Avery was less than a mile from the turnoff to his place and was priding herself on making it without further mishap when she hit an icy patch just right, sending the car sliding in a slow, uncontrollable glide toward the embankment. Never having driven in such treacherous conditions, she didn’t know to turn the wheel into the spin and did the opposite, compounding her situation until she came to a jarring stop with the front end of her car pointing down toward the small ditch, the front tires spinning uselessly.
Tears of frustration and despair welled, blurring her vision as she looked around at the deserted road behind her and dense woods in front. If memory served correctly, and she prayed it did as she struggled out of the vehicle and freezing rain stung her face, Grayson’s home wasn’t far. Holding her jacket closed with her hands tucked inside and face down, she trudged up the road until she recognized the turnoff.
Ten minutes later, her face and feet were numb, her teeth were chattering, and she was so miserable, aching for warmth, she didn’t hear the SUV coming up behind her until Grayson pulled to a stop. Flinging open the passenger door, Avery had never been so glad to see his scowling face or hear his commanding voice.
“Get the fuck in here.”
Grayson couldn’t believe it when he spotted Avery halfway up the road leading to his place, her hair plastered to her face and neck in frozen tendrils, her face pale, her lips blue when she looked up at him. Anger warred with concern as she struggled to climb inside the cruiser until he leaned over and hauled her up himself. She should have been home two hours ago, not out in this weather, stranded without a car. He was so pissed he didn’t trust himself to say anything else yet. Flipping the heat on high, he sped down the road, anxious now to get her warm before hypothermia kicked in.
“I… slid o… off the… road…” She waved a shaking hand backwards, indicating the highway through her chattering. “I… w… was…”
“Quiet,” he bit out. “I already gathered you didn’t go straight home after I warned you about the storm. You’re really racking up the infractions.”
“B… but…”
“Avery, I swear to God, if you don’t shut up, I’ll stick a ball gag in your mouth the minute I get you inside. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to hear your explanation.” Grayson pulled into the garage and closed the door before cutting the engine, saying, “Wait there. I’ll help you.”
Coming around to the passenger side, he lifted her and carried her straight into his bathroom, his first intention to get her out of her cold, sodden clothes, the second to get her warm enough to start answering questions.
Chapter 11
Avery wasn’t sure what a ball gag was, but the image that popped into her head prompted the tight clamping of her trembling lips together. Being carried by Grayson would have been a pleasant experience if it weren’t for the cold expression on his face adding to the shivers already racking her body. She wanted to explain she’d been coming to him, and why, but the small amount of bravery she’d managed to conjure up back in Billings seemed to have deserted her in the face of his wrath. His displeasure with her continued to bother her on one of those indefinable levels she didn’t understand. Regardless of their limited relationship, she wanted back in his good graces.
Grayson kicked the door to the master bath shut, set her down and reached into the glass enclosed tiled shower. As he flipped on not only the middle overhead rain shower head but both side sprays, instant, billowing steam started seeping into her bones. And then he turned back around, yanked off her sodden jacket, tossed her glasses onto the double-sink counter and reached for her sweatshirt, making her forget to stay silent.
Lifting shaking hands to his, she whispered, “I can do it.”
Grayson’s eyes snapped to hers. “You won’t be sitting comfortably for a week if you keep it up.”
A slow curl of anger tightened Avery’s abdomen, but she pushed back the temptation to question him about his mood. She got that his current pissy attitude stemmed from her getting caught unawares by the weather and ending up in physical jeopardy because she hadn’t listened to him about heading straight home from the hospital. But his ire had kicked in Friday night, two days before today’s fiasco.
He whipped the damp shirt over her head, tossed it on the floor and didn’t hesitate before ridding her of her bra. Her nipples, already puckered from the cold, went tighter under his heated inspection. Taking a deep breath, she breathed in the steam as it slowly warmed her icy skin.
“Hold on to my shoulders,” Grayson instructed after loosening her jeans.
His muscles bunched under her grip as he bent down to work her wet pants, shoes and socks off before removing her panties. She found herself warmer naked, without the cold, clinging dampness of her clothes, his nearness, piercing eyes and the steam all working to envelop her with much-appreciated heat.
Grayson checked her pulse while looking her over with a critical eye. With a nod and one hand on her butt, he pushed her into the shower. “I’ll be back,” was all he said before closing her in under the pelting, hot water that struck her cold body with stinging force. The fact he hadn’t let his irritation with her keep him from ensuring her well-being perked her up.
Avery yelped and then sighed under the heated deluge, thawing the rest of the way, barely hearing the bathroom door snick shut. Sinking down onto the small bench, she leaned her head back against the wall and just sat there, soaking up the humid warmth and praying the hot water lasted forever. Without realizing it, she drifted off only to jerk into instant awareness when Grayson returned and stepped into the shower naked, the sight of his jutting cock making her pussy go damp.
Grabbing her wrists in one hand, he pulled her to her feet and grasped her chin. “Are you with me, sugar?” She nodded and watched his eyes blaze as she leaned against him. “Excellent. Now you’ll talk to me.”
“Fine, what…” She sucked in a breath as he raised her arms above her and made quick work of shackling both wrists in a terrycloth wrap attached to a short, dangling chain. “Sheesh, do you have those things everywhere?”
“Yes.” Sliding his palms down her neck to her breasts, he cupped the heavy weights and rasped her nipples with his thumbs, his eyes on hers as he said, “You haven’t been honest with me, sugar. And I don’t like that.” Releasing her plumpness, he circled the puckered tips with his forefinger then grasped each nub between fingers and thumbs. Applying pressure Avery could feel straight down to her pussy, he shocked her with his next words. “Tell me something. How did you do with other callers after you and I ended our first conversation together? You remember, don’t you? The night you climaxed for the first time under my commands.”
Gasping as he tightened his grip on her nipples, she stuttered, “You… you know?”
“I do now. It was that little catch in your voice when you went off like a firecracker the other night that gave you away.” He released her pinched tips, and she gasped again as the blood rushed back into her engorged, numb nipples.
Before she could adjust to the pinpricks of pain and tingling pleasure, he spun her around to face the wall, running those large hands over her quivering stomach, down the insides of her quaking thighs and then around to cup her clenching buttocks. Bending his head, he pressed his water-slick body against her back, his cock between her cheeks and his lips to the side of her throat. His chest hair tickled her skin, his teeth delivered a sharp nip and his hands a painful squeeze to her globes.
“From the moment we met at the diner, you knew who I was, and all I asked for was honesty. Why couldn’t you give me that?”
Avery shuddered, regretting the underlying disappointment she caught in his voice. He released her buttocks, cupped one hand between her legs and pushed the other between her cheeks, holding her in a tight clamp by the crotch as he waited for her answer. “I… I’m sorry. I needed to know…” She groaned as he slid two fingers inside her pussy and one past her puckered back entrance. “Sir, please,” she begged, surprised by how fast she reached the boiling point of need.
Gripping her hair, he pulled her head back, his voice low as he drawled slowly, “Oh, I don’t think so, sugar. Not yet.” Stepping back, he turned her around, and she shivered at the look on his face, his tight-jawed disapproval contrasting with the light of possessiveness in his eyes as he ran one finger over the bare flesh of her labia. Going to one knee before her, he kept his gaze on her face as he instructed, “Spread your legs.”