The Lie

It’s stupid to keep bringing it up, but I was so nervous over the weekend when I met them. I didn’t really have a reason to be though—they were sweeter than can be, and Lachlan and Kayla were absolutely adorable. I still don’t remember meeting Lachlan all those years ago—his face is still kind of a blur from that night—but I’m more than grateful that at least he knows the real story. The last thing I want to do is put pressure on Brigs, but it’s like a weight on my shoulders knowing that we’re not living the absolute truth. I just can’t lie anymore.

“Soon,” he says to me, and I know he means it. “I promise. I just want to tell them in person. Maybe I’ll go up next weekend. I should probably talk to my realtor as well and put my place on the market.”

“Are you serious?”

He shrugs. “Why not? I’m liking my life down here. This feels right. This is where you are.”

I’m taken aback. Completely flattered. Still… “Don’t change your life on account of me. Selling your place is a major deal.”

“And being in love with you is a far bigger deal than that. I’m not going anywhere, Natasha. I’m at your bloody feet and that’s not going to change.”

Damn. This man has a way with words.

“You’re getting royally fucked when we get back to your place,” I tell him. “And I mean that in a good way, of course.”

“I’m glad you clarified that,” he says, shooting me a grin.

And I wasn’t kidding. Once we get the pedalo to shore and head back to his flat, as soon as we get in the door, I attack him. I know I’m supposed to get my period in a few days, and my hormones are all over the place, plus my heart is on the rampage. Mix that all together and I’m one insatiable girl.

We disappear into his bedroom and our clothes come off, and I’m riding him first, my breasts bouncing, and I thrust my hips, his cock buried deep inside, his face staring up at me in lust and awe, like he can’t believe I’m real.

Then I’m on my side, my leg lifted over his hip, and he’s driving into me, faster and faster, the headboard slamming loudly against the wall. Sweat drips off his body and onto mine, and the room fills with the thick smell of sex and the intoxicating sounds of my greedy moans and his grunts and his dirty mouth as he fucks me into oblivion. When I come, I’m a dam unleashed, and I’m screaming his name, letting everything go. Every fear, every thought, every darkened part of me. I’m liquid bliss and sunshine and every star in the universe.

“Bloody hell,” he swears a few moments later, rolling onto his back. “You weren’t kidding earlier. I’m pretty sure Horny Natasha might be the death of me.”

I give him a lazy smile. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“It’s not.” He gets off the bed, peeling off the condom, and I make a mental note to go to the doctor and get on birth control as soon as I can. The other night at his parents’ house was too risky. “And now I’m fucking starving. How about I heat us up some pies?”

“Post-sex beer and pie,” I say with a sigh, spreading out on the bed and stretching my limbs. “Pretty sure there’s nothing better.”

“Who said anything about beer?” Brigs says, even though I know he’s joking. It’s pretty much become a ritual for us, eating pie and drinking beer, naked in his kitchen.

I hear him go into the other room and start rustling around, turning on the oven. I lie on the bed, the orgasm glow pulling me into a soft sleep. But once I hear the beer caps pop off, I drag myself off the bed and join him.

He hands me a beer, and we clink the bottles together, grinning at each other. It still blows my fucking mind that this is my life now, that this man, this gorgeous, special man can stand in front of me totally nude and I can do the same with him, and we can fuck and we can eat and we can love and we can just be.

“How long is the pie going to be?” I ask. Brigs’ oven is notoriously slow and I possess little patience when it comes to food. My ass is proof of that.

“Ten minutes, promise,” he says.

There’s a knock at the door suddenly, scaring the crap out of both of us. Winter starts barking.

“Fuck,” he says, quickly heading to the bathroom to grab a robe. Since I’m buck naked, I go into the bedroom, hauling Winter in there to shut him up. I close the door and slip on my jeans and his T-shirt, my cheeks going red as I think it could be a damn noise complaint. I was screaming pretty loud as I came, and that headboard was making a racket of its own.

I open the door a crack and poke my head out. Brigs is peering through the peephole.

“Who is it?” I hiss. “Are we going to get in trouble for being too loud?”

“I hope not,” he says, hand on the knob. “I can’t really see, looks like maybe the girl down the hall…”

He opens it and I duck my head back into the bedroom, shutting the door.

“Where is she?” I hear a familiar voice seething from outside. “Where is Natasha?”

Oh my fucking god! It’s Melissa!

What the fucking fuck? I feel myself flattening against the wall, holding my breath. What the hell is she doing here?!

“Melissa,” Brigs says. “What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?”

“I followed you from Hyde Park,” she snarls, her voice carrying into the room. “I was watching you. I know, I know everything about you.” She yells, “Natasha, you come out here!”

Jesus. I’m trembling, trying to catch my breath.