Page 96 of Play Me
I’m not prepared for the hot tears that fog my vision, or the ferocious kindness swimming in his dark brown pools. I feel seen in a way that’s brand new to me. Understood without saying a word.
He runs a thumb across my cheek while sharing the sincerest, sweetest smile ever bestowed upon me.
“Regardless of what happens tonight, or when we go back to Nashville—whether you hate me or not—you’re safe with me,” he says softly.
I sniffle back a heap of emotion, but then it hits me that I came here to get fucked and, instead, I’m crying. And for once, I’m not crying because someone’s being an asshole. I’m crying because he’s … not.
“There you go,” I say, laughing through the feelings clogging my throat. “You had to go and ruin everything.”
His chin tilts to the sky as he laughs, too.
I dry my face of any errant tears with the bottom of my shirt. The cord that’s been wound around my chest for as long as I can remember is slightly looser. I consider momentarily that he could be lying to me, just telling me what he thinks I want to hear—but I dismiss it almost immediately.
Because that’s not true. That’s not what he’s doing, and I know it in the depths of my soul.
My heartbeat quickens as I wrestle with his promise that I’m safe with him. The sentiment that I’ve yearned for my entire life, for someone to see me and care for me enough to protect me, has surprisingly been shared … by Gray Adler.
How the hell is this happening?
It’s a mind fuck, a case of mental vertigo. The man who I’ve sparred with, fought against, and loathed is offering me shelter. It’s a dizzying realization, one that makes both no sense and all the sense in the world.
But the more I think about it, and the longer I stand in front of Gray with my truth bared for him to see, I’m not panicked.I’m at ease. The bubble of loneliness, my constant shadow, deflates and my lungs fill to their full capacity.
This has never happened before, and it may never happen again. And I have a feeling he understands what it’s like to have your trust broken. Even if I don’t know by whom.
If I’m going out on limbs tonight and taking big risks, I might as well go all the way.
“Will you do me a favor, Gray?”
“Anything.”
This has to be the most complicated, overthought moment before sex that has ever existed.Who talks this much when on a bed of a truck with someone like Gray Adler?
Me. That’s who. And it’s exactly why I can’t have any fun in my life.
I gather my courage along with the deepest breath. “Just for one night, I want to know what it feels like nottobe in control.”
His pupils dilate, and his eyes widen in surprise.
“Take control,” I plead.“Please.”
I barely get the words out of my mouth before his lips crash against mine. I gasp, frozen in shock, before giving way to the sensation of being enveloped in his strong arms. I’m pulled so tightly against him that I can barely breathe, or think, or do anything other than kiss him back.
He wraps my hair around his fist and tugs my head to the side. I whimper as he kisses the corner of my mouth, then along my jaw before dragging his mouth down my neck.
“Look at that,” I say, as he draws his tongue over the top of my shoulder, leaving me quivering against his chest. “You can follow orders after all.”
He nips my earlobe, making me squeal, before releasing his hand from my hair. Our gazes collide, brown against green, as we pull apart, panting. Anticipating.Needing.
There’s a hint of a smile in the curve of his lips. “Let’s see if you can.”
Oh. Shit.
Heat blossoms in my belly at the intense deliciousness of his gaze. It slides down my body, grazing my skin through my clothes and nearly setting them on fire. The weight of his attention is so heavy that it leaves me scattered and breathless.
“Arms up.”
It’s not a request.It’s an order.
