8. Grey

8

GREY

I brush my fingers across the twist-tie I've wrapped around Lexi's ring finger. The idea of her staying in this city—staying with me—changes everything. Even as my heart expands at her words, my muscles tense at the risk.

"You should know it will be dangerous," I warn, the need to protect eclipsing everything else as I imagine our lives together in a place like Indigo Hills. "Living here…there will always be enemies who would try to challenge us."

"You act like my old life was all sunshine and rainbows," she jokes, but the shadows in her eyes remind me it's not funny. Lexi's never had it easy. Her smile falls away, and she adds, "At least with you, I'm not alone."

My heart squeezes, and I reach for her, pulling her flush to my chest in a fierce embrace. Maybe, if I can just hold her tight enough, the rest of the world won't be able to hurt her. Burying my face in her hair, I inhale the scent of her shampoo.

My cock stirs, already turned on by the way her body presses against mine.

I tilt her face up to mine, and say fiercely, "Never. You will never be alone again."

My mouth crashes against hers, my urgency more like desperation to make my words true. Deep down, I know I can't promise that. Not when we're up against so much. But in this moment, all that exists is Lexi.

All that matters is showing her how I feel about her.

I kiss her like there's no tomorrow because there isn't. There's only today. This moment. Her body. Mine. The pleasure between us.

My hands trail her body, noting the curves and shape of her. She's fucking gorgeous, every inch of her, and while I want to see her without this dress on, I enjoy the way it clings to her now. My thumb brushes over her nipple, flicking it lightly, and she whimpers.

"Grey."

That single word is a plea for more, and it completely consumes me.

My cock hardens, painfully erect against my pants.

Without breaking our kiss, I grip her ass and lift her into the air. She gasps against my mouth then wraps her legs around my waist, her dress hiking up her thighs. With my palms cupping her ass, I carry her out of the kitchen and over to the couch, setting her gently on the center cushion.

On our left, the wall of glass offers a sparkling city view—and the illusion that we're on full display for anyone to see.

"Are those windows?—?"

"One-way glass," I assure her, though I can't deny I enjoy the idea that others might watch what I'm about to do to her. As long as they all know she's mine.

Lexi unwraps her legs from my waist, and I grip her thighs with my hands, parting them to reveal the slim strip of panties she's wearing underneath. She looks at me through lowered lashes, somehow both shy and daring me to keep going. It reminds me of the club when she gave me that lap dance. Maybe that's why I brought her here to the couch instead of taking her to my bedroom.

"What?" she asks, noting my expression.

"Feels a bit like role reversal," I say with a grin.

"Does that mean you're going to give me a lap dance?" she asks.

"I'm going to give you the same pleasure you gave me."

Her lips quirk, but I don't give her a chance to say anything else before I'm leaning in between her legs and pulling her panties aside to lick her pussy. Lexi gasps, her hand fisting in my hair as I stroke her clit with my tongue.

"Fuck, you taste amazing," I murmur.

Her scent, her taste, her presence—it's consuming in a way I've never felt before. I lose myself to the sensation of her on my tongue and the sounds she makes that tell me how she likes it. It doesn't take long before her thighs tense and tremble, and she arches her back, moaning as she comes against my mouth.

I don't stop, pushing her as high as she can go, and taking it all for myself. My wolf strains, urging me to bite her, claim her, but I grit my teeth, pulling back when the desire becomes too strong.

Instead, as she quiets again, I slide a finger inside her wet heat, stroking her lazily. She pants and leans forward, unclasping my belt. I let her do the work to unbutton my pants and free my throbbing cock.

She wraps her hand around my hard length, stroking me slowly, and I groan.

"I was wrong," I say. "You're the dangerous one."

She smirks as she uses her hand to guide my cock to her entrance. I push myself inside her then hiss at the way she contracts around me like a velvet vise.

"Fuck," I groan. "You feel so good."

I pull her hips to meet me, seating myself deep inside her, and she moans, her nails scraping my skin. Reaching up to grip the couch, I set a pace that has us both panting.

My wolf howls inside me, and the intensity of it combined with the ecstasy of our joined bodies sends me right to the edge.

Lexi makes a sound of pleasure, and her walls tighten around me.

I shove aside the urge to bite her, distracted by the sexy-as-fuck way she moves her body, rocking her hips to meet me. When her orgasm hits, she loses herself in it, and the thread of my control finally snaps.

My release slams into me, wave after wave. I tip my head back, shuddering as I ride it out. Lexi's hands on my chest bring me back. I look down at her, trying to catch my breath—overcome by the way it feels to be so fully owned by this woman. My cock buried inside her. Her name permanently etched on my heart.

I note the messy way her hair spills around her shoulders and the satisfied, relaxed expression she wears. My wolf feels proud of itself, the fucker.

"You felt all this pleasure that night at the club?" she asks, a teasing smile playing around her mouth.

"Pretty much. I had to finish up without you out back," I say, and she laughs. I cup her cheek with my hand and lean down to press a kiss to her mouth. "That club was sitting on a gold mine with you," I joke.

Her smile vanishes. "I was never for sale."

"No. You were never meant for anyone but me."