Letting go of Grace (24 page)

THE REST OF THAT DAY
went by in a blur. The kids and I stood at the airport and said our goodbyes to the Grace men. I let a tear slip after I kissed Grant goodbye. I know I will see him in a few days, but I know I will miss him more than I should. My hidden shame won’t allow for even a glance at Aiden. I just wave as I walk away. The car ride home was quiet. When we got home, the silence was deafening. My house went from Grand Central Station, back to the three of us. I know this week will be hard for the kids. I will be going away and they will be with my parents. So I make the most of the time I have left with them this week. We go shopping, to the water park, and the playground. I keep them and myself busy because I know once I stop I will miss him more. But which one? Somehow my heart went from being shattered to almost complete in a matter of weeks.

By the end of the week my house is clean and we are packed for the various vacations that await us. The kids are excited to be with my parents and to go swimming in the lake and fish. I can’t wait to get into the blue water that matches Grant’s eyes. Then we will all be together the following weekend. It will be strange being at Grant’s house with the kids, but I know he has room for them and made sure they will have everything that they need while staying there. I think about the last trip to the Cape and how I made myself at home at Aiden’s. I know I will be doing that again when we go there for the barbeque. I wonder if he moved everything back to where he had it or if he kept the kitchen the same way I left it. I ponder these questions as I make my way into my parents’ driveway. The kids jump out and I follow behind them with their bags. I lug it all into the house and drop it once I get in the door. I know my dad will have to bring it right back outside to go in his car.

“Marco,” I shout after I drop the bags. I hear a faint “Polo” and I yell Marco again, walking towards the back door. I open it and hear a clear “Polo” as I step outside. The kids have already found my parents and are running around the backyard. I sit in the chair next to my mom and she smiles at me.

“Are you looking forward to this weekend?” she questions. I can’t help but smile.

“Yes, I am,” I answer.

“You look really happy, Hannah,” She says as she takes my hand. We give each other a quick squeeze and look over at the kids.

“They are in love with him,” she states simply, not looking over at me.

“I am too,” I say, knowing this will get her attention, but she doesn’t look over at me.

“I know, banana, I knew the night he came to get you for that gala. The way he looked at you and the way you looked at him. It was like seeing you come alive again.”

“Let it happen, don’t let it slip away, because you will regret it.” I look over at her and her eyes are now fixed on mine.

“I don’t want to let him slip away,” I say, showing her I mean it. I am ready to fall for him, knowing there is no safety net in the game of love.

The rest of the night is happy and sad. Everyone is excited to go away, but we are going to be separated for a few days. The kids assure me I will not be missed. They think they’re making me feel better, but it hurts when they tell me they won’t miss me.

I wipe my eyes as I pull out of my parents’ driveway and try to clear my head. Tomorrow I will be getting on a plane to paradise with the man I love. I need a getaway. I get home and make a mad dash into my house to get into the tub. NO shower for me today. That didn’t go well before. I know I can kill about an hour in there. I open the door and before I can comprehend what is happening I’m pinned against the wall. First instinct is to fight, but I stop when I see beautiful blue eyes staring into mine.

“I missed you,” he says, right before his lips crush against mine. Layer by layer, we take our clothes off and go at it in the foyer. My feet touch the floor once he puts me down to take my pants off. Other than that my legs were wrapped around his waist and I am on cloud nine with him deep inside me. This is what I needed. Our movements are fast and clumsy, like we haven’t seen each other in forever, rather than a matter of days.

“I love you so much,” he says, as he kisses right below my ear.

I lean to the side to give him better access. I can’t talk because he has me on sensation overload. I let my nails dig into his back and I get rewarded with a little love bite from him. Then we are off. He starts walking into the kitchen and plants me on the kitchen table. He places his hand over my heart and pushes me back to lie on the table. I follow his lead and lie flat on my back. He grabs my ankles and brings my butt to the edge of the table, while placing my ankles on his shoulders. He starts to move and I can’t help but moan from the pleasure. After a few thrusts he picks me up and puts me on the counter. We are eye to eye and I smirk at him.

“Are you marking your territory?” I ask between breaths.

“Yes, I’m going to fuck you on every surface of this house tonight,” he growls before kissing me. I let him. I let him take me everywhere. Even a few places I would never think of like on top of, my washing machine.

“Why here?” I ask as he places me down on the cold metal.

“You will think of me every time you do a load of laundry,” he says, smiling at me.

I smile back because he couldn’t be any more correct. I know I will think of him when I walk into every room in the house.

We finally end up in my bathroom in a bubble bath drawn by Grant. He sits behind me with his arms wrapped around me. I lean my head back onto his chest and enjoy the silence. Earlier this week it was deafening, but right now it is perfect. Aside from our breathing, there is nothing else but us.

“This was the best surprise,” I whisper.

“I couldn’t stay away,” he states simply.

“I’m happy you couldn’t,” I say as I turn to face him.

Water splashes over the side, but I don’t care. We can flood this entire bathroom and the rest of the house and I wouldn’t care right at this moment. It helps me was away the guilt of the last time I was in such ecstasy in this bathroom. I kiss him, starting off slow, then I let it work into the passionate frenzy it always does. His tongue explores my mouth like it has never tasted it before and his taste is like it always is. Like eating fresh oranges. I can’t get enough of him every time I kiss him. He slows our kiss and nibbles on my bottom lip, slowly drawing it between his teeth and pulling it out. I find myself pulled closer onto his lap and I feel his hard length find its way into my warmth. I arch my back out of instinct, he always makes me feel like nothing else matters when we are together. When we are joined as one, everything else around us falls away. He makes everything better, all the hurt and sadness I have felt, he takes it all away. I start to rock into him and he lets me take control. I pull his hands into mine, souls touching, and we continue our slow rocking into each other. Our eyes never leave each other and I have to bite down on my lip to maintain concentration. I don’t want to come right away, but whenever I’m with Grant, I do.

“You are so sexy when you do that,” he whispers, right before he takes my lip in to his mouth and sucks on it. I moan loudly and feel the pressure boil over as I come undone.

A moment later he follows, releasing himself deep in me. Our pleasure melting into one. He stands me up and leads me into the shower, where he pampers me by washing me down and massaging shampoo into my hair. I missed him so much. I missed the way he bites his bottom lip when he is concentrating on something. I missed the way he rubs his hands together when he is thinking of something evil. Most of all, I missed him being beside me. I missed the quiet calming effect he brings me. He takes his big, strong hands and tilts my head back so he can rinse the shampoo out. I follow his lead and smile when he takes the conditioner out and massages that in next. I wrap my arms around his waist and enjoy every moment I have with him. I memorize every inch of his face and body. I freeze the image in my head so I can bring it up whenever I miss him. Or when I find myself thinking of Aiden. He tilts my head back and washes away the conditioner and kisses me softly when he is finished. I could stay in this shower forever, but he turns the water off and steps out holding his hand out for me to take. Then he proceeds to dry me off and wraps me in a thick robe. I stand patiently and watch him dry himself off in awe. The man is a piece of art.

“Come on, time for bed. We have an early flight,” he says softly as he takes his hand in mine and leads me to my bed.

I climb into bed after him and settle into his side where I fit so perfectly. I shift once and he grabs me and holds me tight. I look up at him and see a calm peace settle across his face. I feel the same peace settle across my body. I feel complete again. I have given up worrying about us. I need to let us be and have everything fall into place. We will fall just the way we need to be, together. I know I will never let go of my Grace.

Sleep takes me seconds after I lay my head in Grant’s nook. I fall into a deep sleep with no dreams and no signs of Chase waking me. When I wake up, it’s only because the sun is rising and the natural light has settled in my room. I look up and see we haven’t moved and Grant is still holding me close. I lie there and listen to his heartbeat and his even breaths. It’s not like him to sleep later than me so I take him in. I look over every detail of his face and store it in my memory, along with the feeling of his body against mine. I run my finger down his chest and make little circles along his stomach. I make sure not to tickle him, but I have to touch him. It’s not enough to have him next to me holding me. I need to touch him. I need him to stimulate all of my senses. After I have let my fingers roam for a few minutes I look up at Grant and see his is watching me. I smile at him and he leans down and touches his lips to mine. He leaves them on mine. Not quite kissing me, but letting me feel his lips. We stay like this for a few heartbeats then he opens his lips and kisses my bottom lip. He slowly kisses me a few times then rolls over so he has me pinned under him. I love the look on his face. His eyes are bright and playful and it lights up his whole face. He looks as though he doesn’t have a care in the world and I hope I can keep him feeling his way while we are away. He starts to kiss me again when we hear his cell phone go off. He ignores it and keeps kissing me, but when it goes off again I push him off.

“Answer that or they will keep stalker calling you.” I get out of bed before he kisses me again. I push him again and he sighs.

“They can keep calling, I’m on vacation,” he says against my mouth. I can’t help but go along with him because his hands start to wander down my body and my reaction is to close my eyes and push against him. He slowly starts to build me up when his alarm goes off. He leans over to the nightstand and slaps it. It makes the sound stop.

“We have five minutes,” he whispers before he kisses me again.

“I need one minute, tops, the other four minutes are all for you.” I say as I guide his hardness into me. I hear a deep feral growl come from the back of his throat as he starts to move. Like promised, I take less than a minute before I convulse under him in pure ecstasy, and he follows suit shortly after. All the air gets pulled out of me when he collapses on top of me. We lie together for a few seconds before the loud alarm starts going off again. I can’t control the giggle that erupts from me. Grant leans up on his elbow and grabs his phone, turning off the alarm. He looks at me and I see the peaceful look is still on his face.

“I believe this is how you wanted to stay all weekend, correct?” He raises an eyebrow and gives me the sexiest look. I clench around his semi-hardness and he flinches.

“You don’t play fair,” he says as he pulls me closer to kiss me. I let him kiss me thoroughly before we have to get up and travel God only knows how many hours to get to where we are going.

“I think we can pull this off. At least we are flying private, but walking into the hotel with you wrapped around my waist might make a spectacle,” he laughs, smiling at me.

“I don’t care. I’ll wear a dress and if anyone looks at us I’ll just tell them it’s our honeymoon.” I wrap my legs around him showing him how easy it could be. With that he gets up and brings me with him, carrying me like a precious doll. I love that about him. He carries us back into the shower and I remain around him for the first few minutes, but I soon realize I have to pull him out of me. He settles me to my feet and kisses my nose.

“It’s OK, babe, I’ll be back in there once we get on the plane,” he promises, then slaps my butt making me jump.

“I will hold you to that Mr. Grace.” I say rinsing my hair out. We finish showering at the same time and I get the same pampered treatment I did last night. He dries me off and wraps my robe back around me.