Chapter 23 Point of Convergence
POINT OF CONVERGENCE
LILA
The path back to the house feels longer than it should, probably because I’m losing my fucking mind, equal parts anxious and excited to get there.
I reach the front steps before I realize I’ve been holding my breath.
Once I get to our bedroom door, I stand outside it for a long moment with my hand hovering over the knob.
It’s taken too long to get here.
And I’m not holding back anymore.
When I finally open the door, Theo’s in the corner chair, one leg stretched out, the other bent, elbow propped lazily on the armrest. His shirt is half-untucked, sleeves rolled, his tie still looped around his neck, but hanging loosely.
The bed’s been made, every corner neat, every fold crisp. Except for one thing.
My vibrator sits dead center.
A statement.
A challenge.
A dare.
Theo doesn’t move when I step inside. He just watches, the quiet between us winding something tight.
My pulse kicks hard enough that I feel in my throat.
His gaze tracks me as I cross the room. “You really have no idea what you do to me, do you?” I feel it low in my stomach before I register the words.
He huffs out a humorless laugh.
I move before I can think better of it—slow, calculated steps until I’m standing between his knees.
“You’re one to talk,” I say.
I place one knee on the chair, then the other, straddling him before I can talk myself out of it. My fingers find his hair, gently at first, then tighter, threading through the soft strands until he tips his head back just slightly, eyes locked on mine.
I want to tell him everything, how far gone I am, how none of this feels like anything I have ever experienced before, but I can’t. Because he kisses me.
It wipes out every coherent thought I have until all that exists is heat and the endless thrum in my chest. I’m dizzy, drunk on him, and holy fuck—this man can kiss when he finally lets go.
His hand slides up my back, gripping, guiding; mine fists in his shirt, refusing to yield. Every shift, every breath, is a standoff we’ve been circling for weeks.
Months.
It’s not about tenderness now. It’s about proof—who’s wanted this more, who’s held out longer.
I pull away to find that his lips are pinker than they should be, a faint sheen catching the light where my lip gloss has smudged onto him. I like the way it looks.
It looks like he’s mine.
I shift, trying to close the distance, but his grip tightens, one large hand trapping both my wrists behind my back.
The movement forces my spine to arch, our mouths close enough that I can feel the ghost of his breath.
My body strains toward him on instinct, chasing contact he refuses to give.
It’s maddening—the command in his hold, the way he watches me lose my fucking mind without lifting a finger.
A sound slips from my throat, small and needy.
“So impatient,” he says. Coos. “You made me wait all this time and now you just want it all at once, don’t you?”
His nose brushes the curve of my throat, his breath warm against my skin.
His teeth catch lightly on my collarbone, a sharp, fleeting pinch that makes my stomach flip.
The spot warms under his mouth, skin tingling where his lips linger just long enough to make me want more.
“That’s not how this works, Lila. You’re not the one in control here and I think we both know you prefer it that way. ”
Theo has buttons.
I’m going to push every single fucking one of them.
“That’s a lot of confidence for someone barely holding it together.” I grind my pelvis against his cock.
I’d known two things in advance—he’d likely be hard, and he’d be big.
I just hadn’t accounted for the reality of it, exactly how big he’d be when hard.
This isn’t normal. The sudden awareness of what I’ve just invited makes my eyes go wide, my mouth parting before I can stop it.
I have seen the outline of it. I have felt the impression of it.
But, this angle gives me an entirely different perspective on the logistics of this, and I’d like to formally request a moment to process the data.
Theo lifts one eyebrow. A silent question he knows I don’t have an answer to.
He squeezes my wrists just once. “If I let you go, are you going to do what I say?”
This man gives a whole new meaning to big dick energy.
My chin jerks in a sharp, wordless agreement because I can’t seem to find my voice.
His fingers loosen hesitantly, as if every instinct in him resists letting go.
His eyes move from mine, to my lips, to where my hands fall limp at my sides.
Seemingly satisfied, he plucks at the fabric of my shirt. “Take this off, Lila. Put me out of my misery and show me why I haven’t slept a full fucking night since the first day we met.”
I know what Theo wants. What he likes. It’s always been there, unspoken but obvious.
It’s part of how I know we fit—how we were, in some ways, made for each other.
He likes it when I push back, when I don’t make it easy for him. It’s why he likes me, maybe why he’s even here at all. And if I’m being honest with myself, defiance isn’t something I have to fake. It comes easy. And something tells me it’s going to get me exactly what I want from him in return.
“You want it off so badly, Professor, take it off yourself.”
The look he gives me could strip me bare without a single touch. Something unrestrained flashes behind his eyes. It’s raw and wanting. “You’re one smart remark away from finding out what my patience actually costs.”
I lean in until there’s barely an inch of air between us. “I’m so. Fucking. Scared.” I punctuate each word with an innocent kiss—one on his chin, the corner of his mouth, the tip of his nose—deliberate, defiant. “Stop talking about it and collect.”
“Careful, sweetheart. I’m not sure you’ll like how I react when you decide to be bratty.” His hands fist in the fabric at my collar, and before I can respond, there’s a sharp tear, buttons scattering, cotton splitting open in his grip. “But it’s a little too late for reconsidering.”
He rises in one fluid motion, hands firm beneath my arms, hauling me up with him. Two long strides and the world tilts. The bed catches me, the mattress bowing under my weight as I land and bounce once, breathless.
He pauses at the edge of the bed. His hands are on my thighs, thumbs tracing idle circles that feel anything but patient.
“I need you to draw a line in the sand for me, Lila,” he says. “I need to know your boundaries, because I have none when it comes to you. If you knew the things I’ve imagined doing to you, you’d never look at me the same.”
I’ve already decided he could do whatever he wanted to me and I’d let him. Not because I’m careless, but because I know he won’t ask for more than I can give. There’s a lot I haven’t experienced yet, and with him, the thought doesn’t just excite me, it nearly makes me pant.
“I want so much with you Theo. I can’t think of a single thing I don’t,” I manage, eyes stinging from the sheer magnitude of it all. “I trust you.”
His jaw flexes, eyes never leaving mine. “Protection?”
“I have an IUD. Haven’t been with anyone else in… a while.” Years.
He releases a breath, seemingly steeling himself for what he’s about to say next. “The day I met you, I stopped wanting anyone else.”
Every place his gaze lingers triggers a physiological response. My heart rate is utterly erratic.
I’m suddenly very grateful I wore a matching set with a decent push-up bra today.
And suddenly very aware Theo doesn’t intend for me to keep it on for much longer at all.
He makes quick work of the rest of my clothes, tugging away what’s left between us until there’s nothing but my bare skin.
He climbs in behind me on the bed and pulls me with him as he situates his big body, my back fitting against his front as he settles against the headboard. His legs frame mine. He’s still fully clothed and I feel so on display.
I don’t have much time to think about it when I realize what it is he has in mind.
I’d forgotten all about my vibrator laying next to us until he picks it up.
“You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about this exact scenario.” His free hand trails up the inside of my thigh, over my ribs, then across my collar bone—pausing there, steady and possessive, holding me firmly against him. “I’ve wanted this—wanted you—for so damn long.”
His palm moves to my breast, and the way he grips me is so sure, so fucking certain, it short-circuits every coherent thought I had queued up.
He nudges my legs to spread me wider for him, and runs my vibrator up the inside of my thigh, tickling my sensitive skin. “May I?”
I almost laugh out loud at the absurdity of him asking. Yes, you fucking may. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.
I just nod in response.
He moves his hand back, already halfway back to my knee and nowhere near where I really want him. “Say it out loud, Lila.”
“Fine. Yes, Theo. I consent being touched by you, fucked by you, literally whatever you want to do to me, you can. Want me to notarize it while we’re at it?”
He grinds his cock against my spine, almost like he can’t help himself.
“Such a smart ass.” Instead of doing what I want, he presses the vibrator into my palm, his hand closing over mine guiding my fingers to curl around it as if to remind me who’s really in charge here. “If you want to come, you’re going to have to do it yourself.”
I should have expected that, but I’m not shy. If he wants to know how I make myself come, I’m more than happy to show him.
I bring both our hands to my center and rub the tip of the vibrator along my slit, spreading my wetness over every inch. When I finally push it inside me, I make sure to put it in far enough that the backs of his fingers graze my clit.
When he feels how wet I am for him, he groans, then sucks at the tender spot beneath my ear hard enough to leave a mark there.
The feeling of it has me dropping my thighs open even wider. My feet press hard into the mattress, toes curling for leverage as the sheets bunch under my heels.
I fuck myself with the vibrator, not bothering to turn it on. The wet sound of it is obscene, and I can tell that Theo is struggling, which only spurs me on.
My breathing is erratic, my entire body flushed with heat.
I take Theo’s free hand with mine, and bring it to my clit. He doesn’t object. Maybe too far gone in this to hold the control he wants.
“Help me fuck myself, Theo.”
He doesn’t say a fucking word as we work in tandem, just rubs my clit exactly the way I would. Perfectly, without me having to guide him at all.
My head falls back against his shoulder, my mouth dropping open to release an unsteady breath.
“Fuck, Theo.” The sound of his name escapes like an involuntary reflex—pressure, release, relief. “I’m gonna come.”
I whimper as he rubs my clit. It’s torturous, the way he never changes pace. Just draws it out while I chase, chase, chase.
I come all over his hand, my body shuddering as I clench around the vibrator I’m still holding inside myself.
Theo readjusts us so that I’m nearly in the fetal position on his lap, still falling down the other side of my orgasm and barely cognizant of the way he’s kneading my ass as I suck in ragged breaths.
He lifts his hand and brings it down twice—quick, sharp smacks that pull a yelp from my throat—before he eases the sting with the rough press of his palm, fingers going back to kneading where he struck. “I think you needed a reminder that I’m the one calling the shots right now.”
He fists a hand in my hair, pulling until my head tips back and my spine arches, forcing my eyes to meet his. “Be good and let me have a taste.”
For a solid ten seconds, I don’t understand.
Then his hand folds over mine, guiding the vibrator up to his mouth, and the air leaves my lungs when I finally do.
It’s slick and glossy with my arousal. He licks it from bottom to top, sucking the end into his mouth and twirling his tongue around the tip. He groans as he does it, obviously enjoying the taste, and I’ve never seen anything so obscene and beautiful in my entire fucking life.
His mouth moves over mine, unhurried. His lips give, soft and pliant, the taste of me coating every inch of them. “You taste better than I ever let myself imagine. And trust me—I imagined it a-fucking-lot. Now I want it straight from the source.”