It was hard getting back to “normal” after that.

One hit of Lucy, and I became a junkie for that girl all over again. My bed felt too empty without her in it, and I found myself sorely tempted to creep down the hall after Delfino went to bed for a midnight rendezvous. Sure, I knew we had to play it safer than that. I knew us getting out of here in one piece depended on it. But having her once, and then having to let her go all over again—even if it was just so she could get some sleep, and to keep up the charade that would save our skins—was utter torture.

It made me restless, and not just for her—but for the open road. For the new lease on life I’d hoped to obtain by coming here and righting the wrong I’d committed years ago. I hated being in the condition I was in, separated from my bike, still hurting enough that I couldn’t properly ride it even if it wasn’t in dire need of repairs. And who could say if it was actually getting those repairs? I couldn’t trust Delfino to keep to his word, even though so far, that was exactly what he’d done.

That didn’t sit right with me, either. Okay, so he’d done what he’d said he’d do. But something about that was even more unsettling than if he’d shown his colors as an outright liar. What the hell was he playing at here, encouraging Lucy and I to play house? Was he really so arrogant as to believe she wouldn’t disobey him the moment his back was turned? Or were our dalliances something he was counting on?

And where was he going, anyway? From the way people treated him around town, I could only assume he had business with the people who made the rules, enforced the laws. Did he really have so much power Pleasant Lakes? If so… what the hell was it all for? What was he planning?

It made me nervous. And I wasn’t the kind of guy who dealt with nervousness well. It made my trigger finger itchy.

Yet at the same time… I felt like I had no right to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Delfino left every day around lunch, which meant Lucy and I got some quality alone time for several hours right in the middle of the afternoon. But even that didn’t satisfy me; I had begun to wonder just how brazen I could be without her “father” catching on to what I was doing while he was in the other room. Sometimes I’d run my hand over the curve of Lucy’s ass as she bent over the counter to reach for something, making her jump. She always glared at me something fierce, but I could see from the slight tilt of her lips that she enjoyed it. I enjoyed it too. I needed her to know that even with that maniac in the house, she was mine.

The longer I had to stay here and compete for dominance with Delfino, the worse that compulsion became. Until one day, watching her as she went about her chores, I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed a new drug. I was chasing the dragon.

As Lucy carried a laundry basket out of the utility room, I pulled her out of Delfino’s sight, under the stairs, and slid my hand up her side to grope her pert little breasts. The way she gasped when I made contact with her nipples took me from half-hard to all the way in an instant, and I pressed the front of my slacks against her hip to show her what she did to me. We couldn’t afford to talk. Not here. We couldn’t afford to so much as make a sound.

She looked up at me, her eyes wide with fear but glazed with lust. Her lips parted, but no words came out. When I ground against her a moment later, she sucked her lip into her mouth, closed her eyes, and squirmed. Any protest she might have had died right then and there. I could tell by the look on her face she was considering how dirty it would be to get away with fucking me right here, out in the open, with every chance of getting caught.

Fuck, thinking about it myself got me even harder. I plucked one of her nipples like the string on a guitar, and the resulting rush of air through her nose was sinful.

“Hike up your skirt,” I whispered. I knew it was a bad idea, but it just slipped out. I was used to putting words to what I wanted. I wasn’t much for subtlety. Never had been.

What a stupid fucking move.

Delfino’s voice came wafting from the living room mere steps away. “Lucy?”

Lulu shoved my hand away. Frantically, she tried to tuck her blouse back into her skirt. In doing so, she dropped the laundry basket. It clattered noisily to the floor, a sound that echoed like a gunshot.

Fuck.

I felt like a total asshole leaving her there, scampering up the stairs like a child trying to avoid the belt. But it was the only move that made sense. Lucy was already flustered, her cheeks red, her blouse suspiciously rumpled. Having me nearby would have made her look even guiltier. I told myself it was the right call, but I was seething on the inside. Fuck Delfino, and not just for the cockblock, but for making me feel like I was back home walking on eggshells around my drunken fuck of a father all over again.

Quickly, she picked up the laundry basket and held it in front of her, shielding the disheveled nature of her shirt from Delfino’s prying eyes. When he came around the corner, I opened and close the door to my room, walking out to the landing as though I’d just decided to come down. It would look like a coincidence. I hoped.

“You look afraid,” Delfino said, his gaze steadily roaming over Lucy from head to toe. “Is something the matter?”

“You startled me, is all,” she replied. Goddamn, I hated the way her voice changed—how airy and meek it became in his presence. “I guess I was in my own little world.”

Delfino affected a small, noncommittal nod, then glanced up at me as I leaned on the rail above them. Yeah, fucker, I thought. I’m watching you. But he didn’t seem to mind.

“I’m going out. Remember,” he said to Lucy as he moved past her to retrieve his hat and coat from the nearby rack, “while I’m gone, you’re expected to afford Mr. Richards every consideration.”

I wrinkled my nose. That wasn’t the first time he’d said some shit like that. It was almost like he was giving her permission. But that couldn’t be right, could it? I had to be reading this all wrong.

“Certainly,” Lucy replied, seeing him off onto the front porch. When he leaned down and turned his head, prompting her to kiss his cheek, my blood fuckin’ boiled. The only comfort I took was the fact that she gave such a clear moment’s hesitation before complying, but even that was tainted by my worry any change in her behavior would let Delfino know what we were up to. At this point, though, I really wasn’t sure I cared anymore.

She stood there, the door open behind her, watching as he got into his car and backed out of the drive. The breeze ruffled her long skirt and drew a few strands of hair out of her face, but she didn’t move. Not until Delfino put his shitty car in drive and passed the mailbox.

The moment she crossed the threshold and closed the door I was on her again, only this time I wasn’t pawing at her for sex. That bastard and their goodbye ritual had snuffed the light in her eyes, leaving her hollow, vacant, shell-shocked all over again. I couldn’t stand to see her like that. Lucy deserved to shine, no matter what was going on around her. That someone would dare to take that from her…

“I’m here, baby,” I whispered, wrapping my arms tight around her delicate body. With a squeeze, I reminded her, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Her gaze lifted to meet mine. I wanted to kiss her so badly it made my teeth hurt, but when I leaned down, she put her finger to my lips. Cocking her head just slightly, she closed her eyes, brows knitting in concentration.

“All right,” she said after a few moments had passed. I watched the tension in her muscles melt and she opened her eyes again. The light had reappeared in them. “He’s past the block now. He won’t be back for a while.”

“You were listening for his car?” I asked, running my fingers through her soft hair. This time, when she tilted her head, it was toward my hand. “How the hell can you hear it from in here?”

Lucy shrugged, her expression deadening once more. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve just spent so much time dreading that sound that I learned to pick up on it, even through closed doors.”

The very idea that she had spent so long learning to anticipate the sound of that engine from a block away struck me right in my heart. I wanted to rip Delfino’s goddamn throat out.

“He’s gone now,” I assured her, lightly taking her chin between my fingers and turning her to face me. “We can do whatever we want now. Whatever you want.” I smirked, my eyes darting toward the underside of the stairs. “We can pick up where we left off, if that’s what you’re into.”

Chuckling, she dipped her head. “I have laundry.” But when she peeked up at me from beneath her brow, I could see a spark of mischief in her gaze.

“Mm. Well, don’t get me wrong—that sounds like fun, but…” I stepped forward, edging her back toward the railing. She grinned and let me take the basket from her. “…I can think of at least twelve better things us mice could be doing while the cat’s away.”

“Twelve?” Intrigue widened Lucy’s eyes. “Name three, and I’m yours.”

I dropped the basket unceremoniously to the floor, placing my hands on either side of the banister to trap her between my arms. She didn’t seem to mind. “I could put my hands back up your blouse, roll those pretty nipples with both sets of fingers this time.”

“And what would I be doing?” she asked. “While all this was going on, I mean.”

I grinned. “You’d be letting me.”

“Hmm.” Lucy’s hands came to rest on my belt. “What else?”

I pressed my hips forward, changing her focus from my buckle to the bulge in my pants. She giggled, but didn’t move away. “I could kiss your neck the way you like. Spin you around, lift that skirt up over your hips, pull your panties down, and…”

She looked up at me. “What if I’m not wearing any?”

I groaned. My cock gave a low, hard throb against her palms and she gasped. “Then that brings us to the third thing.”

I could see the flush creeping up her throat and into her face. Where the collar of her blouse was parted, a little pink even skimmed over her chest. “Which would be…?”

“Sliding my dick so deep into you, you can taste it,” I muttered, moaning again as Lucy’s hands went to work across my length, fondling me from balls to tip. The ache in me turned more shrill and sharp. “Fuck, Lu… tell me you weren’t kidding. Tell me you’re not wearing any panties right now.”

The answer she gave me was much better than a simple yes. “Why don’t you lift up my skirt and find out?”

Immediately I obeyed, shoving the fabric up her thighs. Maybe I should’ve taken my time, letting her feel my hands as they slid along the outer curves of her thighs, but I so badly craved what was between them I couldn’t help myself.

“Holy shit,” I breathed. “You weren’t kidding.”

Lucy chuckled and went to work on my belt and pants. “I’d never joke about something as serious as a lack of panties,” she quipped.

This was the Lucy I remembered—the girl with the quick wit and the devil-may-care rebellious streak. This was the girl who routinely made my knees weak with just a smile, the girl whose sarcasm could fell a man like she shot bullets out her mouth. Currently she was the girl with no panties on and a pussy that, I could tell just by looking at it, was ripe and wet for me. When she unsheathed my cock from my jeans, the tip of it was just as wet for her. Like she’d done this all her life, Lucy rubbed her thumb across the glistening drop of precome, moving in slow, delicate circles that made my arousal seem like a tight, maddening spiral.

I surged forward, closer, trying to fit into her seam and hoping she would guide me there. But Lucy stayed my thrust, allowing me no nearer than I already was. It was tempting to press my thumb against some of those bruises I’d left in her hip, remind her who was boss.

“You gave me an idea,” she murmured, throttling me in her grasp. The pressure made me buck. “Just now, when you said how deep you’d like to be inside me. So deep I could taste you.”

“Uh-huh.” I fumbled for the zipper on her skirt. I had to be around here somewhere. “And?”

“And I want to,” Lucy replied, offering no help in the realm of undressing her. She was much too busy stoking a fire that was already burning so bright I was certain NASA could see it from space. “Taste you.”

Despite the filthy gutter that served as home to my state of mind, it still took a moment for her intentions to register. When they did, I gave way to a full-body shudder. “Christ…”

And then she sank to her knees, her bright eyes holding mine as she boldly ran her tongue along the path between my balls.

They tensed and I sucked in air through my teeth, digging my hands into Lulu’s hair. I pulled it away from her face so I could watch the progress of her slow, curious licks. She’d never done this before—not that I knew of, anyway—and oh, the way she took her time… I swelled for her, another dribble of lust founting from me. When she lapped me clean and kisses my buzzing tip, I almost lost it. And that would’ve been a damn shame, because now that I knew the heat and curl of her tongue, I wanted to know what it felt like to have it sweeping along me while inside her mouth.

“Slow, slow, slow,” I prayed, allowing her to explore, unimpeded, every wanting inch of me. If she went any faster, this wasn’t gonna take long at all.

With a small nod, Lulu flickered her tongue around the ridge of my crown, dragging from me another rumble of bliss. I tilted my hips a little, pressing against her mouth, and as she opened to receive me I glimpsed, for just a moment, the sight of my dick pillowed on her plush lower lip. A spasm overtook me and I slid further in, gliding across the surface of her tongue, stretching her lips as she endeavored to cover her teeth with them.

“Fuck…” It was such a slow crawl. Inch by inch I disappeared into her mouth, my flesh already so slick from her attentions that her lips offered no resistance. I stroked my base hungrily while she worked me in, granting myself some of that sweet friction I so desperately craved, until finally I was fully seated in her throat.

The sound she made as we interlocked was heavenly. I tipped my head back and closed my eyes, teeth firmly embedded in my lip as Lucy slowly began to test my limits.

It was so hard not to thrust into her. I sawed my hips just a little instead, a rocking motion that never pushed me too far back or drew me too far out, just to help her work into a rhythm. Goddamn, she was a natural, following my lead and then snatching the reins just as soon as she could. I’d had my dick sucked before, and by women who were considerably more experienced—but having Lucy do it meant something else entirely. It meant more. Maybe it was because of how hard I’d fallen for her, how we’d maintained this unbreakable emotional connection over all these years. Maybe it was seeing an angel on her knees that did it for me. Whatever the case, Lucy’s ministrations proved a religious experience. She was worshiping me in the same way I worshiped her.

And right in front of the door Delfino could come walking through at any minute. Having sex with Lucy upstairs, in my room, was risky enough—but this was downright stupid of us. Stupid, and yet mind-blowingly hot. I could see it in her eyes every time she glanced up at me. She was getting off on it too, this blatant fuck-you to the man who held her prisoner. Knowing that made every undulation of her tongue, every pull of her cheeks, that much sexier. I liked Lulu best when she was holding up both middle fingers to the world. My dick twitched hard at the thought that I’d inspired some change in her, that my return wasn’t just saving her—it was helping her to save herself.

“I’m gonna—” I plaintively gasped as she trailed her fingernails over my balls. They tightened at the sensation, a tell-tale sign that the complement it provided to her sucking was sending me over the edge. “Oh, Jesus, baby!”

Whimpering like a dog, I clutched the back of Lucy’s head to tether myself to something on earth while her mouth shot me up into the stars. Hard, hot pulses struck through me like lightning bolts, channeling the pinnacle of my lust right into her throat. She swallowed as I grunted and writhed, her lack of hesitation making the gesture that much sweeter. The way she accepted my climax was the same as the way she’d always accepted me: fully, and without question.

I doubled over her, panting, but the sharp twist of pain that electrified my ribs only served to drive me higher, make me crash harder, and leave me with the comfortable emptiness I’d seen men kill for. It wasn’t the vacancy of trauma or the numbness that came with emotional wreckage. This was peace. This was… heaven.

“God,” I whispered, using the banister behind Lucy to straighten again, wincing as another shock of agony curled through my side. As I withdrew from her to pull her body up against mine, to hold her tight enough that she could feel my heart pounding as a testament of what she did to me, I heard her chuckle in reply.

“I prefer Lucy or Lulu,” she said, licking her lips as they spread into a cheeky grin. “But I guess God will do, too.”

I shook my head in disbelief. This girl was all I’d ever wanted, all I’d ever needed, but even the summery haze of afterglow couldn’t hold off the cold tide of clarity forever. And in that moment, I remembered two very important things.

The first was that, in all my life, I had never once been able to hold onto anything that made me happy. No matter how hard I fought, no matter how much I sacrificed, any light in my life, in my darkness, was inevitably snatched away.

The second was that we were both still at the mercy of an unknown variable—a man who had a plan neither of us could fathom. As much fun as it was to act like teenagers in his absence, we needed to do something other than wait for the other shoe to drop. We needed to be ready for whatever bullshit Delfino was going to pull, because we both knew it wasn’t so much a question of if, but when.

I wasn’t going to let this all come crashing down around us. Not when I’d poured blood, sweat, and tears into getting here. Not when I’d braved broken bones and shredded skin just to lay eyes on the girl of my dreams again.

I hugged Lulu close. This time, come what may, I was going to hold on to the light—even if that meant I’d burn up in the process.