Page 82 of Gather the Storm

He smashed his mouth onto mine and wedged his knee between my thighs.

I had to force myself to respond to the kiss. It was clumsy and rough in a not-good way, his tongue jabbing at my mouth while his hands roughly combed my body.

Nausea roiled in my stomach, threatened to make its way up my throat, and I broke the kiss and turned my head. realizing for the first time that I wasn’t just drunk — I was wasted.

Like completely and totally hammered.

“I’m sorry,” I said, fighting nausea. “I… I don’t think I can do this.”

“What do you mean?” Gray said, kissing my cheek and working his way down my neck. “Sure you can.”

“I’m drunk,” I said. “Too drunk.”

He laughed and this time I heard something new in it — an undercurrent of hard, mean excitement. “No such thing.”

“No, really,” I said. “I need to go home.”

He squeezed my tit hard enough to make me wince. “Come on, I know you want it from the way you were rubbing your ass on me while we danced.” His hand had left my breast and was creeping under my skirt. “No need to play games.”

I tried shoving him off me but he was too heavy, his body weight like lead as he pressed me against the wall, the brick biting into my back and shoulders through my thin blouse.

“Stop,” I said as his hand slid into my underwear. I flinched as his hand brushed again my bare pussy. “Seriously, Gray, stop it!”

I shoved again but it was pointless. He was trying to shove his fingers inside me — clumsy, painful — when his weight was suddenly gone.

For a second I was too relieved to be free to decipher what was going on. Then I saw the Beasts standing at the front of the alley, Wolf and Otis blocking the view from the street while Jaceloomed over Gray, who’d somehow ended up sprawled on the pavement.

Chapter 42

Daisy

Iwas hammered, but not too hammered to see that Gray was in real trouble.

Jace’s expression was perfectly blank, but his eyes were something else: a stormy sea of fury that almost made me feel sorry for the guy who’d just tried to assault me.

And really, Wolf and Otis didn’t look any less menacing.

Wolf had his arms crossed over his chest while Otis’ fists hung at his side, like they were just waiting to get in on the action.

Both of them looked absolutely murderous.

“You must be fucking deaf,” Jace said, his voice cold.

Gray held up his hands. “She left with me. She chose to come with me.”

“And then she changed her mind,” Wolf said, his voice low and sinister.

Gray laughed and got to his feet. “That wasn’t changing her mind.” He brushed himself off like he was disgusted by the dirt from the alley that had attached itself to his expensive clothes. “That was just fun.”

“Daisy doesn’t look like she’s having fun,” Otis said. He turned to Wolf. “Does she look like she’s having fun to you?”

Wolf shook his head. “Not any kind of fun I’ve ever seen.” He looked at me and I saw a flash of worry and something else I didn’t have time to name in the moment before he spoke. “What about it, Daisy? Were you havingfun?”

“No, but I’m… I’m drunk,” I admitted. “I told him I wanted to leave with him.”

“So fucking what,” Wolf said. “Did you change your mind?”

I nodded, another wave of nausea rolling through my stomach. “Yeah, but I shouldn’t have— ”

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