Consumed (16 page)

“And what about ass hat?” The words come out in a rush catching me off guard. I hadn't prepared myself for him to ask me about Grayson nor do I really want to talk about it either.

“What about him?” I bite out, quickly realizing the aggravation apparent in my voice. “Sorry.” I apologize immediately. “I really just don't want to get into that whole situation.” I say, standing to stretch my legs.

“No pressure.” He says standing to join me. “I intend on spending every moment I can getting to know you. And I am a very patient man.” He says leaning down to place a small kiss to my cheek. I can feel the heat swarm my face instantly. Something about this man lights a fire deep inside me.

“And I am a very stubborn woman.” I reply on a laugh as I walk away. He quickly catches up to me, my short legs no match for his long lean ones. He grabs my hand and pulls me sideways off the trail and into the woods. I have no choice but to follow and am utterly confused about where he's going until he turns around quickly and pins me to a large tree behind me.

His mouth closes down on mine instantly, the internal heat going from a simmer to a full on burn in the matter of seconds. I part my lips giving him full access to my mouth. He takes full advantage, his tongue leaving no part of my mouth unexplored. He breaks away leaving me panting and trying to catch my breath.

“I have wanted to do that all day.” He says taking my mouth in his once more. My body goes limp against him, melting into his kiss, his body. His hand trails down my side leaving goosebumps in their wake until his fingers find the band of my yoga pants.

He slips his hand inside before I have a chance to protest and once his fingers are on me, I no longer have the will to stop him. He slowly caresses me, trailing up and down until his finger slips inside my folds. He easily glides in me, the wetness giving him easy access. He groans deep in his throat as he plunges another finger inside of me.

I try to stifle my cry from the pleasure but find it's harder than I thought. I know that we are in the woods, I know that we are not far from the trail and that someone could stumble upon us at anytime, but honestly I can't bring myself to care. The world around us no longer exists and my only thought is Liam. The way he feels, the way he smells, how badly I want to feel him inside me again.

“Take me.” I say not really thinking just doing. He breaks away from my lips to look at me.

“Here?” He asks as if he thinks I have forgotten where we are. I nod to confirm. “You don't have to tell me twice.” He says taking my mouth once more. Somehow he manages to remove one of my pant legs but leaves the other in tact so that I am not completely exposed. I fumble at the his jeans, my fingers refusing to work properly as I fight my way through the button and zipper. I free him from his boxers without removing them and hold the heavy weight of his massive erection in my hand.

I trail my hand gently upward to the head before swirling my thumb over the tip. His breath hitches and I can hear his heavy breathing as I continue my tortuously slow pace. “Enough.” He barks out grabbing me under the ass and lifting me from the ground.

I wrap my legs around his waist, my full weight supported in his arms. He backs me once again against the tree for support and in one quick thrust enters me. I cry out in both pain and pleasure. He fills me so full I feel like my body can not take anymore and then he finds a hard slamming rhythm.

My back lifts up and down against the tree, the bark scratching me through my shirt but I don't care. All I feel is him, inside me, filling me. I can feel the build start and can't believe that I am there already. I never climaxed with Grayson, not during intercourse anyways. It was a total shock when it happened last night but I never expected it would be a normal thing.

I let myself revel in the pleasure. His hard body pressing into mine. His hot breath on my throat. He increases his pace, going at an impossibly hard and fast pace given our current position. I feel his body tense against me, feel him swell inside me, stretching me even further. This pushes me over the edge and I cry out through another mind blowing orgasm just as he finds his release.

He doesn't pull out right away. Instead he backs me away from the tree and just holds me. He buries his face in my hair, his breathing returning to normal as he caresses my back.

Eventually I can feel him soften inside of me and he reluctantly withdraws, setting me to my feet so that I can put my pants back on. Now that the heat has worn off I can't help but notice that the woods are not near as thick as they once had seemed and we very well could have given some people a pretty interesting show.

I don't see anyone and the trail is out of view from where we are so I am fairly certain that no one saw us but that doesn't change the fact that I am shocked by my carelessness. I have never done anything like this before and have a feeling that the land of the unexplored is something I should probably get used to.

Liam reaches out from behind me to trail his fingers lightly across my back. “I think I owe you a shirt.” He says pointing out that my shirt is ripped and torn from our love fest against the tree. “Fuck.” He breathes out angrily.

“What?” I ask turning to face him. He stops me mid turn.

“Your back. You're bleeding. Fuck, fuck. Did I hurt you? Shit, I'm so sorry.” He says dropping his hand from my back and taking a step backwards. I whip around quickly to find him taking another step backwards.

“I'm fine, are you kidding me?” I ask completely taken aback by his behavior. “It doesn't hurt, I'm sure it's fine. Besides it was my idea remember?” I remind him hoping this will ease any guilt he may have about hurting me.

“I said I wouldn't hurt you.” He says more to himself than to me.

“And you didn't.” I say matter of factly, stepping directly in front of him. I take his face in my hands and force his face down to look at me. “Please don't. This was incredible. I want to remember it that way.” I say pushing up on my tip toes to place a small kiss at the side of his mouth. I can see him visibly relax, a small smile forming on his face.

“You are amazing, you know that?” He asks pulling me into his arms.

“I try.” I joke, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him tighter to me. I really can't imagine life gets any better than this.

––––––––

I
spend the good portion of my Monday morning in meetings. To say I am on cloud nine would be an understatement. For the first time in a very long time I feel genuinely happy. I know I owe my happiness to one person and one person alone. I can't help but kick myself for holding out so long on letting myself be with Liam. Every fear that I had has quickly faded to the background. Every fear but one. Losing him.

As I make my way back to my desk, my elated state comes crashing down around me at the sight of Grayson sitting there. I try not to let him see how much he has effected me as I approach him.

“What are you doing here?” I manage to get out through my confusion. He stands from my chair and steps around my desk to stand in front of me.

“We had plans remember? You said you would meet me today.” He grinds out, clearly aggravated at my oversight.

“I'm sorry Grayson, I really don't have time for this.” I breathe out, side stepping him to set the folders on my desk that I brought back with me from the meeting.

“You look beautiful.” He says, his tone light, his face apprehensive. He's treading lightly and it's a smart move on his part. Still, the compliment leaves me feeling uneasy and I run my hands along my black wrap dress, smoothing it out to the hem. “Shall we go then?” He asks, clearly not catching how uncomfortable he's making me.

“Uh, I really don't think that's such a good idea.” I say, nervousness riddling my voice. “I have so much work to get done. Another time maybe.” I say avoiding making contact with his eyes.

“Please Addison. You know how extremely busy I am at work. I can't keep rescheduling meetings. You said today, I made today work.” He fidgets with his cuff links, fighting to keep his temper at bay. I have seen this countless times before.

“Thirty minutes. That's the best I can do.” I finally cave, fearful that if I continue to give him excuses he will resort to making a scene in my office just to get me to leave with him.

As we exit Strike Tower, Grayson holds the door open for me, his hand falling to the small of my back to guide me out. The contact sends chills all the way to my toes and not the good kind. I try to ignore the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

We walk in silence to the
Starbucks
a block away. We place our orders and once we have our drinks we take a seat at one of the small square tables in the far right corner. Grayson doesn't speak at first and I try not to let my impatience show.

I take a sip of my salted caramel latte, finally deciding that it is going to have to be me to take the first step. “You said you needed to speak to me.” I say, hoping he will take this opportunity to get out whatever it is he needs to say.

“I want you back.” He blurts out so quickly it takes me a moment to actually process what he's said.

“I- I'm sorry?” I stammer out.

“You heard me Addison, don't pretend you didn't. I want you back.” He says meeting my eyes for the first time. The warmness that once clouded his face has long since faded. His eyes are dark, unreadable. I can't help but wonder how long he's been this way and me never having noticed.

A small laugh escapes from my throat. I unintentionally cock my head to one side, my face probably displaying exactly what I am thinking, that he has officially lost his mind.

“Is there something funny about that?” He snaps, my smile fading instantly. The knot in my stomach tightens. Why did I choose to put myself in this situation?

“I'm sorry Grayson, but that is never going to happen.” I say meeting his eyes. I don't break my lock on him, I won't back down this time.

“How can you say that, after all the years we spent together? You're just willing to give up what we have?” His eyes burn into mine and I feel inferior under his gaze. Why do I let him make me feel less than him? I straighten my posture and for the first time in a very long time I tell him exactly how I feel.

“Are you kidding me?” I spit, the anger apparent in my voice. “In case you have forgotten YOU were the one who threw us away. After eight years you didn't even have the decency to sit down and talk to me about how you were feeling, instead you packed my stuff and showed me the door. Now you think that I am just going to come running back the moment you ask me to?”

“Don't be childish Addison. I was confused, I needed time. Maybe I didn't handle it the right way but it was the only way I knew how. Are you really ready to walk away from everything, from us, forever?” He asks, his tone softening.

“What we had was over years ago. You know that as much as I do. You have always treated me like I was less than you. You controlled every aspect of my life, tried to mold me into what you wanted me to be. If you're honest with yourself then you know that I have not been right for you in a very long time. Maybe we were good in the beginning, hell we were amazing. But we have not been those people for years. We grew apart. We want different things. Honestly I'm glad that you ended things. Otherwise who knows how much time would have passed before I finally realized the truth myself.” I stop, wanting to give him a chance to say his peace. I don't know why, I should just walk away but my heart won't allow me to be that cruel, even though he deserves it.

“Who is he?” He grinds out, his teeth tightly clenched.

“Excuse me?” I choke out, nearly spitting my coffee across the table at him.

“The guy, who is he? Clearly you have been out whoring around. Otherwise this wouldn't be such an issue. So tell me Addison.... Who is he?” I can see his eyes grow stern, his nostrils flaring with each deep breath he takes. He's fighting to maintain control, I can read his signs. I may not love him anymore but that doesn't change the fact that I know him, even if I don't recognize the man he is today.

“This has nothing to do with anyone but you Grayson. The way you threw me out, the way you treated me following our break up, it was repulsive. But it was what I needed. I needed you to reveal your true colors and show me the person you really are. It gave me the strength to walk away.” I say holding my own even though my insides are trembling.

“You're a real piece of fucking work, you know that?” He spits at me, his voice grower louder.

“Well lucky for you I am no longer your problem.” I bite back just as harshly, refusing to let him push me around.

I stand, determined to end this conversation, but my actions are halted almost immediately when he reaches out, grabbing my wrist tightly. “Sit down Addison.” Old habits die hard and I find my body responding to his demand before my mind even has a chance to process it. His hand holds an impossibly tight grip on my forearm, his fingers imprinting in my skin.

“Go get your things and come home.” He practically growls at me, his grip tightening to the point of pain.

“No.” I say refusing to let him see that he's getting to me. “Now let go of me.” I say loudly trying to pull my arm from his grip. This grabs the attention of the people sitting at surrounding tables and he immediately lets go of me.

“Stay away from me Grayson. This is what you wanted. I used to love you, god how I loved you but I don't love you anymore. It's over, please just let it go.” I say grabbing my purse off the back of my chair and draping it on my shoulder.

He sits very still, giving me no reaction at all. “Goodbye Grayson.” I say before turning and walking away. I don't look back and I don't stop. I walk as quickly as I can back to my office. I just want to be away from this situation, away from him.

I reach down and rub my arm which has a slight ache to it, only to see that I have deep red fingerprint marks that stretch the width of my wrist. There's no doubt in my mind that it will bruise and I can't help but wonder what Liam will say when he sees them. He freaked out over a couple little scratches on my back, I can't imagine how he will react to someone putting their hands on me.