Scars and Songs (46 page)

Grace was sitting on a barstool with some guy talking to her.  Her eyes were set on the bathroom doors waiting for me and as soon as she saw me, she shook her head, sagged against the bar, closed her eyes tight and smiled.  I walked right up to her, slid my hands around her waist, and nestled my face in her hair.

“Excuse me, but this pretty little lady is taken for the rest of the night,” the guy standing next to her said.

Keeping my hands on her waist, I leaned back to look at her. 
Smiling at each other, we both turned to stare at the guy.  “What the hell did you just say?” we both growled simultaneously.

The guy repeated his outrageous statement and Grace blatantly laughed in his face.  She ignored the strange look he gave her and she went to walk away towards Lea. 

Then he grabbed her.  He grabbed her by the elbow and spun her around.  And before I could kill the guy, Grace’s fist spun with the momentum and she cold-cocked him right in the nose.  Blood spurted out of his nose and dripped down his face.  “Touch me again and the next thing you’ll feel is six feet of dirt over you.” 

She turned, looking at me, and my God, she gave me the sexiest smile, which made my knees weak.  Behind her, the jerk moved forward again, but I held out my hand, smushed him in the face, and shoved him back hard.  The guy went flying into a crowd of dancing bodies and got lost in their movements. 

I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her body flush against mine. She melted right into me.  “You have some messed up friends around here.”

“None of them are friends,” she whispered through lips close enough to kiss.  “Come on, let’s get out of here,” she said pulling us all to the door.

Holding hands, we walked back to the Rossi’s house in silence with only the swooshing sounds of the waves lapping against the sand filling our ears.

Mrs. Rossi had the two couches in the living room made up with pillows and blankets for Conner and me to sleep on.  She came out of the kitchen when we walked in, explaining to us that
premarital sex will send you straight to hell if it happens under her roof without at least a ring and wedding date set
.  Lea rolled her eyes and stomped up the stairs. Conner huffed and puffed the same way.  Grace just glanced at me, smiled and nodded her head goodnight as she bounced her perfect bottom up the stairs. 
Yeah.  I was sneaking up there later
.

The girls thumped and giggled loudly above us as Conner and I tried to get comfortable on our makeshift beds.

“Crap, I feel like I’m fifteen.  I’m a grown-ass man, so I should be able to sleep with my woman,” Conner grumbled.  I listened to him whine and complain until his voice was only low mumbles, his breathing grew into light snores and sleep overtook him.

I
stayed on the couch for a while, just listening to the silence as I watched the dance of car headlights through the window and across the ceiling, each time someone drove down the street. 

My thoughts were on Gabriel and what needed to be done to protect Grace, when I heard a small movement at the top of the staircase.  Soft padded footsteps landed on each stair and tiptoed slowly behind the couch I was on, stopping right above me.  I could hear her breath and feel her eyes on me in the darkness of the room.

With only a small chuckle escaping from the back of my throat, I sprang up from the couch, grabbed her around the waist and dragged her over the back of the couch and into my arms.  Grace let out a small yelp and I pressed the palm of my hand gently over her lips.  Our eyes focused on each other’s in the dim light, each waiting to see the other’s next move.

I could feel her breath quicken beneath my hand and slowly, I slid my fingertips away from her lips and brushed them softly down her chin and neck.   Her lips parted, waiting, hands gripping
the front of my shirt tightly.  In one quick move, I flipped her under me, onto her back, and reached my hand up to brush my thumb along her bottom lip.  I pressed my body tightly against hers, while she ran her fingers along my jaw, over my cheeks and through my hair.  I just about died when she pulled her knees up to my hips and wrapped her long smooth legs around me. 

“Grace Taylor, I am going to kiss you right now and you are not going to run away from me, because you have no excuse now.  Then you are going to go back upstairs to bed and all you are going to think about are my fucking lips on yours and nothing else. Not strange men that want to hurt you, or buy you drinks, not Ryan, not Tucker, not even Ethan. I swear to you, Grace, I will not let you think of anything or anyone else until I put my lips back there again. 
Only mine
.”

Brushing my mouth across hers, her breath quickened and her lips smiled wide before she wrapped her hands around the back of my neck and I crushed my lips against hers.  Our lips moved against each other, slow and needy.  A soft low whimper escaped from between her lips as we deepened the kiss. 

She clawed at the bottom of my shirt, frantically pulling it up over my head.  Our lips broke contact for a second, a low growl tore from my chest, and I slammed my lips against her when I was free of my shirt.
God, I wanted her
.  I ground my hips into hers and a sweet as hell moan purred out of her lips. I wanted to hear her moan my name. My hands burned to rip her little pajama bottoms off so I could bury myself deeply inside her.  I wanted to spend the rest of the night worshipping her body with my tongue, to taste every single inch of her silky soft flesh. 

I lost myself between her lips, wrapped in her legs, in the soft whimpers that slipped from her swollen wet lips, in the tremors that hummed through her body.  God, I loved feeling her shiver beneath me; I craved making her quake more.

Now I could.  I could love her and worship her.  I could kiss her and taste her.  I could have her completely, because I was human now.  There would be no punishment this time.

My fingers moved in slow circles over her.  Her lips glided smoothly against mine, with each small flicker of my tongue, her body rocking against mine.  I licked and kissed across her jaw and down her neck.  She whimpered when I lifted her shirt and took one of her rock hard nipples into my mouth. 

She softly trailed her fingertips down my chest, over my stomach and under the waistband of my pants.  Her warm hand wrapped around me and slid up and down my swollen skin.  “God, Grace,” my voice croaked.  I knew I had to stop this from going any further.  But, damn her hands pumping up and down on my cock felt good.  Fuck, I didn’t want to stop.  I wanted to feel what it was like inside her.  I bit down softly on her nipple, and the sexy as sin moan that escaped her lips made me rock harder against her hand. 
What the hell was wrong with me?
  I squeezed my eyes shut tight and cursed myself under my breath. 
Where the hell was my self-control?
  

I placed my hand over hers and tugged it reluctantly out of my pants.  We looked at each other panting, breathless, her eyes questioning and beautiful.

“Go back upstairs, Gray, and go to sleep,” I rasped.

She smiled up at me and bit down on her bottom lip, “I sure as hell don’t want to, Shane.”

I softly ground my hips into hers one last time and placed both my forearms on either side of her head.  I leaned down and nipped her lips, then pulled her over me and sat us both up, her legs straddling mine.  “Grace,” I whispered skimming my fingers over her moist lips.  “I want to be inside you so damn bad right now.  But when I do that, I want to hear you scream my fucking name as you claw your nails down my back.  You can’t do that here.”

“I’m never getting to sleep now,” she giggled.

“Baby, I’m going to be taking a cold shower for weeks after this,” I teased.

“You know, I’ve noticed since I’ve met you, that doesn’t really work too well,” she said as she stood up and fixed her shirt. 

“Remember tonight…for it is the beginning of always,” I whispered as I watched the pale moonlight stream through the window and fall against her skin.

“Dante Alighieri, Shane?” she giggled as she made her way to the stairs.

“Shut up and go to sleep, Grace.”

As she reached the first step, she turned towards me once more.  God, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever s
een.  She touched her fingers to her lips, smiled and walked up the stairs.

“I found whom my soul loveth: I held her, and would not let her go…Song of Solomon, Grace,” I whispered into the darkness.

Pure chaos is what the Rossi’s house was like in the morning.  Conner and I sat cringing at the breakfast table as music blasted, neighbors stopped by and food was thrown.  The closer it got to lunch, the crazier it got and right after lunch the four of us were desperately trying to get the hell out of that house and away from the madness.  However, the only thing I could really focus on were Grace’s lips.

I cornered her against Lea’s bedroom door and whispered hotly into her ear, “Got plans for the rest of the day?”

“No plans,” she whispered sliding her hands up my arms.

“Good.  I want to spend the rest of the day with you.  Want to go for dinner?”
I asked.

“I’d love to,” she squeaked. “I, um, was going to ride the bike back and leave the Jeep here.  Do you feel up to riding or do you want to take the train back to the city with Lea and Conner?”

I touched my hand to her cheek and brushed away a loose strand of hair tucking it gently behind her ear. “There’s no way I’m missing out on a ride between your legs all the way back to Manhattan.”

Her eyes dilated.  “Um, yeah.  I’m ready to go right now, then.”

I pressed myself against her warm body and kissed her deeply.  I pulled roughly at her hips, hoisting her legs to wrap around me as I pushed her up against the door.  The heavy ache to be inside her was building into an obsession.  I slipped my fingers under the material of her sweatpants and plunged my hands beneath, cupping her bottom so she wouldn’t fall. 

She gave me a deep groan, “Oh, Shane.”

The way her voice whimpered my name caused a low noise deep in my throat and I slid my fingertips under the fabric of her lacy panties.  I skimmed them against her skin.  Beads of sweat burst across my forehead when she pulled her head back and bit her bottom lip, trying to silence her soft whimpers.

“Fuck.  Grace.  You.  Are.  So.  Wet.” I growled into her lips.  I pulled the thin lace, holding it tightly, desperately wanting to rip it from her skin.  “We have to get the hell out of here or we’re going to end up having the whole Rossi clan and the neighbors watching me have my way with you.”

Dropping her legs from my waist, she grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled her mouth roughly to meet mine.  “That’s not making me want to stop anything.”

I ran my hands over her bottom, slid them up her sides and up to her breasts, moving my thumb in soft circles over her nipples.  “We need an entire night to start exploring each other like I want to, not five intense minutes against Lea’s door.”

“An, entire night, huh?” She teased.  “You’ve given this a lot of thought?”

I leaned my forehead against hers, our breathing evening out, slowing.  “Since I first laid my eyes on your silver ones.”

We left as soon as we could, waving our goodbyes to Lea and Conner at the entrance to the subway, as we roared past them on the bike.

With her arms wrapped tightly around my waist, the ride was simply intoxicating.  
Smelling the air, feeling the rapid shift of temperatures, and the sensation of her body wrapped around me was overwhelming.  Our bodies moved together while the engine roared and vibrated under us.  Back and forth, leaning, swaying, accelerating, and braking.  Everything was in harmony, the ground, the bike, us. 
Us
. The way it was always supposed to be.  My mind went quiet and it was easy to lose myself to the moment.   I ran my hands up and down her legs to keep her warm and just to keep reminding myself
that she was real
.

We coasted along the East River to Long Island City
’s
Water’s Edge Restaurant
.  The restaurant was home to huge open bay windows along the entire side of the wall that faced the city; the view was breathtaking.  The Manhattan skyline was almost as stunning as Grace’s wind swept hair and flushed cheeks when she took off her helmet. 

Holding hands, we were seated right in front of the huge windows.  I ordered a bottle of wine and we sat across from each other staring, lost in each other’s eyes.  Neither of us let go of the other’s hands, even when the wine arrived. 

“I’m glad you cancelled on Ryan,” I whispered to her. 

“Yeah, why is that?” she asked, teasing.

“I told you before, Grace.  I want to kill any man that looks at you.”

“You remember saying that to me?”

“I remember everything, Grace.”

I watched the turmoil in her expression.  I watched fear wash over her features.  In that moment, I wanted to tell her who I had been, I wanted her to know the real me, but I knew I couldn’t.  Michael told me not to. Michael told me to have her love me for what’s left of me; not for the part of me that’s gone.

“
Everything?
” She whispered back.