The question hung between us.
“No,” he finally said. “I didn’t kill anyone.”
I exhaled sharply, shocked by the relief I felt. “But you pled guilty.”
“I did. I took the fall for someone else.”
That revelation went through me like a shockwave. “You have to tell them. Your family.”
“I would tell my brothers and my sister anything if they asked me. But they still haven’t. I’ll tell you the whole ugly saga if that’s what you want. But Piper, don’t expect me to come out of it sounding like the hero. I’m not.”
“Then who are you?” I asked desperately.
“You want the honest truth?”
“I do. I want to understand you.”
The sudden heat in his dark eyes seared me to my core.
“I’m just a man who wants to kiss you more than any fucking thing in the world right now.”
I leaned into him without a conscious thought. Our lips brushed, then pressed harder and lingered.
God, it felt good.
His tongue licked the seam of my lips, then slid gently into my mouth. He groaned, setting off an ache of pure want between my legs.
I felt like I’d slipped into a hot bath. It was like every moment of each of our lives, every mistake and wrong turn, had led us here to this shared moment. The two of us finding common ground when nothing else made sense.
Grayden’s calloused hand moved to cup the side of my neck,thumb tracing my jaw. I got swept up in the deep strokes of his tongue, the hungry pulls of his lips.
After a perfect, breathtaking minute, he broke the kiss.
“I care about you, Piper. I probably shouldn’t say that, since we have all kinds of history and I’m your renter now, and I’m still working on sorting my own shit out. But I haven’t stopped thinking about you since you demanded I sleep on your couch weeks ago. Bring home a stray, and that’s what you get.”
“You’re not a stray. An adorable rescue, at the very least.”
“That’s one of the nicer things someone has said about me.”
“I can be much nicer.”
His hands rested on my hips, tugging me closer. Our mouths found each other again. His lips were soft, and I liked the rougher brush of his beard against my skin. His tongue glided against mine.
We stopped for air. His smile was hypnotizing. “I’d like to take you out sometime. Just you and me.”
“I’d like that too.” I almost pointed out that it was just the two of usright now. We could do anything we wanted. But the mess Danny had left wasn’t such a turn on.
Then again, I was feeling pretty into this right now…
My hip brushed the thick erection in his jeans. Oh, I wanted that. Wanted to feel his cock in my mouth, my tongue driving him wild. My hands and mouth tracing all that ink on his skin. That beard against my inner thighs.
I could imagine our bodies naked and moving together. My legs wrapped around him while he thrust inside me. My panties went damp from thinking about it. Those well-worn fantasies.Yearsof imagining what Grayden would be like in bed.
He pressed a kiss to my cheek, then nuzzled his beard against me in a way that made me shiver.
“You should know, Callum made it pretty clear he wouldn’t be okay with this. Grace might not either. And you can guess what Ashford and half the rest of Silver Ridge would say. Not to mention your big brother.”
I cringed, imagining Teller’s reaction. “But why on earth would we tell them? I don’t make a habit of telling my older brother about my sex life. And I certainly don’t need to tell Grace if I sleep with hers. Nobody needs to know what kind of fun we have.”
