“You like that, Nikki?” he asks roughly.
“Yes,” I say, practically panting as I struggle to keep pace with him. I haven’t been fucked like this in so long, I had actually forgotten how it felt. I won’t forget again soon.
“Goo
d. Take it, baby. Take it all.”
My eyes roll back as Derek pounds inside me hard and fast. True to his words, he doesn’t stop until I convulse with pleasure for a second time, all the strength leaving my body. I cry out into the blanket, trying to muffle the sound. I can still feel Derek’s fingers digging into my hip, so I know he hasn’t finished. He thrusts into my convulsing warmth three more times, then groans with his own release.
My skin is hot, my body is weak, and my mind can’t even with me right now, so it has retired until all this is over. It’s okay, Brain, I get it. I don’t need a brain right now anyway; I’m just a mindless blob of satisfaction.
Derek moves over into what must be his spot, the spot next to where I slept last night. He reaches down and drags me up the bed until I’m lying beside him. I make him do all the work. I’m zapped for energy. My head is pounding again, my stomach rocking. People with hangovers probably shouldn’t attempt doggy style, and my body is currently really angry about it, while also being deeply satisfied. My body isn’t sure how it’s supposed to feel.
My heart is, though. Derek’s strong arms are wrapped securely around me, he’s snuggling me against his naked body… right here in this moment, my heart feels just fine.
Chapter Nine
When my eyes open this time, my head doesn’t feel like exploding. My mouth is still as dry as a ball of cotton, but my stomach feels better. It feels empty. I don’t know what time it is, but I’m realizing I didn’t eat much of the breakfast Derek made me.
Shit. Derek. I glance back at the spot he was in when I fell asleep, but he’s not there anymore.
I still feel fogged from the alcohol, but now there’s an additional weight on my shoulders. The weight of bad decisions. That should not have happened for so many reasons. For every reason. This day has been insanity. The last 24 hours of my life has been… just utter chaos.
About as long as Derek has been back in my life. No coincidence, that.
Peeling back the down blanket he must have pulled up over me before he left the room, I sit up on the edge of the bed and let my bare feet touch the ground. I need to at least check in with my life. By bringing me here, Derek effectively cut me off from my whole life. I find my purse and dig out my phone, but it’s dead. The battery was low before I lost my damned mind, so I shouldn’t be surprised.
This is the worst. I’m the worst. He’s the worst. We’re the worst together.
I can’t even call for a cab. I am three hours from home, and I can’t even call anyone. Not that I have anyone to call. Nadia and Louise are my friends, but they’re work friends. I would never ask either of them to drive six hours roundtrip to come get me. I might have asked Henry before this, but after last night, he shouldn’t even answer my phone calls, let alone be willing to come pick me up from the house of the man I just cheated on him with.
Yet again, hurricane Derek blows up my fucking life.
This is my fault. I knew better than to drink. I needed something to take the edge off before I lost my mind, but I should have known better. I can’t believe I missed Alex’s whole reception. I want to call him and apologize, but I have no battery, so I can’t access my contacts.
All I have to wear is my bridesmaid dress, so even though I feel stupid, I pull on my panties and tights, pour myself into the frilly gown, and step into the heels in the corner beside Derek’s dresser.
On second thought, considering I probably look like a disaster, I walk into the bathroom attached to Derek’s bedroom. I try not to consider all of this stuff is his—mostly because it makes me want to snoop. I want to rip out every drawer until I find evidence of Kayla, but I tell myself that’s the sort of thing only an emotionally invested woman would do. I refuse to be emotionally invested in this. I had a one night stand with my ex-boyfriend—nothing more.
I’m going to pay dearly for it, too.
I can’t believe I did this. What mystical power does Derek have that he can drive me to do stupid shit like this when no one else can?
The man is like a sickness, I swear.
I do what I can to make myself look less like a hot mess. I need a shower and an exorcism, but finger-brushed teeth and taming my flyaways with water will have to do for now. I scrub away yesterday’s make-up, then drag down my tights and panties so I can pee. Mostly uneventful—or should be, but when I wipe, I realize there is an abundance of wetness between my legs.
Did Derek not use a condom? God, seriously? Fucking Derek.
I’m fuming all over again when I storm out of his bedroom. The man needs to be murdered, that’s all there is to it. I don’t want to go to jail, but I’m ready to take one for the team and cleanse him from the face of the Earth.
I slow to a stop at the mouth of the hallway, losing steam. Derek is lying on his stomach on the carpeted floor in the living room, coloring a picture of a pink pony with Cassidy. They both look up at me like little scamps.
“We’re coloring you a picture,” Cassidy tells me brightly.
“You are?” I ask, glancing at the coloring book. “That’s nice of you.”
“You can put it on your refrigerator,” she tells me, dropping a crayon into a clear bin of them and picking up another color. She focuses intently on the drawing as she tells me, “It’s hard to stay inside the lines.”