Grant ripped his gaze away from the wayward bead of perspiration and looked up at her face. It was a beautiful, smug face, with lips twisted into a grin of satisfaction. Just as he’d strutted around when he knew she was watching, she’d worn this outfit on purpose. And he wanted to say thank you.
Properly. With his tongue.
He approached her, looking around at the work she’d done so far. “No. I’ve finished the first coat of poly on the floors. I have to let them dry a couple of hours before we do another coat. I came out to see if you needed any help.”
“Uh-huh,” she said, as though she didn’t believe a word he said. “Well, I’m almost done with the second coat in here. Remind me why I chose red? It’s going to need a third coat, if not a fourth. One-coat coverage, my ass.”
“What do you say I conjure up some lunch while you finish and it will be all ready when you get done?”
“That sounds fair. Are you cooking or running out? Wait, that’s probably a silly question.”
At that, Grant laughed. “Well, I wasn’t planning on cooking, but your lack of faith in me is inspiring. I think I’ll go look in the kitchen and see what I can find. Anything off-limits?”
“Nope.” Pepper dipped her roller in paint again. “Knock yourself out.”
Grant hated to leave the stunning view of Pepper’s ass behind him, but she’d challenged him to cook lunch and he was going to succeed.
“In the pantry, there’s—” Pepper started, gesturing with her roller, but the movement threw off her balance. “Ahh!” she cried as she clutched at the stepladder, but it rocked violently beneath her.
Grant lunged out and reached for her. The ladder, the paint tray, and the roller fell to the floor with a crash, but Pepper landed safely in Grant’s arms. The sudden, awkward movement kept her from falling, but the force required to stop her sent Pepper colliding into his chest. They stumbled, then fell backward into the kitchen, with Grant landing on the linoleum floor, Pepper on top of him.
Pepper planted her hands on the floor to push herself up and looked down at him with wide eyes. “That was close. Thank you.”
Grant nodded, but he didn’t let go. Right now, every inch of the body he’d just been admiring was pressed into his own. Each movement was delicious agony. “My pleasure,” he said, and he meant it.
His words invoked an awareness in Pepper’s e
yes as well. She shifted her hips just slightly against the firm length of his desire, and Grant had to bite his lip to keep from groaning aloud.
A ragged breath passed through her parted lips as she watched his reaction. She lifted a hand to his face and brushed her thumb across his cheek. “I got some paint on your cheek,” she said. “For a moment, I thought you were bleeding.”
Grant smiled. “I wouldn’t be the first southern boy to bleed crimson. Most Alabama fans do.” In fact, he’d seen more than a few T-shirts to that effect. Personally, he was one of the few people he knew without a preference. Grant just enjoyed watching a good game, no matter who won.
But at the moment, football was the furthest thought from his mind. Right now, Pepper’s dark eyes were watching him with a heat strong enough to make his blood start to boil in his veins. Whatever reservations she had about the two of them wasn’t relevant at the moment.
Grant slid his hands down her bare sides to cup the swell of her hips. Her skin was like silk against his rough hands.
“I’m not hungry anymore,” she said.
“Neither am I. Not for food, at least.” He swallowed hard and used his hands to press Pepper’s hips into him. She closed her eyes and moved with him, grinding the seam of her cutoffs against him. “Pepper,” he groaned.
His words were silenced with her mouth. Her lips met his with a ferocity unmatched. This was no easy kiss. No hesitant kiss. It was as though the last few months had never happened and they were right back in his apartment.
She was set on devouring him, and he would gladly be destroyed. Her hands grasped each side of his face, holding him still. His fingertips pressed into the juicy curves of her ass as Pepper’s tongue slipped into his mouth.
She tasted like spicy cinnamon gum, leaving a fresh flavor behind that made his tongue burn when he touched her. That was appropriate. Every other part of him burned when he touched her. The cold tile of the floor at his back did little to soothe the fire racing through his veins. The more he touched her, the more desperate he was to keep touching her. But this wasn’t enough. He wanted her bare skin pressed against his own.
Grant sought out the knot of her tank top, loosening it and tugging the shirt over her head. Beneath it was only pale flesh with no bra in sight, making his eyes nearly roll back into his head. His hands quickly covered each bare breast, feeling the hard press of her nipples against his palms.
He pulled away from her mouth to taste her skin. The tip of his tongue teased at one pink nipple, then the other, before sucking one into his mouth and drawing hard at her breast.
Pepper cried out, the sound echoing in the tiled kitchen and sending a shiver down his spine. Her hips bucked in response, grinding their sensitive parts together through the thick denim that separated them.
They needed to get rid of these clothes. He unbuttoned the fly of her shorts and slipped them and her tiny panties down over her hips. Pepper gingerly slipped out one leg, then the other, kicking the clothing out of her way. Grant took the opportunity to reach into his back pocket and slip out his billfold, plucking the condom he kept in there.
Naked, Pepper straddled him and took the condom from his hand. Her eyes never left his as she undid his jeans and pushed them down and out of her way. At an agonizingly slow pace, she rolled the latex down the thick length of him, drawing a low growl out of Grant’s throat. Before he could catch his breath, Pepper lowered herself onto him.
He sank into her warm heat, his jaw tight to hold in the sounds he was desperate to make. Pepper felt amazing. He hadn’t imagined it. For a while, he’d started to wonder if time and fantasy had colored his previous encounter with her, but he hadn’t embellished this feeling at all. And when she started moving, he nearly lost it like a seventeen-year-old boy.