“I can’t believe how beautiful it is here,” I murmur as I sip my wine. I’m still in my swimsuit from earlier, but my feet are propped up on the balcony edge as I stare out into the ocean without a care in the world. This was supposed to be work, but for the past four days, we’ve done nothing but play.

“It sure is,” Gray replies, his voice husky.

When I turn to look at him, I find him staring. My body begins to heat from the inside out. We’ve been seeing each other in some capacity for a little over a week now. He’s such a whirlwind that I lose all sense of time and reality. It feels like much longer.

“I always dreamed of having a place like this. A place to take my family one day. A place where the mother was involved and the father wasn’t a giant asshole. A place where the kids would look forward to visiting every summer.” He threads his fingers behind his head as he stares off into the ocean. His dark hair is messy and flutters in the wind. I find myself fixated on the way his biceps bulge from that position. “Now I own such a place.”

“That you do,” I tell him, a hint of dreaminess in my voice.

He turns his heated, intense gaze on me. “All I need is the family.”

Once again, my throat and cheeks heat. When he says these powerful things to me, I just fall deeper in a hole that he’s dug for me. I just hope he doesn’t bury me one day.

“One day maybe you will,” I offer and gulp down the rest of my wine.

“Come here.”

He pats his thigh and flashes me a grin that looks entirely too good on him. Despite being much older than me, he remains fit and has a young, vulnerable edge about him that I find myself drawn to. His intensity, though, is that of an ancient god. Unwavering and dominant.

I stand from the lounge chair and then straddle his lap. He’s only wearing a pair of swim trunks so the moment I sit on him, his hard length presses against the place I want him most.

“I want to make this our thing,” he says, as he reaches behind me to tug at the string of my bikini top. The material slinks away from my breasts. “This”—he motions at the resort and to the beach—“should be our thing.”

His words.

His implications.

They’re all too much.

Desperately, I cling to them. For so long, I’ve craved just what he’s offering. But it doesn’t seem real. A fairytale. A dream that he’s woven for me while he fucks me beyond sanity. What happens when it all goes up in a poof of smoke? Where does that leave me?

“You do realize you only figured out I exist a week ago. Now you’re ready to impregnate me and run off into the sunset. You don’t live in the real world.” This is why they call him Mad Max. “We’re just having fun.”

His blue eyes darken to a shade of navy as he tugs the upper string behind my neck. My top falls between us baring me to him. “I live in the world I create,” he tells me, his words fiery with need. “And in my world, it’s you and me.”

I bite on my bottom lip and regard the handsome man. Was this how it was with Vaughn in the beginning? I don’t remember him being this dedicated or consumed. Intense and possessive, yes. But never…sweet and passionate. Gray is just…different.

“We’re moving way too fast,” I try, though the fight is gone the moment he tugs my bikini bottoms to the side and slides the tip of his finger along my clit.

He leans forward to capture my breast between his teeth. His eyes lift to find mine. They’re blazing with emotions I want to peel back and discover. Truth is, I love the way he looks at me as though I’m the only thing in his life that matters. With his tongue darting across my flesh and his teeth biting into me, I’m overcome with need. He’s never looked hotter than he does in this moment, with his messy hair and wild eyes. His finger expertly strokes me to the point I’m practically dripping with desire.

“Oh, God…” I whimper.

He suckles away the pain from his bite and then breathes against me. “Tell me what I need to hear.”

I grip his hair and tilt my head back. The balcony is private considering it’s the penthouse suite, so I throw caution to the wind and let myself free.

“I’m yours,” I tell him as I rock against his finger that massages me only from the outside despite my need to have him on the inside.

“Tell me this is more than fun,” he growls, nipping at my skin. “Tell me this is our world and you want it just as much as I do.”

When he talks to me like this, I lose all sense of right and wrong. There is no reality with him.

“Yes,” I assure him, my body quivering with pleasure. “Our world.”

His finger speeds up its motion until I lose it. The world darkens around me as an explosive orgasm surges through me, obliterating every nerve ending in my body. I’m still shuddering when he pulls his hand from my bottoms to tug his cock from his trunks. Once it’s out and standing upright between us, he lifts my hips and once again pushes my bikini bottoms to the side. This time, he impales me with his cock. His strong hands on my hips control our rhythm. All I can do is latch my lips to his and enjoy the ride.

Our kiss is all consuming and powerful.

We kiss as though the other holds the key to our future and happiness.

I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t want what Gray is offering. I’m dying to let him suck me into his storm and never let go. When he owns me from the inside, the answer is always yes.

“That’s it, baby,” he groans against my mouth. “Take this thick cock because it belongs to you.”

Damn him and his crazy dirty talk that drives me wild.

Like the good girl I am, I ride him as if I own him. I use his cock to pull out the pleasure I crave and need. Arching my back, I position myself so he hits me against my G-spot. Zings of bliss pulsate through me.

“Beg me to come inside you, Violet. Fucking beg me to put a baby inside you,” he snarls, his teeth nipping at my breasts. “Beg me.”

His words are insane. A game of pretend. Apparently, I like these games.

“Yes,” I plead. “I want it. I want all of it.”

“You’re going to carry my kid in your sexy little stomach, aren’t you?” he demands.

“Mmmhmmm.”

“Say the words, Violet.”

“I want your baby.”

He nips at me again. “We’re going to be a family. Promise me.”

“Yes,” I whine as my body tightens with another impending orgasm. “I promise.”

The moment my climax shudders through me, he loses control. His bite on my breast feels as though he broke the skin, but I don’t even care because his heat surges inside of me carrying with it all of his promises.

I’m so fucked in the head by this man.

He’s going to tear my world apart. Deep down, I know this. I can feel it down to my toes.

And yet…

“Don’t break me,” I beg, my lips finding the shell of his ear. “Please don’t break me.”

He hugs me tight and growls his fierce proclamation that I want to believe so badly. “I won’t break you. Fucking never.”

* * *

“In two months, I have to go to Hong Kong for business,” Gray says, his finger tracing softly up and down my bare stomach in the dark.

“I’m jealous,” I tease and smile.

“I want you to come with me,” he tells me with a chuckle. “You’re the VP, after all.”

I stiffen. “I won’t be working for you then. I only have one week left.”

His hand stops moving and I’m glad I can’t see his expression. “But I thought…”

“That just because we’re seeing each other right now that I’d give up my prior commitments?”

He pulls away and flips on the lamp. When he turns back, his nostrils flare with anger. “I promoted you. I assumed you were staying.”

The money is way better than what Sean is offering.

And I’d be doing what I know.

But I’d be spending every waking moment with Gray’s undivided attention on me. What happens when this blazing flame of his flickers out? Will I be cast aside and forgotten again? If so, and I chose to stay at Maxwell, I’d have passed up an opportunity for a career change.

“Gray,” I start but am interrupted when he jerks out of the bed.

“I need to make a phone call,” he growls before slamming the bedroom door.

I sit up and bring the sheet up over my bare breast. He did not take that well at all. Butterflies take flight in my belly as my nerves threaten to consume me. I snag my phone from the end table and text Sean.

Me: Everything still a go?

Despite it being close to midnight, he responds.

Sean: I thought you’d changed your mind. You know, after all that happened. Then you never responded. Is everything okay?

My mind has been distracted the past week, but I didn’t think I’d ignored any of his messages.

Me: Everything is fine. Looking forward to starting up soon.

He responds back immediately.

Sean: Oh good! I’m counting down. If you want to drop by one day on your lunch, I’ll show you where your office will be. We can have lunch in my office.

Me: I’ll let you know a day I’m free. Talk soon.

I try not to watch the clock but seconds turn into minutes and then minutes turn into hours. Gray hasn’t returned. I’m just drifting off when I hear the lamp being turned off and the bed sinking down with his weight. He curls his massive body around mine and hugs me to him. I feel like we’ve just had our first fight. It’s not hard to see his point. He’s promoted me and fired several employees because of how they treated me. We’re sleeping together and spend every waking moment with one another. I can see how he’d assume I was staying.

But…

I can’t risk everything on a week’s worth of his attention.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs against my ear, his thumb running circles around my belly button.

When I pretend to be asleep, he relaxes and kisses me softly on my head. Tears well in my eyes because Vaughn was never affectionate like this. It makes me feel guilty for even comparing him to my psycho ex.

His breathing evens out. As warm as he feels curled up against me, I think we need space. I’m losing sight of myself by getting swept up in him. I can’t go through what I went through with Vaughn again. I’m not mentally capable.

Tomorrow I’m going to try and untangle myself from Grayson Maxwell.

Until then, I’ll stay warm in his arms for one more night.

* * *

“Congratulations,” a lady named Deb chirps when she passes by my desk. “What an achievement.”

I smile until she walks off. What the hell is everyone congratulating me for? She’s at least the fifth person to do so today. I thought my promotion was old news. My eyes skip over to Gray’s door, but it’s closed. After the weirdness of Saturday at the resort, he brought me home Sunday where he dropped me off. I didn’t invite him inside to stay. The drive home was polite but mostly quiet. I could practically see the gears turning in his head, but he was careful not to say anything to spook me further.

And, boy, am I spooked.

I’ve made one horrible decision after the other since I put my notice in.

My phone buzzes and I’m surprised to see it’s Gwen.

Gwen: Hey girl! We should do lunch one day. I wanted to apologize in person for how I behaved last week.

When I think of Gwen and Gray’s mom’s house, I shudder. She was a nice woman but she was definitely a little spacey. I was glad when Gray told me he’d arranged for her to go to an assisted living home. It was Gwen who went with her and got it all set up, but he’s the one who found the top of the line facility and shelled out the money for it. Once she’s settled, he said he’s going to pay some people to come in and go through the house. He’d confided in me that he hoped he could get Gwen to clean up her mess too but he was only dealing with one problem at a time.

Me: It was fine. You were stressed. Lunch sounds great.

“Congratulations, Letty,” another person chirps as they pass by my desk. “Front page. Unbelievable.”

This grabs my attention. “Excuse me? What are you talking about?”

The guy slaps the New York Times down on my desk. On the front page is my face. I blink once in shock. Then, I blink once more as horror sets in. My age. My location. My entire damn name. All splashed across the front page. The article goes on to not only talk about my promotion for one of the biggest acquisition firms in the country but also talks about my overcoming sexual harassment and breaking through the glass ceiling. But it’s what’s at the end of the article that has my blood running cold.

Maxwell Subsidiaries bought Slante Mortgages.

One simple sentence, stuck in at the end.

But it has me seeing red. So much so, that it overshadows for the moment that my anonymity is gone. I snatch the paper up and stalk over to Gray’s door. When I charge inside and slam the door behind me, I find him sitting at his desk with his fingers steepled as if he was waiting for me. Even Jeff wears an expectant look.

“How could you?” I seethe, my tone low and deadly.

His gaze is sharp as he skims over my blouse and skirt before roaming back up to my eyes. “How could I what?”

I slam the newspaper down on his desk. “Do you know what you’ve done?” My voice is shrill.

“That was me, actually,” Jeff pipes up. “I contacted my buddy at The Times and told him the story.”

“You don’t know what you’ve done,” I tell him, a slight quiver in my voice. When I think of Vaughn seeing the paper and knowing where I am, my knees buckle and I crash up against the desk. Jeff tries to right me but Gray has already come around the desk. I’m dragged into his powerful grip.

His scent.

His touch.

His overpowering presence.

I fall victim to his gentle touch for a moment and let him protect me from the repercussions. But just for a moment. Then, the fury sets in.

“You didn’t want me to leave so you bought Slante Mortgages?” I screech.

He rubs my back. “There’s more to the story that you don’t know.”

“So. Tell. Me.” I lift my chin and glare at him.

His jaw ticks and he nods at Jeff who slips out of the office without another word. Then, his features soften as he regards me. I try to wriggle away but his grip tightens.

“Sean has a bad history,” he grits out, anger morphing his features.

“A bad history for what?!”

“For fucking his employees.” His words are snarled out, jealousy clinging to each one.

I scoff. “You fuck your employees.”

This earns me a growl. “No, I just fuck you.”

Embarrassment causes my neck to heat. This poor guy just lost his company because my new boyfriend is jealous and doesn’t want me to quit? Unbelievable.

“That was his company,” I mutter, disgust seeping in my tone. “You just made a few phone calls and bought his company out from under him?”

“I hardly call twenty million a bad deal. I doubled his asking price.” His voice is smug and it irritates me.

“When?” I hiss. “When did you do this? After our fight on Saturday?”

His features harden. “He was pleased with my offer. After I dropped you off, I met with him and our lawyers. Everything went smoothly. This morning, the wire transfer went through. He’s staying on to manage, though. But…”

He doesn’t have to say it.

I know.

“But the caveat was he couldn’t have me.”

He has the sense to look shameful. “Violet.”

“No,” I murmur. “All of that is horrible, and I’m furious with you. But splashing my face and name all over the front page of the country’s biggest paper when you know I’m hiding from my psychotic and abusive ex? That’s unforgivable.” This time when I push away, he releases me. He looks wounded.

“You don’t understand—”

“Apparently not.” I choke back tears. “I’m taking the day off. I’m not feeling well.”

He sees through my lie but gives me a clipped nod. “Let me drive you home at least.”

I shake my head and hold my hands up. “You’ve done enough.”