Page 87 of Lessons In Grey

God, how did I take all of it?

“Like what you see?”

My cheeks burned bright red, the smile that touched my lips tired and uninhibited. “Yeah,” I whispered, chewing on my lip.

He chuckled. “Good, it’s all yours, whenever you want it. I’ll be right back, rest.”

I watched after him until he disappeared around the corner. I shivered, still feeling the after-effects of what had just transpired. I’ve had plenty of sex before. One night stands, quick fucks at parties, but never anything like that. Never that fierce or that praising. I almost hated that we had waited so long, but on the other hand, I was glad. It might not have been like this if we had done it before. Now, I wasn’t going back to Jordan playing games with my head. There was nobody around me to convince me thatI was a piece of shit who didn’t deserve any of this.

Nobody except for me, I supposed.

When he returned, I pushed myself up onto my elbows and took the glass from him. “Thank you,” I said, unable to help my glance down at where he had tucked himself away. Fuck, this was a drug.Wewere a drug.

I took a long drink as he sat down at the edge of my bed and watched me, his hair tousled and unkempt, the feeling of it in my fingers still remaining. “Are you going to stay?”

A tired smile touched his own lips. “Yes. Drink, sleep. I need to make a phone call and then I’ll join you.”

I nodded, setting the cup to the side before settling back in the bed, already half-asleep. “You filled this whole place with me.”

He leaned over, gently tucking my unruly hair behind my ear, his eyes still black, still filled with this warmth that made my skin tingle. “It was easy. You have a very specific style, a very specific way about you. Finding the things that make you happy? It’s easy.”

My eyes filled as he leaned over and brushed his lips against mine, running his tongue across my bottom lip, setting my soul on fire once again.

When he pulled back, I was ready for him. I needed him again. I didn’t want this night to end. “I’ll be right back,” he mumbled, finding my eyes.

I nodded, but it took me a moment to fall away from him, and he waited until that moment before he stood.

I watched after him, watching the way his body moved as he left the room, blushing when I saw the marks on his back, some laced with blood, from my frail, brittle nails.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, if only to hide the smile from myself. Fuck.

21

Grey

November 3rd, 2021

Isucked on my fingers as if they were a goddamn lollipop as I walked across the room. Fuck, I could still feel her wrapped around me, tightening, quivering, shaking.

I thought I was addicted before, I thought I understood what addiction meant, but I was wrong. She was in my bones. She was in the very blood running through my veins. She was every thought, every whisper of breath through my lungs. I couldn’t breathe without her near.

And now that I had a taste of her, I wasn’t sure how I could just go back to work tomorrow without her.

I walked across the loft, picking my phone up off the floor from where it had slipped out of my pocket while I was fucking her into oblivion. Not a crack on the screen. Now I had to thank Jack for forcing me to get ascreen protector.

With an eyeroll, I called Malachi.

“Greetings, my beautiful boy!” he said cheerfully. “How has the weekend been?”

I turned back towards the closed bedroom door, running my tongue over my bottom lip just for another little taste. “Matthew should be left to rot at the bottom of the fucking ocean,” I said under my breath, although it didn’t come off as angry as it should have.

Malachi was quiet a moment. “He reported how she looked when she walked out of the house this morning,” he replied sorrowfully. “I’m so sorry, Greyson. That never should have happened.”

I could hear the sincerity in his voice, and I couldn’t help the sympathy I felt in return. There was no way he could have known what was happening in that house, and I never gave him permission to enter it.

“Matthew said you moved her out.”

I nodded, leaning back against the table, now askew from where the movers had placed it yesterday. “We’re in her new place now, took all day to move. I’m sure he knows where though.”