Page 42 of Cinderella Hired for His Revenge

Her eyes grew hot. She had cried for days after the miscarriage. It had seemed like the cruelest twist of fate, to first lose Grant and then to lose their child.

“You didn’t know, Grant.”

“But I did,” he said fiercely. “I did know, and I failed you. You and our...our child.” Slowly, he reached out and cupped her face just like he had that night in the kitchen. “I failed you, Alexandra, and this morning I failed again. I’m sorry.”

His apology lifted a heavy weight from her shoulders. Tears splashed down her cheeks as she brought her hand up to cover his.

“You don’t have to apologize, Grant.”

“I do. I hurt you, Alexandra. You didn’t deserve any of the pain your father brought on you, and certainly none of the pain I’ve brought into your life.”

She turned and placed a kiss in the middle of his palm. His breath hissed out. When he kissed her this time, it was a sweet kiss, tender and reminiscent of the first time he’d kissed her in the gardens. His other hand came up and he cradled her face with a tenderness that made tears prick her eyes. Their first time in his bedroom had been fiery, passionate, a fitting reunion given the years they’d been apart.

But this...this was something more. As his lips trailed over her cheek, down her neck and pressed firmly against the pulse beating in her throat, she knew what had changed, at least for her.

She had finally accepted that she was still in love with Grant Santos. A fact that at one time would have driven her into a melancholy state at not being able to let go of the past. If only she had seen sooner that loving Grant had brought out the best in her. He had been the one to challenge her, to encourage her to step outside of her comfort zone and be strong. Unlike the others in her life, he had never wanted someone to be dependent on him. He had wanted her to be free.

Her hands came up, her fingers tangling in his silky hair as she pressed a kiss to his forehead and his hands dropped to her back, pressing her closer.

I love you.

The words stayed locked in her chest, but she showed him, showed him as she undid the buttons on his shirt and kissed the warm skin of his chest. Showed him as she straddled his lap, laced her fingers behind his head and covered his lips with hers with fearless abandon.

Tonight, with the sea roaring behind them and the barest hint of silver moonlight caressing their skin as it waned, she would show him how she felt. And she would do so without fear of what tomorrow would bring.

His fingers slipped beneath the straps of her dress and eased them down over her shoulders. She smiled against his mouth. Each touch of his fingertips, each soft graze, imprinted itself on her memory. How many times had she lain in bed, remembering their passion from that summer and trying to recall the details that her subsequent heartbreak and trauma had erased? She would not make that mistake again.

Cool, salt-tinted air drifted over her breasts as Grant bared them to his gaze. He leaned forward, placed his head on her chest and breathed in deeply, as if he was inhaling the scent of her. She cradled his head in her hands, pressed him against her chest and cherished the intimate moment before he pulled back and captured one nipple in his mouth. She arched against him. He sucked her into the warm heat of his mouth, kissing and licking and nibbling with expert touches that stoked the fires building inside her body. He repeated the same process on her other breast before he pulled the dress over her head. It left her clad in nothing but her panties, legs spread across his lap as she looked down at him.

He leaned back and smirked up at her.

“What are you waiting for?”

Her answering smile was full of promise. She continued her quest to unbutton his shirt, pulling the material free of the waistband of his pants with slow, measured movements. His smirk disappeared as his eyes grew hot, watching her with an intensity that made her so wet she could barely restrain herself from freeing him from the confines of his pants and sinking down onto his hard length.

But she forced herself to go slow. The first time had been them crashing into each other, years of pain and pent-up passion and longing rolled into one incredible moment of sex.

This, though, was different. The past couple of days, overcoming their first true fight, sharing what had happened all those years ago, had made her feel as light as air. The weight of the burden she’d been carrying had been with her for so long she hadn’t even realized how heavy it had become, weighing down her life, her future, everything. Without it, she felt like she could conquer the world.

Or reclaim a lost love.

Slow down.

She steadied her emotions, brought herself back under control. Tonight could be just one night, or it could be the beginning of something more. Whatever it was, she would make it last.

She reached down and grabbed his hands, guiding them to her breasts. His eyes turned molten as he cupped their full weight, his thumbs brushing the sensitive tips. She relished his touch before covering his fingers with her own and pushing them down the curves of her waist, over her hips to her thighs. As his hands settled on her, his fingertips pressing into her flesh, she slipped her hands behind his neck and leaned down. She pressed a kiss to his temple, his cheek, the curve of his ear. Her breasts grazed his chest, eliciting sharp inhales from them both as she continued to explore his face with her lips.

His hands crept up her thighs. One finger traced the sensitive skin beneath the waistband of her panties. Another gently rubbed her most sensitive flesh through the thin, lacy material, making her jump beneath his touch at the electricity that spiraled throughout her body.

“You’re so wet for me, Alexandra.”

His voice, rough and wondering, wound around her. With another smile she leaned down and kissed him deeply.

“Only you, Grant. Ever.”

His eyes widened slightly as the meaning of her words sank in. She didn’t wait to hear his reply. Instead, she placed her palms on his chest and pushed him back onto the blanket. She stood above him and slowly, teasingly, slipped her panties off, leaving her naked.

Another breeze whispered over her skin. Shyness crept in as she gazed down at her one and only lover. She loved her newfound confidence, the strength Grant had always insisted she had possessed. She hadn’t fully believed him until she’d had no other choice but to be strong.

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