“Fuck, Tessa,” he says, his fingers stretching me. “You’re so fucking tight, so fucking perfect. You think this is just sex? Youthink I’d do this with anyone else? I love you, and you’re gonna feel it in every fucking inch of you.”
I bite my lip, my heart racing as he positions himself, the tip of his cock pressing against my ass, slow and careful.
“I love you,” he growls, pushing into me slowly, the stretch so intense I need to scrape the hood with my nails. “I fucking love you, Tessa.”
He moves slowly at first, letting me adjust. “You feel that? That’s me loving you, Tessa. That’s me giving you everything I’ve got. You’re not just a fuck. You’re my fucking world.”
My body relaxes around him, the pleasure overtaking the discomfort as he moves. “Maybe I don’t believe you,” I gasp, still teasing. “Maybe you’re just good at this.”
“You want me to prove it?” he says, his thrusts growing deeper, more insistent. “I love you. And I’ll fuck you until you believe it.”
The burn is so intense, but the pleasure makes me feel alive, wanted…loved.
“Say you love me,” he demands. “Stop fucking playing, Tessa. Say it.”
“I love you,” I finally gasp, the words spilling out as my orgasm crashes through me. “I love you, Lachlan.”
He groans, his thrusts faltering as he follows me over the edge.
“Fuck, Tessa. I love you. Don’t ever fucking doubt that.”
He helps me stand, pulling my skirt down gently.
“You okay?” he asks, his eyes searching mine.
“More than okay,” I say, reaching up to touch his face. “I was just messing with you. I love you, Lachlan. I mean it.”
He exhales, a low, relieved sound, pulling me into his arms.
“You’re gonna be the death of me. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
10
LACHLAN
I'm lying to Tessa.
The realization sits heavy in my gut as I pull up outside Derek's apartment complex. She thinks I'm meeting with a colleague. She kissed me goodbye this morning, told me she loved me, and I smiled and said it back without mentioning that I'm actually about to do the one thing she explicitly asked me not to do.
But I can't let this hang over us anymore. The threat, the fear, the constant waiting for Derek to detonate the bomb he's holding. We have the proof that Vanessa gave him the footage. But that doesn't erase the video from Derek's phone. It doesn't stop him from still having that power over us.
So I'm here, standing outside his door, about to have a conversation that could either end this or make everything infinitely worse.
I knock.
There's movement inside, then the door swings open and Derek stands there in sweatpants and a t-shirt, his hair disheveled like he just woke up. When he sees me, his expressionshifts from confusion to recognition to anger in the space of a heartbeat.
"What the hell do you want?" he demands.
"We need to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you." He starts to close the door, but I put my hand against it, holding it open.
"That video," I say. "I want it. All copies. Gone."
He laughs. "Yeah, I bet you do. But why the hell would I give it to you?"
"Because I'm asking nicely. And because you need to understand what you're really doing here. You ended things with Tessa. You moved on in a matter of days with her friend."
