12. Grey

Chapter 12

Grey

I crack my eyes open at the sound of a drawer clicking shut, stretching my sore limbs out leisurely, while Delilah's towel covered frame swims into view.

For fucks sake it's Monday – a day I dislike usually, but today even more so because it means the time between Delilah and I is over with.

Unabashedly, I stare at Delilah's round arse, a section of her towel slipping down to reveal her smooth upper back once she straightens up. I catch a glimpse of the thin lace clutched in her grasp as she turns to the side, still unaware I'm awake, and grabs something from her vanity.

"Morning, Delilah," I croak, voice raspy from sleep.

She jumps, quickly catching the hem of her towel before it falls, as if I haven't already seen every gorgeous inch of her. The movement only fails to bring her towel higher, uncovering more of her bare upper thighs.

"Good morning, Grey."

The sound of my name on her tongue has my already half hard cock twitching. I fucking want her again, but my mind knows that's not going to happen, even if my body hasn't quite caught up yet.

The only release I'll be getting today is at my own hand, no matter how unsatisfactory that sounds, because our two night stand is over, done, in the past.

Yet, I can't bring myself to tear my eyes away from her.

"What time is it?"

Delilah lays her lacy underwear down on her side of the bed, which is already neatly made, before heading off to her wardrobe tucked away in the corner. "A little before seven."

"Early." I note, even though I used to consider anything after five am late back when I was swimming professionally.

Delilah's reply is slightly muffled, half her head buried in the depths of her wardrobe. "I'm in the office today… and I couldn't sleep."

I repress my yawn, bending my arm behind my head, using my bicep as a pillow. "You should have woken me." Although, I'm not sure she would have been able too, these past two nights at Delilah's have been some of the best sleep I've had in the last year.

Returning with a white blouse slung over her forearm and a pair of grey trousers hanging from a wire hanger, Delilah shrugs. "You looked peaceful. I didn't want to disturb you."

I nod, watching the way her eyes drink me in; my body naked, only the lower portion of me covered by her bedsheet. My cock kicks under the covers again, and with the way Delilah's gaze zeros in on my groin, I don't think she's missed the movement.

She clutches her blouse a little tighter, knuckles turning white and blotchy, and then turns away. "Are you at work today?"

"Nope." I grin, simply thinking about the freedom I have today. "Day off. I'm back in tomorrow."

From her vanity, Delilah grabs some deodorant, rolling it under her arms while we talk. "So, what are your plans today?"

"Not really sure yet. Might message one of my brothers, ask if they want to go to the gym, get something to eat… nothing massive. Maybe read some more of that romance book if you're willing to lend it out to me."

Delilah recaps her deodorant, picks up her white lace knickers and stares at me. "Close your eyes."

"Close my eyes?" I repeat, amused, that space beneath my heart tickling my ribcage. "I've seen and licked practically every part of you, gorgeous."

Smiling, she shakes her head. "That was different. Close your eyes, Grey."

"Fine." I play along, closing my eyes for a split second before opening them again. Delilah doesn't notice, dropping her towel as soon as I've agreed, peering downwards at herself as she steps into her underwear.

Straightening them on her hips, she checks to see if my eyes are still closed, squawking when she notices I'm watching her.

"Grey!" Her hands find their way to her nipped in waistline; the rest of her body completed naked for me to look at.

I smirk, unable to help myself. Delilah's a fucking knockout. "What?"

She clicks her tongue at me and rolls her eyes but can't seem to wipe the grin from her own face, which gives her game away completely. She likes it when I look.

Without another word, she reaches for her matching bra, clipping it at the front and then spinning the cups around until they face the front, and she can slip her arms through. Transfixed, I feel my jaw tick, hands clenching in the sheets at the sight of the pretty material against her sun kissed skin.

I want to tear it from her skin. I want to—

An audible groan slips past my lips when Delilah bends forward, giving me a fucking edible view of her pushed together cleavage, picking up her towel and then turns to head across into the bathroom, her thong framing her bouncing heart shaped arse.

That arse I've grabbed and kneaded and dreamt about. That arse I'm so desperate to bite, sink my teeth into and mark red raw.

Why the hell didn't I do that last night?

And that thong she's wearing? I wanna peel it from her body, stuff it in my pocket for later and then spread her legs.

My heart is still racing, the tent under her bedsheets even more prominent, when Delilah returns, making quick work of buttoning up her short-sleeved blouse, and slipping on her pair of tailored grey trousers.

She's gorgeous and I tell her so. "I thought I'd pass out when I saw you in your bathing suit, and then again in your dress on Saturday, but this is something else entirely, Delilah."

The staining blush on her cheeks has my lips stretching even wider into a grin. It's all I seem able to do when Delilah is around – smile.

"I thought the same about you."

The air in my lungs seems to disappear at Delilah's sudden admission, until all I can do is stare at her, watching her take a seat at her vanity.

I swing my legs out of her bed, planting my feet on the floor and pulling my black slacks up my legs before I do something silly, like kiss her, and get rejected.

One night… Two nights… that's all we agreed too.

"Mind if I make a coffee?" I ask, needing to move, get out of this room, before… before I cave under the temptation.

Delilah waves a brush at me, glancing at me in her vanity mirror. "Coffee pods are in the top drawer."

"Do you want one?"

She shakes her head, curls bouncing. "I'll get something on my way into work."

In Delilah's kitchen, once I've found the coffee pods and figured out how to use her coffee machine, I shoot a text off to Blake and Hudson, my only two brothers who live in London and could be around to head to the gym.

Blake replies just as I take a sip of my steaming coffee.

Blake: give me abt 2 hrs meet u there

Hudson doesn't reply, so I have no clue if he's meeting us there or not.

Swigging down the rest of my too hot coffee, I wash my cup out in the sink, noticing the picture of Delilah and her sister printed on the side. Cheeks squashed together, arms wrapped round other another – they look happy.

It's one of the very few personal pictures Delilah has lying round, each of them only containing herself, or Aurelia and a couples of female friends here and there.

None containing a smiling Mum or Dad figure.

In the bathroom, I pick the clean toothbrush I used yesterday out from the designated pot, noticing it's spot beside Delilah's electrical toothbrush, before brushing, rinsing and then heading back into Delilah's bedroom to retrieve my shirt.

She's attempting to secure a gold bracelet on her slim wrist when I walk in and by the mutterings under her breath, failing.

The heat from Delilah's gaze is palpable when I reach her, taking a hold of the hook and eye clasp of her bracelet, threading it with ease. "There you go, gorgeous."

"Thank you, Grey."

I tear myself away first, hating myself for it, but retrieving the puddle that is my shirt from the floor.

Crossing her floor, Delilah slips her feet into a black pair of heels, boosting her height while glancing at herself in her floor length mirror to fix the collar of her blouse, wipe away a speck of something under her eye, check the security of the clip holding her hair out of her face.

When she spots me looking at her, she smiles softly, lips closed, not as bright, not as open as she has been with me this weekend.

The mask Delilah holds tight, the one she wears like a shield, is back.

I follow her into the hallway once she's ready for work, trailing in her waft of perfume. Her handbag sits threaded over her forearm, manuscripts poking out of the top, her phone and keys clutched in one hand, a battered book in the other.

We stop at the door to allow me to slip on my own shoes, double checking the shape of my wallet in my back pocket.

"Here." Delilah holds the book out for me, the spine ripped in some places, a couple of the papers warped with water damage. It's the book I'd been reading while Delilah showered, her favourite book, the one about the five men and their one woman.

I take the book in my hand, a zip of heat radiating through me as Delilah and I as our fingertips touch. "What's this for?"

"Read it," she says, peering up at me. "You can give it back to me at my swimming lesson on Wednesday."

"You're going to show up on Wednesday?"

Delilah nods. "I'll be there."

"Good." It's all I can think of to say, because everything else I want to say to Delilah, everything else is… I don't even fucking know what it is.

I stay silent while Delilah locks up her apartment, throwing her keys into her bag with a jangle and then heading towards the flight of stairs.

Outside, the streets of London are shining with a blinding, early morning sun. Swarms of people dressed in their professional attire, heads down, on their mission to get to work on time, crowd the pavement.

I thank God, I'm not one of them.

Beside the entrance to her building, Delilah squints her eyes against the watery sunlight, hovering her palm above her eyebrows so she can see me better. She opens her mouth, tongue darting out to wet them and I have no clue what she's going to say, I don't even know what I'm hoping she'll say, but then the words fall from her lips.

"Goodbye, Grey."

That space inside my heart pings, like the whip of an elastic band zipping across my skin.

I swallow, gripping the book in my hand all that tighter. I need to get home, shower, find a fresh pair of clothes and then submerge myself under the water until I know what the fuck to do.

Somehow, I manage to keep my tone steady. "See you on Wednesday, Delilah."

She dips her chin in agreement, and before I can prepare myself, leans up on her tiptoes to hug me, placing a final soft peck to my lips and then turns on her heel, walking in the opposite direction to the way I'll be going.