Page 88 of Mr. Wicked

I sprinted toward my wing and got my phone from the nightstand. I tucked it under my fingers and rushed out into the hallway, across the living room, and entered his wing, halting at the entrance of his bedroom. From here, I could see into his closet, and he was in the middle of taking off his sweatpants.

I certainly didn’t want to get caught staring, so I went over to his bed and pulled back the covers and slid underneath. While I listened to him rustle around in his closet, I took my time checking out his bedroom, something I hadn’t done before.

The colors, the vibe, the mood—they were the embodiment of sex.

There was a fireplace directly across from the bed. Tiny lights in the ceiling above me that he’d dimmed to a light shadow. The artwork was abstract, but within the lines and dark hues were the visuals of a woman’s body.

The textures throughout the whole space were smooth, silky, even. And the entire room smelled like Grayson, a heaviness of citrus balanced with amber notes.

This wasn’t just his personal cave.

This was him—an equal combination of darkness and sexiness.

“That’s my side.”

The sound of his voice startled me, and I jolted up a few inches, sucking in the deepest breath. When I met his stare, it was as reprimanding as his words.

He wanted this over with.

He wanted me gone.

“Sorry.”

While I slid to the other side, I watched him walk to the bed. He had on only a pair of boxer briefs that fit snugly over his dick, a part of him that was complete perfection, but what the tight cotton didn’t cover was his incredible body. Cords of muscle rippled across his chest and down his etched abs, up his forearms and biceps, and crossed his shoulders. Small patches of dark hair the same color as his beard sprouted from some of those brawny sections, only adding to the power and strength that beamed from his body.

I knew this long before tonight, but something about this moment only reinforced how masculine Grayson was.

How the guys my age were still learning their rhythm, still finding their personalities, still building their bodies.

But not him.

This was a man full of experience and maturity.

And pain.

As he climbed into bed, I inhaled the deepness of his cologne, and I instantly felt the heat coming off his skin. And I sucked in another breath, waiting for him to get comfortable, then moved in next to him and held the phone in the air, directly above our faces.

“I’m going to take a few test pics first.”

He said nothing as I pressed my leg against his and leaned into the side of his chest, tilting our faces together. I basked in his presence, letting the emotions take over my expression, and snapped a handful of shots.

“These are ... ugh.” I showed him the screen, swiping through the ones I’d just taken.

“What the fuck’s wrong with them?”

“Everything.” I held the phone in the air again. “I need you to look happy, Grayson. Like you’re in love.” When he didn’t respond, I looked at him. “Please.”

“Love isn’t in my arsenal of emotions, Jovana. I told you, I don’t do love. Don’t be looking for it in these pictures because you won’t find it and you won’t find it in me. That’s why you shouldn’t fall for me.”

There was that reminder again.

The one I hated every time I heard it.

The one that reinforced that I’d be a broken, dismantled mess at the end of this.

But I couldn’t let him know that. I just had to keep going, so I said, “I know. I get it. But this isn’t about me falling in love with you. This is about the world falling in love with us. So shut up, smile, we’ll get the pic right, and then I can go to bed.”

His arm had been at his side, a position that came across cold and uncaring and extremely detached in the test shots. After a few seconds of grumbling, he wrapped it around me and pulled me closer. In this new position, my head lay halfway between his chest and shoulder, the blanket pulled high enough that my lack of a bra wasn’t revealed. He turned his face toward mine and I began to snap away, keeping my arm still, but moving my head just slightly, so there was a multitude of angles I could choose from.

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