“Whoa there, easy girl,” Van laughed, as April dragged him into her mom’s empty apartment, undoing his belt before they’d even shut the door. “What will the neighbors think?”
“They’ll think… damn, that guy is getting lucky tonight,” she purred, as he finally slammed the door closed. Stepping back, she peeled off her shorts, then yanked her t-shirt over her head. “Are you just going to stand around making jokes, or are you going to fuck me?”
“You don’t need to ask twice,” he growled, pinning her against the wall, his lips descending on hers. This was it.
This was their final night together—only Van didn’t know it yet. Under her bed, she had a bag packed with the essentials, and a note for her mom and Van to read tomorrow morning. For her mom, she wrote that she was needed back at her store—some managerial problem had broken out—and that she would be back as soon as possible. The woman was so frazzled with rebuilding her stores that she probably wouldn’t even notice April had left.
To Van, she simply apologized. It had been a week since the fires tore her mom’s boutiques apart, and she knew James was probably getting impatient to see her relationship come to a screeching halt. So, April planned to take things into her own hands and simply end it. For the safety of her mom and for April, it was probably better this way, because James was a psychopath.
After things had calmed down, April vowed to find a way to stop the wedding; her mom couldn’t end up with the guy who was responsible for destroying her livelihood. Police had turned up no leads on the case of the burned boutiques, but April didn’t need a man in uniform to tell her who was behind the disaster. She knew. And for that, she had to put her feelings aside and bid Van farewell.
There was no room for excessive foreplay tonight. As much as she loved it when Van kneeled between her thighs and lapped at her slick pussy while she gripped his thick shoulders, that wasn’t what tonight was about. It wasn’t about forming a connection; it was about breaking one. Before she left, she wanted to give him one last night together. They’d already done the whole dinner and drinks thing, and this… this was what came naturally after.
Van groaned when she gripped his steadily hardening cock, pumping her hand up and down its length as they shared a punishing kiss. She encouraged teeth tonight; she wanted him to manhandle her—anything to appease her guilt for what she planned to do after they went to bed.
“Fuck me, Van,” she hissed, pushing his pants down, her nails scraping his skin. Groaning, Van turned her around and pinned her to the wall. April closed her eyes, spreading her legs and arching her ass out, as he dragged her underwear off. She was slick with anticipation. Even with the added weight of her feelings about leaving in the middle of the night, being with Van always made her hopelessly wet.
She cried out when he thrust into her, his hips slamming into her ass, as he filled her completely. Her body protested only slightly, needing a few seconds to accommodate his impressively thick cock—and Van waited, kissing her neck, her hair swept to one side. Patient. Giving. Forceful. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a lover and more.
And she was forced to give him up. The thought made her eyes prickle with tears, but she blinked them away.
As he thrust into her, April experienced a brief period of pure happiness. Connecting with Van on such an intimate level had made her exceedingly happy, and for a split-second, she allowed herself to feel that again.
Always thinking of her, he reached around to play with her clit, massaging it with his palm and flicking it mischievously. She moaned, as she climbed higher and higher to the brink of an orgasm, able to lose herself in the moment for just long enough to come with a heady sigh. Her body relaxed, as pleasure rippled through her limbs, stars dancing around in the forefront of her vision, and Van chuckled in her ear. The sound sent a shiver down her spine, and it helped her forget that she was one step closer to walking out the door.
“You think I’m done with you?” he asked, spanking her hard enough to make her hiss in surprise. “I’m just getting started, baby.”
She giggled softly, glancing at him over her shoulder. “If you can manage, I suppose.”
He spanked her again, harder this time, and she bit her lower lip. Pulling out of her, Van snatched her hand and hauled her through the dark empty apartment to her bedroom. Then, he tossed her on the bed and slammed into her over and over again, fucking her, pulling her hair, making her scream with delight.
Things quieted down an hour or so later, after they’d showered, had a light snack, and climbed into bed. She found she struggled to carry a conversation. So, she pretended to be tired—when really she just worried he’d detect the sadness in her voice. So, she lay there quietly instead, wrapped up in Van’s arms. Eyes closed; she waited, listening until his breathing evened out. He was a heavy sleeper—always had been—and she wanted to use that to her advantage when she broke both of their hearts.
***
It was difficult not to look like an enormous creep loitering outside her mom’s apartment building at two in the morning, but April did her best to be inconspicuous. With her packed bag in one hand and her phone in the other, she resisted the urge to call the cab company again and demand to know what kind of ridiculous detour her driver had taken. Hell, she’d called for a ride about a half hour ago; she should have been well on her way to the train station by now.
Nibbling her lower lip, she glanced up to the bay window that would have been her mom’s living room. Just a few rooms over, Van was passed out happily—and would wake up to her gone, again. She exhaled deeply, trying to put it out of her mind. She was going to be gone, one way or another, and it was better to cut the ties now, no matter how hard it hurt, than do it later when she’d fallen madly in love.
Right?
At least, that was what she told herself. That was what would get her to sleep every night for the next few weeks when her mind threatened to wander to Van Palmer.
Suddenly, a few feet from her, the front door flew open, slamming against the wall as a familiar figure stormed out. Van looked right first, and April’s instinct was to flee down the street; he had the note in his hand and everything. He wasn’t supposed to find that until late in the morning when she was long gone. However, her feet wouldn’t align with her brain, and she stood there in a stunned silence as he rounded on the spot.
He seemed just as surprised to see her there, standing awkwardly in front of the building, but he snapped to attention faster than she did.
“What the hell is this?” he demanded, thrusting the note in her face. His anger made her heart hurt, and she tried to hide the way her lip wobbled. “Are you fucking kidding me with this? You’re running? Again?”
She opened and closed her mouth a few times, eyes desperately searching for her cab. “Van… I…”
“Don’t you think I deserve something more than some half-assed apology? Haven’t I earned that?”
“Yes, of course you have,” she said quietly, her cheeks flaming. Van shook his head and crumpled the letter. She braced herself, imagining him throwing it at her, but he just slipped it into his pocket instead.
“April, what the fuck are you doing?” He ran his hands through his hair, sounding like he was trying to be very patient with her. “How do you think your mom’s going to feel about you bailing? Have you even told her?”
“I’m doing this for her!” April let out a sob and turned away, bringing a shaky hand to her mouth to hide her crying. Behind her, Van sighed heavily, and when he touched her shoulder, she pulled away.
“April, I don’t understand.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks, and a part of her just wanted to grab her bag and start walking. Surely she’d run into the cab somewhere along the way. However, another part of her, one that was more entrenched in all of her feelings, demanded she give him the truth—the honest truth about why she was abandoning them at the start of something fantastic.
“Your dad…” She took a deep breath and faced him, and his expression softened when he no doubt realized she was crying. “You dad told me when I first got here that you and I weren’t allowed to… you know, get close. He didn’t say why, but he just said that he wouldn’t stand for it, and if we did get close, there would be serious consequences.”
His jaw clenched, and she gave him a few moments to absorb her confession.
“He never said anything like that to me.”
“I don’t know why he felt the need to tell me, but he did.” She wiped her hands across her cheeks and sniffled. “He told me the day we were painting… Maybe he saw something that we didn’t, and he wanted to put a stop to it before it started. I don’t know. And then... my mom’s boutiques burned down, and I got scared—”
“There’s no way he had anything to do with that,” Van insisted—though he didn’t sound like he quite believed the words he was saying. “He loves your mom. He wouldn’t hurt her just to prove a point.”
“Whatever the reason is, I can’t be here with you because of him!” She almost threw her arms up in exasperation, then she grabbed her bag again. “I can’t. It’s too hard to be told that I can’t want you when I do.”
“April, hey… hey, come here,” he urged, crossing the distance between them and gathering her up in his arms. It felt so good to be held by him again, especially when she thought the last time he held her would be it forever. Closing her eyes tight, she snuggled against his chest, wishing the world would just fade away. Van pressed a kiss to her forehead, as he rubbed her back then muttered, “Fuck him.”
She looked up slowly, surprised. “What?”
“Fuck him,” he said, more strongly this time. “He doesn’t get to dictate who I date, or who you date for that matter. You’re mine, and I’m yours. You belong to me, and I don’t think you should go anywhere. Who gives a shit what he thinks?”
“But, the boutiques—”
“I’ll get to the bottom of it,” Van promised, and when their eyes met, she saw the passion lurking beneath. He really meant what he said. “First thing tomorrow, I’ll confront him about all of this. I’m not scared of that old man, and you shouldn’t be either. I’ll keep you safe. Your mom, too. He’s probably just worried what people will think about us if we got together.”
Her lips pursed; that wasn’t the reason why James threatened her, but she desperately wanted to believe it anyway. Who knew what was going on in the guy’s head, but if anybody could straighten this out, it was Van.
“I guess I should have come to you sooner,” she admitted, clinging to him as the world started to fall back into its rightful order. Van nodded then tipped her head back and kissed her.
“Yeah, you should have,” he whispered, his breath hot against her cheeks. “Give me that…” He took her bag then her hand. “You’re coming back to bed with me, and I’ll make things right.”
“Why?” The question slipped out as they approached the front door, and Van gave her the most meaningful look she’d ever seen, his brow furrowed, eyes wracked with concern.
“Because I told you already,” he said, as she punched in the security clearance, “I want to take care of you, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
April studied him for a moment, taking in the sincerity in his voice and the adoration in his eyes, then stood on her tip-toes to kiss him. If he planned to take care of her, then who was she to stop him? Maybe James’s threats really were hollow. Maybe she’d read too much into things. Van would set it right. He had to.
She told herself those words over and over again, as they climbed the stairs back to her mom’s apartment, wishing desperately to believe them.
But she couldn’t.