Another evening, another drive back home late in the evening.

Work had been piling up. It was a bit surprising, how much I still needed to put into the business, even with someone else helping out. Most of the administrative work fell on my shoulders, and more often than not I stayed late to lock up, though the trainer I’d hired had told me he wouldn’t mind locking up since he stuck around until the last customers left anyway.

I was too much of a coward to admit to myself I hadn't taken him up on the offer because it was convenient for me.

I sighed to myself once home was in sight. I planned to go right to bed, maybe even catch something to eat before I went to sleep.

That idea went down the drain immediately when I glanced at Lydia’s house on reflex and saw a man standing on her doorstep.

Who was that…?

My first response was to overreact. I could have hit myself in the next second for even considering Lydia could have anything in common with my ex. I probably had the wrong idea, and I needed to talk to her before just jumping to conclusions. I parked my car and got out, still staring at them in curiosity.

That was when I noticed how stressed Lydia looked because I was paying attention now. She had one hand on the door, the other on the doorjamb like she was blocking the man from entering. She had a tightly worn expression, one I’d never seen on her face before. Then she slammed the door in the man’s face.

What the fuck?

I’d never seen Lydia act like that. Not that I got to see her interact with many people, since a lot of our time together was spent in her bedroom, but still. The reaction was too unexpected, all directed at this particular man who was still standing on her doorstep as if expecting her to open up for him again?

She didn’t, which was consoling, but I realized I was angry that this man was even here.

This fuckwad… who is he, and what did he do to upset my Lydia?

The possessive thought jumped in my mind suddenly, and though I’d been avoiding her before and at times too busy to find a moment for us to share, I didn’t bother lying to myself. I’d missed her over the past few weeks because it was hard to get even a glimpse of her. I’d known before, if I saw her, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself going to her right away, that was how deep I was already. That was the main reason I hadn’t allowed my new employee to lock up. The delay kept me from seeing her.

And now here was this guy, upsetting her, and I couldn’t just look away. I’d had plans of going home and resting, but decided to head over to her place instead, stalking up her driveway. At around the same time, the man turned around and walked towards me. His brow was furrowed in a frown, and he was looking down. He probably didn’t even see me.

I could see long before it happened that he was going to walk right into me. I hadn't meant to do anything to him, just go straight to Lydia and ask for answers directly from her. I didn’t want to get into a fist fight in her front yard. I already knew she didn’t like fighting.

But because I was pissed, I didn’t bother making room for him.

When our shoulders bumped, we both stumbled back from the impact. I hid a wince. Fuck, this guy was a little buff under the baggy black jacket he was wearing. I could see though, when he looked up, that he was way older than me, near to or in his forties.

“Watch where you’re walking, you fucking asshole,” he growled, glaring at me.

Heh. So he’s got attitude?

I was looking for whatever excuse I could get to kick this guy’s ass, and he just handed it to me on a platter.

“What did you just call me?” I asked, my voice low and threatening, taking a step forward.

He wasn’t a coward, straightening his back and taking a step closer, his glare intensifying. If I hadn't gotten into a ring with guys bigger and with worse looks than he had, I might have reconsidered. I might have done boxing as a competition before, but it was still basically two guys beating each other up with one of them trying to win.

I didn’t lose easily.

“You heard me just fine,” he growled back. He glanced over at the house, and back to me. “What are you doing here, anyway? Don’t tell me you’re something to do with Lydia?” He scoffed, eyeing me up and down with hard blue eyes.

That had me seeing red. “So what if I am? You got a problem with that?”

“Yeah, I have a problem with it. I suggest you turn your ass around, little boy, and go back home. I think it’s past your bedtime, yeah? Lydia can do way better than you, anyway.”

“I think you want to watch what you say,” I growled low, the threat in my voice unmistakable.

He smirked. “Oh, don’t tell me she’s your type. She’s too old for you, don’t you think? Leave her the fuck alone.”

My body moved on its own, muscle memory working overtime. All I could think was who was this bastard to tell me what to do? Who the fuck did he think he was? And what right did he have to say what he did about Lydia? My arm pulled back, hand clenched into a tight fist. I let it fly at his jaw in a roundhouse punch.

I’ve still got it, I thought to myself with a smirk when just one punch had him knocked flat on the ground. He looked up at me, his expression molded to one of surprise, and I could have laughed.

“You’ll be the one leaving Lydia alone, you hear me?” I told him.

He gaped up at me, one hand going to where I’d punched him. Before I could gloat some more, we both heard a gasp that had us turning around. It was Lydia coming out of the house. I pursed my lips, worried she’d be angry with me, but not regretting what I did. She came over to where I stood, and I hurried over so she wouldn’t get too close to that bastard.

“Lydia, was this man bothering you?” I asked, holding onto her shoulder and stopping her from going further. She trembled under my hand, and I frowned in slight concern. “Is something wrong? I can get rid of him for you, if you’d like?”

She shot him a look that was part angry, part uncertain. Instead of answering, she latched onto my arm and tugged me behind her.

“Just... come on, come inside with me.”

I was reluctant, throwing a glare at the guy that was just picking himself up off the ground, but I let her tug me behind her.

“I’ll be back, Lydia,” the man called, making both of us stop. “And next time, I’ll bring the law with me, so think carefully, alright?”

I was about to go back to beat the bastard black and blue, but Lydia didn’t let go of the hold she had on my arm. Instead, she kept dragging me inside, then closed the door behind us and leaned back against it. She had her eyes closed, and she took in a deep breath that she let out slowly, before opening her eyes to look up at me. I was still expecting her to blow up at me for what I did, but she smiled instead.

“Thanks for that,” she said, looking impressed. “I didn’t think that idiot would show up here. Thanks for warning him off.” She grimaced. “Now, if only he’d stay gone.”

“I thought you’d be mad at me for it,” I admitted sheepishly, running a hand through my hair.

Her eyes widened as they followed my hand, and she grabbed it as I went to drop it down. I saw what the problem was when I noticed the mess my knuckles were. I grimaced.

“He had a hard jaw,” I explained. “I hit him with full force. I forgot I didn’t have boxing gloves on.”

Lydia gave me an amused look before fretting over my hand.

“Come on,” she said, leading me again, this time up the stairs and to her bedroom.

She directed me to sit on the bed, then went looking for something.

“I’m sure I have a first aid kit around here somewhere,” she muttered.

“You don’t have to treat it. I can just wash it with cold water, maybe put some ice on it. It’ll be just fine after that.”

She shot me a frown. “You sit there and wait for me. Don’t complain. You did something for me, so let me do the same for you, okay?”

When she said it like that, I couldn’t refuse.

“So, who was that guy, anyway?” I asked, curious and still annoyed.

Lydia sighed as she came back to the bed with the first aid kit in hand, dragging a seat to her vanity table and setting it down in front of me. She didn’t take my hand immediately, just sat there staring down at the box in her lap, holding onto its sides tightly. She looked miserable as she finally looked up at me.

“That man,” she said, “was my husband. Ex-husband,” she corrected. “He came to tell me that he wants his son back.”

My jaw dropped, eyes growing wide as her statement sunk in. No fucking way. The same man Adam and I thought was dead? Adam suspected it more than I did, since he was a cop and he went according to evidence. I’d refused to think Lydia could have done anything like that, even if I’d been a little distant because I couldn’t help but worry about it silently. All my walls crumbled, because now I was certain she hadn't done it.

The bastard was alive and well. Before I punched him in the face, anyway. And he was even back and causing problems for my…

I paused as I tried to find the right word. I’d thought of her as my Lydia. What exactly was she to me? A girlfriend? Lover? I’d called her mine before, even if it was only in my thoughts, but I felt awkward now because I wasn’t sure I deserved to call her that. We hadn't talked about what we were to each other yet, just how close we were…

And now, with her ex-husband back and looking for rights to the kid, I regretted not thinking about this before.

I sighed as she cleaned my knuckles for me. She was about to wrap them up when I held my hand up to stall her.

“It’s just bruised, Lydia,” I reassured her. “I can handle this much. It’ll go away in a few days.”

She pouted.

“Besides,” I continued, “I want to have a shower, and it’ll only get in the way. I’d have to take them off right away, so what’s the point?”

She gave me a curious look. “Busy day at work?”

I groaned, stretching out my back at the remembered ache between my shoulders.

“Like you wouldn’t believe. I hope things get to calm down soon…”

I stood up, moving to the side so I wouldn’t crowd her. Then I shrugged off my jacket, and reached for the hem of my t-shirt, pulling it off. My eyes met Lydia’s and I saw the way she stared at my bare chest. I smirked in satisfaction at her fascination before I held my hand out to her.

“Would you like to join me in the shower?”

She must have been more shaken than I thought. She was still shy sometimes, especially when I asked her to get naked with me for anything other than jumping straight into sex. This time, my adorable little kitten didn’t even hesitate. She stood up and started undoing the buttons of her shirt with a challenge in her eyes.

I was so stunned I stood there for a moment, confused, but then I caught on and started to strip quickly. Lydia was faster, taking off the blouse and skirt, and rushing to the bathroom with her underwear on. She threw a look at me over her shoulder, winking as she slid her panties down her hips. She turned away and undid her bra, tossing it behind her back in my direction. I nearly stumbled getting my jeans and boxers off as I joined her in the bathroom. She was already in the shower enclosure, completely naked and waiting for me.

“Do you know how much you drive me crazy?” I said, stalking my way into the shower with her.

I ducked a hand under the shower, but it was still cold. I ignored the water and instead backed her against the shower walls. She jumped, then shivered, when her back came into contact with the cold surface. I pressed right into her, her shocked gasp not just from the cold of the wall now. She looked up at me, the challenge in her eyes now shaded with delight.

“About as crazy as you drive me, perhaps?” she said, arching her eyebrows as she slid her arms around my waist, her hands clenched at my ass to pull me against her tightly.

I slanted my hips over hers, and she moaned, parting her mouth readily for my tongue. My tongue slid into her mouth to explore, running over every crevice I could reach, and she tilted her head, angling it to make it easier for me. She teased her tongue against mine, licked the underside until I stuck it out further in response. Then she sucked on it and I felt the sensation go straight to my cock. I rolled my hips against her, nudging my erection into her abdomen, reminding her why I was in the shower with her.

“Ken,” she moaned my name when our lips parted so we could breathe. Her hand went down between our bodies and found me rock hard and waiting for her. She gave me slow gentle strokes, strokes that stole my breath as she kissed the hard edge of my jaw.

I hummed and kissed a line down her cheek, then down her neck, taking a bit of flesh between my teeth and sucking on it. I pulled back and looked in satisfaction at the mark I’d left on her neck. She’d have more of them before we retired for the night. This was only the beginning of our fun, after all.

“If you keep that up, Lydia, I’m going to come in your hand. I’d rather come deep inside of you, wrapped in that beautiful pussy of yours.” I heard her gasp and her hand stilled on my now throbbing cock.

I looked down at her, our eyes locked in a moment I couldn’t quite define. Was that love in her eyes? Could she see it reflected in mine? I moved, in need of distraction from the ache that began to swell in my chest.

The shower was only to get the sweat off me from earlier, so I was fine with just staying under the warm spray. I tested the water again, and when I found the temperature satisfactory, I shifted us over so it would pour over us. Lydia sighed and leaned into my shoulder so the water wouldn’t get into her mouth. She nestled there, content.

“It’s been way too long since we did this,” I murmured against the top of her head, my hands kneading the flesh at her hips. “I’m going to be taking some time off work soon. I hired someone for a reason after all.” I placed a kiss over the latest mark I’d made when she moved her head to look up at me.

Lydia just chuckled in between gasps. “That’s good because work will be slowing down for me soon. Tell me you’ll be here?”

“Of course,” I said with no hesitation. “Where else could I possibly want to be?”

I found her lips once more, both of us taking a moment to go over ground we hadn’t touched in weeks, slim shoulders that haunted my dreams, her hips that filled me with an ache I could not appease, even with work. Her hands found my flat stomach, and lower she found me hard and ready for her. Her other arm moved around my neck, tugging me down and holding me to her as she gave me a deep, wet kiss that I returned with a moan.

“I told you, I didn’t want to come in your hands. Perhaps your mouth later, or all over those beautiful tits of yours, but right now, it’s that tight pussy of yours I want the most.”

She let me go with a gasp of desire as I caught the back of her thighs, and she hopped a little as I lifted her and wrapped her legs around my hips. I braced her body against the shower wall, and we both shivered as my cock pressed against her sex.

We’ve done this before, I thought, whilst leaving her mouth to place frantic kisses on her neck. Sure, we’d fucked in her bathroom in a lot of positions, I’d had her exactly like this a few weeks back. It was hard to forget since it was the closest to making love we’d ever been.

Like she remembered it, too, Lydia’s touches were suddenly more desperate. She bit down on my neck, one of her hands reaching down between us to grasp my cock to guide me to her heated entrance. I realized we were both holding our breath when air exploded from us as I thrust into her deeply, all the way to the hilt.

We stalled for a moment, both of us taking in the exquisite sensation of being joined together, then her hands were tugging at my hair, and she molded our lips together. I started moving my hips, slowly at first as I sighed into our kiss, her slick walls already clenching at me, not wanting to let go. I groaned through the sensation, my jaw locked as I tried to hold back.

It had been so long, I’d had so many dreams about her, so many filthy fucking fantasies, that I didn’t think I’d last long. I wanted to, for her, for both of us. When her gasps became sultry moans I picked up the speed and rhythm until we were both panting and gasping, our voices becoming deep groans from me and helpless whimpers from Lydia.

I pounded into her, my thoughts on nothing but the sounds she made and the pulse of her wet heat around me. I ached deep inside, an ache that blossomed until it became unbearable, and I cried out her name, wanting to spill the words of love perched on the tip of my tongue, but I stopped myself.

Lydia brought my face to hers in a deep kiss, swallowing the words that threatened my secret, and I touched her, her sensitive nipples, and down to her clit, teasing the throbbing organ until her nails dug into my shoulders, dragged down my back, and the sting made me move even faster and harder against her.

“Ken!” she gasped one last time, just before I felt a strong vice take hold of my cock and knew that my Lydia was exploding around me. I pushed into her one hard, final time, letting her fluttering take me over the edge to follow her, milking my release.

We stayed locked together until the water started growing cold. Then we got out, toweled each other dry, and moved our play to the bedroom.