God. Sleepy, sweet Gray was almost too much to resist. My heart, the one he held in his hands even if he didn’t realize it yet, thudded with each word that left his mouth. His heated gaze warmed me from the inside out, filling me with a glow he’d given me several times last night.

And he thought he was the lucky one . . .

I kissed him again, and then pulled away, nudging him with my hip. “Go sit down.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he teased.

I swatted his ass with a dishtowel. We were definitely going to go for round four later.

I carried the food into the dining room. Gray stood behind one of the chairs, staring at the table.

“What’s wrong?”

He looked up at me. “You did all this while I slept?”

I nodded.

“The flowers?”

“I picked them from the courtyard.”

“You picked flowers. From my courtyard?”

I nodded again.

I’d basically been taught to set a table and entertain from birth. My mother wasn’t big on cooking, but she loved hosting dinners and parties, and she’d expected me to know how to do the same. Maybe it was a weird skill for a twenty-three-year-old to have, but my upbringing hadn’t exactly been normal.

I stared at the pretty purple flowers on the table in a makeshift vase. They brightened things up, and Gray definitely needed a little bright in his life.

“Sit. The food’s going to get cold.”

He sat at the head of the table, me on his right, and took a bite of his pancakes. He finished chewing and gave me another heartbreaking smile.

“Best pancakes I’ve ever had.”

“I’m glad. I love to cook. I haven’t been able to do it as much as I’d like.” I hesitated. “Speaking of. How would you feel about me using your oven to bake some Christmas cookies?”

That same surprised look came on his face—like he held the winning lotto ticket in his hand and didn’t know what to do with it.

And then I knew.

I was definitely, undeniably in love with Graydon Canter. And even though I doubted he was ready to admit it, the look in his eyes said it—he was more than a little in love with me, too.

I fought back against the tears pushing at my eyes, and tried not to freak him out.

“Are your cookies as good as your pancakes?” he asked.

“Better.”

“Bake away.”

I grinned. “And if I’d said they weren’t better?”

“Do you really envision a future where I’m not going to give you everything you want?”

Then we were both in luck—

All I wanted was him.

I sucked in a deep breath and asked the question I thought I already knew the answer to. Maybe I didn’t even ask it for me. Maybe I asked it for him, so he would understand that I was sucking him in deep and I wasn’t letting him go.

“So we’re doing this?”

He set his fork down, leaning across the table, and cupped my cheek in his hand, holding my gaze. The force of his stare flooded me with warmth, his voice low and gravelly.

“We’re doing this.”

Thank god.

We finished eating in silence, Gray giving me smiles that did more to wake me up than the coffee. Definitely ready for round four.

When we’d finished, I stood up and grabbed the plates to clear the table.

“I’ve got this,” he interjected.

I shook my head. “I can do it. Why don’t you sit and relax? I cooked breakfast, I don’t mind cleaning up.”

He grinned. “I mind. You cooked. I’ll clear. It’s only fair.”

I opened my mouth to protest, enjoying the experience of fussing over him.

A gleam entered his eyes. “Besides. You promised me dessert.”

I so did.

“Go upstairs and get naked. I’ll be there in a sec.”

Maybe he was right, and I had many instances of getting my way in my future. But for now, I was more than happy to let him have his.

I went upstairs and got naked.

Gray

Just the idea of Blair naked, waiting for me in bed, had me hard. Especially now that I knew what to expect after last night.

But then I walked into the bedroom and I about had a heart attack.

However she carried herself in public, the Blair I got in the bedroom was something else entirely.

She laid spread out on my bed, her knees up, legs crossed at the ankle, hair fanned out over my pillow, completely naked.

My lungs dragged in air, my heart hammering as I struggled to breathe. There was no one like her. No one had ever come close.

I couldn’t speak, couldn’t get my shit together enough to even form words, so instead I let my body take over. I knelt down on the bed, moving forward until I hovered over her. I stared down into her beautiful eyes, and lowered my lips to kiss away the smile on hers.

And then my hips settled against her, and her legs wrapped around my waist, and she decided I was wearing too many clothes.

I’d intended to take my time, to explore the parts of her body that I’d rushed over last night, to tease her until we were both craving release. Blair took my plans and threw them out the window.

Her mouth devoured mine, her hands gripping the hem of my T-shirt, pulling it up over my skin until she couldn’t go any farther, and I reared back, yanking it over my head. And then her hands were everywhere, and her mouth left mine, kissing her way down my neck, my chest. I groaned, my hands fisting in her hair, the sensation of her lips on me so fucking good.

Her fingers found the waistband of my boxers, and she slid them down my hips, her hand growing bolder until she held my cock in her palm. Our gazes locked as she stroked me, her lips parted in an invitation I couldn’t resist. I kissed her while my hands caressed her breasts, while my fingers played with her nipples.

I released her mouth, and then I was kissing my way down, my tongue flickering over each nipple before I drew the bud deeper inside, while my hand went between her legs, my fingers grazing her clit, her body coating my fingers in her wetness.

My teeth grazed her nipple and her back arched as I drove my fingers inside, her pussy tight around me. I slid in and out, her hips arching against my hand, my middle finger curling, seeking, finding. Blair moaned when I hit the right spot, and then my thumb began stroking her clit, rubbing back and forth until her hips began thrashing, her back bowing over the bed. I brought her to the edge of orgasm, so close I could feel the tremor building inside her, desperate for release.

Blair’s eyes slammed open. “Why’d you stop?”

I grinned. “You promised dessert.”

I slid down her body, spreading her legs wider, enjoying the show, pretty and pink, and so fucking wet. I wanted to taste her, wanted to make her shatter against my mouth.

She began to say something, and then I licked her clit as I lifted her legs up over my shoulders, spreading her even wider before me, and I finished the job my fingers had started, as I fucked her with my mouth, and she came.

Twice.

Chapter Twenty-one

With the holidays quickly approaching, D.C. has become far too quiet. Is everyone trying to stay off of Santa’s naughty list?

—Capital Confessions blog

Blair

I knocked on Gray’s front door, a shiver sliding down my spine as the cold wind whipped around me. It was chilly for December, just two days shy of Christmas. I bundled further into my coat, the bags in my hands shaking.

The door swung open to reveal Gray’s smiling face. “Hey.”

Gah. His voice would never get old.

I lifted the bags in my hands. “I brought Christmas.”

He blinked. “What?”

“I brought Christmas,” I repeated, unable to keep the silly grin off of my face. It had only been two weeks since we’d started . . . whatever it was that we were doing that involved lots of sex and holing up in his apartment, ignoring the rest of the world. I couldn’t call it dating since we hadn’t actually gone out on a date yet, but since I was in love with him, it also felt like a lot more than just sex.