When I wake up, it’s dark. My overseas schedule is dictating her schedule. She doesn’t seem too upset about it though as she breathes quietly in a rhythm that indicates sleep. Rubbing my hand along her side, I stop when I reach her bare thigh. Her breathing becomes slightly ragged and I feel a small hand cover mine as she guides it to the edge of her dress and back under it, pushing it up along the way.

I slide my hand all the way up her dress to her belly and caress her soft skin there for a few moments. Rolling her to her back, I remove my hand so that I can free her breasts from the top of her tube top. Leaning down, I taste and suck on her breast. When my mouth comes in contact with her nipple, she moans loudly. I pay extra attention to it and smile when she begins to slowly buck her hips off the bed.

Sitting up, I yank off my shirt and slide out of my sweatpants. I find the edges of her dress and pull it off of her body. After tossing it to the floor, I move between her legs and spread her knees apart. Using my thumbs, I spread her open for me and taste her for the first time. Somehow I knew she was going to be sweet, and she was even sweeter than I imagined. Dragging my tongue between her pussy lips again, I find her clit and tease it. Her moans are getting louder as she thrusts her hips up with each lick. Gently, I pull her clit between my lips and suck on it.

Her hands find my hair and grip roughly, which turns me on. I want to sink myself into her, but I’m a patient man. Dipping one finger inside her, I discover that she is extremely wet for me. I slide another one inside and her moans become whimpers. I’m still doing crazy things with my tongue and grazing her g-spot with my fingertips inside her when she shudders wildly with an orgasm. The clenching around my fingers is so fucking hot, and my dick is jealous.

Removing my fingers, I kiss my way slowly up my body. I know it drives her crazy because she’s trying to pull me closer to her by my hair. When I get to her mouth, I chuckle.

“Did you enjoy that?” I tease against her lips.

“That was quite possibly the most amazing experience of my life,” she whispers in a way that makes my dick throb for her.

Pressing my lips to hers, I kiss her softly at first, but soon she’s wrapped her legs around my hips, kissing me hungrily. Between kisses, she lets out soft moans and bounces her hips closer to me each time. At one point, my dick slides against her wet pussy and I groan. I need to go find the condoms, but I just want to feel her again without it on. Giving in to insanity, I push myself all the way inside of her to the hilt.

“Oh, Lane, yes,” she moans against my lips.

I go to pull out, but she feels so damn good. Pumping a couple more times, I revel in the way her body hugs mine as it desperately attempts to milk out my own orgasm. I can feel myself getting closer, so I take every ounce of willpower I have and yank myself out of her so fast that she cries out from the loss.

“Fuck, babe. I’ll be right back,” I promise breathlessly.

“Bathroom,” she informs me softly.

I go to the bathroom and find the box before carrying it back to the bedside with me. I can now see her as the light shines on her naked body from the bathroom. Her hair is sprawled out beneath her, making her look wild and sexy as hell. With legs still spread and waiting for me, I hurry and sheath myself with a condom. Climbing back between her, I push my dick back inside her. She feels fucking good even with a damn condom on. I’ll be suggesting birth control soon because I love feeling her hot flesh against mine.

By pulling her legs up over my shoulders, I can get deeper inside her, and I thrust hard. She’s practically yelling my name as she gets closer and closer to orgasm. Using my thumb, I massage her clit with one hand and reverently stroke one of her thighs that’s pressed against me with the other. When I see her hands move to her breasts to tweak her nipples, I almost lose control. Thankfully she’s close to the edge too. A few more strokes of her clit and she’s screaming out my name as her pussy tightens around my dick. It’s enough to draw out my own orgasm, and I finally shoot out my release.

“Baby, you feel so fucking good,” I praise her as I kiss the inside of her thigh before pulling out of her.

Climbing off the bed, I deposit the condom in the bathroom trash. I catch a glimpse of my reflection before I exit the bathroom. The fool grinning at me looks happy. Shaking my head, I make my way back over to the bed and crawl in. Finding her tiny body, I pull her flush against me with her back to my chest. I love holding her like this.

“Lane?” she says quietly.

“Yes, babe?”

“Thank you.”

“Well, I know I’m good, but you don’t have to thank me,” I tease.

She giggles, which is always music to my ears, and slaps my hand resting on her belly.

“No, thank you for giving me this. I thought I was lost forever because of what that woman did to me. You changed that, and I will forever be thankful. I don’t understand how you did it, but it’s happened and I am enjoying every minute. So thank you for helping me heal.”

I stroke her hair back and kiss her neck.

“You’re helping me heal too. I wasn’t feeling the greatest coming back to deal with my brother’s death. It fucking sucked, in fact. But then, you showed up all beautiful and stranger than hell. I needed to know you.”

She was quiet for a minute before she spoke again, clearly mulling something over in her mind.

“Lane? I still don’t understand about Liam. He left me a week ago, but you say he died six months ago. We really need to talk about this because it really bothers me.”

There it is. The big fucking elephant that’s been in the room since the moment we met. My body tenses up with annoyance. When she says stuff like this, it reminds me that she isn’t completely mentally stable.

“Babe, he died six months ago from overdosing on a shitload of pills. I got temporary leave to deal with the funeral. That week, I buried my brother beside my parents. It fucking sucked. After that, I began packing up his apartment but had to go back. Now, I’m back for good. I talked to the building manager, and as long as I paid the rent monthly, I could take over the lease. You moved here a month ago, so there’s just no possible way you could have known Liam.”

There. I said it. She tenses under me, and I know she’s upset, but dammit, so am I.

“I think you should leave,” she whispers. Well, fuck.

“No, babe, I think—” I begin, but she cuts me off.

“Lane, leave,” she says coldly as she rolls away from me and off the bed. When she heads to the bathroom, I jump out of bed and follow her. She’s turning on her ice shower, I presume.

“Sidney, I’m just saying that, given your history, you could have just imagined it.” Shit, that came out more insulting than I meant, but it was truth.

“Screw you, Lane. I loved him! How dare you tell me otherwise!” she screams at me. Tears fill her eyes, and she looks wild. In this moment, I’m struck that she really is mad. And not in the angry way. What have I gotten myself into?

Turning away from me and giving me a nice view of her round, scarred ass, I’m once again hit with the fact that I’ve been sleeping with a woman who needs professional help. Fuck.

She steps into the water and closes the curtain. I walk over to it, opening it up, and see her staring ahead like a fucking zombie. I want to comfort her, but when I reach out for her and icy water splashes me, I pull away.

“I think you need to call your friend Tina,” I grumble.

She snaps her head at me angrily. “Go!” she spews at me. Her face is contorted because of the fury she feels toward me. It’s such a far cry from the woman I just made love to not thirty minutes ago. I was such a dick for injecting myself into this sick woman’s life.

“Bye, Sidney. I hope you get the help you need,” I reply sadly as I leave the bathroom to find my clothes.

After I dress, I leave the apartment, locking the door before I pull it closed. It will be hard for me to stay away from her, but the bottom line is that she claims to know my dead brother. I can deal with a certain amount of crazy, but that shit just pisses me off.

I let myself into my apartment and frown when I see that it’s pitch black except for the glow of the laptop on the kitchen table. The hair on my neck prickles because I certainly remember closing it. Storming over to it, I’m about to shut it when I read the words on an open Word document on the screen that effectively halt me.

Fix it, Pain. She’s worth it.

What the fuckity fuck?! Pain? Shit. Someone is definitely fucking with me. When Liam and I would fight, he would call me Pain instead of Lane. It always infuriated me when he did it. Tonight is no different as it evokes those same feelings. Who would know this much about the two of us to do this to me? My thoughts drift to Sidney. Could she have slipped into the apartment and found a journal or something? That would explain a lot.

Sighing, I slam the laptop closed and head to bed. Thankfully there is only one month left on the lease. I’ll have to start looking for a new place other than this shitty apartment complex infested with crazies.

Climbing into my own bed, I fall asleep easily.

Fix it, Pain. She’s worth it.

That stupid phrase played over and over in my dreams last night. But in my dreams, Liam stood by my bedside, all brooding like usual with his arms crossed. This shit is making me fucking crazy. Annoyed, I decide to do laundry today and start gathering my dirty clothes. A shower seems in order before I leave my apartment, so I turn on the faucet and wait for it to get hot. Steam quickly fills the bathroom as I undress. Stepping into the hot spray, I relax as the water soothes my muscles, which are tense from the whole Sidney situation.

I’m just finishing up when the water turns icy cold.

“Fuck!” I yell and scramble to turn the water hotter. But when it’s all the way to the hot and ice water still showers down on me, I turn it off completely and hop out. I’m shivering as I dry off. This building has the shittiest fucking pipes. After wiping off my face and drying my hair, I look up at the mirror. A chill that has nothing to do with the ice bath I just took creeps over me. Someone has written something in the steam on the mirror.

Fix it, Pain. She’s worth it.

What in the fuck?

I stomp into the bedroom and dress in some low-riding jeans paired up with a black T-shirt. I’m pretty sure I locked the door last night, but I need to know for certain. When I see that the bolt lock is engaged, I am pissed. She has to have a fucking key.

My belly growls at me as if it’s pissed too. I remember that all of the groceries we bought yesterday are at Sidney’s place. This just gets better and better. Snatching up my laundry basket, I head out to do laundry.

I stop at her apartment first and bang on the door. I’m ready to tell her to stay out of my apartment, but she doesn’t answer. Irritated, I make my way to the basement. When I get to the bottom of the basement steps, I see her bent over, wearing one of her short-ass dresses—sans panties—pulling laundry from the dryer. My dick twitches in greeting.

Storming over to her, I slam my basket down on the table behind her. She jumps so high, and I almost feel guilty for startling her. Almost.

She yelps out in surprise, but when she realizes it’s me, tears fill her eyes.

“Liam?”

I instantly see red and stalk up to her, pinning her between me and the dryer. As angry as I am with her, my dick is fucking so happy to see her. She’s looking beautiful as always in a tight, revealing dress, and I know she’s wearing nothing underneath. I know she feels my erection because she turns crimson.

“I am not Liam. I’m Lane,” I growl. Tears cascade down her cheeks as she nods. Her bottom lip trembles, and I hate myself for wanting it.

“Lane,” she whispers. The way she says my name flips a switch off in my mind, and I grasp her hips, grinding my hardness against her belly. She whimpers with mutual need.

I dip my lips to hers and hungrily capture my favorite pouty one. A moan escapes as I devour her, tasting, sucking, and biting. Lifting her up on the dryer, I unfasten my jeans and pull them and my boxers down, freeing my cock. Pulling her to the edge of the dryer, I pull her dress up her body and slam my dick inside her.

“Lane!” she gasps and latches on to my hair.

I bury my face into her neck, sucking every inch as I pound into her. She holds on tight to my head as I fuck her on the dryer. Every word that comes out of her mouth is my name and it’s so hot. When she throws her head back and screams my name this time, I know she’s found her orgasm. I’m so consumed by it that I nearly forget to pull out when my climax hits. Nearly. My come spurts hotly on her belly between us.

Bringing my lips to hers, I taste her once more before I pull away. Grabbing a shirt from my basket, I clean myself up and toss it to her. I pull my pants up before I look her in the eye. She’s still sitting on the dryer, her legs spread open, completely stunned. Finally, she snaps out of it and wipes off her belly. Pulling her dress down, she slides off the dryer and looks over at me, confused. I’m fucking confused too.

She turns and loads her wet clothes into the empty dryer. Moving past her, I dump in all of the clothes and start the load. We still haven’t spoken. I’m not sure what to say to her. When I remember the laptop and the mirror, the anger builds once again.

“You need help,” I tell her coldly.

Turning toward her, I see that she freezes in the middle of folding clothes and looks at me. Hurt is written all over her face, making me feel like an asshole. She attempts to ignore me and continues folding her clothes. I can see tears falling silently down her face.

“You need fucking help, Sidney.”

She flinches but doesn’t say anything. I don’t know why I’m being so mean, but I can’t help it.

Storming over to her, I step behind her and press my body against hers. I know she can’t ignore it when I touch her. She’s been deprived too long. Just like I knew it would, her body melts against mine.

“You need fucking help.”

Her whimpers get my dick hard once again, and I fight the desire of bending her over and taking her once again. Desire wins over as I grab ahold of the bottom of her dress and lift it up, baring her ass. Using my palm, I grip one cheek on her bottom before sliding it up her back and pushing up the dress in the process, pressing her face-first onto the table. Now her bottom is completely exposed and ready for me.

“You need fucking help,” I tell her again as I unfasten my jeans again and pull out my dick. I tease her entrance with the tip and can see that she’s so wet for me already. When she starts to sob, I take pause. Maybe she isn’t into this as much as I am.

I kiss her back more gently than I intended and she shudders under my touch. My cock is begging to be inside her again, but I don’t give in yet. I’m about to slam into her when she speaks again.

“Stop. Lane, please stop,” she whimpers.

My dick twitches as it teases her wet folds. I’m so conflicted by her words. Her body clearly wants me.

“Babe, you’re body tells me otherwise,” I growl as I slowly drag my dick between us. I want nothing more than to sink myself into her again, but she hasn’t given me the okay.

“I’m not your babe. Get off of me please,” she says more firmly this time.

“Sidney, I’m so—”

A slamming door at the top of the stairs has me scrambling off of her, yanking my jeans up before anyone sees what we’re doing down here. She slides off the table and pulls her dress back into place.

“You are not to touch me ever again without permission. Do you hear me?” she spits out at me. She’s obviously furious.

Feeling like an asshole for treating her that way, I nod and have the decency to walk away from her. She sniffles while she hurriedly folds the rest of her clothes. I want to comfort her, but I don’t. I’ve royally fucked this up between us.

Didn’t the door slam? Nobody ever came down the stairs. So weird. Another eerie chill skitters down my spine.

I’m watching her from over on the couch, and she looks nervously up the stairs. It seems like she’s battling staying here with me and waiting on the rest of her clothes to dry or going upstairs. I don’t want her to leave.

“Just stay. I’ll leave you alone,” I promise and rub my palms across my face. Finally, I rest my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands.

She walks hesitantly over to me on the sofa and sits down. It’s a small sofa, and I could easily reach out to touch her, but I don’t.

“Sidney, I’m sorry. That went a little too far. This whole thing with Liam pisses me off. But at the same time, I can’t deny my overwhelming attraction to you.”

“You know what pisses me off?” she asks calmly.

For some reason, I think she’s about to go off on me. I don’t have to answer her before she decides to continue.

“You. You piss me off. Don’t you think I’m going wild with wonder as to how I know Liam, whom you say has been dead for months? Have you ever once considered that I was telling the truth? How could I have made up knowing him?” she asks, her voice rising with each question. It doesn’t go unnoticed by me that she’s turned herself to face me and is now on the cushion closest to me.

“Because, Sidney, it’s impossible. I think that maybe you found a way into his apartment, read through a journal or something, and now have delusional thoughts about my dead brother!”

In two seconds flat, she scrambles over to me on her knees and slaps me hard across my face. I’m startled at first, but when she goes to do it again, I grab her wrist. Her knee slides to the other side of me so that she’s now straddling me as she struggles to free her arm. She tries to hit me with the other arm, so I grab that one too. When she bursts into tears, I only want to comfort her. Letting go of her wrists, I wrap my arms around her back and pull her to me.

“Shh, babe,” I whisper as we embrace. Her arms are delicately wrapped around my neck.

“I don’t understand,” she admits tearfully into my ear. The hot whisper sends a thrill all the way down to my dick.

“Me neither, babe.”

Her tongue darts out and tastes my earlobe. I groan in pleasure. When she nibbles on it, I want to throw her down on the couch and fuck her like a madman. My hands slip down to cup her ass. She grinds her body against mine, and suddenly it’s difficult to control doing what I want to do with her.

“I want you right now,” I growl into her hair.

“Then take me,” she asserts.

In one swift movement, I have her on her back on the sofa. Her legs are still spread around my hips, so now that her dress has been pushed up, I have an unobscured view of her pussy. Yanking my jeans and boxers down in record speed, I slide myself between her and enter slowly.

She moans and pulls me to her, kissing me hard. I thrust into her forcefully, and I can tell that this time will be quick. Since I’m already getting close, I slide my hand between us, find her clit, and massage it rapidly so she will come soon.

“Oh, Lane, yes!” she cries out, practically ripping my hair from my head.

The roughness of it sends my orgasm searing through me. I jerk out of her and spurt hot semen all over her belly for the second time while down here. Jumping up, I pull up my pants and make my way to the sink to grab her a few paper towels to clean me off her.

“God, Sidney, you’re so fucking hot. I can’t control myself around you. I’m completely spellbound by you,” I admit as I hand her the paper towels.

She giggles adorably, and my heart soars. I can get pissed at her all damn day, but the bottom line is that I’ll still want her. After she cleans up, she pulls the dress back down and sits up.

“I’m taking you on a date tonight.” I tell her because I don’t want her to have an excuse. For some reason, I worry that, if I ask, she’ll say no.

“A date? Wow, I don’t know. I’m not sure I would know what to do.”

Now it is my turn to chuckle. Her brows are pinched together with worry and she’s biting nervously on her lip. I offer my hand to pull her from the couch. She takes it and stands chest to chest with me.

“It wasn’t a request. It was a demand.” I wink at her. She grins back at me, and I have to step away from her because I’m already growing hard for her again.

“Lane?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“I called you Liam earlier because he always wore black T-shirts. Every single day. When you came in all angry, you looked just like him. I’m sorry.”

Once again, the anger builds up in my chest. She seems so genuine, like she is unable to tell a lie even if she wanted to, but I still can’t believe her words.

“Drop it,” I warn.

Her smile falls away, and I feel like an ass once again. She simply nods and heads over to the dryer. Not bothering to fold this load, she dumps them into the basket over the folded ones and heads to the staircase with the basket in tow.

“Sidney, wait,” I call out to her. Walking over to her, I place a kiss on her head. “I’m sorry. We’ll figure this out. I’ll pick you up at five.”

Nodding, she leaves me at the bottom of the stairs looking up after her. I sure hope we can figure this out.