Despite the amount of red flags this man has thrown directly in my face, especially the one where he had wanted to kill my father, I am begging him, pleading for something I had just called mediocre. Him not having a condom on hadn't even registered until he just thrust up inside of me. The act has me tossing my head back against the door as his arms spread my legs further apart. He's now holding my weight with the back of my knees in the crook of his arms as he pounds into me.

I wrap my arms around him, pulling his large muscular frame against me as I cling to him. His steady rhythm is an unforgiving one. It has him panting heavily into the curve of my neck, "you feel so good." He places a wet kiss on me before groaning again, "so fucking good, baby." My nails dig into the skin of his back, holding on for dear life as moan after moan escape me. Braxton's relentless thrusts are building me up to my precipice at a near record-breaking pace. Considering he'd just denied me an orgasm a handful of moments ago I'd say I'm about to have one any second now.

Just as I had thought about it, my body begins spasming on him. The release I'd sought previously courses through me as his name leaves my lips again and again in a prayer like fashion. When I hit the peak of my bliss Braxton joins me, orgasming with a violent shiver. My name is a keened curse of a word against the blade of my shoulder from him as the door shudders beneath us. And although this room is sound proof, a part of me wonders if Thomas had just been privy to what had just transpired, the practical magic created between Braxton and me.

After what seems like forever and no time at all, Braxton pulls out of the crook of my neck slowly, breathing heavily still. That blazing forest of pines in his eyes has cooled to a simmer which tells me he is sated and maybe a hint of something else. I remove my nails from the skin of his back then caress the light stubble on his jaw with the back of my right hand.

I had been furious with this man for over a week. I was hurt, angry, sad, furious, a weeping mess at some points wondering if I could ever trust a single person ever again, among other things. But having him like this now, looking at me the way he is, makes every single one of those negative emotions fade into nothingness. All there is, is him and me, our chests rising and falling in time with each other's breathing. And, as much as I had wanted to run away in the duration of the past several days, I am finding that there is no other place that I'd rather be.

It scares the absolute fuck out of me.

Braxton gives me a few more languid strokes as his length slowly deflates. The action has me looking down at our conjoined bodies. There's cum covering the base of him, a conjoined mixture of both his and mine, which has a subtle anxiety coursing through me. I know I won't get pregnant but having unprotected sex is a level of intimacy for me that I haven't experienced in a long time, especially with my previous thought process.

"It's a good thing you have tissues in here." He lets out a throaty chuckle as he pulls us away from the door. The action has me clinging onto him again as he begins walking us toward the over-sized beanbag. "Such a little koala," the words whispered absently into my skin.

He shrugs out of my hold as he lifts my body off of his before flopping me down on the beanbag. I immediately feel his essence about to leak out of me so I snatch a handful of tissues. Braxton grabs a few afterward, cleaning himself off before taking the handful of messy ones in mine. He heads off to the corner of the room where there's a wastebasket to discard them.

A wave of uneasiness rolls through me at the realization of what we'd just done. It has me pulling a blanket over myself and rolling onto my side, thinking about nothing and everything at the same time. I can sense his large body before he lifts the blanket and plops down behind me. He pulls my back into his front. He's completely naked now, both of us are.

We stay like that, wrapped up in one another with him placing the occasional kiss in my hair, for what seems like forever. Braxton eventually breaks the silence with, "you know how sorry I am about everything, right?" About the lying to me about who he really is and why he was really here, what he really wanted to do. For using me. I don't say anything in response. "I never expected to..." He pauses and then states, "well, to you know."

"No, I don't know what it's like the accidentally sleep with the-man-you-want-to-kill's daughter." My words monotonous as I stare at the large blank screen in front of me. "Can't say I've ever used someone quite like that." And, right about now, that has me feeling pretty fucking stupid.

"Hey," he grabs my chin and makes my face turn upward towards his, "I never used you. That was never my intention with you and it wasn't my intention to... to..." He swallows uncomfortably with a face a mask of uneasiness I've never seen from him.

"It wasn't your intention to what?"

"To fall for you, Adri." Pure, undulated panic begins to flood my veins at his words because he can't mean what I think he means. He can't have feelings for me, not in that capacity at least. Not like that. Braxton looks over me before pulling away with a long, frustrated breath. "Jesus, don't look so fucking excited."

"I don't know what you want me to say to that." My words are monotonous, hollow.

"Nothing." He turns to lie on his back, propping his arm behind his head. "Not a damn thing, Adri." After a few silent minutes tick by he says, "you just going to go back to ignoring me again? Pretending I don't exist? That the sex we have is mediocre?" The last bit was growled out. When I don't give him a response his arm wraps underneath me, rolling me over until my front is lying on top of his. I let out a gasp. "Now would be the time to use that mouth of yours."

"I— I don't know what you want me to say." Nor do I know how he expects me to feel. I'm an anxious ball of a mixed-up lot of things currently.

"You've ignored me for a week straight and I can't fucking stand it. Please, just talk to me. Even if it's to tell me you hate me and that you could never truly trust me again or whatever it is that you want to say. I don't care what it is. Just say something to me after I told you that I have feelings for you." The features on his face are full of worry and yet he's still so handsome. It's hardly even fair to be this attractive. "You can tell me you hate me, that you don't feel the same way, it's okay."

"I don't hate you." Which is pretty much the entire problem considering I'm starting to realize I do feel the same way as him. "Our sex isn't mediocre either. It's actually," I nibble on my lip and look away from him.

"It's actually— what?" I purse my lips and don't respond. "Good? Too good? Because that's exactly how it feels for me, especially the sex we just had." He pushes the hair out of my face when I look back at him. "That was amazing. You are amazing."

"No more lies?"

"No more lies."

"No more trying to kill my family members?"

"As long as they don't try to kill mine." I give him a hard glare which he only lets out a small chuckle to and adds, "you've seen what your brother is capable of. He's fucking psychotic." He's not entirely wrong. Now that I know that Braxton's brother is involved with Torey's child's mother, Daniela, the reality of Torey trying to kill Tristan is a very real thing.

"Fine," I say in resignation.

"No more other people."

I arch a brow. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that we just had unprotected sex."

"Did we, now?" I look at him thoughtfully.

"Adri—" I lift up and peck his lips with a kiss. "Say it."

"Fine. No more other people." The answering grin he gives me has me giving him one of my own. "Now let's have more sex."

"Deal."

✩✩✩

"You know, I can't remember the last time I actually shared a bed with someone." I twist some of Braxton's chest hair with my finger, propping myself up a bit more on his pectoral. "Like, obviously I've shared it with other people in the sex depatme—"

"Adriana, I really do not want to hear about you having sex with other people, nor do I want to think about you sharing a bed with them in any other capacity, especially after just having morning sex with you." His fingertips trickle up my spine and then pull my hair lightly. "Is that understood?"

"Sir yes sir!" I give him a playful salute which has him rolling his eyes. "Can we talk about a shower? Maybe getting some food?"

"Mmm now those are things that we can talk about."

"From the smell of it, I'd say that either Brooks or my dad are cooking up something in the kitchen." At least I truly hope one of them is because I am starving. Braxton and I had a long night and an equally long morning.

"Yeah, I'm sure either of them would be just thrilled at me joining them for breakfast. Your dad hates me."

"He doesn't hate you."

"Mhmm."

"He doesn't. Now, come on."

I pop up out of bed and head to the shower. He follows me and we make quick work of cleaning ourselves off. He scrubs me and I scrub him like we've done the act a million times even though it's the first time we've ever done it. It's hard to explain having such an automatic level of comfort with a person but Braxton and I have it.

He heads off to his room to fetch a fresh set of clothing as I put on mine. I keep it simple, dark jeans and a light blue tank. My semi-wet blonde hair tied in a low ponytail and tossed over my left shoulder. I fish out a pair of strappy sandals and put them on.

My bedroom door opens up a few moments later, revealing a casually dressed Braxton. The sight of him in light-wash jeans and a white v-neck tee have me practically salivating. I have really only ever seen him in black tactical gear or naked. Both of which looked good but right now he looks really really good.

"May want to pick your jaw up off the floor."

"Excuse me?" I saunter up to him.

"You heard me, Warner-Riley." He reaches out and cups my cheek. "See something you want?"

"Hardly." I step away and smack his ass before taking off down the hallway. "You coming, Marling?"

"For about the third time this morning— yes." His words have me laughing as he makes his way alongside me. Just as we're about to walk into the kitchen I hold out my hand to him. He takes it with a broad smile that has me flashing him one of my own.

"Now that's something I never thought I'd see," my father says, eyeing the two of us as we enter the kitchen together. My dad grumbles something under his breath which has my father elbowing him.

My dad clears his throat with, "good morning." Braxton and I take a seat at the table while both saying the same in return. He looks between the two of us and gives us a hearty sigh before setting down two empty plates and gesturing to the food items on the table. "Help yourselves. There's more where that came from."

Braxton's hand wraps around my knee under the table and gives it a light squeeze. I can't help but grin at him in return. It's nice to feel some kind of normalcy even if I know it's not going to last for long.

A/N:
Happy Weekend!