Give Me Grace (22 page)

“Grace!”

“God. Just leave me alone!” I slapped at his hands as we grappled in the car. “Anywhere is preferable to being in here with you!”

Casey stiffened at my words, both of us breathing harshly in the sudden quiet. He drew back in his seat, effectively distancing himself from me.

“Fuck,” he roared and slammed his fist against the steering wheel. “Fuck!”

I sat there unmoving, trying to control my breathing. A thin sheen of sweat
from the heat coated my body as I wiped at the tears on my face.

“Sorry,” he rasped. Taking the wheel with both hands, he pressed his forehead against it, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m not…” he started and then paused, seeming unable to go any further. He shook his head in frustration before facing me. There was something fractured in his eyes, something that wavered between desperation and despair. It made my blood run cold. “
A little girl got shot today. It doesn’t look good for her,” he admitted, his voice hoarse and tired. “And I’m fucking losing it because it shouldn’t have happened. If I’d found her sooner, then maybe she wouldn’t be in the hospital right now fighting for her life. I … God …” He breathed shakily. “I shouldn’t have come over. I started falling apart and my first instinct was to come to you and I’m sorry.”

His first instinct was to come to me? What was I supposed to do with that? I
t made me want to cry because being that person for him was only temporary. He needed so much more than what I could give. I took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “This is about more than that little girl, isn’t it?”

“I can’t talk about it right now.” He swallowed, rubbing a trembling hand across his eyes. “I just can’t. I’m sorry.”

Casey let go of my hand and got out of the car before I could respond. The heat of the night swirled inside as he shut the door behind him. I watched as he walked around the front of the car. For a brief second, the glare of the headlights illuminated his pants and rolled up sleeves of his dark shirt. He looked tired and rumpled and so completely defeated my heart gave a lurch.

“Dammit,” I muttered when he
leaned up against the hood. Glancing around, I spied his jacket on the backseat. I grabbed it and slipped it on, the sleeves falling past my hands. Pushing them up my forearms, I reached over and pulled the keys from the ignition and slipped them in the jacket pocket. When I opened the car door, the sound of crashing waves was loud and the smell of salty ocean thick in the air. We’d pulled off somewhere along the headland of one of Sydney’s beaches. A cliff top coastal walk ran somewhere along here, from Bondi to Coogee. I knew because I’d been meaning to do the two-hour walk since arriving and hadn’t yet had the chance.

I walked around to the front of the car. Rather than looking out to
the dark waves crashing below, Casey’s head was bent, his arms folded.

He was right, in a way. This was about sex and the wild attraction we had for each other. Expecting a relationship for the short period of time I was here was unfair.
What was also unfair was expecting him to talk about what was in his head if I couldn’t do the same.

I stood in front of him and he looked up. “Grace,” he whispered. Unfolding his arms, he reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

My chest brushed against his when I stepped in between his spread legs. Wrapping my arms around him, I hugged him, not letting go as I spoke. “It’s okay to lose it, Casey. Maybe you think I don’t see you, but I do. You’re always the first to smile, and to laugh and tease, but underneath it all, you’re scared of letting everyone down so you hide what hurts the most so you can be the person they all need you to be. You put everyone above yourself, but whatever it is that hurts will never heal while you keep doing that.” I exhaled shakily before continuing. “I know, because I used to do the same thing.”

Feeling his body tremble, I squeezed tighter. His arms
came around me, wrapping tight enough to squeeze the air from my lungs. A sob tore from his chest, and then another, until his face was buried in my neck. I held on, my eyes burning at seeing such a big, strong man hanging on by his fingernails.

“
Whatever you’re doing now is not enough,” I whispered thickly when he drew back. “You have to let go of what hurts.”

“What hurts you, Grace?”
His beautiful blue eyes watched me intently, waiting.

I released the breath I’d been holding and
gave him a faint smile. “Country music mostly, and algebra. Falling down stairs is up there too. That never ends well.” Casey chuckled softly just like I’d hoped he would. The sound lifted my heart. “What hurts you, Casey?”

He rubbed his hands up and down my arms, the touch soothing
me. “Getting kicked in the crotch,” he replied and I laughed. “The Hawks beating Freo in the AFL final. The thought of you leaving.” His eyes locked on mine. “When I’m with you, touching you, breathing you in, I forget who I have to be and I’m just me. When you leave, you’ll take that with you.”

I leaned in and
pressed a long, lingering kiss to his cheek. He shuddered, his grip on me tightening. Turning his face, he brushed his lips against mine. I relished the brief contact before taking a step back, the small rocks jabbing into my bare feet. The sharp stab of pain was a welcome distraction from the ache in my heart.

“Casey.” I looked away. “This
… thing between us. I never expected it. Whatever it is, the intention was never for it to hurt. Maybe we should stop before it gets worse.”

Casey shook his head, opening his mouth to speak but his phone rang. Frowning, he dug in his pocket and pulled it out. His body tensed when he checked the caller ID. It rang and rang, the mechanical tune cutting through the crashing sound of waves.

I looked from the phone to him. He was staring at the screen with drawn brows. It was clear there was an internal battle raging inside him. “Casey?”

As though r
eaching a decision, he tucked the ringing phone back in his pocket and grabbed hold of my hands. “Then let it hurt,” he snarled as he dragged me close. “Let it. We’re not stopping, Slim. You’re mine. Every night for the next five weeks. Just you and me. Fuck everything else.”

“I can’t.
We
can’t,” Grace amended as she tried tugging her hands free. I refused to let go. Instead, I spun her around and walked her backwards without taking my eyes from hers. “We should stop this now.”

When she collided with the hood, I lifted her up. She gasped when I sat her down
on it. The sound was sweet and had my cock throbbing and filling in my pants. Resting her feet on the front bumper, she hiked up her knees, and I took a moment to enjoy the display. “There’s no such thing as
can’t.
”

Grace arched a brow, her pupils dilating when she glanced down at the growing bulge in my pants. “Are you trying to dazzle me with logic?”

“It’s either that or I dazzle you with my cock.” Spreading her legs, I pushed my way between them, groaning when she wrapped them around my hips and rubbed up against me. “Which would you prefer?”

“
Jesus, Casey,” she breathed. “You want to just go for it right here on your car?”

“Fuck,” I growled, s
o turned on at the very thought I felt dizzy. I’d fantasised about doing her in an endless number of places. Starting with the hood of my car would suit me just fine. “Yeah. I do.”

Grace scanned the darkness around us. The road was
quiet in early hour, and though we could hear the odd passing car, shrubs along the roadside hid us from their view. Houses were dark and quiet. People were asleep. Satisfied no one was around, or likely to be, she took the tie out of her hair and leaned back on her elbows, staring up at me as she licked her lips.

“So do it,” she challenged, her hair falling down in a fiery tangle against
the gleaming grey hood.

“You think I won’t?” Leaning over her, I planted both hands on either side of her and ran my tongue along her bottom lip, nibbling it between my teeth.

“I’m gonna fuck you so good,” I crooned in her ear, “you won’t ever want to leave.” I took hold of her hips and dragged her against my erection, rubbing it between her legs. The layers of clothing had to go.

“Oh my God,” she muttered. “We’re going to get arrested for public indecency, I know it.”

“If we do, I’m telling them you forced me.”

She laughed and I swallowed the sound as I kissed her, sweeping my tongue inside her mouth.
Her hands came around me, holding on as I tilted my head, deepening the kiss.

Grace was breathless when I broke away, moving my mouth to her neck, licking and sucking her overheated skin.

“Casey,” she moaned.

I pushed her back against the car, drugged with lust. Nothing short of the world ending would stop me from having her now. I grabbed the hem of her top and shoved it up until it
bunched beneath her armpits. Her tits were a small handful yet utterly perfect, her nipples a dark rose. I ducked my head and took one in my mouth, biting it gently with my teeth. She gasped and the sound went straight to my cock.

A loud crack of thunder cut through the sound of our heavy breathing. Grace jerked at the signal of an imminent storm and
tipped her head to the sky. “It’s going to rain. I can smell it in the air.”

“I don’t care,” I told her, having no intention of stopping what we’d just started. Latching onto her nipple, I sucked it deep in my mouth. With one hand pinning her down, I used the other to undo my belt buckle and slide the zipper down on my pants.

I shifted to her other nipple, biting it before laving the sting with my tongue. I sucked the rigid peak until she cried out my name. It still wasn’t enough. Letting go, I straightened up and pushed my boxer-briefs below my straining erection. My cock sprang free, swollen and aching. Grace dropped her gaze, watching as I grabbed it in my hand and tugged, needing desperate relief.

“Suck me,” I demanded,
wanting her mouth.

She sat up on the hood and shifted closer, her knees up around her ears as she leaned in and pressed a kiss to the head. I shuddered, fisting
my hand in her hair as she did it again.

A cold raindrop splatt
ered across my arm when Grace opened her mouth and took the head of my cock in her mouth. My head fell back and I closed my eyes, groaning her name when her hot tongue swirled around the tip, teasing me.

Another raindrop hit, fat and heavy, when she sucked the length of me deep inside,
swallowing me in her hot, wet mouth. Her beautiful stormy eyes met mine and pleasure hit in waves. God, I was going to come watching my cock slide in and out those pretty lips of hers.

Heavy ra
in started falling while her tongue stroked over my cock. I ignored the cold drops when an orgasm came screaming up inside me. Grabbing the base of my erection, I pressed hard, staving it off as I pulled out of her mouth.

“We should get out of the rain!” she shouted
as the heavy drops turned into a shower. She went to slide off the hood of my car and I put one hand in the middle of her chest, halting her.

“No.” I pushed her down. She fell back on her elbows, her wet hair
beginning to plaster itself to her skin. While she was busy catching her breath, I grabbed her panties and yanked them down her endlessly long legs. Grace watched, her mouth open, as I tossed them away. They sailed over her shoulder, hitting the wet windscreen with a loud slap. Taking hold of her knees with a firm grip, I spread her legs.

With her body s
prawled across the hood of my car, Grace looked wild, soaked to the skin, and crazy beautiful. I knew then I was falling in love with her. It wasn’t a good feeling. My heart thundered in my ears and my chest felt tight, like I might hyperventilate at any moment. I shouldn’t want this. There would be no easy way out.

“Casey,” she gasped, goose bumps skittering along her skin as her stormy blue eyes found mine.

Since when have you ever taken the easy road, Casey?

“I’m not waiting for you any longer!” I shouted over the downpour. She shivered when I dug my fingers hard into her hips and yanked her towards me. “I need to be inside you, Grace.” I rubbed my bare cock between her legs, nailing her wet, swollen clit with each thrust. Her head fell back on a moan and she grabbed my hips, holding on. “Right now.”

Blinking away the drops of water pooling on my eyelashes, I reached for my wallet in the back pocket of my pants. “Dammit,” I growled when my hand came up empty.

“What?”

“Condom,” I bit out. “Dammit!” I found Grace’s eyes, wanting to cry like a baby. “I don’t have one.”

I don’t think I’d ever been caught in a situation where I’d ever
not
had one. I wanted to punch myself in the face. Of all the times, not having one now was just fucking cruel. Like some sick joke. I should just—

“Do we need one?” she yelled back, blinking rapidly as the rain pelted her in the face. “I know I’m clean.”

I swallowed hard at the thought of fucking her bare, of coming inside her. Then I let the image go. “Yes, Grace, we do. I’ve never gone bare before, and holy shit, right now I want to more than I’ve ever wanted anything, but trusting me with your body like that is a decision that should be made carefully, not in the heat of the moment.”

“I trust you!”

I shook my head, then remembered that the glove compartment in my car had condoms the last time I’d rummaged around in there. “Don’t move!”

After finding one quickly, I slammed the door and
was already ripping it open with my teeth as I came around the hood of the car. After rolling it down my cock, I shifted between her legs.

She took hold of my swollen
erection with both hands. I watched, my breath heavy, as she guided me inside her body. My hips surged forward when she let go. With my head buried in her neck, I slammed home. Not even pausing to catch my breath, I began a hard and fast thrust.

“
Feels so good,” she moaned when I rolled my hips. We were getting pummelled by rain and cars were driving past not even ten yards away. I didn’t care. I was caught up in the intensity, in the vice she squeezed my cock in. I turned my head to kiss her, forcing her mouth to open for my tongue. Grace took it and gave it back, making me groan.

Then she tore her mouth
from mine, taking a deep gasping breath. “Make it hard, Casey,” she said, her eyes inflamed. “So that when I leave, you fucking me is the only thing I can think about.”

My fingers dug in
to her ass at the sexy words thrown back in my face. “You want it hard?”

I pulled out with agonising patience, until only the head of my cock remained in her body. Shifting my gaze downwards, I pushed back in slowly, gritting my teeth from the drawn-out pleasure as I watched myself disappear back inside her.

“Casey, please.” Grace moaned and fell back against the car, her back arching as she tried to pull me deeper inside.

I wanted to freeze the moment
so I could enjoy it a little longer—the abandonment, the desperation on her face, the chill from the rain contrasting with the heat of her body, the wild surge of hunger for her and no one else. No. Not hunger, I realised, but craving
.
I wanted to build a wall around us, brick by brick, until no one else could get inside and Grace couldn’t leave.

P
ulling back out again slowly, I shoved in hard, my hands pinning her body in place so she could take the force. She cried out, her legs wrapping around my hips. That was when the last thread of control snapped. I began fucking her with abandon. There was no finesse, just need.

The outside world faded
as I focused on making Grace feel good. “Come,” I bit out breathlessly, knowing I couldn’t hold on for much longer. “God, please,” I begged, my hips burning as I slammed her hard.

Reaching between us, I pegged her clit with my thumb, mass
aging the swollen nub expertly.

“Casey,” she
gasped as I kept pounding my cock inside her. “So damn good.”

Her breathing was deep and ragged now, her
grip on my bare hips tight. I knew she was close. Pulling my thumb away, she watched as I sucked it into my mouth, using my tongue to sweep the taste of her over my lips. It was so hot it almost ripped an orgasm from me then and there.

Grace
cried out my name, her eyes rolling back in her head as she came. Her body contracted violently around my cock, forcing a groan from my chest. I braced my thighs further apart, unable to slow down to ease her through the aftershocks. “I’m gonna—”

“
Yesssss,” she moaned slowly.

She reached down and grabbed my balls with one hand, tugging hard. I thrust once, twice, and
squeezed my eyes shut, coming with a shout.

Ducking my head, I kissed
her as I rode out the pleasure, my hips slowing to short, sharp thrusts. The weight of my heavy body pinned her to the car.

She grinned against my lips
, panting hard as the rain pelted us. “We need to do this again soon.”

After accelerating out on
to the main road, I glanced across at Grace. With the little clothing she had now wet, she was wrapped in the beach towel I kept in the back of my car. It was tucked loosely around her slender body. If I reached over and gave it a small flick, I was sure it would just fall away. Returning my eyes to the road, I shifted gears and settled my hand on her bare leg.