Chapter 4
4
B eth coated her lips in a final layer of pink gloss. Considering that the tutorial Sal had sent her promised a ‘clean girl’ aesthetic, her make-up took a ludicrously long time to do. But no one could deny she looked good. She’d curled her hair at the ends and pushed it back into her tortoiseshell headband. She looked preppy and cute. Uni-girl-esque, if not quite uni-girl-legit.
Unable to help herself, she picked up her phone and re-read Byron’s text. Somehow, he’d understood. Not just understood but embraced and enhanced her fantasy. When she’d first read Audrey’s name, she’d almost screamed in horror, but a second later, she was beaming like a total goofball.
While she had no intention of starting actual drama with Byron’s ex, she loved the idea of one-upping that bitch. She’d been such an asshole at Willow’s party, cosying up to Byron like he hadn’t been there with his wife. She was living in Bondi these days, flogging a range of collagen gummies that cost as much as a used car. The woman whom Beth called ‘Vitamin Bitch’ in her head—and to her friends—was the epitome of everything she’d never be. Tall, pedigreed and rich-girl hot. It lit her up like the liquor she hadn’t drunk in years to imagine getting her hooks into Byron while he was with her. The ego boost alone could power a nuclear bomb. And as long as no one ever found out Vitamin Bitch was an unwitting participant in their sex game, what was the harm?
“Nothing,” she mumbled, pressing a fingertip to her cupid’s bow to correct a little spillage. “All’s fair in love and roleplay.”
She put her Rimmel gloss and some concealer into the cute little backpack she’d bought and took the whole thing downstairs. She wasn’t sure what time Byron would get in, but she wanted to be in place. She arranged her work laptop and a few blank exercise books on the dining table, planning to be working on her ‘assignments’ when he came through the door.
Taking a seat, she opened a Word document of podcast ideas and stared at the screen without seeing a thing. It felt like being sent back in time to the days when she was obsessed with twenty-five-year-old mystery man Byron Thomas. He, of the beautiful smile and broken soul. That, in and of itself, was such a rush.
Enjoy it , she thought. D on’t try to make it last. Just have fun while it’s here.
She decided to write a little backstory for her character. Or, more specifically, she wanted to write a backstory. Make the feeling of being strange and new in Byron’s eyes even more delicious. She set her fingers to the keys.
I moved from Auckland to Perth to study communications at the University of Western Australia. I play tennis and run half-marathons, and I have a boyfriend called…
She deleted the last sentence. Why make things unnecessarily complicated with double cheating?
I’m single because all the guys on my course are immature, and I never meet anyone at bars. I’m too shy to go to bars. I took a few babysitting jobs when I got here and earned a nanny qualification (whatever that is) because the money’s better. A few weeks ago, I started working for the Thomas family and I really like their house and their baby, Simon.
Was it wrong to use her actual child’s name in this scenario? Considering Si probably wanted to grow up with two loving parents who boned each other, it wasn’t totally out of left field… but no, she didn’t want to imagine her precious little man with his brown eyes and strawberry blond hair had come out of Audrey, even for a moment.
I really like their baby, Jessica, she corrected. But her mum is a total hole. She’s an influencer who always walks around in these perfect outfits and treats me like a servant. When she’s not looking, I lick all her spoons.
Beth grinned but deleted that sentence, too. The Bethany Myers she was pretending to be was far too sweet to fuck with Audrey. With the exception of romanticising her ‘husband.’
I usually would have quit, but oh my God, the dad, Byron, is SO hot. I know it’s so wrong for me to have a crush on a father I’m working for, but he’s so tall and good-looking. He works for the football club as a coach, and he hardly says anything to me, but when he does, he’s so friendly. I’ve told all my friends about him, and they looked him up and said he’s the sexiest dad they’ve ever seen. I can’t believe he’s with Mrs Thomas. I’m so jealous I can hardly breathe whenever they’re together. But they’re hardly ever together. He’s always travelling for work, and she’s always out doing Pilates and going to wine bars. I don’t even know if they sleep in the same bed. The spare room is always slept in when I go in there to change the sheets…
“Yeah, fuck you, Vitamin Bitch,” Beth muttered. Slandering Byron’s ex felt almost as good as imagining her husband’s eyes following her whenever she arrived at the house. The little glances that said he was as aware of her presence as she was of his. A feeling of inadequacy swept over Beth, and she decided to use that too.
Sometimes I think he might like me, but that’s ridiculous, right? I’m not as pretty as Audrey. She’s a bitch, but she’s so glamorous... Tonight, she’s out at some mineral water promo thing, and I’ll be home alone with Jessica until Byron gets here. My friends kept texting to say I should make up some reason to have a shower and come out in just a towel, but I could never do tha ? —
A scraping noise almost made Beth jump out of her skin. A key was turning in the front door lock. Byron Thomas had arrived home. It took all of her willpower not to leap out of her seat and stand to attention like an actual servant. Instead, Beth scrolled to the top of her document and pretended to read her podcast ideas, her cheeks burning.
“Hi,” Byron called. “It’s just me.”
Just him? Beth was as nervous to see Byron as she’d ever been to see anyone. She heard him dump his leather knapsack beside the door, groaning slightly as he always did when he got home.
“Hi, Mr Thomas,” she said in her sunniest voice. “I put Jessica down not too long ago. She’s sleeping so well.”
“Right.” Byron’s heavy footsteps came up the hall, and when he filled the doorway, Beth held her breath. His white shirt was open at the collar, his navy tie loosened, but the rumpled look only made his angular face more handsome. She suddenly had a lot more empathy for the women who gaped at Byron in the street. He was so gorgeous it was hard to believe he was real.
Thankfully, Byron seemed to be struggling with the same problem. Beth had half-forgotten her makeover but when her husband’s gaze flicked over her, dashed away, only to return, she wished Sal a hundred good hair days.
“How was your flight?” she asked, her voice vibrating slightly with anxiety.
“It was a flight.” Byron swallowed. “I, uh… so Jessica’s asleep?”
“Yes. She’s such a good baby.”
“She is.”
They locked eyes only to glance away again quickly. Even Beth’s bone marrow felt like it was trembling. How were they going to hook up? The tension between them was so strong it felt like it might be hours before they could even sit next to each other… Byron walked toward the cupboards where he kept a few bottles of liquor—mostly gifts from the clubs he’d loved and left.
“Do you mind if I take a minute before I drive you home?” he asked, taking down the Jameson. “I’m wrecked.”
“Um, sure. No problem.”
She pretended to type as he poured himself a large glass of whiskey and took a swallow. Nervousness was coming off him in waves, but that felt right. The handsome father, alone with the young nanny at night…
“That’s better,” he muttered. “Do you, uh, want a drink?”
Beth had planned for that one. When she and Byron had roleplayed similar scenes in the past, they used water in lieu of vodka. But she didn’t want to risk ruining the illusion with a conversation about fake drinks.
“Audrey, um, Mrs Thomas has mixers in the fridge. Maybe… can I have one of those?”
“Right. I’ll get it.” Byron went to the fridge and pulled out the cranberry mocktail cans Beth preferred. Without asking, he grabbed a tall glass, cracked the can and poured the contents inside before adding ice. She liked that. The way it felt like he was taking special care of her. He brought it to her at the dining table, and when she took the glass, their fingers touched.
Honest-to-God electricity zapped up Beth’s arm. “T-Thank you, Mr Thomas.”
“Byron,” he said, looking at her with his unworldly green eyes. “Mind if I sit?”
“Of course. I mean, not at all!” She slammed her laptop shut. “I wasn’t getting much work done anyway.”
Byron sat across from her, making the chairs, the table, everything look insanely small in contrast to his broad-shouldered body. He took another large drink, and Beth sipped her soda. She was so excited it might as well have been liquid meth.
“So, you’re at uni?” Byron tilted his head at her laptop.
“Yeah, I’m, um, doing communications. I want to work in PR.”
A small curve of his lips. “Not planning on being a full-time nanny forever?”
“Oh, um, no. I don’t think so. I like working for you, though,” she added, then blushed as though she really was the hired help. “I mean, you and Mrs Thomas. You’ve both been great to me.”
“Have we?” Byron sounded amused. “Me and Mrs Thomas?”
“Yes, you’re both so nice,” Beth bluffed. She decided to escalate the situation, shifting toward Byron and pushing her shoulder back so her tits were practically bursting through her tight little t-shirt. “Why? Has Mrs Thomas said anything?”
“She’s always saying something about something.” Byron’s gaze flicked downward, then returned determinedly to her face. “I hope she’s not too hard on you…”
Beth took another small sip of soda and decided a little fake-tipsy honesty was in order. “I mean, I don’t know if she likes me… but she’s a bit… I mean, she’s really great…”
“You don’t have to be polite.”
“She’s, um, a bit bossy?”
Byron burst out laughing. “Yeah, she is, ay?”
The intimacy of the conversation—the idea of talking about Audrey behind her back with her husband—sent a shiver down Beth’s spine. Byron drained his whiskey and headed back to the cupboard.
“She’s always been that way,” he said, pouring himself double. “We’ve been together since uni.”
“Oh, wow...”
“Yeah, not the smartest idea, staying with your first real girlfriend.” He returned to the table, but his chair was much closer to hers this time. “You have a boyfriend, Bethany?”
The way he said her full name was electric. Like a secret they both shared, precious and dangerous both.
“N-No. Not right now.”
“That’s surprising. You’re a great-looking girl.”
Beth felt herself flush to the roots of her hair. “Thank you. I mean, I know I’m not like Mrs Thomas...”
“No, you’re not,” Byron said. His gaze fell to her chest, then rose again. “That’s not a bad thing.”
Beth’s neck glowed, and sweat prickled in the corners of her elbows, underarms, the backs of her knees. This was all too fucking hot. Too real. She didn’t think she could take much more, yet she never wanted it to stop. “I, um, don’t have as many followers on Instagram.”
Byron leaned forward, his green eyes gleaming. “Maybe you’re not taking the right kind of pictures?”
She giggled, the sound tighter and higher than genuine amusement allowed, and an idea occurred to her. She drank half her mocktail in one go as though willing it to give her the strength to say something inappropriate.
“I thought about doing something like that before I started nannying,” she said in a rush. “Sexier pictures, I guess. I have friends who tried it, and they made so much money, I thought I could do it.”
Byron stared at her, and the air between them became so loaded it could have been a semi-automatic rifle. “Did you go through with it?”
“Um, I made an account and took some photos. But I got too shy.”
“Right.”
Byron always had the gift of loading single words with unworldly significance, but this was an all-time record. In one syllable, he’d managed to say that he wanted to see those photos, jerk off to them, show them to every single man he knew and ‘check out my kid’s nanny.’ She imagined him lying on his back, stroking himself to her photos. Coming onto his stomach as he thought about fucking her…
She felt herself grow warmer and prayed that her layers of foundation and concealer were holding up and she didn’t look like a strawberry.
“Sorry, that’s too much to tell you, isn’t it? I mean, you probably don’t want to hear about…”
“My nanny and her naked picture catalogue?” Byron raised his glass to cover his smirk. “I mean, it’s a bit of a hard sell...”
Beth laughed nervously. “They weren’t super sexy photos. Just some bikini ones. Some were topless.”
He swallowed. “Plenty of blokes would spend every dollar they had to see those.”
But are you one of them? Do you want to see, Mr Thomas? Beth tried to say it without saying it, and from the look Byron gave her, the message came across loud and clear.
“There was one other photo,” Beth said. “A really bad one. I was in a G-string on my couch, but like… bent over. That was too much, but it was really good. At least I think it looked good…”
She tried to blurt it out as though she didn’t mean to say so much. And she thought she’d succeeded because Byron looked shocked, at least before his pupils expanded to twice their usual size. He cleared his throat. “You, uh, still got the pictures?”
“Why?”
Byron studied her. “I’d like to see that.”
She giggled. “Not for free!”
“So, how much d’you want for them?”
Beth decided to retreat a little. After all, she didn’t want this hot dad to think she was too easy. “Oh, Mr Thomas, I told you I wasn’t serious about that. I don’t want to be a model, and you guys pay me plenty.”
Byron grinned. “Then maybe you should show me? Don’t worry, I’m just teasing. Who took the photo? Your boyfriend?”
“No,” Beth whispered. “I did it with a timer.”
“Then you should get a man’s opinion. See if it’s worth the money?”
Beth pulled her elbows into her body, making her tits swell in her t-shirt. “I don’t want to sell my photos anymore. I’m too shy!”
“Are you now?”
Beth could smell the whiskey on Byron’s breath and see the dark flecks in his emerald eyes. She paused, wanting to kiss him but scared to move a muscle. He drew closer, and her lips parted by themselves. Byron hovered closer, then seemed to come to his senses.
“Sorry,” he said, sitting back. “I shouldn’t… I mean, I know you’re not actually…”
“It’s okay,” Beth said quickly. “I was the one who brought all this stuff up!”
“Right.” Byron pulled at the knot on his tie, loosening it until it slid into his hand. He tossed it on the table. “I mean it; this is on me. I haven’t been home in a week and a half, and even before then…”
Silence rippled between them, bright and hot.
“Before then, what?” Beth asked delicately.
“Me and Audrey aren’t… we don’t.” Byron grimaced at his whiskey. “You know…”
Beth was almost dizzy with excitement. “I’ve noticed you, um, sleep in the spare room a lot?”
“Yeah.” Byron stared morosely into his glass. “Happens when you get married, I guess?”
Yesssss , Beth thought. Get fucked, Audrey, you fake vitamin-shilling twat!
She pressed a hand to her mouth. “I don’t think so; at least, I wouldn’t want it to be like that.”
The corner of Byron’s mouth quirked. “Yeah?”
“Yes! I can’t believe Mrs Thomas wouldn’t… I mean, you’re so sex—” She clapped her hand to her mouth. “Oh my God, sorry!”
Byron’s smirk became a full-blown smile. “I’m so, what?”
“Don’t!” she wailed. “I’m so sorry, Mr Thomas!”
“Byron,” he said, still grinning from ear to ear.
“I’m so sorry, Byron!”
“Don’t be. Nice to hear, actually. Been a while.” He ran his hand through his hair, the image of a man who knew how good- looking he was. His wedding ring flashed in the overhead lights, and Beth almost broke character to tell him how well he was playing this married douchebag thing.
She held onto her performance by a thread. “Oh, well, in that case, I mean it! All my nanny friends were so jealous when they found out I was working for you.”
“Thanks.” Byron flashed her the evilest smile she’d ever seen on her husband’s face. “Does that mean I can see one of your photos?”
“I… You’d want to?”
He looked her over. “You’ve gotta know how pretty you are.”
Beth almost swooned. “I don’t think I’m… I mean, thank you. You really think I’m pretty?”
“You shouldn’t even be asking.” Byron was leaning in close again, still wearing that evil smile. “Maybe you can send me something?”
Beth realised she was pulling at her lower lip like she’d done when she was younger. When she and Byron were first dating, she was always on edge. She let go. “I could… I mean, if you want?”
“I want.”
“I guess just, um, Mrs Thomas?”
He shrugged. “What Mrs Thomas doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Besides, there’s nothing wrong about looking at pictures.” He lowered his voice. “Next time you’re out drinking with your friends, send something. Gimme something to look at next time I’m away.”
“W-When are you next away?”
“Soon. I get a lot of late nights at work. Lots of travel. Gets hard sometimes.”
The intensity of his gaze left Beth in no doubt about what it was that got hard sometimes. Her tongue felt glued to the roof of her mouth, and she drank a little soda to loosen it. She imagined being this version of this girl. Knowing she was wading into hazardous waters, yet unable to stop.
He’s so hot, and he’s right. It’s just pictures. It doesn’t mean anything’s going to happen…
“I can send you something,” she whispered. “I’m…. I’m sorry you have to work so hard, Mr Thomas.”
“Me too. It’s a lot to take on.” His gaze flicked to her nipples, and this time, he allowed himself to stare. “Having you around the house isn’t helping.”
Beth pulled at her lower lip, deliberately this time. “I, um, sorry, I don’t want to be a distraction or anything.”
“But you are one.”
Oh my…
“I, um, what?”
“You don’t think I normally act like this around the nannies, do you?”
Beth was surprised her new outfit didn’t burst into flames. “Um, you don’t really talk to me that much. You mostly seem… tense.”
“I am tense,” Byron said so roughly she barely recognised his voice. “What are we gonna do about that, Bethany?”
Jesus... Beth wanted to talk, to say something, but she felt immobilised, so utterly in synch with her character she might as well have never screwed anyone before. She stared blankly at her husband, and his wicked smile returned.
“Don’t worry,” he said in that same low voice. “I’m just joking.”
“Oh… Okay…”
Byron picked up a disused coaster and began spinning it on one corner. She watched as though hypnotised as he let go, and it toppled onto the floor. The clatter it made felt deafening.
“Can you get that?” Byron said, utterly stone-faced.
Beth had a feeling she knew what was about to happen. The girl she was playing knew, too. She nodded, and instead of walking to where he was, she practically dove beneath the dining table. Byron’s legs were wide, the outline of his hard cock visible through his slacks. She gasped. “Mr Thomas…”
“What?”
“You, um, oh my gosh… ”
Byron’s big hand, complete with wedding ring came down and palmed the ridge of his cock. “Sorry. Like I said, I haven’t been home for a while, and it gets hard sometimes.”
“I, um, understand…” Beth said dumbly as he stroked himself. “It’s totally normal.”
“Bethany… you’re still down there.”
“Yes,” she said, her chest tight. “I am.”
“You want me to show you?”
It didn’t feel like the right time to act like a seductress. At least, not yet. “Show me?”
“How hard it gets?”
Everything seemed to slow, sparks flicking through the familiar air of Beth’s home—their home—making it all new and strange. Maybe it had just been so long since she first met Byron, but Beth couldn’t remember ever wanting anyone more.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Show me.”
Byron eased his zip down, and she gasped as though she’d never seen his huge, pretty-boy cock before.
“Like it?” Byron asked, fisting himself.
“I… yes.”
“You gonna show me how much?”
Beth didn’t need to be told twice. She crawled closer, opened her mouth and drew him deep, licking the underside and moaning for good measure. She was back in that old place of wanting to win him over with how well she could do this. To show him just how dedicated she was to sucking dick.
Byron’s hands found her hair, fisting it tight. “Yes. It’s been so fucking long...”
She sucked him deeper, and he grunted.
“Christ, I can’t do this; I’m married,” he said, though his urging hands contradicted his words. Beth swallowed as far as she could go, letting soft little gagging noises escape her throat. She remembered that, too. How men liked the choking sounds, as long as they knew you weren’t actually hurting.
“Fuck,” Byron snarled, then his hand was at her forehead, pushing her backward.
“Oh no,” Beth said, all naive vamp. “Was I… Did I do it wrong?”
Byron ran a thumb over her damp lips. “God, no. You’re gorgeous. I just…”
He’d probably just stopped because he was going to come, but Beth decided it was more fun to act like he might be remorseful. She pressed her hands to her chest. “I’m sorry, Mr Thomas. I know I shouldn’t have done that, but I have such a crush on you.”
“Do you, now?” He dipped his thumb into her mouth, and she sucked that, too, as slowly and deliberately as she’d sucked his cock.
When she looked up from under the table, Byron’s pupils were so large his eyes seemed all black. “You fucking tease…”
“I won’t tell anyone,” Beth whispered in her sugary little girl voice. “I just think you need to feel better.”
“Jesus,” Byron snarled. He grabbed her hair and yanked her back toward his cock. “Suck. Keep your mouth on my dick until I tell you to stop.”
Yes, sir, Beth thought, opening wide.
She blew him as he undid his shirt and pulled it over his head. Half-naked, he cupped her face and tugged her back again. “We really shouldn’t be doing this, Bethany…”
She looked up at Byron, and the breath exited her lungs. He was so fucking hot, her husband. Tanned and fit and stupidly symmetrical. But this time, Beth didn’t feel diminished by his radiance. It glossed over her, making her chest warm and her smile wider. “I know. I just like you so much, Mr Thomas.”
He blew out a hard breath, tucking his cock into his pants and drawing the fly. “So what now?”
Beth crawled out from under the table and threw her arms around Byron’s neck, kissing him deeply in answer. He pulled her onto his lap, and they made out like kids, tongues and hands everywhere. Then she was sitting on the table, Byron practically tearing her t-shirt over her head.
“You’ve got such nice tits,” he muttered, massaging them through her bra, and Beth believed him, a realisation as sexy as his hands on her breasts.
“You noticed them?”
“Of course, I fucking did.” He flipped down a cup and sucked her nipple. Since Simon, he’d been so gentle, but in the heat of the moment, he did it the old way. The brutal, I-wanna-fucking-eat-you way. Beth cried out as her pussy clenched. She gripped his bicep as he pulled down the other cup and sucked harder.
“Oh my God,” she panted. “Mr Thomas…”
“Yeah, keep calling me that.” He pressed his face between her breasts, and Beth imagined Audrey walking in and catching them together, her husband worshipping their nanny’s body. Her clit pulsed, and she pressed a hand between her legs. She felt herself as though she was someone else, swollen and aching, soaking her panties.
“Let me do that,” Byron said, shoving her palm aside and rubbing his fingers over her pussy. “If I’m not going to fuck you, at least let me make you come.”
There was no way on earth he wasn’t going to fuck her, but it was still fun to pretend. Byron shoved her underwear aside and rubbed a thumb over her clit; Beth closed her eyes and moaned. “Mr Thomas, I don’t usually let guys do this.”
Her husband grunted. “Feel nice, though?”
“Yessss.”
“Good.” He slid two fingers inside her with a groan. “I’ve been thinking about your tight little cunt for so long…”
She closed her eyes, trying to retain every millisecond of how he felt inside her, new and familiar and so fucking big , but before she could settle into the experience, Byron withdrew. He dropped to his knees in front of her, kissing the skin above her knee. “You gonna let me taste you?”
“Mr Thomas,” Beth gasped. “I’ve never let anyone do that.”
It wasn’t true, obviously, but Byron had only gone down on her in the dark since Simon. She’d checked herself out with a hand mirror, and her pussy looked pretty much the same—at least without a side-by-side photo analysis to prove the point—but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still self-conscious.
“You’ve gotta let me,” Byron said, kissing her other knee. “I think about it all the time.”
“Really...?”
“Every night.” His hands crept up to her skirt hem. “I wanna feel my little nanny coming on my tongue.”
“Oh my gosh, Mr Thomas. I want that too…”
“So let me.” He pulled her legs apart, reached for her underwear and tugged. “Just fucking let me, Bethany.”
It didn’t feel like little nanny Bethany had much of a choice. She lifted her hips and let her boss yank down her panties. Byron hoisted her thighs onto his bare shoulders and, with a snarl like a hungry animal, sunk his face between her legs. Beth didn’t want to come fast, but that was also something she didn’t seem to be able to choose. The second Mr Thomas’ tongue flicked her clit, she shoved a hand into his hair and ground against his mouth. His growl of satisfaction vibrated through her like her favourite toy, and she convulsed, her legs locking tight around his head.
Beth screamed nonsense as she rubbed herself shamelessly against Byron’s tongue. She wished he hadn’t put his cock away, that he’d stand and shove himself deep inside her. But then Byron got a firm grip on her ass, holding her in place. He licked faster, lighter, stretching her pleasure beyond whatever internal ceiling she’d been working toward. And he kept going all through her orgasm, making her scream so loud she worried the non-existent baby would wake up.
Gasping, she unwound her legs from his shoulders. “I can’t believe… Mr Thomas…”
“Yeah, you’re not gonna find some uni kid who can do that.” Byron stood, his forehead and neck flushed red. He stared down at her naked cunt, swiping his mouth with his fist.
Beth noted his wedding ring with pleasure. She’d done it. She’d fucked someone else’s husband. “That was so good,” she whispered, spreading her legs a little wider, inviting him to do what they both knew he shouldn’t.
Byron’s face was dark with lust. “Tell me we can’t, Bethany.”
“I… I don’t want to,” she whispered, cupping her tits. “I don’t think we should, but …”
Then Byron kissed her again, his lips hard, his tongue insistent. His cock was like iron beneath his work pants, and he ground it into her soaking cunt, making them both moan.
“Tell me to stop,” he said, his teeth tracing the side of her neck. “Tell me, or I’m gonna fuck you right here.”
“What… what about your wife?” Beth breathed, desperately trying to hold onto the roleplay when all she could think was, Yes, yes, right here, right now.
“That’s not telling me to stop.”
“No, I guess it isn’t…”
Byron bit her hard enough to bruise. “Fuck my wife. I’m obsessed. I need you. Just once. I need you , Bethany.”
“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes, please. Please take me, Mr Thomas?”
They both fought to undo his fly, to shove down his pants and slide his cock inside her. They locked together like animals, Byron shoving deep, his ears burning scarlet. She expected him to pound, to take her with his dick as he had his tongue—hard and fast. Instead, he held their bodies in place, leaning forward to inhale her hair.
“Jesus. You’re so beautiful.”
Beth usually closed her eyes during sex—it helped her focus—but in that moment, she shut them because she was close to tears. Somehow, in the middle of this fucked up game, she and Byron had stumbled into a place they hadn’t found since Simon. A place she’d both missed and forgotten; how it felt to be this close to the person you loved most in the world.
She pressed a hand to Byron’s back and pulled him deeper, wrapping her legs around his hips. “You’re beautiful, too.”
They stayed a second longer, entwined as only two people who loved each other could be, then Byron’s hand found her hair. Tugging it back, he flashed her a tortured smile. “Tell me you want this again. Say it so I can fuck you and not feel like a complete scumbag.”
Beth smiled, loving him with all that she was. “Please fuck me, Mr Thomas? Fuck me hard on your wife’s dining table and make me come all over your massive cock.”
With a guttural moan, Byron withdrew then surged back inside, his hips angled for maximum stimulation. He gripped her ass tight, and then he did fuck her hard, so hard she had to grab his shoulders for dear life. She strained against him, slamming back as roughly as he drove into her, the strokes so loud she was sure you could hear it on the street.
“Mr Thomas,” she panted as her cunt clenched hard. “I think I’m going to…”
Byron snarled, his muscles shuddering beneath her fingers. It was like they were trying to hurt each other. Crawl inside each other. Surely bruises galore would follow, but Beth didn’t give a fuck. She let go of Byron’s biceps, and her climax surged over her.
“Yes,” Byron growled, his fingers clenching her ass. “Come on me, Bethany.”
“I am, I am,” she chanted. “Oh God, I am.”
Orgasm was usually lighter this way, deep in her cunt, but not this time. Beth went slack against the table, Byron still pumping inside her body as though she was a toy.
“I need to pull out,” he panted. “I need to fucking pull out, but I can’t.”
“You don’t need to.” Beth breathed, rubbing a sweaty hand down his abdomen. “Come inside me, Mr Thomas. I don’t care.”
That was all it took. Byron groaned as his hips slammed home, his face contorting in blissful agony. “Fucking hell… shit…”
When he was done, he stepped away, staring between her legs. Beth hid her smile. He liked the sight of his cum sliding out of her, as she suspected most men did. She directed her gaze to the ceiling and let him look his fill. She wasn’t sure if the roleplay was over, but it didn’t matter either way. They had both done such an incredible job.
“We’re gonna do that again,” Byron announced.
Beth bit back a smile. “Are we…?”
“For sure.”
“I wonder if we’ll get caught?” she said, unable to conceal her grin. “It seems likely.”
“Who knows, maybe a few months from now, I’ll be getting a divorce,” Byron said, stepping back between her legs and pulling her head onto his chest.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I can’t not be with you now.” He buried his face in her neck. “Imagine the drama. Me leaving my Instagram wife for some student piece of ass.”
Beth giggled. “The scandal…”
“Fuck it, you’re worth it.” He pressed her nose against hers. “I love you, Bethany.”
She sighed as though she’d never been told that before. It felt like she’d never been told that before. “Oh, Mr Thomas…”
Byron huffed out a laugh. “You’re not gonna say it back?”
She smiled, so in love with him it ached worse than needing to be taken. “I love you too, Byron.”
They stayed there for a moment, everything precious, and Beth wished they could live in this warm post-sex glow forever. Yet, as the seconds ticked by, she changed her mind. It was fun to be here, but it was better to be Bethany Myers-Thomas, podcaster and mother of Simon. The woman who’d call the cops if a horny father harassed her the way Byron had.
She smoothed her hands through her husband’s hair, massaging his scalp a little. Byron moaned. “Christ, that was incredible.”
“It was.”
“You were…” he blew out a breath.
“Me? You should win an Oscar for that performance!”
“For wanting to cheat on my wife with you?” Byron’s mouth quirked. “You made it easy. This outfit…”
He smoothed her skirt to her knees. “When I first walked in, I almost fucked it all up, you looked so good.”
“I’m glad,” Beth said, flushing like she was back in character. “It wasn’t… too much?”
“It’s perfect. You’re gonna be wearing this again really fucking soon.”
Beth smiled. Maybe she could get more winter-bimbo, dark academia looks. She liked it, and why couldn’t she wear clothes she liked? “I’m glad you approve. Also, I know it’s what you usually wear to work, but you look so hot in your little business outfit.”
“Thanks.” Byron ruffled a hand through his already ruffled hair. “I’ve gotta go away somewhere and lodge all that in my long-term memory. When’s Simon due back? Do we have to go get him?”
“No, Wendy’s dropping him off.”
“You’re amazing for planning all this. Seriously, I can’t tell you…” he swallowed. “I’m sorry I was a useless asshole when you were having a hard time?—”
“You weren’t!”
Byron held up a hand, and though Beth wanted to keep protesting, she realised she owed him a chance to talk, to explain, and get his feelings off his chest.
“I didn’t know what to say,” he whispered. “I didn’t know if you’d get better by yourself or what was normal, but I wish I’d pushed harder. Given you more money so you didn’t feel so trapped. If we’re ever there again, with another kid, I promise I’ll do better.”
“I know you will.”
“But I could have done better already. I… I feel like I let you down.”
To her surprise, Byron’s eyes shone with tears as though their roleplay had unlocked something in her husband’s stoic heart. Beth waited, but he didn’t say more, so she threw her arms around him again. “I know you love me, and I know you love Simon. You did the best you could. We both did.”
“Yeah.” Byron pressed his face into hers. “I love you. You and Si are my whole fucking world.”
And you’re mine, Beth thought. Both of you. Simon and Byron. Us. Our little family…
She felt Byron’s stomach rumble against hers and laughed. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Let’s order something,” she said, shifting back to look at him. “And watch TV.”
Byron looked like she’d just offered him the whole universe on a platter.
They ordered dumplings and sat on the couch talking and half-watching some football panel show until Wendy rang the doorbell. Simon was sleeping quietly in his bassinet and didn’t wake even when Byron took him from Wendy.
“He was an angel,” their nanny announced. “I’d love it if all the kids were like him.”
“Thanks so much,” Beth said, opening the blankets to peer at her sleeping son. He had his thumb in his mouth, his reddish hair ruffled in precisely the same way as Byron’s. She straightened and gave Wendy her best smile. “You’ve really helped us out.”
“Like I said, anytime. How was your big night out?”
“Great,” Beth and Byron said simultaneously, neither of them looking at the other.
They didn’t always let Simon sleep with them, but tonight was an exception. Beth placed their son between her and Byron’s bodies, and they moved around him, creating a safe little space for him to sleep.
“Tonight was beyond,” Byron whispered.
“Completely.” Beth traced a fingertip across Simon’s brows. “Sometimes, I think I’d like another one… I don’t know if I’m there yet, but I think I do.”
“Whatever you want is fine with me,” Byron said quietly. “But for the record, I’d… I’d like another one, too.”
A tear tracked out of Beth’s right eye and onto her chest. “I’m just scared we might make the same mistakes. Or we’ll do really well, and it won’t be fair to Simon.”
Byron reached over their baby to touch her cheek. “We can’t help things being different for Si. Gabor Maté says, ‘no child is ever born into the same family.’”
It was a comforting idea, especially coming from Byron. Beth decided to leave it for now. There was only so much you could plan or talk about planning. Only so much you could apply things from the past. It hurt sometimes to know that the old days were gone forever. Set in cement the way the future never could be. But she and Byron had bent time tonight, so maybe they could do it again. For now, it was enough to be here, thinking and breathing and moving along with the rest of the world.
“Do you think he’ll ever know how much we love him?” she mused, putting a fingertip to Simon’s sweet, puckered mouth.
Byron, as always, had to think about it.
“No,” he said eventually. “But hopefully, he’ll feel it.”
The End