Page 8 of Skin In the Game (The BlackWater)

It was late by the time she got home. The Tube had been on strike. Again. While she could have driven to the office she couldn’t face the traffic and had made the stupid error of deciding to run home. By the time she got back she was drenched from all the rain, freezing because she hadn’t actually been able to run from all the crowds and bad tempered from spending a day picking through financials.

She walked into her flat, throwing off her wet clothes into the small utility by the door and heading straight for the shower. There was left over Chinese in the fridge and she was looking forward to an evening of doing nothing but eating and watching some trashy show on Netflix.

She got in the shower, letting the hot water splash on her face. If there was one thing about her apartment that she loved it was the shower. She could stand under it for hours as the water practically smacked her in the face.

She washed her hair, scrubbing at her scalp and then letting the foam run down. It wasn’t like she was in a hurry to get out and she couldn’t be bothered to properly rinse it just yet.

Her bathroom door opened and she froze. The room was thick with steam but she could make out the figure walking towards her. Part of her was happy to see him but another part of her…

“Hey Mads.” He said and she shook her head as the small grin crept across her face.

“When did you get back?”

“A couple of hours ago. Did you miss me?” He asked and she grinned.

“You bet I did.” She replied because what else could she say? He laughed before yanking his clothes off.

“Mind if I join you? I could do with a scrub down…” He murmured staring at her and seeing how the suds ran down across her wet body. He didn’t wait for her reply, he stepped right in, grabbing her waist and yanking her to him.

“Damn I missed you.” He groaned as he ran his hands, now wet over her and she shut her eyes. He turned her roughly around, brushing her wet hair aside to expose her neck and started kissing her shoulder. She groaned as he wrapped his hands around her and started massaging both her nipples and feeling them harden even more.

And then he shoved her hard against the tiles. He placed her hands flat as if she were surrendering and her body pressed against the coldness. He then put his foot between her ankles to spread her legs further apart. He kept one hand on her back, holding her as his other ran down her spine before curving round her ass and then he slid his fingers in from behind. She gasped, both at his touch and at the suddenness of it.

His dick was hard against her. She could feel it pressing into her and she groaned as he rammed it in and he placed both his hands on top of her own, his fingers intwining with hers.

“Fuck you feel so good.” He groaned as he continued to slide in and out of her. She groaned too, letting him fuck her the way he always did.

He came, way too quickly in her opinion and as usual, she didn’t. She washed the last of the suds off herself and then got out to dry off leaving him to sort himself out. He was a grown man after all.

She sat, with a bowl of leftovers and her hair wrapped up in a towel.

“No home cooked meal?” He asked as he watched her and she raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t know you were coming round for starters.” She replied and he laughed.

“I like to surprise you.”

“You know I don’t like surprises.” She muttered before ramming a forkful of chow mein in her mouth. She didn’t even know why she was irritated but she was all of a sudden.

“Baby…”

She sighed. Wasn’t she meant to be happy he was back? It had been three months since she’d last seen him and yet… She shook her head. He wasn’t her boyfriend, remember. This was just sex.

“I got you something.” He said going to his bag and fumbling around.

“If it’s a tacky tourist souvenir.” She said.

“You don’t get souvenirs from Iraq.” He replied and she rolled her eyes.

“What is it then?”

“Open it and see…” He said tossing the small box at her and she had to react quick to catch it and not let it drop into the sweet and sour sauce.

She frowned looking at it and then at him.

“Grant?” She said before she could stop herself.

“Open it.” He said walking to her and sitting on the opposite couch. She narrowed her eyes and put the bowl down, thinking, hoping that this wasn’t what it looked like.

The box popped open and she felt her jaw drop. Inside was a beautiful, perfectly chosen engagement ring. She swallowed staring at it. It was perfect, too perfect, perfect except for one big thing. She looked at him and he was watching her.

“Well Mads, what do you say? Will you marry me?”

“Are you serious?” She asked before she could stop herself.

“Of course I am. I’m mad about you. I have been from the minute I crashed into your life.”

She rolled her eyes at the pun because that was how they’d met. When he had crashed into her while she was out running and he was cycling and she’d given him a piece of her mind.

“Grant, look, you’re a great guy…”

“Then say you’ll marry me.”

“It’s not even been a year.”

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