Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Lena Morrow
I decided to leave with Lex, but I could still feel Nolan’s eyes burning onto my back.
That man wasn’t just watching me, he was grieving something that wasn’t even dead yet.
And I knew I’d hurt him. I felt it in the silence, in the way he had to summon every last bit of willpower to let me walk away.
But I needed this. I needed space. Everything was moving too fucking fast.
One moment I was a single mom, hustling through life, barely keeping up; writing erotic romance between picking up groceries and trying not to fall asleep with Marisa’s homework in my lap.
My sex life was nonexistent. It had been more than seven damn months since I’d even seen a dick in person.
The last man I fucked came from a dating app.
Fine. Funny. We clicked. We hooked up fast, and I thought maybe this time would be different.
It wasn’t.
He fucked me like he meant it, then rolled over to answer a call from his fiancée. Fiancée . Pregnant. Wedding in a week . The motherfucker just wanted one last taste before locking it down.
I kicked him out of my house with a broom and cursed myself for letting my guard down. After that, I shut the door on every man who tried. No flirting. No dating. No hookups.
And then Nolan Hendrix walked in and fucked up my whole damn life.
In one single day, I gave him everything. My body. My moans. My damn heart… maybe . I called him baby. I let him touch parts of me I hadn’t touched in months. And the way he looked at me? Claimed me like I belonged to him. Said I was already his. Said Marisa was his daughter.
That shit was terrifying.
When Marisa said she wanted him to be her daddy, it wasn’t just cute, it was dangerous. It planted a fear in me so deep I couldn’t breathe. What if we were rushing into something none of us were ready for? She already looked at him with trust. Like she’d known him for years and wanted him to stay.
And I barely knew the man.
But my body knew him. My soul craved him. My pussy still throbbed from the memory of his mouth, his fingers, his voice whispering filthy promises in my ear like he was writing new chapters into my bones.
And yet, I walked away. Knowing I hurt him. Feeling the pain echo in my own chest. Because walking away didn’t make it easier. It made it worse.
“Lena?” Lex’s voice snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts.
“What?” I asked, turning to him with confusion.
“What did Marisa’s teacher want?” he asked, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed like he had a right to ask.
“Excuse me?”
“I didn’t like the way he was looking at you. What the fuck was that about? What were you doing in the corner? What was he telling you?”
I blinked. Then the heat rose up my neck fast.
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. Why the hell are you asking me questions that are none of your damn business?” I snapped.
“It is my business. He teaches my daughter. If he’s talking to you about Marisa, I have a right to know.”
My jaw locked.
“Well it wasn’t about your daughter,” I fired back, emphasizing your like it was a curse.
“So no, you don’t have a right to shit. Don’t come at me talking about being a daddy when you’ve been missing for five goddamn years and popping in and out like this kid doesn’t need you. Don’t play that game now.”
He gripped the steering wheel tighter. His knuckles whitened.
“So if it wasn’t about Marisa, then what was it about?” he asked, voice low and dangerous. “Lena. Are you fucking that man?”
I whipped my head toward him so fast I felt my neck crack. My eyes widened, shocked as hell, and my heart raced in my chest.
I turned in the seat to check the back—Marisa had her headphones on, thank God—but my voice dropped to a hiss.
“Are you fucking crazy? Your daughter is in this car. Why the fuck would you say something like that with her right behind us?”
“Why the fuck? I found you flirting with our daughter’s teacher and that shit wasn’t bothering you. So miss me with that. Answer the damn question. Are you fucking her arrogant ass teacher?”
Anger rose up in me like lava. I was already fighting my guilt over hurting Nolan, and now Lex had the audacity to press my last nerve like he had any right to question me.
“Do I ask when you fuck your wife? Or when you stick that dirty dick of yours wherever you want? Who the fuck gave you the right to patrol my pussy? I fuck who I wanna fuck.”
He pulled the car into my driveway, tires screeching like his whole world was about to fall apart. Before he could even blink, I hopped out and slammed the door so hard it echoed across the street. Then I turned, threw the back door open and told Marisa, “come on, baby. Let’s go.”
“We’re not done talking, Lena,” that dumb dick barked behind me, following us into the house like the uninvited demon he was.
“You better not be fucking that man, you hear me? He’s Marisa’s teacher. And if I find out he’s getting too close to my family, I’ll destroy his whole career. Ain’t it against the damn rules to fuck a student’s parent?”
“Go to hell, Lex! Mind your fucking business, you hear me? I am not your family. You lost that privilege the day you fucked a stranger in my damn bed while I was pregnant. So don’t come around trying to control who I give myself to.
Go slap a tracker on your wife’s pussy and leave mine the fuck alone!
” I yelled, fury flooding my voice until it cracked.
I was so mad! He had the nerve to patronize me when he was the one who fucked everything up between us.
We were engaged—wedding in two weeks—and I was pregnant with Marisa when I found him fucking some bitch in our bed.
Then, when I refused to forgive him, he went and married that same bitch, ignored his only child for five years, now here he was, popping up sporadically and trying to run my life? Shit! He can go rot in hell.
I pushed Marisa gently toward the stairs. “Go to your room, baby. Now.”
She nodded, eyes wide, scared, and disappeared up the stairs while this man kept raging like he hadn’t ruined enough of my peace.
“Why you getting so worked up, huh?” he growled, stepping into my space. “You’re fucking him, Lena? Tell me now, you letting that man have my pussy?”
I gasped, stepping back, but he grabbed me fast, rough, brutal. His hand wrapped around my wrist, yanking me hard against him.
“Let me the fuck go! You’re hurting me!” I screamed, heart slamming in my chest. The heat of panic rose inside me fast and furiously.
“I ain’t letting go. You’re mine, Lena! You always been mine. If you hadn’t cancelled our wedding, we’d be married right now. But you were too damn proud to forgive one mistake. I still fucking love you.”
“You’re married, Lex!” I roared, voice shaking with rage and fear. “You married the bitch you cheated with and you want me to forgive you?”
“I can’t let you go. You’re mine,” he said again, eyes wild, voice trembling. And then he pushed me onto the couch.
I barely had time to react before Marisa’s voice cut through the air like a lightning bolt.
“Leave my mom alone!” she screamed, her little voice trembling with fury.
I turned, heart lurching, tears flooding my eyes. I never wanted my baby to witness this. Never wanted her to feel unsafe in her own damn home.
“Marisa, get the fuck outta here! Daddy’s talking to Mommy!” Lex shouted.
“You’re not my dad!” she screamed right back. “I’m not your daughter. I don’t even have your name. I just called my real dad, and he’s coming. So you better leave my mom alone before he gets here and beats your ass!”
Lex froze. Shock on his face as his grip loosened on my arm.
Then, slowly, his eyes turned toward her. Dangerous. Calculating.
“Who’s your daddy, Marisa?” he asked, voice low and threatening, taking a step toward her.
And that’s when my heart exploded with fear.
“Daddy Nolan. He told me to always call him if something is wrong with my mom or me. You are hurting her now so I called my dad!”
Lex snapped his head toward me, eyes blazing, then lunged straight for Marisa, grabbing her small hands like he had the right to lay a single finger on her.
Before I could think twice, I went full beast on his ass.
I didn’t care how big he was, didn’t care if he could knock me flat.
I saw his hand on my baby and I lost every fucking ounce of chill I had.
“Don’t fucking touch her!” I screamed, every limb flying. I punched, scratched, bit. I went savage on him, desperate to make him let her go.
“You made her call another man daddy? So not only are you fucking her teacher, now my daughter is calling him Daddy? Lena, I’m gonna fuck you up?—”
“Try that shit, nigga, and I’ll kill you right fucking now.”
His voice boomed like thunder from the doorway. I turned just in time to see Nolan.
Before I could even process what was happening, Lex flew—literally fucking flew—across the room and landed hard against the wall.
Nolan was on him in seconds. No hesitation.
Just pure rage. Fists flying, body shaking with fury.
Every punch came down like a damn hammer, cracking bone, splitting skin.
Blood pooled across Lex’s smug face as Nolan kept swinging like a man possessed.
“Nolan!” I screamed, covering Marisa’s eyes. “Please, baby! Please stop. He’s not worth it. Don’t ruin your life over this piece of trash. Please! Marisa is watching.”
I was crying, my body trembling, still shielding our daughter as Nolan’s fist froze mid-air. He looked up. Saw Marisa sobbing, her little hands clutched into fists. And then… he stopped.
Breathing hard, he grabbed Lex by the shirt, yanked him to his feet, and leaned in close.
“Get the fuck outta here before I end your fucking life. And don’t ever touch what’s mine again. You hear me, nigga?”
Then he threw him toward the door like he was nothing but a broken ragdoll. Lex scrambled, pathetic, crawled out to his car and sped off like the coward he was.
And Nolan turned to us.
His eyes scanned me, then Marisa. His voice cracked with emotion. “You okay? Did he touch you? Are you hurt somewhere, baby? Talk to me.”
That voice… that voice wrapped around my heart like a blanket. It wasn’t just comfort. It was safety. It was sanctuary. I broke down, crumbling into his arms, and Marisa did the same.
He held us both, tight, firm, his chest rising and falling as our tears soaked his shirt.
“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, my babies,” he whispered, kissing the top of my head. “I shouldn’t have let you go with him. That was on me. Never again. You hear me? Never again.”
He pulled back, wiped my tears with his thumb, and looked straight into my soul.
“I’m willing to wait as long as you want, baby. However long. But, please, let me protect you, baby. Let me take you home. Don’t push me away.”
I couldn’t speak. I just nodded, every part of my body aching to be his.
He leaned in closer. “Is that a yes, baby?”
“It’s a yes, Professor Hendrix,” I whispered, my voice raw. “Please bring us home with you.”
And I meant that with every shattered, healed, trembling part of me.
My home. My place. My peace… was by this man’s side.