Hush Hush

by Lucia Franco

That's the thing. We indulge, and then we connect, and that leaves us with a side of feelings that will fuck us over in the end.

"Are you really going to refuse to feel what we have? Let me tell you something—I'm not a fucking pansy. I don't do soft and I'm not that romantic, but this feeling in my chest is not normal. This craving I have for you is not fucking normal. You're all I can think about—you’re what I want, what I need, like I need air to breathe. I've never had this before, and my gut is telling me to chase it. I’m not giving up on this … You."

"Say yes," he demands. "No," I whisper. "Aubrey." "James."

"James …" My voice cracks, and that's all the confirmation he needs. He walks up to me, and I can feel the tension radiating from his body onto mine. "Which room is yours? The last thing I want is to fuck you on my daughter's bed."

I'm fucking over my best friend for cash. Correction. I'm fucking her dad for cash.

"One thing you should know about me is that I love to eat pussy, another thing my wife hates. Get on the bed and pull your knees up."

"Fuck me, I haven't come that hard in years." I swallow and chuckle. "Wow. You really know how to whisper sweet nothings in a woman's ear after giving her the best dick ride in town."

"Sex is how you connect with another person. It's where you see their vulnerabilities and insecurities, where you want to make them forget everything but remind them you're there for them. When you're both into each other and understand each other's minds, it's a deeper connection. It's how the intimacy grows."

"You have a backbone. You're sassy. You're smart. You're fucking gorgeous. You're resilient, and you'll do any kind of work to make a life for yourself. You're not ashamed, and you don't seem to give two fucks what someone thinks of you. Plus, I like the way your mind works."

"I gravitated toward you in spite of all that. Katherine is the opposite. She’s gentle, soft, and easy to walk over. You give me something to work with. I don't fuck with my coworkers, and the other girls I've been with ‘yes’ me to death. Fucking boring."

"Get rid of the boyfriend who probably only does thirty seconds of damage to your pussy. He's not negotiable. Is that clear? You should also tell Christine you're taking a break. I want you to be exclusively mine."

Natalie elbows me, and I offer her a timid smile. I'm too ashamed to look at her. If she only knew she was actually talking about her dad.

James Riviera is the definition of sex.

He subtly crooks two fingers at me to come hither, and I all but drop to my knees and crawl to him.

"It wasn't as bad, but James? If you look at that woman in the hideous yellow frock one more time, I'm going to bite your dick when it's in my mouth tonight," I say, my voice sugary sweet. I pat his chest and flutter my lashes through the knives I'm throwing at him. "Understand?"

"You want that little fuck?" he asks, shrugging nonchalantly. James is possessive. He's as confident as I am, and fuck, it's a turn-on. "Bring him to our room, and I'll show him how a man handles a woman like you. I guarantee you won't be saying his name by the end of the night. You both will be calling me Daddy."

"I don't want to lose myself." James turns my head to face him. Our lips are so close, the rawness shifting between us undeniable. "Then get lost inside me, and I'll take care of us. I need you to, because I'm already lost to you. I'm fucked, Aubrey. When our time is up, I'm not going to be able to watch you walk away. I don't know what our future holds, but I do know I want you in it."

"You're a ray of light for me, Aubrey. I see things differently, clearer. Things I want, things I need to change. I don't feel stressed when I'm with you. I feel a sense of relief. I feel like I can fucking breathe again."

"If you need someone⁠—" "All I need is you, and I mean that," he murmurs, cupping the back of my head. He kisses me, bleeding his words into me so I feel them. And damn, do I ever. "I don't need, or want, anyone else but you."

"I like you, James, more than I thought I did. More than I should, and it’s killing me inside. If you want to hire other women, obviously I can't say anything since this is just a deal we have going on, but that doesn't mean I wouldn’t want to carve her eyes out with a plastic spoon and offer them to you on a platter to show you that I'm better than her."

"No one has ever done it for me the way you do,” he says. “The universe is cruel for putting us together, but I don't feel bad because what I feel when I'm with you is what I've been looking for my whole life. I just never knew it until I met you."

"James?" "Hmm?" My jaw trembles. "Make love to me?" "Sweetheart, I've been making love to you all along."

The only rhythm I have comes from drinking tequila, and then I'm suddenly a backup dancer for Beyoncé. I can twerk with the best of them. That's about it." "What the fuck is twerk?" I can’t help the laugh that erupts in my throat. "What?" he asks, confusion etched on his face. I'm grinning so hard my cheeks hurt. "Your age is showing, James."

"What are you thinking about, baby?" I ask, my voice soft. Lifting his head, he looks into my eyes. "That I finally have a reason to leave my wife."

Valentina. Aubrey isn't for sale. I break the kiss. "I'm not changing my life for anyone." "Yes, you are. You're mine, Aubrey, no one else's," he says, yanking down my little shorts. "Just like I'm yours."

"That's what you are, though. You're a fucking whore who I just happened to fall in love with."

"How's this for honesty? I was going to leave my wife for you. I thought I’d finally found someone who gets me, but she's still fucking men behind my back. Even after the millions of dollars I’ve given her. Goes to show that money can't buy everything."

"Raising you, though bittersweet, has been the highlight of my life. I wouldn't change a thing, other than to have your parents here. I wish I could have given you more."

"If you don't leave now, I'm going to make you mine forever. It's what you want. It's what I fuckin' want, and we both know it. Last chance, sweetheart."

We're standing on a street in one of the busiest cities in the world. People are rushing all around us, cursing that we're standing in their way. Horns are blaring, and the ground is vibrating from the underground train. Yet, all I see is him, the man I've loved since the moment I met him. James Riviera.

He studies me, his eyes roaming my face. He takes a step toward me. "Hey, sweetheart."

"We met by a cruel chance of fate. Becoming your lover was part of the job, but falling for you … I had no control. I didn't stand a chance."