Chapter 23 - Jade: One Last Time
I was about to lean forward to connect our lips, but then Grayson pulled away, creating the needed distance between us. I won’t lie and say I didn’t feel a little bit disappointed. I wanted to taste him just one last time.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered. I looked away from him and focused on the sink in front of me. A lot had been unpacked tonight.
His hand came up to cup my face and force me to look at him. I could see the desire swimming behind his eyes. The same desire that I was sure was swimming behind mine. He wanted this, too.
“Don’t be sorry.” He licked his lips. “I shouldn’t want what I want from you. I don’t deserve it, especially after everything I said and did to you.”
I leaned into his touch. “If one thing coming back here has taught me, it’s that life is too damn short and unexpected to live with grudges. I know you spoke from a place of anger and hurt. I know what those two emotions can do to a person.”
He nodded. “You named her Mia.”
I smiled softly. “I did. It was a name we both liked, and I thought she deserved a name. She may not have been able to take her first breath, but she was alive to me. I felt her inside of me kicking and moving like a real person.”
Sadness washed over his features, and I wished I could take it away but at least now he knew.
“For years, I had hated you thinking you had done me wrong but, all this time, you were grieving a loss I had no idea about. All of this could have been solved with one simple phone call and conversation. But…”
“…I was too scared, and you were too angry,” I finished for him. “Maybe that was how it was meant to be. I was meant to leave Riverroad and find my own way, and you were meant to be here. You did always say you preferred Riverroad over the city.”
“But I would have followed you anywhere if you had asked.” His eyes were so open and honest, the emotion behind them was almost overpowering.
“Your place was here and mine was there.” I smiled sadly. “But when I had decided to come back to Riverroad, before I lost Mia, I remember thinking I was going back home. But I wasn’t talking about home being a physical place. When I was thinking about home, I was thinking about you.The geographic location didn’t matter to me. As long as you were there, then I knew that I was home.”
Grayson brushed a stray piece of hair away from my face. “We have so much wasted time. What I would do to kiss you right now.”
“What’s stopping you?”
“Morals?” He chuckled sadly. “And you deserve better than a quick lay.”
“Don’t think of it like that. Think of it as a goodbye.”
His eyebrows knitted together. “Goodbye?”
I nodded. “Ethan’s case will take a little longer than expected, but I need to head to New York soon. I will work on his case from there, and I will come in when it’s time to settle.”
Grayson stood still for a moment. His eyes searched mine for a moment, staring deep into them. It was like our souls were communicating. I couldn’t quite explain it.
“So we say goodbye then.” He dipped his head and captured my lips in his.
Our lips melded together in an intimate dance only they knew. He pushed while I pulled. I licked his bottom lip this time, taking the initiative and asking for permission. He opened for me gladly, and I began exploring him.
My body melted into his, wanting to eradicate any kind of distance between us. My hands found their way to his skin. I could feel his rock-hard chiseled abs under my fingertips. I tugged at the material, needing it off.
Grayson took the hint and removed his shirt, throwing it to the ground.
He lifted me and set me on the counter. He smashed his lips back onto mine and guided my legs, so they wrapped around his waist. He lifted and carried me. I didn’t know where we were going, and I didn’t care. All I knew was that this man still had too many layers of clothes on.
I felt myself being set down. I broke our kiss and saw that we were in the living room, and I was on the couch.
When I turned my attention back to Grayson, he was staring down at me with a look I had not seen in a very long time.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
He came down on top of me and started peppering kisses all along my neck. His kisses were hot, sloppy, and punishing. They caused the heat inside of me to rise.