My face is just as bad as I expect. Blotchy skin. Swollen eyes. Black tear tracks down my cheeks. I carefully remove the makeup and spend a few minutes with a cold washcloth over my face. It won’t help all that much, but at this point something is better than nothing. I hardly look like the seductress who started this weekend; more like a scared mess of a woman who doesn’t know what Monday will bring.

  I debate putting on more makeup, but it won’t do much good until my skin calms down, and I don’t think Albus is going to let me hide up here for over an hour until that happens. I press my hands to my eyes and take a deep breath.

 I can do this. He’s seen me without makeup more often than he’s seen me with a full face of it on. I was hardly worried on long pool days when my hair was stiff with chlorine and my nose was sunburned from taking too long to reapply sunscreen.

  I also didn’t know what Albus’s cock tasted like on those days.

  Or have a plug in my ass that he put there.

  I take a deep breath, smooth down my skirt, and give my hair a toss. That will have to do.

  I find him in the little nook connected to the kitchen, setting up a cribbage board, and stop short in the doorway. “What are you doing?”

  “It’s been a while since we played.” Albus shuffles the cards, bridging them in a really satisfying sound that takes me back. Kyle never enjoyed this game, but my grandfather had taught me as a kid and Albus knew how to play, so we’d spent quite a few evenings in this exact spot while Kyle watched movies in the living room.

  “Albus…” I don’t know why I’m hesitating.

  He finally looks at me. “We won’t talk about him, but there’s plenty of other shit we can talk about.” His lips quirk up. “Sit down and play with me, Miya.”

  It seems simple enough, and I find I do want to play.

  I sit, and immediately jump at how it makes the plug move. Albus grins at me, wickedly delighted. “Problem?”

  “You know damn well it’s the plug you put up my ass,” I mutter, but I can’t help smiling a little too. This is too ridiculous. And it doesn’t feel bad. Just strange. We cut the deck to see who deals first, and it falls to me. As I shuffle, I watch him. “You know, your cock is significantly larger than this plug. If you try to shove it in my ass, you’re going to rip me in half.”

  Albus arches his brows and takes the seat catty-corner to me just like he always does. “You’ve been fucking the wrong people, Miya. Everything goes smoother when you slow things down. Including my fucking your ass.” He says it like it’s a sure thing.

  I’m not certain he’s wrong.

  “Uh huh.” I deal the cards and we don’t speak for a few moments as we get our hands together. Each round of cribbage is split into two parts, and we fall into the rhythm of it as if it hasn’t been three months since we played last. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around much. Things got hard with…” I stop myself in time. I say I don’t want to talk about Kyle, but he just keeps coming up, making a liar out of me.

  Albus lays down his hand and counts out his points, and waits for me to do the same. It’s only after I’ve moved my peg that he says, “How’s work going?”

  I flash him a grateful smile. “Really, really good. The permanent position at Midway High School has been so great. I feel like I get a lot of support from the principal and the district, and the kids are just… the best. They’ve been the highlight of the school year.”

  He shuffles and deals the cards out for the second hand. “They aren’t giving you shit?”

  “They’re high schoolers.” I laugh a little. “Of course they give me shit. I’m young and I’m new, and even if I wasn’t, it’s natural for them to want to test boundaries.”

  This time, I get more points in the first round, and the second round. Albus pushes the cards to me so I can shuffle. “If you were my high school teacher, I wouldn’t have been able to focus on shit.”

  “If I was your high school teacher…” I pretend to think. “Pretty sure corporeal punishment was allowed back then. I would have smacked the shit out of your hands with a ruler.”

  Albus glares at me, but he’s blatantly fighting not to smile. “I’m forty-seven, Miya. Hardly Grandfather Time.”

  “I know.” A laugh escapes. A real one, loud and freeing. “I promise I know.” By the time I deal out the third hand, I’m mostly in control of myself. “And your work? Have you wrapped up that big project?” They’d been working on a new shopping mall in the area, a huge deal for Albus’s company to be in charge of.

  “Yeah, we got it done right before the holidays.”

  We chat like that, back and forth as we move through the cribbage board. It’s easy. So incredibly easy. I’m a little ashamed at how much relief it gives me to be able to talk freely without twenty layers of hidden meanings the way my conversations with Kyle had become in the last few months. Neither of us saying what we really meant—unless we were fighting and spitting venom at each other.

  “Miya.”

  I give myself a shake and look at him. “Sorry, I was thinking dark thoughts.”

  Albus motions to the board. “You just won, baby girl.”

  I look at my hand on the table and then look at the board. “Oh wow, I guess I did.” I don’t sound particularly excited, even to my own ears. Damn it, I’m ruining this distraction he created for me. “Sorry, Albus, I—”

  “How many times do you think we’ve played this game? Sitting at this table in these specific spots?”

  I blink. “What? I don’t know. At least a hundred.” Most nights we played more than one, kept going until Kyle got bored enough to start bitching it was time to leave. A dark part of me wonders if he was texting other women while I was blissfully playing cards with his father.

  “Mmhmm.” Albus sits back in his chair and looks at me. “And you’ve worn that tease of an outfit through at least a few of those times.”

  I glance down at my clothes. “It’s meant as a makeshift swimsuit cover-up.”

  “Is it?” He moves, fast as a snake, and grabs the bottom of my chair, dragging it to the corner of the table, until my knees bump into his legs under the table and our chairs almost touch. He casually shifts to flip up my skirt, displaying my white panties. “Doesn’t look like you’re wearing a swimsuit right now.”

  My skin heats and I nibble my bottom lip. “That’s because I’m not.”

  “Spread your legs.”

  I force myself to hesitate even though I want to do exactly as he commands. “Albus,” I murmur. “We shouldn’t.”

  He looks over my shoulder in the direction of the living room, understanding flashing across his handsome features. “I just want to look, Miya.”

  I move haltingly, bracing my hands on the chair behind me and slowly spreading my thighs. It takes a little maneuvering to get around the table leg, which means I won’t be able to slam them shut. Knowing that makes this hotter. “Like this?”

  “Yeah, baby girl, just like that.” He exhales slowly as if the sight affects him even now, when he’s had me in so many different ways. Almost like this is the first time we’ve crossed the line. He reaches down and ghosts his hand over my panties. Not quite touching, but I swear I can feel the heat of his palm through the lace.

  I’m shaking from the need to move, shaking from desire. “You said you were just going to look.”

  “That’s all I’m doing.” His gaze meets mine as he draws one knuckle down the center of my panties. “Oops.”

  “Albus.” But I don’t try to stop him as he rubs my pussy through my panties. Just that slow drag of his knuckle over my slit and up to my clit and then back down again. “This isn’t what I agreed to.”

  “Do you want me to stop?”

  I make myself look over my shoulder at the doorway into the living room. It doesn’t matter that it’s empty, that neither of us have said his name. We both know what game we’re playing. “No,” I whisper. “Don’t stop.” I lick my lips. “It’s not like you’re really touching me, right? It’s just through my panties.”

  His gaze flares hotter. “That’s right, Miya.” He roughly palms my pussy, pressing his fingers to my ass where the plug is and making me jump. “I’m not really touching you at all.” He pulses his hand, and I have to fight back a moan. “In fact…” Albus reaches up and idly knocks the deck of cards onto the floor at my feet. “Well, fuck. Better pick these up.”

  I watch with wide eyes as he goes to his knees. He has to push my chair back to make room, and then he’s between my thighs, his big hands urging my legs wider. Albus holds my gaze as he presses an open-mouth kiss to my panties. I bite my lip hard to keep a moan inside. “Albus, you promised.”

  “I’m not touching you.” He kisses me again, his tongue tracing my pussy through the lace. “I’m just picking up the damn cards.”

  I slump back in the chair as he works me with his mouth. We’re both so quiet, as if there really is someone else in the house, as if we’re half a second from being caught. My panties are soaked, both from my need and from Albus’s mouth. “Someone will see.”

  “Shh.” He drags the flat of his tongue over my clit.

  “Albus.”

  “Do you want me to stop?” The arrogant look in his eyes says he knows damn well that I’m half a second from digging my fingers into his hair and riding his face to orgasm.

  “No. But… I thought you wanted to look.” I can’t quite catch my breath. “Don’t you want to see what you do to me?”

  “Show me.” He moved back a few inches, barely enough space for me to get my hand between us.

  “Promise you’ll only look.”

  He gives me a long look. “I promise.”

  Neither of us believe him. I reach down and hook my panties with my finger, towing to them to the side. We both exhale at the sight of my pussy. I’m so wet, I can see it in the fading light of the day. Albus blows out a long breath directly over my clit and this time I can’t stop a little moan from slipping free.

  “Show me,” he growls. “Let me see every bit of that pretty pussy.”

  I use my free hand to part my pussy, putting myself on full vulgar display for him. “Do you like what you see?”

  “Let me have a taste, Miya.” He drifts a little closer. “Just a little taste. No one has to know.”

  “Yes.” The word is barely more than a soft exhale, but he hears it all the same. I hold myself open as Albus leans in and drags his tongue over me. “Oh my god.” He does it again, and again and then he holds my gaze as he thrusts his tongue into me. “Albus.” I’m gasping. “That feels so good.”

  He rests his forehead on my lower stomach, breathing hard. “Keep saying my name like that, Miya, and I might forget myself and fuck you right here.”

  Playing with fire. That’s all I’m doing with this man. Playing with fucking fire. “Albus,” I whisper.

  He surges to his feet, catching me around the waist and lifting me onto the table. His dark gaze dares me to protest as he unbuttons the front of his jeans and draws his cock out. “Hold your panties to the side again.”

  I scramble to obey and shoot a look at the window. We haven’t turned on the lights and the setting sun probably has created a mirror of the windows, but that doesn’t change the fact that we are in clear view of anyone who’s feeling nosy enough to look. “Someone might see.”

  “What are they going to see?” He drags his cock over me. The broad head of him breaches my entrance. “It hardly counts.”

  I’m breathing so hard, my breasts are shaking with every exhale. “That’s not how it works.” I watch him slide another inch into me.

  “You sure about that?” He grips my thighs and lifts, pressing them back toward my chest as he sinks deeper. “You’re still wearing your panties like a good girl, aren’t you?”

  If anything, still wearing my panties makes me feel even sluttier. I try to look innocent and pout a little. “Are you sure? This doesn’t feel like I’m being good.”

  “It doesn’t feel good?” He shifts one hand to brush my clit with his thumb. “How about now?”

  I squirm. “Wait.”

  “Wait for what?” He circles my clit again, but doesn’t sink the rest of the way into me. “Use your words, Miya.”

  “I want to be good.” I lick my lips. “But I really, really want to be bad, too.” When he still doesn’t move, I keep talking. “Fuck me on this table, Albus. Please.” I glance at the door to the living room. “Just be quiet.”

  “I’m not the one who’s going to have to be quiet.” He presses me flat on the table and covers my mouth with a big hand. The pressure against my lips makes me moan as much as him forcing his cock the rest of the way into me.

 He felt impossibly big in the truck with the addition of the plug, but somehow it’s even more intense in this position. “You can tell yourself that you don’t want this, that it doesn’t count, but we both know the truth.”

 He leans down and his lips brush my ear. “You’ve been looking for an excuse to climb on my cock since the day we met.”

  I make a sound that might be protest, but it doesn’t matter because he’s fucking me in long strokes. He barely pauses to guide my hands to my thighs, forcing me to hold them wide and even closer to my chest.

I try to keep the waves of pleasure at bay. I really do. I pull his palm off my mouth enough to say, “Hurry. We have to be quick.” Then I go back to holding myself open for him.

  Albus clamps his hand around my jaw and his expression goes hard. “You’ve been denying me this pussy, Miya, but it’s mine now. I’ll fuck you as fast or slow as I want. Do you hear me?”

  “Yes,” I whisper.

  “You clamp around my cock every time I remind your pussy who it belongs to.” He keeps thrusting, keeps imprinting the feel of him into my very soul. “You like it when I get possessive.”

  I want to deny it. This feels like a different kind of dangerous. But I can’t deny the truth. “I like feeling owned by you.”

  Albus’s expression changes, something flickering in those dark eyes that I can’t put a name to. “I should finish inside you, should send you back to him all filled up with my come.”

  “Do it,” I challenge.

  “No.” He pulls out of me and hits his knees in front of the table. He wraps his fist around the crotch of my panties and drags them down my legs. “I’m keeping these.”

  “Wait—”

  “No shields, Miya.” He looks up at me. “You might be a little slut for wanting my mouth on you, but you’re my good girl. And my good girl asks for what she wants.”

  Pleasure thrills through me. “Make me come, Daddy.”

  He doesn’t immediately close the distance between us. “You’re going to orgasm all over my face, and then I’m going to fuck that pretty mouth until you swallow me down.”

  It’s not quite a question, but I’m already nodding. “Yes. Please, yes. That’s what I want.”

  And then his mouth is on me again. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of how much Albus loves eating my pussy. He fucking savors it, like I’m a fine wine and he’s determined to pick up all the notes like I’m his favorite treat. For once, he’s not teasing me.

He’s going after me like my pleasure is his to command, like my next orgasm is the only thing he wants. I come so hard I lose my balance and smack back onto the table. He lifts his head in surprise, but I dig my fingers into his hair and tow him back down. “Just a little more. Please, Daddy.”

  Albus chuckles against my heated flesh. “Greedy girl.”

  “Yes.”

  Even though it wasn’t what he promised, he works me up again, slower this time, until I’m quivering and whimpering, and begging him to finish me off. Albus pushes a single finger into me and strokes my G-spot. “I’m going to fuck your ass tonight, Miya.”

  I’m so out of my mind, my earlier apprehension feels like a thousand miles away. “Do it. I don’t care. Do it now. Just let me come.”

  He sucks hard on my clit and then he gives me what I need, my orgasm so intense I forget to breathe for several long moments, only managing a harsh inhale at last moment. “Holy shit.”

  Albus pulls me up and gathers me to him, holding me close as I ease back into my body. “Holy shit,” I repeat. “Do you think you can die from sex being too good? Because I think I might be dying.”

  His rough laugh makes me shiver. Albus shifts back enough to gently clasp my chin and lift my face to his. He kisses me, the barest brushing of his mouth to mine. “You say that now, but in about thirty seconds, you’ll be begging for more.”

  “I don’t know.” I cling to him, his steadiness soothing something inside me. “It’s never been like this before. It’s never even been close.”

  He releases my chin and tucks my head in against his shoulder. “It’s never been like this for me, either.”

  Alarms try to blare through my head, a warning that we’re both in deep and sinking fast, but I can’t make myself care. Maybe we were always in too deep and this weekend is only showcasing exactly how fucked we are. “Albus…”

  This time he doesn’t interrupt me, doesn’t distract me. He just waits. If I was stronger, I’d tell him about the complicated feelings in my chest, the ones that signal that this is anything but a simple revenge fuck. I’m not strong though. I’m a coward.

  I nudge him back a step and slide down to my knees in front of him. Something akin to disappointment flickers over his face before he runs his fingers through my hair and shifts it to wrap around his left fist. He wraps his other hand around his cock and taps it to my bottom lip. “Open.”

  This isn’t like in the truck earlier. He let me suck his dick then. Now he’s fully intending on fucking my mouth.

  “One day, I want to see your lips painted a pretty pink and wrapped around my cock.” He thrusts slowly, letting me adjust as much as I’m able to. “This, though? This is fucking perfection, baby girl.” He hesitates. “It gets to be too much, you slap my thigh. Do you understand?”

  He allows me to withdraw enough to answer. “Yes, Daddy.” I should leave it at that, but I can’t. “It won’t be too much.”

  His dark laugh is the only warning I get before he starts moving again. Where before, he was easing me in, because he’s so damn careful with me, now he’s using me to get himself off. Using my mouth.

  He’s too big, too long, just too fucking much. He’s barely halfway in when he’s triggering my gag reflex. “Use your hand, Miya.” He barely slows down to allow me to obey, gagging me just the tiniest bit with every stroke, his expression downright ferocious as if daring me to protest. I fist my hand around his cock.

  I almost panic. I can’t breathe with him filling me, can’t control anything, can’t stop him from going too far…