CHAPTER 32

Iwoke up the next day to the morning sun leaking through the panelled window, the rays directly hitting my face. I groaned, feeling groggy, tired and a little disoriented.

That's when I realised there was a large and heavy arm draped around my waist. As soon as I was aware of it, an abundance of sensations ambushed me. I felt the heat of his chiselled chest pressed to my back, the tingle in my body with his legs curled up behind mine and the warmth of his breath on my neck as he hid his face in the crevice of my shoulder.

Was the big, bad Griffin Gray spooning me?

He was totally spooning me. And I fucking loved it.

But I was also slightly freaking out.

I tried to wriggle myself out, not knowing what would come from him waking up with the realisation that he was hugging a girl he had just conquered. Knowing him, I felt like that would be a word he might use to describe what he did to me last night—many, many times.

Trying to leave was futile. I couldn't move too much so instead I just turned slightly so I was on my back, his arm still securely around me as I viewed my surroundings.

Last night was so surreal and my adrenaline was so high that I took in little but his bathroom and bed. Now as I looked around, I could finally relish the fact that I was in his bedroom. I had wondered about it so many times. Wondered what secrets it would uncover about him.

His room was huge—if I could even call it that. It was more like his own apartment. A large open expanse in a similar style to areas like the Chill.

The queen bed I was currently situated on was located on a raised loft platform that made up the bedroom section. From where I was laying, I could look directly out to the city from a row of angled windows that made up the wall in front of me and extended across and below into the rest of the apartment. An open doorway to my left broke up the concrete wall, leading into his luxurious private bathroom that he seemed to never spend time in. A separate opening led to his wardrobe which I hadn't really seen.

From what I remembered in my dazed state on my way in, below the loft was a decent sized seating area with some furniture and a small kitchen. It was predominantly made up of exposed brick, apart from the windows, which opened up when you pushed the panels to what looked like the roof. I found this out at one point when it got a little too heated and we needed to let in some cool air. If my eyes followed the angled windows upwards, the slanted wall above it was concrete until it turned into a flat ceiling. The wall behind the bed was the same exposed brick as the lower level.

Looking up, I saw an industrial air vent running along the wall, a few hanging pendant lights and some black fans. The room was simple, no-fuss and extremely aesthetic to look at—just like Griffin.

We entered through the lower half yesterday, before he led me upstairs to the main bedroom where we spent the rest of the night. But from everything I saw, I wondered why he didn't seem to spend much time up here. It was beautiful. And oddly private.

I felt him stir slightly beside me and thought it might be best if I did just push him off and leave his bed now. Pretend that I wasn't loving this feeling of him holding me. Honestly, it was probably safer for my mental health too, as well as my non-existent street cred with the guy. I couldn't let him know how he affected me. Even though technically I did make the first move yesterday. Whoops.

I wouldn't pretend I regretted it though. This was what I wanted. And I was right. The sex was fucking incredible.

But as I pulled away, he let out some sort of low noise that sounded like a grunt mixed with a growl, tightening his grip on me. It was almost animalistic—almost wolf shifter, but not quite. I guess that"s how us hunters evolved to become the mortal counterpart to the wolves. To bring balance to the world. In order to beat our enemy, we needed to become like them. It was kind of sexy. And by ‘kind of', I meant extremely.

I breathed it in for a moment, savouring this oddly romantic moment between us. I secretly loved the feeling of his skin against my own. At least, I hoped it was a secret.

His body moulded to mine perfectly and for a second, I forgot River even existed.

Did that make me horrible?

Griffin was different, and although River felt like home once upon a time, I felt oddly independent and strong with Griff—like the best version of me. One that finally found a place where she wholly belonged. I felt like a badass who could take care of myself but I also felt like he had my back.

Yes, he'd keep me safe. He was a protector too; it was what he did. It was at the very core of his being—at the core of being a hunter. But he wouldn't just protect me. He'd make sure I knew how to protect myself.

I had to shake away the image of us fighting side-by-side, a powerful, beautiful team.

Maybe River wasn't so much ‘home' as he was comfortable and familiar. Either way, it was no longer the case.

But as much as I may have wanted Griffin in more ways than just this, I also knew that he would never settle down. A real relationship with him was tantalising yet unattainable. He was a stoic bastard who masked how he felt with a lethal combination of charm, sarcasm and a hell of a lot of flirting. It was so hard to know what he was actually thinking, and I had a feeling I'd never truly find out.

At least we got here. At least I got to experience this. And boy was I glad I did.

If I thought I was hooked before, I had another thing coming now. Everything prior to this was just a gateway drug. Now I wanted the hard stuff.

I still couldn't shake how scared I was of how this might end. Scared of the state my heart would be left in if I let him in. Griffin was getting to me. This had to stay as meaningless sex, even if I desperately wanted it to be something more. I had to hope he'd want to keep doing this though.

My thoughts were interrupted by a small snort of laughter. Turning my face, I saw Griffin was awake now, his deep grey eyes watching me curiously.

"Thinking about me, Supernova?" His voice was husky, his words slow and tired but amused. With his lips near my neck, the sound vibrated through my body like electricity.

I was so fucked, and I didn't just mean physically.

"No." The word came out a little too fast, revealing my panic. So much for playing it cool and not making a big deal out of this. Why did he make me so nervous? I swear I wasn't a stupid person but around him I seemed to be.

"Mmm-hmm," he mumbled. He nibbled on my neck, pulling the skin into his mouth softly. This time it wasn't my whole body the tingles took over, but instead a very, very specific place on my body.

"Fuck." The word came out a stifled moan against my will. He seemed to have that effect on me a little too much for my liking.

"That can be arranged," he smirked. His lips trailed down my neck to my collarbone. "Didn't think my high-achiever would be ready for another round so soon."

Did he just say ‘my'?

Nope.

Nope, nope, nope, nope.

Nope.

I could not let him have this hold on me. I just couldn't. I was already over thinking things more than I should. I couldn't let someone else get close to me. Couldn't give them the power to hurt me again.

With all of the self-control I could muster, I turned my body so he was no longer kissing a spot that was way too close to my boobs, and pushed him away.

I suddenly felt very cold.

He chuckled at my attempt to escape, knowing the chokehold he had on me.

I leaned over and found my phone on the floor by the bed. I had texted the girls in our group chat when we left and I had a few unread notifications from them. The thread was now full of excited words of encouragement followed by various inappropriate emojis, as they clearly took it upon themselves to have a competition to see who could come up with the dirtiest and most outrageous combinations. I only glanced at them but I didn't know how Kit would have had time to participate considering her own activities for the night. The girl was competitive.

It was 9:23am now, meaning we had missed breakfast, gym and the first hour of boxing. Actual training would start in thirty-seven minutes.

"I'm gonna be late for training," I spat out as I rushed off the bed, grabbing my panties and locating my beautiful red dress that was left in a heap on the floor. After all my restraint in not drinking much last night, I couldn't believe how late we'd slept in. Although, it made sense considering we did tire ourselves out quite extensively.

He propped his head on his hand, once again his gaze fixed on me. I couldn't read the emotion on his face, but there was emotion there. I didn't know what he felt or what we were or what this meant. I just knew I wanted it to happen again.

His expression suddenly changed, like he realised he was acting odd and a little too passionate for someone of his bad boy demeanour.

He laughed at what I had said and then retorted with an excellent point. "I lead training."

I had to think of a reasonable excuse. "Exactly, and I'm not going to get any brownie points from the rest of the squad if I'm the reason the trainer is late." I thought I handled myself well … considering the temptation I was fighting.

"I can think of a way you can earn some extra credit," his tone was titillating.

"Nope." It took everything I had and more to say that word to him. Everything inside me screamed yes and because of that, it came out more squirmish than I hoped. I didn't want to be the naive girl that fell for him. Even though I think I already had. But I truly thought if I tried hard enough, I could pretend that I didn't and it would be convincing. To myself and to him. Pretty sure I failed at that one.

He got up from the bed, the sheet falling to the floor. He had on a pair of dark underwear but the rest of his naked, sculpted body stalked towards me. I stilled in awe, drinking it all in. Usually when I'd see him even close to this naked in the bathrooms I would force my eyes away, but after last night, why deprive myself of the beauty?

In a swift, super sexy movement that made me weak at the knees, he tangled one hand through my hair at the base of my neck, his other hand wrapped around my waist as he pulled me into his body and crashed his lips into mine, lifting me so I was on my tip toes, completely in surrender to him. It was crushing and then it was soft and seductive as he licked across my lips. He finished with a gentle nibble and I shivered in his arms. Thankfully those strong, corded biceps were holding me up ever so tight. There was nothing I could do but moan.

So that's what I did.

"You better not be late then, or you will be punished," he said wickedly before he let me go and walked to his bathroom, leaving me half-dressed in the middle of his room. It took me a good minute to recompose myself and when I heard the water turn on I forced myself down the stairs in the opposite direction, before my non-compliant legs walked me right in there with him.

Three points for Griffin. Zero for Venus.