a breath of fresh air in a dark basement

He woke up alone in the tub, no idea how much time had passed, but his fingers had gone pruney. He stood up, showered, and drained the tub before heading out of the bathroom.

There was no one in the bedroom, and the sheets were fresh. The clock on the nightstand read noon. He pulled on some boxers and headed downstairs — the girls were chatting on the living room couch, in thongs and heels, the way Nick liked.

"No wonder — he showed me a photo once, it was tiny," Alex was saying, laughing. Unlike Nick, she had zero problem being cruel.

"Morning — er, afternoon," Nick said, walking through the door.

The moment she saw him, Alex jumped up to kiss him hungrily, then pulled him down by the hand to sit between them.

"I heard every detail. I can't wait for you two to break the news to her — sounds so much fun... I want in..."

Nick spread his arms across the back of the couch, sitting between the two of them.

"She's going to find out sooner or later, since she'll probably be back sooner rather than later," Jennifer added.

"No rest for the wicked."

"Nope," Alex said, running her hand across his crotch. "Sorry, I know you've been at it all night... but I need it."

Her sister smiled, remembering the conversation from the day before about Nick's possessive streak — that clearly wasn't going to be a problem anytime soon. Alex only had eyes for him, bordering on outright obsession.

"I spent the whole night playing with my slave... er, your slave, I mean—" She caught the worried look on his face and added, "Slow and careful, I swear." Nick doubted that, but he was starting to warm up anyway. "She's incredible... seems like..."

"Shh," Jennifer cut in. "Spoilers."

Alex pulled his boxers down and started stroking him slowly. Jennifer kissed his cheek with a smile. "I'll go make some food," she said, heading toward the kitchen, swaying her hips extra when she knew he was watching.

Nick focused on the blonde kneeling beside him on the couch, offering her mouth up to be kissed — her full lips and tongue dove in eagerly, and he played with her, already fully hard.

"How is the show, by the way?"

"Incredible. You were right, people love watching me play with myself."

"I bet."

"I've got so many subscribers now, I can't keep up with the private messages, I'm honestly losing money — not enough hours in the day for all of it."

She kept stroking him, but soon climbed on top to get properly fucked.

"You're making good money, huh? Jen handles all that stuff, I don't know the exact numbers..."

"Seven grand this month."

"Damn."

"Yeah, damn." Whether she meant the money or how good it felt getting fucked was anyone's guess.

"I love it, Nick, I love making that much money using my body — it's like being a high-class whore, but you're the only client."

"I like that you like it." He leaned in close to her ear, whispering low. "It makes me so hard knowing there are thousands of people out there dying to touch you, and I'm the only one who gets to fuck you like this — but don't tell anyone that."

That was what pushed her over the edge — hearing those words was the final push, and Nick came inside her as she collapsed onto him, shaking.

He set her down gently on the couch after standing, and she lay there, smiling ear to ear, lost in her little post-orgasmic nirvana, while he headed to the kitchen.

He sat quietly at the table, watching Jennifer chop something on the counter. She wore an apron that did nothing to hide her breasts from the sides; between the thong and the heels, her figure was spectacular. Something about that scene put him completely at ease, though he couldn't say why.

"How do you get hotter every single day?"

"We work out a lot. A whole lot."

"True, hadn't thought about that."

"You're just as chiseled and you don't lift a single weight — don't think I haven't noticed."

"You don't miss a thing, I know that."

"Mmhm."

"Perks of being a sex god, I guess."

"Don't see many downsides. None, actually."

"Guess I'm going to need to clone myself if I want to keep up with every woman coming into my life — I'm guessing you're planning on talking Eve into staying?"

"Caught."

"Listen — Alex is actually making that much money?."

"Yeah, and she's about to make even more if you look at the numbers, the graph's climbing. Thought fucking her and you were talking business ?"

"I multitask... sometimes. She says she doesn't have time to keep up with clients, subscribers, whatever."

"Mm." She was always sharp — and she already saw exactly where this was going. She set down the knife and sat on his lap.

"I know... you're reluctant to leave your job, I get it, but if she's making that much money... wouldn't it make more sense for you to put your time and effort into helping her? Being her manager, or something like that?"

"I'm already doing that. I answer a ton of messages pretending to be her, I take her photos, I handle all the money stuff."

He looked into her big dark eyes. "I miss you every single day, eight hours at a time, and I think there's a chance to have you home more. I know it's selfish. Don't look at me like that."

She kissed him tenderly, wrapping her arms around him.

"You want me to quit my job, then?"

"Yes. Well — no." Jennifer looked at him — not upset, not serious, more like she was enjoying herself. "I want you to want it, but I don't want you to feel pressured and end up wanting it just because I want it, instead of because it's what you actually want."

He put his hands over his face. "Fuck me, this is so complicated."

"Smoke's about to start coming out of your ears," she said, laughing.

"I'm being serious."

"So am I. You're turning red."

"Jen..."

"I put in my two weeks last week."

He looked up at her, stunned. She just smiled.

"No — if that's not really what you want, you shouldn't quit, I really don't want to be inside your head like that—"

"Now you can be sure I'm not just doing it because of you."

"HOW—" He was genuinely starting to spiral.

"Relax..." She stroked his face tenderly, kissed him — more to calm him down than anything else — and continued. "You've been wanting me to quit this whole time."

"No — yes."

"And I haven't wanted to quit. You've had zero effect on my decision at all."

"So then—"

"Alex asked me to. I felt like I'd be exploiting her if I let her be the only one bringing in money — but no, she's thrilled with the work, she loves it, but she needs help, and I'm doing it for her. You forget sometimes that she's my best friend too, and I love her."

He gripped her hips tight and kissed her — kissed her like it was about to be outlawed, like nothing else existed in the world except the feel of her lips and the weight that had just been lifted off him. Knowing he hadn't actually affected them that way was a gift beyond price — a breath of fresh air in a dark basement that was finally starting to fade away.

"I love you, Jennifer. I love you with everything left of my soul, if I even have one."

"Wow, all this over quitting a job? Not that I'm complaining."

"I know I don't deserve to have you here with me. You're the most generous, brilliant, beautiful, incredible person on the face of this earth, but I swear on my mother's memory that I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to become someone who deserves you — everything I am, which isn't much without you, and everything I have, is yours until the day I die."

She looked at him, eyes glassy, at a total loss for words — rare for her. He didn't want to say anything more. He was going to marry this woman if it was the last thing he did — as sure of it as he was that the sky was blue and water was wet.