Summary: Laurel and Grayson spend the morning of their wedding day together. Set in the same timeline/universe as After All This Time.
The alarm won’t go off for another two hours, and Laurel knows she’ll be awake late into the night, but she can’t keep her eyes closed any longer. Grayson is still asleep next to her, one arm warm and secure around her waist, his chest rising and falling slowly with his even breaths. He stirs as she wakes, shifting onto his side. His breath is a warm gentle puff against her neck as he stills again.
As her eyes adjust to the dark room, Laurel can just see the outline of the garment bag holding her dress hanging on the back of the bedroom door. The heels Poppy had talked her into splurging on sit just beside it. Grayson’s suit is hanging in the closet. All that’s left to do now is wait.
She turns, facing Grayson, a content smile on her face as she watches him sleep. Laurel brushes her fingertips across his jawline, his stubble tickling her. His eyes blink open after a minute, finding hers with a sleepy smile.
“You’re up early,” he says, his voice gravelly as he wakes up.
“I can’t sleep anymore,” she explains.
“Nervous?” he asks, tucking her hair behind her ear and caressing her cheek with his thumb.
“No,” Laurel answers. “Excited. Happy.”
She smiles, leaning in to press her lips to his.
“I mean, there’s always the possibility of something going wrong,” she muses, “but as long as we’re married at the end of the day…that’s all that matters.”
Grayson hums his agreement. He lifts his head to look at the alarm clock. “We have awhile until we need to be up,” he murmurs.
“I know. You can go back to sleep.”
“I’m awake now,” he says. “Might as well get up and get ready.”
He leans over her, kissing her once, a brief, gentle press of his lips to hers, before climbing out of bed and offering her his hand. Laurel takes it, following him to the bathroom and leaning against the counter as he turns the shower on. Steam fills the room as they brush their teeth and he strips out of his pajama pants, Laurel tugging the t-shirt she sleeps in over her head and kicking out of her underwear.
She yelps quietly when she steps into the shower and the hot water hits her, jumping back against the cool tile. Grayson chuckles as he joins her, pulling the door closed and ducking his head under the spray without so much as a flinch.
“You’re a furnace,” Laurel says, inching back under the shower head.
She sees him smile as he runs a hand over his face, water rivulets trailing down his skin. For some reason, she’s reminded of the first time she showered while he was nearby, only ten feet away in a tiny cabin, on a rainy night when they got caught and had to stay over. He was still just a fantasy in her mind then, her thoughts running wild with wanting him and wondering how it would be. Maybe it’s because that night was their first time being together, and this will be their last morning together with her as Laurel Cassidy.
“What is it?” Grayson asks her suddenly, and Laurel glances up.
“What?”
“You have a very peculiar look on your face,” Grayson answers, nudging her under the shower head.
“Oh,” she says, flushing slightly as she washes her hair.
She can’t really explain why, but she’s never told him that she was thinking of him in the shower that night. It’s silly. They’ve been together since then, showered together many times since then, but she hasn’t been able to bring herself to tell him.
“You remember that night we had to stay over in that cabin?” she finally says after a long moment, Grayson still watching her curiously.
She can see his eyes darken, his heated gaze burning a path over her body and then back up to her face.
“Of course I do,” he says in a low tone, reaching for her and pulling her against him.
He buries his fingers in her wet hair, kissing her like he had that night, full of longing and desire. Laurel whimpers quietly, her brow furrowing when he stops suddenly. She opens her eyes and sees Grayson still staring at her.
“What about that night?” he asks.
“I may…have definitely thought about you while I was showering,” she says in a rush, the words running together.
Grayson looks amused for a second, his lips quirking up, then drops his hands to her hips, squeezing slightly. “I may have thought about you when I was in the shower, too,” he admits.
It surprises her, a little bit, to learn he was thinking about her then.
“Huh,” is all she can think to say, then, “What was I doing?”
“Mmm,” he rumbles. “It was more what I was doing.”
Laurel groans quietly at that thought.
“What was I doing, when you were thinking about me?” he breathes against her ear.
His fingers run up her sides, slowly, lightly, making her suck in a breath. He circles around her breasts, then brushes across her nipples, bending his head down to suck lightly at her neck, careful not to leave any marks.
“That,” she manages to say, tilting her head to the side.
Grayson teases his teeth across her skin, moving his lips to her shoulder, his touch growing firmer, bolder. She rests her hands on his chest, fingertips digging in slightly as he glides his hands lower.
“You’re still incredibly beautiful,” he murmurs, lifting his head back up to kiss her. “And I still want you just as much.”
His fingers move between her legs, and she can hear him groan quietly when he feels how wet she is for him.
“What else, baby?” he asks in a near-whisper, dancing his fingers across her sensitive skin before sliding two into her with ease.
She moans, moving her hands up to burrow into his hair.
“This?” Grayson asks, nipping at her collarbone.
His pace is slow, almost agonizingly so, but it feels so good that she doesn’t mind.
“Yes,” she whimpers, resting her forehead against his shoulder.
“God. Grayson,” she says on a sharp inhale when he starts moving faster, his thumb teasing over her clit.
“You said my name like that,” he groans. “When I thought about you.”
Laurel says his name again, a breathy moan, and feels him jerk against her. She slips a hand out of his hair, down his chest, over his stomach, and takes his hardened length in her hand, twisting and pumping slowly.
He groans her name, his movements faltering before he suddenly grabs her wrist, then withdraws his hand and kneels before her. Her breathing is ragged as she watches him kiss up her thighs.
“This?” he asks again, glancing up, desire and arousal written all over his face.
“Yes,” she whispers.
Grayson wraps an arm around her thighs, and she lets out a quiet, strangled sound as he runs his tongue over her core. Her fingers tangle in his hair, pulling unintentionally as he presses into her. She’s gasping for breath, hips moving instinctively against him as he flutters his tongue in her. She’s close, can feel her belly tighten, her legs trembling, but all she wants now is him inside her.
“Grayson,” she gasps, tugging at his hair again. “I just…I want you.”
He kisses his way back up to her lips, kissing her deeply before lifting her. Laurel loops her arms around his neck, her legs wrapping around his waist as he presses her back against the wall and guides himself into her. His hands are strong under her thighs, holding her, his eyes locked on hers as he moves slowly in and out.
“Laurel,” he groans as she presses her lips to his and then down his neck.
“Mm,” she whimpers.
Grayson moves a little faster.
“This, baby?” he somehow manages to ask.
“No,” she moans, can feel herself nearing release. “I couldn’t-I stopped-“
She doesn’t know how she manages to even be that coherent, but the words die on her lips as her orgasm washes over her, her muscles clenching around him and making him slam into her.
“Grayson,” she gasps, her arms tightening around his neck.
His fingers dig into her thighs, his breaths ragged against her as he comes, groaning her name. Grayson presses her more firmly against the tile wall and she lets herself slump down slightly as she sucks in shallow breaths. He kisses her after a minute, slowly lowering her legs to the shower floor.
They finish showering as the water starts to cool, sneaking quick kisses before Grayson shuts the water off and they step out.
Laurel laughs suddenly as they get dressed, another thought crossing her mind.
“I’m really glad we insisted on not spending the night apart before the wedding,” she says, and Grayson just shakes his head in amusement, a smile playing across his lips.