Later that night, Lucas came over with a sleeping Luna in his arms. He carried her into the bedroom and put her down, then quietly shut the door and joined me on the couch.

“Hi,” he said, leaning over to kiss me. I kissed him back, relieved that he was even in the mood for affection. I craved his touch, his kisses and the way he tasted and I didn’t want to have to hold back how I felt about him. I was falling for Lucas more quickly than I could have imagined, and it scared me almost as much as it thrilled me.

“Hi,” I said to him. “How are you? Did you spend the day with Luna?”

He smiled. “Yeah. I took her to the zoo. She’s pretty worn out.”

“I’m glad you guys had fun,” I said. “You needed it.”

He sighed. “Yeah.”

I kissed him again, then again until he started to respond to me, his mouth melting under mine. All I wanted was to make him feel better, to make him smile again. I pressed my body against his on the couch as we kissed, pulling him down on top of me.

“What are you doing?” he asked, grinning.

“You’re going to fuck me,” I said, reaching down to take off his belt. He stopped me but I held his eye firmly, determined to get what I wanted. I gave him an innocent look when he shook his head at me.

“Please, baby,” I said, and this time he allowed me to pull his cock out of his pants and lift my dress up. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since the last time you fucked me.”

“That was only last night,” he said, chuckling. “A few hours ago.”

“So why do I need it so bad?” I asked him, pouting. “Why do I feel like I can’t wait?”

“Luna’s here, baby,” he said, but he spread my legs anyway, positioning himself between them.

“I’ll be quiet, I promise,” I breathed as he rubbed the head of his cock up and down my opening. “We won’t wake her up. I just need you to fuck me rough like you promised, okay?”

He gave a soft growl, pressing inside of me in one smooth stroke. I felt wanton and wild using those words in front of anybody, but they reflected exactly how I felt—eager and urgent to take him, no matter what the risk. I almost lost my breath when he filled me and I felt the now-familiar fullness in my pussy. I’d been amazed I could take his cock but I found it fit perfectly inside of me despite how big it was.

His movements were slow at first, painfully so. We needed to go quickly but it seemed like he couldn’t bring himself to do it, like he wanted to take his time relishing the feeling of being inside of me for as long as he could. I dug my hands into his lower back to try to coax him to move more quickly, but he stretched it out by fucking me in long strokes, pulling out almost all the way each time he pulled back.

“Harder,” I pleaded with him when I couldn’t take it anymore.

I lifted my hips desperately against his and yet still he moved slowly, holding my body still as he rode against me. He was taking his time, making me crazy with his slow movements when all I wanted him to do was take me like an animal. I had so much desire pent up in me it could only be sated with the roughness he’d always promised to give me.

“Why are you doing this?” I whimpered softly into his ear. He gave a soft chuckle.

“Because this is what you wanted,” he said. He was moving against me in such a way that the front of his hips was rubbing against my clit, grinding against me. I felt like I was about to come and yet I needed more before I could. My body was craving a certain sensation that I needed him to fulfill before I lost my mind. I fought against his hands, and eventually, he let me move my hips as I wanted. I moved quickly underneath him, humping up against him, riding his cock from below.

“God,” he hissed, wrapping his arms around my waist to pull me against him. His hips sped up finally and he started to fuck me good and hard on the couch. The only sound in the room was the sound of his hips slapping against mine, and the soft whimpers I couldn’t keep from escaping my throat no matter how quiet I tried to be.

“Is this rough enough for you?” he asked when his hips were thundering against me, filling me up again and again with hard thrusts that almost took my breath away. I nodded, accepting every stroke of his cock. I came all over him the instant he hit my sweet spot and nearly moaned when he kept going. He made me come again before he spilled inside of me, then pulled out and sat next to me on the couch.

“Do you feel better?” I asked him, taking his hand in mine.

He smiled at me and nodded. “Much,” he said, leaning forward to kiss me. “You’re a bad girl.”

“I know,” I said. “Only with you.”

“I love it,” he said, and his voice was soft. I felt my heart skip in my chest when he said the word but knew what he meant—he wasn’t saying that he loved me, just that he loved when I let go.

“Did you talk to your lawyer again?” I asked. He nodded.

“I’m meeting with him tomorrow. I was wondering if you would pick Luna up from her new daycare.”

“Sure,” I said. “Just give me the address.”

“I will,” he said, his brow furrowed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s just that it’s her first day and I won’t be there to pick her up,” he said. “I hate that.”

“I know you do. But you’ll be there on other days,” I told him. “Don’t worry so much about it.”

He looked into my eyes then and I saw some emotion pass over his features, something like adoration that made my chest feel light.

“I hate what Maria said about you,” he said softly. “And I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not a big deal,” I said. I’d read the letter and had been surprised when it mentioned me at all. It mentioned Lucas having me babysit and asserted that I was a dirty smut, nothing but a bad influence. My work had been called as much before and it didn’t bother me, but the idea that I may have been bad for Luna made my stomach ache.

“It is a big deal. I’ve read what you’ve written. It’s not—it’s not trash.”

“Really?” I asked. I’d never asked him to read something I’d written before. I suddenly felt shy about it. “You read something?”

He nodded. “I was curious about what your style was. It’s beautiful, Ellie. You’re so talented. Please don’t let Maria get to you.”

I felt warmth all through my body and my heart fluttered in my chest. Being complimented on my beauty was one thing, but being complimented on my writing was the surest way to my heart. He seemed genuine and not at all like he was just sucking up to me. I leaned in to kiss him.

“I’m not letting her get to me,” I promised him. “Thank you, Lucas.”

He smiled, kissed me back. He wrapped his arms around me and we lay there for a little bit in silence while he stroked my back. I’d just started to fall asleep when he slid gently out from underneath me, giving me one more kiss and telling me goodnight before he went to get Luna. I watched him leave, my heart fluttering in my chest when he sent one of those perfect, dashing smiles over his shoulder at me.

The next day I worked hard, boosted by the compliments Lucas had given me. Every time I got feedback, I felt more compelled to write. The day passed quickly and I almost lost track of time until my phone alarm went off, reminding me that it was time to pick up Luna from preschool. I got up and stretched, then went outside to my car to drive to the bus stop where she’d be getting off. I got out of my car and waited for her, smiling as the bus pulled up just thinking about how happy Luna always was. I watched the kids pour off, waiting patiently to see Luna, growing more nervous with each kid who climbed off. By the time the bus was empty, I felt like panicking. I climbed on and looked in each of the seats frantically.

“Miss?” asked the bus driver. “What’s wrong?”

“Luna—my, um, friend’s daughter—where is she? There was supposed to be another girl on this bus.”

“All the kids are off the bus, ma’am. Maybe this is the wrong one.”

I shook my head. Lucas would never have gotten the details wrong about where I was supposed to pick Luna up from. I mumbled something to the bus driver and got off, looking around desperately as if there were some way I could possibly have missed Luna climbing off the bus. My heart was pounding when I didn’t see her, and I watched the bus pull away with a heaviness in my chest that made it hard to breathe. I pulled out my phone to call Lucas but thought of one more thing I could do before I put him in a panic. It was possible that Luna had missed the bus on her first day. I looked at the address he’d given me for her preschool and got in my car, rushing there as fast as I could without getting pulled over.

I got out of the car and hurried inside, walking through the hall and glancing into each classroom as I passed. Most of them were empty—a few of them with lone teachers sitting at their desk catching up on work.

“Ma’am?” someone asked from behind me. I spun around to see a woman, a teacher.

“I’m looking for my friend’s daughter. Her name is Luna. Have you seen her?”

“Luna is in my class. I saw her just before she left. Didn’t she get on the bus?”

“She wasn’t on the bus,” I said, already turning around to go back to my car. I pulled out the phone and dialed Lucas. When he didn’t answer, I hung up and called again. I knew he was in a meeting but this was much more important than anything he was doing—Luna was missing, and there was nothing I could do about it.