“I hope things work out between you two,” Ezra said. “Not that many boyfriends would agree to being stuck on a cruise ship with a bunch of people he just met. This took guts man.” Ezra pointed at him. “Oh, and don’t tell her that I called her Deenie either. She hates that.”
“That sounds like blackmail material,” Griffin said with a chuckle.
Ezra patted him on the back. “Oh, yeah. You fit right in with the Holmeses.”
Griffin stared in bewilderment as he watched Ezra walk away. How was it that he had more members of Indina’s family—people he’d met for the first time yesterday—welcoming him into their lives. Yet the woman he’d shared a bed with for the last eight months didn’t seem inclined to go any further with him? What did he have to do to make her see that he deserved to be more than just her occasional hookup?
Later that night, as he buried his face between Indina’s thighs, Griffin approached the task with single-minded determination, intent on making her screams reach new heights. Whenever they were together, his number one goal was always to make her come as many times as possible, but tonight it felt different, as if he had something to prove.
Maybe it was the irrational jealousy he’d been grappling with ever since he learned that her last relationship had lasted seven years. Seven years. Griffin felt compelled to prove that he was the best she’d ever had.
He worked her over frantically with his tongue and fingers, thinking that if he could bring her even more pleasure, maybe he could finally reach that place she kept just out of arms’ reach. It wasn’t hopeless. If this asshole Timothy had done it, Griffin figured he sure as hell should be able to convince Indina that she could trust him with her heart.
Her thighs clamped around his ears as he drilled his tongue inside her. She cupped the back of his head, tugging gently as she lifted her hips to meet his tongue’s every thrust. Griffin felt her orgasm building and rubbed his thumb over her clit, pressing down on it at the last minute.
Indina’s hoarse scream echoed off the walls. Her limbs continued to quiver as Griffin worked his way up her body. He peppered her skin with gentle kisses, relishing its smoothness, the slightly musky taste of her on his tongue. But, as usual, when he reached her face Indina didn’t give any indication that a kiss on the mouth would be welcomed.
It was like a knife to the gut.
After all the intimate moments they’d shared over the last eight months, why couldn’t she bring herself to do this one simple thing?
Indina collapsed onto her side of the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
“You know, if you charged women to do that, you could give up your engineering career entirely,” she said.
“Except that I really like being an engineer. And charging women to do that happens to be illegal.”
She lulled her head to the side and looked him up and down. “Oh, right. It is, isn’t it?” She let out a sigh. “I guess I’m really lucky that I get to experience it for free.”
Chuckling, Griffin rolled onto his side and traced the curve of her ear with his finger. Indina released another sigh and burrowed closer toward him. His breath hitched in his chest.
He thought about it for a moment before deciding to throw caution to the wind and just go for it. Reaching over, he pulled Indina to him and settled her back against his chest. He felt her stiffen before she released another of those languid sighs and relaxed against him.
Words could not adequately describe the elation and relief that rushed through him. Last night, he’d waited until she’d been sleeping for several hours before he’d pulled her against him. To hold her like this while she was awake? To be in this bed with her like they were a normal couple? Griffin couldn’t think of the words to express how this felt.
Amazing? Unbelievable? Euphoric?
No, none of those fit. There were no words for this.
He’d known for a while that he was no longer satisfied with these stolen moments together. He wanted more. He just didn’t realize how much he’d started to crave it.
But Griffin also knew that he was taking a chance if she pushed her. And that she could find someone else to satisfy her needs if he pushed too hard.
Another insane rush of jealousy flashed through him just at the thought of another man doing the things he did with her.
“What’s wrong?” Indina asked, glancing over her bare shoulder.
“What’s that?” Griffin asked.
“You just…growled,” she said.
Great. He was turning into a caveman. “It’s nothing,” he said. He tucked his chin against her shoulder and kissed behind her ear. “That was a pretty cool surprise at dinner tonight,” he said.
“Umm hmm,” she murmured. He could hear the smile in her voice.
During the dessert portion of the dinner, Indina’s cousins presented their stepfather with a family portrait that included him in the painting with the boys and their mother. Indina explained later that Alex, Eli and Toby had not been fully onboard when her Aunt Margo started dating Gerald Mitchell. Based on what Griffin witnessed tonight, whatever negative feelings the men once held for their stepfather had dissipated.
“I like your cousins a lot,” Griffin said. “Your brothers too. Hanging out with them today was…it was nice,” he said. “It reminded me of what it used to feel like back when I was close to my own brother.”
Indina turned to face him. Her puckered brown nipple peeked just above the sheet she’d pulled over them, and Griffin’s first instinct was to dip his head and suck it into his mouth, but she stopped him with her next question.
“Are you and your brother no longer close?” she asked. She quickly followed her question with, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
His aversion to discussing his
