20. Genevieve #2
My cry echoed into the night air. He swallowed it with his mouth, his thrusts deepening, rhythm shifting into something brutal.
Every stroke hit the spot that made my leg spasm around him.
And when it slipped, he caught it with an almost feral growl before he grabbed me tighter, pinning me harder against the wall.
“Reid—” It was barely a whisper, barely my own voice.
He shuddered, breath hot against my cheek, lips brushing mine as he fucked me deeper.
“You feel that?” he rasped. “How badly I need you?”
Before I could nod, before I could even breathe, my orgasm hit, violent and blinding.
My eyes rolled back, my body seizing around him as pleasure tore through me in one unbearable wave. I collapsed forward, falling against his shoulder, my nails desperately clawing down his back, clinging to him.
His grip only tightened, his hips kept driving into me. His hand slid between us, fingers finding my clit with ruthless precision.
“Soak my cock, Vieve… just like that,” he whispered, his mouth brushing against my ear as my legs shook.
Then, his rhythm faltered just for a second before he slammed into me one last time. A brutal, deep, cervix-punching thrust that tore a cry straight out of my throat.
His voice broke, raw, gutted, as he spilled into me in hard, involuntary jerks that pinned me to the wall.
His grip bruised my hip, his forehead dropping against my shoulder as both of us shook, breathless and undone.
The world was a blur as our bodies stayed connected, our labored breaths and heartbeats in sync.
His breath was still uneven against my skin, cooling in the silence between us.
Neither of us moved. My dress was still bunched around my hips. His hands still warm on my skin. My mind still floated on a high as his head laid on my shoulder, his breathing slowing from its erratic state.
“…Why didn’t you tell me when you were pregnant with him?”
His muffled words made me freeze. His voice sounded… tired and hurt. The question had to have been sitting on his tongue long before tonight with the ease of how he said it.
My lips parted, but nothing came out, my racing heart skipping a beat or two. In that split second, I wondered. Did he know?
His head finally lifted, eyes finding mine as he brushed a fallen hair behind my ear.
But he didn’t look at me like he had an answer. He looked at me like he was still waiting for one.
“I didn’t…” I whispered, and stopped myself. What was I going to say? That I didn’t owe him that? Didn’t think he’d care after I’d hurt him the way I did?
I swallowed hard, my throat burning. “I didn’t think it would’ve mattered anymore… not after…” I said quietly, tears pricking at the corner of my eyes.
His jaw clenched, his hand lingering on the side of my face as a tear slid down my cheek. Before I could even reach up to wipe it, his thumb was already there. Wiping it away, his eyes watching me. Filled with an emotion that was no longer overpowered by the rage or vengeance. It was betrayal…
Eventually, he pulled out and stepped back, quietly giving me space to fix my dress. But my eyes never left him as he fixed his clothes, avoiding my gaze.
My hand trembled as I reached for his and grabbed it. “Reid…”
He stilled, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly.
I shook my head, barely holding it together. “I’m… I’m sorry.”
His silent reply left me hurt, cutting deeper than any of his words ever did. And then, slowly, he pulled his hand from mine.
The cold settled in the absence of his touch. He turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the dead of night. His footsteps were quiet against the stone as he disappeared back inside, the doors clicking shut behind him like a final breath…
And I couldn’t stop the tears from spilling over.
For some reason, this was worse than any punishment, worse than any humiliation ritual he wanted to put me through. It was much worse than any brutal reminders he had thrown my way, telling me I wasn’t happy in this curated life I tried to hold together.
He wasn’t trying to hurt me this time.
Because he was hurting.
And I stood there, still trembling and undone—
Realizing I hadn’t just hurt him tonight, today, this week…
I had betrayed him. Years ago when I shut him out and chose silence over the truth.
Convincing myself that protecting my reputation meant abandoning the only man who ever really saw me. And he’d turned into a monster, a broken, vengeful monster. Because of me.
Tears slid down my cheeks as I stared at the door he left through. I finally understood what I’d taken from him. It wasn’t just the truth, my loyalty or a child. It was the chance to love me the way he wanted to. The chance to fight for us, if I’d only let him… If only I had fought alongside him.
I had tried to save my life by letting go of him. But I hadn’t saved anything. I’d just broken it all and tried to hold it together as it fell apart. Pretending any of this was enough, I’d broken us. All because I thought choosing Gregory meant safety or stability.
But it was never safety—just silence instead of truth, settling instead of living, pretending instead of loving.
I didn’t deserve Reid’s love. I didn’t deserve to still love him. But I did. God help me, I never stopped. And now… I had to find a way to fix what I shattered.
I needed to fix us.
Even if it tore me apart to do it.