Present
GRAYSON'S POV
Her jaw clenched but she didn’t answer.
Her gravity was intoxicating. She smelled of flowers and sin wrapped in fire. I wanted to ruin her. I wanted her to be mine.
“Tell me, Hale,” I growled, my lips so close to hers. “Why the hell are you shaking if you really hate me so goddamn much? Why are you looking at me like you want to—”
The c***k of her hand across my face shattered the words out of my mouth. My head whipped to the side, cheek stinging, breath gone still in my chest.
Silence swallowed the room whole.
Her palm was still half-raised, trembling, as if she couldn’t believe she actually did that. My jaw flexed. My tongue darted out, l*****g the wetness on the side of my mouth.
Her pupils dilated.
“Don’t say another word,” she whispered.
I grinned, wi
