My dick twitched at her question, my gaze snapping to hers. Before I could think twice about it, I was on my feet with my hand in her hair. “You think I degrade women?”

  “I don’t think it, Sir,” she mocked.

  I could feel my lips pull into a wicked grin. “You beg for it and then you fight me. You’re a contradiction, little Eve.”

  “I could say the same about you.”

  I had enough of her words. If she wanted to speak, it would be when I demanded it.

  I leaned down and picked up her panties before shoving them into her mouth. “I think it’s time you shut up. Your sass is starting to piss me off.” It wasn’t but she didn’t need to know that.

  She wanted to play with my beast and dance with the devil himself? Well I was fucking game.

  (Eve)

  The next thing I knew, I was on the ground with my panties in my mouth and my arms behind my back.

  Greyson towered over me, kneeling between my spread legs. He was fully clothed where I no longer had anything on.

  I wasn’t sure why I pushed him when I had been begging for it in the first place but something about him saying that I was acting like a slut pissed me off. It pissed me off because it also turned me on.

  “You hate that I accused you of acting like a slut.” He pulled my head back, removing my panties from my mouth. “Don’t you?”

  “I’m not one,” I murmured, my body heating at being restrained by him.

  “I know that, baby.” He kissed my neck. “But you will be one for my cock. Won’t you?”

  I swallowed hard, my cheeks heating. “Yes,” I whispered, my face burning even more.

  “Don’t be embarrassed over it.” Greyson pulled me to all fours before landing a hard swat on my ass. “I’ll make you embrace that dirty little whore inside of you.”

  I opened my mouth to comment when he slammed into me. I cried out, nearly falling forward as he caught me around the middle.

  Hooking an arm around my shoulders, Greyson held me against him and powered into me with so much strength, spots danced in my vision. The sounds of the forest faded away and was replaced by my cries of ecstasy. I wanted more. Everything. God, I was hungry for him.

  “This cunt is mine, isn’t it, Eve?” he growled in my ear, wrapping his hand around my throat.

  I whimpered, nodding quickly.

  “Say it. Tell me who this cunt belongs to.” Greyson grabbed my arms, holding them behind my back while keeping a firm grip on my jaw with his free hand. “Tell me.”

  “Yours. God, my cunt is yours,” I cried out, slamming my rear into him.

  “Yes. It is. Remember that the next time you run away from me.” He bit my shoulder. “Because, Eve, I will always find you. This pussy won’t crave anything else but my cock. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, Sir,” I said automatically.

  “That’s my girl. So submissive for me. Aren’t you?”

  “Please.” I leaned my head against his shoulder, embracing the ecstasy coursing through me.

  “What do you want?”

  “Please make me come.”

  With his hand wrapped around my throat and his cock deep inside me, Greyson forced me over that edge. An explosion erupted inside of me. The release was so damn hard, I couldn’t catch my breath.

  He growled, his big body shaking behind me when the warmth of his cum coated me from within.

  “Fuck, baby.” He rubbed his cheek against mine. “So damn good.”

  I smiled, my erratic breathing going back to normal.

  Greyson released me and pulled off his shirt. “Wear this.”

  I did as I was told and slipped the material over my head. The scent of his musky cologne washed over me, sending a shiver down my spine.

  He righted his jeans, a knowing smirk spreading on his face.

  For the first time since meeting him, he had shown me that part of himself he was scared to reveal. But I had a feeling that it was truly only the beginning of what made up Greyson Mercer.

  ONCE WE ARRIVED back at the club, Greyson brought me to his room. “Strip. We need a shower.”

  I shivered. The idea of the hot water rushing over us as he fucked me against the cold wall sent my senses into overdrive.

  “Stop daydreaming and do as you’re told,” he murmured into my ear.

  I jumped, elbowing him in the stomach.

  He chuckled, backing away, and heading to the reading nook in the corner of his room. “Hey, Penny girl.” He crouched, petting his hand over the cat’s head.

  “She yours?” I asked him, my heart warming at the affection he was showing the animal.

  “Technically.” He gave her one last head scratch before joining me at the entrance to the bathroom. “She was given to a friend but he already had too many animals so he asked if I wanted her. Her leg was mangled so it had to be removed.”

  “Oh, poor baby.”

  Greyson smiled softly. “Trust me, she gets by just fine without it.” His deep blue eyes roamed down the length of my body. “Now stop distracting me and do as you’re told. Strip.”

  “You’re so damn bossy.” Pulling off his shirt, I tossed it at him.

  He only grinned, threw the shirt into the laundry hamper, and grabbed my hand.

  Grey moved me in front of his floor-length mirror hanging on the wall. “You see these?” he asked, brushing his fingers over the fresh bruises on my hips. “And these?” His thumb ran over my nipples, moving from one to the other.

  I hissed, the peaks sensitive from when he had bit them before.

  “And this?” In a quick move, he cupped my pussy, pulling me back against him while gripping my jaw with his other hand. “Do you, Eve?” he demanded, his gaze darkening.

  I nodded, swallowing hard.

  “These marks are because of me. This body trembles every time I’m near. These nipples become hard. This cunt becomes wet. All because of me.” His eyes snapped to mine in the reflection of us. “Say it.”

  My breathing picked up.

  “Eve,” he growled. “Say it.”

  “I’m yours.”

  (Greyson)

  She was mine.

  She had been mine from the very beginning.

  “Spread your legs,” I told Eve an hour later. Seeing the freshly-fucked glow in her cheeks and my bruises marring her skin set something off inside me. The alpha in me roared, knowing any man who saw her would sense that she was taken.

  “Greyson, I can’t,” she whined. “No more.”

  “Baby, I’m not fucking you again.” I kissed her temple. “Let me clean you up.”

  She lifted her head and looked at me over her shoulder.

  I had a steaming cloth in my hand. “Spread ‘em,” I said, giving her ass a light swat.

  She did as she was told. “God, I hurt.”

  “I rode you hard, Eve.” I slipped the cloth between her legs, brushing the warmth over her sensitive skin.

  She sighed, slipping her arms beneath the pillow. “I can clean myself.”

  “Not happening.”

  “You’re not kicking me out?” she asked, stifling a yawn.

  “No.” I wasn’t sure what switched between us but I decided that I needed her close by. Maybe it was to keep an eye on her. Or it could be because it was easy pussy.

  “Why aren’t you kicking me out when that’s what started this shit in the first place?”

  I paused. Maybe that pussy wouldn’t be so easy after all.

  “A man can’t change his mind?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood when I felt anything but. It was confusing, I got that, but I had no idea why I now wanted her with me.

  “Right, Greyson.” She shook her head.

  I put the cloth in the laundry hamper and slipped into the other side of the bed. Pulling her against me, I pushed my face into the crook of her neck. “Feel better?”

  “I feel relaxed.” She curled into me. “This is the most relaxed I’ve felt since showing up here. Even though yo
u stress me out.”

  “I stress you out,” I repeated, cupping her breast. “Should I remind you who begged first? Who demanded for me to fill this tight little pussy with my cock? How hard it was for me to push you away? Who—”

  “Okay,” she snapped, shoving out of my grip. “I get it. You have a dick and I wanted it. Thanks for making me feel like a whore, asshole.”

  “Eve.” I grabbed her hand when she went to pull away and tugged her back down beside me. “Stop.”

  “What do you want from me, Grey?” She let out a sigh. “Are you going to push me away again?” she asked, instead of waiting for my answer to her first question.

  I kissed her forehead but I didn’t answer because I didn’t know how. Just because we had sex, it didn’t mean I was letting her into my heart. I did that once. I wouldn’t do it again.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  My body stiffened. “You’ve asked me three. Which one do you want me to answer?”

  She punched my shoulder. “I want to ask you another one.”

  “Fine.”

  “Are you actually going to answer?”

  I shrugged, turned her in my arms, and shut off the lamp. “Depends on what the question is.”

  “Who is she?” she whispered.

  “Who do you mean?” I asked, my stomach twisting.

  “The woman who hurt you.”

  “Sleep, Eve.”

  “You didn’t answer me.”

  “I said you could ask the question, not that I would answer.”

  Eve turned the lamp back on and glared down at me. “What the hell is your problem?”

  “My problem.” I cupped her jaw, pushing her back onto the bed. “Is that you keep pushing and pushing. One of these days, little Eve, I’m going to push back and you won’t like it when I do.”

  “I’m not her, Greyson. I don’t know who I was before this or how I was. Or whatever you want to call it. Maybe I was a whore or a slut like you said. But I am not her.”

  No, she definitely wasn’t her.

  “You’re a slut for my cock.” My teeth sunk into her neck. “That’s it.”

  “But you said—”

  “I don’t give a shit what I said, Eve. I was mad. Confused. What the fuck ever.”

  “Greyson.” She cupped my cheek. “Why now? Why after constantly pushing me away, are we here? In your bed.”

  I pulled her head back and licked up the length of her neck. “Because I couldn’t resist you anymore.” Running my hand over her hip, I cupped her thigh and pulled her leg over my waist.

  Her breath hitched when my cock came into contact with her sweet pussy.

  She whimpered, rocking against me. “Kiss me.”

  I released her, pushed her onto her back, and crawled between her legs. “I used this pussy hard. I think I should take care of it.”

  “Greyson,” she breathed.

  “Don’t worry, baby.” I kissed her inner thigh before spreading her legs in a rough move. “I’ll kiss this sweet kitty and make her purr.”

  WARM BLOOD COATED my fingertips. It fell from my hands, pooling on the ground in front of me.

  What had I done? It was my fault. All my fault.

  This was it. My life was over.

  My mind was foggy, my mouth dry like I hadn’t had a drink in days.

  My stomach rolled over itself, the dry heaves wracking through my body. They came on so suddenly, my bones cracked beneath my muscles with each wave of nausea.

  “Help me,” I pleaded.

  A gentle but firm finger pushed beneath my chin, forcing me to look up into black soulless eyes.

  “Help me,” I repeated.

  The eyes twinkled. “What did you do?”

  “I …” I glanced down at my hands, finding a knife lodged between my clutches. “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

  “Good.” The man with the black eyes kissed my forehead. He looked over my shoulder, nodding once. “Now.” He stood, removing himself from my grasp as hands grabbed at me.

  I screamed, kicking at whatever body part I could hit. “Please.”

  He only grinned.

  My eyes shot open as I landed on something hard with an oomph. Pain screamed up my spine.

  “Shit.”

  My eyes burned and my lungs ached as I tried to force air into them.

  “Breathe, Eve.”

  Warm hands cupped my face but I refused to look. The nightmare was too fresh in my mind. It was all I could see. All I could feel. All I could taste. Fingers inside me. Hands on my skin. Teeth biting and ripping their way into my soul. But those eyes, those black soulless eyes. I had seen them before. Was it a nightmare? Or was it a memory? My brain tried to sort out what was real and what was fake but I couldn’t figure out which side to believe.

  “Greyson,” I whispered, my chin trembling.

  Warmth heated my lower half but I still couldn’t open my eyes.

  “Baby.” The deep voice rushed over me, inside of me, all throughout my very being. “Eve. Look at me, beautiful.”

  I covered the hands cupping my face and slowly opened my eyes. Greyson knelt in front of me, his brow wrinkled. A sob escaped me. It was so hard, it crushed the bones beneath my muscles.

  “You’re fine, Eve,” he said gently, pulling me into his arms. “It was a nightmare. A fucking horrible nightmare but that’s all it was.”

  “I … I …” I couldn’t get the words out so I just hugged myself around him.

  “Shhh …” His hands ran up and down my back, soothing me, caressing me. Taking care of me. This gentle touch from him was different than the way he touched me last night. I could get used to this side of him.

  “Hey.” He pulled me back, staring intently into my eyes. “Are you okay?”

  I covered my face, my body still shaking with the remnants of the god-awful dream. “I don’t know.”

  Greyson gently pushed me out of his hold and rose to his full height. Pulling me to my feet, he kissed my head. “Did you want to talk about it?”

  I chewed my bottom lip. “I don’t know that either.” I needed a shower. I needed to wash the dream from my skin. Turning toward the bathroom, I stepped in warm liquid. My cheeks burned. Oh, God. I didn’t.

  “Hey.” Grey kissed my cheek. “It’s okay.”

  “I’m so embarrassed.” I covered my face, wanting to disappear over the fact that my body had betrayed me.

  “Stay here.” Greyson went into the bathroom and came back a moment later with a washcloth.

  “Please.” I reached for it. “Let me.” But I couldn’t meet his gaze.

  “Look at me, Eve.” That dominant tone in his voice did something funny to my belly but I refused to look at him. “I said, look at me.”

  I met his gaze that time.

  “You have nothing to be embarrassed over,” he said, his gaze hard. “It’s a natural response when you’re scared.”

  Maybe so, but it still didn’t mean I was embarrassed any less.

  Greyson crouched in front of me and lifted my foot, running the washcloth over the bottom of it.

  My heart jumped, my stomach doing flips over him taking care of me. This was a side of him I never thought I would see. Him on his knees in front of me.

  “Before I joined Hell’s Harlem, I was running for clubs. I would make deliveries not knowing what it was that I was actually delivering. Trying to make ends meet and shit.” He placed my foot back on the ground and repeated the soft movement with the other one. “I had to make a delivery to one of the rival clubs. Demitri was testing me, trying to see if I would actually do it.” He wiped up the floor and headed back to the bathroom before pausing at the doorway.

  Without him even having to tell me, I followed. And that was when I saw the large tattoo covering his back. “Greyson.” I reached out to touch him but decided against it instead.

  “That’s a story for another time, little Eve,” he murmured. He brushed his fingers down my cheek as if to say good girl for
following him.

  Even though I enjoyed pushing him, my body heated at how much I loved doing as he said.

  Greyson chuckled, kissing me softly on the mouth. “You enjoy pleasing me.”

  My cheeks burned. I lightly punched him in the stomach. “Finish your story.” But I couldn’t help my eyes from roaming down the length of his naked, tattooed body. So many tattoos. So many questions.

  He kissed me one last time and turned on the water to the tub. “So, I made this delivery. But the president of the rival club wouldn’t let me leave until he inspected it. It turns out that I was delivering him drugs but instead of weed and coke like it was supposed to be, it was oregano and icing sugar. I had never been so fucking scared in my life. I’ve done a lot of shit but that fear was raw. Real. So damn powerful, I couldn’t control my body.”

  “What happened?” I whispered.

  “I pissed my pants.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.

  My mouth fell open. “Did he laugh at you?”

  “No.” Greyson grabbed my hand and helped me into the tub. “He told me that he was having a shitty day and that my fear gave him an ego boost.”

  “Really?” My eyes widened. “What happened after that?”

  “He wouldn’t let me leave until I had a beer with him.”

  “Wow.” I shook my head. “No one laughed at you?”

  “Nope.” He pinched my chin, tilting my head back. “And I wasn’t as big then as I am now, either.”

  My gaze fell to the monster between his legs.

  He chuckled. “Baby, my dick has always been this big.”

  I shivered, remembering everywhere his cock had been the night before.

  Greyson turned me and pulled me back against him, wrapping his arms around my body. “You can’t control bodily functions, Eve. But don’t be embarrassed. Not with me. I’m an asshole and I’m hard to get along with. I know that. But I would never laugh at you or make fun of you.”

  We sat there for a couple of minutes in silence. I focused on his breathing, his chest rising and falling. My eyelids became heavy.

  “Still tired?” he asked, brushing his mouth along my ear.

  “Mmmhmm.”

  He chuckled, holding me tighter and cupping my breast.