Page 52 of Grant’s Blaze

Grant continued to speak, giving my hands periodic squeezes while he did so. “Rio, you’ve given me so much of yourself since you lost Sean. You’ve trusted me to protect you and care for you. You’ve allowed me to stand by you and support you while you demanded justice for your late husband’s death. I’ve had the honor of being your friend, someone you can talk to, laugh with, and sometimes cry with.”

“Grant—”

“Please. Let me get this out. Baby, I’ve had more than my share up in here lately.” He tapped his temple with his index finger a couple of times and then held my gaze for a few moments more before starting to talk. The anticipation was nearly suffocating by the time words came out again.

“You’ve shared your fears with me and your hopes and dreams for your new, rearranged future. Last but not least, you’ve allowed me the privilege of touching this magnificent body and the rapture of bringing you pleasure, time and time again.”

Grant stroked my bangs back across my forehead, and I let my eyes drift shut while his fingers were in contact with my skin. When he began to speak again, my lids shot open. “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve any of these things, let alone all of them, but for you to say you have me to thank for being the amazing creature that you are?” He huffed a disbelieving chuckle. “No. No, my beautiful queen. It’s all you. I’m just basking in your glory. I don’t want to push my luck right now, but this feels like the perfect time for me to tell you—”

“I love you.” I blurted the words I’d been trying to tell him for the past ten minutes.

“What did you just say?” Grant asked with a hint of shock or maybe dismay in his tone.

“I love you, Grant Twombley. With every single beat of my heart.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my forehead to his before saying the words a third time. “I love you. Please don’t leave me again, though. That nearly broke me.”

The smile on his face was so brilliant and pure, it could’ve illuminated the entire nighttime sky. “Holy shit! I didn’t expect this day to end like this.”

I climbed onto his lap and straddled his legs with my own. “Oh baby, the day isn’t over yet.”

Chapter Twelve

Grant

“Mmm, I’m so glad you said that. We have twelve nights to make up for, remember?” I hardly believed I got the whole tease out, considering she was meting a cruel version of the same with her sexy undulations across my crotch. And damn it, I loved every hot, pulsing second. If she ripped open my slacks and impaled her body on mine right now, it wouldn’t be soon enough.

“Is that really how your brain works?” she snarked back. “One night off from having sex is equal to twelve? Christ, are you even going to remember what to do after twelve nights off?”

“Careful now,” I growled, wrapping my arm around her waist to hold her close to me. But the little brat squirming against my dick just giggled again—until suddenly she wasn’t.

“Oh!” She jolted in my embrace, pushing up from my chest like we were teenagers on the couch and she had to take another shot before we went on. “I have something to show you, mister. I can’t believe I almost forgot.”

Rio wriggled harder, trying to get some space between our bodies. The mischief of her mood changed the color in her eyes from the normal whiskey to a glowing amber.

“Should I be nervous?” I made my cocked brow as obvious as the bulge in my pants. “You look like you’re up to no good.”

“Noooo.” She dragged the word out across two beats. “I’m an angel and you know it. Wait here, though. I’ll tell you when you can come into the bedroom, okay?”

She tried to get off my lap, but I couldn’t bring myself to let her go. “The bedroom?” I drawled. “Well, that’s the right direction, at least.”

“I won’t argue there.” Finally, she smacked at my arms that were banded around her middle. “But first you have to let me up.”

“Fine, fine,” I grumbled and let her scurry off.

While she hummed and fiddled around in the bedroom, I absentmindedly scrolled through emails. I deleted obvious junk and opened a few that looked like I could forward to Reina to handle, not wanting to get involved in complicated communications at the moment. I had no idea what Rio was doing in the other room, but even her light bustling was making my balls clamor.

After ten minutes that felt like a decade, I huffed with impatience and surged to my feet. “Ready or not, woman,” I muttered. “Here I—”

She cut me off by distinctly clearing her throat—just before appearing in the doorway with such a flourish.

My phone tumbled out of my limp fingers.

“Mr. Twombley?” she cooed. “You are Mr. Twombley, right?”

For a long moment, I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. My balls weren’t just gentle little playmates in my pants anymore. The two of them were all but choking me.

“Jesus. Fucking. Christ. Woman.”

Even then, that was the best thing I could formulate. I was so glad I had gotten eloquent words out earlier, because now I couldn’t be responsible for the piggish caveman words that were tumbling around in my brain. I started toward her, but she held her hand up and gave me a little shake of her head.