LOGINHer thighs were slick—not from the water, but from her. Aching, dripping, swollen with need that had never fully been sated.He looked up at her. Water streamed over his face, his hair plastered to his forehead. His eyes were dark, hungry."Tess," he rasped. Her heart melted. His eyes were not only full of hunger, but also full of so much tenderness it almost melted her soul. She felt seen. Bare. Naked to his eyes. And safe.When he called her name, she opened her mouth but couldn't answer, enthralled by him, intoxicated by everything he was doing. She could only grip his shoulders for balance, her knees threatening to buckle.He didn't reach for the sponge.He leaned in.His mouth found her center like a man starved. He pressed his face between her thighs, tongue sweeping through her folds in a long, flat, possessive lick that made her cry out. Her head fell back, her hands fisting in
( BACK TO GRAYSON'S MANSION)“What’s this?” Tessa asked softly, her fingers brushing against his arm.“What’s what?” he murmured distractedly, lips grazing the sensitive skin of her neck.She tilted away from him slightly. “Wait. I’m serious.”His brows furrowed as he turned her around to face him, but her gaze had already locked onto his arm.The scar was large. Too large to ignore.And from the shape of it… It looked disturbingly like a bite mark.His eyes followed hers, and for the briefest second, something unreadable flashed across his face.“It’s nothing,” he said quickly, attempting to pull his arm away.But she caught him before he could.“Tess..”“What scar is this?”He inhaled slowly, almost shakily, before pulling her against his chest as though closeness could distract her from the question.“Let’s not talk about that right now.”Av
( TWO HOURS AGO: BACK IN THE HOSPITAL) Joyce sighed dejectedly as she handed over the bottle of water to Tyler. “ What? Why are you looking like that?” She exhaled exhaustedly. “ Do you even think he's capable of loving? Or he just doesn't like me.” “ Grayson?” His brows knitted as he snapped the bottle cap open. “ Hm.” She nodded, taking her seat beside him.“ I was talking to him when going to get the water but he was barely giving me any attention.” “ Of course, he's not.” Tyler scoffed, gulped down some amount of water before adding. “ Grayson is never capable of loving.” Joyce twitched her mouth forward. “ That's disappointing. But I want to believe he is. Though I tried making him jealous…” her shoulder slumped. “ …but even that did not work.” “ That's why I need to save and protect Tessa from someone like that. He's bitter, and
He didn't pull out.He stayed buried inside her, softening but still deep, his weight pressing her into the leather, his breath hot and uneven against her neck. Their bodies slick with sweat, her legs still trembling around his waist, her inner walls fluttering with the aftershocks of her orgasm.Neither of them spoke.They just breathed.His lips traced lazy, possessive kisses along her collarbone, tongue flicking out to taste the salt on her skin. Her fingers combed through his damp hair, her chest still rising and falling too fast.The silence stretched.And then..he stirred.Not to pull away. To press deeper. A subtle roll of his hips that made her gasp, her eyes flying open."Gray.""I want more," he murmured against her throat, voice rough, wrecked, aching. "I can't stop, Tess. I don't want to stop."Her breath hitched. Heat raced down her veins, cheeks, heating up her flushed cheeks. Her nipples hardened.He lifted his head, meeting her eyes. That dark, hungry look was back,
His hands roamed wildly, cupping her jaw, gripping her hip, sliding up her ribs under her dress, fingers splaying against the bare skin of her stomach. She arched into him. Needy. Craving And then.. He stopped. Grayson's lips hovered over hers, his forehead pressing against her own, his breath ragged and harsh. His eyes were squeezed shut. His jaw clenched so tight she could see the muscle jumping. He was trembling. "Fuck," he breathed. Not angry. Torn. "Tess, I.." He didn't finish. But she knew. She felt it radiating off him in waves—the raw, aching, bone-deep want that had him shaking like a man standing at the edge of something he couldn't come back from. He wanted her. God, he wanted her.
When he claimed her lips with hers again, it wasn't gentle. It wasn't tentative. It was all raw hunger, lips crushing, teeth scraping her bottom lip hard enough to sting, drawing a sharp gasp that he swallowed whole. His tongue swept in, thick and demanding, tasting of something sweet and dangerous at the same time, something darker, deeper, exploring the wet heat of her mouth with a hunger that bordered on feral. It spun her head, made her moan helplessly into him, the vibration buzzing through his lips, and he answered by tilting her head further, angling deeper, tongue sliding slick against hers in a rhythm that was already filthy, already claiming. One she couldn't take anymore of. Her head was spinning. Her legs were buckling. Every nerve in her was on fire that burns so hot she had to break the kiss. She shouldn't have broken the kiss. That was her first coherent thought. The second was that she couldn’t feel her legs properly anymore. Her fingers were still
“ You're shaking, Tess. And I haven't even done anything.” Her breath hitched, face reddened with embarrassment. Her brow creased in anger and confusion at how hard her chest was pounding, and why her body was trembling like that. But she cared not about any answer at the point, she just wanted
The pain in her ankle pulsed before anything else did, it was a persistent throb. If only she hadn't run earlier in those heels, they would not have worsened the pain that was endurable. It was the same ankle she had twisted when she fell down the stairs. But as if the day wasn't worse enough, t
Tessa’s tears paused. She stared back into his eyes like she wasn't sure of what he just said. “ You. You..” she stuttered. “ Yes.” He dropped his hands to her shoulder. “ We can still have our kiss, Tessy. I promised you remember?” He said, his voice so hoarse it made her cheeks burn. “ I
| BACK TO PRESENT |“ You too kissed?”Tessa turned sharply to where the voice had come from, chills racing down her veins rooting her to the spot. Her chest tightened, a cold knot formed in her stomach as her heart rate picked up. “ Mum.” The word slipped out of her l







