“Busy right now, Scott,” he said, burying his face in the crook of the woman’s neck.
His voice jolted me from the shock of the scene, and I turned around and slammed the door shut with surprising force.
Racing back down the stairs, I tried to ignore the emotions that welled in my chest. They all fought with each other to rise to the top. Humiliation and anger battled valiantly for centre stage, but stupidity won. How did I think I could ever be on civil terms with that pig?
Automatically, I went into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of wine before walking into the garden. I slammed the back door, watching it bounce off the frame and swing open again.
“Stupid, arrogant prick,” I muttered, turning away.
Taking a deep drink from the glass, I leaned against the wall of the house and looked out across the garden. The edges of it still had my mother’s rose bushes in full bloom and enjoying the warm, balmy summer weather. Whites and reds, alternating along the border of grass.
“Do you always intend to ruin my fun?” Grayson’s voice joined me.
I pushed off the wall, gripping the glass tighter. “My presence didn’t seem to have much impact on you.”
“Yes, well, Naomi felt a little more embarrassed than I did.” Grayson sniffed. “Decided to call it an afternoon.”
“Poor you,” I hissed.
Grayson appeared at my side, dressed only in jeans that hung low on his hip, glimpsing the sacred V that made my mouth dry and my pulse speed up.Straightening out my thoughts, I walked away from him.
“Why so angry, Scott?” he asked calmly.
“I’m not running a brothel, Grayson,” I told him. “This is my home! You don’t just bring back whoever you want, whenever you want. I live here! Even when you are gone, I will live here, so I’d rather not have all and sundry know my address!”
It was genuine enough. I couldn’t have him bringing whoever he wanted back to my home. I knew nothing about them, and I lived alone. This was a recipe for disaster and if Cass found out, I’d never hear the end of it.
“I don’t think it’s just that.” Gray walked towards me with slow, measured steps.
Putting the glass down on the table, I hurried away from him, walking around the outside of the house until I’d skirted around the side gate and ended up at the front door.He’d followed me with silent footsteps.
“Naomi is a mortal,” he informed me, as if I didn’t know the fact. “That bothers you, doesn’t it?”
“Why the hell would that bother me?” I forced out a laugh.
“Because I told you I’d never touch you. That I’d never want a filthy mortal.”
The blood rushed to my cheeks. I hated when this happened. I hated feeling inadequate. Inconsequential. Insignificant. My mind fixated on the words. Foolish. Negligible. Meaningless. They ricocheted against my skull until I wanted to claw them out.
For twenty-seven years, I’d put my all into every aspect of my life to prove to myself and to everyone that I was as good, if not better, than average. The need to be more than the abandoned, angry kid. Grayson was slowly destroying all my hard work with a few simple sentences, and I hated him for it. Hated that I let him have that impact.
“And I told you I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last being on earth,” I shot back at him, pride punching its way to the surface.
“You have such an independent spirit, Scott,” Grayson said with a sinister smile. “But there’s a small part of you that wants to obey me. A sliver that would submit to me if I gave you the chance. And I intend to find it.”
I opened my mouth to respond but wasn’t given the chance. Grayson closed the gap between us. Every time he’d done this, I noticed the way he was careful not to touch me. Grayson had always been wary about being close without contact, but this time, that wasn’t his goal.
This time, his hand cupped my face before his lips crashed down on mine.
I’d experienced skin to skin contact with two Gods before him, but the contact with Grayson was stronger than both combined. It was fury and rage in such a deep shade of red that it was basically black.
Multiple memories flashed through my mind. Getting into trouble for things that Cassidy had done. Having boys tell me I couldn’t do what they did. Fights with friends. Burying my parents. Watching Ethan walk away from me.
As they flickered in and out of focus, my stomach knotted. So much anger bubbling through my gut and making me nauseous. This was the feeling I’d been accustomed to until my adoption. This was the white-hot pulse that Dad taught me to control. The beast no longer sat caged. It howled, running free for the first time in years.
When all of it faded away, the weakness washed over my limbs and light-headedness rushed through my skull. I gripped onto Grayson as his arms wrapped around me, holding me flush against him and steady. I kissed him back just to bury the pure chaos he’d pulled to the surface.
A deep fire soon replaced it as Grayson’s tongue pushed into my mouth, and I didn’t resist. Didn’t have the energy to refuse him. My body responded in all the ways it had begged to since I’d first laid eyes on him. As if it finally had permission to soak in every inch of the God in the most intimate ways. All of my nerves were on fire from the embrace, and finally I broke away, needing to breathe.
