Grey

Chapter 28

"How many times do I have to tell you no for it to get in your head?" I scowled, turning to face Grey. He frowned, his eyes paling to a cool, intimidating silver. They looked like they were glowing beneath his dark brows, but I knew better. When they glowed, they glowed blue. "I'm with Riel now. He's a good person. He makes me want to be a good person. And he cares. More than you ever could."

That must've hit a nerve because, at that, his eyes did start to glow. The ghostly blue fire surrounded his dark pupils, edging outwards to completely fill his iris. It was a good thing no one else was in the bar aside from us because someone surely would've noticed his eyes. He looked terrifying. I sucked in a breath and broke eye contact, swirling around the amber liquor in the glass.

"Fine. But does he make you feel what I do?" Grey's voice went low and quiet, and I jumped when I felt his hand on my thigh. I scowled and looked back at him.

"I feel nothing," I replied coldly, swatting his hand off of me. Grey took a step closer, narrowing his eyes at me and placing his hand back on my thigh.

"Really? You feel nothing when I do this?" And before I could stop him, Grey's lips were pressed against the nape of my neck, his breath hot against my skin. I felt my eyes flutter shut against my will, my neck slightly arching as if to give him better access. My body loved this. My body loved him. There was no fighting my body's reaction to his touch.

"Or this?" He whispered against my skin as his hand found its way to my lower back, pressing me closer. His lips dragged up the side of my neck and to my jaw, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

But even as my mind willed my body to stop, to push him away, my hands found their way into his hair, my fingers entangling themselves into his silky midnight locks. I could feel him grin in satisfaction against my skin, knowing that his tactic was working. I hated that he knew that my body couldn't resist him. I hated that he could use that against me. But God did I love this.

"Or..." he murmured, pulling back slightly and running his thumb gently across my bottom lip,"- this?"

The moment I felt his lips against mine, I lost control. As if with a mind of its own, one of my hands grabbed the fabric of his shirt, pulling him against me and myself closer to the edge of my stool. My fingers remained furled around his shirt as the kiss deepened, and I lost more and more of my sanity in him. I heard a low growl reverberate from deep within his chest as he pulled himself away, panting heavily.

"That's what I thought," he smirked, the glow in his eyes faded back to a cool blue. The rest of him, however, was quite alive. There was a faint flush to his cheeks, and his lips were swollen, his chest heaving up and down, and his muscles all flexed, as if restraining himself.

"Say I did want this. Hypothetically. Someone's going to want you dead because they'll think you can change my mind about where I pledge my soul. I'm probably going to get hurt by you because you have a thing for breaking hearts. There is no positive outcome here," I frowned.

"Okay, two things. First, anyone who recognizes the power of your soul also recognizes the power of your will. Lucifer would give up on you before I changed your mind. Second," his eyes drifted across my face and he clenched his jaw, "I will never intentionally hurt you. And neither will anyone else if I have anything to say about it."

"What about Riel?" I scowled, my heart aching at the thought of what he'll say when I tell him. He'd never blame me, malevolence isn't in his nature. He'd blame himself. When it was my fault.

"Who cares?," Grey scoffed as if he couldn't understand why that was even a question.

"I care. He's a great person and has a great heart," I replied coolly, narrowing my eyes at Grey.

"Screw him. Go to the gala with me," Grey smirked, his eyes twinkling as he ran his thumb across my jaw.

The honors gala. I'd almost completely forgotten. With everything going on, I'd been skipping classes left and right. It was in two days.

"Grey," I chuckled and he shook his head, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Go to the gala with me. The world could be ending. Screw him, screw what everybody else thinks. Do what makes you happy, what will make you happy," he tempted.

"I don't even have a dress, and I haven't spoken to Makenna or Allison in weeks. I'm dreading that conversation," I whinged.

"Leave the dress to me, I'll find something for you. But, as I said, screw them. If they ask, you tell them you'll explain later. Done," he purred, eyes swirling with fluorescent blue.

"Fine. Fine!" I submitted, earning a dazzling grin from Grey. "But please, please be a gentleman. Professor Turner will be surrounded by her colleagues and doesn't need any more accusations made against her for your entertainment."

"No promises, mea bellator," he hummed lowly, his eyes glued to my lips as he took a final swig of his whiskey.

"What does that mean?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "You admitted it was Latin, but that was all I got out of you. And now that you're dragging me to this gala, you have to be honest with me." I smirked deviously at him and he narrowed his eyes.

"Devious little thing, aren't you?" He hummed, sucking in a breath. "Do you remember when we first met?"

"Unfortunately yes. Not quite sure I can forget. What does that have to do with this?" I scowled.

"Do you remember what you did to those boys? The ones who attacked you?" He cocked his head to the side, waiting for me to remember.

"I had gotten to two of them. They were hurt," I replied, still not understanding where he was going with this.

"Before I had even gotten there to play the savior, you had gotten pretty close to saving yourself. Two of the three boys were broken and bloodied, and the only one who wasn't was holding you back and was scared out of his wits," he explained.

"I still don't understand," I shook my head.

"It means warrior. My warrior," he professed.

My warrior.

All this time, he was calling me his warrior. My heart warmed at the thought, and I glanced up at Grey, but he seemed quite eager to change the subject.

"Now, can I take you home?" he smirked, immediately changing the subject. I let him, though. It made me happy to think that he thought of me as a warrior, and I didn't want to push him to be uncomfortable.

"I still feel sick about starting this war," I reminded him.

"We don't know for sure you're going to be the one to start it. We don't know if it's going to start next week or next year. Don't worry about something that you have no control over. When it starts, it'll start, regardless of what you have to say about it," he attempted to console me.

"Isn't attending a gala a waste of time, though?" I snickered and he shook his head.

"Anything that makes you happy is not a waste of time," he insisted, gently ushering me off of the barstool and pulling me outside to his car.