JENNIE

I expected Lisa to release me. To make some excuse about having to work early while gathering my things and ushering me back into the night. Instead, she grabbed me to her, kissed me with a heated fury, and picked me up, urging all my limbs around her. Grasping the nape of my neck, her fingers digging into my skin, she charged forward. My back hit cold plaster as she knocked against a nightstand, overturning a lamp.

"I need you," she said through gritted teeth, adjusting my weight with her hips, already hard as stone between us. I flattened my palms and upper back against the wall as she stepped back, my legs still clinging to her, took herself in her free hand, and sank into me without checking to see if I was ready. She slid in easily, but I gasped from the unexpected and delicious feel of her rock-hard and unsheathed cock inside me.

She thrust hard and fast, bouncing me against the wall with her urgency. "You feel so good." She caught my lips in a furious kiss. "Fuck."

She slipped her arms under mine and covered each of my shoulders, bringing me down onto her harder, going so deep that my ass slapped against her scrotum. I grasped vainly at her slick back, trying to hold on as she continued to buck.

My insides seized with each naked plunge, bringing me quickly to the edge. I threw my head against the wall and winced.

"Shit." She backed us away.

"It's fine," I said, panting. "I'm close. Don't stop." I buried my face in her neck as she rounded the bed and stopped at her nightstand. She bent over, cradling my back so I wouldn't fall, and I gasped with new awareness of how deep she was. She drew back to kiss me quickly on the lips, reached into the top drawer, and pulled out a condom. She stuck the packet in her mouth and tore it open.

Still dangling from her body, I gave her an exaggerated pout. She looked me evenly in the eyes and pulsed her hips once with a groan. My lips parted for a sharp breath.

"I can't wait to come inside of you," she said, kissing the underside of my jaw, "once you're officially mine."

I nearly lost my grip at her words. I was so aroused by her determination to claim me that I could've fainted from sheer need. I'd just broken down on her floor, and the guilt would return, I knew—but I would've done anything in that moment to belong to Lisa.

She withdrew from me and set me on my feet to roll on the condom.

As her gaze swept over me in the moonlight, she licked her lips. "Clasp your hands behind your back." She shook her head when I obeyed. "God, you're even better than I imagined. And I imagined a lot."

Warmth rushed up my exposed body. I'd imagined, too. I took in her towering frame and broad, solid torso. Dark curls started at her chest and thinned into a delicious trail. With a six-pack, long, muscled legs, narrow hips, and firm, defined arms, she'd clearly been gifted by the gods with a body she maintained but didn't work to death.

And nowhere was she more gifted than down south. My mouth watered at just the sight of her massive, implacable erection.

She turned me around, and I yelped when she smacked my ass. "On the bed."

I climbed up onto all fours, already missing the sight of her.

"You want it that way?" she asked.

The thought excited me, but my first orgasm had happened while looking her in the eye. Perhaps I should've been satisfied to have come at all, but I wanted more.

"Never hesitate in my bed," Lisa said. "I want honesty, always. Turn around. I want to watch your face as I fuck you."

Even wetter with her demand, I faced her, running one foot down my other shin. When she didn't make a move, I bit my lip, failing to keep in a whimper, nearly crazed with aching.

She exhaled a short, forceful breath and took a large stride toward me. "Christ," was all she said as she took an ankle in each hand. In one movement, she'd yanked me and spread my legs so I fell back on the comforter. I shut my eyes with the feel of her lips on the inside of my ankle, making their way up my knee to my inner thigh. Her mouth jumped to my stomach, brushing my scar, and my abdominals clenched as I fought from recoiling. No, no, no. Stay with her .

She took my breasts in her hands and ran her thumbs under my nipples while I pushed my hips into her torso, desperate to feel her again. Her mouth encircled one nipple and then the other. I bowed into the bliss of her tongue, softly crying out as I grasped handfuls of her hair. she let me pull her up for a hard kiss, then shoved a finger into me and massaged, feeling me from inside.

I writhed beneath her as she added another finger, tempting me to the verge of climax. I fought it, arching into her body. I needed to feel her again, to watch her grunt, her face screwing up with pleasure as she hammered me.

"Come for me," she rasped against my neck.

"No." I grabbed her solid ass in both my hands, urging her hips toward me. "I need you inside me."

"So goddamn stubborn," she teased and straightened up, sliding my hips to the very edge. She spread my swollen lips for the head of her cock and slowly swirled her pelvis twice. "Beg for it, Jennie."

"Please," I said. Her fingers massaged my clit. "Fuck me, Lisa."

She plunged into me. I put my feet on her shoulders and she leaned on them, deepening her range, gripping my hips, nailing me into the mattress so fast I had to hold on to the sheets.

My ears roared as I squeezed my eyes shut. I'd never experienced the dueling sensations of being wholly filled while fingertips also worked my clit.

"I'm going to come any second." She took my jaw and demanded, "Look at me."

I broke myself from the darkness and opened my eyes for her. The sea of pleasure that had risen in me crashed over my body, throwing me into a violent orgasm that had me coming twice as long and hard as before. She pounded into me through the climax, never losing eye contact. My legs dropped, my spent body sliding up the bed with each thrust, until she seized my waist to pull me back to the brink. With gritted teeth and a punishing final thrust, she came feverishly, shuddering, holding on to me like I might vanish, until every drop had left her body.

It was the most erotic thing I'd ever seen.

Lisa braced herself over me, her massive body propped up by sinewy arms. I ran a hand through my sweat-soaked hair and over my undulating breasts, trying to catch my own breath. I jumped when she brushed my clit while pulling out of me. I hooked my legs on the mattress to keep from slithering over the side.

"You're going to fall," she said and threw the condom where she'd tossed the first one.

"I can't move," I replied between heavy breaths. Hands swept beneath me, and suddenly I was in her arms, being carried to the bathroom where she set me down . . . at the toilet.

"What . . .?" I asked with a slight giggle.

"Sex Ed 101. Always pee after sex. Go."

I sat down, more out of exhaustion than compliance. "A little privacy?"

"Just go."

I crinkled my nose at her. "Lisa."

"Fine." She turned her back.

"Really?"

"I just fucked the shit out of you. We're past formalities. Who cares?"

"Peeing is hardly a formality," I grumbled, but in truth, there was something sexy about Lisa's lack of squeamishness. The act was oddly intimate even though I'd peed in front of Taehyung countless times. And now, I had the advantage of admiring Lisa's toned ass—magnificent, even in the dark.

When I'd finished, she hoisted me back to the bed. "You carry me a lot."

"I'll never take having you in my arms for granted," she said.

I was thankful for the dark that hid my blush. "Aren't I getting heavy?"

She laughed heartily and tossed me a few inches in the air, catching me easily. "No, honeybee. You're not. You think I could've fucked you that long standing up if you were?"

"The wall did most of the work," I pointed out, as she held me over the bed.

"Is that what you think?" She asked, nipping under my jaw with her teeth. "Should we try it again so I can prove you wrong?"

My eyes widened. "Can you go again?"

"I could have you till the sun comes up, but you need to rest. We both do." She dropped me, and I laughed as I hit the springs. "But now I have to piss."

"What, I don't get to watch?"

"You can if you want," she said.

But as my body settled into the bed, my lids grew heavy.

Did she call me honeybee again?

--

The sheets must have been a thread count somewhere in the thousands because they were oh . . . so . . . inviting . . .

The mattress shook, jarring me awake. Lisa climbed into the other side of her king-sized bed. I reached across the valley between us to touch her. "I'm cold."

"Then come here." She pulled me to her, and I fit myself against a body I wasn't used to. I rested my elbow on her torso and my face on her shoulder.

"How do you feel?" she asked into my hair.

I sighed. "Sore."

"Good. I want you remembering this all weekend."

I nearly shuddered. As if my mind or heart could forget—Lisa had ensured my body wouldn't. "Can I tell you something?" I asked.

"Jennie." She rolled me onto my back, covering me as she looked me straight in the eyes. Her body seemed miles long; her legs had to be hanging off the edge. "I've been waiting for you to ask me that for weeks," she said. "Please, tell me something that I don't have to emotionally beat out of you."

I swatted her shoulder and snickered. But she wasn't teasing. She wanted my thoughts. My confessions. My secrets.

I cleared my throat, suddenly on the spot. "It—that was . . ." I went to touch my earlobe, but she caught my wrist without even a glance and kissed the inside of it.

"That was my first orgasm with anyone," I admitted. Looking up at the ceiling, I added, "Well, first and second."

"What?" Shock threaded her tone. she moved off me and sat back on her calves. "You can't be serious."

"It's true. Does that freak you out?" I asked, getting up on my elbows. With the loss of her heat, I shivered.

"Sorry," she mumbled, returning over me, tucking each of my limbs into her body. I couldn't quite gauge her reaction until a huge smile crossed her face. It broke only long enough for her to kiss me quickly on the lips. "No, actually, I can't believe it," she said. "How is that possible?"

I faltered, wondering how to even explain it. "I've never been able to get there with a partner. I always assumed Taehyung and I would, but he stopped trying after a while. I don't blame him. The harder he worked, the less turned on I became. I'd just take care of myself later. I could never fully . . ." Let go. I took a breath. I kept that confession to myself, since it seemed unfair to Taehyung. "So I might be on another planet right now."

Lisa kissed the base of my neck more times than I could count.

"I guess it helps that this has been building between us for almost two months," I said.

"Oh, yeah?" she glanced up at me. "Then how do you explain the second one?"

I smiled shyly, and her expression sobered. "You have no idea what that means to me," she said, her lips brushing the hollow of my neck.

"It means you're an experienced lover," I joked, even though I knew it wasn't the entire reason. I had blossomed for her. Beneath her, surrounded by her, we existed in our own world.

"No." She sighed, exhaling against my neck. "It's different." Her voice was so soft, that I had to strain to hear.

Is it different for you, too, Lisa?

I wanted to ask, but I just enjoyed the feeling of her lips, her breath, her, on my body. For all my fears around Lisa, I was somehow safe here.

She lifted her head, a mischievous look playing over her face. She ground her hips against me softly, alerting me that she was hard again. "Getting your first orgasm might be the sexiest thing I've ever heard."

I squealed. "Lisa ."

She laughed, and it was such a playful, wonderful sound that I couldn't help but join her.

"I mean it. You're gorgeous. When you're my girl, I'll have you coming every chance I get."

My laugh melted as reality threatened to creep in, but my mouth watered at her words. When I was her? How could she believe that would happen?

I didn't get a chance to wonder long. She slid down my body and nuzzled my breasts, sighing into them, her lips scraping against my skin. "You're incredible, Jennie. I don't ever want to hear you say you're empty."

I didn't want to think about that, or I worried I'd break down again. "I'm thoroughly worked over, is what I am."

Her golden-brown gaze found mine. "You know, when I looked into your eyes at the theater, I was stunned. Nothing like that has ever happened to me. And when I saw you in that gold dress at the restaurant, I knew you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. You were glowing. But right now, in my bed, naked and undone . . ." She leaned forward to kiss me softly on the lips. "You are perfect. I never want you any other way."

I ran my hand over her cheek and through her hair. It hurt that I couldn't respond the way I wanted, so I just touched her, memorizing with my fingers.

Her gigantic hands splayed over my ribcage. "So smooth," she said, moving her fingers over my skin.

Everything is smooth in the dark .

My body jolted when her index finger ran over my scar. "Except for this," she said. "What is it?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, thankful for the night to hide whatever reaction might give me away.

Why is she asking? Who cares what it is?

I balled the sheets in my fist. I had to relax. It was a simple question, and she'd drop it if I asked her to; she didn't mean anything by it. But my heart pounded.

Lisa leaned closer and examined it. "What's it from?"

"Haven't we covered enough for one night?" I asked, half-joking.

Her silence was response enough.

I sighed and pushed her hand away. "It's ugly, and I don't like talking about it."

"Does it have to do with your panic attack a few minutes ago?"

"It wasn't a panic attack," I said. "I was overwhelmed. I'm f—" I stopped myself from using the word fine so Lisa wouldn't start another argument over it. "I'm all good."

"You're not. You were hurting just now. Tell me what overwhelmed you," she said, unaffected by my brush-off—a tactic that often worked with Taehyung.

"I don't want to lie to you," I said, but even I heard the defeat in my voice. "So please don't make me."

She laughed softly and buried her nose in my chest, placing a feather-light kiss between my breasts. "Don't lie. I'm not easily scared off." Suddenly, her body weighed on me, her breath on my skin seeming to hit an exposed nerve with every exhale. I must have moved, because she said, "Stop. Don't pull away. Tell me what's going through your head."

Despite the fact that the scar would forever be linked to my mother, in that moment, it was Davena's memory that made my chest stutter.

I hadn't worked up the courage to tell Rosé or Jisoo yet—I'd barely even spoken to Taehyung about Davena's death. Could I really share my grief with Lisa?

I sighed and looked out the bedroom window. I could. I could tell Lisa everything—that was the problem. I could tell her, knowing she would somehow take some of that pain, shoulder it, and comfort me.

"A family friend passed away last night," I said. "I found out this morning while we were at the station."

Lisa stilled beside me. "I'm sorry. I had no idea—you seemed . . . I didn't realize that was what had upset you."

I nodded. "It was cancer."

"And you were close?"

A lump formed in the back of my throat. I kept my face turned away. "She's been there for me in ways my mother hasn't," I said, my voice hitching.

"Ah." Lisa ran the pad of her thumb along my jawline. "I gather your relationship with your mom is strained."

I returned my eyes to her. I was right. There was nothing in her expression but comfort and understanding. And an invitation to tell her anything on my mind without judgment.

"She accidentally stabbed me when I was younger."

Her jaw clicked as she jutted it to one side. "Your mom?"

It felt ridiculous to say out loud. I hadn't had to talk about it in much detail since that night at the hospital sixteen years ago.

All that blood.

"My parents fought a lot, but never more than the year leading up to their divorce," I explained. "One night, she pulled a knife. My dad had come home late from the office. I was used to being woken up by their arguments, but this one was especially bad."

"What was it about?" Lisa asked.

"Gina."

"Gina?"

"A client of his. They'd fought over her before."

"If you're using her name all these years later," Lisa said, "then I'm guessing your mom was right to be upset about her."

I shook my head. "My dad wasn't a cheater," I said. "Gina eventually became his second wife, yes, but nothing happened between them until after the divorce."

Lisa shifted. "I see. What happened?"

"That's it. I was spying on the fight. When the knife came out, I freaked and ran between them. It was an accident, what she did, but it didn't matter."

With the words out of my mouth, I no longer felt cornered. Lisa's body changed from a trap to a shield. I glided a hand over her smooth upper back. I'd said it aloud, and the world hadn't come crashing down.

"Then what?" she asked.

Again with the questions.

"You ask a lot of questions." I moved my hand to her hair, letting the silky strands sprout from between my fingers. "Why? Are you going to rescue me from my past, Lisa?"

She pecked me on the lips softly, lingering there. Slowly, she caressed my tongue with her while running her knuckle along my jawline.

"You're hard," I whispered into her mouth. She nodded almost imperceptibly. She weighed heavy on me and I took it, wanting nothing more than to stay securely underneath her as long as she would let me.

When the kiss grew more urgent, she tore away from me. "I'm getting distracted. What's the rest of the story?"

"Hmm?" I asked sleepily. I opened my eyes, wondering if I could convince her to keep kissing me. "The rest? Screaming. Blood. Hospital. Really, that's all the detail I care to remember. I hate hospitals. Blood scares me blind."

"That's why you were in shock after Mark's attack," she said.

I nodded. "The knife and the blood—it took me back to those moments."

She swallowed. "How old were you?"

"Thirteen."

"Fuck. Does it hurt?"

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "No, of course not."

"You flinch when I touch it."

"A reflex, I guess. I can't control it." The room quieted, the only sound a pair of mirrored breaths.

"Protecting you from your own mother," she murmured finally. "I don't know anyone who could do that."

"It was a long time ago. It never happened again. My dad left her the next day, and we started over without her. She never got over it. She thinks we abandoned her."

Lisa's brows furrowed as my words trailed off. "What is it?"

"Nothing, it's just weird to talk about this in any depth. I haven't in so long. Not since it happened."

"How? What about . . .?" she hesitated. "What about with Taehyung?"

I let my eyes roam Lisa's face. That might've been the first time I'd heard Lisa acknowledge him by something other than "your husband" and sneer.

"Now you can say his name?" I said with a laugh, which promptly turned into a yawn. "No, you're right. I forgot. Of course I told Taehyung."

I closed my eyes, half-giving in to sleep, half-feigning it so Lisa wouldn't see the truth. I'd just confessed one of my most personal, formative experiences to her—something I hadn't even shared with Taehyung. How could I admit that without scaring Lisa? Without confirming her earlier accusations that my friends, family, and husband all let me get away with fine?

How would she react knowing I'd avoided this topic with Taehyung for our entire marriage, only to open up for Lisa within a single night?