Her bed was a double as opposed to my king but it didn’t matter because we would’ve taken up the same amount of space anyway. After grabbing takeaway on the way to her apartment, I was introduced to the space she called home: four rooms; kitchen, bathroom, living space and bedroom, all with mould in the corners and damp in the air. Water dripped through the ceiling in places and the heating system didn’t work consistently. Intelligence defeated the animal and I didn’t try to whisk her out of there with everything she owned to my apartment knowing that she didn’t need a hero. She was able and willing to fight her own battles, so I ignored the state of the place, ate with her and then proceeded to eat her on her small bed in her damp room before burying myself in her. However, I put murdering her landlord on my to-do list for the following day.

Although I had almost avoided having a serious relationship throughout my thirty-five years, I wasn’t averse to waking up with a woman. Another round of sex before falling asleep with Victoria wrapped in my arms, her ass tucked against my cock and there was no urge to run and leave her, although one part of my brain was waving a warning flag.

“Morning,” I said as her eyes flickered open. She murmured something unintelligible and wriggled closer to me, my cock already at half-mast. “What time do you need to be in work?” I had a mountain to climb today but I would only move when she needed me to.

“Too early,” she said. “No work till ten.” Her hand moved behind her own body onto mine, grabbing the back of my thigh and pulling me closer.

I chuckled, nuzzling into her shoulder and softly nipping her skin. She was warm and soft, her hair sprawling across the sheets. As usual, I had a million and twelve things to do, but Victoria was at the top of the list.

She turned over, her head ending up on my chest, her leg and arm spidering across me.

“Comfy,” she muttered and then her breathing settled and she was asleep. I eventually closed my eyes, knowing it was still early and although last night hadn’t been stupidly late, it was after midnight before we finally went to sleep.

I was woken by the irritating chirp from my phone, by which time it was daylight outside. Fumbling on the cheap bedside table, I tried to silence it before it woke Victoria. It was a message, or a series of messages, from my siblings, something that usually presented itself with a healthy dose of fear.

Jackson’s message about timings wasn’t the last in the series but it was the last one I read. It was seven forty-eight, twelve minutes before he’d threatened to arrive. Victoria stirred, still lying on my chest, her head positioned so that if I dropped my phone, she’d have a painful awakening.

“Have I missed work?” she said, her voice sultry with sleep.

“It’s nearly eight,” I said, wanting to either tell her to go back to sleep or to slowly wake her up in a way that involved my tongue and her orgasming, preferably more than once. However, Jackson had cockblocked me, certainly not for the first time, but definitely the last. “My brother’s on his way round.”

“Oh,” she said, angling herself so she could look at me. Her doe eyes were full of questions yet still soft from sleep. Her lips were pink and slightly swollen and as my hand went to her hair I wondered how she would look in my bed and whether I could persuade her to be there tonight.

Shit. Law ball.

“I was meant to go to the gym with him, but worked out elsewhere,” I said. “Are you okay with him coming in?”

She gave a sarcastic laugh. “To my five-star aparthotel? As long as he gives it a good rating on Trip Advisor.”

“He won’t judge you. That’s not Jackson. But if you prefer I’ll speak to him outside and send him away,” I said. The sheet covering us had dropped lower, uncovering part of her tits.

Her lips pressed to my chest. “It’s fine. I’m going to move out of here sooner than later.”

“Good. I’ll report the landlord when you’ve moved out,” I said, pushing the sheet further down so I could see all of her.

She pulled the sheet back up. “Your brother’s about to be here. I need to put some clothes on and you need to lose your wood.”

I pulled the sheet back down and then moved my hand to her already hard nipple, rubbing it with my thumb. “There’s a really good way to solve that problem,” I said. “And my brother can wait.”

Jackson phoned me half an hour later, informing me that he was downstairs and I needed to answer else he was breaking in. That wouldn’t have been that difficult to do seeing as the door was about as secure as Seph’s trousers around any female, but I tore myself away from what could’ve led to round two to let him in.

“Checking your phone is a common courtesy these days,” he said. “Why the fuck are you only wearing jeans? Where are the rest of your clothes?” He eyed me suspiciously. “You’ve fucked Victoria.”

“Do you have a problem with that?” I said, blocking the doorway with my build.

He shook his head slowly. “No, but I think you might have. Can I come in or is there incriminating evidence all over the place?”

There wasn’t. Victoria was in the shower and the place was tidy apart from the bedroom that looked significantly used. “I’ll put coffee on.” I think I knew where everything was and it wasn’t as if there were a dozen cupboards if it wasn’t obvious.

Jackson followed me up, probably noticing all the things that broke regulations. “You need to get your girl out of here,” he said. “This place is a hazard.”

“She’s said she’s going to move out soon.”

The mould around the windows was more noticeable in the daylight. “I’d get her staying with you while she finds something.”

“Didn’t you do that with Vanessa and she never moved out?”

“It worked out well for both of us,” he said, grinning like a fucking idiot.

Victoria came into the living room wearing just a robe and a towel wrapped around her head. My first reaction was to hide her from Jackson’s view, but my brother hadn’t noticed anything else female other than his fiancée for months.

“Morning, Jackson,” she said.

My eyes stayed fixed on her and I fought the urge to throw my brother out of the building and take her back to bed. Or to the sofa. Or anywhere that gave us enough privacy so she could come again on my cock.

“Kind of you to pay me a morning visit,” Victoria said. “Is it going to be added to my bill?”

She headed to the coffee machine that I had just about managed to start up. It was an old model and needed replacing. Buying her a new one was something that had crossed my mind, but I wasn’t sure how she’d take being given a gift like that. Maybe for a housewarming present.

“You can pay me in coffee. I see you stole my brother,” Jackson said above the noise of the coffee machine.

“Kidnapping is a serious accusation, and I’m not sure Maxwell came against his will. He found the ropes and handcuffs to be very enjoyable,” she said, those doe eyes serious, mouth unsmiling.

Jackson’s eyes flicked to me and then to Victoria and back before he started to crack up. “You realise Max is nicknamed Mr Vanilla, don’t you?”

Her eyes looked at me questioningly. “I hadn’t heard that.”

My brother continued to laugh loudly, enjoying himself, which was good as it might be the last thing he ever did.

“The first girl he slept with told Claire that Max only knew how to do it in the missionary position. We’ve never heard anything to disprove it.” Jackson smirked at me then looked back at Victoria.

And I knew why: she was impulsive and would say the first thing that came into her mind if she felt passionately about it.

“Your brother’s repertoire has expanded since then,” she said, a smirk on her own face. “I’ll share the details with Vanessa. Maybe then she can pass on some tips.”

Now it was me smirking.

Jackson took the mug of coffee from Victoria, searching for something to say. “I’d say I taught my brother everything he knows, but that would be creepy and wrong so we’ll leave this conversation here. Thank you for the coffee and for releasing my brother from the handcuffs, although I’m surprised it was that way round.” Raised eyebrows greeted me when he turned my way.

“Like she said, you’ll get the details from your fiancée. Something I’d be worried about. And for your information, it’s me who does the tying down.” I was watching Victoria when I said my last sentence and really wishing I’d disposed of my brother already.

Leaning back on the kitchen counter, Jackson gave me a look I recognised from when we were younger: the one that said he was about to drop me in the shit. “Victoria will have a chance to share your dirty secrets at the law ball tonight.”

“And I expect I’ll be hearing lots about your inadequacies too,” I said, downing my coffee quickly. I had never taken a date to a Law Society ball, although I had been known to leave with one I’d found while being there. Jackson knew this and was being a dick, trying to put me in a position where for once, I could be said to have a girlfriend. When news of that got back to Marie, she would implode with excitement.

“What’s Vanessa wearing?” Victoria asked.

If I was a better man, I’d have gone over to her, put an arm around her and pulled her into me. But I was still an ass. It was the perfect thing to ask Jackson though, judging by the look of death on his face.

“Did you tell her what Claire said in those messages?” he said, putting down his mug with a bit of a bang. “How the fuck do you describe a dress? It’s a dress. It cost a lot and so did the shoes. I’m going to need a decent win at poker next week.” He mentioned the poker nights we had at his place each week.

Victoria eyed him as she might to a rare specimen. “I bet you can describe her underwear though. When she tries dresses on for you, try to pay a bit of attention to it before getting down to her underwear.”

“But the underwear’s the best bit.” My brother looked concerned.

I was enjoying this.

“For you, but not for her. She’ll be spending more time in her dress than just her underwear. The underwear makes a statement for you, but the dress is for everyone, and you taking the time to notice and admire her, it will make her feel like she’s wearing very expensive pearls, ones you don’t need to buy,” Victoria said with a stern expression that had me getting a semi.

Women like her weren’t my usual type, apart from the intelligence. She was feisty and confident, upfront with her words and more than willing to give as much as she got.

I wondered what it would be like to let her have a little control at some point.

“Point taken,” he said. ‘And when you talk to her tonight, we never had this discussion.”

She smiled sweetly, as if she had won the war and not just the battle.

“Don’t you have a meeting first thing?” I asked my brother, impatiently. I wanted more time on my own with my girl and not just to ask her to the ball tonight.

“It’s been rearranged,” he said. “Why? Do you want me to go?”

“It’s been lovely having you call in, Jackson, but I need to get ready. No doubt I’ll see you tonight,” Victoria said, the dressing gown coming apart to expose enough flesh to make me consider carrying my brother outside.

He made his way to the door before I had to. “See you at work, Max. Thanks for the coffee, Vic.”

I followed him to the door, closed it firmly afterwards and put the catch on. “Are you wearing anything under that?” I tugged at the belt and she slapped my hand.

“Ball. What ball? Apart from your balls which are going to be hanging from the light fixture in about two seconds.”

I winced. “I’d forgotten about it. Law society ball tonight. Three course meal, lots of pretentious idiots in tuxes, including myself. Plenty of alcohol and my siblings making idiots of themselves. Would you like to go with me?” I figured the pounding in my chest was my heart about to force its way through my rib cage.

“Were you going to ask me or is this just because your brother brought it up?” Her hands were on her hips, stretching the robe even further. I was absolutely convinced she was naked underneath.

“I had forgotten until I saw the messages this morning that the ball was even happening,” I said, definitely not focusing on her face.

She pulled the robe closed and I looked up. “I know you’re a lawyer but stop trying to evade my question.”

“Honestly?” I said, remembering I wasn’t a teenage boy anymore. “I don’t know. I want to spend tonight with you. I’d prefer it if you packed a bag for the weekend now and stayed with me so I can show you where I live, take you for a proper date and then spend the rest of the weekend fucking you senseless. If you don’t want to go to a ball, I won’t go, because I’d rather spend more time with just you.”

“You’re still evading.”

“I’ve never taken a date to a law ball before,” I said, my hands in my pockets and trying not to feel like a child being told off.

“You don’t have to take me. I can easily tell Jackson I already had plans. Or an emergency can come up. I’m good at those. And to be honest, if it rains again, there will probably be an emergency,” she said, glancing towards the cornice. The wall was blackening near the roof, like it was in her bedroom. It looked like one heavy storm from flooding.

I thought about what she’d said to Jackson about dresses and how much Vanessa was looking forward to it and then I thought about what she’d look like on my arm and next to me. “If you think you’d enjoy it, I’d love you to come. If you don’t want to, then we’ll do something else.”

My ribs had started to hurt and my stomach felt as if it was rejecting the coffee. I could stand up in court and speak in front of fuck knows how many people, but Victoria Esme Davies tied my intestines into a complex climbers’ knot.

“Fuck,” I said as she turned and left the room. My other brothers had been given the gift of being able to sweet talk, whereas I had taken after my father: a bumbling, crass idiot who was better off saying as little as possible.

Putting the mugs in the sink as the apartment was too tiny to have a dishwasher, I started to work out what to say to put right my stupidity at not being able to tell her that I did want her to go; I was just too fucking nervous at having something that could be labelled as a relationship.

“How’s this?”

I turned around, not having realised she was back in the room. Her hair was damp and tied loosely on top of her head and she wore no make-up. She wore a blue dress, tight and fitted, with a plunging neckline that showed her cleavage. The bottom fishtailed out, reminding me of a mermaid that sailors knew would enchant them and make them leave their ship.

“Fucking amazing but you can’t wear that.” I knew the words were wrong as soon as they left my mouth.

“Why? Is there a dress code? Only I don’t have any spare cash to buy anything new and I’m a little short on ball gowns,” she said, looking down at herself and poking her cleavage.

“No, the dress code is cocktail, or it usually is. But you can’t wear that as I’ll be arrested for murdering every man that looks at you.” This time my words seem to have been the right ones.

“Maxwell, they might look. It does make the girls look pretty outstanding, if I do say so myself. But no one but you gets to touch,” she said, stepping towards me and putting her arms around my neck. Her tits pushed into my chest and I made a noise that sounded like a growl.

“How do you take it off?”

“You can find out tonight. But if you’re wondering about underwear, there is none.”

I was fucked. Well and truly.