His straight white teeth shone brightly within a cocky grin, and he leaned back on his heels as he laughed—a full, belly-shaking laugh. The sound slowly died, and his grin became wolfish as he prowled a little closer. With each step, the bewitchment that bound us together danced across my skin, lulling my anger with its desirous melody as it whispered inside my mind to take what I wanted, whatever pleasure he could give.
Graysen’s features radiated pure challenge, and his gaze slipped all over my figure like sticky honey, a tangible caress that spiked a desperate craving for more. “I think you prefer stupidly beautiful.” The low, sonorous rumble of his tone was a sensual stroke between my thighs. I closed my eyes and cursed myself. Shame and pleasure intertwined, scorching me from the inside out. A humiliating reminder of how swiftly my body reacted to his, how quickly he could arouse me with simply his voice.
Hellsgate. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go.
I clenched my hands at my sides and released a long breath. Slowly, I pried my lashes apart only to see pure male satisfaction glowing in his gaze. Craving too.
The salad bowl was a woefully useless shield, but I scooped it up and backed away further so I could quickly snatch a plastic spoon from the cutlery drawer and grip it like a weapon. “Goodnight,” I said, hurrying toward the safety of my bedroom.
Graysen was right on my heels as I quickly entered my room, but he didn’t cross the threshold. Instead, he stood right in the doorframe, dwarfing it with his size.
Leaving the salad on the end of the mattress, my gaze hit the romance books of Tabitha’s sitting on the bedside table. I strode over and picked up the first book on the stack, the one that had shocked Graysen so much. Judging from the cover, his reaction was completely understandable. It screamed dirty erotica. A sizzling hot, beefy guy had one hand dipped right between the heroine’s thighs, his mouth ghosting her arched throat, tongue licking. From her taut, blissed-out expression, she looked like she was on the verge of an earth-shattering orgasm.
“What the hells are you doing?”
I glanced up from the novel. Wasn’t it obvious? “I’m settling in for the night with a good book.” I flopped down on the bed on my stomach, bending my knees and crossing my ankles.
He instantly jerked his head back and scowled. “I haven’t finished asking my questions.”
I arched an imperious, smug eyebrow at him. This was my domain, my lair, as he was about to discover. “I’m done answering them. I’ve had a long day, and I’m tired.” I yawned dramatically and fluttered my lashes as if I were on the cusp of falling asleep.
Clearly a little pissed, Graysen slapped the door frame with the flat of his hand before he retreated and left me alone.
I heard his footsteps softened by carpet as he made his way back to the kitchen, followed by the rush of water that filled the sink and the clatter of the wooden chopping board as, I supposed, he readied to do the washing up.
But I wasn’t done with him.
Tying my hair back into a messy bun, I then spooned myself a mouthful of salad. The juices of crisp peppers and celery, bathed in thyme and marjoram, burst across my tongue, chased by a zing of feta. I ate the deliciousSalad of Angerwhile flicking through the book until I found a seriously heated scene and then disappeared into a world of filthy sex, determined to remindGraysen that two could play the same game. I grinned. Not long after I’d started reading and gotten swept away by it all, arousal thrummed through every inch of my body. My core ached in blissful torture, desperate for release, and outside my bedroom, I heard a sharp intake of breath followed by muttering of low curses, heavy footfall, and a door yank open and slam shut with a loud bang.
At first, I thought I’d driven Graysen from his quarters as I’d intended until I heard the splash of raining water coming from the bathroom. I rolled my eyes as I flicked a page over. He was always taking long-ass showers.
A minute later, I blinked rapidly and my shocked gaze shot to the wall the two rooms shared.
I abruptly pushed myself upright to sit with my legs tucked underneath, wide-eyed and deathly still, listening. A moment later I quickly scurried from my bed, where I pressed my ear to the wall, straining to hear what was happening on the other side.
The same sound came again. A name faintly spoken,groanedwas a more appropriate description, yet distinct, coming from inside the other room.
My mouth fell open as I jolted away.
Holy fucking Skalki!
And I suddenly realized, stupidly, why Graysen always favored long-ass showers.
25
Graysen
Every cell in my body was attuned to Nelle, and the longer I lingered, the more her presence serrated my nerves. Excruciating. Exquisite. With every inhale, her scent seared my lungs and scorched my skin. Even the soft loops of carpet gouged the soles of my feet like a bed of thorns as I stalked back and forth, a caged animal in my own godsdamned tower. And the irony wasn’t lost on me. Yet none of it quelled the lust racing through my veins like jacked-up adrenaline.
I didn’t need to see her to know exactly what she was doing. Even if I hadn’t scented her arousal permeating the air, her tells would have given her away: the quickened breaths, the shift of weight on the mattress, the soft sound of a page turning. And then that breathy little sigh…gods,it nearly undid me. My cock hardened instantly, straining against my jeans, like a sad virgin losing fucking control at the first brush of a girl’s hand.
I didn’t know what turned me on more, her alluring body spread upon the bed or that brilliant mind of hers. Purechallenge had gleamed in her gaze after she’d informed me she was ‘done answering my questions’and mocked me with a yawn. She’d cleverly flooded the air with her arousal just to twist the knife deeper and drive me from the tower.
Instead, I stayed like a pathetic fool.
Holy shit…
I froze mid-step, my heart hammering against my ribs.
