State of Grace Read Online Free

full bottom lip. Paralyzed, she stopped breathing and stared at him wordlessly.
    “Liquor loosened lips,” he murmured thoughtfully. “I like that … and aren’t these the prettiest pair I’ve ever seen.” His thumb took the place of his index finger, and she felt the slightly callused pad rub her bottom lip gently.
    Stunned by how forward he was, and even more shocked that she was even letting him touch her, she fought to regain some semblance of control.
    “Stop touching me,” she whispered furiously.
    “You don’t like it?” His warm gaze held her slightly panicked eyes captive.
    She shook her head in response but failed to dislodge his touch. “Then why aren’t you moving away?” he murmured.
    Truer words had never been spoken.
    Grace’s head jerked away suddenly as she saw Sophie descending upon them, a lovely vision of cream and silk with Sam right behind her. Sophie looked worried, while the other woman glared daggers at … Sean? Flushed with embarrassment, she turned to look at the man sitting next to her.
    Eyes twinkling, he gave her a hint of a slight smile and carelessly shrugged as the woman reached their table. He mockingly nodded at them before sliding his chair back to leave. In the heartbeat before Sophie and Sam arrived at the table, he bent down, pausing when his lips were dangerously close to the shell of her ear.
    She froze, going shock still.  Nervous anticipation coursed through her veins like lightning, tiny jolts of voltage that sparked what felt like every nerve ending on her body.
    Finally, he spoke.  The satiny skin of his lips barely brushed her suddenly sensitive skin, as he wickedly whispered, “When was the last time someone fucked you and made you scream so hard, you couldn’t remember to be angry, Gracie?”
    Even though she routinely accused him of being a pervert and a man-whore, his crude question and bold manner stunned her into silence.  Her heart drummed erratically as air escaped her lungs in shallow breaths.  She jerked her head so that she faced him.
    Big mistake.
    He was so close, close enough that if she moved ever so slightly, there would be nothing between his lips and hers.  Sharp, knowing blue eyes bore into hers intently, and two things happened simultaneously.
    Heat consumed her face…
    And wet warmth flooded between her thighs, leaving her panties soaked.
    She knew she was beet red, but she desperately scrambled to regain her wits and ignore the lust pounding through her veins.  Her efforts were in vain though, because he didn’t give her any time to respond.  Just as she opened her mouth to say something he took off, swiftly escaping before the other woman descended upon them.
    “Babe, you okay?”
    While Sophie’s endearment pleased her, she nodded yes, hoping her face didn’t betray how much he’d rattled her.
    “Sean bothering you, Grace?”
    The truth was, the man had bothered her since the day she’d started kindergarten. What started as a simple tug of her pigtail at five only became worse as she got older. She could vividly remember her first day of high school when Sean and his squeeze of the moment had pulled up in front of their house.
    “Come on, Gracie. It’s not going to be that bad,” Lucas had urged. 
    Easy to say for her older brother.   While she was close to him, they were nothing alike.  Lucas was charming, handsome, and a jock, all of which made him popular.
    She was bookish, plain, and had skipped a grade making her a year younger than the others in her class and no higher than a gnat on the social ladder.
    They’d walked out to Lucas’s carpool partner, her anxiety doubling by the second until they reached the car, although the sight that greeted her caused her anxiety to vanish completely. 
    Instead, it was replaced with the tight clench of something unpleasant as Sean pulled his mouth away from the girl in the front seat who was clearly a cheerleader because she was wearing a cheerleader’s uniform. As