Maylee tugged her hand from his when they got to their floor and headed to her door.
He was surprised. They’d kissed several times today, and flirted even more. They’d held hands for hours. Was she not going to sleep by him tonight? He’d be lying if he didn’t admit he’d been thinking about it all day. “Is something wrong?”
She shook her head and pushed open her door. “Just need to call my Mama and do a few things.” And she disappeared inside before he could protest.
Was she blowing him off? Tired of spending all her time with him? Frustrated, Griffin tore off the hideous baseball cap he was wearing and tossed it onto the bed. He picked up his book and began to read, but irritation kept him from being able to concentrate. Instead, he got up and began to pace.
The faint sound of Maylee’s voice made him pause, and he leaned against the door adjoining their rooms. She was definitely on the phone, though her voice was pitched too low for him to make out. He sighed and returned back to the bed and picked up his book again, reading the same paragraph over and over. Why was it so important that she call her mother just before bedtime? He’d thought they’d gotten along very well today. Actually, more than just well. He’d never felt so comfortable with a woman. Normally, his relationships were one awkward scenario after another, a brief round of fucking and then eventual mutual apathy.
He could honestly say there was not an ounce of apathy as far as Maylee was concerned. In fact, he rather hated that she was gone. Did he say he hated hovering? Was that why she’d disappeared? To give him space? Because he rather liked her hovering. She listened to all of his stories and seemed genuinely interested in them, as opposed to simply humoring him. He’d even talked about his current project for at least an hour, comparing their theoretical Atlantis to Tarshish and why they were pursuing the ruins in Spain versus the Mediterranean like most assumed where Atlantis was located, if it indeed existed.
She’d seemed interested. Unless he was just bad at reading her? Perhaps he’d said something that troubled her and she wanted someone to complain to? A guilty stab made him sit up in bed. Had he inadvertently hurt her feelings again with his careless words? Hell.
Griffin got up from the bed and went to the adjoining door. He raised his hand to knock just as she opened it.
She looked at his hand in surprise, and then beamed at him. “Miss me, didja?”
He lowered his hand. “Is something wrong?”
“Nope.” She stepped into his room and shut the door behind her.
“Do we need to talk?”
“Nope,” she repeated, and began to undo the zipper on her tight jeans. “Wanna shower?”
“Together?” His cock surged to life in his jeans again.
“Yep, you and me. Just a little bit of hanky panky before bedtime. What do you think?” She gave him a sassy wink and dropped her jeans, then stepped out of them. A string bikini panty curved along her hips and the triangle of fabric in the back seemed to hug her ass more than cover it. It was a glorious sight.
“I think that is a splendid idea,” Griffin murmured, following her into the bathroom.
The bathroom in his suite was almost as large as her room. He had an enormous sunken jetted tub and a stonework shower that swallowed a great deal of the floor. He watched Maylee pad into the room, stripping off her shirt and revealing a plain beige bra that turned him on more than any lacy undergarment he’d ever seen. “You have towels, Griff?”
“Somewhere.” He wasn’t leaving this room, not while she was taking off her clothing.
She went to the counter where his soaps and shampoos were kept in a dainty basket, picked one up, and sniffed it. “Yours are different than mine. Have you been taking the extras every day?”
“Extras?”
“You know, they replace them every morning with new ones. You’re supposed to hide them if you don’t use them so you get new ones every day.”
He frowned. “Isn’t that a bit like stealing?”
“Nope. The hotel expects you to do that.” She wagged her finger at him. “I need you to start hiding the bottles every morning if you don’t use them. And the soaps. For me.”
“I can buy you soaps—”
“It’s not the same as a free hotel score,” she teased him. And she began to unhook her bra.
“I can’t believe we’re having a discussion about purloining hotel soaps while you’re getting naked,” he murmured, fascinated by her casual stripping.
She paused just as she unclasped her bra. “You’re right. You should be getting naked, too.” She let the loose bra hang on her shoulders as she approached him, a mischievous look on her face. Maylee’s hands went to his zipper and she rubbed him through his jeans. “Seems like someone’s mind is on something other than showering.”
He groaned. God, she was forward with a little confidence. He loved it. Hell, he wished he’d dragged her into his bed a week ago. “You’re a vixen.”
“Maybe,” she teased, and rubbed his cock again. “Maybe I’m just encouraging you to get out of these clothes so you can come scrub my back.”
“Is that all you want from me is a back scrub?”
“Depends on how good you are at it,” she said, and her hands went to his shirt, tugging at the hem.
“I’m the best damn back-scrubber you’ve ever met, then.” Griffin grabbed her hands in his and pulled her against him. She tilted her face up to meet him just as he leaned in to kiss her, and their lips met. Once again, he was stunned at how good it was to kiss Maylee. How her lips and tongue melded to his and those soft noises she made when he kissed her. He loved all of it. His hands stroked up and down her bare back, and then he tugged at the loose bra on her shoulders.
She shimmied out of it and then pulled away from him, breathless, those wild curls haloing her face. Her breasts gave a little bounce as she straightened, and he was fascinated by them. They were every bit as gorgeous as he’d pictured them. Her breasts were full, the curves rounded. A small pale pink nipple tipped each one, and he couldn’t help himself; he reached out and brushed the backs of his fingers over it. “You’re lovely.”
Maylee whimpered in her throat and tugged at his neck, dragging him back against her. “Kiss me again.”
He did, his tongue stroking into her mouth boldly even as he put both hands on her breasts and cupped and kneaded them as he kissed her. She moaned with pleasure, and he felt her breasts push against his hands as if begging for more. “I love touching you,” he whispered against her mouth.
“We’re never going to make it to the shower at this rate,” she warned him, her eyes full with desire.
“Oh, we will,” he said, and ran his thumb over the tip of one nipple, delighting in her shiver of response. “The only thing better than seeing these gorgeous breasts is the thought of seeing these gorgeous breasts wet and heaving.”
“I want to see you naked, too.”
He grinned at her and tugged his glasses off, placing them down on the counter. Griffin pulled off his shirt, pleased at her admiring glances and the way she reached for him. It was gratifying to know she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
“Now the pants,” she demanded.
“You’re rather bossy, aren’t you?” But he unzippped his pants and shucked them off, his boxers following. As he did, he noticed Maylee was stripping her panties off, too.
Then they were standing in front of each other, completely naked.
She put her fingers to her lips, considering his form. Then, she peeked up at him and smiled. “You’ve been hiding quite a bit under your clothes there, Griff.” Her hand moved forward to stroke his cock. “This is . . . rather inspiring.”
“So is this,” he said, and put a hand over the pale floss of her mound. How had he known she’d be just as blonde between her legs as she was on her head? She was stunning, no two ways about it.
Maylee moaned and pushed against his hand, her arm sliding around his neck.
“Do you like my touch, Maylee?”
he murmured, glorying in her jerky nod of response. “You want me to go scrub your back for you now?”
The look she gave him was slightly dazed, and she kept glancing at his mouth, as if torn between kissing him and paying attention to his words. “I think . . . um . . . scrub?”
“You sure?” he teased. “Because I can keep kissing you if you’d rather.” And he flexed his palm against her mound.
“I change my vote to kissing,” she said breathlessly, and leaned in again.
Griffin lightly pressed his mouth to hers, and when she began to kiss along his jaw, he began to drag her toward the shower. “Come on.”
She followed him in, her arms still wrapped around him, her mouth moving over every inch of skin she could touch.
Somehow, he managed to untangle a hand long enough to turn on the water, and then he pulled her inside with him under the spray. He decided this was going to be a quick shower. He grabbed a washcloth from the rack outside of the shower and began to soap it up. Then he began to brush it over her rounded breasts, fascinated by the suds playing over her skin.
“Where’s my cloth?” she asked, her hands smoothing over his skin.
“I’ll do you first,” he promised.
“Won’t it be faster if we soap each other?”
The thought of Maylee rubbing him down as he washed her was a rather enticing one, and Griffin handed her his cloth, then leaned out of the shower to grab a second one. As soon as he wetted it, he turned to her and felt her soapy hand clasp around his cock.
Griffin groaned, his eyes closing. His hand went to her hair, and he dragged her mouth to his, even as her hand continued to stroke along his length. “You’re not going to let me last very long if this keeps up,” he cautioned her, even as his hips pushed against her tight, slick grasp.
“Then don’t last very long,” she teased. “I don’t mind.”
“I think you’re just distracting me from my original task,” he said, and leaned in to kiss her. As his tongue slicked over her parted lips, he placed the wet washcloth over her breast and began to rub in small, pointed circles around her nipple.
Her hands tightened around his cock and she whimpered, pushing against him.
“That’s right,” he murmured between kisses and soapy petting of her body. “You’re rather beautiful, you know that? I can’t get enough of you.”
She gave him a throaty laugh and squeezed his cock again, her fist moving up and down over him in a way that nearly sucked all the air out of his lungs. “That’s just your dick talking.”
“It’s not,” he told her, but she cut off his words with a frantic kiss of her own, and her hand began to stroke him harder and faster. He was going to come if she didn’t stop, but . . . he didn’t want her to stop. Griffin pumped against her soapy hand, and she made needy noises in her throat with every stroke to let him know how much she liked touching him, and those sounds just drove him even wilder.
He came with a hiss, his cum spurting over her hands and stomach once more.
“Mmm, I think I won that round.” Maylee gave him a delicious smile.
“Was it a contest?” he panted when he could catch his breath. “If so, you have to warn me about something like that.”
“Why?”
“So I can use everything in my arsenal to make sure I come out on top.” He pushed her against the wall of the shower, her back hitting the stonework. He pressed another hot, hungry kiss to her mouth, and it lasted so long that she was breathless when he pulled away.
Then, he slid a hand between her legs. “Now, it’s my turn.”
Her moans as she came, rocking against his hand, were rather gratifying.
***
Maylee woke up to the alarm clock’s caterwauling and the feel of Griffin’s arm around her. Unlike her normal slow-drag out of bed, she hopped into action almost immediately, tumbling out of bed in her haste. Excitement rushed through her. Today was going to be her surprise for Griffin. Would he be mad, or would he be delighted?
She was kinda hoping for delighted.
“Wake up,” she told Griffin, then leaned over to kiss him. “Big day today.”
“Mmm?” His hand went to her hair and he tugged her down for a longer, more thorough kiss.
She pulled away from him reluctantly and said, “We have to get going or we’re going to be late.”
Griffin sat up in the bed and rubbed his eyes, watching her. “What do you mean, late? What can we possibly have scheduled before breakfast?”
“Well, for starters,” Maylee said, bounding out of bed. She headed for the adjoining door so she could change out of his T-shirt and boxers and into her own clothing. “You’re sick again today.”
“What?” he called after her.
Grinning to herself, she ignored him and headed to her closet, dragging out her only pair of jeans she’d brought with her again and another touristy Bellissime shirt. She didn’t have many casual clothes with her, unfortunately, and today definitely did not call for a pantsuit.
Sure enough, Griffin opened the adjoining door without knocking just as she’d pulled his T-shirt over her head. He stopped, stared at her bare breasts for a moment, then shook his head as if to clear it. “What do you mean, I’m sick again today?”
“I cleared your schedule,” Maylee said, pulling on a bra and deliberately making her breasts jiggle a bit more just to watch Griffin’s gaze head there.
“You did.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her breasts, which was rather amusing.
“I did. And we have to bring breakfast with us, otherwise we’re going to be late for our flight.”
“Our flight,” he echoed, and then seemed to realize what he was saying. “What do you mean, ‘our flight’?”
“I mean, our flight into Cadiz. Well, not Cadiz directly,” she corrected. “But some airport nearby. And then we’re going to drive out to the dig and take a gander at all that stuff Jonathan keeps sending you—”
“But what about the wedding?”
“—And then we’re going to fly back here tonight to be home in time for the wedding,” she finished, and pulled her T-shirt over her head. “But we need to get going if we’re going to make it on time.”
“And my appointments?”
“Will just have to wait or get cancelled,” she said. “You didn’t want to spend the day having tea anyhow, did you?”
Griffin rushed forward, startling Maylee. But he grabbed her cheeks and pulled her in for a loud, smacking kiss. “You are the best woman I have ever met.”
She laughed. “I take it you’re fine with the schedule, then?”
“More than fine,” he said, and then ran for his room. “But let’s hurry up and get to the airport!”
Maylee grinned and slid on her jeans. “Yes, sir.”
***
Sixteen hours later, Maylee rode in the back of the sedan, her head cushioned in Griffin’s lap as they headed to the hotel. It had been a long day, but a wonderful one. They’d flown to Spain, drove out to the dig site and met Jonathan, who was just as pleased to see Griffin. And as the men talked, she watched happily as Griffin’s face lit up with enthusiasm. They talked about radar and digital mapping, and Maylee mostly tuned out as Jonathan brought out roll after roll of printouts and the men compared the two, pointing out new or overlooked spots that had been discovered.
Then, they’d gotten into Jonathan’s Jeep and he’d driven them to the excavation locations to show Griffin the progress that was being made. After that, it was a trip to the warehouse where the artifacts were being stored, and discussing what had been found with the archaeologists on the dig.
Maylee was mostly interested in it because Griffin was. She loved seeing his face so animated and happy as he discussed things with Jonathan. She kept out of the conversation so they could chat without having to explain to her what “deep-ground radar” was or the importance of comparing Plato’s work to the ruins they’d located. She simply picked up her knitting and worked on it so she wouldn
’t stare at Griffin like a moon-eyed calf the entire time.
Because really? The man was just so cute when he was excited about something.
Jonathan was more of a mystery to Maylee. He seemed more quiet and self-contained than Griffin was, and she’d caught him giving her curious looks throughout the day, as if he couldn’t quite make out what her purpose there was. But he was unfailingly polite to her. And handsome, she admitted. Whereas Griffin had regular, aristocratic features that only flashed over to handsome when he gave her that boyish smile, there was something more dangerous and a bit reckless about Jonathan’s edgy good looks.
She decided she liked Griffin’s face better.
For his part, Griffin had been distracted, but he was still attentive to her. He held her hand when they walked about. When they stood around waiting, he’d pull her in and kiss her hair, or murmur naughty things in her ears that made her blush. He’d even done so in front of Jonathan, which had made the other man raise a curious eyebrow.
Griffin had missed his friend’s expression entirely, but Maylee hadn’t. It made her wonder if Griffin often brought women with him on his precious dig sites, and it made her feel a bit warmer to be sharing this moment with him.
They’d had to eventually leave the site when the sun went down, and they reluctantly headed to the airport to fly back to Bellissime. Still, Griffin was more content than he had been all week, and had a packet of new reports that Jonathan had given him to peruse. Maylee had put zinc on her now-sunburned nose and napped against Griffin for hours while they flew back. Even now, she could barely keep awake as they rode to the hotel, so when he’d encouraged her to put her head down in his lap, she hadn’t needed much persuading. And as she relaxed and snuggled against his strong thighs, he’d absently played with her curls.
And she’d been so utterly content.
This was the Griffin she was coming to adore. This man was not the snarling, arrogant aristocrat, but a scholar filled with enthusiasm for his work. Who didn’t mind if she didn’t hover next to him . . . but still wanted her close by so he could hold her hand or press kisses to her skin in idle moments. Who smiled at her like she’d lit the sun that day.