Amazing Grace Ch. 08-10

"It's no problem, I understand if you'd rather do chores than be with me."

He was clearly playing dirty. "Ethan ..."

"What?"

"I don't want to go home."

"What do you want, Grace?"

My stubborn streak was taking over. I didn't want to give in, even if we were just playing. It felt like he was rubbing it in my face that he had this power over me. "Why do I have to say it?"

"Because I want to hear it."

"Hear what? That I want to go back to your place and stay with you? I do. Okay? Feel better now?"

Ethan laughed out loud for a few very long moments. "Such a temper. You really don't want to admit that you like me, do you?"

"You make it hard when you act like you are right now. You remind me of my father."

"That must really get under your skin."

"It does."

"I know just the thing to wipe that comparison off your mind."

Ethan pulled into a parking lot and I looked around to see where we were. I vaguely recognized the building. It was several blocks from my house, a small auto repair shop that was closed for the day. He drove around the side of the building and put the vehicle in park.

I watched with a perplexed look on my face as he unfastened his seat belt and then mine. Then he fisted my hair in his palm and pulled my face to his in a hard kiss. He released my hair and settled into his seat, leaving me breathless, and then proceeded to unbutton and unzip his jeans.

My eyes darted about the parking lot. There was no one in sight. At the moment.

He pulled out his cock and it was already rock hard. I glanced at it and then up at him with curious eyes.

Ethan nodded as if to answer my silent question. He expected me to go down on him. He wasn't asking.

He was absolutely right. All comparisons to my father went flying out the window. Apparently, so did my stubbornness because I didn't hesitate to obey. I shifted my knees up onto my seat and draped my torso over the console until my face was in his lap and my mouth was closing around his girth.

Ethan hissed and then groaned. His fingers wove into my hair and he caressed the back of my head and neck with surprising gentleness as I worked him in my mouth. That simple gesture, his gentle touch, was all the encouragement I needed to give it everything I had.

I licked and sucked and then bobbed my head in a mind-numbing rhythm to get him off. It didn't take as long as I feared. I was still so sure that I was going to fail him in this one thing.

"I'm coming, baby."

Ethan gripped the headrest when his muscles tensed to unload. His announcement had prepared me and so I gripped him with one hand as I clamped my lips around the head of his cock to force him to spew into my mouth.

I pulled away to swallow and then swiped my tongue over the tip of his cock for good measure. I felt triumphant. Like I'd just won the war between men and women all over the world. I know, what a silly thought.

Ethan released the headrest and cupped my face to lift it to his. He kissed me very gently between pants and then pressed his forehead to mine.

"Truce."

I simply nodded.

We drove to his house in silence.

***

I was still floating in a post-coital haze by the time I arrived at work the following morning. Ethan had driven me to my house to pick up my car after spending the night at his place. We'd had sex before bed, and then again in the morning. It was something I decided I could definitely get used to doing on a regular basis.

Robin appeared in the doorway to my cube looking too chipper. "Hey, Grace. How's it going?"

"Good. You?"

"Good. Did you see Ethan again last night?"

I nodded and smiled.

"What did you guys do?"

I shrugged. "Nothing much. We went out to eat and then back to his place."

"Did you spend the night?"

I bit my lip. I really was uncomfortable with her line of questioning. "Yeah."

"Good for you. It's about time you let your hair down a little."

"What do you mean?"

Robin shrugged. "Nothing."

"No, seriously. Do you think I'm uptight?"

"No, Grace. I don't think that. But you have to admit this guy is a different breed for you."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. He looks like it, anyway. What do you think? Do you like him?"

I looked down at my desktop and then back up at Robin, "Yeah, I do."

"That's good. Just be careful, okay? Guys who look like that are usually players. Yanno?"

I nodded. I realized that Robin was passing judgment based on Ethan's looks alone, but that didn't stop the general feeling of dread that started to take root. If she was doubting him without ever even talking to him, maybe I needed to at least exercise some caution.

He phoned me during work and then that evening when he got back from practice. We talked for a solid hour and I was feeling good about us again but when he invited me over, I'd already rehearsed my answer a thousand times. I needed to know I possessed the strength to resist him. If for no other reason than to prove to myself that life goes on without Ethan.

Just in case.

CHAPTER TEN

Settling the Past

I regretted my decision to stay at my own place. I not only missed him like crazy, but I slept like shit, too. After just a few nights, I'd already grown accustomed to sleeping with him.

The good thing was, I finally got around to clearing out most of Robert's crap. The bedroom and closet were clean, anyway. My wedding picture, along with the album that was still sitting on the coffee table, were tucked away in a box and shoved unceremoniously in the attic.

The relief was almost immediate. There were no more reminders of the fairy tale marriage. The lies. The cheating. The fake smiles in every photograph of the two of us. I lived in denial and believed that it would make us whole if everyone else believed our marriage was perfect.

I was hung up on image. How things appeared to everyone else. I smiled as I recalled not being able to locate a single mirror in Ethan's house. He was clearly not driven by the same thing that I was. And I loved him for it.

I felt a dull ache settling in my bones. My body was starting to physically complain about his absence. I need to see him.

Ethan had given me a key to his house when he dropped me off Tuesday morning. I'd forgotten all about it since he hadn't made a big deal of it. But as I sat at my desk Wednesday afternoon, missing him more than I should, I wondered if I was underestimating his intent. If I wasn't supposed to be anticipating his needs; doing more. Maybe he gave me this key to give me a little nudge to step up and do special things for him. Guys don't give you keys unless they want you to use them. Right? Right.

We'd made plans to meet at his place at seven. He hadn't mentioned dinner and circumstances thus far hadn't allowed me the chance to cook for him. Yet. All guys like to eat. And they love when a woman cooks for them. I glanced at the time on my monitor. If I hurried, I might beat him to his house and surprise him.

I quickly shutdown and packed my things to dash out the door before anyone could stop me. I still had to run by the store, but could make it to Ethan's by five if I pushed it.

At 5:15 I pulled up to his house. The presence of his car made me a touch disappointed. I'd wanted to surprise him.

I knocked on the door and waited. It felt like an eternity before the door swung open. And then all time stood still.

It was Holly.

At first I blinked hard not wanting to believe my eyes. But her annoying voice snapped me out of it.

"What are you doing here? Your not supposed to be here until seven."

She left the door open and turned on her heel toward the kitchen. She was wearing a mini skirt that hardly covered her ass and a blouse that was unbuttoned to her navel and flapping open. For some odd reason, a sick curiosity no doubt, I followed her into the house. She was cooking something in the kitchen.

"He's in the shower right now. He wasn't expecting you this early but we can always make it a three-way. Yanno?"

I shook my head, still too stunned to speak.

"You shouldn't leave him alone. He's afraid of being alone. Has he given you the little speech, 'I like you and I want to spend time with you. It's really simple, babe. We can't build on this good thing we have if we're apart.' That one got me. We'd only been dating two days when I moved in with him."

It felt like a thousand stinging bees were swarming me at once. He'd used almost those exact words with me. I thought they sounded rehearsed at the time. That's because they were. The thought that he'd said those very words to her made me want to vomit.

Holly looked up from the stove and parked her hand on her hip as she studied me. "I guess you probably thought you were special, huh. I know Ethan better than anyone and I know he could never be happy with someone as vanilla as you. What was the phrase he used to describe it last night ... Oh, yeah, sugar kink."

I wasn't sure if I was more appalled by the label or the fact that she'd obviously been with him the night before. Just as I was about to ask her about it, her blouse gaped open allowing me a full view of her breast. The silver ring through her nipple flashed a glint of light in my direction. I could clearly picture Ethan's face as he peered up at me just a few nights earlier to ask if I'd considered getting mine pierced.

I had to get out of there. I didn't belong in this world.

I hooked the plastic bag from the grocery store onto my wrist and fished his key from the outer pocket of my purse. I tossed it on the counter and turned on my heel without a word.

Thankfully, the tears didn't come until my back was turned. And the sobbing didn't start until I was out of the driveway.

I barely made it to the next street to pull over and let it out.