Page 104 of The Oath We Take

“Never felt anything so good,” he says gruffly.

I tilt my hips beneath him, and the change in position, plus his fingers, is all I need to come.

I have no idea if bubble baths and condoms are a good idea or not, but nothing could make me stop Atom while he’s touching me like this.

My whole body tenses, then explodes on a glorious high.

I’ve barely settled back in my body when Atom pulls out of me and flips me over, tugging me onto all fours. Water rocks over the tub in waves, and neither of us care.

He grunts as he surges back inside me, gripping my ass, pushing me back and forth over his cock.

I grab for the edge of the tub again, holding myself up out of the water. He slips his hands over my breasts, alternating between squeezing them and tugging on my soapy nipples.

Aftershocks still rock through me, or maybe it’s another orgasm building. It’s hard to differentiate when it all feels so good.

When he places his mouth next to my ear, even the sound of his hot and heavy breath makes me shiver.

“You know what I’m thinking about?” he asks.

I shake my head. “Tell me.”

“I’m thinking if it feels this good now”—he takes a breath and changes his stroke to sharp staccato thrusts—“how good will it feel when I know there’s no condom and pill between us? Gonna feel like a fucking hero knocking you up, sweetheart.”

I grin, even as I clench around him.

“Gonna worship your pregnant body. Gonna desecrate that bump of yours and suck on your tits so hard when they’re full of milk.”

I never really considered what it would feel like to be pregnant, just that I knew I wanted kids. But I always saw it as more of a biological step to giving birth rather than a time when I’d be adored by this man.

“Fuck, Em. Your body’s my playground.”

I’ve never felt sexier in my own skin, more grounded in my own body, as when Atom tells me in between thrusts just how much he appreciates it.

His words sneak into the corners where doubt lingers. They wash out feelings that I’m too much, too big, too anything, and leave nothing but need for this man and the indisputable fact I’m enough for him.

And when he comes, calling out my name, I surprise myself by joining him.

32

ATOM

My grandfather’s words are on my mind four hours later, after we’ve slept like the dead and the scent of bacon fills the kitchen.

The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.

It’s a mantra that keeps playing on repeat, and I know remembering it will be part of the solution. I just don’t see how, yet.

“We’re missing something obvious,” I say.

“You’re going to wear a groove into the flooring if you keep pacing like that,” Ember says as she cracks eggs onto the skillet. She’s wearing an old club T-shirt of mine and nothing else. But not even the glance of her butt cheeks as she reaches up to grab mugs from the cupboard can distract me.

Before she started cooking, she laid out a large piece of paper on the kitchen island, and we’ve been documenting everything we know.

I stop moving and look at the brain dump on the table.

“When did it start going wrong?” she asks.

I look back and think about the timing. “That’s the wild thing. It was when you and I got together. Makes no sense. But maybe I was distracted. Maybe I missed a specific detail.”

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