Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
We break apart, and then I’m practically ripping my clothes off in haste as he discards his jeans. We don’t care where they land on the floor, before he’s on me again.
I catch his fevered eyes when he crawls back over my body.
Skin to skin.
Fire courses through my veins the moment we touch.
I cup his jaw, as sparks tingle across my skin. My lips caress his, and I breathe into our kiss. “I love you. I don’t know how it happened, but I do. I love you, Grayson.”
I fell into him without even realizing it.
I walked into love.
Not knowing when it happened, or how it did.
Somehow Grayson stole a piece of me. With his tenderness. His warmth. His protectiveness. He made me trust him, and I did. For the first time in my life, I trusted someone with my heart first, then my body. Maybe a gut instinct, a voice in my head that told me he is the one. The gift of my patience.
His chest shudders, and Grayson groans my name. Like it’s a blessing. A prayer. “I am not worthy of you, Goldilocks. But I love you, anyway. I am not worthy, but I need you.”
My pulse quickens and his heart thuds against mine.
The pressure at the bottom of my stomach builds, flooding my mind and my body like molten lava. Sweat slicks across my skin, my body flushing with arousal. The feel of him against me…his expert fingers delving between my thighs, seeking out my slick heat, his lips on mine, stealing another bruising kiss.
My body is hyperaware of every inch of Grayson.
When he moves farther down, spreading my thighs with his wide shoulders and lifting my hips to his face, my back arches against him.
Whimpering.
Heady with desire.
He groans at the first taste of me.
Tongue delving deep. Lips tasting my lust.
I lose focus as his carnal words promise me everything dirty and sensual.
His touch entices the tide in me, the storm of ecstasy, sending me into a world of rapture.
My nails dig into his shoulders, and Grayson grunts.
My moans fill the room.
Our bodies slick with sweat.
Grayson fills me, slowly. Deeply.
It’s sweet.
Romantic.
Passionate.
Exquisite.
Safe.
Erotic.
My thighs clench around his hips. My body shudders, his name spilling from my lips in pleasure as I dive over the edge of ecstasy. His grunts of pleasure resonate through me and I wrap my arms around him.
This is all I’ve ever wanted.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Grayson — 18 years old (a month later)
Half of Riley’s body is lying on top of mine, like a blanket of warmth. She cuddles closer, making a sleepy sound in the back of her throat, before burying her face in my chest.
Skin to skin.
Her hair tickles my bare chest, with the messy strands spread over my pillow. With my arm around her hips, I keep her anchored to me.
It’s morning already, yet I can’t bring myself to get up and leave her alone in bed. I want to savor this moment, every moment we have together.
Riley celebrated her nineteenth birthday yesterday.
I wonder…if I will get to spend another birthday with her.
How much more time do I have left with Riley…?
The hardest goodbyes are always the ones when there’s no choice. First Naomi, now Riley. I should have never trusted fate when it gave me Riley. But for the first time in my life, I had taken the plunge. I discarded all the red flags, all the possible warnings about our heartbreak and chose my love for Riley.
I chose us.
For however long I have with her.
I know it hurt Riley when I told her I’m going to Harvard, even though she tried to hide her disappointment with her well-practiced smile. She didn’t want me to feel guilty for staying. But I know my girl. Riley thought we would be attending the same university, that we’d be moving out together and sharing an apartment. I’m sure she dreamed of how our mundane life would have been together; I did too. And it was a pretty dream.
But things have changed.
I can’t go…because I have unfinished business here.
My phone vibrates on the nightstand with an incoming call, and I reach for it. An unknown caller ID flashes on my screen, but I already know who it is. He rarely ever calls, and when he does, it’s always to ask for something— spewing all kinds of excuses.
I gently untangle myself from Riley, dragging the covers up to her shoulders. A sleepy protest spills from her lips, before she blindly reaches for my pillow, curling around it.
I pick my discarded boxers off the floor and put them on, before making my way to the balcony. I slide the glass door closed behind me. The night is still and eerily quiet, without any sound from the nyctophile animals or the wind rustling through the trees.
“What is it?” I ask when I finally answer the call.