His face tenses. We hold a silent stare-off, desire and stubbornness mixing in the air. He starts to move away, but I grab the front of his shirt, holding him in place. He could break out of my grip easily, but he doesn’t.

“Do I need to put on a condom, Evie?”

“No,” I mutter.

He slams into me in one powerful thrust. I have to bite on my bottom lip—hard—to keep from crying out. It’s better than I remember—the full sensation and the rush of arousal. From the way Gray growls, it feels pretty damn good for him too. He’s still fully dressed. I have to yank the cotton of his T-shirt up, so I can touch the powerful slab of muscle that forms his back.

Gray sets a brutal pace. He’s been rough before, but I’ve never felt like he was fucking me. Not this primal, desperate pounding. He’s mad. At me. Maybe himself too.

I’m annoyed with him, but it doesn’t slow the build of pressure as he fills me again and again. The explosive pleasure of my orgasm takes me off guard. Gray groans as I start spasming around him, pressing his palms on either side of my open thighs as he ruts into me twice more. The foreign, warm sensation of his release catches me off guard.

He pulls out and yanks a few tissues out of the box beside his bed, handing them to me. “Here.”

“Thanks.”

Gray doesn’t move. Doesn’t react as I wipe myself and lie back down beside him. I’m the one who breaches the distance between us. His hand fists my hair. For a moment, I think we’ll start all over again. But his grip relaxes. He runs his fingers through the strands rather than just holding them.

I close my eyes and melt against him. Muscle by muscle, the tension seeps away. I feel his chest rise and fall. I listen to the rhythmic pound of his heart. I memorize the temperature and texture of the firm skin I’m resting on.

When he speaks, I’m half-asleep. “I lied earlier.”

“What?” I try to sort through everything that’s happened today, try to find a fib, but my brain trails off mid-process, too exhausted by the prospect.

“When I said it would be fine if you—when I acted like I wouldn’t care if you’d been with another guy. I would care. Can’t think of anything that would piss me off more, actually.”

That permeates the fog in my brain. “Is that what you meant when you said I’m not just a fly by?”

“Hmm?”

“You said our flight was a fly by. That it would be quick. That they don’t stay for long.”

“My job isn’t to stay. It’s to go where I’m needed.”

“I’m not talking about your job, Gray.”