Until You (Off-Limits, #1)

by Catharina Maura

She has this way of making me feel giddy like I never have before, and I don’t even know her. Hell, she didn’t even give me a reward — I already know she’s a woman. Despite that, she has me smiling like an idiot.

“Aria,” I say, my voice soft. Her name has always felt like a sin on my lips.

😏

“You will always be welcome at my firm, Aria.” She looks down at her plate, her cheeks turning crimson. She looks like she doesn’t know what to say, and I love that expression she’s wearing. Aria is rarely at a loss for words, but I’ve got her speechless. Over something so simple too. She should’ve known there’s always space for her by my side.

Aria glances at me, and the way she looks at me makes my heart feel strange. Her eyes are filled with so much hope, as though working for me actually means something to her.

He’d better appreciate Aria, he’d better treat her like the queen she is. I’ve taken men far more powerful than him down, and I won’t hesitate to ruin him if he ever hurts her. For his sake, I hope he never does.

Take that man downnnnnn🗣️

“Aria,” he says, his voice deep and his tone as unhurried as ever. The way he says my name has always been unique, almost intimate.

I hear Aria’s laughter. I turn to find her standing in the kitchen doorway, an apron tied around her waist, her hair in a bun and her feet bare. She looks cute, and those eyes of hers are twinkling with that expression that’s uniquely hers: mischief and provocation.

I pat the top of her head and slide my hand down to her neck until my hand is resting on her shoulder. “Thank you, Ari,”

🫠😍

“Because he doesn’t deserve you, and you should never let a man hold you back from chasing your dreams. Not Noah, not me, and certainly not Brad. Follow your dreams, Aria, and if he’s the one, he’ll follow you.”

“You’re a doctor,” I remind him. “Your hands are precious. Do you really want to damage them? Those hands should be used to save lives.”

Looking out for his best friend 🫶🏽 Gray will take care of it😏

Aria looks around wide-eyed, and I follow her gaze, trying to see my home through her eyes. I spent two years picking the perfect place, and then almost another year renovating it. It’s got everything I always wished I had growing up. A lot of space, a stunning view, and every amenity I could think of, everything I used to see on TV and thought I’d never be able to afford. My home… it’s a fulfilled promise to myself, and I think Aria gets that.

“Thank you, Gray,” she says. “For the job, for letting me stay here, for everything. I promise I won’t bother you for too long. I’ll try to find a place to stay soon.” I shake my head and gently pat her head. She’s in flats today, and I love how small she is. “No need, Ari. I’m happy to have you here. I’m always alone, you know? It’ll be nice to have you around. You make me feel like I have a family of my own.”

🥹🫶🏽

I can lose myself in some fictional story, a story that’ll allow me to experience moments of happiness that elude me in my own life.

He’s so attentive, and part of me can’t help but wonder what it’d be like to be with him, to be loved by him. I bite down on my lip and look away, flustered.

I should remember that it’s Noah’s role I’m being asked to play. I should look after her the way her older brother would… but lately I struggle to see her as Noah’s little sister. She’s quickly becoming more than that. Maybe she always has been.

She sits next to me on her knees; her face far too fucking close to mine as she runs me through the issues she’s facing. All the while, all I can’t think of is how I want her flat on her back, my lips on hers and my cock buried deep inside her. I want my name on her lips. I want what I’ll never have.

“Brad was a fool to mess with you,” he tells me, his thumb stroking the edge of my lips. “A fucking fool. When I saw those tears in your eyes… there’s no way he was going to get away with what he did. No fucking way. No one hurts you and gets away with it. No one. Not on my fucking watch. I will never sit there and watch your heart break, Ari.”

“There’s nothing a hug won’t make better.” I blush and lean in, wrapping my arms around his neck. Grayson tightens his grip on me and shifts on the sofa, lying down and pulling me along, so I end up on top of him. He places one hand on my lower back while the other finds its way into my hair. My heart starts to race, and I bury my face in his neck. This is just a hug to him, but to me… it’s so much more. The way his body feels against mine, big and hard against my soft curves. Gray has no idea how stupidly handsome he is, how he affects me.

I loved that blouse on her this morning, but right now, I love it a little less. The possessiveness I feel toward her is unreal.

I want her eyes on me, and no one but me. I want her smiles, her laughter, I want her. I want her to myself.

Everything about Grayson confuses me. When I’m around him, I don’t feel broken. I feel like he sees the real me, every single part I keep hidden… He sees it all, and he makes me feel like I have nothing to be ashamed of. When I’m around him, my heart isn’t hurting. Ash has that effect on me too, but it’s mostly because he doesn’t know who I am, because I get to show him the best sides of me. Grayson, on the other hand… he sees me, the real me, and he never makes me feel like I’m not enough, or like I’m too much.

“Would it help you if I sleep with you?” My heart skips a beat and I feel heat spread across my cheeks, even though I know he doesn’t mean it that way. He notices my blush and smirks. “I mean… I can do that too, if you want. Might help you sleep,” he says, teasing me.

I’m done for. The way she makes me feel… yeah. There’s no point in fooling myself any longer. I’m falling for my best friend’s little sister.

She sighs and drags her nose across my throat before pressing a lingering kiss to my skin. I swallow hard. Fucking hell. Useless fucking Pi. All I can think about is how it’s going to feel when I sink my cock deep inside her. Aria is a fucking spitfire, and I just know she’d be soaking wet, her pussy squeezing me tightly.

I grin as I get out of Aria’s bed, my dick still painfully hard. Fucking hell… I haven’t even had her naked and this is probably the most turned on I’ve ever been. I’m going to need to take care of this because there’s no way that’s going down. Not after the way she just touched me.

Whipped😏

“It was always you,” he tells me. “You’re the only one for me.”

“Tell me you’re mine, Aria. Tell me that from this day forward, I get to call you mine.”

I’m fucking crazy about you, and I have been for months. Hell… I’m pretty sure I love you.”

Aria and I… we’ve been years in the making. We just didn’t know it.

“I’m in love with you, Aria Grant. Head over heels. Butterflies and all that shit. I’ll wait a lifetime for you if you want me to. So tell me, baby… do you want to stop? We can stop right here if you want to.”

“I can’t believe you thought I’d ever cheat on you, Aria. I would never do that. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and I’d be a fool to let you go. No one will ever compare to you, baby.”

“You’re it for me, baby. I want a whole life with you. I want your clothes next to mine, your makeup in my bathroom. I want you to have your own side of the bed, and I want to wake up to you completely disregarding that and lying on top of me instead, driving me insane.”

“Take it,” she tells me. “I’m yours. Every broken, damaged piece of me. Take it all.”

“Nyx is the Goddess of night. I’ve loved her for years, because it’s only at night that I come alive. After I lost my parents, living through the days was too hard. Pretending that I was okay, smiling when I felt dead inside… I went through the motions, but at night… at night is when I could be myself. It’s during sleepless nights that I learned to code, and it was during a sleepless night that I met you.”

“Ari,” he says. “You’ve looked up to Grayson for years. I’m pretty sure you’ve had a crush on him your entire adult life. You might not have been able to see it, but I did. When Gray was around, you turned into the little sister of my memories, the girl I thought I’d lost. The way you smile at Grayson has always been different. The way he made you come alive… I knew.”

“And you weren’t much better. Aria is the only other person you really talk to, the only person you’re patient with. She always has been. The way you look at her? It’s like my little sister hung the damn moon. Don’t think I don’t know you went to beat Brad up after talking me out of it. The protectiveness you’ve always felt toward her… it wasn’t brotherly. It never has been. I never minded it, though. Not if it’s you. You’re a great guy, Grayson, even if you can’t always see it yourself. I couldn’t have picked a better man for Aria.”

“I love you, Aria,” I tell her, wishing the words were adequate to explain how I feel about her. “You are the missing part. You are what completes me. My life was empty, until you.”

“You want to know whether I want you, Aria? Tell me, how does all that desire taste? Look at you, on your knees for me… you’re such a fucking good girl, aren’t you? Sucking me off like that.”

But here’s the thing about that… just because he’s the love of my life doesn’t mean I’m his.

The woman I spoke to would have burned down the world for you, Grayson.

“Mom, Dad,” he says. “Grayson is the best person I know. I can’t think of a better man for Aria, and I know you’d have loved him if you were still around. Hell, you’d probably have loved him more than you love me. He’s just that type of guy. I truly wouldn’t want anyone else as my brother-in-law. I know you’d approve of him, so I’m giving him your blessing on your behalf.”

“Aria, I didn’t know what love was, until you. I didn’t know life could be this good. I didn’t know I could be this happy, this fulfilled. You make me want to be a better man every single day.”