Turning of the Stars Ch. 06

"God, Grant," she whispered, her voice still shaky from the aftereffects of the orgasm. "What you do to me...it should be illegal."

He chuckled low in his chest and traced her collarbone with the tip of his tongue, generating a new bloom of goose bumps on her skin. "In some states it might be."

His eyes found hers as he started moving in her again, bringing a moan to her lips and a smile to his. She tried to keep eye contact, but as his thrusting grew faster and more powerful, her eyes drifted closed. For a while all that existed was the slowly building pressure, the aching need, the yearning toward completion.

Her fingers danced erratically over his chest as he held himself above her, closing instinctively on the tight little nubs of his nipples. His low groan reached her through the fog of pleasure and she pinched tighter, rolling the pebbled flesh between her thumb and index finger, flicking the hard metal of the barbell on one side. She heard his breath coming in harsh gasps and she opened her eyes to see his eyes narrow and his mouth fall open in a silent moan.

The orgasm came slowly this time, creeping over her from the inside out so she had the time and presence of mind to watch him as he reached his peak, biting his lip for just a second before letting a stream of soft curses spill out. Through her pleasured haze she recognized the warmth of his seed deep inside as he jerked against her, pushing her climax higher.

He relaxed on top of her, sliding his fingers into her hair as he kissed her again. She didn't even notice him rolling to his side and pulling her with him as he kissed her slow and deep, their breath mingling between them. Finally he pulled away and looked into her eyes, a small, satisfied smile on his face.

"Can I tell you I love you again?" he asked, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

"As many times as you want."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

...

Grant woke the next day to find Anna already gone from his bed. The smell of coffee filtered through his panic, suppressing it, and he got up and threw on some jeans. On his way down the stairs he looked outside and saw his beautiful woman sitting cross legged on a deck chair, her phone to her ear and a mug of coffee in her hand. Her hair hung in a curtain down her back, shining golden brown in the morning sun, and the happy smile on her face was enough to make his heart burst.

She looked in at him and her smile widened, her fingers lifting in a little wave as he walked past the glass door on the way to the kitchen. Whoever she was talking to he figured he'd give her another minute of privacy while he got a much-needed cup of coffee.

"No, he owns his place so I'm moving in with him." Grant heard her say as he walked out the door a few minutes later. He dropped a kiss on her head and they exchanged smiles as he settled into the chair next to her. "Well, I'll just let the lease go on my apartment and whatever I don't bring with me I'll donate. I got most of it from the Salvation Army anyway. It's the circle of life."

Grant sipped his coffee and looked out over the river, a sense of contentment settling on him. It was a good feeling. For possibly the first time in his life he felt truly at peace. All the parties, the women, the work, none of it had ever filled that place in him that he'd been trying so hard to fill, but now...it felt like he'd come home.

"No Dad, I'm not pregnant." She looked at Grant, rolling her eyes and shaking her head in exasperation. "Because I love him." She spoke into the phone, but her eyes were on Grant and the smile on her face was for his benefit.

Yeah, it was a good feeling. One he wasn't going to let go of any time soon, if ever. He made up his mind in that moment that there were some changes he needed to make in his life to make sure there was plenty of room for her. He'd been spreading himself too thin lately and it was time to take a step back and re-evaluate his priorities.

"Of course I'm going to finish school. This doesn't change anything other than where I live."

He looked up at the sound of her voice; the amused exasperation seemed to have turned to irritation. The smile was gone from her face and she was nervously rubbing the spot between her eyes with one finger.

"Anna," he said quietly. When she looked up at him inquisitively he held his hand out for the phone. She hesitated for a second, then nodded.

"Dad...Dad hold on. Grant wants to say hello." She looked distinctly nervous as she handed him the phone and he gave her a wink.

"Hi, this is Grant."

"Oh, um...hello Grant." The man sounded slightly put out to be talking to him.

"Mr. Webster, I just wanted to introduce myself. I hate to do it over the phone, but it will have to do until we can meet in person."

"I suppose that's a good idea. Anna says she's moving in with you?"

"She is. And I understand why you'd be concerned. You don't know me and I imagine you worry a lot about Anna with her living so far away, but I want to assure you that I love her very much." He met Anna's eyes and gave her a little smile. "I know she has goals she's working toward and I'm not going to stand in the way of any of that. I'll help her any way I can, at least as much as she'll let me."

"Good luck with that. She's got a stubborn streak in her."

"Yes sir, I picked up on that real quick."

"I bet you did." He chuckled and Grant grinned, knowing he'd taken a step toward winning the man over.

"You raised an amazing daughter, Mr. Webster. I thank my lucky stars every day that she came into my life."

Anna gave him a sweet smile and moved over to sit on the chair next to him. She laid her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around him, and he sighed in contentment, forgetting for a second that he was on the phone.

"Well, thank you Grant. We think she's pretty amazing, too. And please, call me Richard. What?" Grant could hear a female voice in the background. "No, hang on." There was the distinct sound of the phone being dropped, then someone picked it up.

"Is this the young man my little girl is in love with?"

"Yes ma'am, that's me." He couldn't help but smile; her voice sounded exactly like Anna's.

"She's told me all about you Grant. I hope at least half of it is true."

"Only the good half."

She had the same laugh as Anna, too.

"Well, I won't worry too much. I know my daughter and I trust her judgment. But I did want to ask you a couple of questions."

"I'll try to answer them."

"Do you love her as much as she seems to love you?"

"Probably more."

"Good answer. If that's true, why do you want to live with her instead of just getting married?"

That one gave him pause. He looked down at the top of Anna's head and thought for a long moment about how to answer. "I thought at this point I was more likely to get a yes to the former than the latter."

"Oh. Well, you might be right about that. Last question. Do you think you can convince her to come home to visit?"

"I will certainly try."

"Thank you, Grant. I'm going to have to let you go now; we've been monopolizing the community phone too long and the line is growing."

"It was nice to talk to you Mrs. Webster."

"It's Grace."

"I hope we can talk again soon, Grace."

"Take care of my little girl."

"I'll do my best."

They said goodbye and Grant hung up the phone. Anna lay still against him and he just held her for a while, half wondering if she'd heard what her mother had asked. Finally she looked up at him with a smile.

"Let me guess, you charmed the pants off my parents. They both want you to call them by their first names and my mom wants you to bring me home to visit."

"That's pretty much it," he said turning on his brilliant smile and winking at her. Anna snorted and laid her head back down on his chest, snuggling against him as they looked out over the river.

"Grant?"

"Hm?"

"You'll get a yes to the latter one day."

Grant smiled and tightened his arm around her. "I know."