Too Wild to Tame Page 19

  As soon as Grace walked away, Aaron was hit with questions from nearly everyone in the vicinity. It took him a moment to start answering, his gaze hot on Grace’s back—or was that her imagination?—but he came around in no time, responding in his usual, self-assured manner. It only took Grace five minutes to reach the infirmary, kind of relieved she would be alone with her thoughts for a while. But when she opened the door, a man in khakis was bent over, rummaging through an open cardboard box.

  The man—probably in his mid-thirties—jerked up, holding up both hands, obviously surprised by her presence. “I’m just a doctor. Don’t shoot.”

  A laugh bubbled out of Grace, taking her unaware. He must by the doctor Aaron mentioned. “I’m unarmed. You’re safe.” She entered the medium-sized room, surprised to find it had already been broom swept, two new physical therapy tables lining the back wall, adjacent to a small supply closet. She could see the shelves, bottles, and bandages unpacked and placed in sections. “It looks like you have it covered down here.” She started to back down the steps. “I’ll just—”

  “No,” the doctor interrupted, pink dotting his cheeks. “I’d love some company, actually.” He dropped a packet of gauze to reach out a hand. “I’m John.”

  “Grace,” she said, shaking his hand, marveling over the everyday gesture. There hadn’t been many situations she could recall of late that required hand shaking. It was nice. Like the symbol of a clean slate. “What can I help with?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Aaron hadn’t seen Grace in an hour and he’d felt every. Passing. Minute. How he’d forced himself to wait the full sixty minutes before going after her, he couldn’t fathom. The necessary delay might have had something to do with addressing problems, big and small, organizing a press junket for the senator, appointing a new social media manager, and checking on his family, who were currently off-site completing something he’d envisioned himself, but to which he couldn’t devote a damn minute.

  Sure. But he could ignore everything and traipse through the woods after Grace to the infirmary, couldn’t he? It appeared so. In fact, by the time the squat, log building came into view, he was all but salivating for the sight of her.

  This morning had been a misunderstanding and it had been unlike him to let it go unresolved. To let her walk away under the misconception he thought of their night wrapped around each other in the sleeping bag as a mistake. He’d been on a verge of clearing that bullshit right up when she’d hit him with those green eyes. I want my name added to the list of campers who were there that day, when the fire happened. I don’t want it covered up anymore.

  After Aaron’s last phone call with the senator, it was clear he’d become open to the idea and the advantages it might provide. The public not only perceiving him as a caring father, but one who had brought his child through a tragedy with hard work. Aaron could actually give Grace what she wanted, to write her back into the history of that day. But now…now it would be done with an ulterior motive, whether or not it was Aaron’s. He knew about the motive. That alone would be enough to sicken him if they let Grace’s story play out in the media.

  Christ. He used to take pride in this job. He’d felt invincible, watching the cause and effect of his ideas, watching them take root and flourish. But this morning, with beautiful Grace standing there, witnessing his act, listening to him spit out buzzwords and making subtle, yet influential hints that could have monumental effect? Yeah, he’d felt like an imposter. He’d never thought himself capable of anything else. Politics was the only place where being himself wasn’t a bad thing.

  Was it possible there was more to him, though? Grace might have had her doubts at the outset, but she’d lain with him last night, all curled up and trusting, her breath coasting over his chest. She wouldn’t do that with a monster, would she? Once, she’d come close to being devoured by one, but she’d survived and learned. Hadn’t she?

  Certain his anxiety would stabilize once they were in the same place, Aaron opened the infirmary door, frowning over what he saw. And heard. Grace was on one side of the space, holding a box of bandages—and she was laughing. Not a hint of reservation in the musical sound, just unabashed joy. The cause was a man. That man was not Aaron. Jealousy reached into his stomach and rearranged everything with a merciless twist of its fist. “What the hell is going on here?”

  Grace jumped, dropping the box onto the floor and sending bandages scattering in every direction. When the man—who was watching Aaron with confusion—crouched down to help, Aaron got himself to Grace’s side first. She analyzed him with a quick look before gesturing to the other man. “Aaron, this is John. He’s the doctor.”

  Recognition dawned—Jesus, he’d only met the guy this morning—but none of the green, cloying mist went away. “I can assist Grace from here,” Aaron said, not giving a flying shit about the stiffness in his voice. If you don’t stop looking at her, I’m going to be your worst nightmare. Part of Aaron was actually disappointed when John backed off with a self-deprecating headshake. He would rather the guy mouthed off instead of being mature. Aaron was simply not capable of the same, knowing Grace had been alone with a man other than himself.

  Before John reached the door, he turned around, scratching the back of his neck. “Uh…think about what I said, Grace. I’ll be around.”

  As soon as the door closed, Aaron found Grace’s eyes and locked in. “What does he want you to think about?”

  Her disapproval was clear. “You were very rude to him, Aaron.”

  “That wasn’t an answer.”

  She knelt down in one quick blur, shoveling bandages back into the empty box. He’d only seen Grace irritated once before—in the Suburban last night—and just like then, his body quite enjoyed the sight. Wanted the chance to lull her, appease her, any way he could. He had only one option now, however, which was to join her on the floor, gathering up medical supplies. After a few heavy beats passed, she stopped, lifting her chin. “He asked me on a date. I said no. So he asked me to think about it.”

  Was it too late to go after the fucker? “Well, you’ve thought about it. The answer is hell no.”

  She got in his face. “I know it’s hell no.”

  “Why?”

  Grace wanted to shove him. He could tell. She lifted her hands to push, but made them into shaking fists instead. “Because I only want to go on dates with you.” She plopped onto the floor, drawing her knees up. “God, you are such a…douchebag.”

  Aaron’s ire plummeted, the bandages slipping out of his fingers. “Dates are at night, right?” His gaze cut down to the ground, his pulse doing pole vaults. “Does that mean…are you definitely on the fence now about having only one night with me?”

  Say yes. Say you’ve reconsidered and I can sleep with my arms around you again.

  When she stayed silent, he assumed she was debating the pros and cons, so what she said next was like jumping into a cool lake after escaping a fire. “I was never, ever on the fence. I just didn’t know how else you’d let me sleep beside you.”

  “Oh,” he croaked, wondering if bones could actually melt. Let her? If she’d tried to leave the tent last night, there was zero doubt he would have gotten whiplash going after her. “So you want to go on a date with me,” he repeated dumbly. “I don’t really know what that looks like.”

  “I don’t, either. I’ve never really been on a proper one. I thought it would be nice with John—he’s just a nice man in nice khakis—but then I realized it would make you jealous. And how I kind of wouldn’t exactly mind that. Which made me wonder who I am anymore.” She shoved at her hair, which Aaron noticed absently had made progress toward being as wild as the night they met, but his focus was on her words. Every shiny, revealing one of them. “I know that was a lot. I know sometimes I say things that make people uncomfortable, so I have to hold back a little.”

  “Don’t,” he choked out.

  She pulled her bent legs closer, giving him an uncomfortable twist in the dead c
enter of his chest. “I would like to go on a date with you. I want to run my hands all over your back and into your hair, just because. I want you to sit me on your lap to talk about bears. And your dog. You know, Old Man likes you best, that’s why he’s ignoring you. He’s basically made for you. I would tell you things like that. You could tell me things back. That’s a date, right?”

  “No, Grace.” Aaron crawled across the floor toward her huddled form. “That would be our date. No one would ever duplicate it.”

  Her eyes smiled, but she didn’t respond. No, she actually seemed nervous about what Aaron would think of her outburst. Truthfully, he was shocked at everything she’d been thinking while he’d been clueless. Wasn’t he supposed to be some kind of mental mastermind? Not with Grace.

  “Do you hold back a lot around me, Grace?” He sat down in a cross-legged position, so close her feet were beneath his calves. “From touching, I mean.”

  “Yeah. From everyone, really. But mostly you.” She lifted one hand, scrutinizing it. “When I was younger, I found it hard to communicate with words. I mean, I could talk a blue streak, but people didn’t seem to understand right away. Or they would debate among themselves over what I’d meant. So I learned to…accompany words with touches and my point got across better.” She let the hand fall. “When I got older, it wasn’t appropriate anymore.”

  “Said who?”

  “Everyone.” Her gaze flickered. “But mostly it was the way people stiffened up every time I tried.”

  Aaron ached. Oh Christ, he ached all over. Not with lust, although there would always be a steady beat of that with Grace so close. No, her pain had climbed over and sucked him into its dark fold. “Since we’re being honest, Grace, I don’t like the idea of your hands touching a lot of people. Especially men. Especially doctors.” Her lips jumped at that. “But if we’re alone…and you want to slide your hands up my back or put them in my hair, I’m all fucking yours. I’m not happy that I’ve been missing out.”

  “We’re alone now,” she whispered, sending blood racing south to his cock, threatening to steal his patience, even though the moment required forbearance against his desire. He sensed that, somehow, but couldn’t explain it.

  “We’ll be alone on our date, too,” he said gruffly. “Tonight.”

  If the heavens had opened and shined a ray of sunshine onto her face, it couldn’t have been any more brilliant. Whatever magic was taking place inside him matched the intensity of it, but not the beauty. Nothing could come close. “Tonight,” she repeated. “Does that mean I should wait to touch you?”

  “No, Grace. It doesn’t.”

  It seemed like hours were passing as Grace came to her knees, fluid fingers reaching out to grasp the knot of Aaron’s tie. As the silk material slithered together, loosening around his neck, Aaron commanded his breath to remain steady, not that it did him much good. Every inhale treated him to sweet, earthy woman, and with her breasts right beneath his nose, sex tried to capture his mind. Fill it with images of his mouth sucking on her nipples while she rode his cock, but Aaron focused. Focused on her eyes and the pleasure she derived from removing his tie. “Are you going to make ribbons out of it?” he rasped.

  With those perfectly imperfect teeth sinking into her bottom lip, she shook her head, before regaining that concentrated look. A few seconds later, Grace had finally loosened the knot enough to draw the tie over his head. But the progress of her task stopped short with the silk banded around his forehead. She twisted it to the side and tightened the knot once more, leaving the material dangling down one side of his head. “Perfect,” she breathed with a straight face.

  It was a weird thing, the mix of triumphant and…silly. In fact, he was sure he’d never once experienced that combination. Ever. And they packed a hell of a power punch. One that moved through him with such strength, there was no other option but to snatch Grace around the waist and drag her onto his lap, her thighs opening to straddle him in a smooth, natural movement. Their mouths met, but they didn’t kiss. They laughed. Sexual need and humor, at the same time. Another foreign tag team of emotions that nearly knocked him dead. “There I was, thinking Grace was making one of her moments and she’s just having a laugh at my expense.”

  Her warm hands cupped his face, thumbs tracing along his shaved jaw. “Oh, laughing makes the best moments. That was a ten.”

  “How am I going to top a ten?”

  She tipped her head back, humming up at the ceiling. “Maybe we have to come up with a new rating scale.”

  Aaron leaned in and ran his tongue up the side of her neck, breathing into her ear. “See, now you’re talking my language.” Planning, as he always did. But different. Good different. “Let’s split the scale into three. One for Grace’s good deeds. One for laughing…” He gave a subtle tilt of his hips that made her lips part. “One for fucking.”

  The hands cupping his face dropped, clinging to his shoulders. “But last n-night was a fifteen. Already, we can’t top it.”

  He took hold of Grace’s hoodie zipper, lowered the bit of metal, pushing open the well-worn material. “Not right now we can’t. No matter how tempted I am to take you into that closet to let my cock deal with you.” Against his better judgment, Aaron lifted the hem of her T-shirt, baring her tits. “Your nipples are hard. You like the idea of a rough quickie, baby?”

  “Yes.”

  With a groan, Aaron leaned in and sucked her nipples in turn, leaving them shiny and puckered. “No, I’m giving you a fifteen every time. And you love the foreplay, don’t you?” Another long pull of her nipples, his hands finding her ass, gripping the taut flesh. “The way you rubbed your pussy on me last night told me all about you. So I’m not taking what I know about your needs and banging you in a closet. That would be for me. Oh fuck, would it be for me. I’d knock every last item off those goddamn shelves because I want to ruin any progress you made over the last hour with someone else. I guess I’m a selfish bastard in every way, except when it comes to fucking you. I won’t be selfish with your body.”

  Grace’s breath came in quick pants against his forehead, little whimpers escaping when he curled his tongue around her nipples one by one, lapping at them, flattening his tongue to rub them in slow circles. “What if I want to be selfish with your body?”

  Aaron’s head lifted. “That’s a different story. I told you not to hold back when it comes to touching me. I meant it, Grace.” His voice sounded abnormally thick. “But your father is going to be here any minute. There are things to talk about before I…before we take a risk like that.”

  Yeah, he’d actually just said that. That they needed to have a discussion. About…them. About taking this crazy pairing of a type-A asshole and a genuine bleeding heart who only wanted to bring good into the world. Talk about selfish. But there it was. He needed their relationship to be aboveboard, and whatever she had in mind was the polar opposite. Because holy shit, the excitement and…relief dancing in her eyes were breathtaking. And determined.

  “Grace…”

  She scooted back in his lap, hands falling to Aaron’s belt buckle, the clumsy movements to get it open and unzip his pants making his cock thicken along with his thoughts. “I’ve been wondering what you taste like since that day you went running.” Her hand flattened on his abdomen and slid down the front of his briefs, her thighs tightening the same time as her grip around his erection—Christ. A telling sign that she needed the filthy aforementioned fuck against the wall. “When you were sweating and…so mad at me. Is it wrong that I wanted you to take out your anger on me?”

  Aaron groaned as her thumb circled his crown. “Depends how y’mean.”

  “I love that you slur your words when I touch you.” She jerked him harder, making his middle quicken and shake. Until she brought his flesh between her legs, rubbing him against the seam of her leggings, and everything twisted violently. “I meant, I wanted you to take out your anger between my legs.”

  Oh my God. “Not wrong. No…that’s no
t wrong.”

  With a slow, deliberate smile, Grace eased off his lap and lay down on her belly, compelling Aaron to close his eyes or else lose his shit. Because Grace’s bow-shaped mouth being level with his cock, worshiping it with a hungry expression of longing…fuuuuck, it was too much to bear. Too much.

  Aaron fell back on his elbows. “Come on, show me what selfish feels like coming from a saint.”

  Her tongue zigzagged up the underside of his length. “I’m not a saint.”

  She took Aaron halfway to his root, drawing up slowly with a purr, sending every muscle below his waist into a near-painful contraction. “No holding back, right?” His hands flew to her hair, gripping, tangling. “Come on, baby. That’s twice now you’ve talked about liking me sweaty. So get me there. Make me fucking sweat. Just like I’m going to sweat getting you off tonight.” He growled in his throat as both of her fists started pumping him, in time with that mouth. “I’m going to work for your come. You like knowing that? Show me. Suck your way down to my sack and make me feel guilty when you choke a little. But not guilty enough to stop asking for it.”

  Just like the night before, the dirtier his mind went, the more enthusiastic the response from Grace. She fell on him, mouth suctioning tight and working overtime, up and down, until he nearly begged for her to slow down. So he could savor the snug heat of her mouth and throat, savor the knowledge that Grace was the one bringing on his climax. No one else. No one else. Never again.

  And fuck if that scary and beautiful mental commitment and her green, half-mast eyes drifting up his stomach to mingle with his gaze didn’t propel him past the finish line, ripping the orgasm from a deep, untapped area of his body. He threw an arm over his face, roaring her name into the crook of his elbow, his eyes wide open, but seeing nothing except pitch-black. Back arched, stomach clenching, his legs shook violently as wet desire rippled out of him, painting the inside of Grace’s exquisite mouth. “Jesus, baby. Ohhhh, you’re so fucking hot. I needed this. I’ve needed you.” His voice cracked. “Thank you. Suck it down. Oh my God, thank you.”