Turning of the Stars Ch. 02

"What did I say?"

"You said you'd make me scream your name," she said in a rush, desperate for him to come back and finish the job.

"Oh I will," he groaned, kissing her hard, forcing his tongue into her mouth and welcoming the sudden sharp pain of her teeth bumping against his lip. He brought his hips back against hers hard, the tip of his cock sliding up her crease until it ground against her clit, his shaft pressing all along her wetness. That was all it took for Anna to lose control, bucking wildly against him and wrapping her legs tightly around his hips as she came hard and fast.

She tried to bring her arms down to wrap around him and pull him closer, but Grant held her wrists tight. The sensation of being helpless in his arms brought a second orgasm on the heels of the first.

When he felt her trembling subside Grant's grip loosened on her wrists and he found her hands, folding their fingers together as he kissed her gently on the neck. Every nerve in Anna's body was alive and aching to be touched. She writhed under him, shivering at the sensation of his breath on the tiny hairs of her neck and running her feet up and down the backs of his legs. There was an aching emptiness inside and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from begging him to fuck her.

"Mmm, we should stop this while we're both ahead," he murmured against her hair. He rolled to the side taking his weight off her, but pulling her with him to maintain contact. Anna snuggled into him and wrapped her free arm around his waist, but she could feel him growing hard against her again and backed away.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, glancing up into his face. "Oh my god, you're bleeding!"

Grant had already noticed and was trying to wipe the blood off his lip with his fingers. "It's alright," he said, probing his lip with his tongue. "But if you're that hungry we should just go start breakfast."

His distraction worked and she cocked an eyebrow at him. "Oh no, there is no 'we.' I said I would cook you breakfast. You stay out of my kitchen Mr. Fancypants."

Anna hopped out of bed, threw on her flannel robe and walked out of the room followed by Grant's laughter. She was halfway through making an omelet when he came sauntering into the kitchen freshly showered and wearing nothing but his jeans slung low on his hips. Anna's breath caught at the sight of him, but she waved her spatula at him in warning.

"No cooking," she admonished. "You're not even supposed to be here yet."

Grant skillfully dodged her weapon and grabbed her hips, pulling her close for a quick kiss. He grinned and looked over her shoulder feigning concern. "Are you sure you're not burning anything?"

"If I am it's your fault for distracting me," she laughed, turning back to the stove.

She flipped the omelet and went back to slicing a cantaloupe while he leaned one hip on the counter, watching her. The weight of his eyes on her made her self-conscious and she glanced over at him to find him grimacing.

"What?"

"Don't you have a better knife?"

She stared at him blankly.

"Okay, clearly not, but you know you're holding the knife wrong, right? You're about this far from cutting off a finger." He held up his thumb and forefinger to elaborate.

"The key phrase in that statement is 'you're holding the knife'," Anna said, glowering at him and holding the knife up threateningly.

Grant burst out laughing and held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Fine, lose a digit, see if I care."

He walked into the living room still chuckling and Anna turned back to the food, being extra careful not to cut herself. She couldn't exactly say she was trying to impress him, but she didn't want to mess anything up either. Fortunately she finished breakfast with no further incidents and carried two plates piled high with cheese omelet, buttered toast, and fresh cantaloupe into the living room, handing one to Grant.

"I don't have a table, I hope you don't mind sitting on the couch to eat," she said apologetically. She didn't usually feel self-conscious about her meager furnishings, but for some reason she did now.

"I don't even have a shirt on, why would I be picky about where I sit?" he said, taking the plate from her. "Smells delicious."

"Don't sound so surprised."

Grant didn't answer, he was already taking an enormous bite of the omelet. His eyes widened and he nodded his appreciation as he swallowed.

"It is delicious. And I'm not surprised in the least," he said, winking at her.

"Liar," she said with a smile and started in on her own breakfast.

They ate in companionable silence for a while and as their plates emptied Grant asked Anna about her pictures.

"Those are my parents, there," she said pointing at a small framed photo on the bookshelf, faded orange with age. The two young people were smiling at each other, adoration clear on both their faces. "That was their wedding day. They got married right out of high school and had me about seven months later. And that," she said pointing to a larger photo hanging next to the door, "is the whole family, my parents, my brother, and the fourteen year old version of me."

"You guys look happy."

Anna watched Grant as he gazed at the photo, then looked at the picture trying to see it through his eyes. Her mother was sitting on the seat of a picnic table, laughing and pulling her brother and her close while her father sat on the table top behind them smiling down at the three of them.

"It was kind of idyllic as a kid growing up; we grew our own vegetables and had chickens. My brother and I had chores and my mom homeschooled us, but most of the time we were free to explore and do what we chose. Free range kids," Anna said with a smile, then the smile faded. "It was harder as I got older, we hit some rough patches when I was a teenager, but I guess that happens in every family."

"Did you have trouble getting into college after being homeschooled? I have no idea how that sort of thing works."

"No, I actually graduated from the local high school in town. When I was fifteen I begged my parents to let me go, it was a huge argument. The entire community had to weigh in with their two cents, but in the end I talked them into it. I just knew, even then, that I wanted options. I'm glad I did it, not just for me, but some of other kids since have done it too. I kind of set a new precedent. I was really proud when my brother decided to go. "

"He's younger than you?"

"Holden is about three years younger."

"Holden? Like Caulfield?

"Yeah, my parents named us after their favorite literary characters."

"So who are you named for?"

"Anna Karenina. For some reason they thought it was hilarious that we were named for two miserably unhappy social misfits."

"I can see where you get your twisted sense of humor."

Anna punched him on the arm and took his plate, getting up to bring them to the sink. "What about your family?" she called from the kitchen.

"Oh it's not very interesting. It was just my dad and me growing up. Or more accurately, a series of very attractive nannies and me," he said following her into the kitchen rubbing his full belly.

"What about your mom?"

"She died when I was a baby. I have a picture," he said, pulling out his wallet. He thumbed through the contents and pulled out an old, battered photo of a beautiful woman with long black curls and familiar bright green eyes.

"Wow, she's gorgeous. You look just like her."

"Yeah, that's what everyone used to say. I kind of wonder if that's part of the problem between my dad and me. I don't know how much you've heard about him." He looked at her inquisitively as he tucked the picture safely back into his wallet.

"You didn't mention him in the book so I don't know anything about him," she grimaced. "Sorry."

"Don't be, you're not missing anything," he said, nudging her aside and taking over the dishes. "He was on a soap opera for years, then did a few big action movies. Most of the time he worked in LA, but he didn't want me living out there so I stayed here with the nannies and only flew out there for a vacation here and there. He was gone a lot and when he was around he didn't have much interest in me. Not until I started causing trouble for him, anyway."

"Do you guys get along now?"

"If by 'get along' you mean 'don't speak to each other' then yes. He pretty much cut me out of his life when I got convicted. It was- I was a very ugly, very public embarrassment for him."

"I'm sorry," she reached out and laid a hand on is forearm, stilling him as he scrubbed a skillet clean.

Grant shrugged and shook his head, resuming his work on the dishes. "He was always overly concerned with appearances. When I was a teenager he used to tell me, 'I don't give a fuck what you do, just make goddamn sure you don't get caught doing it.' So I wasn't surprised. And by the time all that went down I was making a pretty good income from the club, so I didn't give a shit about his money. That pissed him off more than anything else. I think he expected me to beg and cry for him to help me or something."

"When's the last time you talked to him?"

"He called me right after the restaurant started to really blow up." Grant was silent for a moment before quietly saying, "He told me to try not to fuck things up this time and I hung up on him. I haven't heard from him since."

"He sounds like a sweet man."

Grant raised an eyebrow in surprise, then smiled wryly and nodded. "Yeah, he's a peach." He rinsed the last dish and dried his hands on a dishtowel. Anna stepped between him and the sink to get his attention, looking up into his face.

"His loss," she said, rising up on her toes to give him a quick kiss on the lips. Grant's hands went immediately to her hips and pulled her close, making the kiss last considerably longer.

"Wow," he said when they finally parted. "I really didn't mean to get into all that. I don't know how you trick me into spilling my guts."

"It's my CIA interrogation training."

"Mm, tax dollars well spent. Are they the ones that gave you blow job lessons, too?"

"Ha ha," she said, wryly.

"If I didn't know better I'd suspect you were working for a tabloid trying to dig up dirt on me, but you seem much too ethical for that."

"Do tabloids really try to dig up dirt on you?"

"They have in the past. One time I actually caught a guy digging through my garbage, but that was right after I got arrested when things were really crazy. These days I try pretty hard not to give them anything to talk about so I've kind of dropped off their radar. I got a little buzz after the book came out, but apparently it wasn't salacious enough to really attract attention. Actually, I didn't really think about it before, but it's probably something you should be aware of. I know they've hounded other girls I was in relationships with; some of them even got paid for spilling what they knew."

Anna tried unsuccessfully to suppress a smile, saying in a dignified manner, "Oh, are we in a relationship? How kind of you to inform me."

Grant blushed, embarrassed. "I didn't mean- I wasn't-"

"It's okay, I'm just teasing you," she said laughing and squeezing his arm.

He looked sternly at her, pushing her up against the counter and kissing her in retaliation. After a moment he pulled back, looking her in the eye. "But now that you mention it, is that something you're interested in?"

He maintained a playful tone, but she felt him grip her hips a little tighter and the little line between his eyebrows let her know he was worried about her answer.

Anna squeezed him back and smiled. "Are you asking if I want more than just sex? Because I might have to wait until after we actually have sex to answer."

Grant groaned and turned away in mock frustration. Anna laughed and grabbed his belt loop to keep him from walking away. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself against his back, trying to suppress the urge to run her hands all over his body, he was still shirtless after all.

"I'm sorry," she said, kissing the soft skin between his shoulder blades. "I'm making jokes because I don't really know how to answer." She was silent for a moment and he started to turn around, but Anna stopped him, glad for the moment that she was talking to his back. She traced the body of the dragonfly tattoo with her fingers and felt him shiver in her arms.

"I enjoy spending time with you. You make me laugh. You make me feel sexy, which is not something I'm used to. You make me want to do...depraved things," she smiled remembering his words from a few days before. "But I've also only known you for less than a week. I want to get to know you better and spend more time with you. I definitely want to explore this...sexual chemistry we have, but that is not the only reason I'm interested in you. Is that a good enough answer?"

She let him turn around this time and he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her on the forehead. "That's a perfect answer. And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. It's not the kind of thing that's really fair to ask so soon, but I keep forgetting that we haven't known each other very long."

"I know what you mean."

They kissed again, but before it got too heated Grant looked up at the clock and sighed.

"I should get moving, I need to go home and shave before work," he said, scratching his stubbled chin.

"Really?" Anna said, running a finger along his jaw. "I kinda like the shaggy look."

"Do you, now? I'll take that into consideration. So, I'll call you tomorrow after I hear from the doc."

"I'll be waiting. I have class in the morning and then work until nine."

Grant nodded and went and got dressed. Anna saw him off at the door with a final kiss and turned back into her apartment, feeling oddly lonely. She'd meant it when she told him she understood about feeling like they'd known each other for a long time and after only a few days she couldn't imagine not having him in her life. It was a scary feeling, especially since she still wasn't sure how she felt about his checkered past.

She had just been getting used to the idea that maybe he wasn't totally bullshitting her just by acting interested and he had to go and spring that on her, making her doubt her own judgment again. She sighed as she ran herself a bath, wondering once again if she was being a total idiot. She wanted to trust him, to believe that he wasn't interested in those women who threw themselves at him, but she didn't want to feel like an idiot when she found out he was just feeding her a line.

As she sank into the scalding water she let herself relax. She planned out her day, carving out time for the studying she hopefully wouldn't have time to do tomorrow night. She grinned and squirmed a little bit at the thought of what she would be doing instead, then told herself to stop thinking about it.