Chapter 9 - Kenzie

I didn't want this. I didn't want Grayson to help me through the heat. I wanted to be left alone to suffer or finally make it to my stash of pills. At least, that was the mantra I'd been trying to repeat in my head. It had all but faded now.

Every cell in my body screamed, the hormones wreaking havoc through my systems. It fucking hurt, and there was nothing to be done about it except Grayson's help or suffering for however long it decided to last.

This heat was sooner than it should have been, and I knew dimly that it had to be because of the mate reveal. My womb clamped down again, seeking out that anchor that would hold me to reality and make the pain go away.

Grayson still stroked my cheek, that purr of his vibrating out from his chest, and damn him to hell and back, but it was exactly what I needed. His softness .

Threads of doubt and want mingled, making me a needy, whimpering mess, and I couldn't hold back the tears. The pain, the embarrassment, it was too much.

Why did it have to be now? Why with Grayson?

Still, I couldn't imagine having anyone else here to help me, and that was the rub. He'd rejected me, but my stupid heart didn't seem to care. And my heat and my wolf absolutely did not.

"Okay." Grayson's voice was so low that I had to strain to hear it. "Okay."

He didn't say anything more as he dragged those hands of his down my arms. The contact set my nerves on fire, and I hissed, unsure if I wanted him to stop or if I wanted more. Grayson's chest rumbled harder, the purr growing back into a growl as he smoothed his hands around to the front of my shirt.

My pussy was throbbing at this point, weeping slick that undoubtedly made it past my underwear and onto my leggings.

"Fuuuuck," Gray dragged out, gripping my shirt like he was about to tear it in half, "Kenzie, your scent…ugh."

Switching his position so that he was balancing on his knees now, Grayson shifted back enough to bring his nose to my hip. He nuzzled into my skin, shoving up my shirt as he plied hungry kisses across my stomach and upward.

Playful bites were peppered in, and the sensations made my brain go haywire. All I could feel was the incredible grip of his hands, the smooth brush of his lips, the tempting pinch of his teeth.

I arched up into his mouth as Grayson's efforts carried him to my breasts. He pushed my shirt up and over them, exposing my sheer bra.

"God fucking damn."

It was impossible to tell if Grayson was furious with me or aroused, and I had to believe it was a bit of both. His scent was beyond intense, everywhere and everything around me. I didn't want to consider it, but part of me knew that he'd actually gone into a rut this time.

He'd fought it off before, but now? It looked like both of us were lost to the demands of our bodies, our connection.

My tank didn't make it after that. Grayson had become too impatient, and he tore the thing clean in two. Logical Kenzie wanted to be upset about it. She was upset about a lot of this. But the rest of me, the parts that would always be owned and enthralled by Grayson, was absolutely ecstatic.

There was something about watching him fall apart like this, knowing that he was completely gone to the desire just like I was. Moreover, seeing him like this because of me , well, that was bliss.

"Did you wear this fucking bra on purpose?"

My mind flickered back to reality, and I looked down at the maroon, sheer underwire I had on. I'd worn the thing several times before. It was one of my best bras. Why did Grayson give a fuck if I—

Oh .

That fury I'd been feeling since the rejection flared to life behind the heat, the arousal making it sharp and driving.

"Why? Don't like it?" My voice was someone else's, someone I hadn't been in a long time. "Why do you care which bra I wear?"

Grayson growled and, without warning, gripped my breasts hard enough to make me squeak. I arched into the rough contact, the pain blending into something far more dangerous.

Pleasure.

"I care when it's this one." Grayson kissed me over the thin fabric, the heat of his breath diffusing through the soft fabric. "Because why this one?"

His thumbs came down over my nipples, circling over the hard buds in a way that sent me spinning.

"It's my favorite."

With that, he lowered his mouth to my right breast, sucking my nipple between his teeth and biting down just enough. I reeled, knowing that if he wanted, Grayson could rip the thing apart.

Lost to it all, I barely noticed when Grayson reached around to my back, taking a moment with the bra clasp to get it free. He was damn patient, all things considered, but after a few seconds, Grayson was able to get it undone, and he swiftly whipped it off of me and chucked it somewhere in the room.

I was bared to him, and even though I knew he'd seen it before, heat flooded my cheeks. As I struggled to look up at him, Grayson's expression was pure predator. Moreover, the waves that coursed through my body now didn't sting. They were unbelievably intense, yes, but as long as Grayson was touching me, playing with me like this, I was all right.

Hell, I was on cloud- nine.

And what a fall it will be.

Quickly shutting down the thought, I focused on how Grayson massaged the hardened beads. I let myself only think about the way his tongue lavished me, gliding around each nipple in turn.

The slow circles were maddening, and my pussy clenched as the exquisite torment kicked my lust up higher. A pained moan left me as my body silently begged for more, the heat making me wanton and desperate, without a care for how I might look or sound.

But I needed more of him.

"Take off your shirt."

Grayson paused, his eyes meeting mine as he dragged the flat of his tongue over my nipple and gave it a solid flick. The smirk he wore was fiendish, and goosebumps rippled over me as he blew across the wet flesh.

"So demanding, aren't you?"

He cocked a brow, and dammit, I didn't want to love how he teased me. There was no denying it, though. I delighted in pushing his buttons, and when it was Grayson's turn to give me a taste of my own medicine, I ate that up, too.

"Yes. Now, shirt. Or I'll tear the damn thing off myself." I raised my brows at him, rocking my hips so that my pussy rubbed against the erection straining behind his fly. "And then the pants."

With a chuckle, Grayson pulled his shirt over his head by the collar, and watching his muscles flex as he did was a small treat I'd be savoring for a while.

"Maybe you should help me with the button, though. I'm all thumbs, I'm afraid, and I'd probably take ages to get my pants off."

Rolling my eyes at him, I pushed up onto my elbows, then reached out with one hand to try and push his jeans button through the little hole. It was lots of work with one hand, especially at this angle, and Grayson just smirked down at me, utterly amused by my struggle.

"Even now," I narrowed my stare on him, still grinding myself against his erection, "you can't help being a jerk, can you?"

A growl reverberated through Grayson's chest, making his whole body thrum against me in a delicious vibration.

"I seem to recall that someone enjoyed having her bratty attitude tamed." His hand came over mine, helping me to get the button free. "And countered."

He wasn't wrong. It was pretty much how we had played things before…

My wolf shook her head, not allowing me to dwell on that, and another wave crested over me, my pussy throbbing with need. It was maddeningly potent, driving away everything but the need to feel Grayson deep inside me.

I tried to refocus, and as I blinked back to reality, my hands were still on Grayson's waistband. The button was undone, and I was quick to yank down the zipper.

"Off," I growled at him, but the bastard continued with that gorgeous smirk.

Grayson smiled, leaning forward enough to ghost his lips over mine. "Good girls, ask nicely."

"Who said I was good?" I countered.

With that, Grayson wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and pulled me in for a kiss, his lips meeting mine in a passionate claim. When he pulled back, I was in a daze, drunk on the feeling of him roughly pressing his mouth to mine.

"I did." Grayson smoothed a hand down my cheek, dragging it down and down and down until he smoothed his fingers between my legs. "I know that everything about this is just so fucking good."

He gripped me as he spoke the word "this," and my body reeled, hungry for him to slide in, for him to make me fall apart. I whimpered as he toyed with me, my eyes pinching shut as I whined.

" Please , for the love of fuck, Grayson, take your pants off."

It was a beg, hidden behind my usual snark, but a beg nonetheless.

"Well, since you asked so nicely." Grayson nipped at my bottom lip, and then he was too far away.

But when I looked over at him, he was pulling his pants down, his cock springing up as the fabric caging it disappeared. My mouth practically watered, and if it weren't for the fact that we'd already had sex, I would be concerned about him fitting inside me.

Everything burned; the heat had turned me into this depraved being who just wanted that monster buried inside me until I screamed. And I wasn't an idiot. I knew that this was particularly strong because Grayson was my mate. I couldn't do anything about that at present, though, and I couldn't find it in me to care.

Grayson drove me crazy in every type of way—I fought to hate him while another part of me fought to love him, and my body just needed him.

Groping for him, I helped Grayson to shuck his pants over the side of the bed, keeping him in the circle of blankets I'd created—our little nest.

"My, we are impatient, aren't we?"

"Yes, asshole. Now get over here."

I pulled him forward, intent on getting Grayson to fall into me if it was necessary. The intensity of the heat was building, and that agony was starting to poke through at the edges. I needed him inside me if I wanted to avoid that pain. I needed him inside me for lots of reasons if I was honest with myself.

Which wasn't really happening, now was it?

Grayson keened forward, easily catching himself on his hands, which were planted on either side of my head. His cock brushed me, and I arched again, that embarrassing whimper bleeding from me.

"I think you're forgetting something." I forced myself to look up at him, and Grayson nodded down at my hips, where I was still wearing my leggings. "May I?"

Fucking hell, I did forget about them.

I nodded, lifting my hips so that Grayson could get the damn things off me as quickly as possible. As he leaned back onto his knees again, Grayson gripped the waistband of my leggings, curling his thick fingers under the fabric and grabbing my panties as well.

He began to pull them down, but in his typical teasing, Grayson moved molasses slowly. My legs shook as I held myself up, and I fought against the desire to snap at him. That would only make him go slower, after all.

When the waistband rolled beneath Grayson's fingers, revealing the curves of my ass as it pushed past my hips, he stopped. I was ready to scream at him, but then one of his hands lifted under my hips, keeping me aloft, as he tore my pants the rest of the way down.

Suddenly he was moving quite fast, and before I could even say anything, his face was buried between my thighs, his tongue finding my slit and licking up in a long pull. I yelped—surprised and impossibly aroused—and my hips bucked on their own, threatening to pull me away from Grayson's mouth.

He held me to him, not letting my movements separate me from his cloying tongue. With my pants flung to the side, Grayson held me up to his mouth with both hands, and I was forced to balance on my shoulders. For as uncomfortable as it should have been, I didn't care. Grayson's tongue was spearing into me, making the slick pour from me all the more, and I was right on the edge of an orgasm already.

It was impossible to stay still, though. The sensations were almost too much, but I was locked in place by the iron grip Grayson had on my hips—and the fear of toppling over. His tongue circled my clit before flicking it, and then it was plunging inside me again.

"Grayson!"

After several more maddening swirls, he lowered me back down to the bed. Still, as soon as my hips were on the mattress, his hand was between my legs, his fingers sinking inside my pussy.

I rocked against him, gasping at the sudden, fantastic intrusion. He hooked them into my G-spot, and in seconds, I was coming on his hand, my release spilling from me as he milked my orgasm with expert precision.

"Fuck!"

"That's right, naughty girl. You're going to come over and over for me." Grayson kept pumping his fingers deep into my pussy, and when I glanced at him through lidded eyes, he smirked devilishly. "You might want to play the brat, but your pussy is begging for me."

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't deny that. Every inch of me wanted Grayson, particularly my wolf and the suppressed part of me that knew he was my mate.

My body surged, another climax right at the edge. I whimpered, my hips rocking against his hand. When it was too much, though, I yanked him down to my mouth, feverish kisses taking over as I tried to get his cock inside me.

"So very impatient." Grayson took his hand back, patting against my swollen, sensitive clit. "Do you really need it that bad?"

A lust-drunk growl ripped from me, and I grabbed Grayson's hips, pulling him into me. His cock slid in without any effort, and the feeling of being so blissfully full of him was perfection.

"Ugh, fucking hell, Kenz."

My heart skittered at the familiar nickname—one he wasn't privy to anymore—but I was too gone to stop anything because of it.

"Fuck me, Gray. Give me everything you've got."

The snarled order was just as much a desperate plea, and without any further prompting, Grayson started up a brutal pace, driving himself inside me up to the hilt and then pulling back just to thrust even harder.

I was completely gone to the intoxicating dance between us, the next wave of my heat reaching a crescendo without coming down. I was left there in the exquisite thralls of need, each jolt of Grayson's hips rocketing me higher and higher, more and more slick flowing.

Holding onto him with everything I had, I had no choice but to open myself up to everything Grayson had to offer. Then he was hoisting me up onto his lap, his knees holding us both up as he pummeled into me.

"Oh, hell…Gray!"

"That's right, Kenz. Take every bit of it."

He growled low, his cock spearing me wonderfully, and I teetered on the edge of another release. Grayson buried his face into the crook of my neck, his lips brushing my skin. The prick of his fangs was quick to follow, and for a blisteringly long moment, I wondered if he would perform the mating bite.

There'd be no going back to our deal if he did, and I wasn't sure if that was bad or not.

He pulled himself back, and his growl soaring into the air was all the stronger because of how hard he fought against the urge.

I couldn't be too concerned about it, though, because he was barreling into me with such fury that it took everything I had to even stay conscious. The sensations boiled over, and Grayson came right along with me, filling me with his spend.

The dull ache in my womb disappeared, replaced by a warmth that lit me up from the inside. All the urges of the heat—of Grayson's rut—had been answered, and we were utterly spent, collapsing to the bed.

Grayson stayed tucked inside me for when the next round demanded more from us, but for now, it was quiet, and for the first time in so fucking long, I wasn't in pain.