The Mind (The Reluctant Romantics #1.5) (5 page)

“Jesus,” he rasped out as he watched me walk across the room in my second skin. I couldn’t help but shy away a bit and retreat under my comforter.

“No, don’t cover up. Don’t.” Obeying the command of his sex-filled voice, I lowered it and let him take in all of me. He stood at the foot of my bed and watched me as my breathing took on a faster pace. He slowly took a seat next to me and reached out with his hand to caress my face. I was instantly hot. I felt my nipples harden as he traced his fingertips down my neck, outlined the hem of the fabric. I licked my lips in anticipation.

“Goodnight, Rose,” he offered, pulling the covers over me slowly and pushing off of the bed to leave. “I can’t kiss you goodnight. If I kiss you right now, I’m going to fucking lose it.” I stopped him by gripping his hand, grabbing the back of his head without thinking, and bringing his mouth to mine. His lips brushed mine softly and then took my whole mouth, leaving me breathless. Our tongues tangled as he kissed me deeply, melting any common sense, any resolve I had been holding on to. I reached out, gliding my fingertips along the bulge of his arms and moaning into his mouth. I reached for his shirt and he hesitated, pulling it down as I pushed it up over the hard ridges of his stomach.

He grinned down at me as he ripped himself away slightly to study me. “What’s gotten into you, woman?”

“Opportunity,” I whispered, slipping my tongue back into his mouth and hearing him groan. His body was rock hard beneath my fingertips and I was dying to explore him more with greedy hands. Caution lights of any kind were swept underneath the bed he had me panting on. I was in need. He could fill that need. It was simple, except it wasn’t. Grant’s kiss was not only debilitating my reasoning, but it was also making me insane with want. So like any woman with a beautiful man between her legs, I began to argue with myself.

You hardly know him!

Yep.

He may very well be insane!

Uh huh.

You don’t do one night stands.

Nope.

What are you doing?!

Naked, get him naked.

This is not a good idea!

One more brush of the hard length with my hand and the whisper of his skilled tongue with mine and the argument quickly changed.

It wouldn’t hurt to just have a look.

Just a peek.

You really have ranked above average in the whore department.

I deserve this.

You so deserve this.

“I want you,” I confessed. “Right now.” His eyes, now molten, looked over my heated body as he helped me take off his shirt. As soon as he was bare-chested, I screamed an inward thank you to God and the universe. Another deep kiss and I was desperate to have him inside of me. He hovered over me and I felt his sharp grunt as I gripped the thick bulge in his pants with my hand, making my intention clear.

“Rose,” he pushed out through clenched teeth as I pulled his hand between my legs, “are you sure?”

I couldn’t think of anything but the throbbing between my thighs. His fingers slipped beneath my panties and he cursed a quick “fuck yes” before he pushed two fingers inside of me. “Grant,” I panted as he pulled back from our endless kiss to watch my reaction to his hand.

“I want you, too...so fucking much, but are you sure?” I rocked into his hand as he rewarded me with even more pressure where I needed him most. I was seconds from coming as he leaned in an inch above my face, watching my every move. With my mouth open and nothing but encouraging gasps coming out of me, he sucked my lower lip into his mouth as he stroked me with just the right amount of pressure. His fingers expertly slid up and down between my folds with so much skill I exploded beneath him. Blinded by the feel of him I let go as he coaxed the rest of my orgasm out of me, his head now buried in my chest, his breath heavy.

“Goddamn, woman, I will never recover from that.” I was too far gone to stop and had no intentions of doing so, anyway. This strange man had evoked a strong need in me that had laid dormant for too long. Although it was slightly sated from his touch, I had to have more.

I pushed him into a sitting position, lifting myself to my knees as I fidgeted with his jeans and when his rock hard length broke free, I took it into my mouth moaning in appreciation. I tasted the salt seeping from him and moaned again.

“Oh, fuck,” he groaned as he caressed my back slowly with one hand while running his fingers through my hair with the other.

Once I had him close enough to the edge, I scrambled with the rest of his clothes, getting him naked, stroking him and sucking him, until I could no longer control myself and began begging him to release me from the ache that had once again built inside of me. I grabbed a condom out of my nightstand, placed it in his hand, and prayed it was still worth a damn, though I’d never missed a pill. Grant hesitated, still asking permission as I writhed beneath him.

“Grant, take it!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He stilled me and my restless hands and lips, searching my eyes. I found myself unable to meet his gaze. I knew I was acting like a mad and desperate woman. He smirked as I shied away from him after such a blatant sexual display but didn’t say a word as he stood and rolled on the condom. Never in my life had I been blessed to have such a man. My last serious boyfriend, David, had been built but had nothing on Grant. He stood proudly as he watched me pull off the scrap of silk that covered the rest of my virtue. I lay back in bed, taking him in, and he did the same. Muscle outlined every inch of him. His piercing deep blue eyes held nothing but intense heat as I spread my legs for him in beckoning.

He gripped his thick length, pumping himself in front of me, making my mouth water. Eyes, lips, arms, abs, legs...him, all of him displayed out before me in teasing.

“Please...Grant, I know what I’m asking.”

“I’m pretty sure you don’t know what you’re taking,” he rasped out as he slowly moved to brace himself above me. His mouth descended and I took in a breath as he kissed my stomach then tongued his way across my breasts. “Sweet, so sweet,” he murmured as he rolled my nipple between his teeth.

“You,” he heaved out, his breath a warm gust against my skin. I watched his chest rise and fall as he hovered over me, his beautiful dark hair falling around him. Now nestled between my thighs, he waited until I met his eyes before he pushed inside of me. I cried out along with him, surprised at how amazing it felt. He went completely still, allowing me to get used to his size, his chest heaving faster, yet he hadn’t moved. “You okay?”

“Yes. Please, keep going. I want you so much,” I said, wrapping my legs around him, feeling him sink into me even further.

His lips came crashing down and stole my mouth in an all-out fit as our tongues thrashed together wildly. I felt myself start to sweat as he kissed me feverishly, leaving our bodies together but still not moving inside me. “Please, Grant.”

“God, help me.” He thrust himself again and hit me so deep I caught myself holding my breath as the orgasm crept up on me and then took over. He picked up his pace and began to drive into me, pounding every bit of my pleasure out and making it last. When it subsided, he rolled on his back and pulled me on top of him as he traced my throat with his tongue and gentle lips.

“Come again, Rose.”

That was all I needed. I gave him what he asked for and cupped his sack, stroking him beneath us as I brought my hips up and down to meet his. “Grant, give it all to me.”

He grabbed my hips, pushing them down on him, fusing us together, igniting me again as I matched his pace. I felt him growing close as he pulled me down hard onto him, wrapping his arms around me as we both came together. I fell on top of his chest as we regained our senses, taking each other’s breath in consolation before I fell on my back next to him.

We lay side-by-side, holding hands, not saying a word. I had no idea how he was feeling, but I was beside myself. What in the hell had I just done? And,
oh, God,
did I want to do it again. I would gladly give up medicine to feel that way every minute for the rest of my life. I heard him chuckle and turned to see him propped on his elbow.

“Cheese and beer, that was easy.” I glared at him. “Kidding, baby, kidding! Oh...you are a feisty one.”

“Shut up, I don’t normally do that, Grant. Don’t go assuming anything about me.”

His dimple appeared as he gripped my chin in his free hand. “I’m assuming you take care of your men like you do your food: you devour them both.”

I lifted my brow and gave him my best seductive smile. “Can’t handle a little take charge in the bedroom, Grant?”

“On the contrary, baby. I have never been more pleasantly surprised.”

“That’s what happens when you sleep with strangers.”

He made quick work of his lips, brushing them gently over my sweat-dampened skin as he reached for his jeans and pulled another condom out of his wallet.

“I’m going to need to repeat that, you know, just to make sure it was real,” he whispered as he braced his arms above me, kissing my lips softly and in short repetition. “And Rose,” he crooned as he pushed inside me inch by inch, “we aren’t strangers anymore.”

I replayed Grant’s words to me as I cowered under the eye of Dr. McGuire, who glanced at the clock as I entered the lab. I’d made my way into his circle of candidates and cursed my stupidity for almost blowing my shot because of a one night stand. An amazing one night stand but a risky one.

“Whitaker, I hate to state the obvious but you are aware this lab started an hour ago.” He peered at me through the crowd of busy students as I faced him head on.

“Yes, sir.”

“And you are giving me no excuse, as well.”

“I’m not good at excuses, sir. I rarely ever have to give them.”

He looked over my appearance, which I was sure matched that of a sleep-deprived sex maniac. “You have less than two hours to finish this lab. Do you think you can surprise me?”

“That’s one thing I am good at, sir.”

I attempted to clear my mind from last night’s hours of incredible sex.

And for the most part, it worked.

I aced the lab.

****

“Delivery, Rose,” Jennifer muttered as she walked past my bedroom.

“What is it?” I squeaked, barely able to lift my head from exhaustion. I’d gone straight home after lab, scolding myself and at the same time replaying the previous night over and over. If it weren’t for an aching body, I wouldn’t have believed it had actually happened.

“Go see for yourself,” Jen muttered absently, dragging a basket of laundry past my door.

“Thanks, Jen, you are a true bitch. And thanks for letting Grant in last night while I was sleeping! What in the hell were you thinking?!” I barked at her.

“I heard you praise God all night when I got in. You’re welcome, and you needed to get laid more than anyone on campus. Do tell, how was that fantastic looking fuck stick, anyway?”

“Fuck stick?” I mumbled under my breath, still trying to find the strength to pull myself out of bed.

“He is juicy,” she yelled from her bedroom.

“Yes, he is and you are grossing me out.” I pushed off my mattress with a groan, headed towards the living room, and quickly saw my delivery. There was a five-foot hoagie on the kitchen table with a message written on a napkin.

I smiled at his ridiculous gesture then dug into the sandwich.

“I can see he clearly knows you,” Jen said, snatching the napkin from my hands to read it.

“Only everything you
told
him, including our address!” I couldn’t even pretend to be mad at her at that point. I had been properly laid and was now being properly fed. “Do you want some?” I asked through a mouthful of sandwich.

“Are you going to tell me anything?”

“Nope,” I said, tearing off a piece of sandwich and offering it to her.

She haphazardly fixed her copper hair into a ponytail then cued up her iPod. She had her running clothes on and tapped her flat abdomen as she said, “Some of us can’t eat like that and get away with it. I’m pressed for time, but I will be getting details. I’ll see you later. Love you, bitch.”