“That was amazing.”
He hugged her to him. “You’re amazing.”
“I’m pretty sure you get the title, since I had far more fun than you did.”
“Not true. I think making you come is my new favorite thing to do.” He kissed her softly, pouring in all the passion they’d shared but in a much more sensual and slow way that strengthened the bond being forged between them. Nothing had felt as raw and intimate and satisfying as the two of them kissing after making love for the first time, knowing it was the beginning of something much more profound and beautiful than they’d ever experienced.
“I didn’t plan this,” he said, nuzzling his nose at her ear. “But whenever you’re near, I just want to touch you and be close to you.”
“I feel the same way.” She was still sitting on his lap, straddling him backward.
He brushed his hands up and down her arms. “You’re getting cold.”
“There is quite a breeze blowing up under my skirt.”
Gray laughed with her. “Sorry if you’ve got sand in places you don’t want it.”
“Luckily the long skirt and being on top helped with most of that, but you’re going to have to help me up.”
“Anything for you, sweetheart.” He took her by the hipsagain and lifted her as she stood. Her panties fell down one leg and landed at her ankle in the sand. “Oops. How did that happen?” The innocent look on his face made her laugh.
She eyed him. “Someone tore them because they were in the way.”
“They were. I’ll buy you new ones.”
She grinned. “Sacrifices sometimes have to be made for the greater good.”
He chuckled and grabbed her panties off the sand, wadded them around the condom trash, and stuffed them in his pocket. Zipped and buttoned, he stood next to her and shook his legs. “I think I have sand on my ass.”
They both laughed at that. But he looked her up and down, his gaze filled with wonder and appreciation. “You really do glow when you’re turned on and totally satisfied.”
“Then I bet I look that way every time we’re together.”
He picked up their shoes, handed hers over, hooked his arm around her shoulders, and they walked back toward the restaurant.
“Do you want to come back to my hotel?”
She leaned into him. “Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go home and check on my sister. She and I had a fight earlier that turned into a big revelation about my father’s death and I want to be sure she’s okay. She went to a dark place during our conversation and though I think we ended things in a good place, I need to be sure.”
“Absolutely. But what did you find out about your dad’s death?”
“Poppy and he were arguing upstairs. My dad hit her. This time, Poppy didn’t just take it. She fought back. She said some very true but terrible things to him. He went after her again. She pushed him. He was stumbling drunk, went after Poppy again, lost his balance, and fell down the stairs.”
Gray sat beside her on the stairs leading back up to the parking lot so they could put on their shoes. “Oh, my god. That had to have been traumatic.”
“Our whole lives with my dad was traumatic. Anyway, she’s been carrying around the guilt of thinking that if she’d reached out for him, tried to help in some way, he wouldn’t have died.”
“Sounds like he could have very well taken her down those stairs with him.”
“Exactly.”
“Then yes, you definitely should go home and check on her and make sure she knows it wasn’t her fault.”
“I think she feels guiltier about the fact that she didn’t want to help him and she’s glad he’s dead.”
“Sounds like he deserved that for treating you and her the way he did.”
She put her hand on his face, leaned in, and kissed him. “You’re a good man, Gray. I appreciate it so much that you’re kind and understanding and sexy as hell and too tempting for one man to be.”