Now or Never

but they were too caught up in each other to care.
    Her hands came up his hard chest desperate to feel the warmth from his body on her skin. Tilting her head up, her mouth urgently devoured his. His own urgency surprised and excited her at the same time. She felt utterly consumed by his kiss. When his mouth left hers, he stared down at her with an intensity that made her feel like she was the only woman in the world.
    A crack of thunder startled her. Derrick grabbed her hand pulling her behind him down the hill, they ran back to the SUV. He opened the back door, and she climbed in. “Lay back,” he said hoarsely.
    Grayson laid back and looked up as Derrick removed her shoes, and shimmied off her jeans. She wanted him so badly she was trembling. He climbed on top of her, and she parted her knees. Her hips lifted eagerly to meet him. She cried out when he entered her and wrapped her legs around his waist pulling him closer. When her climax came it was shockingly intense. Hot waves pulsed throughout her body, and her entire body shuddered. Grayson didn’t even notice the seatbelt driving into her back and easily ignored a cramp in her leg. The pleasure far surpassed any discomfort.

CHAPTER 22

    On the drive back towards town Grayson reached over and grabbed Derrick’s hand. It’s funny how something as simple as holding hands could feel so intimate after mind blowing sex. He lightly rubbed his thumb back and forth across her palm. Her hand tingled at his touch.
    Her phone beeped alerting her that she had missed a call. She grabbed the phone from the cup holder. What in the world? Five missed calls from her mother? That was not good. Her mom never called. Hell, she barely knew how to use her cell phone. Maybe Josh showed up again. If that was the case, she needed to know right away, so she hit send on her mom’s number. The last thing she needed right now was another altercation.
    “Hey Mom, its Grayson, you called?”
    Her mom sniffed, and Grayson’s body tensed.
    “What’s wrong mom?”
    “You don’t know?”
    “Know what?” Grace asked her stomach dropping.
    “Your father Grace, he’s dead.”
    “What! How? Where is he?” Grace pulled her hand away from Derricks.
    “He had a heart attack. Apparently, he’s been living in Virginia all this time. His sister Michelle called. She thought we’d liked to know.”
    “How kind of her,” Grayson said bitterly. “I’ll be home soon. When’s the funeral?”
    “Friday.”
    “OK. Thanks for letting me know,” Grace said as she clicked off her phone and closed her eyes.
    She knew should feel sad, but she felt nothing. She just learned her father had died, and she had no tears to shed. Maybe she was in shock? Or perhaps she was incapable of feeling anything for the man. It made her ill knowing he had been so close to them all this time.
    “Someone died?” Derrick asked concerned.
    “Yup, my father,” Grayson replied with no emotion in her voice.
    “I’m sorry,” he said as he took his eyes off the road to look at her.
    “It’s OK. He wasn’t exactly a model father.”
    “Not many seem to be,” Derrick said and grabbed her hand again. The warmth of his skin soothed her jagged nerves.
    “My father is…was one of those men who weren’t meant to be a dad. He was a merchant marine, so he was gone two months at a time and home for one month. But what he lacked in being a father he made up for by loving our mother. The kind of love you read about in books or see in a movie.”
    “Are they still married? Ethan’s never mentioned his father.”
    “Yes, technically they are. They never divorced, but my father walked out on us when I was twelve, and he never looked back. That kinda shattered the childish dream of happy ever after.” Grayson looked out the window off at the horizon. “He was a Vietnam vet; never really got over the war, but it got worse as time passed. Like a mid-life crisis or something. He started drinking all the time and watching war movies obsessively. He would rant and rave about how inaccurate the movies were. My mom tried to help him, but no one could get through to him.” Grayson hesitated and continued, “He left his high-paying job with no notice. He got into three accidents, all DUIs. But he always refused to admit that he had a problem.” Grayson paused, not sure how much more she was willing to share.
    “One day we got into a big fight. I can’t even remember what it was about now. I think it was something