Chapter Thirteen

Grace’s POV

I woke up with a sharp gasp, my body trembling, burning hot, my heart slamming against my ribs. My skin felt too tight, like I was going to burst from the heat inside me. I was aching and… wet. The kind of wet that shouldn’t be possible for a virgin.

I barely had time to process it before the memory of the dream hit me in flashes. It was dark, raw, dominant. It had involved Hunter. Oh god.

But not the composed and unreadable Hunter I saw at work. Not the man who sat across from me at dinner last night.

This Hunter had been something else entirely…sexy, demanding and dominant in a way that made my thighs tremble even now.

“You’ve been teasing me, sweetheart.” His voice still echoed through my brain, deep and filled with something dark and dangerous.

I gasped, pushing off the sheet off, but it didn’t help. I was drenched, my body still pulsing; I understood the reason. I had come in my sleep. I had just woken up from an orgasm. Over him. My sister’s husband. This was so bad.

I pulled my nightshirt over my head and rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.

Turning on the water, I stepped straight into the shower. But the spray didn’t wash away the memory of the dream.

The flashes kept coming, twisting my stomach into knots. I’m a terrible person, was my last thought as more parts of the dream came back to me.

Hunter’s fingers wrapped in my hair, his grip tight, tilting my head back. “You think you get to touch yourself without my permission?”

I whimpered. Shook my head.

His hand on my jaw, forcing me to look up at him. “Don’t fucking lie to me, Grace.” His thumb pushing into my mouth, making me suck.

“You want to know what happens to bad little girls who disobey me?” His voice, smooth, cruel, teasing. “You don’t get to come until I say so.”

I pressed my forehead against the tile, my thighs clenching so tightly together it hurt. I was sick. So sick.

Sick and twisted and depraved because my pussy was still swollen and slick, my body still humming with the echoes of my dream. I scrubbed my skin harder than was necessary, but it didn’t erase the truth. It didn’t erase the guilt I was feeling.

Virgins weren’t supposed to wake up soaked from a wet dream that left their thighs sticky and their chests heaving. Virgins weren’t supposed to dream about being dominated by their sister’s husband.

I turned the water from hot to cold, forced myself to breathe. To take a minute.

It was just a dream. Just a dream. And I would never let it happen again. I just needed to forget about it and move on.

I forced myself to get dressed quickly, keeping my outfit as loose as possible. Black slacks, a blouse, nothing tight, nothing revealing. Nothing that would show how hard my nipple still were.

I just needed to keep my distance from Hunter as much as possible today.

But when I walked downstairs, I stopped short.

Hunter sat at the dining table, wearing a white dress shirt, his sleeves rolled up. I watched as he scrolled through his phone. The same hands that had controlled me in my dream. Heat flushed my skin. My stomach twisted again.

Another flash hit me, raw and so real.

Hunter’s hands gripping my hips as his breath hot against my neck.

“You can take it, sweetheart.”

I gripped the back of a chair, my breath catching.

“You finally decided to join us,” Helena said, sipping her coffee before adding. “Rough night, little sister?”

My breath caught again. Was it written across my face?

Hunter’s hand stilled on his phone, but he didn’t look up.

I forced myself to keep my voice even. “I just didn’t sleep well.” Not a lie.

Helena hummed, completely oblivious, flipping through her own phone.

I forced myself to sit, my fingers curling into my lap, my heart still beating too fast. I was worried it was so loud they would hear it.

I needed to keep my head down. I needed to pretend everything was normal.

Across the table, his presence didn’t help my need for control.

Helena spoke again, shattering the fragile wall I had built around myself.

“I was thinking,” she said lightly, flipping through her phone. “It’s been so long since our families all got together. We should have dinner this Saturday.”

I froze. Dinner. With our families great. If I hadn’t moved in here, I could have made up some reason not to come.

I would be sitting across from him.

Pretending I wasn’t seeing flashes of my dream every time I closed. I would have to pray my body didn’t betray me.

“Sounds good,” Hunter said, his voice calm, unreadable. “I’ll ring mum later today.”

“Excellent.” Helena smiled at him.

I pushed my plate away. Getting up, I mumbled something about needing to leave. I did. I needed to get out of here before I made a fool of myself.

I had just reached for my keys at the front door. I was desperate for an escape, but Hunter beat me to it.

“You’re riding with me.”

I stiffened. “I can drive myself.”

“Not up for discussion. We work in the same building, Grace. What is the point of taking two cars?”

I clenched my jaw, forced myself to breathe.

The car ride was silent, but the tension was almost suffocating to me, at least.

I could feel him beside me, his warmth, his scent, the sheer force of his presence wrapping around me like a vice.

And every time we hit a red light, I could feel his gaze turn toward me.

Every single time I stared blankly out the window, the flashes hit me again.

His voice, deep and commanding. “You were made for this, baby.” I pressed my thighs together, heat coiling, lingering, betraying me. I needed a distraction.

I pulled out my phone, typing with fingers not quite steady.

Me: Are you free for lunch? I need a serious distraction.

Quinn responded immediately.

Quinn: This early? What did he do to piss you off? Tell all at lunch.

I exhaled slowly, my fingers tightening around my phone.

Because when we finally pulled up to the office, Hunter put the car in park, his fingers tight around the gear stick.

And for just a second, his expression wasn’t unreadable.

For just a moment, his grip on the steering wheel tightened, his jaw flexed, his eyes darker than they should have been.

I yanked open the door too quickly, practically stumbling out of the car.

I didn’t say anything. Didn’t look back.

But as I hit the elevator button, I remembered I still had to ride up with him.

Kill me now.