Forbidden Fate (Crowne Point 3)

“Then don’t, Grayson. Don’t ever let me go. I won’t if you won’t. I’ll hold onto you. In my heart. In my soul. In the places that matter. Will you do the same?”

I took his ring finger into my mouth, biting it like he had mine.

Begging him to see the truth in my eyes.

He watched me, lids half-mast. “I will always keep you inside me. Forever. I don’t have a fucking say in the matter.”

Still he wouldn’t let me go.

“Grayson,” I whispered.

“Don’t leave me, little wife.” His voice shredded my chest, then he slammed his lips back on mine. His kiss was calculated torture designed to make me succumb and surrender.

I broke off on a gasp, desperate to find clarity in my thoughts.

He didn’t stop kissing me even as I turned my head. Kissing my cheek, the angle of my jaw—anything.

“Grayson—”

“Give in, little wife.”

“Grayson, stop!”

He ripped his lips off me with a growl. “It’s not just West, Story! We’re going up against everyone.”

“This is the only way. I’ll get all the dirt West has on you and destroy it. You’ll get the final coin, and together, we’ll rewrite destiny.”

“If it works,” he said darkly. “If it doesn’t? Best case: you’re with West. Worst case: war.”

I swallowed. “It’ll work. I think it’s fate, Grayson.” I kissed him softly, keeping our lips pressed as I spoke. “It’s fate you gave my uncle your coin. It’s fate you never used any of yours. I don’t think our fate is forbidden, I think our destiny is divided, and we just haven’t found the right path.”

He deepened our kiss, then shoved me off. “Go. Get the fuck away before I change my mind.”

I quickly took two steps back.

“The key is in the desk…I’ll write to you, Atlas.”

I was at the door when his growl stopped me. “Little wife.”

I looked over my shoulder. His sculpted, golden torso shone in the morning light. With his wrist shackled to the bed, he looked like a god receiving punishment.

“I’m trusting you, I’m believing in us, but I won’t risk you,” he said. “If I even hear the slightest whisper that he’s hurting you, he’s dead. I won’t stop to ask your permission. I won’t worry about the consequences. And if we discover the chance of failure is even one percent, it’s over. We do it my way.”

One percent? That was ridiculous. “Gray—”

“And,” he continued, cutting me off with a growl. “If I have to become the Grayson Crowne, if I have to become that man, I’ll do it for you. Maybe I can’t be my sister, maybe I can’t ever leave this hell, but I can rule it.”

I swallowed. “I don’t want that. That’s not what I want. I want us free. We’ll…we’ll be free. I promise. Just trust me.”

“I let you go, didn’t I?” he snarled.

The tone clawed at my soul, but more than that…it frightened me.

I knew I had to leave. The longer I stayed, I not only risked us, but risked the urge to run to him. So I turned.

“I’ll build us a world where fate bows to Grayson Crowne.”

I paused at his words, then sprinted out of the room.