Suzy’s heart melted at his words. She didn’t care if she had to hang her cast behind her head at that moment; she wanted exactly what he did. She opened her arms and he lowered himself over her. This time there were no preliminaries. As he reached down to take possession of her mouth, he also took possession of her body with a firm stroke. Suzy moaned, her body stretching to welcome him again. She already felt herself on the edge of an orgasm as the friction increased with every stroke of his body.

Somehow this joining was even more intimate than the last. With Gray’s body fully pressed against hers. She hooked her good ankle around his hips, driving him deeper inside of her. She jerked her mouth from his gasping, “Gray, mmm, faster, oh God, faster!”

Her words were like gasoline on Gray’s fire, the need for her pushing everything else from his mind. There was only here and now, this woman and the heaven of finally having her in his arms. Her ears rang as he increased the tempo, pumping harder and faster. Suzy’s met his thrusts with equal vigor, both of them reaching for the ultimate pinnacle of pleasure. His heart swelled as she clutched him, screaming his name as she shuddered with pleasure. With a few more thrusts, his body joined hers in climax. Even though he didn’t want to leave her body, he knew he was too heavy for her to take his full weight. He collapsed beside of her on the bed, running his hand lightly up and down her stomach while he caught his breath.

Suzy turned her head to study Gray. With a devilish smile, she said, “Oh baby, he has a big stick and he definitely knows how to use it.”

Gray chuckled. He loved that he never knew what she was going to say next. He leaned over and kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re not so bad yourself, baby. If it weren’t for being afraid I’d crack your cast open, I’d show you a few more tricks with my big stick.”

Even though her body was spent, she still tingled at his words. She knew she’d be sore tomorrow, but she also it was worth every twinge. “Hey slick, how about a shower?” At his hopeful expression, she held her hand up. “Um no, not that even though it sounds yummy. I’m afraid my cast cover wouldn’t hold for a round of wild monkey love, shower style.”

“Yeah, that sounds great. After traveling half the day and other pursuits, I could really use it. I’m afraid you wouldn’t love me if I started to stink up the bed.”

Suzy’s heart thudded at his casual mention of love. Get a grip; it’s just a figure of speech. He’s not on a bended knee beside of the bed with a ring, stop acting like a twelve-year-old with her first crush. She forced a light laugh saying, “You got that right, spare the soap and spoil the mood.” Her breath caught in her throat as Gray rose from the bed. She was actually afraid she’d swallowed her tongue for a moment. God he was beautiful. His tight butt just begged to be squeezed and his penis made her want to do a drool check. Such masculine perfection hardly seemed fair. Gray’s parents must certainly be stunners to have produced children who looked like him and his brother. She bet that many a heart had been broken through the years. She just hoped she wasn’t another one to add to his list.

Suzy shrieked in surprise as he leaned down and hefted her into his arms. “Gray, I can walk, put me down.” He shut her up in a move that left little room for arguing. His mouth took possession of hers and his tongue swept every argument she had aside. By the time he was finished, she could barely hold a single thought.

She pointed him to the cabinet under the sink where she kept her cast covers and soon Gray had it on and gently seated her in the shower seat. He helped her wash, which was a lesson in torture with his hands seeming to be everywhere at once. She clamped her thighs around his hand as it wandered between her legs, steadily inching towards her core. “Stop that, you’re insatiable,” she laughed.

Leaning down to kiss her lightly, he looked into her eyes and whispered, “Only for you, baby.”

It took quite a while to finish showering and drying off. They both had a hard time keeping their hands off of each other so the simplest of tasks took twice as long as usual. Finally they were back in bed with Gray curved around her body, his hand on her stomach and her hand resting over his. How had she ever slept without the feel of his body against hers? As her eyes grew heavy, Suzy nestled back further into the safety of his arms, smiling sleepily when she heard his groan as her bottom pressed against his groin.

Chapter Fifteen

Suzy woke to the sun shining in the window. A quick look at the bedside clock showed it was just after nine. She looked down at the masculine arm draped across her lap. Even in sleep with stubble on his face and rumpled hair, the man only looked hotter. She’d love nothing better than to shrug off her covers, climb on top of him and take him inside of her. Liquid pooled and her muscles clenched at the thought. Unfortunately immediate needs had to be answered. Her mouth was so dry that her tongue was stuck to the roof it and she was desperate to use the bathroom.

She decided to use the bathroom off of the kitchen and then fix a glass of water. Maybe she’d put together some breakfast for them. She wasn’t near as talented as Gray and Nick in the kitchen, but she could at least fix some eggs. It took a few moments to struggle from under Gray’s arm. He finally mumbled something in his sleep and turned to his other side, freeing her. She grabbed his shirt from the foot of the bed and pulled it over her head. She smiled, knowing he would like seeing her in it. She looked around for her crutches and then remembered that in their haste to make it to the bedroom last night; she’d left them in the kitchen. Luckily she’d acquired some mad balancing skills the last few weeks and she was able to hobble to the kitchen, keeping most of her weight on her other foot. She almost tripped over Gray’s brief case which was still lying in the floor where he’d dropped it. She went straight to the bathroom and then hobbled back to the kitchen.

Her stomach was growling, reminding her of all of the calories she’d burnt off the previous night. Humming under her breath, Suzy opened the refrigerator to survey the contents. Hmmm, ok, someone needed to go shopping. It looked like it was going to be a simple meal of cereal and toast. She cocked her head, hearing a buzzing sound. She shrugged when the sound stopped and poured a glass of water from the glass pitcher in the refrigerator. As she finished her first sip, she again heard a buzzing sound. It seemed to be coming from near the doorway. She walked in that direction and the sound once again stopped. She leaned against the wall, determined to find the source of the annoying sound. A few moments later, the buzzing was back and she looked down at Gray’s brief-case. The sound appeared to be coming from there.

“What the heck?” As she opened the case, the sound again came and Suzy felt the front pocket vibrate. Sticking her hand in, she pulled out his cell-phone. “Ah ha, got ya! Pretty tricky aren’t you?” Ok, you’re talking to a cell phone, maybe it’s time for some breakfast, the low blood sugar is getting to you.

The phone again buzzed in her hand. She frowned down, looking at the display. It showed fifteen missed calls and twenty text messages. Good grief, had something happened? Should she go wake Gray and have him check his phone? She hated to do that knowing he was tired from the travel and um…other things. She didn’t know his password to check the messages, but she could read the first few texts to make sure everything was ok. She hit the button to display the test messages and was even more concerned. They were all from the same person. Had something happened to Nick or his parents?

When she opened the first one, she felt the floor start to shift under her. She was back in her apartment a year ago reading Jeff’s messages and having her whole world collapse around here. Somehow the pain she felt then was nothing compared to the pain she felt now. The first message simply said, ‘call me lover.’ As her hand trembled, she clicked on the second message, ‘remember that night in your house, we didn’t get much sleep did we lover?’ She tried to stop herself from looking at another text, but it was like a train wreck she was helpless to avoid. With another click, the rest of her world fell away. ‘I’m lying here stroking my body remembering the feel of you inside of me.’

Suzy dropped the phone as if it were a snake and hobbled to the bathroom, bile rushing from her throat in waves. She heard her name being called from another room, but was unable to get control of her stomach. Gray rushed in the bathroom, a pair of shorts riding low on his hips. “Baby, are you ok?” He pulled her hair back, from her face as she was sick one last time. She tried to pull away from him but he held onto her arm tightly as if afraid she’d collapse. “Baby, what happened? Are you finished?”

Tears flowed out of her eyes and down her cheeks. Gray grabbed a wash cloth from the vanity and wet it. He gently smoothed her hair back and cleaned her face. His eyes mirrored his concern as he finished with her face and lifted her chin. “Would you prefer to go back to bed or maybe the couch?”

Suzy looked at the face of the man she loved and wondered how he could look so concerned for her when he’d apparently been with someone else while he was away. Maybe it didn’t take him two weeks to finish up after all. He could have been in Charleston part of the time with whoever sent him the text messages. Did everyone know but her? Nick, Claire, Jason and Declan had all mentioned his trip at dinner the previous evening. Had he fooled them all or were they covering for him? There was no way Nick didn’t know, they were too close. That thought hurt almost as much as Gray’s betrayal. She trusted Nick and had started to think of him as a brother. Had he been playing her too, covering for his brother?

She used what strength she had left to pull away from Gray. She saw the confusion and concern as he tried to figure out what was going on. She hobbled back out to the kitchen and stood next to his cell phone that she’d dropped. Stopping to stand in front of her he frowned. “Baby, what the hell is going on?”

She looked down at the phone and his gaze followed hers. She saw his shoulders stiffen as if calculating what she knew. When he looked up into her eyes, he knew. Was her life destined to be ruined by a cell phone again and again? First Jeff and now Gray?

Gray felt his whole world falling apart. Last night had been the single most amazing night of his life and he’d wakened this morning reaching for Suzy. The love he felt for her overwhelmed him. He’d planned to tell her today, but that wouldn’t happen now, she’d never believe him with the timing. He didn’t have to look at his phone to know what she’d found. Reva had had his new number for several days now and since he’d planned to tell Suzy all about it, he hadn’t seen the need to try to get the number changed again. He deleted the messages and texts each day without even reading them. He didn’t think Suzy would dig through his brief-case looking for his phone for no reason. She must have heard a call or text coming through.

His gut clenched to see what that had done to her. There were tears on her cheeks and even worse, she’d been physically sick. He felt like the lowest piece of pond scum. His omission had done this to someone he loved more than his life. He should have trusted her and never let it get to this point. Squaring his shoulders, he prepared to do what he should have done weeks ago, tell her the truth. “Suzanna, let’s go sit in the living-room and talk.”

As he tried to take her hand, she hid it behind her back, knowing it was childish, but if he touched her, she’d fall apart. Sarcasm was her only defense and she prepared to wield it for protection as she had so many times before. “Wow, why am I only Suzanna when someone has screwed around on me? You know I think Jeff called me the same thing when he saw me holding his cell phone and knew he was busted. It looks like you have committed a pretty big offense, are you sure you wouldn’t rather call me Ms. Denton?”

Gray saw through the flippant words to the hurt lying underneath them. She was close to the edge and if he had a prayer of saving what was between them, he had to get through to her now. The walls were going up and he knew that once they were firmly in place, he’d never reach her again. He had to get her to sit down long enough to listen and there was only one way to do that, make her his captive audience. He leaned down and scooped her up in his arms before she had time to dodge him.

Suzy sputtered, trying to twist out of his arms. “Stop it,” Gray demanded. “You’re going to hurt yourself. I’m putting you on the couch and you’re listening to me damnit, you owe me that much.”

When he sat her on the couch, she quickly scooted away, intending to go to the bedroom and shut the door until she could get Beth to pick her up. “I don’t owe you anything Gray; you screwed some other woman and then came straight back here to me. Should I be grateful that you had time to fit me in? I’ll give you credit, you have some stamina there, slick, it’s actually quite impressive.”

Suzy was incensed when Gray actually put his hand over her mouth to stop the flow of words pouring out of her. He enunciated each word harshly, “STOP IT NOW!”