Page 115 of Perfect Harmony

He ignored her and kept the same slow torturouspace. She braced her feet on the bed and met each slow thrust, the pleasurebuilding inside of her, the sweet need for release humming in her brain.

His pace quickened, just enough to tease,just enough to torture. His face was only inches from hers and he kissed heragain. She tasted mint and Gideon’s own unique taste as he took the kissdeeper.

She was on the verge of her climax, thepleasure pulsing in her belly, standing on the edge of that cliff and beingpushed closer and closer to her release.

When he pulled back, the tenderness on hisface took her breath away. She closed her eyes, afraid he would see her lovefor him – it was impossible to hide it, not now.

“Open your eyes, baby,” he said.

“No,” she whispered. “No, I can’t.”

“Please,” he said.

She stared up at him, knowing he could seeexactly how much she did and always would love him. Something flickered in hislovely eyes, an emotion gone too quickly for her to know what it was, and then hewas fucking her hard and kissing her again, his body and mouth urging her intoher release.

The pleasure burst inside of her, fire andheat wrapped up in her love for him that only made the release that muchsweeter. She cried his name against his lips, and he groaned hers in reply ashis body gave in to his own climax and he came deep inside of her. Hot warmthsoaked her core as he emptied himself into her, his hips pumping repeatedly,until he collapsed against her.

He rested his forehead against hers, his warmbreath washing over her face in hot pants as both their bodies trembled.

“Holy fuck,” he mumbled before rolling offof her onto his back. He stared up at the ceiling and she rested her head onhis chest. His hand tangled in her long hair, smoothing it down her back whileshe listened to the rapid beat of his heart beneath her cheek.

“Thank you, baby. That was amazing. I’venever…”

“Never what?” she said.

“Never had sex without a condom.”

She sat up. “Seriously?”

He nodded before urging her back down againsthis chest. He stroked the length of her back, his fingers tracing the bumps ofher spine. “Yeah. My tests are all clear, by the way.”

She traced the harsh ridges of his abdomen.“Mine too.”

They laid in silence for a few more minutesbefore she said, “Aren’t you going to ask me if I’m on birth control?”

“We share a bathroom. Your birth control ison the bathroom counter,” he said.

“Right.” Was she actually a little disappointed?Did she really think for even a second that Gideon had fucked her bare because he’dhoped he might get her pregnant?

She closed her eyes, a part of her a littleunsettled by the lack of kink tonight, the way he hadn’t once made her call him‘sir’ or doled out little punishments. The sex had been downright vanilla and theway he’d looked at her, the tenderness he displayed when –

No, Gracie. Don’t start thinking thatway. Gideon may care for you a lot, he may even love you, but that doesn’tmean he’s going to change his mind about a relationship with you.

She shut out her inner voice. What did sheknow anyway? Things were changing between her and Gideon, and the small flickerof hope within her still refused to be extinguished.

Chapter Twenty-One

Gracie checked her phone again, chewing herbottom lip. Where was Gideon? His baseball game was over by three, and he’dpromised to be at the storage facility by three-thirty. It was almost four andshe hadn’t heard a word from him.

She tried his number again, this timecalling instead of texting, and muttered a curse when the phone just rang andrang. She ended the call and took a deep breath. He was fine. Things hadbeen a little tense between them the last few days, mostly because she’d askedhim again to talk to her about his parents and he had painfully and obviouslychanged the subject. But, still, that didn’t mean he was ditching her. He wasprobably just stuck in traffic or something.

Stuck in traffic? On a Sunday afternoon?Maybe in tourist season but, girl, it isn’t even close to tourist season.

Okay, so maybe not stuck in traffic. But hisgame could have run late or maybe he was called in to work. She hesitated and thencalled the non-emergency number for the sheriff’s department.

“Harmony Falls Sheriff Department, Wandaspeaking.”

“Hey, Wanda, it’s Grace.”

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