Take Me for Granted (Take Me #1)(25)

I ran my hand slowly down her side. She tried to remain perfectly still, even as I coaxed shivers out of her. I trailed across her flat stomach to her hip bone, and I adjusted her so that she was on her side, facing me.

“Grant,” she murmured, her eyes wide.

She was fighting with herself, and it looked like I was winning. I tangled our legs together and dropped my mouth onto hers. It was like turning the key in the ignition. Suddenly, I couldn’t get enough of her. I couldn’t stop touching her. I just wanted her. I wanted to feel my dick slide into her. I wanted to see her face when she hit climax.

I started tugging the sweats over her hips, and then I grabbed her ass in my hands. Good God. I was an ass man, and she had a great f**king ass. Yanking her hard against me, I knew she could feel what she was doing to me. I groaned into her mouth as her hands slid across my bare chest. Her touches were featherlight at first, like she was just testing the water. I pressed my body against her, craving her touch.

Her hands were trembling, even as they moved across my abs. I tried to slide the sweats farther down her legs, but she wasn’t having any of it, and I gave up. They were far enough. I could reach everything I wanted. I slipped my hand in between us and then into her underwear. Her body was on fire, and even better, when I slid my finger across her, it came back really f**king wet. My c**k twitched just at the thought of plunging into that.

She squirmed against me, but I couldn’t tell if she wanted me to stop or keep going. It seemed like she wanted more to me. I gently swiped at her again, probing, until I heard her faint gasp. Fucking f**k, that’s hot.

“Ari,” I groaned, “you’re so f**king wet for me.”

She ducked her head into my shoulder, seemingly embarrassed, but she didn’t stop me. I rolled her over onto her back and yanked the pants down to her ankles. I needed this. Fuck, I need this.

My hand reached for her underwear, but she put her hand out. “Grant…I can’t. Oh my God, I can’t do this.” She frantically pulled up the sweats I’d lent her.

“Ari…” I begged.

I adjusted my erection right before her eyes, and she tried not to notice.

“I’m not going to have sex with you.”

I wanted to show her exactly how wrong she was about that.

But the pleading look in her eyes, rather than the aloofness she would normally send my way, f**king broke me down. I’d give her whatever she wanted even if she wasn’t giving me everything I wanted.

I sank down onto the bed next to her, and I tried to get my head on straight. She’d turned me down. I wasn’t sure that had ever happened…yet I still wanted her here. I still wanted her in my bed.

“You know what?”

“What?” she breathed.

“I want you, Ari.”

“I gathered that.”

“Yeah, I want to have sex with you. What guy wouldn’t? I mean, I want you here, like this. I want you to stay the night. I want you to just be here…with me.”

She didn’t know how much those words really meant. I’d never f**king wanted that in my entire life.

“Then, I want you to let me take you out to dinner. I’ll pick you up, I’ll take you out, we’ll walk through the park, and I’ll even get you home before midnight, so your coach doesn’t turn into a pumpkin.”

She giggled, actually f**king giggled, and I knew I had her.

“What do you say?”

She licked her lips as if she were considering. “All right, Grant. I’ll go on a date with you.”

We kissed until I thought I might combust from the energy coursing between us. How she held such composure was beyond me, but I wanted to respect her. I did respect her. It was the strangest thing that had ever happened to me.

Soon, Aribel nuzzled her head into my shoulder, her breathing slowed, and then she was fast asleep. I wrapped my other arm around her and held her tight.

I’d never had a girl spend the night just to sleep.

Chapter 16: Aribel

After I’d fallen asleep in Grant’s arms, the rest of the world kept spinning at its normal speed, but my life felt like it was moving in fast forward. I’d been shocked at how far I let things go with him, but it had also seemed so easy to just let it happen. I had thought I was going to give myself up. I had never felt like that before in my life. When I was with Grant, I felt safe and secure. Although not completely comfortable in my skin, I was definitely more so with him than I’d ever felt before. And as much as my defenses were normally up, I could feel him crumbling them with ease.

I was glad that Cheyenne had planned to visit her parents in the city for the weekend, so she wasn’t there to see me getting ready for my date on Friday afternoon. I chose a dark blue dress and paired it with my jean jacket and ballet flats. I’d even curled my hair and let it hang loose past my shoulders.

When Grant knocked on my door, I was surprised to find him out of his normal T-shirt and into a polo and dark-wash jeans. He’d cleaned up, too—freshly shaven, his hair styled, his tattoos hidden. My heart skipped a beat.

“Hey,” he said, pulling me against him. “I’ve been thinking about you all week.”

I started to chastise myself for getting giddy because he’d been thinking about me, but then I just let myself feel what was working its way through me. When we weren’t at each other’s throats, I kind of liked being around Grant.