She resists for now, but what happened to the card?

Disclaimer:

For readers 18 and older.

All characters depicted are 18 and older.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental unless explicitly stated within the story.

Content Warnings:

This series will explore niche taboo themes, including but not limited to:

Cheating / Cuckolding

****

Body betrayal

Pain–pleasure dynamics

Anal / Painal

Power imbalances / Control

Tags: Mexican wife, riding, cowgirl, voyeur, sleeping, sensual, orgasm, creampie, NTR, slow burn,

This is going to be a slow burn.

*** *** *** *** ***

Chapter 3

Ailin knew it was super unlikely she would get pregnant their first time having unprotected sex, especially since she hadn’t even tracked her ovulation window. But to see the proof the morning immediately after was still disheartening. Sure, trying to have a baby was fun and the sex was great, but realizing she wasn’t pregnant yet still stung. And to make things worse, she was now mega horny.

But they might as well get some good fucking practice in.

It was rare for her to wake up before Noah, so she took advantage of that. The sex had seemingly tired him out. His sleeping face looked so peaceful…so gorgeous…so fuckable.

Her big, dumb, sleeping hunk was the perfect prey for her.

Her eyes traced down his impressive chest, following his slight stomach to his groin. She noticed how hard he was despite the blanket being bunched up around his waist. Thank God for morning wood because she didn’t have much time to waste. Noah should have been up about ten minutes ago to get ready for his shift, so she needed to anchor him there.

“Amorrr,” she purred, straddling him.

She grabbed his thick cock in her hand and held him straight up, positioning her hovering pussy over the tip.

“Rise and—ooooh—shine.” That first moment of contact made her spine tingle.

Then she slowly descended on him, feeling that stretch and slick tug despite how wet she was. Noah stirred under her as she let herself slide down. The last few inches were always tough for her, even in this position. But she wouldn’t be denied.

“¡AYY cabron!” She sank all the way down on the fucker’s cock and was instantly light-headed.

Noah groaned, opening his eyes.

“Baby doll? Oh shit!” He moaned—groggily grabbing her hips.

She put her hands down on his chest, her fingers grabbing his chest hair as she grinded on him.

“Dios mio, I fucking love you!” Ailin leaned over and kissed Noah—her long, blonde hair draping around their faces like a veil.

She stuck her tongue into his mouth, sloppily kissing him while he tried to keep up. He matched her grinding by using his grip on her hips to help her move faster.

“¡DIOS! Mira como me pones papi.” Just the thought of him put her in a bad way.

Her grinding became frenetic, causing Noah to twitch every time the rubbing pressure on the underside of his tip was too rough. He gritted his teeth and held on for dear life, if he didn’t have the practiced stamina he did, this would have sent him over the edge.

She sat back up, hands against his chest for support.

Ailin’s eyes started to lose focus and her movements lost rhythm. The pace was difficult to maintain while she was nearing orgasm. But she felt Noah’s encouragement and direction through his hands on her hips. He steadied her and she was able to reap the rewards.

The warm pressure built in her belly rapidly, every backward grind making the curve of Noah’s cock stroke her sweet spot.

“Oooohh.” She mewled, trying to contain herself.

Noah moved up his right hand to her waist to keep her rhythm steady and with his left he grabbed her ass, digging his fingers into her. He needed her just as much as she needed him.

“¡Ohhhh sí cabron—FUCK!” Her rupturing moans were Noah’s addiction—sounds that reached a part of Noah that touch alone would never.

The warm pressure in her core burst open. It splashed inside her and then cascaded down through her legs and to the edges of her toes, making her tense up and tingle.

Noah felt her thick thighs try to lock down around him, but he continued to move her, making her grind through the orgasm—refusing to let her body rest.

“OH! OH! OH! OH! NoaaAAAHH—!” She squealed out, nearly overwhelmed.

The pressure didn’t stop building inside her. Like a volcano, it exploded at the top, rushing up her spine and making her arms rigid.

Noah felt the tension on his chest from her hands, but he wasn’t done.

She felt like her bones were being hollowed out and filled with pleasure. She begged Noah, but she wasn’t sure if it was for him to stop or to keep going.

“¡NOAH—AMOR—POR FAVOR!”

He grunted with exertion in response.

Her whole body shook above him, making every part of her tremble. Noah focused on her tits—watching them shake as she lost control made Noah groan and his eyes rolled involuntarily. He could consume the very image of her. He wished he could capture this moment forever.

“FUCK—OH Y—FUCK YOU—PINCHE PU—DIO—FFFFUCK—” She sputtered between moans.

He imagined himself watching—a video playing in his head from the closest corner of the room. They looked amazing from this perspective. And her sounds, her moans, her struggling to retain any semblance of control over her body…he wished he could remove himself to just witness this moment and—.

He erupted.

The image was too strong, her impassioned cries were too loud—all the practiced stamina in the world couldn’t save Noah. His legs went numb as he came into her, torrent after torrent. His entire body tensed the same way hers had as they crashed together.

“Fuck!” Noah couldn’t stop his own voice.

“HHHH—AAHHH!” She cried out one final time.

They laid there for a few moments. Neither made a sound except for their breathing. The only movements were Ailin sporadic spasms as her orgasm died down, and their chests rising and falling.

BRAAAHH, BRAAAHH, BRAAAHH.

Noah’s alarm started going off, the same ringtone as his phone calls. He was supposed to already be making their breakfast and waking Ailin up. They needed to get up.

She lifted herself back up—struggling the entire time due to her still weak and shaky arms—and resumed her sitting position on Noah. She reached for his phone and turned the alarm off—his gradually softening cock twitched inside of her with the movement. This man was so blessed—it was still enough for her to feel an undulating pleasure. She started to do slow figure eights on him.

He quivered under her—he was too sensitive.

“Fuck! Baby, stop.” Noah pleaded.

But the roles were reversed now.

“Cómo se siente hijo de tu puta madre.” She teased him—her smile was full of retaliatory mischief.

She shuddered as she traced herself with her hands and she kept gyrating her hips. She basked in the afterglow of her orgasm, now able to process every sensation and caressed her tummy, imagining the life that would be growing there soon.

Soon, her thoughts echoed.

Ailin felt Noah shift under her, trying his hardest to not lose his composure—bringing her back to the present. She cupped her breasts, as if presenting them to Noah—only to squeeze them herself. When she reached her nipples, a drawn out, satisfied hum escaped through her lips.

“Mmm mm mmmmm. Que rico, amor.” She closed her eyes.

Noah gripped the sheets, trying to ignore the sensation in his loins.

She rubbed her hands up her neck, allowing them to linger there for a second, before she finally ran her fingers through her scalp—making herself shiver—then through her hair.

Noah could only watch helplessly as this goddess of his pleasure used him for her own.

“Más que suficiente.” Ailin whispered to herself.

Noah was struggling.

“W—what?”

“Let’s get up, amor. We need to get ready.”

She climbed off of him, headed towards the bathroom. She stumbled and caught herself on the bed, laughing.

Noah was initially concerned, but realizing why she had stumbled made him smile.

“What’s wrong, weak knees?” He asked innocently.

“¡Siguele ehh!” She smacked his arm.

But when he sat up and tried to stand himself, he found he wasn’t as surefooted as he expected. Trying to hide his sheepish smile, he cleared his throat and looked away.

“That’s what you get!” Ailin pushed him onto the bed and laughed, speed-hobbling towards the bathroom, “me first!”

But Noah had recovered quicker than she thought he would. He chased her to the bathroom and she squealed, trying to close the door. It would have closed, but for one of Noah’s socks stuck in the door.

“Mch!” Annoyed, Ailin smacked her lips at Noah—he was notorious for not putting his clothes in the laundry basket.

He laughed and **** the door open.

“Why don’t we shower together, like we used to?” He offered.

Neither of them knew it was possible for Ailin’s face to light up even more. But the devil in her eye twinkled and she looked down, grabbing Noah by the cock.

“We should do this every morning…” She pulled him to the shower.

*

Noah

Usually, Wagner was there fifteen minutes early for his shift but today he had barely arrived on time. Chief Calderon was already waiting for him.

Wagner couldn’t deny the chief was just a bit intimidating. It wasn’t his physicality, though. They had similar builds. And it wasn’t that he was a military man. Wagner had grown up with Reinhard whose entire life had been the military, so he was used to that.

“I was afraid you got cold feet, son.” Calderon barked.

It wasn’t that Calderon was so stern and commanding either. Reinhard had been like that, too. And the chief was nowhere near as mean as his bastard father was—so Wagner had no idea what it could be.

“No, sir.” But there was something different about the Sergeant today.

“Hmm.” The older man tilted his head and inspected Wagner.

Wagner’s uniform wasn’t in its routinely pristine ironed condition which meant he had been rushing this morning. His face looked clean, but there was stubble growing where Wagner was usually shaved to give his beard its perfectly trim shape. So he had showered but hadn’t had time to shave. He had a derpy smile plastered on his face, but when didn’t he? Even then, all of this was still infinitely better than the veteran officers who just didn’t care anymore. Hopefully that wasn’t where Wagner was headed.

“Just spent some time with the wife is all. Lost track…” Wagner gave an awkward and apologetic smile—shrugging and mirroring Calderon’s head tilt.

That was when Calderon noticed Wagner’s collar and grunted his approval.

“I can tell.” He chuckled. “Now let’s get that test out of the way.”

Wagner’s awkward smile faltered, wondering what the chief meant by that. He looked down at himself and tried to smooth out his uniform.

It wasn’t until later that he saw the lipstick smudged on his collar.

**

Ailin was waiting for Noah as he pulled into their driveway. She was so excited to see him that she jumped on him and he slammed back against the car.

Mwah, smooch, smack. She kissed all over his face while he tried to talk to her.

“Hey baby doll! I took the test.”

“That’s—muah—so—smooch—great!”

He carried her inside, she was still in her gym clothes because they were easier to peel off. Even after working out, she still managed to smell like coconut.

“Amor, I’m pretty dirty…and sweaty. Necesito un shower.” She said so matter-of-factly—dropping her pitch on the word shower, letting it drag.

She raised her eyebrow and slightly opened her mouth expectantly.

“Y’know what baby, I am feeling a little dirty, too.” He sounded so earnest.

She bit her lip at his words.

“I sweat so much when I was pushing that pen across the test, baby, you should’ve seen that test. All marked up.”

“¿O sí? Apuesto que that test had nothing on you.” She kissed his neck.

“I don’t want to brag or anything but,” he cleared his throat, “pretty sure I passed the fuck out of it. Not sure if I have any fucks left if I’m being honest here, so I hope no one was expecting one.” He teased.

“¡Ay no, eso ya no me gustó! You better have at least a few left!” She smacked his arm and reached underneath her legs to grope his manhood.

“Oh sh—”

“Ooooh, con que me estabas mintiendo, ¿eh? You’re going to pay for that lie, amor.” He was already hard for her.

“Uhm, hahh—ha.” He twitched in her hand, “careful, baby doll…don’t want to crush all the little Noah’s and Noellia’s.”

He carried her into the bedroom.

*

“Oooo,” she cooed—her eyes fluttering open.

Noah had woken her up for two days straight now—something new—by playing with her small clit. He had it between his right forefinger and middle finger, stroking it as he ran his fingers up and down her lips. Every few strokes he would sink his thick middle finger into her pussy, curling it inside her, before pulling it out.

“Más, necesito más, amor…” She whimpered—pulling his head to her chest. With his left hand he held her right breast and started to suck her nipple.

“Hijo de tu—¡AY CABRON!” She gasped, her eyes going wide when Noah bit her nipple.

The sharp pain sent daggers down to her tummy, impaling themselves into her arousal. He flicked her nipple in rhythm with his strokes of her clit.

She reached out with her hand, trying to find his cock under the covers while he had her pinned down.

“God, woman, you taste so fucking good.” He sucked her tit into his mouth.

He started to circle her clit, gyrating it. He could feel her lubricant drenching his fingers more and more. It ran down her pussy and his fingers to her ass. For a moment, Noah thought about testing his luck—and how turned on she was—by inserting a finger into her anus.

But he stopped, feeling her pussy start to quiver.

“Fuck beibi, don’t stop—DON’T SSS—DON’T SSTOPP!”

*

Noah thought their appetite would have been satisfied by now but he was wrong. Ailin had been at work when he had gotten home, making him immensely disappointed and horny. He had waited for her to get back to get in another round since they wouldn’t have time the next morning.

He had expected her to be disappointed. Instead, she had become feral. She had been so eager that he had another hole in the wall to fix—in the living room this time.

When they were finished, she was left satisfied with his seed oozing out of her and gliding down to her butt.

“Are you nervous?” She played with his chest hair as they stared at the ceiling.

“No.” He thought about it, “pretty sure the captains and other lieutenants like me.”

“What’s not to like?” She leaned onto her elbow and smiled at him as she admired him.

“You’re big, strong. I bet they would be impressed if you showed them your—” She reached for his cock.

“H–hey woman! I’m still sensitive.” He grabbed her wrist.

She giggled, she was being playful.

“Besides, I’m sure they wouldn’t like that.” He eyed her.

Her long hair draped her. It was like her; wild and free. It crowned a beautiful face he could never get out of his head. Those pouty lips made him lick his own, he could still taste them. Then his eyes dropped down her body, lingering on her breasts. He loved the way they rested on her chest.

“Ah, y eso?” She felt his cock hardening again.

He groaned.

“Goddamnit woman, I can’t resist you.” He pawed her tits and pushed her onto her back.

She squealed her delight.

*

Ailin

Ailin showered alone. She was sad about that, but Noah had the first round of interviews today and couldn’t afford to be late. She understood—didn’t mean she was going to let him off the hook later, though. He had to make it up to her.

For a moment she thought about fantasizing in the shower about Noah again. She reached for the showerhead, setting it to high. She pointed the stream at her clit, trying to capture the image she had days ago.

The shower door opened.

“Hola, amor.” She said, closing her eyes.

But when the shadow crossed the boundary, passing the steam breathing out through the opening, it wasn’t Noah.

Ailin opened her eyes. She didn’t want to imagine anyone else, especially not him. He had been an excellent dancer, sure. And what had happened, happened, but she wasn’t going to be inviting that back in.

She banished the image of Walter she felt trying to invade her fantasy and docked the showerhead—frustrated.

Ailin needed to flood her mind with happy, loving, wife thoughts.

Thoughts about Noah—her husband.

She had loved the last few days. She had lost track of how many times they had had sex. Going from maybe twice a month to a dozen in only a handful of days was addicting and Ailin knew it. There was no way they would be able to keep this up. But she saw it as banking some in before a baby took all their time.

With a sigh, she turned off the shower and grabbed her towel.

“Siri, what time is it?”

“It’s 8:31.”

She was going to be late.

Erika was going to hate that. Ailin was always the last one to arrive at the group’s lunch dates.

She wanted to hurry, she really tried, but there was a lot on her mind. It actually weighed her down, slowing her. Now, standing in front of the large sink mirror, she put her hands on her tummy. It had the slightest protrusion. She turned, looking at her profile and distended her stomach, trying to see how she’d look carrying a baby.

She smiled. The image of her favorite aunt Lucero looked back at her, then down at her stomach.

“Noah—o Noellia. Mi amor eterno.”

Ailin thought about her own mother at that moment—she would never let herself spend one moment apart from her baby the way Maria had.

*

“About time, bitch.” Erika was too expressive, she looked like she hated Ailin sometimes.

Only this time, she didn’t flip Ailin off.

“Ay ya se, leave me alone!” Ailin waved her hand dismissively—she was only ten minutes late this time.

“But for once you’re here before Suki, idk where she is.” River looked at her phone, then put it down.

Her smile wasn’t as big today, Ailin noticed.

“Where’s Emi then?” Ailin sat down in her spot.

“Taking a shit, where do you think?” Erika rolled her eyes.

“No!” Emiliana was already opening the door to the cafe’s outside patio, “I was fixing my foundation after you licked my face, bitch.”

“Hahahaha!” Erika wasn’t the least bit apologetic, but she also didn’t point while laughing like she usually did.

They were a diverse group—to anyone who didn’t know them—but they were all hispanic or latinas in some way.

A confident, porcelain-white Mexican—Ailin.

A toxica morena from Ecuador—with deceptively girl-next-door looks—Erika.

A shy and gentle biracial hispanic from Houston, Texas cursed with alluring beauty—River.

An unattainable and unavailable goth chola from Española, New Mexico—Emiliana—Emi.

And their missing friend: a Japanese-Mexican who was an oblivious party girl—Susana—Suki.

“Where were you the last, like, two times?” River asked Ailin, reaching for her hands across the table.

“Just super busy. El trabajo, school…” River’s hands were always so warm, so Ailin took them gladly.

Erika rolled her eyes again.

“Your eyes are going to be all cross-eyed—how much you be doing that shit—and I’m gonna laugh.” Emi was Erika’s foil.

Monotone, no expression, and maddeningly droll most of the time.

“¡Ya llegó por quien llo-ra-ban!” Suki’s sing songy voice accompanied the door opening again. “What up zorras.”

She was dancing to some unheard song in her head.

“¡Eh-ah, eh-ah, eh-ah!” River and Ailin sang—they were the percussions in the song—encouraging Suki.

“Ain’t nobody crying for you, bitch. Now hurry up and sit down, you’re late!”

Bzzzzz.

Erika had been there fifteen minutes before they were supposed to meet only to be greeted by Emi’s serious mask staring at her—already sitting down at their regular table when Erika walked out onto the patio.

“Someone’s extra bitchy today.” River usually didn’t react to Erika, but she was already annoyed today.

Everyone looked at her, raising their eyebrows.

“Okay, what crawled up your ass?” Erika looked concerned.

“Nothing.”

“¿Estás bien?” Ailin squeezed River’s hands.

“We’re here for you.” Suki’s face went from joy to concern so fast it gave Emi whiplash.

When Emi didn’t say anything, Suki kicked her under the table.

“Ow. Fuck.” Emi glared at Suki, who tilted her head almost imperceptibly towards River, “did something happen?” Emi relented.

“I’m okay, just didn’t sleep.” River smiled at them, but when their worry didn’t leave their faces, that smile curled down to a pout—she was close to crying.

“I guess…I haven’t slept for a week.” She admitted.

“¿Qué paso?” Ailin and Suki asked at the same time.

“Cano was given a promotion.” River didn’t sound happy that her husband had gotten a promotion.

Bzzzzz.

“But that’s a good thing, right? You’ll finally be able to afford to move, ¿qué no?” Ailin’s concern grew, thinking about Noah’s own promotion.

“Yeah pero that’s the problem. We’re moving because of his promotion.”

“Oh.” Emi already saw where this was headed—everyone turned to her.

She remained silent, her face never changing. So they looked back at River inquisitively. It took her a few moments before she was finally able to find her voice.

She cleared her throat.

“We’re going to South Carolina next month.”

River looked directly at Ailin, and Ailin’s face fell slightly—her mouth opened to say something—.

“For like a business trip for the promotion, ¿o qué?” Suki was genuinely confused, she couldn’t see the problem.

“Suki, ¿en serio? Shut the—No, you dumbass. They are moving there.” Erika rolled her eyes.

“Wait what? Why?”

“Cano is going to be overlooking the new IT and Networking department. Like, the whole site. We already started to pack. Next week we are going for a couple of days to look at houses.” She sniffled.

“Tell him he can’t accept the promotion then.” Suki suggested, her face reflected the anxiety she felt at the prospect of River leaving.

Ailin was silent.

“He already accepted it. He wants the job and—and I support him.” River’s eyes were sad, but Ailin could see her mind was made up.

Bzzzzz.

Ailin brought River’s hands to her mouth and gave each a loving peck.

“It’s not like you’re dying.” Erika’s voice was strained, “besides you can visit us any time now that el gran señor Cano is going to be making more money.” She teased River about Cano, who was a silver fox.

River gave Erika her most unamused stare, but her bottom lip quivered, just making her look so sad.

“¡No seas una aguafiestas!” Erika jabbed River in the side.

Emi tilted her head at the jab. She noticed that Erika used her right hand to reach across herself to do it.

They were there to celebrate, that’s why Erika had called them all up to hang out on a Wednesday of all days, and here was River raining on that parade.

“Well, I also have news, but I’m not a sad bitch—so I’m pretty happy about it.” She teased River.

River smiled at that.

“Quinton asked me to marry him.” She revealed her left hand.

They all squealed at the exact same time—except for Emi.

“I knew it.” Emi said.

Her eyes smiled but she didn’t.

“You didn’t know shit. Your big mouth would have said something.” But Erika smiled—there was no bite behind her bark this time.

She saw the faintest twitch at the corner of Emi’s mouth, but the chola refused to actually smile.

“¿Cuando’s the wedding?” Ailin asked.

“We don’t know yet.” Erika held her hand out while River and Suki fawned over her ring.

Bzzzzz.

“Okay, whose fucking phone is that?” Erika looked around at the blank stares. “¿Nadien? Really?”

“¿Y tu?” Emi changed the conversation when no one answered.

She could tell Ailin had something to share, but because Ailin was always worried about everyone else, she hadn’t wanted to cast a shadow on the other two.

“Me?” Ailin asked, letting go of River’s hands.

“Yes you, güey.” Emi’s mask went from serious to seriouser.

“Uhm. Well…Noah is also getting a promotion.” Ailin’s eyes flicked down from River’s face to her own hands as she started to examine them. “So…we are going to maybe—try, I guess—to have a baby?”

River’s face lit up at that. She grabbed Ailin’s hands and squeezed. Ailin inwardly sighed and her smile grew wide.

“You bitch! And you weren’t going to say anything ¿para qué no llorara esta?” Erika pushed River’s shoulder with attitude—but it was playful.

She was right, though. Ailin didn’t want to make River feel worse.

“Bitch what the fuck?” Suki’s jaw dropped.

“We’re going to be aunties!” River squealed again, she couldn’t contain her tears.

They had formed in pain but now fell with joy.

“I’m not pregnant.” Ailin said, but she was happy.

“Yet.” Emi’s mask fell for a moment when Ailin looked at her.

Emi smiled—showing her perfect, pearly white teeth—and then it was gone as her mask rose back into place.

“Oh my god we need to celebrate! You need to celebrate!” Suki danced in her seat.

Ailin’s eyes widened a little at the thought of celebrating.

Erika caught it before Ailin’s eyes could settle.

“Wait, there’s more. Andale bitch, spill. Come on.” Erika crossed her arms.

“We have been celebrating. It’s been great…” Ailin wasn’t sure how much to divulge.

“And then?” Erika asked.

“It’s great. He’s really good. He knows what he’s doing.” Ailin was rubbing her hands together, “Noah knows exactly what to do to make me feel good. Loved.”

Emi noticed the subtle shifts in tone and pitch. She saw the way Ailin’s hands rubbed each other harder.

“But?” Suki asked, also sensing something off.

Ailin felt like she was about to be stripped in front of her friends, but she also felt like she had to talk about it with someone. Why not her best friends?

“Okay, pero, you guys can’t tell anyone or say anything in front of Noah. ¡Especialmente tu, perra!” She looked directly at Erika.

“What? Why are you looking at me?” She asked indignantly.

But they all looked at her for a few seconds. Finally, she sighed and rolled her eyes—gesturing for Ailin to continue.

“Sí, sí. I promise, I won’t say anything. Now say it.”

“Okay. Well. We have been having sex like every day. Unos dias ha sido like three or four times a day.”

“Damn, bitch!” Erika was actually surprised by that.

She was lucky if she could get it once a week.

“And I finish—we both finish. Like sometimes more than once. It’s great. But there’s something…No se. Siento que something is missing. You know?”

“No…” River was genuinely confused by what was wrong.

Ailin’s sex life sounded amazing. Enviable, even.

“Noah is great. No me mal entiendan. He is actually amazing. He treats me great, he makes me finish. He always does, actually.” Ailin knew she wasn’t making a lot of sense yet. “It’s just that maybe he’s too considerate. Maybe he’s too…—”

“Gentle?” Emi offered.

“¡Eso! He’s too gentle. I need—I want—maybe…I don’t know. I’m not sure. I want him to sometimes—just like…”

“Like you just want him to take you. Treat you like a puta.” Erika finished for her.

River winced at Erika’s crudeness, but she finally understood. That was how Cano was with her sometimes. Rough, dominant, taking and taking until River didn’t have anymore to give—and still he kept going. She stifled a shudder.

“Yes.” Ailin looked down at her hands.

She was starting to form blisters on the skin with the most wear.

“So you want a dom and sub relationship?” Emi’s posture straightened, this was her territory.

“What’s that?” Ailin asked.

“It—”

Erika cut Emi off.

“¡O yo se qué es eso! You kinky ass bitches!” Erika laughed, looking between Emi and Ailin.

“Well?” Suki was waiting for an explanation.

Before Emi could explain, Erika interrupted her again.

“Okay, so basically. The dom guy takes control of everything. You are supposed to be completely sumisa to him. Una sirvienta. He uses you but if you enjoy that shit, te vas a venir con todo.”

Both Emi and River looked at each other.

“Have you asked him?”

“I did—I mean, I tried. I keep giving—le doy hints and stuff trying to get him to do certain things.”

“Let me stop you right there, todos están bien mensos. You need to tell him straight up.” Erika always had to spell things out for Quinton.

“Yeah, yeah! Just, like, sit him down and tell him.” Suki offered. “But I meant that we all should go out clubbing to celebrate!”

Ailin blushed.

“Wait, what the fuck was that? What happened?” Erika called her out.

“Nothing.” Ailin looked away.

“Na na, spit it out, bitch.” Erika kicked Ailin under the table, making her jump.

“¡Ey perra—no pasó nada! Noah and I just went out a few days ago. I wanted to celebrate when he told me about the promotion.”

“And then?” Both Suki and River asked.

“Well we danced.”

“Mch. No manches.” Erika said sarcastically.

Emi was studying Ailin’s face. She could see the crease in her forehead, the way her pupils were slightly dilated. How she was trying not to rub her hands.

“What happened at the dance.” Emi didn’t ask, she ordered.

Ailin silently gulped.

“Okay, this is serious.” River said.

Sitting up—she retracted her hands and placed them on the table, palms flat. She tried to contain her anxious curiosity.

Before she could answer, Erika jumped in.

“No fucking way.” Erika’s sinister smile scared Ailin. “Tell me you didn’t cheat, bitch.”

Ailin’s face contorted while she tried to process Erika’s accusation.

“You cheated?!” River looked betrayed.

Ailin angirly—defensively—looked at Erika.

“What? No—”

“I knew you were a slut, too!” Suki asserted, smiling a little too ecstatically.

By too, she meant to add Ailin to her slut group head cannon where she was the leader. She had already made plans for trips to Las Vegas, Miami, Mexico. They were going to have so much fun.

“Suki!” River protested.

Emi held her tongue while the others started to blast questions at Ailin.

“Why?”

“Who?”

“Was he good?”

“How big was he?”

“Ey ey ey—NO!” Ailin yelled, “I didn’t cheat.”

Bzzzzz.

Ailin’s face was flush at being pressed.

“I didn’t cheat.” She could see the doubt on their faces, especially on River’s. “O por Dios, let me explain.”

River crossed her arms now, making Ailin’s anxiety rise. She sighed shakily.

“We were dancing. It was fun, pero ya saben, Noah’s not a great dancer. And he was getting super handsy.”

Suki leaned in, pervertedly intrigued.

“It was hot and everything. Pero cuando estábamos bailando, there was a guy staring. But guys always stare, so no pense nada. Y luego we went to get a drink. And he needed the bathroom—”

“Ha!” Erika’s sharp laugh interrupted, “cuando no.”

River’s stare made Erika’s smile fall slightly.

“So when he left…that guy came up to me—”

“And you fucked him!” Suki gasped.

They all turned to look at her, losing patience.

She held her hands up in surrender.

“Sorry, sorry. Ya se, shut the fuck up, Suki!” Suki mocked them, but stayed quiet.

“I didn’t have sex with him.” Ailin cleared it up. “We just danced, he was really good, actually.”

Erika’s face darkened, her smile completely gone.

“Bitch, you did NOT just take us on that roller coaster for just dancing…?”

“¡Yo ni dije nada! You all jumped to conclusions.”

“I don’t believe it. Aqui hay gato encerrado.” Erika knew there was more.

“No hay. Nothing happened. I swear.” Ailin sounded so genuine. “We just danced.”

Emi noticed Ailin’s hands but said nothing.

“I have an idea…” Suki’s smile made Ailin uneasy.

She raised an eyebrow, doubting this would be a good idea.

“Hey no seas así, don’t make that face, just hear me out. What if you try the dom sub thing with that dance guy to see if you even like it.”

River smacked Suki on the shoulder, making Emi’s eyebrows shoot up.

“¡¿Qué te pasa?!”

Ailin blushed.

“That way you don’t wreck your relationship if Noah doesn’t want to.”

Emi’s face couldn’t have gotten more unimpressed, yet it did.

“So instead, she wrecks it by cheating? Great idea, Suki.” She said sarcastically.

“Well obvi you won’t say anything.” Suki told Ailin but stuck her tongue out at Emi. “No strings attached. Así you find out if you really want that or not. Andale.” She urged.

“With a complete stranger? I’m not going to do that.” Ailin crossed her arms.

“That’s a good thing, tonta.” Suki insisted.

“Maybe both him and Noah…?” Erika joked.

“You guys are too much.” River started to rub her temples.

“No. I’m not just going to fuck some random guy. First of all, amo a Noah. Second, están locas. Third, I’m not a slut como para prestarme a eso. No offense, Suki.”

Suki laughed, mock indignation on her face as she flipped Ailin off.

Bzzzzz.

“No fucking way you deaf ass bitches didn’t hear it that time. Who the fuck is it?” Erika was exasperated.

“I heard it, too, that time.” River said.

“I was right, you guys are crazy.” Ailin laughed.

“Whatever, fuck you guys. Let’s order something, I’m hungry.” Erika picked up the menu.

They all talked for the rest of their lunch, making plans for River’s trips back every couple of months.

But Ailin was thinking. She needed to talk to Noah about this. She needed more from him, but he already gave so much… What could she give him in return? Maybe…

No, eso no, Ailin was not going to do anal.

Bzzzzz.

This time Ailin heard it. It had definitely come from her left side. She looked at Emi, who was the only one on that side.

They locked eyes and Ailin raised her eyebrow.

“What?” Emi’s mask didn’t slip for even a moment.

Ailin’s eyebrows scrunched up. She knew she had heard the vibration, but she didn’t know for sure it had come from Emi.

“Do I have something on my face?” Emi asked, her tone was so sarcastically dry, but that was just her being earnest.

“No—I thought—me estoy volviendo loca también, I think.” Ailin shook her head to clear it and returned her attention to the group’s conversation.

*

Noah

Wagner’s stomach was fighting to not tangle itself in knots.

He had great news to share with Ailin, he had just passed what was supposed to be the hardest of the interviews with his immediate supervisors. They had grilled him, but in the end it was mostly a formality. They had even congratulated him on the impending promotion before he left.

But then he had seen the text waiting for him:

Ailin: We need to talk about something. I dont want you to get anxious but it’s important.

Everything from that day that he had effectively ignored came rushing back. For all of his life until the last few days, he thought all there was to being a good husband, a good man, was making enough money to not struggle, being supportive, and making your wife cum during sex. Most men only managed to do one of those things, let alone all three.

So where had he gone wrong?

He had gone to the department’s gym after his shift, trying to take his mind off of everything. He pushed and pulled the weight around. Increasing it, thinking the more tired he was, the less the thoughts would invade his mind. Instead, he found his increasing physical fatigue left him ****.

No matter how much weight he lifted, his thoughts seemed to be heavier.

As he left the gym, approaching his truck, he couldn’t hold the thoughts any longer.

She hadn’t talked about the shower, yet.

I spied on her when she showered, he reminded himself.

Why should she have to explain a private moment to him?

Then he thought about the dance.

Okay fine, but what do you want me to do about it? He asked himself.

He was still upset with himself for letting it play out, but if he let himself think about it, he would inevitably get ha—.

“Wagner!” The high-pitched Lieutenant's voice stopped Wagner before he got into his car.

Lieutenant Davis hobbled until he reached Wagner, shaking his hand. Wagner had remembered when he first joined the department. Davis had been a complete asshole. Over time, Wagner realized that he had only been an asshole because he knew what the job was. Wagner as a rookie was too fragile, mentally and emotionally, to survive. Davis had made it his job to make sure Wagner either failed out, or grew some thicker skin to survive.

“Lieutenant, what can I do for you?” Wagner looked down at the smaller man.

“None of that, Wagner.” Davis sighed, “look. I’m not good at this, so I’m just going to say it. I respect you. You’re going to be great. I was always good on the street, but you, you have that and the brains.”

“Thanks Davis.” Noah didn’t know where this was headed.

“The chief and some of the guys are throwing me a retirement party in a week. But those bastards said I have to invite whoever I want there. Bastards are still giving me a hard time—look at my old ass, I can barely walk now.” Davis smirked, “so I’m inviting you.”

Wagner chuckled at that.

“So, what do you say?”

“Maybe, I need to see if the wife already has plans for us. If not, we’ll go, for sure.” Wanger opened the door and climbed in, lowering the window.

“There will be food, drinks, and dancing. If you convince that sexy wife of yours to come you can make us all rethink our life choices.” Davis joked.

“Alright, let me see if I can convince her.”

“Sounds good.” Davis stuck his hand out to Wagner, “see you, Wagner.”

They shook hands.

“Later, man.”

**

There was no Ailin waiting for him outside and there was still another half hour of sun. Noah’s stomach did a flip as the truck pulled itself up the driveway. Even the lights inside didn’t make him feel any better.

He opened the door and heard the music playing, it was different from her usual choice, a lot more mellow.

“Pueden ser banales mis instintos naturales.”

The house smelled like fruit and candy.

“Baby doll?”

“Coming, amor.”

Noah had no idea what he had been expecting when he got home. His brain had bet on divorce papers and his stomach had bet on the stranger from the club sitting at the table eating his food. Every horrible scenario he could think of had crossed his mind, but this was none of them.

The kitchen table had a few bowls of fruit: strawberries, mango slices, watermelon chunks, grapes.

And there was a pot full of white cream—no—chocolate. Noah walked to it and put his hand up close to feel the heat, it was still a little warm. He looked around, not seeing Ailin, and dipped his thick finger into it. He scooped some into his mouth.

“Mmm. Oh my god. Wow.” He whispered to himself.

“I’m glad you like it.” He heard the sultry voice coming from the hallway. “Echo, volume five.”

Noah turned around as the sound dropped—followed by his jaw.

Ailin was wearing a hot pink matching thong and bra set that went well with the flush of her porcelain skin. She gleamed as if she had been doing yoga.

The cups of her bra were playing peek-a-boob with Noah. They were three-quarter cups that left the top of her areolas visible with every movement. Her thong was a high rise style that accentuated her large hips amazingly. Noah could feel himself starting to strain against his already roomy sweatpants, his knees were weakening, too. That wasn’t good, he needed those in the bedroom later.

“¿Té gusta?”

“Gusta isn’t good enough, baby. Goddamn.”

“Ey, don’t use His name like that.” She smacked his arm playfully.

“What’s wrong with that, you use it like that all the time.” He pulled her to him, grazing their sexes together to let her know what he meant.

“Mch, that’s different.” She protested, but smiled at him.

She gingerly grabbed one of the mango slices and dipped it into the chocolate, bringing it up to Noah’s mouth. He opened it in anticipation, but she pulled it towards herself before he could take a bite.

“You tease.” He growled, grabbing a handful of ass cheeks.

She raised her eyebrow and raised herself onto her tippy toes, pulling him closer to herself. She guided him, making him follow the white chocolate dipped mango. She let it hover above her chest and they watched as a drop fell onto her supple skin. It oozed between her breasts—a sweet temptation.

“Fuck.” Was all Noah could muster.

“How does it taste?” Ailin raised the slice to Noah, letting him eat now.

He bit in—closing his eyes—savoring the explosion of juice from the mango mixing with the sweetness of the white chocolate. The juice stung a cut he had in his mouth that he had gotten at work, but the sugar coated it, easing the sting.

“So good, baby doll. Like, wow.”

“Sit, amor. Relax.” He did as he was told.

She straddled him while he held her by the hips.

“Now try it with the sandia.” She grabbed the watermelon piece where most of the juice had collected and dipped it into the chocolate.

She raised it to Noah’s mouth, letting it hover for a moment. The chocolate dripped onto Noah’s lips. He intended to lick it off himself, but was surprised to find Ailin’s tongue meeting his.

They kissed, tongues intertwined. It was gentle, loving. She caressed his face, feeling his jaw and cheek bones while he concentrated on caressing her hips—slowly rubbing up to her waist and back down.

Ailin was the first to break the kiss.

“Amor, I wanted to ask you…”

Noah's heart felt like it tripped inside his chest.

“Yes baby?”

“I want to ask you to do something for me. Just hear me out okay? Let me tell you. Don’t say anything until I finish.”

She looked at him expectantly. Realizing she wanted a response—.

“Yes, baby doll. Of course. What is it?”

Here it came, she was going to ask him to open their relationship or for a threesome…

“I love you. I want you to know that. And I have been loving these last few days so much, it feels like when we first met again. O ha sido—it’s been the best few days of our marriage for me.” She looked at his face, gauging his reaction before continuing, “but it’s made me realize that I need something more from you. I think I want—.”

Noah tensed up underneath her.

“I want you to be more rough with me. I need you to be more, I don’t know how to say it, dominant.”

Noah blinked.

He let out a shaky breath and started to laugh. He could see the confusion on Ailin’s face turn into hurt as she crossed her arms, pushing her tits together.

“¿Por qué te ríes, cabrón?” Her furrowed eyebrows and curled lips let Noah know he had only a few seconds to respond.

Between his hearty, relieved laugh and his body relaxing, he tried to interpret what she asked him.

“It’s just that…I was expecting something bad to happen. I thought you were going to divorce me or I don’t know, try to do something worse.”

“¡Amor! This is serious. I am asking you to do something for me, y te estás burlando. You’re not taking me seriously right now.”

She climbed off his lap and he reached for her hand.

“No baby, I’m sorry. Really, I am just relieved right now. You have no idea. When I got your text earlier I started to freak out a little bit and I was trying to keep it together.”

“I told you not to get anxious, ya te conozco. You always get anxious.”

“I know, I know. Come here. Repeat what you said earlier. I’m sorry, now that that’s out of the way, I am all ears.” She looked at him with doubt plainly displayed, but she let him pull her closer. “I promise, no interruptions anymore.”

“Okay.” She started to rub her hands together, “I want you to take more control. When we are having sex, I want you to…o esto se escucha mal…I want you to use me.”

She looked at his face, expecting to find judgement. Instead she found confusion.

“I think…I get it. But I am not sure. What do you mean, like specifically?” He asked.

Big, beautiful, dumb hunk, Ailin sighed.

It was difficult for her to voice this part of her.

“I don’t know. Like—¡Ohhh!—like your handcuffs. You can use them on me. You know, when we have sex.” Noah tilted his head at that—his eyebrows shooting up—concerned, “sí, look. Like, so I can’t, like, get away.”

Noah looked at Ailin, he couldn’t hide the astonished confusion he felt—he didn’t know how to respond.

“I’m not sure about that…I’m not supposed to use them for that. And—it’s weird for me to think about using them on you like that.” He could see the shift in her eyes, “I want to do what you like—what you want, but understand, I put these on bad people. It just seems weird to me to put them on you.” He was struggling to explain, “I don’t know. I don’t want to—fuck, what’s the word? Fetish. Yeah I don’t want to fetishize my job. That’s a whole can of worms I don’t think I want to open.”

Ailin cleared her throat.

“Es okai, amor. We don’t have to use them today. But we can try other stuff…?”

Noah scratched his beard, pensive.

“I don’t know, maybe—eventually—just give me time. I might warm up to the idea. But for now, I am sorry baby doll, but no cuffs.”

Ailin didn’t know why, but she felt a knot in her throat from that. He asked her for time, but he did say no…

“Está bien, beibi. I understand.” She didn’t, but she didn’t want to ruin the mood.

Todavia lo amo, and she wouldn’t stop loving him despite this—but she didn’t know what would come next. That sparked a hope-driven idea.

If she couldn’t convince him with her words, she would try with her body.

Salvaging the mood, she kissed him tenderly again. Their soft, full lips met each other—melding together. But it was like putting tape over cracked glass.

In Noah’s head, he dropped the skilled dancer from his thoughts, no longer sensing any danger there. And instead, he began to think about the shower. He hadn’t had to think about that too deeply for a few days until today, it had receded so far back into his memories that he had nearly forgotten about it until he got her text.

He imagined her in the shower again. Her voice, her cries, her desperation. He tried to reconcile it with their mornings together the last few days—and he couldn’t. Despite what they had, the connection they shared, he hadn’t been able to even get her close to that.

Ailin reached into his sweatpants, cleaving his thoughts and sidestepping her own.

She pulled him to the bedroom, leading the way. She always found herself leading, directing, moving Noah along.

“Whoa!” She pushed Noah back onto the bed.

Grabbing the waistband of his sweatpants, she yanked them down. They got caught on his bubble butt, making her smile. Despite her inner turmoil, she still loved Noah.

“Hey, slow down—” Noah was surprised by her finger on his lips.

“No, amor, you have to keep up.” She challenged him.

*

Ailin was starting to feel sore. She enjoyed the sex, she did, but she couldn’t feel herself getting remotely close to what she wanted. And still, she could feel something building, but like always, she needed more from Noah.

“Harder, beibi.” She reached for his butt, grabbing each cheek to pull him in.

Noah didn’t understand, he thought he was going harder. He had been pistoning in and out of her only a few minutes ago. He was getting tired—never sweating like this during sex before. They had been at it for well over half an hour and he hadn’t even come close cumming yet. He couldn’t.

“Give me your hands.” Ailin reached for his hands.

She guided them to where she wanted them being used—placing one on her hair and the other close to her neck, not quite there. She needed Noah to act, to pull her hair and **** her.

She could lead a man hung like a horse to fuck her, but she couldn’t **** him to take her.

Noah hesitated. He didn’t want to **** her no matter how much she wanted him to. That was just something he couldn’t bring himself to want to do. Instead, with his right hand he grabbed her shoulder for leverage. With his left, he grabbed her by the hair, making her witness his cock slowly dragging in and out of her.

She didn’t know why, but looking at it happening made her weak. She felt that familiar pressure in her tummy, punctuated by every crash of hips.

It wasn't as intense and animalistic as she wanted, but it was slow and loving. That was Noah’s specialty.

The hair pulling would have to be enough right now.

“Yesss, Noah. Like that, don’t stop.” She pleaded.

Noah grunted, enjoying the ripple of flesh every time his hips met her’s. Her tits trembled deliciously. Her normally pale pink nipples were flush. He sat back on his knees, still holding her hair, and started to play with her clit with his other hand.

Ailin opened her legs further, giving him easier access. She loved the way his calloused fingers felt on her clit, the way he was self aware enough to be gentle in his touch, but applied steadily increasing pressure in response to her body.

“Oh, Noah, you know how—FUCK!”

BRAAAHH, BRAAAHH, BRAAAHH.

Noah’s phone started to go off and he withdrew himself from Ailin with a squelch and walked to the dresser to get it. The sudden emptiness while her orgasm had been building made Ailin feel incomplete and cold. She snapped her legs shut and sat up.

“What? Who is it?”

“It’s my sister. I’ll just call her back later.” Noah tossed his phone to the edge of the bed.

“Amor, she called a few days ago, remember? Maybe you should answer.” But Noah had already rejected the call.

“Where were we? Oh yeah.” Noah growled.

Ailin squealed, feeling a flutter of butterflies in her stomach as Noah dragged her to the edge of the bed.

He leaned over her, biting her neck and she gasped. She felt his cock searching for her pussy, trying to find its way back into her. She reached between them as he kept biting and kissing her neck. Grabbing a hold of him, she led him back into herself.

“Ahh.” They both sighed together.

“Take it, it's yours, beibi.” She whispered into his ear. “It’s yours! ¡Toda, toda tuya!” She started to lick his ear—willing him to take her.

Noah started to feel his balls tighten with her whimpers directly in his ear. He only had another couple minutes left.

He lifted himself up, grabbing her hips and started to piston himself in and out of her.

BRAAAHH, BRAAAHH—.

“Oh my god.” Noah reached for the phone, immediately rejecting the call.

Ailin rolled her eyes, each blare of the alarm was pissing her off just a little bit more. If she had to hear that sound one more time, she was going to snap.

“Maybe you should just answer it.” Ailin tried to mitigate the frustration seeping into her voice.

“I’ll call her back.” Noah grabbed Ailin’s wrists, using them to pull himself into her.

“Ohhh.” Her face twisted a little as he bottomed out.

“God, you’re so beautiful, baby. I love you.” Noah leaned over her to kiss her hard.

He ground his hips into Ailin, stimulating her clit.

“Sí, ¡así!” She rocked her hips back against him.

She crossed her legs around his waist, trying to pull him in deeper. She loved the way his weight nearly suffocated her, locking her down.

He grabbed her wrists, pinning them above her head. He bit his way down to her chest.

This was the kind of restraint Ailin wanted. She couldn’t move her hands out of his powerful grip no matter how much she squirmed. She couldn’t reach to pull him into her, her only option would be to let him do what he wanted.

Her eyes started to lose focus, her eyelids flickered, her body tensed.

“¡SÍ!”

This was it.

“Ay Virgencita—Santisima—that’s—ooooohh!” She shuddered.

BRAAAHH, BRAAAHH, BRAAAHH.

“Oh por Dios, Noah. Fuck!” Annoyed and angry, Ailin pushed Noah off—making him grunt.

She crawled on her hands and knees across the bed to answer his phone.

“HELLO?” She sat on her feet.

Noah rubbed his chest where Ailin had pushed him. She was a lot stronger than she seemed.

“Ailin? Hello? It’s Amber. Is Noah there? I really, really need to talk to him.” Ailin could hear the desperation in her voice. “It’s about our dad.”

Noah saw Ailin’s face instantly morph from anger to concern.

“Yeah, sorry. He’s right here.”

“Thank you.” Amber sounded so exhausted, Ailin felt bad for how she had initially answered.

She handed the phone to him.

“Your sister needs you.” That snapped Noah out of his stupor.

“Hey are you okay?”

“No! I’m not. I really tried, Noah. I know how much you hate him and I wanted to just try. But I can’t! The kids—Noah, we are so overwhelmed. We can’t afford it. And with little Zach being due in two months, you have to help me Noah.”

“Okay, okay. Slow down. What’s even going on?”

“I wasn’t going to call you. I really, really was going to just try and do it.”

“Do what? What are you talking about?”

He heard Amber sigh, then she took a deep breath.

“Dad’s sick. Ever since Madeline died last year, he’s been getting worse. We are trying to get him looked at but with all the kids and we don’t have any money…I need your help. Noah I need you to take dad.”

*

“Again, Rein?! Why do you always do this? We needed that money! How can you go spend it all on what—hookers? ****? The horse track?”

“I’ll spend my fucking money on what I want to fucking spend it on. You won’t ever tell me what I can and can’t do with my money. You dumb fucking whore.”

Noah stared at his parents. All he had asked was if he could play football. And now they were fighting, again.

“Look at this little fucking retard. You really think he’s worth spending any money on? Huh?”

“Don’t call him that.” Amber walked into the kitchen. “You being a shitty father isn’t his fault.”

“Shitty father or not, you will respect me and call me sir.”

Reinhard took a menacing step towards Amber. It looked like he was about to slap her, but Reyna placed herself between them.

“Amber, take your brother upstairs. I don’t think your dad learned his lesson last time.”

“Okay, mom. Come on, Noah.” Noah didn’t understand why it was always so hard.

He just wanted to play football with his friends, on the same team. And he wasn’t what his dad called him, he had good grades. Why was he always so mean?

“You take your brother upstairs, Amber, and when you come back down I won’t be here.” Reinhard threatened.

But Amber was seventeen, and at this point she had grown out of being daddy’s girl.

“Maybe that’s for the best, sir.”

Noah could hear his sister’s voice, it sounded blurry—uneven. As Amber urged him upstairs, Noah chanced another look at his parents. His father glared at him, then at Reyna.

“Leave or else I am calling the—” Amber closed her door, not letting Noah hear who his mother would be calling.

For a moment, Noah thought he was going to hear his parents fighting even worse, as it usually happened when Amber took him to her room. But the screams never came. After a few minutes Reyna opened Amber’s door. She looked like she had been crying—a lot.

“Is he gone?” Amber asked, the lump in her throat growing.

“Yeah.”

“He’s going back to Charlotte to stay with your grandparents.”

“Are we coming, too?” Noah asked—he hadn’t seen his grandparents in a few years.

“No, honey, we’re not. But your dad promised to send money so you can play football when he gets there.”

“Stop protecting dad, mom.”

“Amber, stop.”

“Don’t lie to him, he’s old enough to know who dad is.”

“Not yet, Amber.”

“Fine, mom. But eventually you’re going to have to tell him. If you don’t, I’m going to.”

“Tell me what?” Eight year old Noah looked curiously at his protectors.

“Nothing, honey. Tell me more about football.”

*

Noah’s eyebrows furrowed.

“What do you need me to do?” He asked.

Ailin saw the shift in his demeanor. The arousal was completely gone from his face—the confusion at being pushed off her. In their place was dutiful loyalty.

“I need you to take dad. We can’t afford to have him and the kids. I know you hate him, but unless one of us magically comes up with a few thousand dollars for assisted living, you have to take him.”

“What’s wrong with him? Why isn’t he staying in grandpa’s old house?”

“The day I called you, the cops found him wandering down the street, confused. They dropped him off here. He kept asking for Madeline and for mom. Sometimes he remembers us, but then he remembers that Madeline died and he shuts down again until he starts asking for her.”

“So, what, like dementia or something?”

“That’s what we’re thinking, but we can’t tell for sure. We keep trying the V.A. but they are making it so difficult to get anything done. And dad doesn’t remember where any of his stuff is. Honestly, it would be so much easier for me to look through everything, too, if I didn’t have to worry about the kids AND him.”

Noah was silent for a moment. His dad had been the source of so much of his suffering as a child and most of his insecurities now. How could he now be the bastard’s caretaker? But it wasn’t for him.

Noah looked at Ailin, knowing that what he was about to say was going to affect their plans, at least for a little bit.

“Noah? Are you still there?” Amber’s voice sounded tired, but there was hope in there.

“Yeah. I’m here. How long do you think we would need to have him for?” Noah considered.

Ailin’s eyes widened at that and she mouthed, “what are you talking about?”

“I don’t know. I have to go through all the stuff, then take the stuff out of there. I am already working on the power of attorney with the police report.” Amber paused, thinking, “with the money from selling the house we could afford to have him at an assisted living facility or even an at-home caretaker…maybe three, five months?”

“Five months?” Noah looked at Ailin.

He saw her face fall, she understood what was happening. She sighed, hard—then shrugged and nodded her head.

“I’ll take him for five months, Amber. And I’m not doing this for him, I’m doing this for you. If it was up to me, he could end up under a bridge for all I care.”

“Thank you, Noah. I’m not going to forget this. Okay?”

“Yeah sure. How are we going to get him here?”

“I am looking at flights right now. I can send him to you in three days?”

Noah rubbed his forehead.

“Yeah, sure, three days.”

“Thank you, Noah. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Yeah.” Noah hung up.

He stared at the phone for several seconds. Maybe he should tell Ailin what Reinhard had put him through now.

“I—” He closed his mouth.

“Are you okay, amor?”

“I need some air.”

He stood up, leaving Ailin alone on the bed. Suddenly cold, she pulled her blanket over herself—sinking into the bed.

It’s not his fault, she argued against her emotions.

She felt bad for feeling disappointed, this was something that was out of Noah’s control. And still, she couldn’t explain the grief she felt. This was only a momentary delay of their plan, right?

Even then, she couldn’t help but imagine their plans to start a family seeping through her grasp like water between her fingers. Without that, she wasn’t sure where she was guiding them to anymore.

*

Noah

It was getting close to 4:00 AM and Noah was just sitting in his truck.

Luckily for Noah, he didn’t have to work that day. He had planned on spending the day relaxing from the stresses of the promotion process. Instead, he would now be prepping their study room to house the man who had rejected him as a son, who did unspeakable things to him.

Sure, Reinhard had let Noah stay with him when Noah was going to college. But the things he had **** Noah to bear witness to? What he had taken from Noah in exchange for his meager help? Reinhard was no father to him.

The line rang and Noah waited for her to pick up.

“Noah?” Reyna’s voice filled the silence.

Noah’s heavy sigh fell out of his mouth, relieved.

“Hey ma.”

“Are you okay? It’s 3:49.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I just—I don’t know. I just needed to hear your voice.”

“Are you okay, though?”

“I don’t know, ma. Have you talked to Amber?”

“I haven’t. Not since they found Reinhard.”

“He’s coming here.”

Silence.

“Ma?”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“No. I don’t know. Am—”

“You don’t owe that deadbeat anything, Noah.”

“I know, ma. I’m not doing it for him. You know Amber, bleeding heart and everything—I’m doing it for her. It’s just for a few months.”

“Noah, you need to understand something about your father.”

“I know plenty.”

That gave her pause.

“Just keep an eye on him, okay? I’m not saying that because I care about him, I’m saying that because I care about you.”

“Yeah…”

“If it gets to be too much, for you or Ailin, you can send him to me. We have the spare house, Joe would hate it, but we can more than afford it.”

“I can’t do that, ma. He made your life hell.”

“That makes two of us, Noah.”

He didn’t have anything to say to that.

“What has Ailin said about it?” Reyna asked.

“We haven’t had a chance to talk about it.” He admitted.

“Does she know how much of a piece of shit he is? Everything he did?”

Noah thought about that. Ailin didn’t know any of it, but his mom only knew about what she had been there for. There was still so much more that had happened during college.

“No.”

“You should really tell her, she is going to be living with that bastard.”

“I know. I just need to think about what I’m going to say.”

“Just don’t wait too long, Noah. I’m serious. He’s a parasite. Before you know it, he’s going to have his fingers in everything.”

That didn’t make him feel better at all.

“Alright, ma.”

“I love you, Noah. You know that right?”

“Yeah, I know. Love you, too, ma.”

“You call me if you need anything, okay?”

When he didn’t immediately answer she doubled down.

“Anything.”

“Got it, ma. Bye.”

Noah hung up before his mom could say anything else. His mom had validated him, but he honestly didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.

He sighed, getting out of the truck. He needed to start prepping the room.

*

Ailin

Ailin felt horrible. Luckily, she had already left her last class for the day.

It was the worst case of whiplash she had ever experienced. She had been planning for the study room to be used as a nursery and now Noah had been prepping it all morning to house his father that he didn’t even like. And worst of all for Ailin, she didn’t even know why he didn’t like Reinhard. Her limited exposure to him at their wedding and again at Madeline’s funeral had been politely cold at worst and pleasant at best. She even recalled him being charming at the wedding.

“¿Otra vez?” She chastised herself.

She was trying to study at the campus library, but her mind was just churning and churning. She had already caught her thoughts running off on their own a few times now.

“Hey, Ailin.”

She looked behind herself towards the familiar voice. Carlos, one of the younger students in the nursing program at twenty, was walking up to her. She noticed he was wearing his gym clothes. Ailin swallowed a laugh—they were pretty familiar as peers, but she didn’t think he would be amused if she laughed at his fit.

He clearly cared about how he was perceived.

He was wearing what Ailin would call hoochie daddy shorts and a tight tank top. If she stared long enough, she could see the outline of his dick through those shorts—no doubt that was the intention. If she wasn’t studying to be a nurse—being that she saw penises all the time—she would have blushed.

“Hola, mijo.” She smiled, standing to hug him.

“Mijo? Bro, you’re literally only like a few years older than me.”

Ailin laughed.

“What are you doing?”

“Just trying to study. Can’t seem to concentrate though. ¿Y tu?”

He gave her a deadpan look and gestured to himself.

“Sculpting the temple, obviously.”

“Jajaja ay tu. A temple? For sinners maybe. Haber, ¿a quien traes ahora?” Ailin sarcastically looked behind Carlos, trying to see which girl he had with him today.

Everyone knew Carlos was a player.

He was always hopping from girl to girl, preferring the new girls in the program since the older ones like Ailin had caught on from the beginning that he was cool to talk to, but horrible for anything more. Just this semester, out of the ten new female students, he had already ‘dated’ six of them. He had even made passes at some of the older, married women—except Ailin.

Not that Ailin was interested.

But she did wonder why.

“Hey, a lot of people like to worship at the temple, who am I to deny them?” But he smiled.

“But actually though, I came over here to see if you wanted to study actually. You know, since the test is coming up. I almost failed the last one, and I know you are super smart. You know, on top of being so beautiful.”

Ailin rolled her eyes.

“Mira mocoso, a mi no me vas a empezar a tirar piropos, ¿eh? But yeah. When were you planning on doing it?”

“Today? But we need a place to study.” He told her.

“I guess we can go to my house. Noah should be at the gym by now. Who else is coming?” She didn’t think Carlos would try something, but she also didn’t want to give Noah a cause for concern.

“I texted Lacy and Julisa, but they haven’t texted back.”

That was good enough for Ailin.

“Let me text them, too. Rapidito.” Lacy and Julisa had gone into the program at the same time as Ailin.

She hoped they would be able to go so she didn’t have to be alone with Carlos, that would look bad.

“Okay, esperamos un poquito y luego nos vamos.”

*

Noah

Noah just wanted to sleep at this point.

Pulling an anxious all nighter, prepping the room, then trying to distract himself at the gym—surely he would be able to take the rest of the day off.

But that wasn’t in the cards. There was a car Noah didn’t know parked outside of their house. Could it be Reinhard?

No.

He wouldn’t be there for another few days. Noah began to feel that familiar uneasiness in the pit of his stomach.

Noah parked his truck down the street and walked up to the car, peering in.

His blood went cold—there was a gym bag with what looked like men’s shoes on the seat. He looked around hoping maybe this car belonged to someone visiting his neighbors, but he knew that wasn’t likely.

His mind went back to that bathroom hallway at the club.

There he was, staring at the dancing stranger shimmying down with Ailin—her face painted with pleasure, her shudder obvious. It replayed over and over again in his mind.

Then Ailin was standing in their kitchen, bent over the dining table, the dancing stranger behind her—feeding himself into her. He didn’t stop dancing. And she kept making the same face, shuddering the same way. She kept screaming his name, a name Noah couldn’t hear.

Until the image mocked him as she began to say Noah’s name the same way she had in the shower. He shook his head, smacking it a couple of times for good measure.

He jogged up to the front door, his heart pounding. The stupid keys all looked the same, he could never get the right one on the first tr—.

There.

Noah opened the door. Immediately, he could hear laughter. Ailin’s and a man. Noah’s pulse quickened and he felt light headed. He reached for the same wall Ailin had pushed him into to steady himself, then he peeked around the opening.

The tendrils under his stomach clenched around it, squeezing.

Ailin was laughing, making food for a man—and two other women—sitting at the table with textbooks out.

“Hello.” One of the women looked at him weirdly, as if he didn’t belong.

Ailin turned around, “hola, amor. You’re just in time for a—” she looked at the clock, “a late lunch.” She smiled at him.

The man stood up and walked to Noah, his hand stretched out.

“Carlos.” This was not the dancing stranger.

Noah breathed a sigh of relief.

“Noah.” He grinned, the tendrils in his stomach dissipating.

“Julisa.” An older woman followed Carlos.

“This one is Lacy.” Ailin pointed at the woman with headphones on.

Noah looked at Carlos. Up close, he looked to be really young. That wasn’t really Ailin’s type.

“Nice to meet you all. Although, I think I have met Julisa before.”

Noah smiled, how stupid of him to ever doubt his wife.