Give Me Grace (23 page)

The heavy rain had died off minutes
ago, settling into a light, steady patter that the windscreen wipers cleared away intermittently. We were on our way back to my loft. I wasn’t sure what plan Grace had in mind, but mine was to finally get her in my bed and fuck her all over again.

I would have to return her to the duplex before anyone woke up and noticed she’d left. I didn’t like the idea of taking her home in the middle of the night—I wanted to wake with her in my bed—but I liked the idea of Henry waking up to find her gone even less.

“Why are you angry?”

“I’m not angry,” I replied.

“You’re frowning,” she answered, shivering from the cool change the storm had brought with it. I took my hand from her leg to turn up the heat before returning it.

“Because I don’t want this whole thing with your brother to come to blows.”

“What? Why would it come to that? Henry’s not violent.” Grace looked confused, her furrowed brow now mimicking mine. “You’re not going to punch him, are you?”

“I’m not going to punch your brother, Slim,” I replied calmly, but Henry was going to punch me, of that there was no doubt. He’d made it a point to ask me to keep my distance and I’d gone against his wishes.
All over the hood of my car. Which could now quite possibly be dented and scratched. “But I am going to tell him about us.”

“No you’re not,” she declared, raking her eyes over my near
-naked form. I was wearing only my boxer-briefs. The rest of my wet clothing had been tossed in the boot of the car along with hers.

My cock stirred in interest at her attention
, and I took my hand off her leg to rub it absentmindedly. “No, I’m not going to tell him right now.”

Her brow smoothed with relief before furrowing again. “When?”

“Tomorrow night,” I told her, deciding that would be a good a time as any.

Grace pursed her lips, smug. “Jamieson has their contracted show at the Florence Bar tomorrow night. Henry won’t be home.”

“I know,” I replied, taking a right turn onto Ocean Street when the light changed to green. “I’m doing your security.”

“No you’re not. Jared and Coby are.”

“Jared and Coby
were
,” I corrected her. “Now Jared and I are, remember? I texted you about it earlier today.”

After a moment of silence, she blurted out, “I’ll tell him.”

“No.” I shook my head at the idea. “I’ll handle it.”

The closer we got to the city, the busier the roads became, filling up with mad taxi drivers taking their tired, drunken fares home after a Thursday night out. I shifted g
ears and took the next left on o New South Head Road before glancing quickly at Grace. Seeing the hem of her towel falling precariously close to her nipples, I reached over to tug it up, mindful of peeping passengers.

“Why
do you get to handle it?” Grace folded her arms, thwarting my efforts. The towel inched lower. “Because you have a penis?”

“Yes,” I conceded, glancing across at the towel with frustration. “Henry is going to be pissed off. You get that, right? I’d prefer him to be pissed off
at me rather than you.”

Comp
rehension dawned in her eyes. “Because you think he’s going to punch
you!
” She waved her hands around as she spoke and the towel gave up its fight, falling into her lap.

My cock stood to immediate attention, saluting the sudden display of nudity. I groaned. “Jesus, Slim.” With one hand, I grabbed the towel and yanked it up under her chin while I tried to watch the road. “You’re going to cause a car accident. And he won’t punch me,” I lied. I’d tell him just before he went on stage. At least then he would be holding his guitar. It would give him less opportunity to
get violent.

“You’re right. He won’t punch you.”

I smiled at Grace reassuringly, pleased that she’d realised I could handle the matter. Henry would get over his fury when I made him understand that I had no intentions of hurting his sister.

“Because you won’t be there when
I
tell him,” she added as I navigated the car into the underground car park of my building. The area was well lit. It hadn’t always been, but when the elderly couple living in the space below were mugged soon after Jared and Travis had moved in, we’d made some changes to make the area safer.

“That’s very noble of you to sacrifice yourself, Slim, but—”

“Oh, it’s no trouble—”

“—I said I could handle it. I know how to take a punch or two.”

Grace went suddenly quiet as I parked in my assigned space and turned off the ignition. Pocketing the keys, I got out and went around to the passenger door. After opening it, I ducked my head to check on her when she didn’t move.

“Grace?”

I crouched down until I was looking up at her bowed head. Her eyes looked suspiciously wet.

Reaching over her lap, I unclipped the
seat belt and pulled her towards me. She came easily, wrapping her arms around me. I nuzzled the side of her throat, inhaling the sweet, feminine scent of her skin.

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

Grace pulled back, her eyes searching my face. “That day at the beach when you told me your story. It wasn’t just your mum, was it? He hit you, too.”

My heart raced and my mouth went dry, hating to dredge up old memories.

“He did,” I replied, using my thumb to wipe a tear that spilled down her cheek at my admission. “I would act out deliberately, because if his rage was focused on me—”

“Then he would hit you instead of your mum or Kelly,” she finished for me, her voice thick with hurt.

I nodded, unable to form words.

Grace drew a deep, shaky breath. “That’s why you want to talk to Henry instead of me. You want him to take his anger out on you instead of me.”

I stood up, dragging Grace with me. “I won’t let him hurt you, Slim,” I told her as I shut the car door and locked it.

“But it’s okay for him to hurt you?”

Taking her hand in mine, I led her up to the loft. “I told you. I can take it.” I punched the security code in and opened the door, motioning her inside. The minute she stepped through the doorway, I spun her around, using my bulk to push her up against the wall and kiss her, making us both forget the entire conversation.

Forcing her mouth open, my tongue swept inside. She grabbed my shoulders, her fingers digging in as she kissed me back, whimpering and rubbing her tongue against mine until I shook from wanting her.

She broke the kiss with a gasp. “We haven’t finished our conversation.”

“We’ll finish it later,” I lied and started kissing her again. Damn, she tasted good. I reached for the towel to rip it away.

The sound of a throat being cleared echoed through the dark, quiet loft. We both froze for a minute before I reached over and flicked on the light switch. The living and dining area lit up, highlighting Coby standing in the kitchen. His hair was mussed and like me, he was wearing only a pair of boxer-briefs.

“Well,” he drawled with a crooked grin, setting his glass of water on the kitchen bench. “This is awkward.”

It wasn’t the first time either of us had caught the other with a woman, but this was
Grace
, and she was barely dressed. I pushed her behind me, but not before Coby caught sight of her distinctive deep red hair and the colourful tattoo that wound over her shoulder and down her arm.

He blanched, his brown eyes g
rowing wide with shock. “Grace?”

Grace peeked over my shoulder, giving him a brief wave and a once over with her eyes. “Hi
, Coby.”

I glared at her.

She lifted her shoulders in a shrug.

“Shower,” I muttered and herded her towards the bathroom. “Excuse us,” I threw at Coby as we passed by.

He was still standing in place, stunned, when I shut the door behind us. Letting go of Grace, I reached inside the shower stall and flicked on the taps. I held my hand under the spray while I waited for the water to heat. When steam started rising, I turned around to find Grace with her head stuck in the bathroom cabinet.

“Need something?”

“No.” She shook her head. “That’s a big-ass box of condoms, Casey.” She took the box out, peering inside. “Half empty. You’re a busy boy, aren’t you?”

I didn’t hesitate. “They’re Coby’s.”

Grace laughed. “I don’t care about who came before me, Casey.” Putting the box back, she shut the cabinet door and faced me.

“Really?” I took a step towards her. “Because I’m crazy jealous of every man who ever came before me.” With a quick movement, I flicked the edge of the towel. It dropped to the floor and my mouth went dry as I looked at her. “Of every man who got to see this.” I ran my palm down the smooth skin of her belly and over her hip. “And feel this.” She closed her eyes at my touch. “Every inch of your body is mine now, Slim. No one else gets to touch you.”

“Yours,” Grace moaned when my hand slipped between her legs, my fingers gliding over hot, slick skin before finding their way inside her body. She rested her forehead against my shoulder, her breath fanning out across my skin in ragged pants. “Until I leave.”

That’s what you think, but I’m never going to let you leave.

“Casey?” she breathed. I looked up, unable to hide the possessive gleam I knew was clear in my eyes. “You promised.”

My jaw clenched at the reminder and I nodded stiffly. Withdrawing my hand regretfully, I took a step back. “In the shower, Grace. I need to go have a word with Coby.”

She grabbed my arm when I turned to leave.

“He won’t say anything to Henry, will he? I mean, it’s one thing for him to know we’re seeing each other, but hearing it from someone else would be so much worse.”

“He won’t,” I assured her.

Leaving Grace to her shower, I headed to my room and plucked out a pair of sweatpants from the dresser. I tugged them on, knowing they were loose enough to cover the erection that wouldn’t go down. Picking out my old football jersey with
“Daniels” and the number 85 on the back, I took it into the bathroom for Grace to put on when she was finished. Leaving it on the vanity along with a clean towel, I left to face Coby. He was still standing in the kitchen, arms folded while he waited.

“What the fuck, Casey,” he growled the second I appeared. “Does Henry know? What am I saying,” he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Of course he doesn’t know or you’d be dead right now.”

I leaned my hip against the kitchen bench, waiting for Coby to get a hold of himself.

“Christ.” He started pacing. “When I found out about Jared and Evie, it was all I could do not to weigh his body down with cement bricks and drop him out in the middle of the ocean.”

I shook my head, remembering that particular day clearly. Coby had gone so far as to hire a deep-sea fishing charter for the day. We’d all gone out under the guise of Coby telling us we were guaranteed to catch a marlin—the holy grail of offshore sport fishing.

With the captain occupied at the wheel and his two-man crew getting equipment from below, Coby had whipped out a gun and ordered Jared to his knees. Everyone froze in place, thinking he’d gone mad. Being the closest, I’d tackled Coby to the floor of the boat. In my effort to control his sudden psychotic break, I cracked my head on the side of the built-in metal fish box
, splitting open the skin. Blood oozed down my face in a fountain, spilling out over the deck.

When Mitch got close
enough to wrestle the gun away from Coby, he slipped in the blood and would’ve gone overboard if Jared hadn’t grabbed his legs and pulled him back in. With Jared now in arms’ reach, Coby slammed the butt of the gun in his face. Jared stumbled back, letting go of his hold on Mitch. Coby used the opportunity to deliver a hard kick to Jared’s groin, along with the verbal threat that he would die a slow, torturous death if he went near Evie again.

When the crew returned to the deck, they found it covered in blood, Mitch pointing Coby’s gun at Coby, me getting woozily to my feet, Jared finally on his knees, ready to puke as he cupped his groin, and Travis leaning against the side of the boat, casually drinking a beer. We were kicked off the boat and the word was spread. There were few fishing charters that would take us out now, thanks to Coby.

Coby paused his pacing to glare at me. “What are your intentions?”

“What are my…” I looked at him, incredulous. “Why? Are you pl
anning another ‘fishing charter?’” I air-quoted.

“No, but if Henry comes to you and tells you he’s booked one, don’t go,” Coby said in all seriousness as he resumed pacing. “I still can’t believe those assholes kicked us off their boat,” he added, obviously still pissed and holding a grudge over the whole fiasco. “It’s not like the gun was loaded or anything.”

“You know I heard of a charter up the coast that might take us on,” I told him as I yawned and stretched, feeling the physical and emotional drain of the day catching up to me.

Coby’s eyes lit up. Despite his original intention being only to scare the living shit out of Jared, he was still hell-bent on catching that marlin he was promised.