Page 52 of Royal

Love, pain, heartbreak, and betrayal. Through it all, Grayson was my person. And he wasn’t the only one who’d made mistakes. After the shit I pulled with him the last time he’d been in my bed, he should’ve never talked to me again.

But here he is.He’d forgiven me.

Maybe I needed to forgive him, too.

With one small movement forward, I joined our lips.

Grayson grunted, surprised, before sliding his hand up my neck and to my nape.

Damn.He was still an amazing kisser. Sure, he’d kissed me a week or so ago, but this felt different. As if it meant more.

Because it does.

His tongue touched mine before giving a small flick, and his familiar lips moved exactly how I wanted. Hard then soft.

The manly scent of him drove me wild, and I clung onto him tighter, dipping my tongue deeper into his mouth. Countless times we’d kissed, yet it never failed to send my pulse racing. His short beard was a little rough against my cheek, but I liked it.

Breaking the kiss, I placed a hand on his muscled chest and pushed him to his back before straddling his hips.

He stared up at me, his brow creased and his lips parted.

My actions were the same as the last time. But the meaning behind them had changed. I wasn’t stripping him out of his clothes in a rush to fuck him. I wasn’t aggressive and saying hateful things.

I leaned down and softly kissed him, finding it impossible to stay away from his sweet lips. His hands gripped my waist before moving to my ass and squeezing it.

“Still an ass man?” I asked against his mouth.

“Always,” he responded, rolling his hips up and grinding our bulges together. “And yours is perfect.”

We kissed and touched and explored each other’s bare chests with eager fingers after taking off our shirts. But my behavior from the last time stayed in the back of my head, making it hard to think about anything else.

“I’m really sorry, Gray,” I said. “I was an asshole to you, and I wish I could take it back.”

His eyes held my gaze before he lightly brushed his lips to mine and dropped his head back on the pillow. “Stop dwelling on it. It’s done. Like you said earlier, you can’t change the past. You learn from it and move on. Maybe you should take your own advice.”

I cracked a smile. “I hate when you’re right.”

No one knew how to win an argument like Grayson. And not only arguments. He’d won everything, just from his refusal to shut up.

“I don’t know why, but we seem to bring out the worst in each other lately,” I continued, staring down at him. “Like when we had sex…all I could think about was how much you hurt me. I was so angry at you.”

“I could tell.”

Shame filled me, and my cheeks heated. “I didn’t like feeling that way. Bitter and pissed. It was like I was trying to punish you but love you at the same time.”

“We have a complicated past, Charming,” he said, letting his hand fall from my jaw and down my chest. “With alotof unresolved shit between us. There’s bound to be some hostility and bitterness before we can move forward.”

“Since when did you become the voice of reason?”

“One of my many gifts.” Grayson smirked. “The size of my cock being another.”

“You called me Charming.” I tilted my head at him. “Haven’t heard that name in a while.”

“I should hope not,” he said with a growl. “If another guy called you that, I’d have no choice but to kick his ass.”

“No need to resort to violence.”

Grayson grinned and closed his eyes. The hand that’d been caressing my side moved slower before stopping altogether. He’d told me he hadn’t been sleeping well, and those sleepless nights had caught up to him.