We’d been living together for a month now. And I meanreallyliving together. Not the strange limbo we’d existed in before.
The guest room had become Hazel’s room. My toothbrush lived next to his in the bathroom. My clothes had claimed half his wardrobe. Our routines had merged so seamlessly I sometimes forgot there’d been a time when this wasn’t my life.
Every morning, I woke up pinned beneath him. Griffin Michaels apparently couldn’t grasp the concept of staying on his side of the bed.
He’d wrap himself around me like I was his personal radiator, which was ironic considering the man was a living furnace. I’d joked about moving to Scandinavia once. Somewhere his body temperature might be an asset instead of attempted manslaughter.
He’d just pulled me closer and told me to stop complaining.
I wouldn’t change a thing.
He laid me down gently, settling between my thighs with reverence instead of urgency. This time, there was no rush, no desperation. Just Griffin, looking at me like I hung the moon.
“You’re so beautiful,” he breathed, brushing hair from my face. “Sometimes I look at you and can’t believe you’re real. That you’re mine.”
If he kept this up, I’d turn into a blubbering emotional wreck.
“Why are you praising me? We’re meant to be celebrating you tonight!”
“And this is how I want to celebrate.” He kissed me softly. “By worshipping you.”
He pushed inside me slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. I’d never get used to the way he looked at me like I was the only thing that mattered.
“You saved me,” he whispered, brushing his thumb across my lips. “From myself. From the emptiness.”
He cradled my face as he moved with slow, tantalizing thrusts. I felt every inch of him, the slow drag prolonging the pleasure until it was almost unbearable.
The intensity of his gaze matched the pace, and I loved every second of it.
“Before you, racing was everything. The only thing that gave me purpose.”
Tears pricked my eyes. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t do anything but hold his gaze as pleasure built with each slow movement.
“Then you walked in with your sharp tongue and your walls and your refusal to let me get away with anything.” He kissed me softly. “And suddenly I had a reason to come home and two somethings worth protecting.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I whispered.
“You gave me everything.” His forehead pressed to mine. “You made me want to be the kind of man who stays. Who chooses you every single day.”
He kissed me again, deeper this time, and my eyes burned with tears of joy.
“I’m so bloody grateful for you. For this. For every moment I get to share with you.”
The pressure built, coiling tighter. With each thrust, his body almost promised me a future I’d never dared to want.
“I’d do it all again,” he breathed. “Every moment, every fight, every sleepless night if it meant ending up here with you.”
“I love you,” I whispered.
His eyes fell shut, something raw and vulnerable crossing his face. “Christ, Vi. I love you too. So much it terrifies me.”
When I came, it was with his name on my lips and our gazes locked. He followed moments later, body shuddering, groaning my name like a prayer.
Afterward, wrapped in his arms with no space between us, I buried my face in his chest, breathing him in.
My father had forced me into Griffin’s orbit for all the wrong reasons. He’d thought I was another means of control.
Instead, I’d fallen in love.
The irony was almost funny. After years of hating every decision Julian had made for me, I was finally grateful for one.
He’d put me exactly where I needed to be.
