“Okay,” Grayson says, hunching down and keeping his back to the wall. “Here’s the plan…”
I listen as he maps out a strategy, barely able to follow his instructions. With the shouting and the firing, it’s really loud. Mostly, though, I’m just mesmerized by the movement of Grayson’s full lips as he talks and the deep crease between his brows. I listen as best as I can and then follow directions.
We take off, moving to alternative directions, him covering me with fire while I run.
And I forget everything.
I forget the stress of what’s to come ahead in the next few hours.
I forget all the hurt and pain I still carry in my heart for Grayson leaving me in the first place.
I just relish the time I have with him, enjoy laughing and joking around with him…it’s just like it used to be.
The entire time I’m dodging pellets and getting hit equally as often, Grayson and I are completely carefree and full of laughter with easy, wide smiles that make my cheeks hurt.
By the time our hours are up, we have no idea who’s actually won since we switched partners and teams at every game. We all leave the indoor battlefield covered in paint from our shoulders to our toes.
My smile is larger than life. I feel larger than life as Sarah tangles her arm through mine and pulls me out into the bright sun. She makes us skip like little kids and my laugh is lighter than it’s been in a long time. I squint my eyes, blocking the harsh sun that makes the cement sidewalk look like it’s rippling with waves from the intense heat. Goose bumps flare down my arms from the drastic change in temperature.
“That was so much fun!” she shouts, jumping on the balls of her feet when she lets me go. Her hair is now multi-colored, with paint splatters streaking it, which only makes her green eyes pop and shine more brightly. Her small diamond nose ring sparkles in the sun, almost blinding me.
Her laugh is infectious, her happiness contagious. Just once, I want to live like her, and for the short amount of time inside, I felt like I was in Sarah’s happy-go-lucky-land for the first time since I’ve known her.
For the first time since we’ve met, I want to experience more of it instead of hiding from the fear of finding happiness again only to lose it.
Grayson comes up and drapes his arm over my shoulders. He’s just as filthy as I am, and I can see a welt on his forearm from where I finally made contact with him in the last match.
“I say we get cleaned up and go hit some tables. What do you think?”
“Don’t you have work to do? Or training…or something?” I ask, simply curious. I can’t believe he’s supposed to be doing anything the day after a fight.
He shakes his head. The ponytail is long gone and chunks of blue-streaked hair fall into his eyes. He pushes them back, uncaring. “Nah. Today’s usually a recoup day, but since Mancuso didn’t get a swing in last night, I’m good to go. C’mon,” he tugs me forward toward the SUV, “get in and we’ll go to my room and get cleaned up.”
My eyes widen, and I jerk my head back. “What?” I ask, and darn it—is that a breathiness in my tone? Something like a hopeful and lust-filled sound at the thought of showering with Grayson?
Sarah snickers and climbs into the SUV ahead of me.
Grayson leans down, his lips at my ear again, just the place I’m beginning to love them. “Nice to know the idea of showering with me gets you turned on so quickly, Kennedy.”
I flush fiercely, hoping the pink paint hides the stain burning my cheeks.
“But I meant alone. Unless you want company…need someone to help with those hard-to-wash areas.” His hand drifts down my back until he’s cupping my ass. “I’m here to help,” he says, pulling me to him.
A strangled breath leaves my throat, and I shake my head. “No. Alone is good. Alone is…fine. Just fine.”
His lips run down the side of my neck. God…why does that feel so fantastic? Sparks of fire shoot down my spine to my sex, like a direct link telling my undersexed body to wake the heck up.
“Alone…for today, maybe. But not for long.”
His lips press against the column of my throat as I swallow. His soft chuckle vibrates against my skin, and I quiver in his hold. Damn. All it takes is one simple touch and I’m ready to molest him on the sidewalk.
My hands reach for his arms to steady myself. My fingers dig into his biceps.
“Hey, Casanova!” Lynx shouts. He’s standing at the open door and getting ready to climb into the driver’s seat. “Get your ass inside.”
Grayson growls against my skin before pulling back. “Later, I will have you—and when I do, I will take my time, enjoying every second, every inch of the way your skin will feel against mine.”
I duck my head, hiding my burning hot cheeks and throat, when he opens the door for me.
I yelp when his hand lands on my ass, sending a stinging pain all over my backside. “Hey!”
He laughs. “Just a preview of what’s to come.”
Ducking my head again, I climb in next to Sarah. I don’t say anything to her, but when she reaches out and takes hold of my hand, I squeeze back painfully hard.
Because later…Grayson isn’t going to want me. Later, Grayson isn’t going to look at me with fire in his eyes.
Later…Grayson is going to want nothing to do with me.
Nine
Grayson
I can’t stop thinking about the way Kennedy feels in my arms. Every time I get near her, I want her more and more.
Watching her finally let loose at the paintball park was one of the hottest things I’d ever witnessed. Nothing is sexier than a woman who doesn’t give a shit if she’s messy and sweaty and can laugh her ass off even while she’s getting beaned in that same spot with a paintball. A light shone in her eyes that had been missing since the moment I first made eye contact with her. And fuck…was that really just last night?
It feels like not one damn day has passed since I walked out on her. She smells the same, looks the same—if not maybe a bit curvier, which is also hot as fuck.
My dick’s been hard since I had her in my lap earlier today.
The hours expelling adrenaline and testosterone in the paintball arena have done little to nothing to quench my overwhelming desire for her.
I want her. Under me. On top of me. Next to me. I want her on her hands and knees so I can watch her ass jiggle when I spank it while I ride her hard.
I want to hear her breathy moans turn into whimpers while I drive my cock deep inside her.
Hot water burns my skin and slides down my body while I scrub the paint remnants off my arms and face.
I can’t stop fantasizing about her. I want to know what she sounds like when she’s close to coming while my finger slides across her clit.
I want to know what her nipples taste like in my mouth.
“Fuck,” I groan and brace one hand on the slick marble tile. I wrap my other hand around my hard dick and stroke slowly. I could explode any moment, but I don’t want to yet. I want to save every last drop for her. I want to see her swallow the taste of me down her throat when she’s on her knees in front of me.
A hardened puff of breath leaves my lips as I stroke myself. There are so many things I want to do with Kennedy, I can’t focus on any of them for longer than a brief moment.
My hips rock forward and I tighten my grip around my length.
My hair drops into my face, blocking my view from everything besides the way my hand slides up and down, twisting when I get to my swollen head. Jesus. She’s so fucking sexy. She’s hiding something from me. I can see it in her eyes when she glances away, feel it in the quiet tension that settles between us.
But I don’t care. I don’t even want to know.
She’ll tell me when she’s ready, and hopefully she’ll wait until after I’ve been deep inside her. Everything else besides the sweet smell and taste of her cream on my lips after I’ve eaten her will be irrelevant.
I want to have her spread out on my large hotel bed. I want to tie her wrists to the headboard and strap her ankles down so she can’t move. The vision of her, the thought of her being spread for my pleasures sends a jolt of heat to the base of my spine. My balls tighten and pull up.
“Fuck, yes,” I moan again. Is her pussy bare or neatly shaven? How pink will her lips get, how swollen and how tight will she be when I finally sink inside her?
“Damn it,” I groan again through my stroking. Heat spreads from my spine straight to my dick, and I come all over my hand. Come shoots from my dick in long, thick spurts, and my entire body shudders as I orgasm just from thinking about her.
“Hell.” That’s what Kennedy is: she’s my own private heaven and hell, wrapped up in the sexiest package I could ever find.
And I want more of her. I want to prove that I’m the man she always thought I was when everyone else doubted me.
I want to put the last six years behind us, figure out where we go from here, after we both leave Vegas and head back to the real world.
I want everything. And I want it from her.
It’s that thought that has me slapping off the water in the shower. I take several deep breaths, trying to gain composure and my senses that I’m sure I just shot down the drain of one of the largest showers I’ve ever been in.
I’ve loved every moment since I started fighting and training. I’ve loved the traveling and the closeness of my team. They’ve become the brothers I’ve never had, won by respect and not blood. Lynx and Landon, along with Rodney, are men I look up to. I admire all of them, even when they piss me way the fuck off like they did this morning.