I'd like to thank all of you for your kinds words and for putting up with this story! Be warned, it gets crazier from here! Enjoy! Oh, and let me know your theories on Katie. Whoever gets the closest gets to know a secret!
"Would you like a drink?" Steffy's eyes hadn't met Bill's since they arrived at his house. He wouldn't dare take her home, in fear that she'd shut down and he would never reach her again. He could see the need to run forming inside her. He knew her.
She didn't speak, she didn't turn to look at him, and she didn't accept his drink. She just stared at the wall ahead and he felt as if he was losing her. He couldn't.
Placing himself in front of her, he got on his knees and ran his hands over her smooth legs. He saw the tears streaking her beautiful face, ruining the makeup she had undoubtedly spent hours on, running down her chest into the cleavage he wanted to kiss. He had so many hopes for how tonight would go. This wasn't it.
"Steffy," he lulled her her mind out of whatever dark place it was residing, he hoped. "That drink. You need it, and I need to talk to you."
Her body ascended and Bill was behind her, attempting to wrap his arms around her hips, but was cleverly brushed away with little effort. She shrugged him with ease and hit his open bar. Downing a glass of scotch, she poured another, letting the liquid slide down her throat, and went for the bottle once more. Bill placed his hand over hers to delay her next glass. He didn't want her drunk and compliant. He wanted her sober and willing to hear him out with a little of her edge gone.
"Will you talk to me?" He asked quietly as he pulled her to the couch. "Can I talk to you?"
"Say what you're going to say. Get it over with."
Bill nodded, attempting to grab her hand, only to have it pulled away. "Steffy, I am so sorry. I should have told you what I did the minute I realized it."
"Why didn't you?" Her voice cracked and he finally heard the emotion he expected. This let him know he'd be able to fix this.
"I was afraid. I thought you wouldn't understand, and I truly never meant for this to happen."
"It's sex, Bill. We get caught up, we want each other so bad all the time, but we make sure we're protected. How could you do this with her? I know I'm probably freaking out for no reason, it was before me, but it hurts. She's—"
"Steffy, it was me who got your father arrested."
"What?" Like a speeding bus it seemed to hit her. His confession, his real dilemma bubbled into the air, and he saw her eyes lose the hurt and cloud with anger. "Say it again."
"I had the information about the foundation money being missing, and everything led to Brooke. I thought she was the thief, we both did."
"We? Who the hell is we?" She was screaming now. He'd miscalculated her anger.
"It's not important." He didn't want to throw anyone under the bus. He'd take the brunt of her anger because he deserved it. He should have done his due diligence before turning over the folder with the evidence of fraud and theft. He also should have thought of her company.
"You don't get to drop something like this on me and not tell me everything! You sat there and watched me agonize over this. When I asked you if you did it you lied!"
"I didn't lie. I would never lie to you. Everything I had pointed to Brooke. I wanted to hurt your dad! I would do anything to hurt him, and I thought—I thought they would take her and make him miserable. I thought I was doing the right thing. You'd fired her and it would have fallen into place. I didn't mean for—"
"You should have talked to me!" Her voice was raspy and full of pain. Bill realized he had made things so much worse than they had to be.
"I just wanted to protect you. The longer it went on, the more liability you would have assumed. I wasn't going to let you take the heat for this."
"But I am. I've been taking the heat for it because, instead of quietly fixing it, everything became such a big spectacle. I could have contained it."
"I messed up, I admit that. I had no idea things would get this out of hand. I was promised it would be quiet and you would be left out of this."
"My name yes, but I'm the CEO. It makes me look weak, it makes me look like I turned the other cheek while my father stole from something that means so much to all of us. He loved my grandmother so much. He would never disrespect her memory that way. I knew it when I found out about the money. I assumed it was Brooke as well. I figured she weaseled her way into his passwords and account information."
"You forgive me?" He had to ask when she seemed to have calmed down and taken a beat.
"You said you would do anything to make him pay. Are you sure you didn't do this in retaliation?"
"I could have kept this to myself forever, Steffy. I could have never said a word and you would have been none the wiser. I didn't want to do that with you. I wanted you to know what I did and give you the opportunity to decide how to feel. I don't want secrets."
"Then tell me everything." Steffy wiped her teary eyes. "I don't think you did this to hurt me. I believe you, but I have to know everything, Bill."
"I've told you everything."
"Katie," she sniffled. "What the hell was that?"
"We're not going to discuss her." Bill stood and watched Steffy close off another part of her he'd opened up. He was possibly putting them at risk, but he couldn't and didn't want to discuss Katie with her. It was the reason why he'd given her limited information on the situation between them. It was all so toxic.
"You want to be with me, you want me to accept you, but you won't tell me about her? She's no longer your past, she's your present that's come here for God knows what reason, besides the obvious, and you don't want to tell me? Fine, just fine." She stood. "Keep your secrets, but you won't keep me. I won't do this."
She stormed toward the door, and in his deceptively calm haze, Bill had forgotten she only lived two doors down. He couldn't isolate her and make her hear him out. She had options and a best friend that would kick his ass for trying to hold her against her will.
"I'm afraid of having kids. I've always been extra careful because I didn't want to have them and screw them up like my dad did me. I've never thought about anything resembling family and marriage until you."
"She's pregnant, Bill. It may have been a mistake, but it's very real. It's going to be a family, maybe not the one you want, but it's here."
"Not for me.
Bill grabbed her hand and pulled her to the safety of his couch and far away from the door. When she threatened to leave, he felt like a piece of him was going with her, he'd never felt that before. This was what was real.
"I don't know why she's here, but I can assure you that her baby isn't mine. She tried to make us more than we were, she moved into my penthouse without telling me when I was away on business. It really freaked me out, and I broke things off. She wouldn't stop calling and showing up, so I got a restraining order in New York. Her baby isn't mine, Steffy. I promise. I cared for her, but she really lost it on me. It was like something flipped inside her. It was right around the time I realized that I wasn't done looking for you. I hadn't found out who you were but I knew you were out there. I needed to find you."
"You didn't even really know me then, it was just one night, Bill."
"One night with you was all I needed. Do you know how captivating you are? You don't know the power you have over men because you've had the wrong one for so long. You have me now, and I know what I have in you. I will never take that for granted."
"Did she know about me—about your feelings?"
"She knew there was a woman I couldn't forget. I don't know, maybe when my father asked us to come here and I started looking into things she figured out where I was going and what I was doing. I never told her I was moving here. It happened so fast. I took over here and I met Liam shortly afterward."
"You're sure it's not your child?"
"Are you kidding me? You see how careful I am with you and I actually love you. I was ten times worse with—"
"Bill..." She stopped him. "Wait."
Realizing what he'd said, Bill smiled, and ran a hand over his face. "Damn."
"Damn?"
"Like I said, I've never thought of life outside of business and fleeting feelings until you. I do—I love you. It's probably too soon to tell you that, but I do. I never believed in love at first sight, but I think I've loved you since that night. We talked for hours and fed each other's soul." She smiled and laughed sweetly as he slid his palm up to rest against her soft skin. "Your laugh is what I memorized. I knew I couldn't live without it."
Tears twinkled in her eyes and she gripped his hand in her smaller one. "I love you too. I fell for you that night and settled for less because I thought I didn't deserve the amazing connection we had. Now I know that I do."
Her admission made his heart rate multiply. She loved him too. He was afraid that she wouldn't after she heard what he had done. All he could do was stare at this magnificent woman who owned his heart. Running his fingers through her hair, he pulled her head closer.
"Thank you," he mumbled into the small space between them.
"For what?"
"You don't judge me. You understand the dark part of me that focuses on things I probably shouldn't. I'm so sorry. I messed up. I really messed up."
"I know what I said about my dad, but I can't sit back and watch more attacks on him. He's not perfect, he may not be a good dad, but I love him. I love you both. I just need peace in my personal life, especially while I sort out this mess with the business."
"I'll do anything I can to help you."
"You've done enough," Steffy cracked a half smile and ran her hands through her hair. "God, why does everything have to be so difficult?"
"Nothing worth having is easy."
"I jumped to conclusions, and I apologize. I should have known you wouldn't do anything like that."
"If you want to know anything about me, just ask. I know I'm not the most open person, but I want to be with you."
"Just tell me we're going to be okay. Tell me we won't let things change because I love where we are."
"I love it too."
Steffy laid her head against his chest, and he breathed in her air. He didn't want to let her go. He didn't want to move from this perfect moment, but she did.
Grabbing the back of his neck, snatching him down, she seized his mouth. Sliding into his lap, she said one word that made him grin. Bedroom. He carried he all the way.
Bill dropped her on the bed and eased up her body, planting wet kisses along the way as he made her comfortable. He pulled her legs apart and slid her panties down as she raised slightly to accommodate him. Once he had them off and in a heap on the floor, he ran his hands over her thighs with his lips following the trail.
He kissed his way to the inside of her thigh and she threw her hands backward to grip the pillow behind her head as she allowed herself to find the pleasure within. Bill moved inward until he was kissing her raging insides skillfully and intimately. He kissed her passionately, spreading her out to give himself the space he needed to perform his illicit acts.
Steffy reached for him, but he kept his head lower than she could reach over her sweaty thighs. He kept up his acts of sweet torture until she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift. When he felt her approaching her orgasm, she grabbed the pillow tighter and screamed at the top of her lungs. Bill knew it was a result of her heightened senses, but he loved it. He slowly unzipped his pants while she came down from her high, and removed them before returning to her. She relaxed the muscles in her legs and he pulled them over his shoulders.
Bill held on tightly to her soft, long legs as he pulled a condom from his nightstand. Securing them, he gripped her legs tighter and held them over his shoulders as he slid himself into her, pelvis to pelvis. He could feel the pulsations of her desire, throbbing within him and knew not to keep her waiting. When he joined them, she sprang back to life and he could feel her legs, tightening around his neck. He started his strokes slow and steady to get them adjusted to the position, but as time wore on, he increased. She was screaming and excited and he was trying his best to stay focused before he gave in and ended the experience way too soon. It was hard, considering she was giving him every reason to cave.
Every touch, every stroke, and every moan sent him closer and closer to his ultimate release, but he needed more. So much was surging through him, and he couldn't stop at just one time. He needed her to give him so much more. He continued to thrust himself in and out, looking down at her to see the pleasure on her face. She had the pillow balled up behind her, and her hands were caressing her own breasts and she was biting her bottom lip. He knew she was feeling her climax, but he wanted to prolong it. As if sensing his eyes on her, her's flickered open, and she smiled at him sweetly.
As much as Bill wanted to draw out their experience, he couldn't resist that smile. Instead of slowing down, he clutched her tighter and surged inside her with force he knew she would love. He felt her squeeze her insides around him and knew he was falling. Falling deeper into her mystery, deeper into her seduction, deeper into her soul. He prepared himself for the destructive storm, sweeping through him and closed his eyes.
He was in the midst of losing all composure when she flipped them. She wanted to be on top, obviously, and he laid back to enjoy the ride. Throwing her dress into the air, Steffy shed the barriers restricting his eyes from every curve and crease. He let his hands caress her smooth skin and she bit her lip as she rolled her hips along his shaft.
Bill reached for her and she threw her head back, placing her hands on his knees as she began her circular rocking motion. He was caressing her pink nipples as she moved herself on top of him. He was doing his best to fight off his climax when she sped up, causing him to mirror her act of lip biting.
She continued to ride him, moving her hands to his chest until he felt her shaking. He was used to a few tremors, but she was shaking more than she usually did. Her orgasm approached and blew up, but he still felt the shaking. Her chest was heaving rapidly, and Bill held her in place as his orgasm grew and he dug his fingertips into her body. When he opened his eyes and saw a strange look on her face, he rolled her over leaned against her bare back.
"What's wrong?"
"That's the first time I ever made love," she admitted. He could see the blush tinting her skin.
"Me too." He tried to help her out of this awkward moment.
"How did we do?"
"Damn good as usual. We never disappoint." He kissed the side of her head and detangled himself long enough to dispose of the condom and slid back into bed behind her.
"Get some sleep, Steffy." He held her tighter. "Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day."
Waking from her dreamless euphoria Steffy could hear a knock at Bill's door as she descended the stairs. She'd slipped back into her panties and one of his button down shirts. She could smell bacon in the air, and knew Bill was engulfed in the preparation of their breakfast. After the night they had it was much needed.
Reaching for the door, the smile she'd developed quickly fell as she pulled it open to find Katie.
"Is Bill here?" She asked sweetly, and Steffy wanted to vomit. She didn't know this woman, but she already wanted to claw her eyes out. She'd brought so much dysfunction into her life by just being there.
"He doesn't want to see you. How do you even know where he lives?"
"Steffy, right?" Katie ignored her question, with a hand placed on her stomach as she scanned Steffy's attire. "Do you think it's wise to come to the door this way? People will talk. Well, more than they already are."
"I have nothing to hide. I spent the night with the man I love and we are adults."
The admission of love seemed to affect Katie momentarily, but she quickly pulled her smile back together. "I'm sure you have nothing to hide. Actually the world knows that. Bill and I have unfinished business, a child to care for, and his antics aren't going to ruin our child's life," Katie warned.
"I don't know who you think—"
Before Steffy could tear into Katie fully, Bill appeared and pulled her away from the door. "Katie, what the hell? Don't make me get another restraining order."
"A restraining order is the least of your worries."
She held her phone out and Bill read aloud. "Steffy Forrester sex tape with unidentified man. Click link for explicit footage."
"But I know exactly who the man is. I'd know those buns anywhere," Katie snickered.
"Oh my God," Steffy sniffled.
"What the hell?" Bill seethed.
"You might want to catch your girlfriend," Steffy heard Katie laugh just before she slipped out of consciousness, fainting right there in the doorway.