“You’re gonna feel this tomorrow,” I said into her ear. “You’ll still feel me inside of you.”

“Good. That’s what I want. I want it to hurt.”

Shit.

Her words egged me on as I fucked her harder.

“You…belong…to me now, Nina.”

She spoke through heavy breaths, “I’ve belonged to you from the moment you said ‘hi, I’m Jake.’”

We laughed against each other’s mouths as I continued to pound into her as the bed squeaked over and over. Her sweet words cut deep. I’d always felt that way, too. Somehow, she’d owned me from the beginning even when it didn’t make sense to feel that way about a stranger.

When her hands landed on my ass, I let out a growl. That was a serious weak spot for me.

We continued to fuck hard until I sensed she couldn’t take it any longer. Her pussy had clenched around me as she closed her eyes tightly.

“Open them. Look at me. I want to look in your eyes when we come together.”

I knew no matter what happened that I would never forget that moment. She held my face in her hands, and our eyes locked. When she screamed out in pleasure, every ounce of fear, every emotion I’d ever felt toward her, all of the love exploded out of me as I came in an orgasm so intense, it seemed like it might never end.

As my seed spilled inside of her, I silently mouthed, I love you. I love you. I love you.

***

We’d stayed up for hours fucking to the point of near exhaustion. She wasn’t going to be able to walk straight, and it still hadn’t been enough for me.

Not only had last night done a number on us physically, but now, almost nothing had been left unsaid.

Nina had nodded off around one in the morning. Watching her sleep had made me restless, and I needed something to get my mind off the day ahead since we’d agreed to have the talk as soon as I came home from work.

I used the opportunity to write her a poem, putting down on paper what I was afraid I’d never be able to articulate in the right way. At the end of it, I finally used the ‘L’ word.

And as I lay here watching her sleep,

I realize my feelings run deep.

Because they burn and cut like a knife.

I think I love her more than life.

Sleep claimed me shortly after I wrote it. Nina had woken up first around 2 a.m. and had found the poem. The very first thing that came out of her mouth when I woke to find the white piece of paper in her hand was, “I love you, Jake.” She’d said it with no hesitation, as if the words were always there at the tip of her tongue waiting to come out.

As beautiful as it was to finally hear them, they also stung in light of this being the day I had to tell her I was married.

Would she still love me?

The clock showed 5:30 a.m. now. She’d finally gone back to sleep around four. My bladder was ready to explode. Even though the thought of leaving her for even a second bothered me, I needed to get up to take a piss.

Lifting myself out of bed as quietly as possible, I stretched then slowly walked down the hall. As I was washing my hands, the sight of Ryan behind me in the mirror caused me to flinch.

His hair was a mess, and his eyes were bloodshot. “Are you happy now?”

The faucet squeaked as I closed it. “Excuse me?”

“Congratulations. You got what you wanted. How did it feel to fuck her?”

“I bet you’d love to know, and I think that’s been your problem all along.”

“You know what, Jake? When you’re long gone, I’m gonna be the one left behind to pick up the pieces of her broken heart.”

“You’re going to be picking up the pieces of your broken face in a minute if you don’t go the fuck back to bed and stay out of our business.”

“Nina is my business. Always will be. If you hurt her, I’ll kill you.”

“If you could see beyond your own egotistical jealousy, you’d know that I’d rather die than hurt her. You don’t know anything about who I am, Ryan.”

“Well, I think it’s time we found out.”

“Get the fuck away from me.”

Intentionally knocking into his shoulder, I walked past him and out of the bathroom. He was lucky that I couldn’t afford to fuck up today, otherwise, I would have knocked him out.

Going from dealing with his negativity to the angelic vision of Nina sleeping soundly back in her bedroom was quite the contrast.

As much as I tried not to let them bother me, Ryan’s words of warning shook me to my core. It felt like everything was suddenly closing in on me. The sounds of the morning outside were starting to seep through the apartment walls, a reminder that it was going to be time to get ready for work soon. I didn’t ever want this day to begin.

The need for reassurance overtook me.

Slowly inhaling the smell of our sex on her body, I nuzzled my nose into her neck. “Get up, baby. I need you.”

Nina stirred, pressing her bare ass into my rock hard morning wood. Completely naked against my boxers, she turned around and softly kissed my face.

“Do you have to get up now?” she asked in the cutest raspy voice.

“Not this second. Soon, though.”

She must have sensed my stress when she wrapped her hands around my face. “Are you okay?”

“I just…I need to be inside of you again.” My voice was strained.

“I want that, too. But we ran out, remember? We don’t have anything,” she said, alluding to the strip of condoms we tore through last night.