Authors: Sophia Kenzie

Betrayal of Cupids (17 page)

BOOK: Betrayal of Cupids

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Grace

I had to sit down; the fumes from the paint were making me nauseous.

“You okay, babe?”

“I am. Just a little dizzy.”

“Here, let me grab you some water.”

Ryan put the finishing touches on our new red door, wiped his hands on his pants, and gave me quick peck before heading inside.

“Grace?” he called to me.

“What’s up?” I yelled through the open door.

“Did you grab those little chocolate raisin things I love when you were at the store?”

“Cabinet all the way to the left, top shelf.”

“You’re the best!”

I leaned over in the porch chair, wanting to steal a peek at Ryan. He was filling up a glass of water while popping chocolate raisins into his mouth. The most important part of this entire picture was that he was smiling. We seemed to be settling into our new, normal life pretty well. I don’t know why I was afraid of
normal
. For the first time, maybe in forever, I was happy.

“Here you go.” He handed me a glass of ice water before bending down to gather up the paint supplies.

I took a big sip, waiting for the dizzying nausea to cease, but it only got worse.

“Grace, you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I smiled. But was I fine? Was I about to screw up everything?

Ryan knelt down beside me, placing his hands on my knees. “You don’t have a speck of paint on you.”

“I really didn’t do much. The smell was too strong.”

“Well, I’m covered, so I’m going to go wash up.” He stood, took my face in his hands, and lightly kissed my lips.

I heard the door to our bedroom close, and the shower squeak to life. I carefully stood, grabbed my bag, and snuck into the other bathroom.

****

I was back out on the porch, allowing the California ocean breeze to cool my face.

“Grace, can you come in here?”

Ryan must have been out of the shower. It was time. “Coming!”

I stepped into our new house, past the open living room, and into our bedroom. I couldn’t help but laugh. There, sprawled out on the bed, was a waiting Ryan. He had tied his wrists and ankles to the bedposts with scarves, and his head was propped up.

“Did you think I’d forget your promise?” He pursed his lips, waiting for my reaction.

“Believe me, I didn’t think you’d forget that. Let me just inspect your work.” I made my way around the bed slowly, ensuring he was securely tied up. I tightened the scarves where I deemed necessary, and then sat down beside him.

“How’d I do?”

“Not too bad. Are you ready for this?”

“Believe me, I’m more than ready.” His smile showed his yearning for me, for my body. I loved the rush I felt every time he looked at me that way. There was no doubt in my mind that this man loved me.

“Okay, but first…” I knew I was stalling, but I didn’t know how to say the words.

“Grace? What’s wrong?” There was a sudden change in him. He knew I was struggling.

“Please, just stay calm.”

“You’re starting to worry me. What happened?”

“Nothing happened… well… something happened.”

“For God’s sake, Grace, spit it out.”

“I’m pregnant.”

The silence was deafening. I just wanted him to say something, to give me some clue as to how he felt about it.

“You’re… you’re pregnant?” He seemed stunned. Everything was happening in slow motion. “Are you sure?”

“I took four tests.”

“Four?”

“I bought two boxes. I used them all.” I shrugged.

After another lengthy beat of silence, he began to laugh.

“Ryan, it’s not funny.”

“No,” he was still laughing, “it’s not funny. It’s amazing.”

“What?”

“Untie me so I can hug you.” He was pulling on the scarves.

“Really?”

“What do you mean, really? Grace, we’re going to be parents. Is there anything better than that?”

“But, isn’t it too soon?” I was searching.

“Why would it be too soon? Grace, my love, don’t we want normal? Don’t we want something that will ground us in our new reality? This is it. We’re going to have a baby!”

I threw my arms around him. I was so worried about how he’d react that I never let the idea sink in. He was right: what more could we ask for?

“Grace, please, untie me.”

I reached my hand up to the scarf, but stopped myself short. “No.”

“What?”

“A promise is a promise.”

“Grace, no, untie me.”

“Nope.” I took my time with the word, popping my lips at its conclusion.

As promised, I started with my fingers. I placed my hands on his chest and then tickled his sides. I walked them to his navel, circling it with my pinky. I then spiraled lower, teasing the creases of his hips. I pressed my palm against the inside of his thigh, yearning to feel the blood pump through his body. My fingers stroked his growing passion as I watched his eyelids slowly close.

Then came my tongue. I swirled around his aching tip, and then repeated my trail with my cool breath. I took a detour up to his mouth, reminding him that I still wanted him to be a part of this. I nibbled my way back down, feeling every rib on my way. I lowered my mouth to his hip, sucking at the curve of his muscle. I followed my previous path back to my target. I laid my hands at either side of his hips and took him in. His hips aided my movements as I prepared him for the full taking. I wrapped my hand around his base and pulled myself up above him.

“Look at me,” I commanded.

Ryan’s eyes opened, and his cheek lifted with his half-cocked smile.

“Do you want me?” I asked playfully.

“More than anything.” His breath was hot and hungry.

I wrapped my arms around my waist and lifted, bringing my shirt over my head. “I don’t need this.”

“You don’t need the rest of what you’re wearing, either,” Ryan whispered.

“Not so fast, mister.” I leaned over him, wrapping my shirt around his eyes as a blindfold.

Now he was completely mine for the taking. I stripped off the rest of my clothes and positioned myself above him. Wrapping my hand around him again, I guided him inside of me.

“Fuck,” Ryan moaned.

I kept him inside while rolling my hips. “How’s that feel?”

“I’m not going to last very long this way, Grace.”

“How about like this?” I slowly lifted my weight off of him.

“Come back.”

“Like this?” I brought my body down again, surrounding him.

“Yes, oh my fucking God, yes.”

“What now?” I baited him while I rolled my hips.

“Can I have my hands?”

“Nope. No touching. Just tell me what to do.”

“You’re something else, you know that, right?”

I giggled at his torment.

“Fine. Slowly. Up.” I followed along with his words. “Down… Up… Down… Up. Fuck, Grace, untie me.”

“No. You asked for this, sir.” I was having a blast.

“Come here.”

I lowered my chest to his chest and my mouth to his mouth. “Like this?”

“No. Straddle my face. I want to taste you.”

Again, I did as I was told, moving my knees to either side of his ears. I felt his tongue on me as if lightning had shot through my body. I held onto the headboard as I arched my back and pushed into him. He slid and curled his tongue, inside, out and around, until I felt like I would explode. My moans became louder and only increased as he hummed his moans into me.

“Oh my God, Ryan.” I could feel my body tensing in preparation for release.

“Now ride me, Grace. Fucking ride me.” His voice became deep and commanding, which only increased the pleasure within me.

I regained my stability and followed his instructions. I sat straight up on top of him, allowing him to find out how deep he could really go.

“Faster, Grace. Faster.” I had one hand on his chest, pushing off of him. “Yes. Yes.”

I joined his cries.

“Faster.”

“Yes.”

“Yes. Faster.”

“Yes!”

My body tightened and I felt him release inside of me. I collapsed on top of him, allowing our breaths to find each other’s rhythm.

“Hey Grace?”

I looked up at him with a satisfied smile on my face and lifted off his blindfold. “Yes, Ryan?”

“I would like to hug you now. Can you please untie me?”

Ryan

I watched her intently as she carefully untied me, and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. Grace was carrying my child. I was going to be a father. Sure, I should’ve been freaking out, but for some reason, I wasn’t. Everything was under control. We had gotten out of the MC life, we were thousands of miles away from anyone who might try to pull us back in, and Sean was dead. We had begun a new life, just the two of us, and we were about to share it with a third. We were going to be a family.

Grace giggled as she pulled her clothes back on and tossed my pants onto the bed. I couldn’t stop staring at her. I had never loved or felt so loved by another person in my entire life. She was my everything. We had finally gotten what we had been praying for.

She was too far from me. I grabbed her hand and tugged her back to the bed. I pushed her down and climbed on top of her.

“You are so beautiful, Grace.”

She smiled at my compliment. “You know, you’re going to have to start being more careful with me, now.”

I lowered my lips to her belly and kissed. “Eh, if she’s anything like her mom, she’s a lot stronger than she looks.”

“She? So the baby is a girl?”

“I just have a feeling.” I winked.

Grace rose to her elbows. “Thank you, Ryan.”

“For what?”
She took a deep breath. “For saving me.”

I took her hand in mine. “And thank you for saving me.”

Had anyone said to me six months earlier that I would meet a girl at a bar, fall in love, and then end up thousands of miles from home with a brand new, worry-free life and a baby on the way, I would have laughed in their face. Somehow, with everything Grace and I went through just to be together, it made our ending that much sweeter.

I wanted to hold her forever, to never let her go, and I would’ve done just that.

Except that’s when the doorbell rang.

“Who could that be?” Grace said.

“I really have no idea. Did you meet anyone when you were at the store?”

“Ryan, I didn’t talk to anyone.”

She was getting worked up; I needed to calm her down. “I’m sure it’s just a neighbor, dropping by to welcome us to the neighborhood.”

“You’re right.” She smiled at me. “Why don’t you put a shirt on, and I’ll go answer the door?”

The doorbell rang again.

“No, I’ll answer it.”

“Ryan, it’s no one. If we are going to enjoy our new, easy-going lifestyle, we have to get better at not expecting the worst.” She kissed me and left the room, leaving me to worry on my own.

I tore through the dresser, trying to find a t-shirt.

“Ryan, can you come here?” Her voice was strained. What was wrong?

I raced out of the bedroom and saw Grace standing beside the open door. There was a silhouette in the doorframe.

“Hi. How can we…” As my steps approached the door, the face of the figure in the frame became clear. A woman, probably mid to late forties, was staring back at me. Her eyes locked on mine as if we were caught in a trance.

“No,” I heard Grace whisper. “No. It can’t be.”

I turned my gaze to her. She was holding a letter. “What is that?”

Grace looked up at me, tears beginning to fill her eyes. She handed me the paper in her hand, turned around, and solemnly sat in the window seat. My mind was racing; what could’ve gotten her so worked up? And what did this woman standing in my doorway have to do with it?

“What is this?”

“Ryan, just read it,” Grace snapped.

I unfolded the letter and took in the words.

Grace and Ryan,

Did you really think I wouldn’t be able to find you? Come back to Philadelphia, or I’ll come to you.

P.S. Congratulations on the baby.

I flipped the paper over. That was it. That was all that was written. “Where did you get this?”

The woman just stared at me.

“I said, ‘where did you get this?’” I threw the paper in her face.

She shrank in front of me. “From your uncle.”

“That’s impossible, he’s dead!” By the end of my sentence, I was screaming.

“Ryan,” Grace stood up from the window seat, “do we know that? Did we actually see him die? No. We heard an explosion in the distance. We assumed he was dead.” She started to break down. “We just assumed.”

“No, no, Grace. Don’t give up on me just yet.” I cradled her collapsing body in my arms. “We’ll get through this. We always do.” I whispered in her ear.

She looked at me and nodded. “I just thought it was over.”

“I did too, Grace. I did too.”

“Excuse me,” The woman interrupted, “I’m supposed to bring you home.”

I stood to look at her. Something was strange about her, oddly familiar. I tried to shake it off, but the feeling in the pit of my stomach lingered. “What does he have on you?”

She shook her head.

“Answer me,” I demanded.

“He has my children.”

“And now I’m supposed to put my family in danger to protect a stranger’s?”

Grace touched my shoulder. “Ryan, we have to. We should have stayed. We should have finished it ourselves.”

“No, Grace. I am not putting you back in harm’s way for this woman.”

“I know I’m asking a lot of you, but…” the woman stuttered, “Ryan, they’re your family too.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sean… he has your brother and sister.”

As my eyes widened at my conclusion, the woman in the doorway nodded.

“Mom?”