Page 54 of Playing Hard to Hate

TATUM

PRESENT

The soft hum of the plane’s descent jolted me awake.

Griffin’s large, warm hand rested on my thigh, anchoring me as I blinked away the last remnants of sleep.

Through the small oval window, I saw endless turquoise waters stretching beneath us, the kind of view that belonged on a postcard, not in real life.

And not something I had ever hoped or dreamed I would be lucky enough to witness.

“We’re here,” Griffin murmured, his voice thick with exhaustion but tinged with excitement.

I turned to him, still struggling to believe this was real. “Where are we?”

His lips curled into that cocky smirk that did dangerous things to my heart. “Bora Bora, baby. Told you I wanted to spoil you big time.”

The resort was something out of a dream.

A private over-water bungalow greeted us, complete with a wraparound deck and a glass floor panel where we could see tropical fish gliding beneath our feet.

The warm breeze smelled like salt and coconut, and the sound of gentle waves lapping against the stilts of our bungalow made my entire body relax in a way I hadn’t felt in weeks, if not years.

I paused, dropping my bags to the floor as I took in my surroundings.

Mom would have loved this place.

Thinking about her made my heart pang with guilt and sadness, but I willed the feeling away. She would be happy for me. She would be thrilled about me and Griffin.

Griffin wasted no time stripping off his shirt, tossing it onto a chair before collapsing onto the massive king-sized bed. “Five minutes,” he muttered, burying his face into a pillow. “Then we can look around.”

I laughed, toeing off my sandals before crawling onto the bed beside him. “Take your time, champ. You earned this.”

His arm immediately looped around my waist, pulling me against him. “You earned this too, Tate,” he murmured against my hair. “Just let me hold you for a bit.”

I tried to fall asleep. I really did. But being wrapped in his arms, his steady breath against the back of my neck and the intoxicating scent of him—warm, masculine, and laced with the faintest hint of salt from the ocean—made it absolutely impossible.

Every fiber of my being buzzed with awareness, my skin prickling where his fingertips rested lightly on my stomach.

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry as a new kind of tension crept over me, one that had nothing to do with exhaustion. My heart pounded in my chest, heat coiling low in my belly. I shifted slightly, pressing my back into the firm wall of his chest, testing just how close I could get.

His arm tightened instinctively around my waist, a sleepy hum vibrating in his throat.

But I wasn’t done. I wiggled again, my ass grazing against his crotch, and that’s when I felt it, his body reacting to mine.

A slow, deep ache spread between my legs as the hard ridge of him stiffened further, pressing into the curve of my backside.

I needed him like I needed air to breathe .

A sharp inhale sounded behind me, followed by a low groan that sent shivers down my spine.

“Tate…” Griffin’s voice was rough with sleep, laced with something darker, something needier.

I bit my lip, heat pooling between my thighs as I arched my back just a little more, my body fully aware of the storm I was about to unleash.

“I need you,” I whispered just as his hand crept up my body, fingertips grazing my skin until his fingers wrapped around my throat, applying the smallest hint of pressure that awakened a new monster within me.

“Is this okay?” he asked softly, and I nodded, hoping he would squeeze tighter.

“Choke me, baby.” I wheezed, my body lighting up beneath his touch. I had never been so turned on before.

In a flash, he rolled on top of me, pinning me to the bed with his powerful legs, his hands gripping both of my wrists above my head. I couldn’t move, and I loved this new dominant side of him that was coming out.

He skimmed his nose along my jaw, teasing and hinting at what was to come. His lips pressed softly to my temple before his lips were at my ear.

“You’re so beautiful, Tate.” His voice, barely a whisper, sent chills down my spine.

“I want to do so many things to your body. I want to worship it as much as I want to make you bend to my every whim. I need your nails to tear at my skin. I need to hear you scream my name. I need to fuck your sweet pussy, kitten. Is that okay?”

I couldn’t find the words to tell him I wanted him to absolutely destroy me. It was something so new, so forbidden, but so tempting and alluring all at once.

Mom had always warned me away from Fifty Shades of Grey , but was this what I wanted ?

Did I want Griffin to spank my ass? Did I want him to choke me while he fucked me? Did I want to be dominated?

Yes. I didn’t just want it. I needed it.

“Fuck me, Griffin.”

“I’m gonna need you to beg for my cock if you really want it.”

“Please.” I kissed his jaw, his groan rumbling through his body above mine.

“Again.”

“Please, Griffin,” I whimpered, my body strung with need. There were layers of clothes separating us, and I wanted to tear at them. His bare chest wasn’t enough. I needed to feel all of his skin on mine.

His lips were at my ear again, his words a whisper of desire that shot through me.

“Again, kitten.”

“Please fuck me, Griffin!” I struggled against his hold, his name a plea and a scream that bounced off the walls around us.

“As you wish.” He let go of my wrists and leaned back on his knees, pulling at the soft fabric of my shirt and then my bra in a frenzy. Before I could even comprehend what was going on, my clothes were thrown about the room, along with his, leaving us skin on skin.

“Are you wet for me, Tate?”

I nodded, mouth dry, chest rising and falling rapidly with every lungful of air I sucked in. My skin was alight with desire.

“I’m not going slow tonight, Tate.”

I nodded again as he eased his hard cock into my pussy. “Thought you weren’t going slow.” I teased just as he thrust his hips, his cock filling me in one fluid motion. My jaw dropped as pleasure, unlike anything I’d ever felt before, coursed through my body.

“Coming all over my cock already?” He groaned, slowly thrusting in and out of my pussy .

“Harder, Griff, please,” I whimpered, needing more from him. Needing something I wasn’t sure what to ask for.

He leaned forward, one hand grabbing both my wrists, the other wrapping around my throat.

“Come again.”

I didn’t think it worked like this. Maybe it was the twist of his hips or the way his voice dripped with so much desire that it consumed me. I came with a scream, my body writhing beneath his hold.

He thrust harder, hitting a spot inside me that caused fireworks to erupt in my mind and my eyes to fall closed. I couldn’t keep them open if I wanted, and watching his dark eyes roam over my body, over my breasts that bounced with every hard thrust, was too much for me to handle.

“Beg me, kitten. Fucking beg.”

“Please,” I whimpered, not even sure what the hell I was begging for when I was so full, my body twitching with pleasure.

“Again, Tate. Let me hear you.” He let go of my neck and wrists as he hovered above me, slamming his hips into me harder and faster with every thrust. I wrapped my arms around his back, nails biting into his skin as I clawed at his back just like he wanted.

“Please fuck me, Griffin. Please, baby. Please!” I screamed as I came again, and he groaned in approval.

I could hear just how wet he was making me with every slide of his hard cock, and just when I thought I couldn’t possibly come again, he showed me the impossible.

“Come, baby. Come all over my cock.”

I did as I was told, my body bending to his every whim.

“Fuck, Tate. Fuck, baby. Fuck.” He groaned, dropping his forehead to mine as he pumped his hot cum into my pussy.

“Again,” I whispered a minute later, my mind and body wired. I needed more .

He chuckled quietly, pulling out of me and rolling onto his back. “Give me five minutes, kitten.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring, swimming, and soaking up the sun.

But it was the evening that really set the tone for the kind of trip this would be.

Griffin had arranged a private beachfront dinner, and I had to admit, sitting under the stars with nothing but the sound of the ocean and his deep, rumbling laughter was enough to make me forget every bad thing that had happened in the last month.

One cocktail turned into two. Two turned into four. By the time we stumbled back to our bungalow, we were both tipsy, giggling like teenagers as we kicked off our shoes.

I hadn’t had fun like this in years .

“I think we need another drink,” I declared, flopping onto the bed.

Griffin groaned, rolling onto his back. “You’re trying to kill me.”

“Don’t be dramatic.” I grinned, crawling over him. “You can handle one more.”

He exhaled heavily, but the mischievous glint in his eyes gave him away. “Fine. One more.”

That’s how we ended up at the resort’s bar, where the bartender introduced us to some ridiculous flaming shots. I barely remembered what was in them, but I knew one thing for sure. They were strong .

Somewhere between shot number three and Griffin tugging me onto the dance floor, things got blurry.

I remembered laughing so hard my stomach hurt, Griffin twirling me around, my arms wrapped around his neck as we swayed to music that I barely registered.

It was hot, our skin damp with sweat from the humid air, but it didn’t matter.

Nothing seemed to matter, except for Griffin.

The next morning, we woke up tangled in the sheets, my mouth dry and a piercing pain in my head.

“Coffee. I need coffee,” Griffin grumbled, throwing an arm over his head to block the sunlight that streamed into our massive room.

“I need food. What time is breakfast over?” I got out of the comfy bed and stumbled to the bathroom into the hot shower.

“An hour. Make it quick, babe,” Griffin whispered, slipping into the shower with me.

Fifteen minutes later we were escorted to a table in the resort’s breakfast nook, where a server greeted us immediately.

“Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Silver!”

The words hit me like a slap to the face. I blinked, my head throbbing as I stared up at the resort employee in front of us. “What?” I stuttered.

She beamed at me. “Your ceremony was beautiful! The two of you are so in love. It was truly magical. I hope I can find a love like yours.”

My stomach flipped. I snapped my head to look at Griffin, who looked equally dazed.

“Oh shit,” he mumbled.

“We got married?” My voice was barely a whisper, my pulse roaring in my ears .

Griffin was staring at me like he was trying to remember. “I…I think we did.”

My heart pounded as flashes of the night came back to me. The crowd cheering. Griffin kissing me so deeply I forgot to breathe. Signing something. Oh god. Did we actually sign something?

The server watched us with curiosity before quickly mentioning brewing us a fresh pot of coffee.

“We need to fix this,” I blurted out, suddenly feeling like I couldn’t breathe.

Griffin snapped his gaze to mine. “Fix it?”

“Yes! We…we aren’t supposed to get married…yet!”

He frowned, rubbing his temples. “I mean…yeah, but it’s not like I hate the idea of you being my wife.”

I gaped at him because as much as I loved the idea of being his wife, we had only been dating for a month. “Griffin, have you lost your damn mind?”

He let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “All right, all right. We’ll figure it out. But, uh…” He lifted my hand, running his thumb over my fingers in a soothing gesture. “Tate Silver sounds good, kitten. Really good.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, but the warmth in my chest betrayed me. Because as crazy as this was, as unexpected and wild and absolutely ridiculous as it seemed, Griffin Silver, the boy who had been my best friend and arch enemy all in one, was now my husband, and he had never looked happier.