Page 21 of Tormented Kings

Grayson snorts out a laugh. “Our happiness, Pretty Girl? Yeah, I think it’s worth everything that's about to come our way. It’s not going to be easy, not at all. And I know a few of us are going to have to use every resource we can think of, even if it resorts to blackmail. I’m not above burning some bridges on my way out.”

“Why?” I whisper. “Why now?”

Grayson grips my chin, turning my head to the side to face him. “Because of you, Pretty Girl,” he murmurs. Everything inside me shifts as his eyes bore into mine. I can’t breathe, afraid to. His finger brushes my cheek and all I want to do is melt into his touch.

“Me?” The question is packed with so much uncertainty, confusion, and hope.

“I said I wasn’t done with you.” He gives me that painfully gorgeous smile that has my brain short-circuiting. “And I meant it.”

Licking my lips, I scream at my brain to tell my lungs to take a fucking breath. My eyes flick over to Declan. “And you?”

He gives me a smile so sweet it wrecks me. “I’ve wanted you from afar for a long time, Sweetheart. Wanting, longing.” His eyes flick over to Preston ever so quickly before returning back to me. “I like you, Sadie. I like you a lot, and maybe how we came together wasn’t in a very traditional way.” He laughs lightly. “But I wouldn’t have changed a thing. I’ve loved our time together, and it’s made those feelings for you grow more intense. I want you, Sadie. I want to see if this could be something more.”

Biting my lip, I move out of Grayson’s lap and straddle Declan’s. I love the way he sucks in a sharp breath, his cheeks growing the lightest shade of pink as his hands grip my hips. Atiny smirk twitches on my lips as I feel him growing hard under me. I love how easily I affect him. This stunningly sweet man who’s quickly wormed his way into my heart.

I wrap my arms around the back of his neck and he shudders as I start to play with the hairs at the base of his neck. “You like me?” I ask, tilting my head to the side.

“I do,” he confirms, voice quivering slightly.

“I like you too,” I murmur softly, eyes lowering to his lips as I give a part of myself to him. This has me feeling more vulnerable than being naked and having him inside me. I almost freak out over actually admitting it, but the smile he gives me... it washes all the worry away.

“You do?” he asks with so much hope.

I smile, leaning in and kissing him softly. He groans, his hands on my hips tightening as he pulls me down, adding pressure to his cock. I feel like being a little tease and roll my hips, getting a whimper out of him that fucking thrills me.

“Hey. I like you too.” Grayson pouts. “If me saying I wasn’t done with you wasn’t enough, then maybe telling you I’m crazy about you and want to make you my girl will.”

Breaking the kiss with Declan, I blink at Grayson, lips parted in shock. “You do?”

“Yes, I do.” Grayson leans over and grabs the back of my head. I sigh, moaning as he parts my lips with his tongue. He kisses me until I’m breathless, head spinning as I pull back.

“I thought you meant you just maybe wanted to mess around more.” My cheeks flame a bright neon pink.

“No,” he growls, nipping at my lower lip and then smirking at me. “I mean, fuck yes, I want to be inside you any chance I get, Pretty Girl.” He chuckles. “But I want to be with you.”

“You do?” I blink, still in a haze.

“We both do,” Declan says, eyeing his friend nervously. “I want you to be mine too.”

“Wow.” I’m in shock, I think... wait, nope, I am; I’m definitely in shock. My breathing picks up, and I have to close my eyes before I start crying. It might sound stupid to want to cry at this moment, but this is a big deal, a life-changing deal, because I thought with every ounce of my heart that nothing would come of this. That we would have our time together, and they would move on, get married, and live their lives.

“You okay, Sweetheart?” Declan asks, rubbing his hands up and down my thighs to soothe me.

I take a deep breath and open my eyes to meet his. “This isn’t some sick joke, is it?” I hate that I’m asking this.

His eyes flash with hurt. “No, of course not, Sadie. Why would you think that?”

“Because it feels too good to be true,” I huff out a laugh. “Because you two are some of the richest boys at this school. And you're telling me, you want to leave your arranged marriages to be with me?”

“Why do you think so little of yourself, Sadie,” Grayson growls, shifting closer. “You are smart, funny, kind, loyal, a good friend, and sexy as hell. You're everything a good chunk of the girls in this school—no, this society—isn’t. Why wouldn’t we want you?”

So many reasons come to the forefront of my mind, but I swallow those insecurities down.

“We just want the chance to win you over, to make you ours. Doesn’t matter who you pick, we would still be ending the engagements. Because even if we can’t have you, we don’t want them.”

Choose. Right.

“About that.” I laugh awkwardly. “Collin already beat you to this conversation.” I bite my lower lip.

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