Chapter Twenty-Five #2
“I could be,” Greyson agrees, staring at me unblinkingly. “But I’m not. I think you know that, and I think that scares you.”
“Weren’t you just going on about how brave I am?”
“Bravery doesn’t exempt you from feeling fear, Flower. It just ensures you’ll never be a slave to it.”
I swallow. A strange impulse starts to flutter in my chest, deepening with each beat of my heart.
The impulse to lean forward, flatten my hands on Monster’s chest…
and kiss him. Let him make me forget about how shitty the last few weeks, months, years have been.
Escape the constant chaos of my life and find sanctuary in physical connection and pleasure, if only for a little bit.
I shouldn’t even have the thought, but I do.
And, since Monster’s here and readily available, I might as well use him for the distraction I require.
It doesn’t mean anything; it certainly doesn’t mean that I’ve completely forgiven him, or I want to be with him.
It just means that I need an escape, and he’s the easiest way to get it.
I plant my palms on his hard, muscular chest, nearly shivering at the feel of him as I lean forward.
It’s like I’m touching satin that’s stretched over steel; smooth, luxurious, devastatingly sexy.
The issue with Monster has never been that he’s physically unattractive, it’s that his personality is abhorrent.
Or, at least, it was. I don’t know how to regard it now, and in this moment, I don’t care. I just want to feel him. I ache to forget the world for a little bit.
I barely catch a glimpse of Monster’s eyebrows raising before I press my lips to his. For once, though, he doesn’t seem open to my affection—he pulls back, and a wave of cold washes over me. Even my captor doesn’t want me…
That thought is quickly expelled by the look of stark hunger on his face.
His grey eyes burn with fire, but there’s a softness to the set of his jaw.
A reverence in the way he stares at me. He cups my cheek in a big, calloused palm, and strokes his finger over my bottom lip.
It’s a motion I’ve noticed he enjoys doing.
“Scarlett…” his whisper trails off, and he shakes his head. “You’re mine.”
I know. I don’t say it because I don’t accept it, but I also don’t see another way out.
There’s something between us, a connection, as twisted as it might be.
It’s like a magnetic force that keeps attracting us to each other, even if we’re destructive together, destructive to each other.
I mean, we’ve both tried to kill each other at least once—that’s not a mark of a healthy relationship.
But it’s the only thing I’ve got left.
He leans in, lowering his hand to my throat, and stroking over my pulse as he slants his lips over mine. I clutch his shoulders, letting myself have this moment. A deep ache sparks in my core, conditioned into me by the depraved things he’s done to me, the pleasure he’s proved he can deliver.
Greyson pulls away once again, leaving me squirming.
I release a small whimper of loss, aching all over, but he doesn’t deprive me for long.
He stands, pulls me up, and lifts me into his arms. I wrap my legs around his waist with a squeal, clutching onto him.
His fingers dig into my ass as he turns and starts walking us somewhere—toward the greenhouse, I realize.
I feel like I’m possessed by an entirely separate entity as I trail my lips up and down his neck, shivering at the erotic scrape of stubble against my skin. He has a slight five o’clock shadow, and the friction it creates makes me wonder what it would feel like in other places.
In under a minute, he’s pushing into the greenhouse.
“Get out,” he mutters, and I realize that Tobias must still be in here. I don’t have the presence of mind to look up, though; I don’t want to break the spell. I don’t want common sense to take over right now—I just want comfort and release. I want to forget.
Footsteps precede the door banging shut, leaving me and Greyson alone.
He lowers me onto the warm floor, and I release him as he pulls my shirt over my head, his eyes greedily drinking up every inch of skin as it’s exposed.
I plant my feet on the floor and lift my hips, gasping as he hooks his thumbs under the waistband of my leggings and panties in the same breath, and slowly starts dragging them down my body.
When they’re off, he sits back on his haunches, taking a few beats to drink in the sight of me.
I’m only wearing a bra—a few seconds later, that ends up discarded, as well. The vulnerability of being completely naked while he’s fully clothed is surprisingly erotic, and I find myself sinking into this moment more and more.
“You have no fucking idea how gorgeous you are, do you?” Greyson asks softly, shaking his head.
“God, the things I want to do to you… the things I will do to you…” he trails off, shaking his head.
He fills his palms with my breasts, running his thumbs back and forward over my nipples.
Moments later, his fingers are replaced with his lips, which go back and forward between my breasts, lavishing them with attention, kisses, and sucks until my nipples start to ache with each beat of my heart.
He kisses his way down my stomach. Spreads my thighs, and runs his tongue over my slit.
A groan rises from deep within him. “Fuck, Flower. I can’t get enough of this sweet, hot pussy.
I’ll never get over the fact that it’s only ever been mine…
and it’ll only ever be mine. It belongs to me, just like the rest of you. Doesn’t it?”
When I don’t respond, his palm lands on my pussy with a swift, succinct crack. “Doesn’t it?”
“For now,” I squeak.
Monster’s eyes darken. “For always, Scarlett. There’ll never be a day when you aren’t mine, even if I die. I’ve claimed you. I’ve left my marks on you, inside and out. There’s no getting rid of me now.”