by V. T. Do
In this moment with her, everything felt timeless.
I moved my hips in just the right way, and she let out a small whimper in my mouth. God, this felt amazing. She grabbed my ass and urged me to move again. She didn’t have to worry, not even God Himself could pull me away from her.
I looked at her as I moved, and I wished I could capture this moment on camera. I wanted to remember the way she looked up at me. As if she couldn’t believe I was real… that any of this was real.
“How does this feel?” I asked softly.
“G-Good,” she stuttered. “It feels really good.”
I smiled, then leaned down and gently bit her shoulder. She tightened around me. I moved down to her collarbone, the top of her breasts, and finally, to her hard nipples. She arched her back, giving me more of herself.
I pushed her down with one hand on her stomach and felt her convulse slightly.
She loved it when I exerted a little bit of force. She liked how I had my way with her.
I was so much stronger than she was. So much bigger. I could break her without much effort, which was why I was always so careful with her, aware of this. Aware of her infinite fragility.
“Is this okay?” I asked, a bead of sweat gathering around my forehead. God, she felt amazing. I didn’t want to stop, but I was so close to losing control, I didn’t know how much longer I had.
I was aching.
I moved my hand down and she let out a stuttering breath, knowing exactly where I was heading. My fingers drew gentle lines across her soft skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. Then I went lower, and her legs tightened around me instinctively.
I tapped her hips sharply, and she looked up at me, her eyes dark with hunger.
“Be a good girl and stay still for me,” I said, squeezing her hip just a little to remind her.
I knew she wanted to let go so bad. Even now, I could feel her need to move against me. But I wanted to see how much she could take before she let go completely.
I waited for her nod before I moved again. I circled her navel with one finger. Then I moved lower, my thumb seeking out her swollen clit.
It seemed she had reached her limit.
She moved her hand to my shoulder, clinging onto me as I moved faster, deeper into her, her fingernails digging into my skin. I was sure I would bear her mark for days to come.
I didn’t care.
My balls felt heavy, and my muscles clenched. It was only a matter of time before I came, and all sense of control vanished as I moved further into her, my thumb rubbing her clit over and over again.
There was no way I was coming before her.
“Mason,” she breathed out, groaned out… moaned out.
“Come for me, Olivia.”
She shook her head. This was probably too much, and I knew she was sensitive down there, but I wanted to see her come while I was inside of her.
“Yes, you can. Let go, baby. I’ve got you.”
I pressed harder onto her clit, and her head thrashed from side to side with a groan. “I love you, my beautiful girl. That’s it. Come for me.” And it was as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, because on a shout, she came, her inner muscles convulsing around me.
I kept moving, loving the sound of our skin slapping against each other every time I moved back into her.
She pulled away to watch me.
And when I couldn’t hold it in any longer, I fell over with the same power as the atomic bomb.
Finally spent, I laid myself on top of her, her chest pushing against mine every time she moved.
I was careful not to let go of my full weight. I didn’t want her to feel trapped with me. Never with me.
As she laid there, staring up at the ceiling of our new home, I couldn’t help but marvel at how far she had come since her attack. She still got this haunted look in her eyes sometimes, but those were getting few and far in between.
There had been moments in my life when I feared she might be scared to become intimate with me because of what happened. But she had never shown a hint of fear anytime we were together, not even during the time I punished her with orgasms.
I felt her smile against my skin, and I cuddled her further into the crevice of my neck.
I moved then, turning us around so that I was on the bottom and she was lying top of me, our legs tangled, and my fingers playing with her long hair.
She rested her cheek on my chest, her hands moving softly around my skin, anywhere she could reach.
We didn’t say anything for a long while. I think we were both marveling over all that had just happened.
“I didn’t know,” she said, first to break the silence. “I didn’t know it could be like this.”
I wasn’t going to lie and say I never enjoyed sex before her. I had. But with her, it felt different.
She was different in every way that counted, and I was keeping her.
“I know, baby,” I said softly, placing a quick kiss on the top of my head.
“I guess you could say we officially broke in the house.”
I let out a small laugh, my chest shaking her. “Not yet, but we’re almost there.”
She pulled herself up slightly so she could look at me. “Almost there?”
I was sure my eyes gleamed with humor when I said, “Yeah. I still have to fuck you in every room in this house. There are a lot of rooms, baby. But I’m willing to take time out of my busy schedule to do it right.”
She slapped my chest playfully, and my smile widened. Like a little kitten showing off her claws. So fucking adorable.
“Your insatiable. I didn’t realize what we just did was fucking.”
I shook my head. I had fucked before. This wasn’t it. “No. That was making love.”
She looked away from my eyes and down to my chest. “Making love, huh? I didn’t realize you were such a romantic.”
“Oh, I’m a lot of things.” Most of all, yours.
And I would make sure that would always be true.
46
Olivia
A week after my first time with Mason, he officially moved into the house next door, and I was still plagued with indecisiveness.
I had already told Max I wanted to move out to an apartment on my own, and he had already begun looking.
And I was… excited over the prospect of living on my own for the first time, even if it was because of Max’s help.
I wasn’t naïve. I knew I would never be able to afford an apartment on my own, especially not in Chicago, and I knew I was lucky. More importantly, I was getting well accustomed to having Max’s support in all aspect of my life: emotionally, physically, and financially.
And I was also beginning to realize that it was okay.
But Mason had bought the house for us.
I knew that. I knew he wanted to keep me close, and a huge part of me wanted to say fuck the consequences and move in with him right away. I would get to be close to Max and live with Mason. The idea felt so grown-up.
But Max still didn’t know about Mason and me, and it had been almost two months since we got together. I wanted to tell Max before I moved out, but now I had to decide where I wanted to move.
Mason said the house would still be there whenever I was ready to take the next step with him. He wouldn’t rush me, and he seemed content with the fact that Max was already looking for an apartment for me to move into.
I didn’t know how I felt about that.
Max had been quiet since Mason told him he bought the house next door. A paranoid part of me thought it was because Max suspected something was going on between Mason and me, but we had never given him any indication to that.
A part of me wished he did know, though. It would save me the trouble of telling him. I didn’t even know how to begin.
By the time Mason settled into his new home, it was nighttime, and I couldn’t think of any good reason to stay there with him, not when Max had insisted that we go home before it got too late.
The front door closed behind us gently, and my stomach felt like it was weighed down by lead as we made the short walk home.
Max was unusually quiet.
I grabbed hold of his arms right before we walked onto the porch. Even though it was below twenty degrees outside, I wasn’t in any rush to get inside.
“What is it, sweetheart?”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I am. Why would you ask?”
I opened my mouth to say… I didn’t know what. What could I say? He’d been acting strange, and I didn’t know if it was because he suspected something between Mason and me, or whether it was something else.
I shook my head. “You haven’t been acting like yourself, is all.”
A cold gush of wind came then, and I shivered a little, despite the large coat I had on.
Max directed me inside. “Come on, we can talk in the house where it’s warm.”
I nodded and followed him in. Max closed the door behind us, locking it. I took off my coat and Max took it from me to hang in the coat closet. When he came back, I was still standing by the door.
He took me in with inquisitive eyes. After a beat of silence, he said, “You know I love you, don’t you?”
I relaxed my shoulders a little, a soft smile playing around my lips. “Of course, I know that. I love you, too.”
One corner of his lips curved upward in a half a smile. Mason had the exact same smile. Sometimes, I forgot that before Max was mine and before Mason was mine, they belonged to each other first.
“You also know you can tell me anything, don’t you? Anything at all.”
He moved in closer as he said this, his tone of voice giving me a pause. Did Max know something? But if he did, wouldn’t he have said something by now?
I wasn’t so sure.
I plastered on a smile I didn’t feel. Hopefully it was one Max couldn’t see through. “I know that.”
He opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something more, before he shut it again. And the strangest thing happened. Max pulled me into his arms and held me tight.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked him, my hands rubbing up and down his back.
“Yes, kiddo. I am. Just… I’m so glad to have you in my life. And I love you so much. More than anything and anyone in this world. I don’t think I’ve ever told you that.”
I shook my head, my eyes getting misty. No, he had never told me that. I had always assumed he loved me because he loved my mom. That I somehow got lucky that love was transferred to me. Yet, hearing him say that, I realized he probably loved me more than he ever did my mom.
I buried my face in his chest, inhaling the comforting scent that was uniquely Maxwell Kade. It was my childhood and warmth and safety, all wrapped in one.
He kissed me on my head and pulled back. “Go to bed, sweetheart. You look exhausted.”
Did I? I didn’t feel exhausted.
I felt restless.
I nodded in agreement anyway. And with a lingering look shot his way, I walked upstairs, into my room. The expression he wore on his face as he watched me leave stayed on my mind the whole night, and I didn’t know what to make of it.
I didn’t get a chance to be see Mason until Wednesday evening.
With the semester finally ending, you would think I had more time in my day, but I had been picking up a lot of shifts at the grocery store.
Joe was short-staffed, and I was still undecided about where I wanted to live when school started back up in January. I was making up for the possibility that I could be leaving this job soon. It wouldn’t be convenient to commute to Joe’s Grocers from Hyde Park if that’s where I did decide to move.
A part of me wanted to move in with Mason. That way, if I didn’t see him during the day because of our busy schedules, I would be able fall asleep in his arms every night. It was much more than what I was getting now. But another part of me, a larger part, wanted to move out to an apartment of my own.
Growing up, I didn’t dare allow myself to even entertain such a thought. I knew we were poor and my mom was terrible with money. I knew my family didn’t have as much as Lizzie’s family, and I had come to terms with that. I got a job to help out with the bills, and when my mom was at her most careless, I saved like crazy for any rainy days that might come up.
I never told Max how I often went without food. How, even though my mom worked in a grocery store, she still rarely managed to bring home any groceries for us to eat. I never told him how close we actually came to losing the house. Had I not found those notices that one afternoon, we would have. After making arrangements to pay off the two months my mom owed to our mortgage, she promised she wouldn’t let herself fall behind ever again—that I didn’t need to worry.
Obviously, I didn’t believe her. And we ended up losing the house anyway. Only this time, she left the house and me behind before the bank could kick her out. The last I heard, our house was up for auction and was sold to a young couple for half of what I knew my parents had paid for it.
When I got home from work, I quickly changed out of my work clothes and put on some makeup. Nothing fancy. Some mascara and pink lipstick. My hands didn’t even shake when I brought the mascara wand to my eyelashes. I called this progress.
Dealing with my past assault was getting easier and easier every day. There were moments in my day when I was still haunted by what happened, but they were becoming few and far in between, and they didn’t get to me like they used to.
Not anymore.
And Dr Greene was right. I did come out of this stronger.
I smiled at my reflection in the mirror, grabbing my phone and running out to the house next door, knowing Mason was home.
He texted me when he got out of the office, and I couldn’t wait to see him. Most of my days were spent counting down the minutes to the time he gets home.
I didn’t knock. I let myself in with the key Mason had made for me, loving the freedom it allowed me. I could come and go as I pleased. I appreciated that he trusted me enough with this.
I was still getting used to it all. I never really had a serious relationship, and I refused to count Lorenzo as one, so everything Mason and I had done together so far was a brand-new experience I could easily revel in.
By the time I got the front door closed and locked it behind me, I was filled with warmth, despite the cold weather outside. The snow would no doubt be here for the next few months or so.
It wasn’t so bad in December, and I was actually looking forward to spending my holidays with both Max and Mason. Hopefully by the time Christmas came around, Max would already know about and be okay with my relationship with Mason.
I was planning on telling him over the weekend. By myself. I knew Mason wanted to be there, but I also felt like I needed to be the one to tell Max first.
I let out a sigh, wondering how things got so messed up. Perhaps we should have told Max from the very beginning, but we got caught up in the moment, and the longer we waited, the harder it got to tell him.
I set my keys and purse down on the wooden console table near the doorways and walked further into the house. Already, it smelled like Mason.
I couldn’t get enough of it.
On my way to the kitchen, something colorful caught my eye. I paused, then slowly took a step back to the familiar painting hanging on the wall.
My breath caught.
It was the hummingbird painting by K.H. Knight that I had given Mason a couple of months ago. I never did ask him what he’d done with it. When I didn’t see the painting in his apartment, I had assumed he placed somewhere else. And now, here it was, hanging proudly by the family room, where anyone could see.
I couldn’t believe it.
Warmth spread even further through me, and my smile was so wide that my cheeks were starting to hurt. This was only a small gesture, and some people might think me silly for reacting this way, but I couldn’t help it. I loved that he did this.
My fingers caref
ully traced the “K” of the artist’s signature, my mind running a million miles a minute.
“Do you like it, Livie?”
I turned around at the sound of his voice. I took him in hungrily, from the hard, slightly scruff-covered jawline, to those bright blue eyes filled with heat that had my thighs clenching, and the casual clothes he was wearing—his standard fitted black tee and dark blue jeans. His feet were bare, and yes, I realized it might be weird that I was admiring his feet, but I couldn’t help myself. Everything about this man turned me on.
“I love it,” I answered after a beat. The glimmer in his eyes told me he knew I had been checking him out.
He moved closer to me, and my heart raced in anticipation of his touch. God, I needed him to touch me. Had there ever been a time when I didn’t crave his touch? It had only amplified since we made love for the first time, right here in his living room floor.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked me, his eyes flickering with something potent.
I shot a small half a smile. As if he didn’t know. I never made any effort in hiding my thoughts or reactions from him. I couldn’t even if I tried. I was never good at hiding my emotions, I knew that. It was something I had always viewed as a weakness, but I was beginning to realize it was only a weakness if I gave other people that kind of power over me.
But when it came to those that I trusted… I didn’t mind so much.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him in close. When I buried my face in his chest, his arms went around me.
I kissed the bare skin near his collarbone, and he shuddered in my arms. I smiled against his skin. I wasn’t the only one affected by our closeness.
“Take me to bed,” I whispered to him. It was still early yet, but we weren’t going to be sleeping. I needed to feel him close to him; as close as possible. And that was only possible when he was inside me.
I pulled his hips closer to me, until I felt his erection pressing against my hip. I let out a small moan.
“God, Olivia. You drive me crazy,” he grunted, right before he pulled me up in his arms.