CHAPTER 34

GRIFFIN

Iwatched her. I couldn't help but be mesmerised by the sight of her smiling in the rain, drenched and beautiful even in the darkness that seemed to have swallowed the sun.

She was a sight to behold. Her wet hair pooling around her, looking like a siren that had ensnared me in her song.

I was utterly enraptured by her.

The white straps of her now see-through tank had fallen off her shoulder, but she made no move to readjust them as she watched me back with equal infatuation. She was taking me in as hungrily as I was taking her in, fuelling my desire further.

I wanted her to kiss me again. I didn't care what it meant or if it led to nothing. All I wanted was to taste her once more.

As if she read my mind, she drew closer.

The water lapped around our bodies, getting harsher with the turbulent weather.

Yet I stilled.

If she wanted me, she'd have to make the move. She'd need to admit it to herself. She knew how I felt.

I expected her to stop, to realise what she was doing and retreat, to build up her walls again. But still she drew closer.So I allowed myself to give her a nudge, pulling her face with just enough pressure to show her that I wanted it too. That I wasn't going to pull back or run away.

It spurred her on.

And her lips slowly pressed to mine.

Cautiously.

Thunder crashed again, the sound reverberating between the mountains surrounding us, looming over the lake like sleeping giants.

It seemed to echo the storm between us. The one that was building and building until it could no longer be contained.

I knew that's what this was, even as it seemed to encourage her, to drive her; a release of all that electricity that had been attracting and shifting with all the hot and cold we kept playing. This was just that: a rapid discharge of all that attraction.

But I'd take it.

I'd take anything and everything she'd give me.

Each time.

My hands moved from her neck, trailing down the curves of her body that were hidden from me by the depths of water. I wanted to feel every part of her. Remind myself what it felt like to have my hands roaming her delicious contours.

They eventually settled on her waist, bringing her towards me as her own hands found my neck, delicate fingers holding me firmly in place as she drew herself impossibly closer.

Her lips explored mine with building pressure. The more she got, the more she gave.

And I returned everything she offered.

She lifted herself out of the water slightly, using my body as a foundation to drive her higher as she kissed me fervently.

I'd be whatever she needed me to be. I'd offer myself to her happily—wholeheartedly—if it meant I got to keep her. At least for this moment.

And until she decided, I'd keep offering myself to her. Keep being her strength. Her pillar.

I needed her. And by the rough way she clung to me, I knew she needed me to.

Her hands curled painfully into my wet hair, holding me tight. And all I wanted was more.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was almost scared to let go of me. Like if she did, she'd lose me.

Little did she know she could never lose me.

With her body moulded to mine, legs wrapped around my waist, I swam us to shore, away from the danger of the raging storm. Half moving, half focusing on the fevered kisses she pressed to my lips whenever she got the chance. Or my neck and face when I was busy concentrating on propelling us forward.It wasn't safe to be out in this weather.

When the water shallowed, she kept her hold on me and I carried her to shore. We stopped momentarily, so I could devour her mouth some more before I walked her right to the car, out of the harsh downpour that pelted us.

I could hardly recall opening the door or throwing her in. The only thing holding my attention was her hands on my body and her mouth on mine as she pulled me towards her in the back seat.

Somehow, in my lust-filled daze, I sobered enough to ask, "Are you sure? What about—"

"I don't care," she growled, cutting me off. "Just fuck me, Griffin. Right fucking now."

I obliged.

She was so innocent. So good. And yet those hands, that mouth, those eyes and the way they devoured me … they were bad. Dangerous. And that juxtaposition drove me fucking wild. It broke every tether I had. She broke every tether. Because no one else could do this to me. Make me feel the way she did.Lose control the way she did.

So I devoured her. I took everything she gave me and gave it back tenfold.

Our laboured breathing filled the space. The pitter patter of the rain on the windows and roof of the Jeep the only other noise. A steady, even staccato adding to the anthem of her moans and my groans—the rain so loud that it almost drowned them out. Which would have been a damn shame. The combination was my new favourite sound.

We were so in sync. Whether or not she knew it, our bodies did. And I fucked her to that rhythm. The one we created together.My body singing at the feeling of being inside her once more.

I dreamt of this. What this would feel like again.

Fucking bliss.

Yet even though this moment fulfilled my cravings for her, it wasn't enough.

I could never get enough.