Page 27 of Only for Love

We watch each other until I realize that I’m no longer stiff and straight but relaxed, loose, and aroused. His hand picks up my right foot. It tickles, and I twitch, which makes him smile.

“Easy, baby.”

Baby. My heart stops. That’s it. I’m done. IfEmsdid something magical to me before,babyknocked me stratospheric. I ease for him. Relax for him. I’ll do anything for him, but now all I do is exist as his strong hands glide up my calf and over my knee to massage my thigh. He spends a delicious eternity repeating the unhurried move before switching to my other leg. The process is repeated in its slow entirety. I’m putty in his hands, and as much as I want to touch him, that’s apparently not what our moment now is about.

“Turn over,” he whispers, and I do.

Gray toys with my hair, brushing it off my shoulders. His fingers trace my spine, running and rubbing my skin, making me squirm. Then he loosens the knot at my neck and the clasp at my back, letting my bikini top fall off even though I’m on my stomach.

“You’re perfect. You know that, right?” He draws closer to me.

His body lies parallel but shifts and folds over me. His kiss stuns me when it touches the nape of my neck and slides down my back, following the same path his fingers took. As my skin erupts into shivers, I twist to him, needing so much more, but he holds me in place, kissing my back, all the way to the base of my spine, right to the top of the bikini bottoms.

I lick my lips. “I’m perfect when I’m with you.”

He turns me over, my chest bare to him. I don’t move to cover or shy away. I’ve never felt more beautiful than right now. His eyes drink me in, and whatever his fear of the future is, I believe it can be dealt with.

“Sleep with me tonight.” His fingertips skim over my skin. “Likesleep.”

The genuine carefulness in his words stills my heart. I nod. The sun hasn’t set, we haven’t had dinner, but if he wants to go to bed now, kissing and sleeping until tomorrow, I’ve never been more ready for bed.

And that’s what we do. We kiss and touch and whisper, and long after the sunlight turns to dark, we sleep. His breathing evens out before I tumble into dreams. “I love you, Grayson Ford.”

Even though I’m certain he’s asleep, his arms flex around me, and this is what happiness means to me.

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