Chapter Thirty Eight
The Right Kind of Scandal
The sun poured through the villa’s open slats, casting golden patterns over the linen sheets tangled around their bodies.
Cassie lay on her side, watching Grayson as he slept beside her, his chest rising and falling in a rhythm that soothed something deep inside her.
They hadn’t left the villa since yesterday.
Not once.
Privacy was a luxury in her world, but with Grayson, it felt earned.
Deserved.
Around midday, they made love again and this time in the outdoor shower, steam rising with each gasp, water cascading down sun-kissed skin. She wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to him like he was the last solid thing she’d ever hold.
Later, they skinny-dipped in the crystalline lagoon just steps from their deck. The ocean was warm, inviting. They swam in circles, touching, laughing, teasing until laughter gave way to hunger again.
Cassie pulled him back inside with dripping fingers and kissed him breathless against the glass doors.
“I want more,” she whispered, voice dark with need.
His breath hitched. “More?”
Her lips grazed his ear. “No softness. Not tonight.”
His eyes flared.
Cassie led him to the bed and pushed him down.
“I need to remember what it’s like,” she whispered, climbing on top, “to take what I want. Not ask for it.”
Grayson’s hands gripped her hips. “Then do it.”
What followed wasn’t soft.
It wasn’t gentle.
It was everything she’d buried beneath elegance and poise—raw, real, blisteringly honest.
He flipped her onto her back, spreading her legs wide, kissing her like he couldn’t get enough. Her hands clawed at his shoulders, her moans ripped from somewhere wild.
“Cassie...” he rasped.
“Yes,” she gasped. “Don’t hold back.”
And he didn’t.
Every thrust, every whispered name, every gasp between them was a testament to everything they’d held inside. Her nails raked down his back. His teeth grazed her collarbone. She came apart with a cry, clinging to him like she was unraveling.
He followed her over the edge, groaning her name into her neck as he collapsed on top of her, breathing ragged and uneven. Minutes passed. Maybe hours. They lay tangled in heat and sweat, heartbeats echoing in unison. Cassie brushed his hair from his brow and kissed him softly.
“You didn’t break me,” she whispered. “You made me whole again.”
Grayson pulled her close, voice rough with emotion. “And I’ll spend every day proving you were never less than that.”
Outside, the waves rolled gently. Inside, two souls finally found peace.