nervous as I’d been. Grayson was confidence personified as he unhooked my bra and tossed it the ground, taking control of the situation in a way that left me breathless.

“Did you mean it the other day when you said you just wanted to play around?” he asked, throwing my words back to me. I’d uttered them in a moment of confidence, and now I was going to have to back them up. Either that, or ask him to stop. For a moment, I stood there, thinking over my options.

Then I let a slow smile unfold across my lips.

“We want the same thing, Grayson,” I said before stepping out of his grasp and spinning around to face him. I was already naked from the waist up, but I could take it a step further, showing him just how serious I was.

I backed up to the edge of my bed and met his sharp blue eyes as I hooked my fingers around the hem of my pants and underwear. I shimmied my hips as I slid the material down and then let it drop to the floor.

Neither one of us spoke as he stood, scanning my bare skin in the moonlight streaming through my window. That exposure that comes with allowing someone to see all of you never gets easier to handle, but I stood still, letting him get his fill until he wanted more.

He moved fast, stepping forward and pushing me back until I fell onto the rumpled blankets on my bed.

My hand reached forward for the pocket of his suit pants and I used my grip on the silky fabric to tug him forward so that his weight fell onto me. For a few delicious seconds I felt suffocated by him, by his weight and presence crushing me against my soft blankets.

He stared down at me with a newfound desire just before he bent to steal another kiss. From that moment on, I was a puppet under Grayson’s strings. Each part of my body reacted so willingly to his touch. I tried to keep up, to tease him like he teased me, but he wasn’t having it. Our lips fought, pressed together so hard that his breath was my breath, his lips were my lips.

The rest of his clothes hit the floor and my sanity slipped away with them.

I clawed the sheets as he slid into me. He was over me, his gaze holding mine. My eyes started to water but he couldn’t tell in the moonlight. It was just the two of us, giving in to the one thing we’d wanted from the very beginning.

“How long have you wanted this?” he whispered into my ear as his hips rolled with mine.

I felt his cheek against my lips as I pulled him down to me.

When I answered, my eyes were closed and my heart was trying desperately to stay whole, in one piece and out of Grayson’s grasp.

“Always.”