We finally get home and I make a note to keep an eye on her. After we had the encounter Carla has pretty much shut down. She won't speak to me let alone look at me. I was making progress and he's ruined it all.

I walk back into the living room where she's sitting on the couch. Setting the cup of tea on the table I take a seat next to her and pull her into me chest. To my surprise she doesn't struggle. Instead she lets herself sink back into my hold. If this was under different circumstances I'd kiss down her neck and let my hand travel down her front. But these are the circumstances and as selfish as this sounds, I wish they weren't. I've been damn near pining after Carla since she first showed up for her interview. She's brilliant and beautiful.

I can't stop my mind from wondering about everything under her clothes. I'd do anything to slide inside of her. I internally groan at how turned on I'm getting. This would be a terrible time to get a boner.

I snap back into reality when her small voice breaks through my thoughts. Her whole body is trembling as she speaks and a new wave of anger courses through me. But I listen intently.

"He wasn't always like this. He used to be sweet. I know it's hard to believe but at one point he did love me. He just kept getting angrier and less patient over the past 3 years. It didn't even get this bad until last year around spring. It's like he just snapped. It went from little arguments, screaming, and punching walls to punching me. But it was very rare that he'd put his hands on me. I know, I should've left him, I do, but I had nowhere else to go. I figured It was stress and he'd go back to normal after a few months. I was so wrong. Damien just wasn't himself anymore. He would accuse me of cheating and sleeping with other men. I think that's what set him off,  the fact I want to wait for marriage. Honestly, It just never felt like the right time with him. But he would just push and push and then it got to the point where he'd start threatening to take it. I should've known and I should've left. Maybe he wouldn't be like this now..." she's surprisingly kept her composure while telling me. But she's blaming herself and it kills me to know that she thinks its her fault that he is a scumbag.

"There is nothing you could've done to change what he is now. If you tried to leave there's no telling what he could've or would've done. Don't get caught on what ifs. They are never certain." I let that soak in for her as I keep his name clear in my mind. I'll find that son of a bitch and I'll kill him.

Carla's POV

I don't know when I dozed off but I wake up still wrapped in Grays arms. I feel more safe with him than I've ever felt with another person. He's the only person besides myself that knows my story. I could see myself falling for a man like him. If only my life wasn't so fucked up. If I were here under better circumstances I'd probably have lost my virginity to this man already. Even through times like this, it feels right. Something I never felt in my seven years of being with Damien. It could just be the fact that Gray is the sexiest man I know or that he's pretty much my knight in shining armor maybe even both. But this man makes me feel things I never thought I would.

Gray stirs beneath me and I feel something hard poke my back. I freeze not wanting to wake him but the way my name leaves his lips after he moves makes my whole body squirm. Heat pools between my legs as I carefully grind against him. His body immediately responds and he's moaning quietly as my body rubs against his. I don't realize he's awake until his arms reach around me and start massaging my breasts. I've never felt this before. Excitement and nerves run through me causing my body to shudder. I vaguely register Grays moving from behind. It doesn't really faze me until I feel his body on top of mine. Panic runs through me but quickly leaves as his mouth crashes onto mine. My body responds to his touch and my back arches to feel his touch. I want him, badly. I feel wanton but I can't bring myself to really care. Grays fingers make their way into the sweats I'm wearing and find their way to my core. Moans escape my lips as his thumb rubs circles around my clit and his middle finger pushes it's way through my folds sliding into me. He curls it against the top of my walls and I feel like I've exploded and gone to heaven. I can't catch my breath and at this point I don't care if I suffocate as long as this never ends.

After I come down, from what I can only assume was an orgasm, the panic returned. What if he wants me to return the favor? Will he want sex? I can feel my anxiety rising at the thoughts.

"Don't worry, This was for you. I'm not going to make you do anything you aren't ready for. When you are ready you'll know." It's as if Gray read my mind. He lifts himself off of me and heads up stairs saying something about taking a cold shower. This man is going to be the absolute death of me.