We never made it to the bedroom.

Axel threw off his towel and collapsed instead onto the largest and most opulent sofa in the living room, with the window behind him, exposing the stormy beach, the darkened sky.

"Out here?" Clutching my towel around myself, I padded out of the bathroom, hesitant. The notion of having sex on the couch with the storm raging in the background was sexy, but would I be able to focus with on-and-off lightning striking and blinding me?

"Out here." Axel leaned sideways and snagged a condom from a side-table drawer, setting it on the cushion beside him. He patted his thighs, inviting me to straddle him. "And up here, on me. That's what you were about to do in the tub, right? This'll be better. Trust me."

Did I trust Axel? He'd showed so much vulnerability today, but was that his true self, or another front he put on? Figuring out the many facets of Axel Levine was tough work I'd never expected to be subjected to.

My worries shooed off as I watched him grip his cock and start stroking it, licking his lips as he fixed his intent gaze on me. "Vivienne," he breathed, voice raspy with desire. "Come on. Sit on me. Ride me."

I dropped the towel.

As he reached for the condom, I hastened my pace and got atop him, but shook my head. "Not yet. You toyed with me, so let me toy with you."

He didn't smile, but the corners of his lips twitched and his gaze grew more lustful. "Go on, then."

I squeezed my legs around his and set my wetness against his hardness, rubbing up and down, grazing him. He chewed on his lower lip and held me back to press me closer so he could take my nipples in his mouth, circling them with his tongue. Once his member was thoroughly wet with my arousal, I grasped its tip and massaged it against my clit. A moan slithered out, and Axel gripped my ass, pausing his nipple licking to glance up at me.

"Yes," he said, his gaze roving from my eyes to where I was kneading his penis against myself. "Touch yourself with my cock. I love to watch you come for me."

I rubbed faster, sensing my body on the brink of explosion, turned on by him admiring me, encouraging me to pleasure myself. As Axel took my breasts into his mouth again, flicking frantically, a few final strokes of my clit made me come, and I shuddered from the after-shocks. He kissed me quickly, gently pushing me back so he could roll the condom on.

Once on, I climbed atop him again, completely. I sighed at the feel of him deep inside me. I slid up, down, up, down, my pace slow and sensual as I angled forward to sneak my tongue into his mouth. He continued to grip my butt, his fingers melting into my skin, urging me to rock back and forth.

And so, as lightning blared outside, as rain pummeled the window-pane, as the sky became more obscure, chaotic, I rode Axel until I couldn't feel myself anymore. And when that happened, he took over; and I cried out as he thrust into me from below, deepening the contact.

"Fuck," I said, as he tipped his head back to grunt towards the ceiling. "Oh my God, Axel."

Claps of thunder echoed, shaking the building; each boom rivaled with our moans, with the sofa's squeaks as we bounced up and down, fast, faster, as fast as possible.

Axel's hands wandered higher up my back, pushing me closer to him. He crammed his face between my breasts. "God dammit," he growled, "I'm going to come, Vivienne. And you're going to come with me."

I had no energy or voice to respond, having screamed so loud with every inch of him charging up inside me, sending electrifying chills up and down my arms, my legs.

One last plunge and Axel cried out, wracked with shivers. I crumbled atop him, my breaths harsh, my body still experiencing the convulsions, the pulsations of pleasure Axel had caused.

He folded his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. We remained joined, waiting for our hearts to stop racing.

"I could stay like this all night," he whispered, his warm breath blowing into my ear. "Possibly forever."

With my hormones still on fire, I did what I never should have done—I agreed. "It would be the best thing ever."

I let out a heavy sigh, not quite sure what I'd agreed to, but too exhausted to debate it with him. Too satiated and worn-out from the storm, the predicament, to ask him what it meant. All night was one thing; but forever? That was serious.

Our one-night stand had transformed into a forbidden affair, a potential friends-with-benefits situation. But we weren't friends, and there couldn't be benefits between us.

Lights flicked on, followed by a click—the room door unlocking.

"Oh," I said, extracting myself from our hug to turn and smile at the door, to look up at the ceiling's lights. "Thank goodness—"

Without warning, Axel tossed me aside on the couch and raced to the exit. When he was inches away, the door opened on its own; he managed to smack it shut before he exposed his entire front half to the hallway.

He huffed as he pressed his back to the surface, eyes closing. "That was a close one."

I scrambled to snatch my towel from where I'd discarded it. "What the fuck?"

"The doors," Axel straightened up and swept a hand over his sweaty forehead, "they open automatically once the power is back on. It hit me the second that click happened, so I needed to shut it before..."

"Right." I gulped, securing the towel around myself. "Before anyone saw us."

Reality had come to call, and quite brutally. All my fears resurfaced, shooting up to my brain, causing a migraine. I fell back onto the sofa, legs jittering, folding my arms to keep my towel tighter against myself.

"Shit." Axel stood straighter, his naked butt shoving into the door. "I hear them—everyone is getting out of their rooms." His gaze narrowed on me, and I froze in my spot. "We'll have to wait a bit before you'll be able to get out."

My teeth clattered. "Okay," I said, proceeding to pace in front of the window, dizzying thoughts racing through my mind. "Okay, okay, we'll wait it out. Then I can sneak out. I can go find Chi and plan with them later."

If there's anything left to plan.

Axel took hold of his phone on the mantle. "Oh, that explains it." He typed a few sentences on the screen. "The local officers got the power back, but it might still go in and out until the storm passes. Which might not be until tomorrow." He frowned as his typing sped up. "I'll let the staff know to find a way to keep doors from locking, at least until we have access to all the wiring and control boxes on the ground floor."

I wasn't certain why he was telling me this, including me in his tasks, but in my panic, I appreciated knowing. Studying his concentrated face, his scrunched, gingery eyebrows, his messy mop of sex hair, his shoulders squared and tense, I wanted to be in his arms again. Wanted to reassure him as he'd reassured me, to nuzzle into his chest and rest my eyes, just for a few moments—

"Tonight. The rehearsal dinner," I blurted, realization crashing over me. "It's on the ground floor. Everything is on the ground floor. Fuck!"

A knock on the door stilled me in place. I slapped a hand over my mouth.

Axel gasped. "Shit," he mouthed, lunging to the couch to snatch his towel and affix it to his waist. Thankfully, his erection had died down when the power came back on, sending him into panic mode.

On instinct, I lowered behind the sofa.

Axel cleared his throat, approaching the door. "Who is it?"

"Me," said the distinct, still irritated voice of Violet. "And your other siblings."

Axel spun and snapped towards the sofa, urging me to stand up. "Bathroom," he mouthed, pointing at the black-marbled room where we'd started our sex session. "Hide. Be quiet."

I didn't wait to be told twice and dashed to the room, silently sealing the door behind me. I turned off the lights that had ignited when the power returned, and crouched against the door, praying my heart wouldn't thump too loudly.

I put my ear against the door, listening.

"This is a catastrophe!" said Violet, her timbre exploding into the room as Axel let her in.

"Seriously, calm down," said Estelle, her demeanor much calmer in comparison, though I detected a hint of worry in her volume, too. "Sorry, Axel, but she wouldn't wait for you to come to her with news."

Another muffled voice came through, and I assumed it was the ever-quiet Harvey, likely forced to tag along by his sisters.

"Where is Vivienne?" Violet's voice was much too close to where I concealed myself in the bathroom. "We looked for her all over, but no one seems to know where she sheltered. Her room is on the ground floor, and she didn't stay down there, did she?"

I held in a groan of annoyance; Violet had seen me before the power went out, when I'd to rein in the rowdy groomsmen and order everyone to confine in their rooms, at Axel's behest.

"I'd have to check my clipboard," said Axel, sounding distant. "I'm pretty sure she's up here, or maybe she found space on the second floor. But I doubt she stayed downstairs. She's smarter than that."

"Well, then, can we call her? Does she have a back-up plan for all this?" Violet distanced herself from the bathroom, seemingly navigating towards the middle of the room.

"We have a back-up plan, yes." Axel showed no trace of nervousness, no inkling that the Vivienne they were speaking about was right there, eavesdropping. "I'll be in touch with her to fine-tune details. Please, Violet." I imagined he'd approached her, possibly took her by the shoulders like he had earlier. "You need to relax. All this stress isn't good for you, for any of us. Trust me when I tell you it's being handled."

"Can we call Vivienne now, though? Together? I want to hear what she has to say."

My eyes widened and my insides grew cold.

My phone, inside my bag, was out in the living room, behind the sofa. The ringer was on loud. If anyone called me now, that was it. I'd be discovered.

"Fuck," I whispered, crossing my fingers, hoping Axel would do everything in his power to prevent me from being found naked in his bathroom.

"No, we can't." Axel's tone was firm, almost angry. "Look, I get that it's your special weekend, Violet, but the weather had other thoughts about that, and there's nothing I or Vivienne can do right now. We're not gods, we don't control the rain. I spoke with her earlier, and I'm betting she's working on it, but the power just came back on. Give her a moment. She's a human, not a robot."

Violet protested, but Estelle took over, hushing her. "He's correct, Vi," she said, her timbre farther away, towards the door. "Come on, he's in a towel, for fucks' sake, barely out of the shower. Privacy is a thing, you know. Stop being such a fucking Bridezilla."

At that, Violet screeched, and thundering footsteps accompanied by a door slamming signaled she'd left the room.

"I'll take care of her," said Estelle, exhausted. "But, for real, Axel," her voice lowered slightly, but I could still hear it, "everything is handled? And Vivienne is on top of it?"

Axel made a short, guttural sound. "We have plenty of ways to accommodate the dinner and the wedding tomorrow, regardless of weather. So yes, it's all handled."

Minutes later, once everyone had left, Axel opened the bathroom door and turned on the light, to find me huddled in a ball on the floor, sobbing.

"It's all such a mess," I blabbered, unable to control myself. "I'm a failure, mother nature cursed me, we shouldn't be having sex, this is a disaster—"

He dropped to my side and tugged me into his arms, shushing me, rocking me. And though I wasn't supposed to want this, wasn't supposed to need it, I leaned into him and cried, comforted by his strong muscles, his gentle touch, the subtle spiciness of his scent.

☼☼☼