The Rules Regarding Gray (10 page)

His other hand was still holding hers above her head, their fingers wound together. He was heavy against her body, but she was dying to keep him there. His heart was beating furiously against her chest. He was still inside her, and she ached around him from her entry to the place deep within that he was touching.

“Say something,” he whispered against her skin.

Her lips pulled up slightly, but she froze unsure what exactly she should say. There must be something appropriate, something that was allowed, but she’d be damned if she could figure it out. What she wanted to say was how much she hated Ian’s rules. How much she wanted him to kiss her. How much she wanted to touch every inch of his body. How much she wanted to taste him. How much she wanted do everything Ian hadn’t allowed them to do.

“I want more,” she whispered just as quietly as he’d spoken to her.

He chuckled warmly, and then he sucked a gentle kiss on her neck, and she whimpered. He pulled back, looking down at her. He looked too serious, and she wasn’t sure how to take it.

“I know something about that feeling.” He studied her for a moment. “God, I want you so fucking much,” he whispered, his brow flinching as though it was a painful thing to say.

She just stared, her hand stilling on his back as she watched him. He shook his head subtly, and then he pushed himself up, slowly leaving her body. She cried out as the ache intensified before it eased. He watched as he left her body, and then he sat back on his calves.

He stood and walked to the small waste paper basket on the other side of the nightstand. He was so strong and tall, and his bottom was round and firm. He stopped at the garbage can, his back to her as he snapped the condom off his dick, and after he dropped it in the garbage, he turned back around to her. She was curled up on her side, and as he approached the bed, he sat beside her.

The shower faucet suddenly cutoff, and moments later, Ian re-entered, still toweling off. He moved to the other side of the bed and collapsed onto the mattress. He looked at her.

“You okay, babe?” He reached over tickling her arm with his finger.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” She wasn’t sure that was true though, and her eyes glossed over as she looked at Ian.

But he seemed to miss the emotional turmoil happening in her head. “Good.” He rolled away from her, leaving her to deal with herself and Jas, who was still sitting on the side of the bed watching her.

She glanced back to Jas, and the instant flinch in his brow said he saw clearly what Ian had missed. He studied her, but the more he studied, the more her back palate ached. It was tears. She needed to cry even if she didn’t know why, and before she allowed that to happen, she stood and walked toward the bathroom.

“I’m taking a shower,” she said softly as she left Jas staring after her.

She stepped into the large glass enclosure and turned the jets on. She stood, letting her head fall back and the water beat down on her face. But she wasn’t alone for long. She watched Jasper walk through the bathroom door, and he closed it behind him. He entered the shower enclosure, and he stood back against the back wall, crossing his ankles casually in that way he had about him.

She’d had no idea he had such a large tattoo on his body. It was completely hidden when he was clothed, and now that he was standing naked in front of her, she couldn’t seem to look away from it. It was colorful, huge, and consuming on his left side. It was a phoenix—a rather fitting symbol for a man with his past, and it was stunning. And smack in the middle of the bird’s barreled chest was a large letter G. She had no idea what that could mean, but she thought it must be profound to him in some way. He was anything if not intense and deep.

It had been a few weeks since she’d met him, and she could easily remember her first impression of him from the theater. She’d thought he was aloof. She took his expression as a perpetual smirk. She’d made the mistake of thinking he was … shallow even. But he was hardly the shallow one. And there was nothing aloof about him. And that smirk? It was just his way. The depth was undeniable—even if she didn’t fully understand where it came from.

He was still hard or hard again, and as he walked to her, he stroked his hand over his erection. “Turn around,” he said quietly once he was standing in front of her.

She turned to face the wall, and his hand gripped one of her shoulders as his body closed in behind hers. She could feel his erection hard against her back, and she sighed. He leaned to her ear as his hand ran a gentle path over her back to her bottom.

“Are you sore?” He whispered as his finger delved between her butt cheeks. He rubbed his finger across her anus.

“Yes.” She was just as quiet as he was. She was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to be doing this.

He pushed his finger into her as he moaned, and he thrust gently and slowly.

“This wasn’t the way I wanted it,” he commented—still speaking against her ear. “I wanted all of you. No rules.”

She nodded.

His finger pushed and pulled, and then he slipped it from her entirely, again rubbing against that puckered place. She felt bruised. Everything between her legs ached, but it wasn’t a bad ache. The ache in her chest, on the other hand, that was bad. And it was confusing.

“Turn around.”

She faced him, and he leaned down to her, bringing his mouth right up to hers. He let their lips brush, and she was certain he was going to kiss her. But he didn’t. He growled in frustration, instead reaching for her wrist as his forehead dropped to hers. He guided her hand to his cock, and when her fingers touched the rigid length of him, his eyes opened wide. His mouth was open in a silent moan as she moved her palm over his skin. He was incredibly large and heavy in her hand, and he braced his hands on the wall on either side of her as she stroked.

“Damn him,” he muttered. “How can I get past this, when I can’t fully have you?” He was tense as he spoke, and his forehead turned and tilted against hers. But he stilled her hand after a moment, and he stepped away from her to the back wall again. He watched her shower, and when she was finished they returned to the bedroom together.

He snatched his clothes up from the floor as Ian rolled over toward them.

“You guys having fun without me?” he asked sleepily, but then he looked at Jasper and caught sight of his erection, and he chuckled. “Well, clearly you didn’t have too much fun.” He laughed and rolled back over.

She sat on the side of the bed naked, and she watched as Jasper dressed. He sat on the occasional chair as he slipped his shoes back on, and then he took a deep breath and just watched her. It was unnerving. He didn’t stop studying her for a long while, and when he did, he stood and walked to the side of the bed where she was sitting. He crouched down in front of her, and he took her hand, holding it gently in his. When he kissed the palm, her lips parted. His mouth was warm against her skin, and he closed his eyes when he kissed just as anyone would were they kissing someone on the mouth. He slid her hand from his mouth to the side of his face, holding it to his cheek for a moment, and then he mouthed the words, “good night.” She nodded as he stood, and she watched him walk away.

Chapter Nine

Jasper followed Ian down the row in the studio theater a few nights later. It was a performance and food thing, and aside from the fact Gray would not only be there, but would be dancing as well, he had no other interest in the shindig. There was only one performance—Gray and some man. It was just a teaser of sorts, from what he could tell, and then the company was catering in hors d’oeuvres for a post-performance meet and greet in the building’s large open lobby. This was not his kind of thing, and the stares that followed his over-casual appearance as he walked by confirmed it. But he’d worn a button down shirt with his jeans. That had to count for something.

He looked around. The theater wasn’t a large one, and the floor level stage was empty except for a grand piano that sat off to the side. The lights were dimmed on the stage, and Jasper sank into the seat next to Ian, glancing at him.

“Doesn’t seem large enough for a
real
ballet.” What the hell did he know?

“No. It’s not. This is where they practice. The main performances are at The Long Center, but their season doesn’t start for another month. Right now, they’re just rehearsing for the upcoming season.”

Jas nodded, relaxing back into the seat as he waited. He’d not seen Gray since the night he’d stuck his cock up her ass, and in truth, he’d been worried that entire time about her. He wasn’t entirely sure why, except she was so very different from the other women he’d shared with Ian, and he couldn’t imagine such things as taking a man up her ass while her boyfriend came in her mouth was something she could walk away from without some confusing feelings.

When Ian called asking him to be his plus-one to the event, there wasn’t much considering to be done. He’d nearly called her a few times, but that wasn’t how it worked. She wasn’t his girlfriend to call or not call. She wasn’t his girlfriend to share or not share, and she sure as hell wasn’t his girlfriend to worry or not worry about. If touching her pussy was against the rules, then calling her on the phone and being all sentimental was certainly overstepping some major boundaries.

Ian didn’t deserve her. There was no doubt of that. Of course, Jas didn’t deserve her either. There was even less doubt about that. But he wasn’t going to walk away from this. He couldn’t. Not from her. Not from the chance to have her again—even if it was in some cruel limited means set forth by his sadistic best friend, who, for the first time in his life, seemed to be setting some limits.

When a pianist took the stage, sitting at the grand piano, he sat up straighter. He knew nothing about ballet, except this one was considered non-traditional. And as the pianist started playing a simple lulling piece, the curtain raised, and he saw her. She was wound up in a man’s arms, contorted and twisted, and as her body started to move to the lilting and sad piece, his thumb mindlessly stroked his lip.

The way her body moved was entirely too sexy. Equating dancing to fucking was right on the money in her case. And even wound together with another man’s body, he had no problem fixating on exactly what her figure was doing. Her movements were so controlled and subtly seductive. She moved seamlessly, without a pause or stutter. It was like watching thick liquid move in zero gravity—as though she could pour her movements out. And, holy fuck, that costume.

She was wearing a simple costume of white. Nothing more than a short white skirt and leotard. He could practically see her nipples through the top. They were taut and hard, and all he could think about was what she looked like squeezing those small tits as he watched. He almost thought the costuming was a bit lewd until he took in what her male counterpart was wearing.

His brow wrinkled, and he sneered as the man turned. It was all spandex covered ass cheeks from the back and spandex covered cock cup in the front. Talk about lewd, and as he gaped at the sight of it, shocked that such things were appropriate in this world, Ian chuckled quietly beside him.

“What the fuck?” He mouthed the words to Ian.

Ian just laughed silently—his shoulders shaking subtly.

But nearly-naked-spandex-covered man aside, she was stunning. She was so small and petite, and Jasper felt huge and powerful in comparison. It was a barbaric image of overtaking her that came to his mind, and it was arousing as hell.

She did her twirlies, and her pira-whatchacallits, and he drooled the entire time. The man lifting her body was able to touch her in ways Jas wasn’t allowed to touch her. By the time the thing ended, he had a hard-on, he wanted to clobber her dance partner with his own nut-cup, and he resented the hell out of Ian for not only asking him to come tonight, but laying down rules that were torturously restrictive to all the ways he wanted to touch her.

When the long dance number was finished, her skin sheened with a light slick of perspiration, and she was panting lightly as she held the man’s hand. He bowed and she curtsied demurely as the audience stood and clapped. Jasper stood as well, and he studied her as she curtsied again. It wasn’t a large crowd given it was invitation only, and her eyes caught on him, or perhaps it was Ian—both made sense. But then as the audience sat, he lifted a hand to her, and after she paused, she lifted her own hand and smiled shyly. He swore he could see the blush even from the fifth row.

He sat through a speech that nearly put him to sleep by the director of the company after that, and by the time they were dismissed, he was so hungry he was willing to sink his teeth into pretty much anything. When they made it back out to the lobby, he started scanning the room for her. She walked in shortly thereafter, wearing a sterling silver silky sheath dress that virtually hid her small curves and hit just above her knees—so fucking demure for a woman who’d let him do incredibly naughty things to her a few nights before.

She was with another gal, and as they approached Ian and him, the girl held her hand out to Ian.

“Good to see you again, Ian.” She commented curtly but with a smile.

“Good to see you too, Anna.” Ian smiled politely. “Jas, this is Anna. She dances for the company as well, and she happens to be Gray’s best friend too.”

Jasper reluctantly pulled his gaze from Gray even while she tried to avoid his attention. She was horribly nervous around him, and he was smirking subtly as he met Anna’s eyes. Anna’s lips pursed haughtily as she took in his smirk, and as she took his hand, her eyes cooled. Gray still couldn’t seem to look at him for longer than a moment at a time, and Jas couldn’t help but wonder exactly what Gray’s bestie new about him. If his understanding of best friends was worth anything, he was guessing she knew everything.