Page 25 of Finding the Forward: Part One
Her driftwood and sea salt scent hit me at full force as she took a breath. These ocean waves weren’t lapping languidly, they were crashing against the rocks, compelling, consuming, and ready to drag me under.
Even in this icy water, it made my dick twitch.Drag me under, Kitten. Drown me in your scent.Now that I found her, I’d never let her go.
“So good. Take another. You’re almost there. You’ve got this, Gorgeous,” I told her, getting a hit of her sweet desire as she melted into my arms.
I pulled her closer, relishing the way her body fit into mine. Verity didn’t get lost in my largeness. She nested, like one container inside of another.
Being this close to her made me hornier than a teenager when Dean’s parents would go out of town and leave us towatch the house.
All aboard the hot hormone express.
“Time,” Rusty finally called. “Good job, Team Mom!”
About fucking time. This felt colder than I was used to. The Maimers must do something different. A bunch of the students cheered, though a few looked disappointed.
Why did people even volunteer for this? I didn’t have much money when I was a student, but I wouldn’t have done shit like this for tickets and a sweatshirt except on maybe the hottest of summer days.
“Help me get out?” Verity whispered, teeth chattering.
I scooped her up in my arms and got us both out of the freezing water. Blue tinged her lips. Someone threw Maimers blankets over us.
“Thanks,” I muttered. Not putting her down, I walked over to the little warming station they’d set up.
I looked down at the woman in my arms, falling into her blue-green eyes. Heat from the lamp warmed us. If only there was a hot bath I could take her in. Then I’d get her all warmed up and bury myself in her.
Did she crave me to the same degree that I craved her?I hope so.
“Hey, Kitten. Long time, no see.” I’d found her. It felt as right as it had on the plane.
More.
“Hey, Grif,” she shivered, “I guess you’re not a fútbol player.”
I chuckled a little. “No. I guess introductions are in order? I’m Griffin McGraff, and I’m a forward for the New York Knights. Though when you met me, I was still with the Biscayne Bay Hurricanes.”
“Like the sweatshirt? I should’ve realized that. As my little sister says, I might be smart, but I’m not always bright. Verity Thorne. PhD student at NYIT.” She smiled, lighting up her entire face.
Yep. PhD student. Big sister. Collegiate fútbol player. Model.
Verity play smacked me, expression turning exasperated. “Why did you get in with me? Now you’re wet and cold, and you’re going to get sick. Please tell me that you have clothes to change into?”
Her tone made me chuckle. Yep, this was someone used to taking care of younger siblings.
She glared at my laugh. “I donotwant your teammates mad at me if you get sick and miss a game.”
“You were panicking, Kitten. I didn’t want those assholes to win A’s on their next test or whatever they got if you failed.” I watched as one of her students prepared to go in with Rusty. Another eyed Clark as Carlos chatted people up.
“They weren’t getting A’s. But thank you.” Her voice went soft. “Iwaspanicking. I’ve done it before, so I thought I could do it. But this time I couldn’t. Thank you. I didn’t want to fail in front of everyone.”
“Anytime, Kitten.” All I could do was gaze at her.
She looked around, amused. “Are you just going to casually hold me under the heat lamp? Did you bring clothes? You should change.”
While dry clothes would be nice, I wasn’t interested in putting her down. By her body language, she didn’t want that, either. Yeah, I’d hold her under the heat lamp as long as we could.
A woman in a lab coat came over. “Who’s this, Ver?”
She was maybe Verity’s age, but not nearly as tall. Beautiful braids ranging from brown to pale green fell down her back in a waterfall.
