"I can't thank you enough for this," I said to Crystal. She had come out a day early to save me. Her kids and current boyfriend would be joining us tomorrow night when the kids were all together and I felt safe enough to leave Augustine alone. I didn't deserve her. "I swear I will be a better friend after this."

"A better friend? Please," she tutted. "You're my family. You know that." She pulled me into a hug and I fought my urge to cry. "Do what you need to do. I'll be here when you're done."

"Love you," I said into her shoulder.

"Love you too."

I pried myself from her with reluctance. "Are you excited about your sleepover?" I asked the twins. Tabby, of course, looked thrilled. The promise of pizza and unlimited candy was enough to distract her from almost anything. Shy Bastian lacked her same enthusiasm. Squatting down, I looked him in the eyes. "Crystal is my sister. She's just like me but is much more likely to give you candy and let you stay up late," I told him.

"Sister?" Tabby cut in. "You don't look alike."

She was right. Me, stick-like and ambiguously brown, Crystal gorgeous and curvaceous, yet pale as a rose. Though it wasn't my choice, "family" stopped being blood and started being something much more important. "Well, that's because she's not my twin, silly," I teased her. Bastian gripped my hand and didn't seem to want to let go. "It will be okay, sweetheart," I whispered to him. "Just a few hours of fun then we will be together again. Sound good?"

He gave me a little grin. "Yeah."

I smiled. "Have so much fun, little ones." They kissed me goodbye.

I waved to Crystal and watched them leave. They would only be two buildings away but I wished I could keep them close. Augustine needed me a bit more than they did right now.

Once they had disappeared from view, I took the elevator back to the loft, taking deep breaths to calm myself and realign myself to my goal. I couldn't pay Crystal back for everything she did for me growing up, but I could pay it forward. 

Inside the loft, I found Augustine hadn't moved from the couch. He sat slouched with his head leaned onto the back of it. Lounged in the sun, the emerald green of the velvet cushions framed his black and white clothes in a dark luster. His languid posture gave him the melancholy air of a romantic era painting. He was impossibly handsome despite it all.

I came around and sat next to him. He gave me a failed attempt at a smile. "The kids are with Crystal now. She said she would take them until tomorrow morning or afternoon—whenever you're ready—and Matthew will be back tomorrow night."

"Thank you, love."

"Of course." He continued to stare ahead at nothing. "How are you feeling?" I asked him.

"Lost," he admitted. "To know my firstborn thinks me a murderer, my daughter feels the need to put herself in danger to test my utter adoration for her, and my son can't remember her at all . . . What am I to think?" he asked before looking me in the eyes. "What am I to do?"

I sighed and crossed my fingers in my lap. "You have to talk to them. Talk about her, as often as possible," I stated. I watched his gaze drop from mine. "Tell Tabitha how much you care, even when you think you've shown her. Tell Sebastian the stories you've told me. Show him pictures of her rather than hiding them away. And . . ." My sentence trailed off with my hesitance. "As uncomfortable or painful it may be, you have to tell Matthew what happened. He can either get the truth from you or he can continue to hate you over the version he made for himself."

He nodded his head. "So, what you've told me to do from the very beginning, Ms. Nielson?"

I smirked. "Pretty much, Mr. Montgomery."

A hint of smile perked at the corner of his mouth. "You know . . . I count myself lucky you stumbled into my life," he said. "Or, rather, my greenhouse."

I chuckled. "Your historic, 1900s greenhouse."

His lips curved into a grin. "Not a shed."

"Definitely not a shed," I joked. The return of his humor made my heart warm. I reached forward and squeezed his hand with mine. "I'm happy I'm here too."

He lifted our hands, tickling my palm with his fingers as they moved to lace between mine. He lifted them to his lips, his breath tickling against them. His eyes lifted to mine. "Will you stay with me?" he asked.

My brow tensed with confusion. "Yes," I answered. "Why wouldn't I?"

The way he looked at me made it harder to breathe. "After everything I've said and done . . . You'll stay?"

I couldn't quite pin down the feeling clenching in my chest. I stared into his eyes and the words came without a thought. "Only if you can forgive me for the same."

His hand dropped from mine and moved to my cheek. He pulled me closer and kissed me.

With his lips against mine, it felt as if I were breathing for the first time in days. The pressure on my lungs lifted, my muscles relaxed. As his kiss deepened, breathing started to seem unimportant.

Every slow kiss came with the promise of more. I welcomed them, craved them. His lips sucking mine felt like an apology. His tongue like forgiveness. His hands desire. Then, something changed.

His lips left mine. I sighed when he tilted my head back to trace his tongue against my neck. He sucked the sensitive skin and a wave of warmth washed over me. I floated in the feeling, my only tie to reality was his hand cradling my head, the other massaging my breast.

The spark took over me. I tangled my fingers into his hair, coxing his mouth onto mine again. His grip tugged at my hip. I turned onto his lap, straddling him. His hands slid under the hem of my shirt. I broke the kiss only to help him pull it over my head.

I did the same with my bralette. His tongue circled my nipple as the tight garment cleared my hair, his lips sucking as I dropped the bit of lace to the floor. The pleasure it gave me grew hot and needy in my core. I watched in adulation as his mouth moved from one to the other, combing my fingers through his hair while his hands slid down to grip my ass.

In a quick move, he lifted me from him and dropped me onto my back. I stared up at him, watching his tongue taste his lips as he stared straight back at me.

He tugged my shorts over my backside and dragged them up and off my legs. Taking a knee, he pulled my hips to the edge of the cushion and pushed up my legs.

His tongue tasted me, teased me, his hand sliding down my thigh made me shiver. I whined with pleasure. How we went from kissing to this so quickly barely crossed my mind. I wanted him—felt as if I needed him—because having him made everything else fade away.

He sucked me hard and hungry, his quiet hums of enjoyment made me quiver. My legs shivering beneath his palms, the pleasure bloomed in my core. When his tongue slipped inside me and licked up to circle my clit, I could barely hold on. 

I slid my hand over his, gaining his attention. He looked up but didn't stop. He spread me wider and flickered his tongue against my sensitive ball of nerves. With his other hand, he reached up and grabbed my breast. I whimpered. My head fell back with a moan. 

My legs tensed and I felt right there. A hand massaging my tender breast, his fingers stroking against my g-spot, his tongue . . . The pleasure burst.

My hips shuddered, my legs curled and nearly came together around his head. His mouth didn't stop, only his hands spread my thighs to allow him to lick deeper. The heat washed over me, setting in my head. As good as it felt, it was just a tease. I wanted to be closer to him. I wanted to feel him inside me.

I panted and ran my hand over his hair. He understood me and lifted himself from the floor.

He crawled onto the couch and laid me back. Our mouths found each other's like magnets. I tasted myself against his tongue as it licked mine and dug my teeth into his bottom lip when he started to lean away.

He pulled his shirt over his head. His strong core flexed with his change in posture. My eyes traced the ridges of his stomach and the trail of hair leading to what I longed for most. He watched me watch him unfasten his fly then pulled his pants just low enough to reach in and pull out his impressive erection. My sex clenched at the sight, my legs spreading to welcome him. 

He began to push himself into me, both of us moaning as he stretched me around him. He pushed my legs higher, lifting my hips up to meet his.

He retracted slowly, dragging the head of his cock against my walls until the cusp teased my entrance. He pushed in slowly, sliding deep, filling me. Wet sounds added a dirty tinge to our tryst. The slowness made me feel everything yet left me wanting so much more.

Finally, he slammed his hips against mine, pressed himself hard against a needy spot deep inside. He did it again and again, then he fell onto a hand and really started to move.

He fucked me brilliantly. His hips pumped hard and fast, stroking himself in just the right place and just the right tempo. The deep, blinding pleasure made me moan each and every time. I happily gave into it.

His hands left the cushion and pressed onto my lower stomach. My pleasure heightened instantly when I felt his cock stroking hard under the pressure of his hands. I whimpered, loving being right on the line between pleasure and pain.

Every muscle in his body flexed as it rolled between my thighs. My breasts tossed with every hard thrust. I gripped them, tugging at my nipples while the feeling made me drunk. My eyes rolled back before I began drowning in the deep pleasure. I felt his hand slip between my legs. My loud gasp melted into a groan.

His fingers circled in time with his hips, his hard cock massaging my g-spot like it had one job and one job only. The combination set the pleasure in my core ablaze. My fingers dug into his arms, my moans like muffled screams. I wanted it to last forever, to live in this blinding ecstasy for the rest of my life. 

"Do it, love," he moaned. "Come for me." His voice was all I could take.

The orgasm hit me so hard, my body wrenched with the impact. My hips lifted from the couch with the first clench of my sex around him. Again and again, it happened, and each time, the pleasure tore me apart. I gripped the velvet in my hands and buried my face in the pillow to muffle my cries.

He stroked himself slow for a moment, letting my sex grip and release him, but then his menacing pace returned. My body hadn't stopped shaking from my orgasm. I gripped his wrists in an attempt to hold on, but my legs were quivering like leaves, my need building again. He grew harder, fucked me faster. Then he groaned deep and guttural. 

His hips shuddered and his heat spread inside me. I watched the orgasm overtake him, the sweat glistening against his skin as his muscles shivered. 

When he had nothing left to give, he eased out and looked down at me with heavy eyes. I stared up at him, my body on fire, my sex filled with his remnants yet aching for more. He sat beside me, combing his fingers through his hair while he tried to catch his breath. 

But I wasn't done with him. 

I climbed off the couch and lowered to my knees between his. His eyes found mine when I tugged his pants from his legs, his mouth dropped open when I placed him at my lips.

His cock still firm in my hand, I slid my tongue up and traced it hard across the tip pointing my tongue against his slit, tasting the last of his pleasure mixed with my own. He inhaled sharply but relaxed back with a quiet moan. A teasing trail of his semen ran down my inner thigh.

He sighed when I pushed him through my lips for just a brief moment. I licked him downward, drawing my tongue against the vein down to the base. I sucked each one between my lips for a few moments until they pulled tighter and his cock grew harder. He stroked himself in my stead when I traced my tongue lower. Spreading his legs for me, my tongue teased his sensitive skin. I lingered until his breath quickened and he moaned.

Crawling up, stared him in the eyes while I pushed him to his back and straddled him. Unable to wait a moment longer, I placed him at my entrance and lowered myself onto him. I bit my lip with a groan when I felt him inside me again. Every inch of him against my sensitive walls pained me, devastated me, all in the best possible way. When my hips settled on his, I could barely stand it. My foot stayed planted on the floor, giving me delectable leverage.

He stared up at me, his hands gripping my hips as they ground them against him, his teeth catching his lip after a groan. I rode him hard, feeding off his heat between my thighs and beneath my palms. Sweat misted my skin, my sex grew tight around him as I started to climax once again.

Our heavy breathing mixed together. Frantic and passionate, I barely noticed the roughness of my pace until he stopped me. Leaned up on a hand he stared into my eyes. 

My breathing stuttered as I looked at him. In his eyes was the desire and desperation I felt, the deep longing I hadn't been able to decipher or label. It was there, in his dark gaze and wordless, parted lips.

We stared into each other's eyes as we moved together. His arm around my hip kept me in time with his movements. He hardened, rubbing harder against that deep, pleasurable spot. My motions brushed my clit against him and made my skin prickle.

His brow tensed, his fingers clawing across my skin. My sex quivered around him. I pulled him into a kiss, our lips meeting briefly between breathless moans of pleasure. Our pace quickened, the pressure built, and I felt it. His mouth dropped open in a moan. Our heads fell back and we found our release together.

A deep rolling pleasure washed over me in waves as he spilled himself into me. Lost in an all-consuming orgasm, we were perfectly connected, emotionally, physically . . . And, for a few moments, it felt like it had been that way all along.

His hand cradled my back and pulled me against him. My hands were shaking when I ran my fingers over the stubble on his cheeks and his soft lips, feeling the warmth of his breath slipping through them as he panted.

"I don't want you to leave," he breathed. "I never want you to leave."

"I won't," I assured him. "I'm yours."

I pulled him into a kiss. His heavy breaths tickled against my cheek until we collapsed.

_____

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please be sure to vote, comment, and add to your library if you want more!