Hunter hadn't meant to lose control.
Not with her.
Not like this.
But the second Eden whispered, "I want you," something dark and dangerous snapped loose inside him. The rules he'd set—the line he'd drawn between training and taking—blurred into dust.
She wanted him.
Not the man she thought she was training for.
Not some imaginary boy she dreamed about in the dark.
Him.
His name on her tongue had almost broken him. Almost.
If she had said it—if she'd whispered "Hunter" in that moment—he might have taken her right there against the library wall, contract or not, innocence be damned.
But she didn't.
Not yet.
And that tiny thread of hesitation, that one sliver of control he still had left, was the only thing keeping him from destroying her with the weight of what he truly felt.
Because Hunter Grayson wasn't just teaching her how to seduce someone else.
He was falling for her.
Hard.
Dangerously hard.
And she had no idea.
Eden couldn't sleep.
Not after what happened in the library.
Not after the way he touched her… and stopped.
Not after the way his mouth had claimed hers like he was drowning, and she was the only breath he trusted.
She lay in bed, her fingers clutching the edge of her sheets, her thighs pressed together in silent torture. Every nerve in her body ached with the memory of his hands. The echo of his words.
"I want your first orgasm to be when you scream my name."
Her body shivered again at the thought.
But even more than the lust, something else haunted her.
The way his voice broke when she said she didn't want the other guy anymore.
The way his hands trembled when she said she wanted him.
Was it possible?
Could he be feeling what she was feeling?
She closed her eyes, picturing his face.
There was still so much she didn't understand. Why he was doing this. Why her. Why now.
But she knew one thing with bone-deep certainty—
If this was a game…
She didn't want to play with anyone else but him.
The next morning, he wasn't in class.
Nor at practice.
Nor replying to texts.
She didn't have the right to ask where he was. Not really. But every hour without him felt like a punishment.
Until a note appeared in her locker.
No name. Just his handwriting.
Room 212. Tonight. Midnight. Bring nothing. Wear nothing.
Her breath caught.
She stared at the words for so long they burned into her skull.
This wasn't training anymore.
This was something else.
Something dangerous.
Something final.
Midnight came too slow.
Eden stood in the hallway outside Room 212 in nothing but her long coat, her heart beating like it wanted to escape her chest. The building was silent, shadows stretching across the floor like secrets waiting to be told.
She knocked once.
The door opened before she could lower her hand.
Hunter stood there shirtless, sweatpants slung low on his hips, his chest bare, lean, and hard. His eyes flicked down to her coat… and he said nothing.
Just stepped aside.
She entered.
He shut the door.
Locked it.
Turned.
"Take it off," he said.
Her hands trembled as she undid the belt of her coat.
It slipped from her shoulders and pooled at her feet.
She stood naked in front of him—trembling, exposed, terrified.
But when his eyes met hers, she didn't see a predator.
She saw a man on the edge.
"Come here," he said, voice hoarse.
She crossed the room.
He pulled her against him.
And for a long, silent minute, he just held her.
Nothing else.
No orders.
No teasing.
Just two bodies pressed together in the dark.
"Lesson five," he whispered finally. "Sometimes surrender starts with trust."
Then he kissed her.
Not with hunger.
Not with fire.
But with reverence.
Slow. Gentle. Soul-stealing.
And Eden—who had been kissed into silence, touched into madness, and teased into ruin—began to cry.
He didn't stop her.
He kissed each tear.
One by one.
And when he lifted her into his arms and laid her on the mattress like something sacred, she whispered through the tears—
"Hunter…"
He froze.
Everything stopped.
Her voice trembled. "I know it's you."
His throat worked. "How long?"
"Since the library."
Silence.
Then he whispered, "And you still came?"
She nodded, tears still slipping down her cheeks.
"Because I'm not afraid anymore."
He stared at her for a long, unbearable moment.
Then, something in him shattered.
And everything else unraveled.
To Be Continued...