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V A U G H N

The bathroom door opens with a creak as I enter after knocking twice and getting no response. Claire is in the bathtub, covered in bubbles with her head tilted backward and her eyes closed. Her bare arms press on both sides of the tub, skin paler than usual.

I stalk towards her, untying my tie and throwing it on the floor. When I reach her, she doesn't react to my presence and her ignorance disturbs me. I have been trying to talk to her since last night but she has avoided me. She didn't even pick up my calls today, leaving me worried until I tracked her number to her college. I rest my arms around the edge of the tub as I crouch beside her.

"Claire?"

She opens her eyes and her sight turns to me. A slow tilt of her lips curves them into a smile.

"Hey, you..." she murmurs drowsily.

That smile widens, turning to something sly, different from what I have usually seen her with. Before I can say anything, her wet arms wrap around my neck and she kisses me.

Never have I been this uncomfortable by her kiss. This kiss is different, detached from feeling. It stirs something unfamiliar in me when she parts my mouth with her tongue and sucks in a breath. I remain stiff, my eyes wide open as she explores my mouth.

"Claire...wait..." I pull away from her, holding her arms and making her release me. The look on her face darkens. "Why are you kissing like that?"

"Like what?" she asks, supporting her hands on the edge of the tub and putting her chin on top of them.

"Like you want to kill me."

It might be my imagination but I see a corner of her lips twitch before it comes back to the resting bitch face.

"Sorry, Jackson." She stands on her knees in the tub so that she is face-to-face with me. Water drips down her naked body, making it hard to focus on her face instead of her tits which are close to my mouth. "But you really shouldn't expect much from your enemies, right?"

Enemies.

After all we have been through, she still thinks I am her enemy?

"You're not my enemy," I deadpan.

"Really?" She raises a brow, touching my forearm with a finger and drawing small circles. "What am I then, Jackson?"

Silence follows her question as I try to think of an answer. What is she to me anyway? She is my wife, the girl I have incredible sex with, the woman who I have been dreaming about for four years, and the woman who I can't imagine living without. The last one sounds a little problematic though. I hate being dependent on someone to survive.

"You're my wife..." I purse my lips, flicking my gaze away from her and to the bubble that is covering a tiny part of the dip between her chest. "...and I can't imagine living without you."

"C'mon, Jackson, don't lie to me now." Claire chuckles — an emotionless sound that pricks my heart. "You must have many girls falling at your feet. You're the Vaughn Jackson, after all."

Her expression is unreadable, something between snarky and painful.

"Claire, are you okay?"

"Of course, I am, Jackson. Why won't I be?" She laughs. "Now, did you come here to fuck me or should I continue with the bath alone? Rose will be mad if I'm late for The Devils' concert."

She comes closer, pressing her chest to mine and looking me straight in the eyes. Her blue irises glimmer with a strange glint. I don't know what to make of it but I don't want to have sex with her now. This feels wrong. She is hiding something from me.

"Are you sure?" I ask, putting my hand inside the tub, the icy cold water making me flinch before I find my hand grabbing her hips. My other hand loops around her waist as I use my shoulder to lift myself from the floor while picking her up.

"Never been better, Jackson. Now, fuck me, please..." She loops her legs around my waist, colliding my mouth with hers.

I carry her over to the shower area, pressing her back against the tiled wall. She shivers when the cold wall hits her back and I catch her moan between my lips. My fingers dig into the mounds of her ass, squeezing tight as I push her up so that her face is looming above mine. She pulls her lips away from me and looks at me with hooded eyes.

Her hands cup my face, fingers caressing my cheeks softly. She moves them down, hooking a finger on the top button of my shirt and I let her undo it along with the others, while my gaze stays locked in hers.

Different. This Claire is different and I am dying to know why.

"Claire..." I say and she hums in response. "I know that you saw my caller ID that night."

Her fingers stop their progress and she finds my face, her lips parted an inch.

"Huh...I don't know what you mean," she whispers, moving her eyes away from mine and casting them down to the waistband of my pants.

"It's okay, Claire. I just want to tell you that it isn't who you think it was. She's one of my employees. They just share the same name."

My heart beats fast, blood rushing to my ears, and guilt finding its way to my chest. Lie. I am lying again. For Chris.

Claire looks at me unblinking; her unfazed stare scaring me. She lets out a low snicker after a while. "It's okay, Jackson. I don't doubt you. Besides, it's just for six months, isn't it?"

Fuck! No, no...I don't want her just for six months.

"Yeah." I nod, hiding my true feelings, the fear in my chest growing. "Just for six months."

An almost invisible smile takes over her lips. It is so small that I doubt it can be real. She looks inhuman, something not of this earth, so full of hurt that I doubt I ever saw such a look on a person before.

"Good...Now, can you please just fuck me? I have had a bad day and I need you." She undoes the zipper of my dress pants, sliding them down along with my boxers, releasing my cock. "I want this, Vaughn. Just fuck me hard, okay?"

Her hand grabs my cock which is hard even when my mind is far from sex. That's what Claire does to me. She has taken over my mind and body like a parasite. She rubs her hand up and down my thick length, pushing her hips towards me. I look down and find her adjusting the tip of my cock right at her slick entrance.

When I look back up, I see her eyes on me. There is a certain melancholy in them, something dark glistening in the irises.

"Fuck me, Vaughn..." she exhales, her voice raspy and broken. "Please..."

I push inside her without a second's thought, her wet cunt inviting me in. She throws her head back, her eyes rolling backward when I pull out and push in again. My breath hitches at the sensation of her walls tightening around my cock, her juices spilling already. Her hands on my cheek move to my back and she pulls me closer, digging her nails so hard that my back feels the sharp pain of every one of them.

I close my eyes as I fuck her but let her fuck with my head. My face presses on the nook of her neck as she continues leaving scratches on my back, making sharp pain travel down my spine with every drag of her nails through the cotton of my shirt.

"Oh...my God!" she gasps with a sudden hard thrust of my hips. At this angle, I know that I am hitting all the right spots in her body.

With one of my hands around her waist, I press the other over our heads, fisting my hand as I continue to increase my pace. With every thrust of my cock, her nails dig even further and the bad feeling in my chest rises.

We are fucking.

This isn't making love.

Every thrust feels like a punishment to me. A punishment because I am fucking her like she is someone I picked up at a bar. She doesn't deserve this. She deserves to be worshipped, yet, tonight she is the one who is in control of where this is going.

"Harder...faster..." she moans and I increase my pace more. Her cunt squeezes my cock, the muscles pumping hard and her hip tenses under my touch. "Fuck! I'm coming..."

She wraps her legs around me tighter as she clenches around my cock, coming hard. I fuck her through her orgasm and when she is done, I pull out and spin her around.

"Hands on the wall," I order and she follows, her legs shaking as she presses her hands flat above her head.

I trail a finger down her spine while my other hand turns on the shower. Water starts cascading down our bodies and my eyes follow a tiny drop that moves down her spine. My finger finds her wet folds and I thrust two fingers in at one go, making her scream in ecstasy. I fuck her with my hand, thrusting knuckle-deep inside her while I put my other hand over my cock, rubbing myself as I watch her come undone again, screaming loud.

Without giving her any moment to calm down, I push myself back inside her. She throws her head over my shoulder as my arm curves around her body, fondling her tits. I squeeze a nipple, hard, pinching it and she makes soft moans.

"Vaughn...more...please..." She snakes an arm around my neck, making me lean down and place kisses on her neck.

"What are you doing to me, Claire?" I whisper against her neck, toying with her sweet, engorged clit. "What are you doing?"

"Please...more!" She puts her hand above mine on her clit and guides me to move it in a circular motion. Her wetness is slick, dripping, and the scent of sex envelopes the bathroom.

"Fuck! You're so fucking tight. Your cunt is squeezing me so hard, baby," I say, pinching her clit. "Tell me what you want."

"Fuck me hard, please!" she begs as my cock starts pulsing inside her. "I...need you!"

I let out a guttural sound as I start fucking her harder. I push her against the wall on her front, her tits crashing against the cold tiles as I push into her, pumping harder and faster. My orgasm builds, heat pulsing in the bottom of my belly. I grab her hair, holding her head to my shoulder as my body starts to shake. With one final thrust, we both come.

My seed spills inside her, filling her up completely and it is when I feel my juices inside her that I realize something.

"Fuck!" I pull out of her quickly and place a hand on the wall above us while I try to calm myself down. Claire turns to me, gasping for breaths. "Did you start the pill?"

Her face turns white at my question, momentary silence pausing us. "No, I...forgot."

Fuck!

"Shit!" I curse, opening my shirt and getting rid of my pants, letting the shower water wash over me. "We shouldn't have done that."

Claire doesn't say anything to that but puts her hands on my chest, getting on her toes and pecking my lips softly.

"It's okay, Vaughn..." she breathes. "We'll be okay."

I press my forehead to hers as we both pant heavily, letting the shower clean us of our dirty acts. My cock starts to harden again with the scent of her freshly fucked cunt being this close. I put my hands on her waist as we both look into each other's eyes.

"CLAIRE! GET READY SOON, WE'RE LATE!" my sister's shout alerts us to her being outside our room and I burst into a little chuckle.

"She'll have your head, Claire," I whisper, forcing a hint of playfulness in my voice.

Claire keeps her gaze fixed on me, a gaze that is devoid of any smile or happiness. The moment of relief in my chest disappears as I study her.

"Vaughn, can I ask you something?"

I nod, my hand firm on her waist, my heart beating out of rhythm. "Anything, nemesis."

"Will you ever lie to me?" she asks.

The air in my lungs gets knocked out at her question. I stare at her deeply, biting my lip as I think about Chris. I have been lying for years. I can't just stop now. I have to keep doing it. For him.

"No," I lie. "I'll never."

"Promise?"

"Promise," I say, crossing two fingers behind her back like a guilty man.