Take Me for Granted

Chapter 17: Grant

Ari and I left Duffie’s after we finished dinner, and she started walking back toward my truck. I hadn’t driven all the way down the shore just to get pizza. We were on my first date, so I was going to go all out.

I grabbed her hand and looped it with mine. “This way,” I said, taking a side entrance to the boardwalk.

Her dark blue eyes were wide and alert as she took in the scene before her. The sun was low on the horizon and reflecting against the water for miles.

“You ever been down the shore before?”

“Yes. My roommates took me last summer. Shelby and Gabi are from Atlantic City, so they showed us around—um…me and Cheyenne, that is.”

“Where are you from?”

“Boston.”

“Never been there.”

“Oh, you’d love it. My dad is a CEO at a bank downtown, so I—”

I straightened visibly at that word. CEO. Fuck me. Who the fuck am I to take out a girl whose father runs an entire bank?

“What?” she asked, noticing my discomfort.

“Nothing,” I covered quickly.

She knew I was lying.

“Well, you’d love Boston,” she finally said.

Silence lingered between us. I felt something crawl into my chest and spread out, like it was trying to fester through my whole body. I didn’t know what the fuck was wrong with me. I liked this girl. That has to be it. I was completely out of my element. I’d fucked spoiled princesses whose parents had too much money. I hadn’t discriminated against who landed in my bed. But this…this felt fucking different.

“You have something on your mind,” she whispered finally.

“Yeah.” I drew her into me and kissed her hard on the mouth. Maybe I could drown out my own thoughts.

Her arms wrapped around my neck, and she wound her fingers through my hair. She shivered in my arms, and I wasn’t sure if it was from our kiss or the crisp air as winter rolled in on the boardwalk, but I just kissed her harder, more desperately. I didn’t care who her father was or how much money they had or how much better than me she probably was. She was kissing me back. Whether I deserved it or not, Ari wanted this, too.

As always, Ari pulled away first. Her dark blue eyes met mine, and she giggled against my lips. Since I’d known her, she had always worn such a stern expression with a particularly prominent scowl, so her giggle made me smile.

“Something funny, Princess?” I asked, pulling back to look at her.

She shook her head. “No. I’m just surprised I’m having a good time with you.”

“Ouch,” I said, bringing a hand to my wounded heart.

“Oh, no…I didn’t mean it…” She trailed off and bit her lip. “Sorry. I have a problem with spewing the first thing that comes to mind.”

“It’s not a problem,” I told her quickly.

Actually, I liked it. She knew I was an asshole, and she had still gone on a date with me. I hadn’t given her any other option, but still…

“Well, I’m not one to sugarcoat,” Ari said.

“Me either. That’s why when I told you that I wanted you in my bed, I meant it.”

“Oh, I know you meant that.” Her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. “But what I didn’t know was if all of this was just an excuse to get me there.”

Huh. As much as I wanted to fuck this girl, that hadn’t been in my game plan, not the way that she was thinking at least.

“And?” I finally asked. “What do you think?”

She took a few steps away from me and leaned her elbows against the railing of the boardwalk, facing out to the ocean. My body responded to the beautiful sight of her body pressed into the wooden railing and her tight little ass sticking out. She glanced over her shoulder and saw me checking her out.

“Well?” I prompted when she said nothing.

“I think you want me there, but you like me here, too.”

Well, if that isn’t the damn truth.

I closed the distance between us and turned her to face me. My hands slid down the sides of her dress as I whispered in her ear, “I want you any way I can have you.”

She cleared her throat as I felt her body reacting to my nearness.

“I’ll be sure to remember that.”

Her words sounded like a promise, and I wondered what I’d gotten myself into.

When we arrived at Ari’s house right before midnight, I walked with her up to her door, all the while restraining myself from pouncing on her. Physical restraint had never been my strong suit.

Images of Ari—her lips on mine as I’d pushed her through her open doorway, her body wet from the rain, her nestled against my chest, her laughing on the boardwalk—all hit me with a fresh wave of desire. I wanted to be near her, with her, in her—and I wanted it fucking bad.

When we reached her door, I kissed her pleadingly. Please let me stay. Please let me show you everything I can do to your body. Please let me give you what we both want right now.

I wasn’t going to walk away without trying.

She whispered something so softly that I hadn’t even heard it in the breeze.

“What?” I asked.

Ari turned her head away from me, a red blush touching her cheeks and the tips of her ears. “Nothing. Sorry. Stupid of me.”

I took her chin in my hand and forced her to face me again. “What did you say, Ari?” My pulse was keeping time in my ears.

Her blush just deepened. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“If I don’t want to what?”

“Come inside…” she said quietly.

I couldn’t keep the smile from my face. Fuck yes, I want to come inside. That wasn’t the only place I wanted to be coming in right now.

Aribel fumbled with the key before opening the door and leading us into her place. I’d been inside before, but it was a different experience to actually be welcomed. She shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it across the back of the couch. She teetered from one foot to the other, not making eye contact with me from across the room.

“Which room is yours, Princess?”

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t answer. I could see what was written on her face—I’m not going to have sex with you.

“I know,” I told her.

She startled as if I’d read her mind. “Grant…”

“Which one?”

She nodded her head behind her. When she didn’t move, I walked across the room and guided her back toward it. I could take control. That was fine with me.

Once we were in her room, my lips found hers, and my mind went on autopilot. I needed her. I needed this.

I pushed her back until her legs met the large bed in the center of the room. It was one of those fancy-ass beds that was too high to sit on comfortably. A million useless throw pillows lay on top, and I reached out and wiped them all from their neat arrangement. Then, I grabbed her by the backs of her legs and set her down effortlessly. Her blue dress bunched around her upper thighs, and I hardened at the sight. My hands slid up under the material, and she shivered against my touch.

“Grant,” she whispered.

I thought she’d meant it as a hesitation, but it had come out as a moan.

“St-stop.”

“Ari, please.” My voice was hoarse. I wanted something, anything at this point.

“I’m not going to—”

“I know. I know.” I held back my irritation. “I’m just going to make you feel good.”

“Grant,” she said with a definite warning in her voice.

Well, I’ll just have to fucking show her then.

I dropped to my knees in front of her and saw her eyes widen as her grip tightened on the bedspread. Good.

My hands pressed gently against her knees, spreading her legs farther apart. She squirmed uncomfortably, but I just ignored her. She’d be squirming for other reasons in a minute. I ran my fingertips ever so lightly from her knee to the sensitive skin hidden beneath her dress. She gasped at my touch. That did the trick. My lips followed. Each inch that I kissed brought a new wave of trembles from her body. The anticipation of what I was going to do was getting her riled up, and fuck was it turning me on, too.

When I reached her dress, I glanced up to get an okay to continue, but her eyes were firmly closed. The look on her face was doing anything but discouraging me. I flipped up her dress and kissed my way down the soft lace of her pale blue underwear. She quivered beneath my touch, and it took considerable effort to slow my racing heart and focus on the matter at hand.

I eased her back on the bed, so she was lying flat. Her eyes flew open, and she stared at me with a mix of desire and terror.

“Trust me,” I told her.

She swallowed and nodded.

I pulled her underwear slowly down her legs. All I wanted to do was rip them off of her as fast as I could and bury my dick inside her, but I went slow. I wanted her to be comfortable.

Who the fuck knows if she is going to let me be this close to her again after tonight? She might come to her senses and realize that I was no prince in disguise; I was just a frog waiting for a kiss from a princess.

With the barrier between us removed, I started at her knee and worked my way back up. She was practically panting by the time my mouth found her lips for the first time. I ran my tongue down the length of her and then swirled experimentally around her clit, savoring every sound of pleasure escaping her. And I wasn’t going to stop there. My tongue flicked against her until she could barely keep her hips still. I worked her into a total frenzy before finally inserting one finger into her and then another. Her body spasmed around my fingers as I worked them in and out of her.

Oh fuck. Her body was so responsive to my touch. I just wanted to feel everything that was going through her. I wanted to sink my dick into her wet pussy and ride out that wave with her, but I’d let her have hers. My own breathing was turning ragged as I brought her closer and closer to the brink.

I felt her body seize all at once around my fingers. She stiffened slightly. Her hands dug into the bedspread. When her orgasm faded out, she relaxed. No big fanfare. Typical Aribel.

“Why…why did you stop?” she asked breathily after a moment.

“Because I wanted to watch you come.”

She blushed. “Um…I didn’t.”

I leveled her with a you’re-kidding-me kind of look. “Um…yes, you did.”

“I think I’d know.”

“I’d think so, too. Want me to show you again? Because that was a fucking hot sight if I’ve ever seen one.”

What the hell is she talking about? My dick was throbbing so hard in my pants from her orgasm, and she hadn’t even known that she had one. Am I missing something?

She sat up and self-consciously covered herself. “Um…no.”

“Hey,” I said, taking her face in my hands, “it’s a compliment. I’d do it all over again to watch you one more time.”

She furiously blushed again. I took her hand in mine and placed it on the front of my pants. She jerked back really quick, but I grabbed it and laid it on my dick again.

“See what you do to me.”

“Grant,” she said softly, removing her hand again, “I don’t…I’ve never felt like this. I’m not this…”

She splayed her hands out before her, but I wasn’t sure what she’d meant. All I heard was that she’d never felt like this. About a guy? The orgasm?

I decided to push my luck. Pretty standard for me. I started climbing on top of the bed, and she scrambled backward. My hands latched on to her waist, and I laid her out flat beneath me.

“You know,” I said into her ear, “I’ve never felt like this either.”

I started grinding my hips against her, and she whimpered. Her hands gripped my forearms, neither pushing me away nor pulling me closer. I wanted nothing more than to loose my dick from my pants, slide it against the wetness I’d created between her legs, and ride her as hard as she’d let me. My body was literally aching to be inside her. I was sure she could feel my need as it put pressure between her thighs.

Aribel groaned and pulled me down until my lips met hers. I indulged her as I slid my hand down her bare thigh. I reached underneath her to grab her ass, and she jumped slightly. My cock twitched as she thrust upward against me.

“Please,” I groaned. “Please, Ari.”

She shook her head, but her eyes were filled with the same desire consuming my body. I wanted so desperately to ignore her. I wanted to take what was lying beneath me, take what was mine.

Aribel Graham is mine.