I nodded my head, too desperate to form words. I briefly considered turning around and jumping on top of him, and forcing him to take me, right before I felt him at my entrance again. I was trembling with the effort to stay still, but when he saw that I was going to, he pushed in a little bit. We both moaned out together. "You're even tighter from this angle, Grace. Jesus."
I dropped my head and he pushed in all the way, filling me completely. Oh God, that's amazing.
He started moving slowly, his hands holding my hips steady. I tilted my backside up toward him, wanting him as deep as possible. He moaned out, "Grace," as his thrusts picked up in speed.
"I wish you could see this, baby. I wish you could see me pumping inside of you. It's so beautiful. You're so beautiful." His voice panted out with his movements, sounding thick.
I closed my eyes and pictured what it must look like and moaned at the image my mind created. He reached around and put his hand under my thong and started massaging my clit again to the rhythm of his thrusts, one hand still on my hip. He had never made any sounds during any of the other times we had had sex, but this time he let out little grunts with each thrust. Something about those little sounds sent me over the edge and I screamed out his name as I came, hard and fast, intense ecstasy tightening my body.
"Oh fuck," Carson grunted behind me slamming into me one final time and then groaning in release.
My whole body was vibrating with the receding waves of pleasure, my legs shaking from the effort to support the rest of my body.
Carson pulled out of me and I turned around and fell onto the bed. I looked up into his eyes and saw something close to awe as he smiled down at me. He followed me down to the bed and took my mouth, kissing me slowly and deeply one final time, then leaning up and looking into my eyes. "Damn," he murmured.
I smiled lazily. "Yeah," I said, smiling bigger.
He disposed of the condom and then we climbed into bed together, me snuggling into his warm, hard chest.
**********
Carson
I held Grace, stroking lazily up her arm for a few minutes, reflecting on what we had just shared. It was a base position to have sex in and despite that, I had felt more connected to Grace than I ever had to anyone I had been with. Emotionally connected. I had been about to tell her that I didn't know it could be this way, but as the words came to my lips, I thought better of it. That felt dangerous. This was about one weekend, nothing more. I was confused, and I didn't ever remember being confused. It was a new feeling for me. Confusion indicated possibilities, choice, but what were my choices in this situation? There were none.
I looked down at her and she smiled a small smile at me before she closed her eyes. I leaned down and kissed both lids and she smiled, opening them again to look at me. She leaned up and put her hands flat against my chest, one on top of the other and then rested her chin on them, looking up at me.
"Hi. How are you?" She grinned.
I laughed. "My granny used to say, 'fine as frog hair!' when anyone asked her that. I never knew what the fuck it meant. That just popped into my mind." I grinned down at her.
She smiled. "Tell me about your granny."
"She was a sweet lady. I went to stay with her most summers and then, like I said, when my mom went to rehab. She taught me things." I was silent for a minute, picturing her, hearing her voice in my head.
"What kinds of things?" she asked gently.
"All kinds of things. How to mow the lawn, how to sneak up on a grasshopper, how to choose a cantaloupe at the store." I grinned down at her. "Completely worthless things to a kid from L.A. It wasn't what she taught me so much as that she cared to do it."
She nodded up at me like she totally understood what I meant. I thought she probably did.
"She had a sadness about her too though, because of how my mom turned out." I was silent for a minute. "She never talked much about my mom, but I could tell there was lots of regret there."
"Where does your mom live now?" she asked.
I glanced down at her, surprised by her question. I didn't usually talk much about my mom–even to my closest buddies, but I had already shared things with Grace that I hadn't shared with anyone else. Any question she asked felt comfortable now, normal. I trusted her.
"My mom still lives in L.A.," I answered. "Not too far from me."
She nodded. "Do you have a relationship with her?"
I sighed. "Yes and no. I talk to her every once in a while, but we're not close. She's gotten her life together more than she had when I was a kid, but there's just too much water under the bridge now. We don't really know each other. Being around her is just awkward."
She looked sad, her eyes moving away from mine for a couple seconds as she looked like she was thinking. "She doesn't… "
"Make films anymore?" I finished for her. "No. She lives with some guy. He's a jackass. We got into it one time about eight months ago when I went to see her and I haven't been back. But at least she's off the prescription meds now–or at least as far as I know."
She looked sad. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I know what it's like not to have a mom–or at least, not one you can count on. But at least I had mine for the first eleven years of my life."
I thought about that. "Maybe that makes it harder, not easier, Buttercup."
She tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean?"
"I just mean that maybe having something good and then having to let it go is more painful than never knowing what you're missing."
She looked thoughtful. "Yeah, maybe," she said.
We were both quiet for a few minutes. I looked down at her and put a piece of hair behind her ear. "So pretty," I murmured.
She smiled a shy smile. "Do compliments make you uncomfortable?" I asked. She always looked just a little uncertain when I gave her one. Surely, she had to know how beautiful she was.
"They usually do, but I love hearing them from you," she said quietly. "I grew up with a dad who was a guy's guy, the 'strong, silent type.' He was a great dad, but he didn't ever tell us girls we were pretty. He wasn't the type to dish out compliments on any subject really." She looked thoughtful for a minute. "If he was happy with you, you knew it by the silent, prideful look in his eyes and maybe a chin lift in your direction. I learned to get that look and that chin lift with my accomplishments, never my looks." She shrugged slightly.
I nodded, thinking that in that regard, we were probably polar opposites. I got by on my looks, rarely the things I did, or didn't do. "Well, just for the record, you're beautiful. A beautiful little Buttercup." I smiled at her and she smiled back at me.
"And you're a beautiful desert hyena," she teased back.
I laughed. "I've been given a lot of compliments in my time, but I think that may have been the best one," I said.
She laughed back and then was quiet for a few seconds. "Tell me about your first time," she grinned up at me.
I put both hands up behind my head and gazed at the ceiling, faking dreamy recollection.
"Sandra Daniels. We were fifteen. I liked her, a lot. We spent one beautiful afternoon together at my apartment." I grinned down at Grace and then tilted my head. "The next day at school, as I was walking up to her locker with her favorite breakfast bagel in hand, I heard her telling her friend that now that she had gotten rid of her virginity, she could move on to someone serious who was more suited to a relationship, not just sex. I was crushed."
I grinned down at Grace, but Grace was the one who looked crushed. "Carson–"
"Oh no, no, don't get that look on your face. I was fifteen, Buttercup. I'm over it. Scout's honor." I held up two fingers in the Boy Scout salute.
She didn't smile and instead blinked at me and then looked down. When she finally looked up at me again, her eyes were filled with regret. "It's exactly like my stupid plan, isn't it?" she breathed. "It's awful. I'm awful."
"Whoa. Wait. I didn't tell you that story to try to compare you to her. I swear. You asked and that's how it h
appened. Like I said, we were fifteen. It's different."
She nodded, but then was still and quiet, a small frown on her face. "Carson, I want you to know something. I know that our little 'arrangement' this weekend started out like that, but well, I don't consider you 'Guy Number Two' anymore, and I never will. You're more than that to me. To me you're Carson, my special desert hyena." She attempted a smile, but it looked more like a grimace. She was being way too hard on herself–we had arranged this together. She didn't have anything to feel badly for, at least not in my book.
I grinned at her and kissed her forehead. "Well, I'll tell you what," I finally said, "I'm just glad this bed is so nice and big, because if you fall out in the middle of the night, I'm not going to have any problem dragging you back up. Never let go, baby."
She finally gave me a genuine smile, and I saw her relax. She brought one hand down to tickle my side.
I laughed out, turning to tickle her back. She squealed and we play-wrestled for a few minutes until I looked into her eyes and saw that she was turned on again. So was I. Fuck, my Buttercup was really going to be the end of me.
I leaned in and slanted my mouth over hers, kissing her until we were both panting and lust was shooting through my veins again, stiffening my cock.
I pushed the hair back out of her face and looked into those clear, blue eyes before I ran my nose down hers, and then brushed my lips over her mouth.
I reached my hand down between her legs to make sure she was ready to take me and when I felt the slippery wetness there, I moaned.
I lowered my head to lick her nipples, sucking one into my mouth and taking long pulls at it until she was grinding against me and pulling at my hair. I knew what I was doing in the bedroom, but Christ, how was it that this girl hadn't had one orgasm from the first doofus she was with? She was so damn responsive, perfect. He must have been the most un-skilled loser on the planet. I put him out of my mind as quickly as he had entered it. No one else was gonna be in this bed right now, just me and her.
I reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a condom and slid it on as she watched, her eyes widening slightly when she took in my straining erection. Our eyes met and something passed between us, intense but tender. I didn't know what it was and in that moment, I didn't analyze it.
I took my cock in my hand and guided it to her opening and pushed inside her tight, silken warmth, never taking my eyes from hers. "Grace," I breathed out as I started to move inside her. I adjusted my angle so that I was hitting the internal spot on her inner wall. Her eyes closed on a moan and she wrapped her legs around me.
I brought my mouth down to hers and kissed her deeply, possessing her with my tongue and my cock, feeling something powerful surge up in my chest. I brought my mouth to her neck and licked and kissed the satiny soft skin there as she made gentle sighing sounds. "Mmmm… feels so good, Carson," she moaned out.
I loved that I was making her feel good, loved hearing her say my name, loved the tender look in her eyes as she watched me above her.
I moved in and out of her slowly and deeply, not speeding up the tempo, wanting it to last. "Carson, I want..." she moaned.
"What Grace? What do you want," I choked out.
"Everything. I want everything," she panted. "Everything you have to give."
My head came up from her neck and when her eyes met mine, they widened and burned into mine. I didn't want to look away from those eyes, I was lost in them, lost in her.
Heat pooled in my balls and pleasure circled through my abdomen as I sped up my rhythm. I reached down between us and circled my finger on her pleasure spot, eliciting a long moan from her. That moan shot through my body, ending at the base of my spine, the first tingles of an orgasm taking hold. She was going to be my undoing, in ways I didn't want to consider.
As I felt her internal muscles begin to contract around me, I let go and my own climax exploded, hot and intense, blissful. I brought my mouth back down to hers and kissed her deeply as she spasmed and pulsed around me, and I emptied myself into her.
I lay with my head buried in her neck for a few minutes until our breathing evened out and I registered that she was running her fingernails up and down my arms. I sighed in happiness. Then I leaned up and kissed her on the mouth and smiled as I pulled out of her.
As I was flushing the condom, it registered that that hadn't been fucking. That hadn't even been just sex. I had just made love to Grace.
CHAPTER 11
Grace
Someone evil and cruel, a demon from the depths of Hades, shook my shoulder in the early morning darkness. I smelled Carson's scent close to me and inhaled deeply on a smile and tried to nestle back into the blankets. I loved that smell. It was just a dream, a dream I thought was bad at first, but was turning good, very good. "Wake up sleeping Buttercup," I heard whispered into my ear on a minty breath.
I forced one eye open. "What did I ever do to you?" I croaked out.
He chuckled. "If you want to go hiking this morning, we need to get going. Up!"
I groaned. What had I ever seen in him? He was a sadist. I heard him walk into the bathroom, and I drug myself out of our warm, happy nest. I loved that nest. I wanted to return to it and stay there indefinitely. It was warm and it smelled good–it smelled like him.
I walked into the bathroom and Carson was standing at the sink running his hands through his wet hair. He looked at me in the mirror and chuckled. "Hey, Fragglerock." He grinned. "Not really a morning person are you?"
I grunted. But when I looked at myself in the mirror, my eyes widened. I did look like Fragglerock. Good call with the nickname. My hair was sticking out in every direction and I had deep pillow creases on one cheek. That's what you get when you wake me up at the butt crack of dawn, Carson. I frowned and picked up my toothbrush and started brushing my teeth.
Carson came around behind me and put his arms around my waist and whispered into my ear, "Did I ever tell you I have a thing for crazy looking Muppets with wild hair?"
I snorted, spewing a little toothpaste out. "I knew your weird fetishes would come out eventually," I said around a mouthful of foam.
He laughed softly, patting me on my ass. "Hurry up, we need to get going if we're going to beat the heat."
I hurried through a shower and blew my hair dry and pulled it back into a ponytail. I felt a little more alive when I walked out into the hotel room. Carson was sitting on the bed pulling on his sneakers.
I pulled on the workout outfit I had brought–intending on using it at the hotel gym–a pair of navy shorts and a white tank with a built in bra. I pulled on my sneakers and a ratty, gray, zip-up sweatshirt.
I glanced at the clock and my eyes bugged out. "Five-fifteen?" I yelled. "You have me up at five-fifteen?"
"Yeah. It takes at least twenty minutes to drive there. If we want to really get a good hike in, we need to get going."
"You're crazy."
"So I've been told." He grinned.
We made our way down to the parking garage and he guided me over to a red Chevy Trailblazer. I furrowed my brow. "I thought you flew in," I said.
"I did. Rental car. I like to have the option of going somewhere further than the strip if I want to."
I nodded and climbed into the passenger seat.
We pulled out of the garage a few minutes later and Carson pulled into a McDonald's drive through. "Coffee?" he asked.
"God, yes," I sighed.
He grinned over at me. "Don't you get up early for classes?" he asked.
"I never schedule classes before nine a.m. Eight o'clock is about the earliest my brain is functioning."
"Ah. Well then this is good for you. Watching the sun come up in the desert is something everyone should experience at least once."
He ordered and then drove forward and paid, and took our coffees from the teenager at the window. He handed one to me and I took a grateful sip.
"And how exactly are you so chipper at this time of the morning?" I asked.
&nb
sp; "Well, for one, I had an amazing night," he winked at me, "and for two, I'm used to getting up this early to go snowboarding. We usually leave at four or five in the morning."
I nodded and we drove in silence for a little while, both sipping our coffees.
He turned up the radio a little bit and I leaned my head back, sighing in contentment. I was still sleepy, but riding in the car with Carson, sipping coffee and taking in his delicious smell, filling the car, was nice–peaceful.
We drove on in companionable silence, listening to the radio. Just as I was finishing my coffee, we pulled into the Red Rock Hotel and Casino.
"What are we doing here?" I asked.
"This is the perfect place to watch the sun rise," he said. "There's a great view to the east from the top parking deck."
I took my last sip of coffee, trusting him.
It was still dark out as we got out of the car, me stretching. Carson came around to my side and put his arms around me from behind, pulling me close to his body. "Look, Grace," he whispered.
I followed his gaze in the dim light and my breath hitched in my chest as I saw the glowing red sun rising in the sky, casting golden rays of light out to every side. "Oh, wow," I breathed. "I literally don't think I've ever watched the sun rise, Carson. It'll always make me think of you." I said, smiling over my shoulder and nuzzling in to him.
He didn't say a word, just pulled me back harder to his chest and kissed my temple. We stood watching the miraculous display of nature's wake-up to the world for a good twenty minutes, the sun dancing over the mountains as it creeped higher in the sky, the vivid reds and whites of the canyon on full display. It was breathtaking. When the whole sun was showing over the horizon and the landscape was bathed in light, Carson pulled my hand and we got back in the car.
Ten minutes later, after paying at the pay booth, we pulled into the parking lot at the Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center. Carson went to the trunk and grabbed a backpack that I hadn't even noticed him putting in as we got into the car in the Bellagio parking garage.