Pieces For You (35 page)

He took a step closer to me, placed his hands on my hips, and pulled me against him.  He lowered his lips to my ear, eliciting goosebumps across my flesh.  Damn, he was good at this seduction stuff.

“Do you remember what I can do with my
perfect
lips or do I need to remind you?”

“It isn’t going to work.  No matter how tempting you are, I won’t give in.  I won’t stop living my life.”  I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned back to meet his gaze.  “I’m not being stubborn.  Well, I am, but not just for the sake of it.  I can’t live that way, not after what I’ve been through.  If I run and hide, let him break me in that way, I will lose myself.  There will be nothing left…no pieces to fit back together.  I will just disappear.  Please understand.”

Griffin dragged a hand through his hair, frustrated.  He hated what I was saying, but he understood.  He was going to cave; I could see it in his eyes.  Because I loved him, I let him think he actually had a say.

“I don’t like this.  I’m going to try and be with you as much as possible and I’ll have Hunter to cover any gaps when I can’t be there.  Please, Lo, I need you to be careful,” he said and lifted me by my waist until our foreheads touched.  “I just got you back…I can’t lose you.”

“I don’t have a death wish, babe.  I’ll be so careful I won’t even break a nail.”

“For the time being, I’d like to crash at your place or you at mine.  In separate rooms if you want, as long as you’re close.  I don’t want to take any chances.”

Separate rooms, my ass.  I finally had my body pillow back.  If we were under the same roof, he would be warming my bed.  I decided to let him sweat over my intentions…he deserved it after trying to boss me around.  Alpha was hot in the bedroom, not so much in real life.

“Deal.”

Hunter and Detective Norse arrived soon after and took my statement, while the crime scene investigators collected evidence.  Hunter informed me I had the rest of the day off as per Ev’s strict orders.  I was going to argue, but after my battle with Griffin I didn’t have the energy to go for god knows how many rounds with Ev, so I relented.

Griff and I spent the first half of the day taking out our frustrations on cardboard, a tedious task until I persuaded Griffin he would be more comfortable without his shirt while laboring.  He was wise to my thinly veiled ploy to score eye-candy, but obliged me easily—my man liked to be ogled if I was the one ogling.  Breaking down boxes became my new favorite pastime when accompanied by rippling muscles and a tight ass.

When we finished, we headed to the gym and resumed our routine.  Working out was definitely more appealing with the return of Griffin’s company and an extra thorough massage at the end.  Afterward, we showered and stopped by the gourmet grocery to pick up ingredients for dinner.  Cooking together for the first time was more fun than I could have imagined.  My time in the kitchen was therapeutic, and having Griffin embrace my favorite hobby as more than the taste-tester created a new bond between us.  I imagined it was how Griffin felt when I watched him perform…there was an intimacy in sharing something you loved with the person to whom you were committed.

As we shared the fruits of our labor, Griffin talked about the menu I had sent him before our hiatus.  His chef was resistant to the changes and believed the old menu was fine as it was.  I understood his point.  The menu was good, but The Stop could benefit from adding other options and tweaking a few of their standard dishes to make them feel new.  Griffin was struggling with the decision to replace the chef or force his compliance, or just let go of the idea altogether.  I didn’t envy the responsibilities he bore.

After dinner we cuddled on the couch and watched re-runs of ‘The Office.’  Both of us needed the healing power of laughter and a time-out from the darker side of life.  After the third episode, Griffin turned off the TV and turned me in his arms until I was facing him.

“Lo-baby, there are still some things I need to tell you,” he said seriously.

“And I want to hear them all,” I replied, as I leaned in to graze my lips across his before trailing them lower.  “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“Kind of hard to focus when you’re kissing my neck,” he said without complaint.

“Hmmm.  You’ll have to try harder because I have no intention of stopping.”

“I thought you should know that I’ve wanted you for a really long time…since your twenty-first birthday, actually.  It wasn’t the right time, but I knew even from the first time I saw you that you were meant to be mine.  I was already crazy about you before everything happened last spring.  So, when Rob—”

“Shh.  Not tonight.  I don’t want anyone intruding on our perfect night, not even in the form of a memory.”

He nodded, hesitating before speaking.

“Okay, not tonight.  I’ll just say that I was half in love with you before you were ever mine.”

“
That
you can say as often as you like,” I said, sliding my fingers under his shirt, working it up over his broad shoulders until his torso was in full view.  “New rule—no shirts in the house.”

His hands complied, making a beeline for the hem of my shirt.

“I meant for you,” I said with a laugh.

“I know” was his only reply before my shirt was gone; my bra followed in short order.  His lips explored the swell of my chest while my hands mapped him.  We were exploring familiar territory, but every kiss and touch felt different, like we were touching more than just skin.

His hands drifted to my hips, pulling my body squarely on top of his.  He steadied me with his grip and sat up, causing me to straddle him, his erection pressed between our bodies.  I saw the question in his eyes, wordlessly asking if I was okay.  In reply, I shifted my hips and pressed against him, finding the pressure I was craving.  I rolled my hips and we both groaned.  His fingers flexed in response, digging into the skin at my side. 

“Yes…” The word slipped out with a soft moan from my lips and that was all it took.  Griffin lifted me into his arms and carried me to the bedroom.  We sat on the center of the bed, where I settled over him and resumed my straddling posture.

One of his hands left my hip, sliding upward until his palm supported my head and his arm braced my back.  He leaned down to take my mouth, and with a kiss that held a new depth and fervor, he devoured me, his need matching my own.  He then leaned me back, his arm taking my weight, as he skated his lips down the column of my neck, nipping my collarbone, and ending at my chest.  Exposing me, he sucked my nipple into his mouth, working it with an expertise I’d never experienced before.  I mindlessly ground against him, desperate for relief.  I needed to extinguish the fire he had lit throughout my body, blazing up from my core.

I wanted more of everything…with him.  I was ready, as long as it was Griffin’s hands touching me, his body against mine.  I was a nomad who had been wandering the desert for endless months, finally finding a wellspring.  I was nearly feral in my hunger.  So many months of furloughed lust crashed down on me, or maybe it was simply Griffin’s effect alone.  I worked myself free of my panties, the seconds of broken contact feeling like Purgatory.  Griffin was preoccupied, clueless of the direction I was steering us, and I impatiently clawed at his boxer briefs, determined to get rid of every barrier between us. 

I growled in frustration.  Smiling devilishly, he broke our kiss and brought his lips to my ear.

“What are you doing, Lo?”  His voice was hot and seductive.

“Please.  Take these off.”

He paused for a moment, gauging my sincerity.  If he didn’t hurry up and comply, he would find out exactly how sincere I was when I shredded the offending fabric with my teeth.  Sensing my determination, he wisely rested me on the bed and stripped hastily, pulling what I assumed was protection from his pocket and resting it on the nightstand.

Gathering me into his arms again, he returned me to his lap, where I instantly sought the slide of skin-on-skin.  My pace was frantic, as if Griffin might disappear or change his mind without notice. 

“Slow baby, let me love you right,” he whispered, an enticement.

“Next time,” I returned impatiently, beyond reason.  It was time—I couldn’t wait another millisecond.

Unwilling to be rushed, he belted an arm around my hips, effectively locking my body to his, and tangled his fingers in my hair.  He moved sinuously, teasing me while coating himself with the evidence of my longing.  When I was on the edge and delirious, he lay back, my mouth following his like a magnet. 

He angled away from me to reach for the nightstand and returned with protection.  I snatched the foil packet from his hand and tossed it over my shoulder before moving to resume our kiss, but he stopped me.

“Lo, safety first.”

“It’s covered,” I said factually.  I had not missed a single day taking my pill in five years.  I knew I was clean and had no doubt Griffin would have mentioned if he wasn’t.  He would never put me at risk.  “I don’t want anything between us.  I want to feel you…I need to know it’s you.”

“You’ll be the first,” he said, reaffirming my confidence.

“You too,” I said, moved that we could share the experience.

I tilted my hips so he was perfectly aligned, reveling in the moment of anticipation.  With unhurried movement he eased into me, filling more than just my body with his painstaking tenderness.  It was overwhelming, the joining of body, mind, and heart.  Once I adjusted to him, he followed my lead, masterfully mirroring the rhythm and pace I set from above, aiding my rise and fall with his hands on my behind.  He watched me as if I were a miracle he couldn’t tear his eyes from, which I’m certain was similar to my own gaze.  Our eyes never broke contact, a tether keeping me in the present, temporarily erasing the past.

I had always enjoyed sex, unashamed of my body and my desire, but this was something completely new.  Intense and worshipful—an unbreakable bond that satisfied more than just the physical.  He gained entry to a part of my heart previously secured, as if he held the only key and the space was his alone.  Every stroke reached deeper, every nerve more sensitized, everything amplified by the depth of our devotion.

I was so close, but my legs were weakening despite Griffin’s significant assistance.  In what could only be described as slow motion, he sat up and leaned forward until I was on my back with my legs wrapped around his hips.  My body welcomed the change in position, my tired legs grateful for the break.  I closed my eyes, afraid of what the sight of him above me would do.

“Open your eyes, Lo.  I want to know it’s me you see.”

I complied immediately, grounded by his words and the intensity in his eyes.  Once he knew I was living in the second, he moved over me, in me.  If I thought he was careful before, I knew nothing.  He was meticulously gentle and loving, speaking my name and soft, reverential words, ensuring I never forgot where I was and whom I was with. 

His eyes were intense, holding me captive.  “I need to tell you,” he paused to kiss my lips, “I love you, with everything I am, I love you…”

I gasped at his words and the physical manifestation of his love.

“Griff…I love you, too….with all of my heart.”

He took my mouth with a searing kiss and I poured every bit of my love into him, transforming the kiss from adoring to soul-piercing.

He monitored every minute response to heighten my pleasure, surpassing every sexual experience I’d ever had.  He never restrained me with his body, but I clung to him like a monkey in the trees.  The pressure was building, and I feared I would combust if he didn’t give me release immediately.  He kept me on the edge, lost in pleasure but never providing the final push I was desperate for.

“More.  Stop holding back,” I panted, a plea and demand.

As with everything else, I only had to ask.  My order freed him of the restraint to which he had bound himself and he immediately gave me the ‘more’ I had requested…he gave it all to me—pleasure so exquisite it swallowed me like a riptide, dragging me in and tossing me around until I had no sense of up from down.

“Together,” he ground out between clenched teeth, entwining our hands and waiting for me to join him in the fall.

With a final cry, my vision blurred and all of my senses converged, indistinguishable from one another.  His name fell from my lips, full of veneration.

“Oh, Lo-baby,” he whispered against my lips before kissing me devotedly, rolling us to our sides, holding me close.  His right hand crossed my body to rest over my heart.

We lay together in silence as our breathing slowed and our bodies came down from the unparalleled high.  I was so far beyond satiated that mere words could not describe my state.  What Griffin and I had just shared was more than sex, more than beautiful.  It exceeded simple lovemaking—I felt a piece of our souls had fused together and created an indestructible bridge between our bodies, minds, and hearts.

I had experienced betrayal by a man I thought I loved once before, but my feelings for him were superficial and stale compared to the profound depth of my love for Griffin.  If I searched my whole life, I would never find another who I could love with the same depth and completeness.

“I love you,” I said vehemently.  “I love you in a way that will never ebb or fail—it will thrive and deepen every day.  I don’t want to experience life without you ever again; I don’t want to live without those pieces of me.”

“Me too, love,” he said, breaking into a chuckle.  “Love—I can finally skip the shorthand.”

“Huh?”

“You may be my little one, but ‘Lo’ was never about your size, baby.  I had to find a way to tell you how I felt, even if you didn’t understand it—hence ‘Lo,’ shorthand for love.”

“So you’ve been confessing your love covertly all this time?  Very sneaky, Mr. Evensen.  I kind of like Lo, too.”

“You’ll always be Lo, but it’s nice to have options.”

I snuggled into his chest and drifted off to sleep, the happiest I had been in as long as I could remember…maybe ever.