Susan Mallery - Falling for Gracie

“Riley,” she whispered as she reached for the button on her khakis. “Take your clothes off.”

She liked that she didn’t have to ask twice. He straightened and immediately went to work on his shirt. After unfastening the cuffs, he simply pulled it over his head, tie and all. He kicked off his shoes, pulled off socks, then dropped his trousers and boxers in one easy movement.

She’d managed to shed the rest of her clothes and enjoy the view for all of three seconds before he moved in and claimed her with a kiss that stirred her down to her soul. They clung to each other, holding, rubbing, reaching, grasping.

He started nudging her backward. She couldn’t stop kissing him to figure out where they were going. Then his hand was on her breast and it didn’t matter.

She reached between them to caress his arousal just as she felt herself bump into the table.

Riley leaned around her and swept the surface clean. Pans and racks went flying to the floor. The crash of metal on tile reverberated in the room, but she didn’t care. Not when he lifted her up onto the smooth wood of the table and positioned himself between her legs.

She opened herself wide for him, expecting him to claim her that minute. Instead he slid one hand behind her head and the other into the swollen wetness of her desire. His fingers found that one spot she liked best and began to circle it.

“Look at me,” he said when she would have closed her eyes. “I want to see if you like it.”

She smiled. “I like it a lot.”

“Yeah? What about when I do this?”

He gently squeezed his thumb and index finger around the sensitive flesh, moving up and down in a quick motion that took her breath away.

Speech became impossible as she lost herself in sensation. Her body tensed as liquid pleasure poured through her. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but stay impossibly still and silently beg him to never stop.

He didn’t. He kept on touching her until her release became as inevitable as the tide. She slowly closed her eyes, then held on to his shoulders as she got closer and closer until-

He stopped. She opened her mouth to protest. She’d been seconds from-

He kissed her. At the same moment he claimed her mouth, he pushed deep into her, replacing his fingers with something far larger and more impressive. She groaned, then wrapped her legs around his hips to hold him in place.

Even as their tongues mated, he moved in and out of her. She felt his thickness rubbing her, pushing her already aroused body past any reasonable limit to that place where pleasure is the only possibility. She clung to him, wanting, needing, straining until at last she lost herself in the wildness of her climax. Muscles contracted, released, then contracted again. She gasped as it went on and on. He continued to fill her, getting harder and thicker until at last, when she’d nearly finished, he shuddered and pushed into her one last time.

Gracie would swear she’d actually lost consciousness for a second or two. When her brain resurfaced she found herself leaning against him, breathing heavily. His arms held her tightly against him as if he would never let go. His heart thundered in her ear.

She raised her head and smiled at him. “Not bad.”

He chuckled, then cupped her face in his hands and lightly kissed her. “I was going to say that.”

“So you’ve had worse?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Better?”

He kissed her again. “Not possible.”

“Good.”

She felt relaxed and comfortable and just a little squishy inside. Why was there never a box of tissues around when you needed them? Usually she did this sort of thing in her bedroom where there were supplies, like tissues and condoms and-

Oh…my…God. She pushed him away and slid down until she stood on the floor and faced him.

“What?” he asked. “Did you get a leg cramp?”

“We didn’t use any protection.”

Good humor faded as if it had never been. “You’re not on the Pill?”

“No.” Several things happened all at once. The smell of burning cake suddenly filled the kitchen just as she noticed the smoke pouring out of the oven. Riley took several steps back, as if to put physical distance between himself and what they’d done, and someone started pounding on her front door.

Gracie shrieked and reached for her clothes. “I’ll accept anyone but my mother,” she said as she pulled on her panties. “And don’t you give me that look. I didn’t do this on purpose.”

“I know.”

“Not every woman in America is on the Pill.”

“I know that, too.”

“Then you have no right to be mad at me.”

“I’m not. I’m mad at myself.”

She didn’t think that was any better. The pounding continued, along with a faint cry of “Gracie? Gracie? Are you home?”

“I think it’s the woman who lives next door,” Gracie said.

She fastened her bra, then stepped into her pants. Riley had already pulled on his slacks.

“Could you get the oven?” she said. “I don’t want the smoke detector coming on.”

He did as she requested. She grabbed her shirt and shot out of the kitchen. After tugging the T-shirt in place, she smoothed her hair, then pulled open the door.

“Hi,” she said, smiling brightly and hoping her neighbor, whose name she couldn’t remember, wouldn’t notice anything was wrong.

“Oh, Gracie. I’m so glad you’re here. It’s Muffin. She fell in the pool and I can’t get her out. She won’t come to the steps. She’s just swimming around and it’s been so long. Please. Please come help me!”

The woman, late sixties with the wrinkled appearance of someone who had lived hard and was now tired, actually wrung her hands together. It was already dark and there was a cool breeze off the ocean. The last thing Gracie wanted to do was jump into a cold swimming pool, but she forced herself to nod.

“Let me grab my shoes,” she said. “I’ll be right there.”

She turned back to find Riley in the hallway. He finished tucking in his shirt.

“The neighbor’s dog fell in the pool,” she said.

“I heard. I’ll take care of it.”

She blinked at him. “Excuse me?”

“I’ll do it. It’s cold out there. I’d appreciate a towel or two, though.”

He walked past her before she could say anything. Her neighbor-Gracie still couldn’t remember her name-clutched his arm.

“Oh, thank you so much. I don’t know what I was going to do. Little Muffin seems to be losing strength. Plus the water is so cold and she’s so small.” The women gave a sob.

Gracie was about to head after them when she remembered the towels. She dashed into her bathroom, pulled out three, then hurried to the front of the house and over to her neighbor’s.

By the time she got there, Riley had already pulled off his shirt and shoes and waded into the pool. Muffin, a very small and wet Yorkie, paddled furiously, but not in the direction of her rescuer. As Riley approached the dog growled and paddled toward the deep end.

“Muffin, no!” the older woman cried. “The nice man is trying to help you. Go to him, honey. Go on. Mommy says it will be fine.”

Gracie crouched by the edge of the pool. Riley shot her an unamused glanced.

“Don’t say it’s my fault,” she told him. “You volunteered.”

“Next time stop me.” He muttered something under his breath that sounded fairly unrepeatable in mixed company, then he moved out toward Muffin.

The Yorkie might be tiny but she was a fine swimmer who zipped across the pool like a missile. Every time Riley moved within grabbing distance, she darted away.

In the lights from around the pool Gracie saw Riley shiver in the freezing water. She stuck her fingers into the pool, then quickly pulled them back. Okay, maybe it wasn’t a good idea for both of them to get chilled to the bone.

Riley finally cornered the small dog by the ladder in the deep end. As he treaded water, he reached out for Muffin. The dog moved left. Riley grabbed her and pulled her close. Man and dog instantly yelped, but he didn’t let go.

Still cursing under his breath, he swam the foot or two to the side of the pool and tossed Muffin to safety, then started climbing the ladder. Gracie hurried around to hand him a towel. It was only then that she saw the little dog had scratched up his chest.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”

“It hurts as much as if she did.”

The neighbor wrapped her dog in a fluffy white towel and cooed. “There’s a good girl. There’s a pretty girl. You need to stay away from the big, bad pool.” The woman looked up. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“It’s fine,” Riley said. He started to the gate that would take him out of her yard. “Good night.”

“Oh, wait. I could pay you something.”

Riley waved and kept walking. Gracie hurried after him.

“We need to get you cleaned up,” she said. “Those scratches look-”

She never got to finish her sentence. As Riley stepped out onto the driveway there was a huge flash of light. Seconds later Gracie heard the sound of running feet, then a car door slammed, an engine started and the vehicle sped away.

“THIS ISNOTHAPPENING,” Gracie said in a voice that was uncomfortably close to a shriek.

Rather than respond, Riley grabbed her hand and pulled her back inside her house. When the door was firmly closed and locked, he glanced down at the oozing scratches on his chest and swore.

“Damn dog.”

Gracie spun toward him. “Yes, the dog was really bad, but did you see that? Did you see the guy with the camera? What’s going on? Who’s doing this? And why? I’m totally creeped out. Some man was lurking outside my house. He was obviously following one of us and-” She looked at his chest and winced. “Bathroom. Now.”