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My home away from home during my wild collegedays, the site of countless benders and forgotten nights. It’s been years since I darkened its door, but I know it will still be there, waiting. A dingy sanctuary for the lost and broken.

I pull into the cracked asphalt lot, the flickering neon sign casting an eerie red glow. I sit for a long moment, engine idling, staring at the graffitied brick facade.

My father is a murderer.

My life is a lie.

“Thanks.” I tip the Uber driver, then enter the dark house. I toss my keys, the metal clanging loudly as they hit the floor.

Fuck.

I drank a lot, but not that much. Not enough to forget, anyway.

I walk to the bedroom. Ava is here. My beautiful, sweet Ava, sleeping in my bed. I strip off my clothes and slip into the warm bed, moving closer to her.

I need her.

I need to feel something.

Anything.

“Ava,” I whisper, but she doesn’t stir, her breathing deep and even.

“Ava.” I try again, my voice rough with desperation.

She’s lying on her side, her back to me. I press against her until we’re flush, my chest to her spine, and slide her nightgown up her thighs. She’s still asleep, lost in dreams.

“Ava, I need you, baby. Please.” My voice cracks, chokedwith the tears threatening to spill over. God, don’t let me cry now.

I reach between her legs and tug her panties aside, exposing her warm, inviting heat.

I massage her clit in slow circles until she becomes wet, then rub myself against her backside, over and over. My balls ache, my cock so hard it could break stone. I can’t wait.

“Lucas?” she mumbles, her voice thick with sleep.

“I need you. I need you so much,” I groan, almost delirious with want.

I lift her leg and thrust into her from behind, filling her in one smooth glide. I sink into her to the hilt, a guttural moan escaping me. I close my eyes, holding back the tears through sheer force of will.

I pull out and plunge back in, setting a frantic rhythm. She makes these little whimpering noises that drive me out of my mind, and I know there’s no way I’m going to last. I’m too wound up, my emotions scattered to the winds. There’s only one thing I want right now—to come inside her, to feel her all around me.

“I can’t,” I mumble, nonsensical words spilling from my lips as I keep thrusting, keep taking. “I need you.”

“I’m here,” she whispers back, her voice a soothing balm to my battered soul.

I lose control then, slamming into her harder, more forcefully. I grip her hips, yanking her back to meet my every thrust, taking what I need from her. I’m not gentle this time, not considerate.

I just take. Everything she’s willing to give, I take.

“Yes, baby, yes,” I pant, picking up the pace until the bedshakes with the force of my movements. She moans, the sound sharp and breathy, but I don’t stop. I can’t.

A shudder runs through me as I near my peak, and then I’m coming hard, groaning into her ear as ecstasy crashes over me in relentless waves.

I wrap myself around her, still buried deep, trying to get even closer, to crawl inside her skin.

Minutes pass, and I drift off, my softening cock slipping out of her warmth. I jerk awake.

Fuck. What have I done?