Picture Perfect (Butler Island) (18 page)

“Grant, hello…?” she uttered as she
waved her hand in front of his face. “Are you still with me?”

Realizing he’d been staring,
salivating at the sight of her, he briefly shook his head, transporting his
mind back to reality. “Yeah, I’m with you”, he said as he wrapped his arms
around her. “For much of the night…”

After his unexpected trance, they
fell into their usual routine: dinner, wine, and great conversation. They’d
been sitting on the couch for a while, recounting their day, when Grant finally
divulged the specifics about the department’s meeting earlier that morning.

 “Chief mentioned you were there and
caught the arsonist in action. Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked.

“I didn’t
want
to keep that
bit of information from you, but Chief Handler made me swear not to tell anyone
until he had an opportunity to speak with you guys.”

Grant sighed as he gently nudged a
stray lock of hair away from her left eye. “I’m so thankful the guy didn’t see
you—there’s no telling how he would’ve reacted had he realized he wasn’t
alone.”

Glancing down at her lap, she nodded.
“I know. Luckily, I kept hidden; he never suspected I was there…”

“It was risky—
too risky!”

“Speaking of ‘
risky situations
’:
Do you have any idea how close you came to that roof collapsing on you last
week at the theater fire?”

“That’s different—”

“How so?” she asked curiously.

Grant shrugged his shoulders. “It’s
my job… It’s what I’m paid to do.”

Olivia tucked her feet underneath her
and began picking at her fingernails. Grant studied her for a few long beats.
Something was bothering her and she appeared to be fighting an internal war
over whether or not to share it with him. He tilted her chin up with his
fingertips and met her gaze. “Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“You scared me—that night at the
fire—you
really
scared me. When I heard the roof collapse, I thought—”

“Hey”, he mumbled softly as he
reached for her and pulled her onto his lap. “It’s okay—I’m okay. I’ve been
doing this for a long time; nothing bad’s going to happen to me.”

Olivia stared into the depths of his
blue eyes and the next thing she knew, she was inching forward. She pressed her
lips against his and when he parted his lips, her tongue surged into his mouth
with an animal-like intensity.

A predator consuming its prey…

She was through with deprivation. She
didn’t want to starve her body any longer. She wanted to indulge—devour
everything he was willing to give her—until she was thoroughly satiated.

Following her lead, he ravaged her
with his
kiss. He was teetering on the edge
of control
, clenching his hands to restrain himself. Letting go—free
falling into a sexual abyss—wasn’t an option. He wanted her—more than his next
breath—but he needed to know that she wanted him, too.

Gripping her shoulders, he
respectfully pushed her away and then gawked at her through hooded eyes. “I
don’t want you to start something that we can’t finish”, he mumbled in a
gravelly voice he barely recognized. “I want you so damn bad it hurts, but I
won’t do this unless you tell me.”

Biting her plump bottom lip, Olivia
stood and offered her hand. When he accepted, she helped him to his feet and
then turned, leading him down the hall to her bedroom. After turning on the small
lamp adjacent to her antique white canopy bed, she pivoted to face him.

He stood in the doorway, his shoulder
leaning against the doorjamb, perusing her body as she unzipped her jacket and
shrugged it down her bare arms. Then, grasping the bottom edge of her navy
tank, she raised her arms, removing the thin stretchy garment; revealing two
perfectly round breasts.

“I want you”, she whispered, her gaze
never leaving his.

Grant expelled a puff of air from his
lungs. It was hard to concentrate with Olivia standing in front of him,
topless.
“What about afterward? I don’t want you to spend the next week avoiding
me.”

Slipping her thumbs underneath the
waistband of her skirt, she nudged the material down her legs, along with her
delicate lace panties. “That’s not going to happen”, she assured him. “I want
to do this—
I want you…”

Savoring her words, his eyes feasted
on her perfectly sculpted, bare body. He groaned when she reached up and
removed the clip from her hair, captivated by the way the ends of her blonde
locks settled around the curve of her breasts. His attention traveled south
along the firm plane of her taut, yet feminine stomach, finally focusing on the
thin, dark strip of hair that barely covered her mound.

Holy shit—she waxes!

His bulging sex pressed against the
fly of his cargos at the discovery. The last time they’d been this intimate,
they were in her darkroom. It was dimly lit; he could see enough of her body to
know it was utterly flawless, but it’d been too dark to really
“see”
her.

Thank you, Thomas Edison, for
inventing the light bulb. I’m forever indebted to you…

Olivia smiled as she cleared her
throat, hoping to regain his undivided attention. “Well, are you gonna just
stand there and stare at me?—or are you comin’?”

Pushing off the doorjamb, Grant
reached over his shoulder and grabbed a fistful of his navy fire department
T-shirt, yanking it over his head as he slowly walked toward her. “Oh, I’m
coming”, he assured her, his voice laced with lust. Finally standing in front
of her, he tilted her chin up to look at him. “And soon, you’ll be coming too…”

He observed as her eyes deepened to a
shadowy pine green; evidence that she was as equally aroused as he was.

She could almost feel his eyes
searing her, the heat almost too much to bear. “Promise?” she asked
flirtatiously.

With his fingertips still supporting
her chin, he gently brushed his mouth across the surface of her lips. “Uh-huh”,
he whispered against her mouth. “And I
always
keep my promises…”

Unable to ignore the pulsing need
overwhelming her body, she rose onto her toes and took control of the kiss.
Cupping his face, she assaulted his tongue with fierce desperation. She could
feel her body losing control; sense the tension melting away. For the first
time in her life, her mind and her body existed in perfect harmony.

 And for the first time, she wasn’t
afraid of the repercussions.

Her aggressiveness threatened his
sanity. He’d purposely held back, afraid if he moved too fast, came on too
strong, he’d only push her away. He hadn’t expected her to unleash such
unbridled desire. Her hungry kiss communicated urgency; radiated an intense
sensual energy.

Soft whimpers fled her mouth. Grant
swallowed them, relishing the sound, savoring her lack of restraint. Her
fingertips traveled down the distinct wall of his chest, further down the
ripples of his six-pack abs, until she reached the fly of his navy cargo pants.
She cupped and caressed his hard length, threatening to prematurely entice his
release.

Gripping her wrists, he broke the
kiss, resting his forehead against hers. “Slow down, baby. We’ve got all
night.”

Olivia shook her head. “I don’t want
to slow down. I need you; I don’t want to wait anymore.
Please, Grant…
please…”

Picking her up, he tossed her onto
the bed and before her body was able to bounce, he came down on top of her.
Trailing kisses down her neck, he cupped one of her breasts, gently fondling
her pink pebbled nipple with his thumb. And when his tongue mimicked what his
thumb had just done, she arched her back, pressing her sensitive nipple deeper
into his mouth.

Reaching down with his free hand, he
gently glided his fingers against her slick, dewy center. “Is this for me,
Livvy?” he asked, his voice rough and gritty as though he’d swallowed
sandpaper. “Huh?—is this what I do to you?”

“Yes—
omigod!”
she gasped as he
entered her body with one of his fingers.

Although her eyes were closed, she
could feel him watching her, taking pleasure in her writhing body. “
Grant
,
please… I’m begging you!”

His fingers never wavered. “Tell me
what you want”, he demanded softly.

“You—inside me—right now…
Please!”

He planted his feet on the floor,
removing his cargo pants and boxer briefs. He unrolled a condom over his
throbbing length with lightening speed and then tugged her ankles, dragging her
body to the edge of the bed. Standing above her, he wrapped her legs around his
waist and braced his hands on either side of her head on the bed.

And then, he plunged into her...

His rigid girth filled her
completely, her body stretching to accommodate the welcomed intrusion.

Hovering above her, his eyes raked
across the surface of her feminine curves as their bodies collided. “God,
Livvy, you’re so beautiful.”

He was close, his body dangling over
the edge, and if his memory served him right, the sounds emanating from her
indicated she was close, too.

Pleading whimpers.

Soft sensual moans.

Swift shallow breaths.

He’d never felt such a strong
connection like this before. And that’s when he realized—

—This wasn’t just sex. He wasn’t just
filling a physiological need. For the first time in his life, he was making
love…

With her eyes shut, her body was
spiraling into a dark tunnel. The deeper she descended, the more pleasurable it
became. She wanted the free fall to end, wanted the torturous exhilaration to
stop, yet somehow the thought of ecstasy discontinuing left her panicked.

“Open your eyes. I want to see you”,
he breathlessly commanded.

Opening her eyes, she peered into his
and at that moment, her body unleashed a shockwave of incandescent heat. Her
body pulsed with powerful precision; every nerve-ending, every cell, from the
top of her head to the tip of her pale pink pedicured toes.

Olivia called out his name and raked
her nails over his back as her body released the tension. Her tight heat
contracted around his rigid girth, gripping and releasing, causing his hard
length to spasm. Staring into the eyes of the woman he loved, he emptied his
essence, wishing the latex barrier no longer confined him.

Olivia rose onto her elbows and
smiled, still panting from her climax. “Oh my gosh, Grant… Let’s do that
again…”

With their bodies finally sated, they
invaded the kitchen to satisfy their appetite. Olivia spooned vanilla frozen
yogurt into two bowls and topped each with a handful of
Reese’s Pieces
and
a large puddle of chocolate syrup.

“Looks delicious”, he said as he
wrapped his strong arms around her from behind.

“Why, thank you! I guess I should
confess: I have a weakness for this.”

Grant nuzzled his face in the crook
of her neck. “A weakness for my hands on you?” he asked as he spread gentle
kisses across her skin.

Olivia smiled as she tilted her head,
giving him better access. “That, too, but I was talkin’ about the dessert.”

“Oh—
that…”

Turning to face him, she rose onto
her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. She playfully rubbed her nose
against his several times before planting a quick kiss on his lips. “C’mon, we
can eat in front of the TV.”

Their bowls lay empty in front of
them as they watched Jay Leno on
the Tonight Show.
Grant couldn’t
remember if he’d ever felt this happy, this content. Making love to Olivia was
amorous, electrifying—
amazing.
But even more amazing was that she hadn’t
pushed him away.

Instead of retracting into herself
like she had the first time they’d been intimate, she’d opened up. She’d
trusted him enough to release her guard, exposing her vulnerable heart to him
for the first time. He was honored at the gesture—her actions making him fall
harder, deeper in love with her.

When the credits rolled, he knew it
was time to leave her. He didn’t want to—they’d reached a new milestone in
their relationship—making substantial forward progress. He wanted so badly to
believe the momentum would continue.

But what if it didn’t? He didn’t want
to wake in the morning to find that the unguarded Livvy he left tonight was
long gone.

“What are you thinkin’ about?” she
asked, interrupting his trance.

“What?—oh, nothing.”

“It’s definitely something”, she said
as she brushed her fingertips against his forehead. “You’re makin’ lines on
your forehead—don’t you know that causes premature wrinkles?”

Grant laughed in spite of himself.
“Well, we wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

Olivia pursed her lips together and
stroked her chin as though she was deep in thought. “I don’t know, Womack.
Wrinkles on you would probably still be sexy.”