“There mwap mwap mwap you know, Maizie.”
Maizie could only make out half of what Gray was saying under the towel while he dried her hair. She could definitely get used to this kind of service. Not to mention the service she’d just gotten in the shower.
In fact…
She dropped the towel she’d used to dry her body and reached for his hands, turning to face him. Her thoughts must have shown on her face. The moment their eyes met, he allowed the last ends of her hair to slip from his grip beneath the towel-forgotten-his gaze drifting to her naked breasts and lower.
You’d think he’d never seen her naked the way he looked at her. Lips parted, eyes intense, muscles tight. She felt beautiful, sexy.
“We need to talk, Maizie. I mean it.” There was a hint of guilt in his voice, if not in his eyes. Why? Was this about him stealing her mother’s locket? What else? It’s why she’d come. Maybe he’d figured it out. But she didn’t want to ruin the moment with explanations or excuses. Her mother’s locket was the last thing on her mind right now.
His gaze hadn’t risen above her chest, and the look in his eyes was not the look of a man hoping for stimulating conversation. She stepped closer, her hands going to the towel snagged around his hips. She tugged and the fuzzy warm fabric parted then slipped to the floor.
His stiff cock sprang up to meet her. Yeah, he’s all about talking. She wrapped her fingers around the thick shaft, loving the girth of it. Smaller than a rolling pin, thicker than the handle of a bat, enough to fill her but not ruin her.
Gawd, she wanted to know what he’d feel like inside her. Just the thought of it sent a wash of wet heat through her sex. She stroked him, feeling the velvety ridges, the smooth lip of the head then down again. She arched her back so the plump head of his cock pressed into her belly as she stroked him.
He groaned, the sound vibrating low in his chest. His hips rocked with her, coaxing her to continue, to stroke faster. She tightened her grip, followed his quicker pace and found herself caressing her sex against his leg. Her hand to his hip, trying to remember not to dig her nails too deep, she leaned in to kiss the hard muscles of his chest.
Small trickles of water streamed down his chest from his hair, wetting her lips. His skin was hot, a beautiful sun-kissed bronze and so smooth she had to know the feel of it on her tongue. He was clean from the shower but the smallest sheen of sweat had started to form. Salty, earthy and subtly sweet, just the way he smelled.
She found his nipple with her lips, the little pucker of dark rosy flesh, its tiny nub erect, excited. She teased her tongue over it, flicked and sucked and kissed-and bit. Gray’s breath caught with a hiss, a wash of goose bumps traveling over his skin. His cock pulsed in her hand.
He grabbed her arms, pulled his hips back enough so she’d let him go. “Jeezus, you drive me to distraction.”
“This is a good thing.” She reached for him, but he kept her back.
He laughed, playful, genuine. “It’s a very good thing, but I want to talk.”
She sighed, as dramatic as she could. “Is it always going to be about what you want?” She allowed a smile to quirk the corner of her mouth.
“What? No. I…” The poor man hadn’t come completely. His hard-on was so stiff she could probably blow him from across the room. It was a ruthless tease. She didn’t care. She’d make it up to him if he’d just stop yackin’.
He caught her smirk, his brow creased, a determined frown darkening his face. “Absolutely.”
Gray scooped her up, cradling her against his warm chest, and stormed from the bathroom toward his bed. His muscular body practically vibrated with power. He was healthy, excited. She’d deliberately teased his lust, dared him. Could she handle the consequences?
As though he’d sensed her concern, he paused at the side of his bed and looked at her. He smiled, kissed her forehead so tenderly her worries vanished. “You okay?”
She nodded, squirming in his arms, her hand cupping the back of his head to pull his mouth to hers. His lips were firm and took control of the kiss in an instant. His tongue traced along the slit of her mouth and she opened for him. He entered her mouth as he lowered her to the bed, lying half beside her and half on top of her.
His heavy leg draped over hers, his foot working to push her knees apart. She pumped her hips, pressing into the coarse hairs on his leg. Gawd, she was so horny any part of him would do.
Braced on an elbow, he kissed her, taking her lips, drawing on her tongue, exploring her mouth. His free hand felt its way down her neck to her chest. She arched for him, his hand opening wide, squeezing her breast, massaging. His fingers flicked the pebbled nub of her nipple, pinching it, and a fast jolt of pain and pleasure zinged through her, made her gasp. Her hand went to his, held it there, helped him squeeze.
Gray looked to her breast and guided her hand to fondle herself on her own. He watched, his hips pressing the hard shaft of his cock along her side, his flesh hot against her, rocking as her touches made her body respond. She squeezed, offering her breast to him. He took it hungrily, the sultry heat of his mouth flooding through her. His arm wrapped around her waist, turning her, pulling her closer so his cock pumped against her belly.
“Gray…please…” The hard feel of him was such exquisite torture. She wanted him inside her, she wanted him everywhere. Heat washed through her, slicked her sex, made it hard to breathe, hard to think. Her body burned, skin tingling, mind dizzy with need.
He loosened his hold, slipping his hand over her belly through the curls of her mons. Warm trickles seeped between the lips of her sex to wet her thighs. His finger slipped through her folds, smooth and easy.
“Fuck, Maizie, you get so wet.” His rich voice vibrated against her chest, her nipple held at his mouth. “Is that just for me? Tell me all this cream is just for me.”
“It’s you.” She tried not to gasp, not to squeal as his finger dove inside her, curling instantly to stroke her G-spot. “You do this to me.”
Her hips bucked against his hand as a second finger filled her and a third made it tight. Maizie grabbed his wrist, helped his hand fuck her pussy harder, faster.
“Jeezus…” He panted, shifted his weight, his mouth going to her neck as he nudged his hips between her thighs. “I have to feel that hot cream on my cock. I want it buried up to my balls.”
His fingers pulled out of her and for a half second she nearly couldn’t breathe from the loss. Then the smooth fat head of his cock pressed against her and the world went white hot behind her eyes.
She pushed her head back in the pillow, lifted her hips trying to coax him deeper. But he pulled out and moan of protest exploded from her on reflex.
Gray pushed up, balancing on his knees and one hand. She opened her eyes to see him watching as he gripped his cock, teasing the head along her pussy. His smile was wicked and sexy as hell, his hand rubbing the head through her slick folds, from her clit all the way down to her anus.
She held her breath when he pressed there, her muscles pulsed a fresh flood of heat, drenching her. His cock, shiny from her cream, slick and wet, nearly slipped in. A part of her wanted it. Really wanted it. But she wanted him to fill her sex more. “Gray…”
She didn’t have to ask twice. One solid thrust and his stiff shaft drove deep into her pussy, filling her fast, robbing of her thought and breath. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out, half a heartbeat later her lungs gasped for air.
Gray held her behind her knees, pressing her legs back. The position angled her pussy upward and he moved closer on his knees to fit the full length of his cock as deep as her body could allow.
“Oh…yes…” The feel of him so deep, touching places inside her that hadn’t been touched in…she couldn’t remember how long. Sweet satisfaction swelled in the core of her body. Eyes closed, her hands fumbled blind for him, found his knees on either side, worked up to his thighs and squeezed.
His hips pumped, fucking her faster, driving deep so his balls slapped against her ass. “You’re so tight. I can feel you squeezing my cock.”
She flexed her Kegel muscles.
Gray hissed. “Jeezus.” He rammed his cock deep and then again. “Touch yourself, Maizie. Show me what you like.”
Maizie didn’t think twice. She’d never been so hot, needed so much, nothing was too personal. Inhibitions didn’t exist. All she wanted was to satiate this hunger, and everything they did felt inexplicably good and made her desire more intense, more urgent.
He growled, watching her, his excitement making him harder, pumping her body faster. Maizie wanted to keep her eyes open to see his handsome face gripped with passion. But she could hardly think past the feel of him inside her, past the hum of her skin, the thunder of her heart, the delicious friction in her sex.
Her mind wrapped itself in the dizzying sensations. His hard cock pushing through the sensitive walls inside her, each thrust filling her perfectly, building an exquisite pressure, every fiber of her body wanting more.
Her heart pounded, muscles milking his body, her fingers teasing her clit, bringing rise to another swirl of needy pressure that enhanced the first and made her muscles clench.
“Yesss…” Gray’s pace doubled, the force of his thrusts rocking the bed.
Maizie’s breath seized, her head pressed back, her hips bucking up to his, frantic, as the pressure crested, then gushed through her body liquid hot, breathless and wet. She screamed, fisting her toes, pushing her hips hard against his, muscles pulsing.
Gray pushed back, rode her orgasm and then started driving toward his own. His cock was still hard and stiff as steel, his pace selfish, impatient and perfect. In seconds the pressure had built inside her again, her pussy so sensitive and ready. She could feel his orgasm coming, the way his cock filled her, buried deep inside her, fast and hungry. Just when he’d brought them both to the very crest of pleasure, he pulled out.
He grabbed his cock, stroking madly, as his other hand finished off her pussy. Her gasp of shock was more a scream and she watched him climax, bringing herself a half second later. The erotic sight of his hand pumping his stiff cock, his cream spurting warm over her belly, was all she needed to send her spiraling over the edge.
She relaxed back into the pillow, boneless, riding the waves of pleasure rippling through her. Gray collapsed beside her. After a minute spent catching his breath, he grabbed a tissue to wipe the come from her belly.
She smiled. “By the way. I’m on the pill.”
“Shit. I forgot.”
“What do you mean?”
He kissed the back of her neck. “Nothing. Never mind.”
She remembered purring when he gathered her to him, feeling the warmth of his body, the strength in his arms. She couldn’t fight the thick blanket of sleep overtaking her. She didn’t even try.
“Double the eggs and bacon, Greta. Mr. Lupo has a guest. A female guest.”
Maizie jolted straight up, expecting to see Annette carrying on a conversation at the foot of the bed. There was no one there.
“Nooo. Overnight?” The other woman spoke in a thick Spanish accent.
“Si!” Hands clapped excitedly. “I think she’s the one,” Annette said.
“Oh, dios mio. It’s been too long.” The woman put three slices of bacon with the others, each one sizzling as it touched the skillet. “It’s a wonder he didn’t shake down the house taking her.”
Ah! Rude. Maizie smiled, glancing at the sleeping Mr. Lupo beside her. “But true.”
Wait. How was she hearing them from the kitchen? “Intercom,” she said to herself. In a house this big, they were probably as necessary as doors.
“Greta,” Annette warned. “Mr. Lupo’s sexual liaisons-or lack thereof-are none of our business.” A moment’s pause followed by dueling giggles.
“Dissin’ the boss, eh?” Maizie tsked. “No wonder he left the thing on.” She looked around, trying to locate the box, or maybe a speaker on the wall. Whatever. She slipped out of bed, carefully moving Gray’s arm from around her belly. Rag-doll limp, the man was dead to the world.
She reached over and brushed a thick wave of hair from over his eye. He turned his head and rubbed his face into her pillow, fluffed it, tucked his hand underneath, then stilled. Sexy and adorable.
“Whoof,” she said, smiling.
Maizie tiptoed into the bathroom and found her torn bloodied clothes where they’d left them last night. The shirt and sweats were garbage, but she could salvage the bra and panties.
“Miss Lynn and de others know?” the cook asked.
“No…er…I don’t think so,” Annette said.
Maizie padded back into the bedroom. She’d need clothes if she meant to go downstairs for some of that food. The smell of bacon was making her mouth water. Her stomach growled. She clamped a hand to her belly and went to the armoire.
“Dress shirts. Surprise.” All long sleeved, all linen, some with folded collars, some with short mandarin collars, but no two alike. “Decisions. Decisions.”
She snagged a plain white shirt, pleated, with a stylish wrinkled look and shoved her arms through the sleeves. “Very cool.”
She pulled the collar over her nose and inhaled. It smelled like flowery detergent, but underneath, woven into the fabric was the sweet, earthy smell of Gray. Odd that a washing hadn’t removed his scent completely. She’d suggest a better detergent. Or not, if she planned on wearing any more of his shirts.
A final deep whiff and she wandered around the room looking for the intercom while she buttoned. The shirt was big on her, brushing her mid-thigh, with sleeves an inch past her hands.
“Perfect fit.” Gray’s smooth voice made her jump. She spun to catch him lying back, propped on his elbows, watching her. He wore that same I’d-like-some-of-that look on his face from last night with a sexy lopsided grin to top it off.
Her cheeks warmed. She laughed. “You like it? I figure it’ll make up for the T-shirt you ruined last night.”
“Your T-shirt was already torn.”
“It covered the important parts.”
“And bloodied.”
“But still wearable in a pinch.”
“You said I could tear it. In fact, you enjoyed it.”
“Fine. You want me to take this off?”
He sat straight, eyes wide. “Yes.”
She laughed at his eagerness. “Later. I smell food. Aren’t you hungry?”
“Always.” He winked.
Maizie blushed again. The man could melt icebergs with those eyes and that voice. “Good. Me too. I think your intercom’s broken, though. I could hear people in the kitchen but I don’t think they can hear me. Where’s the speaker?”
“No speaker.” Gray reached for the phone next to the bed and held it for her to see. “Through the phones.”
Maizie blinked at the receiver in his hand. “But I heard Annette and Greta.”
“My cook.”
“Whatever. I’ve never met her, but I know her name. Why? Because I heard them talking. How did I hear them talking if there’s no speaker? I can smell that bacon like it’s in the room…and the eggs and toast. She’s squeezing oranges right now.” There was a reasonable explanation. There had to be. But something about saying it all aloud made her heart race, her words rush, as the realization sank in.
“Okay. Let’s talk.” Gray put away the phone then held a hand out to her. “Come here. I want to explain-”
“Can we just forget about that for now? I already know. That’s why I came.” Maizie waved the gesture away from the end of the bed. Did he think she was joking? She was hearing through walls, through floors. Now was not the time to discuss a theft he committed twenty-one years ago.
Gray’s hand dropped. He blinked. “You know?”
Ugh. Did he really think Granny wouldn’t have told her about the locket? About him being at the accident? What else could put that guilty glint in his eyes, the soft regret in his voice?
“You may be friends with Granny, but I’m blood,” she said. “I know about the locket. Okay? I’m not pissed. I’m not happy you stole it, or that you waited twenty-one years to give it back. But I’m not pissed. Okay, maybe a little. But that’s not what made me come here last night.”
“Then what?” Gray sat with one knee bent on the bed and the other dangling over the edge, covers at his waist.
“What? What made me come here? I…had some questions. About the accident. About that night.”
He shrugged, his face darkening with his sobering mood. “So ask. I’ve got nothing to hide.”
Was that attitude? He was giving her attitude, now? “No?”
“No. I’m not a thief…Little Red.” He made the nickname sound like an insult.
She matched his scowl. “Don’t call me that.”
Gray shook his head, threw back the covers and stormed past her to the bathroom. His beautiful body, tan and muscled. “You’re a child. Their child.”
He returned, wearing a gray silk robe, the lapels and sash a lighter shade. “Next time you come to a man’s house accusing him, get your damn facts straight.”
She propped her hands on her hips. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you give Granny my mother’s locket yesterday? A locket you found at the site of their fatal accident? A locket you’ve kept for twenty-one years?”
He turned on her. The movement so fast she dropped her arms, losing the cocky stance. “Yes. I found the fucking locket at the scene of an accident. My wife’s fatal accident.”
“What?” She couldn’t breathe. “Fatal? But I thought she just moved away.”
“No.” Gray straightened and seemed to reel in some of his anger. “She’s the reason I was there. I didn’t give a damn about your parents. They’d killed her. Mowed her down like a…a…” He made a frustrated growl and turned, walking to the turret windows off the sitting room.
“What are you talking about? We didn’t hit anyone. We hit a wolf.” Her own words sent a shiver down her spine, made Gray’s shoulders tense as he stared out the windows. She knew, but she didn’t want to.
Memories flooded back. “We were driving to pick up Granny. My parents were happy but…I wasn’t. I didn’t want to leave my forest.”
“My forest,” Gray said.
Maizie barely heard. “Daddy had just gotten a promotion. We’d be moving…”
Gray knotted his arms over his chest. “They were trespassing in our forest. Mine and Donna’s.”
“It was dark and raining. We took the shortcut.”
“They were driving too fast,” Gray said.
“The wolf, it jumped out of nowhere.”
“She had every right to run in her woods.”
“My parents couldn’t stop. They tried…”
“Not hard enough.”
“Daddy jerked the wheel. We went over the side. Mommy was screaming, Daddy too. And then those eyes, cold green, heartless eyes…” Her gaze focused on Gray’s back. “The wolf. The wolf that caused my parents’ death. It was your wife. Your wife was a wolf. A werewolf.”
His voice was soft and cold. “And I’ve gone and mated with her killer’s child.”
“But there’s no such thing as-”
Gray turned, anger etching his expression. “As what? A werewolf? Stop lying to yourself, Maizie. You’ve been doing it long enough. What do you think attacked you last night? What do you think I am?”
She flinched. He was so angry. No. It wasn’t anger glistening in his eyes, it was guilt…and blame. “Ohmygod, you blame my parents for your wife’s death. You blame me.”
Gray dropped his gaze, his expression softening. “No. You were just in the car. She was dead. You weren’t.”
“Yes, you do. You blame me, just like I blamed her…” Gray met Maizie’s gaze, but he didn’t stop her from continuing the thought. “All this time, you couldn’t stand the sight of me. Made Granny keep me away. Stick to the path, Maizie. Stay away from that part of the forest. Beware of the big bad…wolf.”
“Maizie…”
A knock at the door stopped the conversation cold.
“Mr. Lupo?” Annette was quiet on the other side for a moment. “Mr. Lupo, I have a message for Ms. Hood. I’ve also brought breakfast.”
“Come in,” Maizie said when it was clear Gray wouldn’t respond. He stood stoic, feet planted, his back to the windows, his arms folded over his stomach.
Annette opened the door, juggling a bed tray, her bright smile vanishing when it met Gray’s dark glower. “Oh. I’m sorry. I’ve interrupted-”
“No. It’s fine. We’re…” Maizie glanced at Gray, “…finished. We’re done.” She looked back to Annette hovering half-in, half-out of the room.
“What’s the message, Annette?” Gray asked.
One hand under the tray, she pushed up her glasses then grabbed the tray again. “Oh. Yes. Green Acres Nursing Home called. They’d tried to reach Ms. Hood and when they couldn’t they called here. Apparently Ester had a small health scare.”
“What?” Maizie’s heart stopped.
“Oh, no, no,” Annette hurried. “She’s fine. It was just a scare. They took her to the hospital last night and released her this morning. She should be back at the home by now.”
This morning?To the hospital and back already? “What time is it?”
“It’s nearly four,” Annette said.
“Four? PM?” Maizie watched her nod. “That’s not possible. I slept more than fourteen hours?” She looked at Gray.
His gaze remained fixed on Annette, silent, his brows tight, jaw stiff. It wasn’t until Maizie spoke again that he flicked his attention to her.
“I have to go.”
“Where?” he said.
“Where do you think? I have to make sure my grandmother’s okay.” She went to the bathroom and grabbed her sneakers. They were speckled with blood, but it wouldn’t affect how well they’d protect her feet.
“Annette told you she’s fine.”
Maizie came out hopping, struggling into one shoe and then the other. “I have to check for myself.”
“So call Green Acres. You can use the phone here.”
“I’ll call from the cottage. I want to shower before I go in to see her anyway.”
“Shower here.”
“I don’t have any clothes.”
“What you’re wearing is fine.” He slid his hands into the pockets of his robe. Shrugged. “Or I’ll send Annette out to buy you something more suitable. Whatever you need.”
Why was he making this so difficult? He should want her gone as badly as she wanted to go. Except that she didn’t really want to leave him. Gawd, so much had changed so fast. Everything had gotten screwed up and twisted. She wanted him as much as she had twenty minutes ago.
But how could she stay when he obviously hadn’t worked out his feelings about her part in the accident? How could she stay when she hadn’t worked out how she felt about his part in her parents’ death?
“You have to stay, Maizie.”
“I really don’t.” She focused her gaze on the opened door. She couldn’t bear to look at him. She couldn’t risk seeing that look in his eyes-anger, blame, hate. She’d rather never look at him again.
“It’s not safe,” he said. “You don’t understand-”
“No. You don’t understand.” She closed her eyes, emotions clogging her throat. She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t. “I don’t have time for this shit. I told myself I didn’t have time for a romantic relationship from the start. I told Granny. I’ve already neglected the shop. And now I’ve neglected Granny. That’s enough. I don’t have time for this. I don’t have time for you.”
She ran. It wasn’t mature, it wasn’t brave, but it was the only thing she could do. She had to get away, get some distance from all those feelings, the memories, the confusion of what she thought she knew, what she thought she wanted. She had to get some distance from him.
By the time she reached the cottage she’d made herself sick. She’d run the whole way and gotten a stitch in her side, and her stomach was tying itself into knots.
She went in the backdoor. She’d left it unlocked last night. “I just need to eat something.”
In the kitchen all she found were a few cans of diet soda and two jars of peanut butter. She leaned against the counter, soda beside her, and ate. It was the best peanut butter ever. She looked at the label after every few bites. “It’s not even name brand.”
She finished the jar in minutes, scraping the spoon on the bottom to get every speck of creamy brown heaven. When she could see through the clear bottom, she tossed the empty jar in the trash and had the other opened before she realized what she was doing.
“Crap. I should just spread it directly on my ass.” She scooped the spoon in three more times, then finally set the jar down and backed away. When she reached the steps her stomach growled, then cramped. She winced and after a few seconds the pain subsided.
She jogged up to her bedroom and grabbed her cell phone from her purse. She had Green Acres on speed dial. “Hi. This is Maizie Hood. I’m calling to check on-”
“Maizie, hi. This is Clare, from the front desk. Your grandmother is fine. She had a little angina attack last night, but they checked her out at the hospital and she’s already back. She’s sleeping now. I can tell her you called.”
“Thanks, Clare. Tell her I’ll be in tonight.”
“You bet.”
Maizie snapped the phone closed, tossed it to the bed and snatched her fuzzy robe from the rocking chair as she passed. Her stomach rumbled again and she winced through the twinge of a cramp. “An entire jar of peanut butter in one sitting does not do the body good.”
She went to the bathroom and pulled the cream shower curtain from the old clawfoot tub. She turned on the hot water, let it run. A shower would make her feel like herself again.
Although last night’s shower had made her feel better than herself, better than she had in years. Even with the injuries, she’d never felt so good, so turned-on, so alive. Was it Gray or something else?
Naked in front of the medicine cabinet mirror, Maizie eyed the bite on her shoulder. Two little puncture wounds and twin runs of red dots. She turned, peering over her shoulder. The back was a little worse, some scabbing but still remarkably healed. She put her foot on the toilet seat and checked her calf. The bite was nearly healed just like her shoulder.
A cramp made her grab her stomach, she winced, bending a bit to take the pain. It passed, but the intensity was obviously increasing. What was wrong with her?
Maizie shook her head, put her foot down. “Ugh. You’re fine. This isn’t some horror flick or fairy tale.”
More likely Gray had some sort of curative agent in his water to keep the animals on the preserve healthy. Yeah, that made more sense than her turning into a… She wouldn’t dignify the thought.
Maizie stepped into the tub, adjusted the water temperature, closed the curtain and pulled the lever for the shower. Warm water cascaded over her body, washing away every touch, every kiss Gray had left on her. Too bad it couldn’t wash away the hot memories of his body pounding into hers.
Or the craving for him to do it again.