JENNIE

I flung open the door.

Rosé stood in front of me. Water streamed from her blonde hair onto her tank top and shorts, and she held a wet grocery bag. Lisa stood on one side of her, Lucas on the other. Sana leaned on Lucas's free arm, looking interested.

No one was touching Rosé, but it was clear she'd been escorted here.

I stepped back. "What the hell?"

Rosé marched in, turned the bag over my kitchen table, and shook it.

Out fluttered bills, green and white. The heart-shaped box, brightly collaged, fell to the table. A bottle of pills bounced and rolled onto the floor.

"Rosé, oh my God!" I gasped. "Where did you find these? Thank you. Thank you. I don't know how to—"

I broke off. Her pretty face, blotchy under the rain and makeup, wore an odd combination of defiance and guilt.

"Shit," I whispered, backing away from her. "Not you. Please say it wasn't you."

Ignoring me, she turned to Lisa. "Are we done?"

She crossed her arms. "That's up to Jennie."

The bills stirred in the breeze from the ceiling fan.

"No! No, we're not done. What is going on? Are these mine? Rosé, did you take them?"

Lashes flickering, she wiped away a fleck of mascara. "It was a joke!" she snarled. "Just a prank. Jesus. I was having fun. We used to prank each other all the time, before you met her."

She pointed at Lisa, who raised an eyebrow.

"You mean, before you started sleeping with my boyfriend. Was that a prank too?" My voice leapt out of me like it belonged to someone else. Rosé's mouth fell open. Lucas let out a long, low whistle.

Rosé whirled. "Shut up. I was going to give it back. Just not right away."

"So I could be miserable?" I shoved a chair toward the fridge. "Terrified? Violated in my own house? You wrecked my room too!"

"Don't be so fucking dramatic!" Rosé snapped.

"Right," said Lisa. "That's your territory."

"Why would you do this? You ripped the sketch Lisa made for me! You wrote on my mirror—"

"Jennie, can we please discuss this in private?"

"No."

She tossed her hair. Her face contorted. "I was only telling the truth. Everyone calls me a slut, but you're a bigger one than I'll ever be. You're a fucking prostitute! You lied to all of us."

"I was done with the money," I said in a low voice. "I would have given it all back to her."

Everyone glanced at Lisa, who flinched.

"Liar." Rosé sounded less certain. "You could have quit anytime. I saw your face when I dropped that cash on the table! You're damn happy to have it back. Not to mention your speed." She jerked her head toward the bottle of Adderall on the floor. "I guess you need it to be the great Jennie."

Lisa moved toward me, and I was grateful for her nearness. "I'm not the great Jennie," I said steadily. "You're thinking of my sister. And she's given up that crown too."

As if she sensed I needed it, Sana patted me on the back. She'd never touched me before. "Props to you for being the bigger slut," she said under her breath.

"Sana…"

"Consider it a compliment."

"She would think so, dating that dealer." Rosé glowered at Sana and Lucas. "It's all sex, drugs, and money with you people."

Lucas walked over to the fridge and inspected the photos. "You mean the dealer you failed to sell that half-empty bottle of Adderall back to?" he asked, examining a magnet in an off-hand way. "You should have covered your tracks better."

"Twenty minutes later, we found her pounding on the lizard's door with the money in this bag," Lisa said coolly. "He was very helpful."

"Kai?"

Lucas scratched his head. "I'd call him more of an amphibian. He spawns in the water."

Lisa laughed, and Rosé glared at them.

"Please don't tell me you two are bonding over this," she said. "It makes me sick."

"Kai was helpful?" I was still trying to wrap my head around that fact.

"Kai threw me to the wolves," Rosé sneered. "They showed up and said 'you need to come with us right now,' and he said, 'take her.' Those were his actual words."

"Why?"

She crumpled the empty bag and pitched it across the kitchen. "Because he still wants you! You've got some kind of — spell over him, and there's nothing I can do to break it."

"Rosé." I spoke slowly. "Are you out of your mind? He told everyone about me and Lisa. He insulted me. He doesn't want me."

"He's still hurt that you dumped him! He doesn't —" she bent over the table — "he doesn't care about me. I'm no one's first choice."

"Rosé, I put you first for two years."

She sniffled, wiping her tears on the back of her wrist. "It's like you get everything and I get nothing! Seriously, having amazing sex with a hot guy and raking in the cash for it? It's like other girls don't even exist for her. Did you put a spell on her, too?"

I stared at the money on the table, then at her heaving back.

Soft footsteps came down the hall.

"There's so much shouting." Jisoo peered at all of us, then at the bills flapping on the table. "Jennie, you got it back? Rosé, what are you doing here?"

Rosé's jaw dropped. "Jisoo? What are you doing here?" Her head whipped from me to my sister. "Wait, does she know? Jisoo, do you know what Jennie's been doing?"

Jisoo looked from Rosé to the money, then at the rest of us grouped around the table.

"Yes." She glanced at Lisa, who folded her arms impassively. "It doesn't matter to me."

"With your permission, Jennie," Lisa said, "I'd like to count that to make sure it's all here." She nodded toward the scattered money.

"Go ahead."

"Three thousand even?"

I nodded. Lisa stooped, picked up the bottle of pills, and set it on the table.

I moved close to Lucas. Jisoo eyed him nervously, like he was about to bust out some dangerous move. That, or his purple paisley shirt made her worried.

"Any chance I can sell that back to you?" I whispered, pointing at the bottle, as Lisa sat down and began efficiently stacking bills.

Lucas smiled at me. "You got it. Keep a few to taper off."

"Wait 'til after finals," Sana added, popping a piece of gum in her mouth.

I crossed my arms. "I want to be done. This has gone on too long."

"And I'm recommending that you wait," she said. "For my sake as well as yours. The last thing I need is you going through withdrawal during finals week."

"Thanks," I said drily. "It's not like you're home much anyway."

"She's giving you good advice, Lady Jennie." Lucas leaned against the wall. "You should listen to her."

Jisoo looped her arm through mine and hugged me to her side. Rosé stood by the table, clutching her elbows, looking wet and bedraggled and very alone. I felt a pang. Part of me wanted to dismiss her betrayal and hug her all better the way I used to when she had a bad night. Like she was a wayward kid who just needed love — my love — and didn't know any better.

Lisa's voice echoed in my mind: That's not a friend, that's a pet.

It was very quiet in the kitchen. The only sound was the soft shuffle of bills. Everyone's eyes were glued to Lisa as she counted the money she'd paid me. Seeing it all laid out, watching her handle those bills with the same fingers that had been everywhere on my skin and inside me — awareness kicked in of how exposed this moment was. I pressed my palms to my burning cheeks.

Lisa slapped the last bill on its stack and looked up at me. "It's forty dollars short."

"Rosé?"

"I bought a couple things," she murmured.

The room went very still.

I could insist she return what she'd taken. I probably should. But I wanted to end the cycle of paying and owing. I wanted to be done with all of this — Rosé, Kai, the money — and move forward.

I wanted a second chance.

"Fine," I said. "We're done. You can go."

Lisa made a strangled noise.

"What?" I said.

She surged to her feet and slammed her hands on the table, making the bills jump. Her cool, collected exterior was about to crack, and I didn't know who'd be left standing once the wolf jumped out.

""What do you mean, 'what?' Jennie, are you fucking kidding me? Make her pay it back. She's done nothing but take, take, take. Has she said a single word to apologize? No. She only feels sorry for herself."

"I'm right here!" Rosé snapped.

Lisa braced her palms on the table, enunciating with ice-cold precision. "I am not letting my hard-earned money stay in her hands."

"Oh, it's your money?" I retorted.

The kitchen fell dead silent. Lucas let out a low chuckle, and Sana whacked him across the midriff. Jisoo squeezed my arm.

Lisa let out a breath, easing her grip. "No, it's yours."

"Thank you. I'm glad we agree on that." I turned to Rosé. "Okay, you can leave now."

"Just like that?" Her face crumpled.

"Rosé…"

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry."

"Okay."

"I really — I really am sorry. I mean it."

"Okay, Sé."

"I'll pay you back."

"I said you don't have to."

"I want to."

I sighed. "I'll leave that up to you, but I don't expect it. I forgive you. That's all. You don't owe me anything. We can be done."

In the pause that followed, I caught Lisa watching us — watching me. The crack in her cool was widening, and it didn't show the beast inside anymore. It showed…softness. Yearning. A hunger for forgiveness.

"All right." Rosé opened the door and peeked back over her shoulder. "Good luck."

"Hey, Sé," I said softly.

She turned. I took a breath.

"Have you ever been your own first choice?"

She opened her mouth to reply, then closed it. Squeezed her eyes shut. Shook her head.

"Maybe you should be."

The next hour was a blur. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed, preferably with Lisa. Instead, I handed her back her phone and wondered if she'd see Nick's call.

Sana decided that for the first time this year, as an extra-special treat for finals, she wanted Lucas to stay over. She also wanted me to help search her room in case Rosé had been in there. As soon as we finished, my parents called Jisoo, full of questions because Haein had called them, sleep-deprived and worried.

My sister held the phone out to me and whispered, "You take this. I can't handle Mom and Dad right now."

I groaned and took the call.

I put my parents off by explaining that Jisoo was with me and we'd all talk tomorrow. Jisoo took her phone back to have a teary conversation with Haein out in the building hallway. After a while, the sounds of hiccuping laughter came through. Lisa put a bowl of Chex in front of me and told me to eat it, because my stomach was growling and all she could find in my kitchen were five kinds of cereal.

Packing the money back into the heart-shaped box, I thought about my final papers and projects due next week. And the Adderall I'd announced I was quitting.

I made up the couch for Jisoo with sheets and a blanket. When she came back into the apartment, I tucked her in. Lisa disappeared into the hall.

"How'd things go with Haein?" I whispered. Music filtered through Sana's closed door. It was the first time I'd heard her playing it.

Jisoo yawned, her eyelids drifting closed. "Incredibly hard at first. But once the band-aid was ripped off…it got a little easier to be so honest. I don't know if we're meant for each other, Jennie. But we're going to try to at least be real together and see what happens."

I patted her arm.

"Did you get a summer internship?" she murmured.

"Nope. Just a list of rejections to put on my resume, along with 'companion.' I'll try to get a job at the mall." I laughed a little, thinking of Lucas. "I should have let you help me."

"I still could. Would you let me do that for you?"

"Okay, yeah." I exhaled. "Thank you. I'd appreciate your help."

"It's the least I can do." She smiled wanly. "God, I'm such a wreck, but I don't want to move back home this summer. Mom and Dad will be all over me."

"Then let me move in with you," I said impulsively. "You help me, I'll help you. Maybe you can still be a summer associate. We can both fit in your studio at school. We'll look out for each other."

"Thanks, honey." She squeezed my hand. "Maybe we can. I love you."

"Love you too."

I kissed her forehead and tucked the covers under her chin. Soon, her breathing evened out and she was fast asleep.

Lisa was still out in the hall. Every so often, I heard the faint hum of her deep voice, rising and falling. The minutes stretched out, long enough for me to give up on waiting, curl up in bed, and turn to one of my dogeared sections of Vanity Fair.

Hours later, I woke up with my face pressed against the book. The pages creased my cheek, and my sweatshirt stuck to my skin.

I heard a wave of laughter, riding on Professor Lowe's dry voice:

She's not dead. She's just asleep.

How long had I been asleep? During tonight, during my whole damn life? Pretending and acting and striving to protect myself while I kept the real Jennie tranquilized?

That was over.

The desk lamp cast a golden glow. When I stretched, I felt a body behind me.

At the beginning of the semester, I'd huddled here in the cold and dark, my utilities shut off, terrified to be alone. Now my apartment was full of people. I'd fallen asleep with the lights on, sweating in my clothes.

And next to me lay Lisa, her eyes closed and vulnerable.

I wanted to touch the faint blue veins that traced her pale skin. I'd never seen her like this — never been awake while she was asleep. Always, she was alert, watching, calculating. Not now.

The room was warm and humid from the rainstorm. Carefully, I closed Vanity Fair and put it on my nightstand. I wriggled out of my sweatshirt and bra, dropping them on the floor. Peeling off my yoga pants, I hesitated with my thumbs hooked in my panties, debating whether to take them off.

A hand caressed my back.

"Didn't mean to wake you," I mumbled. "I'll turn out the light."

Liss reached out and flicked it off. The room went velvet black. I moved close to her, and she curled an arm over my waist.

The darkness was a tent, enclosing us.

"They apologized," she said. "It's up to you whether to accept it."

"Who?"

"My fraternity brothers."

"You talked to them?"

"I talked to Chase tonight, and he said James feels like shit about the way you were treated. He's going to talk to the other guys. Turns out he was pretty hurt about the way I've been this year. I guess he thought we were close before I left for Italy."

"And you didn't?"

"It's hard to get close to someone when you're pretending to be someone else."

"Don't I know it." I twined my fingers through her. We breathed together, in and out, until I broke the silence with a whisper. "I'm nervous about going off Adderall."

"You can do it. It'll be hard, but it'll come to an end."

"You're speaking from experience? With booze?"

"Yes."

"In Italy?" I guessed.

She sighed. "I spent my last two months there living from bottle to bottle, alone and drowning in my own self-pity."

"Poor baby." I twisted in her arms and pressed my lips to her shoulder. "Do you…want to talk about it?"

"There was a woman," she said flatly. "Older. Well-off. Empty inside. I thought she was everything I'd ever wanted. She opened my eyes, taught me about art and culture. How to paint, how to cook. She took me in, paid for my life. I was obsessed. I thought I could finally be myself with a girl. But she always wanted more savagery to fill her emptiness. When she cheated on me in the end, it wasn't like the lizard and your "friend" sneaking around, feeling so naughty. She rubbed it in my face because she wanted to push me over the edge. And she succeeded."

Jesus. No wonder, after Liss had walked in on her mom.

I held her tight. She dug her fingers into my back, then spread her hands over my skin.

"I found myself in Rome. That's still true. I fell so fucking hard for that city, but it took a long time to separate the city from her."

"You did, though."

She nodded. Her breath stirred the nape of my neck.

"Jennie…" Her voice was so soft. "Babe. I'm sorry."

"For what, exactly?"

"Hiding. You've stripped naked for me so many times, and I refused to do the same. I insisted you bare yourself to me more and more. I thought I was being so fucking honest."

"Wasn't that the whole point of having a companion?" I asked lightly.

She sighed. "I told myself my life was private and had nothing to do with you. I didn't want any overlap. But it had everything to do with you."

I tickled her forearm. She pulled me closer. "Tell me something I don't know about you," I said.

"Anything?"

"Yep. It doesn't have to be sexy or scary or dramatic. In fact, tell me something boring."

"I really love economics."

"Oh?"

She ran one finger around my navel. "When I was in high school, I probably did moan about it in my sleep and hump my pillow, just like you hoped for."

"Okay, now you're lying. I won't have that, Lisa."

She chuckled. "It's rational, it's structured, but there are variables. Wild cards. And when it comes down to the line, it's about, what do people want? How much is that worth to them? What are they willing to pay for it?"

"Everything has its price."

"Nah. You're priceless."

Her palm flattened over my stomach, and I sucked in a breath. I was very aware that I was in my panties and she was dressed. The underside of my breasts grazed her arm every time I exhaled.

"Tell me something you love, Jennie."

"You," I blurted. "I love you. You already know everything else."

The room was very quiet. The darkness waited. Fear bubbled up at being honest with Lisa. But I'd done it so many times, I couldn't be any other way.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. Lisa's arm was motionless around my waist, her body molded to mine. The only movement was her heart, pounding faster.

"In the past—" I broke off because my throat was suddenly dry, swallowing. "I was never the first one to say 'I love you.' Ever. I always needed to hear those words before I'd go there. And — the other person had to want me more than I wanted them. I can't believe I'm even saying this. But it's a funny thing about being with you. I can only tell you the truth."

Her arms tightened around me. Her silence was agonizing. The one clue I had was the hammering of her heart against my back.

Seconds ticked away and I wondered if she was frozen, if my words had iced her over while she burned like a furnace inside.

So I threw a rock to break the ice.

"I heard about your mom."

She squeezed me harder, tensing. "I know."

"You do?"

"I saw Nick called tonight and I called him back. He was drunk and crying and babbling about how I was a fucking hypocrite and a coward who was living a life of lies. This was while you were putting your sister to bed — good times."

The truth hit me: Lisa was talking too much. Underneath the ice, she was nervous as hell.

"Are you going to visit your mom?" I asked simply.

In the pause that followed, I counted my breaths in time with Lisa's. Her soft T-shirt and the rougher fabric of her jeans rubbed against my skin.

"Yes."

"When did you decide that?"

"Right now."

Impulsively, I rolled over to face her in the dark, the air thick with all the things we hadn't said. I put my hand on her chest.

"Your heart's beating so fast," I whispered.

"You do that to me, Jennie."

"Uh-uh," I teased, unsure if I was fishing or brushing her off. I was flustered suddenly, as nervous as Lisa. "I'm not that kind of girl."

"Oh, you are."

"Come on. I can't even believe Rosé thinks I put a spell on Kai. My sister is the one who bewitches guys. Not me."

"You have no idea how much power you have, do you?"

My breath whooshed out. "Me?" I asked in a small voice.

"You drive me crazy. I've never wanted anyone the way I want you."

"You're the one who's had all the power. I can't stop thinking about you. I hear your voice everywhere." The words rushed out, tripping on each other. "Sometimes I — I think I'm going to come just from hearing you speak. I almost have. You're like a drug, pulling all my attention."

"When I'm near you, I'm so hard it hurts."

"Really?" I whispered. "Are you hurting right now?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

My hand darted to her crotch. Swiftly, she pinned my wrists to the pillow.

Her breathing was labored, rough and intent — like she was already close. I wanted so badly to see her face, to read her expression, and yet I understood what she'd told me long ago. It's harder to pretend in the dark.

"Tell me the truth." My voice was husky. "Either way, I need to know."

Sweat slicked her palms on my wrists. She inhaled sharply. A car passed below my window, its headlights illuminating Lisa's outline, and drove off.

"I love you." Her rough voice pulled an involuntary sound from me. "You're mine, Jennie. You always have been, from the first time I touched you."

"Before that," I breathed. "From the first time I saw you. I couldn't forget you."

In the blackness of my bedroom, our lips met.

The kiss wasn't soft or sweet. I knew we'd have those later. We'd had them before; the ones to come would be even sweeter. But this one was feral, sharp, painful in its intensity. Wet and sucking and animal, pulling at my pussy from deep inside. We were eating each other, starving, until I broke the kiss, my head spinning.

"Let me go," I whispered. "Please…"

After a second, her fingers left my wrists.

I cupped her erection in one hand and felt for her face with the other. She swore. The words were profane, but from Lisa, they were cleansing.

Her cock was so hard. Angry, throbbing through her jeans. I rubbed it with the aim to tease, scratching her balls lightly through thick denim. Her growl was everything I could hope for.

"Are you going to be the Big Bad Wolf and keep me with you always?"

"That's what you want?"

"I want all of you." Words she'd rasped to me hours ago, desire and reluctance warring in her gaze. "The teddy bear and the wolf. Nice Lisa and Mean Lisa. And everything in between."

"You're a greedy girl, Jennie."

"With you, I am." I shivered as her fingertips traced the swell of my breast.

"Then you can have Nice Lisa tonight, baby." She kissed a feather-light path up my neck and nuzzled my jaw. It was too gentle, and she knew it.

"Not tonight," I gritted.

"No?" Another soft kiss landed on my lips in the dark, and I dug my nails into her back. "You don't want me to tell you how pretty you are? How special? Make love to you so sweet and slow? I can be very, very nice to you, my love."

Warmth spread through me. I was getting drunk on her words, but those feathery touches would never give me the release I needed after the stress of the night. I wanted Lisa to fuck that stress out of me roughly, brutally, and hold me tenderly afterwards.

"Would that even turn you on, to be so nice?"

"You turn me on."

"Lisa…"

She chuckled, and the knowing sound raised the hairs on my arms.

"What do you want, angel?" All the terms of endearment, so rare in the past, were making me lightheaded. "Right here, right now. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you."

I squeezed her heavy cock, slipping my hand under her shirt to stroke her carved chest. A whole universe of choices opened up, dazzling me with the possibilities of what it meant to be Lisa's lover instead of her companion.

"Be very mean to me," I whispered in her ear. "Don't hold back. Don't try to control yourself. But I want Nice Lisa back after you come."

I waited for an answer, but none came. Her silence sharpened my nerves.

As my breath came faster, her hands began to roam over my body, squeezing the soft spots, lighting me on fire. When she tweaked both my nipples, crushing the tender buds, I cried out and grabbed her wrists.

She twisted free, laughing. "What's wrong? Haven't you heard I like to play with my dinner before I gobble it up?"

"Yesssss…" It came out wavery. "I've heard all the stories."

"So you know that when you come skipping through the woods, so curious, so trusting, this could happen." Hot wetness surrounded my nipple, sucking hard. "And this." She bit the puffy bud. I shrieked, clutching her head. "And this." More bites and sucks marked a path down my belly.

"The house is full of people," I breathed, aroused and panicky. "Please don't make me scream again."

I shivered as her fingertips pressed hard into my thighs. She spread my legs and laughed softly.

"You'll be making a lot more noise before I'm done with you. You're probably turning them all on. They'll thank you in the morning for being such a horny little girl."

"Don't hurt me," I pleaded. Her hot breath on my pussy made me tremble and quake. "Please, don't bite me there."

"Oh?" her voice was silken but rough, like the scrape of claws on velvet. She licked slowly up my folds, swirling her tongue around my clit, and I whimpered. "I'm hungry. And I'm pretty sure I can do whatever I want with you."

I stuffed my fist in my mouth as she tongued my opening, over and over, and sucked my clit with cruel appetite. When sharp teeth scraped my sensitive lips, I squirmed, afraid and desperately excited.

"So aroused," she murmured. "So fucking juicy." She bit my thigh, and I bit my fist in response. "I've been wanting to devour you for months. Are you ready for my teeth, girl? Are you ready for pain?"

She was pushing me — firmly, deliberately. I was too scared now, the fear edging out the arousal.

"Evergreen," I whispered. "Not that. Something else. But something new, something you never paid me for."

She pulled back, and her thumbs drew circles on my thighs, soothing me. She laughed softly. "You tell me. Give me one of your dirty little fantasies."

I lifted my head, grateful for the dark. "My ass. I want you in my ass."

Her growl made me shudder. "Dirty girl. Have you done that before?"

"No. But I need you there. I just want to feel you…"

"Have you dreamed about the wolf taking you there, while you play with your needy pussy until you finally, finally come?"

"Yes, God, yes."

She traced the outside of my lips. When I bucked my hips, an open-handed slap met wet flesh.

"Jesus," I gasped.

"You're such a little slut, Jennie. With or without my money. Yet in some ways, you're still an innocent girl."

I growled in protest at her words as she toyed with the creases where my thighs met my crotch. I was so aroused I could feel the juices trickling down my pussy.

"I'm not innocent."

"Oh, you are." A finger slid suddenly into my wet heat, and I bit back a cry. "I'm going to enjoy taking every last bit of that innocence."

"It's yours." I tried to kiss her, but a sharp tug on my hair, out of nowhere, brought tears to my eyes. Her fingers moved faster, two of them inside me now, big and rough, and my breath caught. I gripped her shoulders, no longer marble, but hot flesh and muscle.

"You came to the wolf," Lisa whispered, "so willing to offer yourself. And now you're going to pay."

A sob bubbled out of my throat. It was pure fucking emotion. It was — happiness.

That I'd found someone who understood me so well. Who I fit with. Who knew what I wanted, those darkest, most secret desires, and could make them come true. Who I could make so happy in return, give her what she wanted and needed.

What we shared was valuable.

Priceless.

"I'll pay whatever you say," I babbled. "Anything."

"Good." Teeth scraped my shoulder. "Because I'm going to take everything."

I cried out, sobbing harder, as her fingers shoved inside me, moving ruthlessly. Her thumb pressed my clit. I was fucking soaked now. And God, the inside of my pussy was so alive to her, I was on fire and squeezing her tight while tears leaked from my eyes.

Abruptly, she pulled out.

"Lisa!" I yelped, grasping at empty darkness. "No, no, come back…"

"Jen, I love it when you beg." Her voice was harsh. "You've got lube, girl?"

"Yes…"

"Get it."

I felt my way to my desk and opened the middle drawer. Brushing my fingers over the contents, I found the plastic tube. Behind me, I heard the clink of Lisa's belt buckle and the soft sounds of her clothes sliding off.

I hurried back to the bed, my body throbbing with excitement, and reached out in the dark.

"I got it—"

Hands grabbed me, sliding to my waist, and tossed me facedown on the bed.

A slap on my ass sent sparks through my body. Lisa made a noise of profound satisfaction, spanking me again and again until the pillow was damp with my tears. Like her curses before, the stinging slaps were cleansing. Blotting out everything else.

When I lifted my ass, eager for more, her free hand slid between my legs.

"You're so fucking wet," she hissed, massaging my pussy. "You can't hide from me. All your secrets, all your dark places. We both know exactly who you are."

I seized up, writhing in humiliation and pleasure. "I don't want to hide from you."

Lisa groaned, raining slaps on my cheeks, harder and harder. I bit the pillow. I kicked until she pinned me down. Finally, it ended. My ass was hot, my whole body was about to go up in flames, and my muscles were jelly.

When she pulled up my hips and nudged my soaked pussy with her cock, I yielded immediately, taking her in with a gasp. I moaned at the cruel bite on my shoulder, the deep thrusts that were a little too vicious.

Too soon, she slowed, her heavy body slick on top of mine, and withdrew. I let her raise my hips and fit a pillow underneath. Hands gripped my ass cheeks, pulling them apart.

"Delicious."

The unexpected compliment, layered over the dangerous edge in her voice, made me tremble, hot and eager for her. Fingers, slippery with lube, stroked my cleft and worked into my ass, moving in and out. More fingers teased my clit.

Wanting reassurance, I reached back to grip her wrist.

"Relax," she said softly. "Relax for me."

Taking deep breaths, I focused on letting my body go limp. She caressed me inside and out, deceptively gentle, as I allowed her fingers to slide deeper into my ass. Her compliments floated around me — that I was a good little slut, that she was proud of me, that I'd be able to take her all.

"Don't try to do anything," she murmured. "Just give in. I've got you. Open to me, baby. I'm going to break you apart now."

I clenched up when her fingers left my ass, and moaned when the blunt head of her cock, slick with lube, pressed against my tight back hole.

"I'm nervous," I breathed.

"Of course you are." Slowly, deliberately, she bit my neck. "We're doing something that's fucking dirty."

In the heat of the moment, I snorted with laughter. Behind me, Lisa joined in, her body shaking against mine. To my surprise, I relaxed, allowing her in.

The slide of her cock into my ass felt deeply weird. Private. I liked her fingers there, and the flood of pleasure that could bring, but the sensation of the thick erection sinking into me wasn't pleasurable, exactly — not on its own. But it was intense. Very intense.

"So sweet and innocent." She squeezed my ass, digging greedy fingers into my rounded cheeks. Her cock was slippery, silky, and so big. "Fuck, you're burning hot."

"For you," I whimpered, working my hand between my crotch and the pillow, seeking my swollen bud.

"Sshhh, baby," she crooned. "Just rub your little clit. You know I'll take care of you. We've both been hungry for so long. I've been wanting to eat you up, but you're devouring me too."

I felt…submissive. Very submissive. Underneath Lisa, my ass tilted up, her rigid cock half-buried inside me. Every stroke was so strange, burning and pleasurable now.

"I'm almost there… I can't…"

"As long as it takes," she whispered. She squeezed my throat — gently, but my head went light. "I'm not leaving, Jennie. I promise. If it takes all night, I'll be here. All day, I'll be here too. And when you do —" her voice hardened to a knife's edge, sharpening my excitement — "you'll call my name."

I did.

It was right.

As right as hearing her groan Jennie when she came. Followed, so softly, with I need you.

Afterward, she kissed me and noiselessly left the room. I heard water running in the bathroom and curled up in bed, watching stripes of light on my curtains as cars passed in the night.

The door opened and closed. Lisa lay down next to me, smelling like the coconut soap in my bathroom.

I climbed on top of her, something I'd almost never done during our arrangement, and hugged her hard. She draped an arm over me.

"Need anything, princess?"

"Breakfast tomorrow." I snuggled into her chest, wrapping my thighs around her leg.

"'Course."

"What about everyone else in the house?"

She laughed. "I'll make pancakes."

Sleepily, she kissed the top of my head. I drifted, dozing in her arms.

"Finals," I mumbled, half-waking with a start. "Those are happening. I have this big paper for Victorian Lit next week — that class I fell asleep in at the beginning of the semester —"

"You'll be fine. We can study together."

A flush of happiness spread over me. "I don't know if I'll be able to concentrate," I teased. "Or if you will."

"Oh, you'll concentrate." Lisa yawned. "I'll see to it that you do."

"You're graduating next Saturday," I murmured, suddenly craving reassurance.

Her arms tightened around me. "I'm not going far. Just an hour away."

"I don't even know what your job is after graduation." I nuzzled her neck.

"Money," she said simply. "Banking. Other people's, not my own. Easier that way."

I rolled off of her to look up at the blackness of the ceiling. "Remember when you said the dark is your oldest friend?"

She rested her fingers on my wrist. "Only because you can depend on the light to come."

Impulsively, I sat up, reached over to my desk, and turned on the lamp.

In the sudden light, we both blinked. Lisa looked surprised, but smiling, her eyes like a windless lake — the happiest I'd ever seen her.

"I just needed to look at your face," I explained.

For a minute, we gazed at each other. Then she pulled me down and kissed me. I flicked off the light and lay in the dark with my love, while our future stretched out, open and free.