Page 52 of Ethan & Grace

Three seconds.

A smile spread across Ethan’s face, and it was as though his mouth was connected to mine by an invisible string, because my lips lifted too—along with my mood. I hadn’t exactly been feeling badly before; I was still riding on the afterglow of the orgasms he’d given me. But the pitying looks from my colleagues this morning had dampened my spirits again. Just seeing Ethan, though, instantly cheered me up. Which was remarkable, considering that just a few months ago, his presence had had the opposite effect.

He took off his headphones. “Hi.”

“Hey, Beelzebub,” I said, a little breathless.

“I didn’t hear you.”

“I heard you,” I replied, realising afterwards how odd it sounded.

I suddenly felt awkward, which had never happened to me around him before. Not even after my breakdown, which should have been far more humiliating. But apparently, the fact that Ethan now knew what I sounded like when I came had changed things more than I’d expected. I cleared my throat and hurriedly asked a question to distract from my uninspired reply.

“How was your workout?”

“OK.” He set down his headphones and phone and came towards me. Sweat glistened on his skin, and suddenly, my fantasy returned—not of us in the shower together, but one in which I licked the sweat from his body. It was a slightly disgusting thought, yet somehow enticing. “That was my second workout today, so I wasn’t really on top form,” he added. “But I needed a distraction.”

“Distraction?” I asked, as if the word were new to me. “What from?”

“You.” He stopped in front of me. His cheeks were flushed, and his eyes sparkled as he looked down at me. I didn’t know what it was about his gaze, but something in it sent a heat spreading through my stomach and made me wet between my thighs. I quickly pressed my legs together.

“Me?”

Ethan nodded and raised his hand. He touched my face tenderly. My cheek. My jaw. “I haven’t been able to think about anything but this mouth since Thursday.” He ran his thumb across my lower lip. “And about how amazing it felt to have my fingers inside you, fucking you.”

The last words made my legs go weak. I didn’t know how to respond. That it had felt amazing for me too? Or was that a lame reply? Maybe Ethan was right, and I really was more the lovemaking type, because I had no idea how to handle this situation. My mind was completely blank. I tried a different approach. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ethan raised his eyebrows. “Oh, really?”

“No, sorry,” I replied, shaking my head in exaggerated denial. “Whatever happened on Thursday can’t have made much of an impression if I’ve already forgotten it.”

The corner of Ethan’s lips twitched as he realised what game I was playing. He took another step towards me, and I was hit by his scent. “Maybe you forgot after I made you lose your mind that night,” he said, his voice smooth as velvet, low and seductive. “Want me to help you remember?”

20

How are things at the hotel? I saw the trial’s started. Ethan looked miserable in the courtroom. How’s he doing?

Message from Logan to Henry

Ethan

“Want me to help you remember?”

Grace teasingly called me Beelzebub, but given how long she made me wait for her reply, pushing my patience to its limits, she was clearly the wicked one. Ever since that night in the pool, I hadn’t been able to think of anything but her—her soft curves, her smooth skin, the sounds she’d made as her muscles clenched around my fingers.

“Sure, why not?” she finally replied with a performatively casual shrug.

I didn’t need to be told twice. I closed the distance between us and kissed her. This time, there was no hesitation, no holding back. This kiss wasn’t happening in a haze of nighttime intoxication. Grace knew exactly what was happening. I slid my tongue into her mouth, tasting her, because I couldn’t get enough. And it had nothing at all to do with the fact that I’d just endured the longest dry spell I’d had in years. It was entirely because of her, her tempting lips, her intoxicating taste, the way she drew me in.

“Do you remember now?”

She shook her head.

I smirked. “Liar.” As punishment, I bit her lower lip.

She whimpered, but in pleasure rather than pain. The sound only fuelled my own desire. My fingers slipped under her top and beneath her bra. She shuddered as I cupped her breast, just as I had done in the pool, to help jog her memory.

“How about now?”