One Day (The Private Club #3)(8)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“Get to your next test rooms, please.”

I sat in the stall and waited until I was pretty confident that they had all left. I exited slowly after storing the diary back in the top of the toilet. I walked to my next test room quickly. My mind was spinning again. I felt like every time I thought I had a new lead, something else cropped up to make me doubt what I thought I knew.

I walked into my next room with my thoughts in a whirl. I didn’t even look to see what the new room contained since I was so caught up in the hurricane that was twirling around in me.

“Hi, Meg.” His voice was soft and unexpected.

“Greyson.” I looked up at him in surprise, not able to stop the acceleration of my heart. “What are you doing here?”

“I figured you missed me or something.”

“I saw you this morning.” I knew my words sounded shaky.

“Maybe I missed you.” He shrugged as he eyes sought out mine.

“Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. “What do you really want?”

“A kiss.” He walked toward me with the confidence of a man who knew he could have any woman he wanted.

I stared at his face clinically, trying to understand why this man made me lose my mind. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen handsome men before. Granted, I’d never dated or made love to a man whose blue eyes had sent shivers down my spine like his did. I’d never seen a man whose jaw had quite that angle and whose golden locks felt soft and silky to the touch. I’d never been touched by a man whose fingers were rough and gentle at the same time. I’d never tasted a man whose very essence reminded me of manna from heaven.

“That’s it?” I swallowed as he stopped in front of me.

“Unless you want more?” His eyes sparkled at me, and I could see a question in them that had nothing to do with him kissing me.

“What if I want less?”

“It’d be hard to want less than I have to give.” The smile left his face, but he continued his impenetrable gaze into my eyes.

“You’d be surprised.”

“Why didn’t you leave with Katie and Brandon?”

“Why did you let me stay?”

“You shouldn’t be here, you know.”

“Why?”

“You’ll be the undoing of me.” He grimaced.

“Scared you’ll go to jail?”

“No.”

“Really? I would be if I were you.”

“I’m not scared of jail.” He shrugged. “There are worse demons in my mind.”

“Oh.” I frowned. “What made you the man you are, Greyson?”

“My dad kept a woman in the basement.”

“What?” I whispered and looked up at him in shock. “Are you joking?”

He continued talking as if he hadn’t heard me. “She was like his sex slave. He would go down every night and do things with her. I didn’t know at first. I thought he was grieving, like I was. But one night, I heard noises, so I went to investigate and I saw him f**king her.”

“Oh my.”

“She lived in the basement.” His eyes looked at me and he cocked his head. “But she wasn’t locked there. She was free to leave. But she stayed there. Living for the night, when my dad would go down and f**k her.”

“Why didn’t he let her come up into the house and live?”

“He didn’t care about her,” he spat out. “He loved my mom. He would never sully her name. But he had needs. All men have needs, Meg. Needs have nothing to do with love.”

“So what happened?” I asked softly, feeling my heart breaking at his words.

“You’re so beautiful.” His finger caressed my cheek. “When I look into your eyes, I find myself getting lost in your beauty.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, not knowing how to respond.

“Don’t thank me. It’s not a compliment.” His finger slid down to my lips and he pushed his finger into my mouth. I lightly sucked it, and we just stared at each other. “I could get you to do whatever I want, couldn’t I?”

“No.” I shook my head and bit down on his finger hard. “You can’t control me.”

“Feisty.” He laughed and pulled his finger out. He changed the subject again and turned around. “Do you think men run the world, Meg?”

“Yes, but not because they are better than women. They just have less compassion. They dictate and take what they want without any real care as to how their actions affect others.”

He turned around and looked at me then, a small smile on his face. “But women, they have this compassion, yes?”

“Most of us do?”

“Can a woman forgive the devil?”

“It’s not for a woman to forgive the devil. It’s for the devil to forgive the devil.”

“What does it matter if he forgives himself?”

“For the devil to forgive himself, he has to acknowledge he’s done wrong. That’s the biggest step.” I reached over and touched his cheek. “Once he realizes he’s done wrong, he can seek redemption.”

“Why do you do this to me?” He pulled me towards him and stared down at me for a second before his lips came crushing down on mine.

I melted against him and closed my eyes as we kissed. I breathed in all of him as his tongue invaded my mouth. His fingers reached into my hair and pulled roughly. I squirmed against him as he pulled me closer to him. I opened my eyes as he bit down on my lower lip.

“Good. I like to see the emotions in your eyes as I kiss you,” he growled and then continued his exploration of my mouth.

I kissed him back fervently, sucking on his tongue eagerly. He was my drug, and I couldn’t get enough of him. I felt his hands fall to my butt, and I ran my hands to his back and let my fingers run up and down urgently. I eagerly slipped my fingers under his shirt and scraped my fingernails against his skin. I felt his sharp intake of breath as he felt my fingers grazing his skin.

“I can do rough as well, you know.” His fingers squeezed my ass tighter and I gasped as he pushed me back against the wall. My neck fell back and his lips closed down on the large expanse of skin that was showing. I felt his teeth biting me hard and then he used his tongue, gently soothing the area.

“Greyson,” I groaned against him.

“Yes?” He paused and looked at me.

“Nothing.” I closed my eyes again. I didn’t want to speak. I just wanted to feel. His actions matched my feelings about this situation. It was painful and sweet. I sighed as he slowly pulled away from me.