I had no idea what came over me, but for the first time in over five years I felt alive. It wasn’t just because Nova was such an amazing beauty that I was tripping over myself. It was because she knew about me. She knew who I was, what I was, and it still didn’t keep her away. What had I done to deserve this?

I’d parked my car in the alley in order to stay out of sight. If anyone at RIT had seen me, I would have never made it to the lobby, let alone be able to wait in the garage for a short while.

But now I’d wished I parked in front of the place so my step-father could see Nova getting in the car with me.

Oh, well. You can’t have everything.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she stretched her legs out in front of her.

“To my penthouse,” I replied. When I looked at her face in the natural light, I saw her cheeks were still flushed and her eyes had that glaze over them meaning she was feverish. I knew I looked the same way.

“Where is your penthouse?” she asked then bit her lower lip.

I gave her the address and hit the gas. The blocks flew past without my really seeing them. The lights changed from red to green. Pedestrians walked the sidewalks, cabs wove in and out of traffic, and all the while we drove in silence which spoke volumes about how we were feeling.

“You don’t mind that I’m bringing you here, do you?”

“No.”

“I promise to get you back to work so you won’t get in trouble. But, Nova, I have to have you. And not in an underground garage.”

Then she said something that made me laugh.

“To make up for his bad behavior, Dante said I could have an extra hour at lunch.” She sheepishly bit her thumbnail.

I laughed loud and hard. It felt good. This was the first real laugh I’d had since I got out of prison. And Nova was there for both of them. Hell, she was the reason.

Once at my apartment, I whisked her past the front desk to the private elevator. I inserted the key, the doors opened, we stepped inside, and as the doors closed I suddenly felt like I was in another world. It was a world of just the physical. There was no thinking, no talking, no working, just feeling.

I’d created a monster. Nova took my hand and slipped it under her shirt. I obliged by rubbing her breasts, teasing her nipples as she whimpered with pleasure while kissing me.

Finally reaching the penthouse, we stumbled in still kissing while kicking off our shoes and unbuttoning our shirts.

“Wait,” I said before Nova could get undressed. I took her by her hand and led her to the bedroom. The entire east wall was a window that looked over Lake Michigan. It was a cloudy afternoon. The entire city looked gray. Everything appeared pale and lifeless except for Nova.

She stood in front of the window looking out.

“Do you like the view?” I asked as I stood behind her, folded her curly blonde hair aside and began to kiss her neck. I loved how she leaned into me. Her plump behind pushed up against me, making the fabric of my trousers feel tight and uncomfortable.

“It’s beautiful.” She turned around to face me. “But I like this one better.”

She stood on tip-toes to kiss me. I was beyond rational thought. I didn’t want to think. Revenge was a foreign concept at the moment. I scooped Nova up in my arms and walked her to my king size bed.

I’d barely slept the night before. It looked like no one had even lay down, let alone taken a real rest. Nova’s hair spread out around her head as she lay on my pillow. I pushed my thigh between her legs and she responded by grinding her hips up to me.

“I can’t stand it,” she gasped. “Please, make love to me. I want to know what it feels like.”

“What?” I froze.

“I want to know what it feels like. I’ve never done it before.” I was shocked at what she was saying.

“Never?”

“No.” Now it was her turn to freeze. “Is that bad?’

I smiled down at her. If only Dante knew. I know it was a selfish and egotistical thought, but if Dante knew she was a virgin and that I was going to take it from her, he would have kicked my door down to get to her first.

“No, it’s not bad.” I rolled onto my back, pulling her on top of me. “We will take our time. I promise. And if you want to stop you just say so.”

She kissed me long and hard. “I won’t want to stop.” She began to slowly grind her hips against me. There was nothing but her small silk panties and a few layers of cotton between my throbbing erection and her saturated valley.

She unbuttoned her blouse and pulled off her bra, letting her full, robust breasts pour out. I had to touch them, taste them, tease them.

With her lips on mine and her legs on either side of me I could no longer wait. I rolled over on top of her, unzipped my pants and kicked them to the floor clumsily. She looked so sexy with her skirt hiked up over her hips. Gently, I pulled her panties down.

There was a slight tremble I could feel from her body.

“Are you all right?” I asked as I towered over her.

She smiled sweetly as I lowered myself down and slid inside. She was amazing. Everything around us melted away. I could only feel her body writhing beneath mine as she groaned with pleasure.

Gently, we rocked back and forth, kissing and exploring each other. In all honesty, it felt like the first time for me too.

“Please, don’t stop,” she said.

“I won’t,” I promised. But the way she looked up at me, the way our bodies moved together was too much. I was feeling the edge of my orgasm creeping up on me. It had been so long since I allowed myself to think of life as being fun, as being beautiful and exhausting and titillating that I almost didn’t know what to do with this beauty in my bed. She was soft and curvy, fitting together with me perfectly. When I squeezed her, she gasped, making me want to do it more and more.

I could see in her eyes the lust I was feeling too. It was like we were sharing a secret.

“What are you doing to me?” she panted.

“I’m giving you what you wanted. All of me,” I replied as our movements became faster and stronger. Her groans became cries of passion. Even I had to moan with each thrust as I felt her tightening around me.

Within seconds there were fireworks in front of my eyes. My body exploded and I cried out her name.

“Nova! Nova! Oh God!”

I wrapped my arms tightly around her and squeezed. Her breath was hot in my ear and she clung to me. My body felt as if I’d just received ten-thousand volts of electricity through my whole system.

“Are you all right?” I asked for the second time.

“I’ve never been better,” she purred.

We lay together for several minutes catching our breath and enjoying the delirious satisfaction that came with our love-making.

It was only a matter of time before the harshness of life came back into focus. There were so many things I wanted to tell Nova. Things I felt she needed to know but now I didn’t know how to begin. Everything about me and about my family would scare her for sure.

“Obviously, I got your note,” she started. “What did you mean when you said that you needed me to help you at the office?”

I didn’t know what to say. How could I tell her that I wanted her to risk her job for me? Even though we’d just shared the most intense physical experience I’d ever had, I couldn’t find the courage to ask her.

“I can’t think right now,” I stalled.

“You were right about Dante,” she said sadly. “But, Alex, I can do that job. I can do it well. I know I can. I’m afraid that if I don’t play ball I’ll probably be out of that job.”

“You are probably right.” I swallowed hard. The last thing I wanted to do was give her bad news at a time like this. Especially at a time like this.

“So, what is it you need me to do?” she asked softly.

“What do you mean?”

“The note you slipped under my door.” She propped herself up on her elbow and looked at me. Her blonde hair was tussled around her face. Her full breasts pressed against my chest. “You said your mother was being drugged and that you needed my help. She isn’t at the office, is she?”

“No. She’s at her home. The home she shares with Dante.” My eyes started to fill with tears but I held them back. “The reason I went to jail was to protect her. If I didn’t admit to the fraud, Dante would have made sure it hung on my mother. What kind of son would I be if I let that happen?”

“She doesn’t know this?”

“No. But that one piece of paper in her office is all I need.” I took a deep breath. “You are my only hope.”

“Like Obi Wan Kenobi.” She smiled.

“What?”

“Come on. Star Wars? Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.” She screwed up her face. “Princess Leia? R2-D2? Little hologram?”

“Oh, yeah.” I smiled. “Yeah. You’re like Obi Wan.” The whole concept made me chuckle. “But things are different now. I can’t ask you to do this. It’s too dangerous.”

“What? Too dangerous? I just have to retrieve a piece of paper from your mother’s office. How hard can that be?”

“Well, you’ve got Joan guarding the door every day. Dante stays late every night. And now that I’m out of jail, he’s bound to be in there looking for it. When he’s not shooting my mother up with morphine or screwing around with the newest secretary. No offense.” I squeezed her to me.

“None taken. I didn’t screw him.” She smiled proudly.

“We need to get a plan together, or all of this will be for nothing and he’ll kill my mother.” Alex clenched his teeth.

“Then let’s get to work. I have to be back at the office in half an hour.”

“Where did you come from, Nova? How can this be real? I’m going to wake up any minute and realize I’m still in jail with another two years to go. This is a dream, isn’t it?” I sounded like a nerd.

She climbed on top of me, her legs straddled on either side, her breasts pressed against my chest, and kissed me deeply.

“It’s not a dream.”

Although I could have, we didn’t make love again. Instead, we quickly dressed and I rushed her back to work assuring her that I’d call her shortly after I had some time to figure out how to help my mother. There was no way I could set foot in that building without having half a dozen security guards jump me and toss me out on my ear.

“Is there a way I can reach you if I find this paper you’re looking for?”

“Oh my gosh. I’m so stupid.” I kissed her gently on the cheek. “We didn’t really meet in a traditional sense of exchanging numbers and talking on the phone, did we?”

“Not really.”

I wrote my number on her hand like we were in high school.

“Don’t lose it.” I smiled before I kissed her palm.

“Not a chance.” She rolled her hand into a fist and held it to her chest.

I dropped her off a block away. I didn’t want anyone to see her getting out my car and spreading it around the office. Not that I wasn’t proud to have her on my arm, but I needed her to stay relatively invisible, just another hot new secretary and nothing more. I had no idea the lengths Dante would go through to dominate his latest female conquest. But I learned in short order.