Page 34 of Scoring Zone
“Trust me.” His soothing voice counteracts the darkness, and his big doe eyes reassure me. “You failed to mention the cock-blocking aspect of your dark friend.” He tries to lighten the mood, but he can’t keep the concern out of his tone. Despite the desperation to rid myself of the fear, he’s right—it has terrible timing.
“What do I do?” I choke out. With anyone else, I’d leave and never come back. But he made me promise, and I live here. Damn inconvenient. I’m so stupid for believing I could do better. That I could force the darkness away out of sheer will and live in the light with Gray.
“Tell me what’s happening, and we can figure it out.” He’s kneeling between my thighs.
“I was about to come, and it was overwhelmingly brilliant, and then the darkness exploded through me instead of an orgasm.” Shame washes over me, and I’m itching to pace.
“Can you sit with that for a minute?” he asks, and I nod. “Has it ever happened in place of an orgasm before?”
“No.” That’s worse, and I’m concerned he’ll think it’s his fault. “But it’s not you. It’s me.”
“Maybe it’s both of us together. I knew better than to do this with you. I promised myself we’d take our time, and you overrode my sanity.” Gray gathers my hands in his. “How’s the darkness now?”
I register it looming under the surface, ready to strike again. “It’s there but in the background.” I’m not okay with him deciding I’m fragile and we need to take our time. But I won’t say that out loud and cause a fight.
“Like you’re in control?” He brings my hand up to kiss my knuckles, and the sweet gesture unties the knot in my stomach.
“For sure.” I concentrate on containing the darkness and shoving it back in a box.
“Could it be triggered by your fear of loss of control?” he asks tentatively, moving to sit in my lap as if my impulse to pace is evident on my face. As I think, he asks another question. “Did you have any other thoughts before things turned in your head?”
I blush at the memory and don’t want to say the words out loud.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He stands and pulls me up too.
“Where are we going?” He’s too understanding about the way I threw myself at him and freaked out. He should be with someone more stable than I am. I’ll only disappoint him.
“To bed. Together.” Gray leads me to my room.
Chapter 16
Grayson
As my consciousness pulls me from my dreams, Austin’s wrapped around me. His morning wood pokes me in the back as he tries to ease away.
“Don’t even try to get out of this bed.” I roll over and throw a leg over his hip. “Hi.” I search his eyes and see a myriad of emotions.
Embarrassment.
Shame.
Confusion.
Frustration with a case of blue balls.
“Hi,” he grumbles back.
“Someone isn’t their usual cheery morning self.” I can read him well enough to know he’s second-guessing a physical relationship with me. As long as he’s comfortable, I don’t intend to fight fair.
“Should I take care of this for you?” I reach between us and pump his cock.
We’re still naked except for our socks since we were too impatient to take them off.
“Ruined our night.” Austin’s gaze skitters away from mine.
“You didn’t. We’re experiencing a blip in our reality.” I dig my fingers into his spiky hair and scratch his scalp.
“W-w-what?” he stammers.
