Hey Friends! Hope everyone's new year has gotten off to a good start. Chapter 2 of Window to Temptation is finally here. It's a much longer chapter than the previous one. This has been a ton of fun to write and Hannah and I are already getting the pieces in place for chapter 3.
In other news, I'm about halfway done with the Epilogue for Newlyweds, and I'm hoping to get the next chapter for The Therapist to you all this week. That will leave me the weekend to put together the bones for the next Chapter of EP and get that delivered later in the week.
As always, this is the Insider draft, so any spelling and other errors you see will get cleaned up for releasing to Supports. We are excited to hear what you think. Enjoy!
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The moment Cory stepped outside it felt like she was underwater. Her shirt stuck to her skin, the humidity so thick so could almost taste it. She rolled her shoulders, still feeling the burn of yesterday's run as she stretched on the porch.
This was her ritual. Running was an act of freedom for Cory. The burn in her thighs, the rhythm of her feet hitting dirt, that moment when everything else disappeared and there was only motion and breath and the high that came after. Better than anything else, if she was being honest. Brief, but it reset something in her that nothing else could.
Morgan struggled to keep up. She always did. Cory knew it wasn't fair, her stamina bordered on excessive, but when she was in her zone, the world narrowed to just the trail ahead. She didn't even notice Morgan falling behind until she finally stopped, dropping onto a fallen log and gulping water.
Minutes later, Morgan collapsed beside her, breathless, nudging Cory's elbow.
"You... could've... waited y'know."
Cory's response was always the same, a charmingly arrogant smirk. While Morgan knew it wasn't intended to be malicious, there were days where she wondered if Cory really did enjoy wielding the prowess she had, her raw and explosive athleticism as a tool.
Cory leaned back, thrusting her chest out as subtle clouds of gnats fluttered around them, both reacting with instinct, cutting though the buzzing groups with their palms. Cory angrily sighed.
"I hate these things."
Morgan nodded. "That umm makes two of us."
Cory grabbed Morgan's wrist and pulled her up. No sense sitting around letting their muscles stiffen. The path ahead cut through dense trees, the canopy blocking out most of the sun and dropping them into an eerie gloom.
Their pace slowed to something more manageable. Breathing easier now, Cory spoke.
"I picked this trail because everyone who ran it said it was an absolute beast."
"Well, they weren't wrong."
"There was another thing, the other PR coaches I hang with, all said this place was deeply isolated. I mean they weren't fucking lying."
Morgan swatted at the side of her neck, taking a long swig from her water bottle before checking her Apple Watch biometrics. She grinned.
"You didn't take me all the way out here to kill me did you?"
Cory grinned, her strong, sculpted back and powerful thighs cut through the brush ahead.
"Out here? Kill you? Come on. I could do that at your house."
They both laughed, the sound swallowed by the trees. The deeper they went, the quieter it got. No birds. No breeze. Just their footsteps and breathing until they rounded a bend and stopped dead.
A woman stood in the middle of the trail. Stretching. Her figure was unmistakable. It was Dafni. Cory exhaled, exchanging a look with Morgan as they approached. Of course Dafni would be here. Of course.
Cory treated the encounter like a professional, challenging all the skills she had learned leading two different lives. She nodded towards Dafni. "Would have never guessed to see you here."
Dafni looked up, her tight leggings accenting her voluptuous thighs, even causing Morgan to blush.
"Ahh yes, so good to see you both, no?"
Morgan had taken to tightening her ponytail again, a sure sign of her nervousness. She above all others had no reason to be intimidated by Dafni, at least in terms of appearance. But Dafni had this energy that made her feel off-balance.
As Dafni continued her deep stretches, Cory decided to break the awkward silence.
"So, like, did you want to join us? I'd feel silly just kind of... trodding off without you."
Dafni smiled, noticing the apprehensive distance that Morgan kept from both of them. After, Dafni finished stretching, clamping her wrist behind her back, her heavy bust overfilling her top as she pushed her chest forward.
"Of course I join!"
The sky parted, oblique and scalding rays of light ripped away the reprieve they just had found under the gloomy treeline. Morgan's shoulders slumped.
"More heat? Ugh. I hate it."
Dafni smiled. "The clouds move, soon, we'll have some shade."
Minutes late, wind kicked up, scattering pine needles and dead leaves. The clouds rolled back over the sun. Cory crossed her arms, watching Dafni's face. Where she'd expected smugness, there was only focus. It was like she'd simply observed weather patterns Cory had missed.
She glanced at Morgan who seemed to share her "what the hell just happened" look, before Dafni cocked her head to the side and finished putting her long locks into a ponytail.
"You ready?"
Cory and Morgan nodded, falling quickly in line. Within seconds Cory realized keeping up was going to be a problem. Her strides were unnatural, despite the difficulty of the terrain and its mounting elevation. It was all effortless for Dafni.
Cory pushed harder, competitive streak kicking in. She wasn't about to let herself get shown up on a trail run. Beside her, Morgan was struggling, but keeping pace barely, but wanting to like she wasn't struggling.
"So, Cor..." the question came between staggered breaths. "When does Hunter leave?"
"Later this afternoon. It should just be a couple days this time."
Dafni, slowed her pace wanting to join in on the conversation. "Hunter travel for work often?"
Cory nodded her head, too focused on not falling behind. Dafni looked over shoulder coyly.
"No worry. You get lonely, we keep you company."
Cory shot Morgan a glance along with an eye roll that said everything. There was no denying that Dafni and Luther were swingers.
As Cory and Morgan continued to labor to keep up, Dafni shot Morgan a quick, yet playful glance.
"You come to? Community is important, no? The more the merrier."
Morgan struggled to swallow as she felt her face turn to a shade of crimson from both exertion and embarrassment alone. Under another clearing, once the trail had evened out, they stopped for a water break. Cory stood against a tree, feeling the rough bark against the back of her arms. She gestured to Dafni after a long swig of water.
"I know how personal tattoos can be, but if you don't mind me asking. The one behind your ear. Like, what is that?"
Dafni's smile faded. Her expression went serious. "It mean whatever you want. Easiest way to say it. But what it speak to me, is knowledge. Freedom."
Cory nodded while Morgan stared sheepishly at the ground. She was the only one in the group that didn't have any tattoos. Dafni turned her attention back to Cory, her smile returning.
"Yes. But yours? World tree, no? How all the branches bridge things back to each other. When we depart this place, we become... how would you say? Seeds. We float to other places to grow. But always. Always we're connected."
Cory smiled. "More or less. Yeah."
The rest of the run felt different. Easier. They talked like normal people. There were no cryptic comments, no weird energy. Just three women running together. By the time they reached the neighborhood, Cory had almost convinced herself Dafni was just... intense. Worldly.
As the three came to a stop in front of their neighborhood Dafni gave a friendly wave and peeled off toward her door.
"Wait!" Morgan called out. "Did you want to run with us tomorrow?"
Dafni paused at the door and looked back, smiling. "Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Left alone, Cory and Morgan finished their water. Cory wrapped her towel around her neck. "She's like, kind of easy to talk to. I didn't expect that."
"Me neither." Morgan shook her head.
"But they're definitely swingers right?"
"Oh yeah." Morgan grinned.
***
Hunter zipped his suitcase closed, then immediately opened it again. Did he need the extra pair of dress shoes? He always did this before a trip, over thought every detail to the point of compulsion. It was only a few days, but he'd packed enough to survive a week.
The front door opened downstairs and he heard Cory's voice, then Morgan's laugh, then the door closing again. Their run must have finished. He glanced at his phone. It was just after eight. His flight didn't leave until two, leaving him more than enough time show Cory exactly how much he was going to miss her.
Moments later, Cory appeared in the doorway. Her hands were already on the hem of her shirt about to pull it off when she paused. Her gaze went to the bedroom window then Hunter fuck.
"Seriously? You haven't fixed the blinds yet?"
"I... I was just getting to it," he lied.
"You sure?" She glanced at the suitcase on the bed. "Because if I had to guess I would think that you were repacking for the fifth time." A smile pulled at her lips as she pulled away the hair tie and shook her head, letting the loose strands fall around her face. "Let me guess, couldn't decide between the Oxfords or Monk Straps?"
He rubbed the back of his neck. "I just... how was the run?"
Cory snickered and rolled her eyes. It was a lame segue but she gave him a pass. "It was... weird." She grabbed a water bottle off the nightstand. "Dafni was there."
"Like you invited her?"
"No, that's the weird part. She was just... there." she peeled off her socks, tossing them into the hamper.
"I thought you said it was pretty remote? How did she find it?"
"I don't know." She glanced at the window then moved into the bathroom, standing just inside the door as she pulled off her shirt. "Maybe she saw us coming from that direction the other day? I... I don't know."
"So what are the three of you running buddies now?"
"I don't know. Maybe? She's easy to get along with. Like totally approachable. But also—" She made a vague gesture with her hands. "You know."
"Creepy as fuck?"
"So creepy." She turned on the shower, allowing the water to get hot. "Maybe I'm just still in my head after the whole Luther thing."
"You know," Hunter said, hearing the water and walking into the bathroom door. "My flight's not for a few more hours. I could join you. Help you... multitask."
She turned, one eyebrow raised. "Multitask?"
"I'm a management consultant." He stood a little straighter, shoulders pulled back. "Efficiency is kind of my thing."
"Such the romantic." She fanned her face, laughing. But she couldn't deny that stupid smirk of his did make her chest tighten. she stepped closer, pressing her hands against his chest. "Remind me again how I ever got so lucky."
"Oh I'd be happy to show you."
"I bet you would." She kissed him quickly, then pulled back before he could deepen it. "But I actually need to get clean, and you still have those blinds to install." She glanced at the box in the corner.
Hunter let out a sigh, his eyes traveling over her near nude body.
"Tell you what." Cory pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, as she wiggled out of her leggings. "If you can get them up by the time I finish my shower, maybe we'll talk more about... getting lucky."
Before he could respond, she was pushing him out of the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Hunter laughed staring at the closed door and imagining what he was missing out on. Then he rushed downstairs to get his tools. The blinds would be up in record time.
Fifteen minutes later, he was nearly done with the project, the sound of water splashing and Cory humming some new song providing background noise as he got the brackets in place. He paused just long enough to make sure everything lined up, then unwrapped the blinds to slide them into place.
Movement flickered in his peripheral vision. When he glanced up, his breath caught and he nearly dropped the drill on his toe. directly across from him in the other window stood Dafni, completely naked.
She had clearly just come from the shower. Her dark hair hung damp down her back, darkened even more by the water, a few loose strands clinging to the side of her neck. He found himself watching a tiny droplet slide from between her shoulder blades, following the smooth line of her spine until it disappeared at the curve of her ass.
His pulse thudded in his neck. Her ass was perfection. It was heart-shaped, full. He felt himself stiffen, heat spreading through his groin even as shame crawled up his throat. He grabbed the blinds, intending to pull them shut but is hand froze. His body refusing to cooperate.
The faint sound of water hitting the ground behind him made his chest tighten. His wife was in the shower twenty feet behind him. He was installing these blinds specifically because Luther had done this exact same thing and it had violated her, made her feel exposed and unsafe in her own home.
But he couldn't stop looking.
Dafni moved toward the bed, and Hunter worried Cory would actually hear his racing heart over the water in the shower. Her profile came into full view, those heavy breasts swaying with each step, nipples a dusky rose against bronze skin that looked like it would be warm to the touch. She reached for a towel, arms lifting, and the movement made everything shift and bounce in ways that bypassed his brain entirely and went straight to his dick.
This was fucked up. This was beyond fucked up. He needed to look away. He needed to tell Cory what happed and—
Dafni spun away from him, and only then did Hunter realize the door leading into their room had opened and Luther walked in.
Everything in Hunter went rigid. Oh shit. Oh fuck. He needed to turn away, but his body refused to obey. Then, it was too late. Luther wasn't looking at the naked goddess of a woman standing right in front of him. He was looking at Hunter.
Their eyes met across the space between houses and Hunter felt his stomach drop. Luther's face was completely calm. Not angry. Not surprised. Not even uncomfortable that he'd just caught another man staring at his naked wife. Then, he did the most twisted thing of all... he smiled.
It was a small smile. Knowing. Almost pleased. Like this was exactly what he'd expected to find. Like he'd walked in hoping to catch Hunter watching. As if Hunter just vindicated him for watching Cory.
Hunter jerked backward. The thought of Cory made his knees weak. He had to tell her. He wasn't this person. He was nothing like Luther.
His heel caught the edge of the blinds box and white-hot pain exploded through his big toe as his foot slammed into the corner. The drill clattered from his hand, hitting the hardwood with a bang that seemed to shake the entire room.
The shower stopped. "Hunter?" Cory's voice came through the bathroom door. "Everything okay?"
Panic flooded every nerve. Hunter lunged for the window, grabbed the blinds, yanked them into place with shaking hands. They went crooked, one side higher than the other, but he didn't care. He jerked the cord and they dropped, cutting off the view of Luther's satisfied smile and Dafni's naked body and everything Hunter had just been doing.
"Yeah!" His voice had gone up an octave, and he prayed she didn't notice. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... dropped the drill. These brackets are a pain in the ass."
"So, you got them up?" Cory's voice was playful, seductive and for a moment Hunter contemplated dashing from the room.
"Yeah, all done."
He stood there staring at the closed blinds, trying to get his breathing under control before Cory came out. His hands were shaking. His face felt like it was on fire. And underneath all of that—the panic and the shame and the fear of getting caught—his cock strained against his zipper, hard as steel.
***
Inside the bathroom, the cool air hit her damp skin and she shivered. God, that felt good after a hot shower. She dried off slowly, the towel soft against her skin. Her hand lingered as she moved lower, fingers brushing past her groin. She caught her reflection in the mirror and paused, something tightening in her stomach. Sometimes she imagined someone watching from the other side. The thought shouldn't turn her on, but it did.
Movement in the bedroom snapped her back. She grabbed one of Hunter's old t-shirts from the hook and pulled it on. Her hair was still dripping, but she just wrapped it in a towel. No point getting dressed up for an airport run.
She opened the door, relief flooding through her when she saw the blinds closed. Finally. Hunter stood by the window, his back to her, shoulders tight. Even from across the room she could read the tension in his frame.
"Hey." She padded toward him, bare feet silent on the hardwood. "Thank you for finally getting those up."
He turned quickly, almost startled. His face was flushed, a sheen of sweat on his forehead. "Cor, I need to tell you something."
Something in his voice made her pause. He looked... wound up. Tense in a way that made her pulse quicken. She crossed the remaining distance between them, letting the towel slip slightly.
"Does it have something to do with this?" Her hand found the front of his jeans. He was already hard, straining against the denim. A thrill shot through her. he'd been thinking about her while she was in the shower. She pulled at her bottom lip with her teeth, heat blooming in her core.
His breath caught. "Cory—"
"Mmm." She pressed against him, felt his whole body go rigid. "Does that mean you're going to miss me as much as I'll miss you while you're gone?" She stroked him slowly, the warmth beginning to spread through her body.
"Cory, I..."
She didn't let him finish. Rising on her toes, she kissed him, cutting off whatever confession had been building in his throat.
For a heartbeat, he was frozen. Her hand stilled on his erection worried that she did something wrong. Then his hunger took over.
His hands clenched into her waist, thumbs digging hard into her pelvis. The kiss turned aggressive, consuming, his scruff scratching her face as he devoured her mouth. She gasped against his lips and he swallowed the sound.
She went to speak, but before a single utterance left her mouth, his lips silenced her. Clutching her fingers into his broad, mountainous shoulders she felt herself lift with ease under his strength, suspended in air, her ankles locking around his waist, the first moan escaped her lips as he kissed down her neck.
Something was different in his initiative, in his touch, even his kisses, he had been aggressive and dominant before, but never like this. Nothing that held such a consuming hunger behind it. She felt the traces of his strong fingers grasp her taut cheeks from below, quickly pushing her into the wall.
It felt like when they'd first met, that same raw hunger they'd had in college. She knew what usually got him going: lingerie, slow teasing, working him up gradually until he couldn't take it anymore. But this wasn't that. His fingers dug into her ass, pressing her hard against the wall. The towel fell from her hair, wet strands sticking to her flushed face.
She almost spoke, but couldn't break contact with his hypnotic and forceful kisses. He pulled her away from the wall and dropped her on the bed. She bit her lip and grinned devilishly at him, her eyes daring him to continue.
The ratcheting of the zipper's teeth filled the room as he dropped his boxers, offering no subtle pacing, no theatrics, he spread her toned legs and claimed her with his length. She was wet enough to receive him with ease, feeling every inch of him slide into her until he reached his hilt. His hand slid up her taut stomach, strong fingers reaching gently for her throat, caressing her cheek and gripping at her scalp as he began thrusting furiously.
It was raw, devoid of any pretense, just an animalistic hunger she hadn't seen since their days in college. Her fingers locked around the base of his neck, in the subtle dark she could barely recognize her husband, only the outline of his chin and piercing eyes. Her moans came softly, underscoring his grunts and murmurs through gritted teeth.
She could see him look away from her, focusing, his primal strokes driving her deep into the bed as he stared towards blinds. She clenched around him, thankful that he was ensuring no one could see in.
"God, you feel so hard. So deep."
He looked back down to her, her words making his breath come more hurried. She wanted to reclaim power. She uttered a single phrase as her wide eyes locked with his.
"Cum for me."
Through gritted teeth he felt his roar die in his throat, as his back flexed, and he pulled her hips flush against, flooding her chasm with thick strands of his seed. When his breathing steadied, he immediately stood off the bed, grabbed her towel and slid it under her rear.
"Now... your turn."
He leaned in close to her, straddling her side as he tilted her head forward to look at his hand between her thighs. She watched his fingers draw a soft trail to her slit, parting her folds as his thumb brushed against her hood, soon pressing in softly with slow spirals as the knuckles of two of his fingers slipped inside her in a gentle rocking motion.
It was building, the savage pleasure she had endured, in a trance she titled her head backwards towards the blinds gazing past them as she came, her stomach folded over with electricity, stretching into full body pleasure that bloomed across her skin and left her in a glamor of static.
They laid there breathless for an amount of time neither one of them bothered to keep track of. They offered each other subtle, and short kisses as the whirring blades of the fan overhead carried their musk through the room. She sat up slowly, resting on her palms.
"Wow." Her voice was still hoarse. "Where did that come from?"
Hunter's smile came quick. "Just wanted to give you something to think about while I'm gone."
She laughed, swatting his chest. "Mission accomplished." But when she looked at him, he looked almost distant. Lost in thought. "You okay?"
"Yeah." He sat up, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, just... gonna miss you. That's all."
"I'll miss you too." She leaned in and kissed him softly, sitting upright on wobbly legs. "Holy shit. Wow that's a lot. Ok I gotta clean up again before we go to the airport."
As she headed toward the bathroom, she glanced back. Hunter was staring at the blinds again. "Thanks again for getting them up. I'm going to feel a lot more at ease now when you're gone."
His head snapped back toward her and he gave her a bashful smile. "Of course."
***
The drive home from the airport was a familiar one for Cory. She'd driven it so much the last few years she started looking forward to it as a way to catalog the week ahead. It wasn’t just planning. It was a kind of meditation for her. Thirty-three minutes of motion and silence where the world narrowed and her mind settled.
Hunter's kiss still lingered on her lips. Not the soft loving kiss goodbye at the airport, but the wild, passionate one after the shower. It wasn’t how their usual pre-trip routine went, not that she was complaining. She just knew it was going to make her miss him that much more this time. It was only two days. She'd survived worst. Even so, she could still feel him inside her. His phantom touch, how full she'd felt. She shifted in her seat. It was going to be a long two days.
She changed lanes allowing a pickup truck to pass. She needed to focus on the week ahead not what happened 45 minutes ago.
Her stomach growled, and she realized she hadn't eaten since before her run. The grocery store exit approached on her right. They hadn't been yet this week which meant they needed to restock almost everything. She didn't have a dinner plan, but the idea of spending the next hour walking up and down those aisles made her exhausted just thinking about it. She'd DoorDash something later. Thai, maybe. Hunter hated Thai food, so she never got to order it when he was home.
Small silver linings.
The highway stretched ahead, and with it the fire burning low in her belly began to cool. The thought of Hunter's sudden aggressiveness replaced by work. Nexus would want another call soon which meant she needed to consider the next step in their "wellness process." The Lawrence guy seemed intense. She knew that type well. He may have dialed back her skepticism after she mentioned expansion and efficiency gains, but their next conversation had to come with something more concrete.
At least with Hunter gone, she'd have uninterrupted hours to dive into a more robust plan, craft the right language of intention and alignment that made people like Lawrence Walker feel like they were investing in something meaningful rather than just checking a box for HR.
The exit for Southern Point came into view and Cory took a minute to appreciate everything she had in life. The Smoky Mountains stretched in front of her, a vast canvas of trees and unexplored nature. The Baptist church sat on the corner as turned right. The building must have been over a hundred years old, but was still packed to the rafters every Sunday for service. Further down the street was one of only two auto shops in town. It was an old mom and pop place with tires stacked up outside and an old Coca-Cola machine by the door that would give you an ice cold can of soda for a quarter.
It was quiet. It was home.
She turned onto their street and her grip tightened on the steering wheel. Luther and Dafni's house seemed more lively in the afternoon light. No U-Haul anymore, no boxes stacked on the porch. A wind chime she didn't remember seeing before hung from the eaves, spinning lazily in the nonexistent breeze. Music drifted out from the open windows in a language she couldn't place.
The house had been empty for months. Cory and Hunter had grown accustomed to it being empty. As she pulled into the driveway and killed the engine she continued to study the house of her new neighbors.
They were both so... intense. Both of them. Luther with a creepy way he would look at her and then gaslight her into thinking he was doing nothing wrong. Dafni and the way she could just... sense things. Maybe she'd brush up on aura reading. She had a feeling she could learn a lot about those two from their auras.
Was this her new normal? Living next to people who made her feel perpetually off-balance?
Her phone buzzed in the cupholder. She glanced down.
About to board. I miss you already.
The tension in her shoulders released, and a smile formed on her lips. At least she had Hunter to keep her grounded, safe.
Miss you too. Text me when you land. I love you.
She grabbed her purse and stepped out into the heat. The wind chime next door caught the light, flickering in her peripheral vision, and she felt the pull to look. To see if anyone was watching. She didn't. She kept her eyes forward, keys already in hand, and told herself it didn't matter if they were.
***
The presentation for Nexus Capital's Holistic Approaches to Corporate Wellness was still mostly blank. Cory had been working on it for the better part of two hours but kept getting pulled back into the three other open tabs on her browser: A Beginner's Guide to Understanding Auras, How to See Auras in 7 Easy Steps, and Auras and Intentions: Understanding Someone's True Self.
It started with her convincing herself it was professional research. New techniques she could bring up when discussing holistic approaches to large corporations. That it was one more tool in her bag of holistic bullshit she could use get greedy corporations to open their wallets. But she knew was just just kidding herself. Her gaze traveled to the window. She couldn't see the neighbors house but she knew it was there, and a sickening feeling opened in the pit of her stomach. Maybe she believed in this stuff more than she'd let on. All she knew for sure was that something didn't sit right when it came to her new neighbors and she would use every tool in her disposal to figure out why.
The hard drums of "Dammit" played in the background oddly soothing her as she scrolled through descriptions of violet auras and indigo frequencies. Hunter always laughed at her claiming no one could actually get work done with music so loud, but Blink was part of a specifically curated playlist she'd put together that seemed to give her the right amount of energy for the task at hand.
She was nearly done with the first article when there was a sharp knock on the door.
The sound made Cory yelp and nearly jump off the sofa. She pushed the laptop away, taking a moment to regain her composure then stood and walked toward the entrance. Through the front door's frosted glass, she could make out Luther's bulk.
Her stomach dropped, her hand moving to her neckline. She considered pretending she wasn't home, but her car was in the driveway and her music was loud. He knew she was here.
She opened the door just enough so that only her head was visible.
"Luther. Hi."
"Cory." His smile was warm, his eyes dark. "Dafni mentioned Hunter flew out today. I just hate the thought of you eatin' dinner alone."
"Oh, that's... that's really thoughtful, but I'm fine. It's just part of our routine. I've got work to catch up on and—"
"I'm fixin' moussaka." He said like he didn't hear her objection. "It's an old Family recipe. Dafni's grandmother taught me when we first met. Took me three tries to get it right, but once you do..." He shook his head, almost wistful. "I've already got the meat on. It'd sure be a shame to let it go to waste."
"I appreciate it, really, but—"
His head tilted, his smile growing wider. "Why, I didn't peg you as an Enema of the State kind of girl. You really are full of surprises, ain't ya?"
Heat crept up her neck. He'd heard the music. Something about the way he was looking at her, about the way he'd said it caught her off guard. Like he was seeing a part of her she didn't let many others see.
"I... yeah. Old favorite."
"Good album." His pale blue eyes held hers. "Real authentic. None of that manufactured pop-punk garbage that came after."
"I've said the same thing to..." she caught herself, not wanting to volunteer anymore information than necessary.
He stepped back from the doorway, hands in his pockets. "Anyway. Supper's at seven. Dafni came home from the run this morning goin' on and on about you and Morgan. She doesn't make friends easily. she'd be awful disappointed if you couldn't make it."
Cory's throat tightened. She thought about her run this morning, about the easy conversation with Dafni. She'd made Cory push herself harder than she had in months making the run seem so effortless. That some insecurity about herself was also what fueled her competitive side and she wasn't ready to give that up even if she had an uneasy feeling about it.
While she worked herself through this, he was already turning away, heading back toward his house before she could form another refusal. She stood in the doorway, words dying in her throat, and watched him disappear inside.
She grabbed her phone as she swung the door shut, shooting off a text to Hunter.
They invited me to dinner. I'm not sure if I want to go.
The reply came thirty seconds later.
Who?
Luther and Dafni.
That doesn't seem so awful. Why are you freaking out?
She stared at the screen in disbelief.
You know why I'm freaking out.
It's just dinner babe. They're trying to be friendly. You're reading too much into it.
Maybe he was right. Maybe she was reading too much into it. If she didn't go it would be awkward forever. She'd be the unfriendly, antisocial neighbor. The kind she used to talk trash about when she was younger. But if she did go...
She called Morgan.
"Hey!" Morgan answered on the first ring like she couldn't answer fast enough. "What's up?"
"Thank God you answered. They invited me to dinner and I'm kinda spinning out."
"Wait, what? Who?"
"Luther and Dafni. Luther just showed up at my door and invited me over for dinner tonight and I... I shouldn't go, right?"
"Okay, wait. Back up. He just like... knocked on your door? What is this the 90s? Don't people know you're supposed to text first."
"Morgan, I'm serious." But she shouldn't hide the smile plying on her lips. Morgan had a way of making her feel at ease even when she was panicking. "Hunter's barely gone and he shows up at my door and invites me to dinner like—"
"Babe, have you seen my blue polo? The one your mom gave me last Christmas?" Zach's voice boomed from the other side of the speaker.
Morgan didn't pull the phone away. "Yeah, it's in your closet near the back. The back, Zach." She scoffed. "Sorry, continue."
"I just... It's weird right? For them to invite me?"
"I don't know, I guess. Maybe they are just trying to be nice. Dafni seemed really sweet this morning."
You're supposed to be on my side here."
"I am on your side! I'm just saying. She was cool. Strange as hell, but cool. And it's just dinner, right? Like, you're not actually planning to be their third or anything."
Despite everything, Cory felt her mouth twitch. "Jesus Christ, Morgan."
"I'm just saying! Go, eat some food, be polite, leave after an hour. What's the worst that could happen?"
The possibilities raced through her head. They could be more pushy about making me their third. Luther could bring up how he wants to see my tattoo close up. Dafni could predict how she was going to die. The thoughts came in rapid succession until Morgan cut them off.
"And honestly? You've been so stressed about Hunter's traveling and your whole corporate wellness grift crisis. Maybe getting out of your own head for a night would actually be good for you."
"I hate you."
"You love me. Look, just—"
Zach's voice called from deeper in Morgan's house, louder this time, more insistent.
"Hold on a sec... what?" Morgan's irritation bled through. "I literally just told you where it is. The back of the closet, Zach. The back. Yes, I'm on the phone. Just move the hangers to the left."
A beat of silence.
"Sorry, Cor, I gotta go help him before he trashes the entire bedroom. But seriously, you'll be fine. Text me after, okay?"
"Yeah. Okay."
The line went dead.
Cory stood in her living room, phone still pressed against her ear, and tried to believe Morgan was right. It was just dinner. Just neighbors trying to be friendly.
***
She knew it was just dinner. Casual. Neighborly. But her hands wouldn't stop shaking as she went through her closet for the third time. Finally she grabbed an aurora-colored bohemian dress and her Birkenstocks. Comfortable. Authentic. That would have to be good enough.
She closed her eyes at the door, trying to breathe through the nerves, then turned the handle and walked next door. Before she could knock, the door swung open. Luther filled the entire doorframe. Had he always been this big?
He extended his hand in a gentlemanly fashion. She was cordial and offered hers in return. He hesitated, as if sensing her unease, but eventually offered a featherlight peck on her hand.
"Wasn't sure you were gonna make it. Such a delight. Come on in!"
He ushered her inside. The house was cooler than she remembered, but heat rolled from the kitchen. Something was cooking, the air thick with it.
He gestured to the couch, a leather sectional whose color and origin was difficult to discern. It looked ancient. Its texture was cracked and warped, parts resembled a hide, others something Cory couldn't recognize. Luther's voice broke her from her studied trance of the couch.
"I believe Dafni'll be ready in just a sec. Gotta whole lotta books if ya want to occupy yourself for a while. I'm almost finished with what I was doing upstairs. Our home is your home, darlin'."
Luther climbed the stairs with surprisingly agility. A dark stain of sweat spread down his back as he made his ascent. She paced the cluttered space, rolling herself and telling herself she shouldn't have come. She checked her phone. Nothing from Hunter yet.
The room closed in around her. There were floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on every wall, towers of paper, books stacked in corners. She approached the nearest shelf. Most of the spines were in languages she didn't recognize. Philosophy, history, texts she'd never heard of. Dust coated everything. She ran her finger along one shelf and it came away gray.
At the end of the row, a title caught her eye: Sein und Zeit by Martin Heidegger. She'd never heard of it. The book was wedged in tight, but she worked it free and flipped it open. German on one page, English on the other. But the margins were filled with symbols. Geometric patterns, crosses, circles, letters she couldn't place. She flipped through. Every single page, covered in the same strange notations.
She shoved it back onto the shelf.
How long had they been upstairs? She checked her phone again. Nothing. She opened her affirmations app and scrolled until she found one that reached her.
Cory continued her exploration, doing her best to ignore the strange decor, equal parts ancient as it was industrial and esoteric. She was relieved when she heard the strain of the stairs under Luther's thundering steps.
"Sorry bout that. Took a helluva lot longer than I thought it would. Now, time for me to be a proper host. Follow me."
Luther led her back to the familiar kitchen island, a Bluetooth speaker nearby played a song in Greek, from its tone and emotion, it sounded like a ballad.
He grabbed an old bottle from the wine rack. "Now now, you can relax, ain't a need to worry. You like Assyrtiko?"
Cory shook her head, she was far from a sommelier, but had plenty of knowledge about wine, and had never heard of it.
"Sure. Yeah." She crossed her arms, not caring if she seemed on guard.
He poured carefully. The wine was pale, almost clear. The glass he handed her was cloudy—old or dirty, she couldn't tell which. She swirled it, sniffed. Floral, but bitter underneath.
"Thank you." She held up the glass.
Luther clinked his against hers and drained half in one gulp before turning back to the stove. The moment his back was turned, she set the glass down untouched.
"So, like... sorry this is awkward. Is there anything I can do to help with dinner? I'd be glad to help cook."
"Ain't no need. I'm the chef of the house, passion and a pastime alike for me. Sure you can tell by looking at me I'm damn good at what I do." He laughed loudly, his large hand slapping at his thigh as he gleefully arranged his cookware.
"Are you sure I'd-"
Arms wrapped around her from behind. Hands slid up her ribs, close enough to her breasts that her whole body went rigid. She jerked forward, breaking free, and spun around.
Dafni stood there smiling, wearing a simple gray maxi dress that draped to her bare feet. Gold bangles covered both wrists. Her hair was up in a bun, a few dark strands framing her face. She took Cory's hand before Cory could step back.
"Come, sit. I know, it cluttered. But, next time you and Hunter come, it will be neat as can be."
Cory nodded and sat down. The chair was surprisingly comfortable, the cushion supporting her lower back perfectly. She smiled despite herself.
"Thank you. This chair is wonderful by the way. Where did you get it?"
"Oh? It is hand made. I try to remember where, but it all tends to blend together. Doesn't matter where it came from, just that it is here now, right?"
"Yeah. True. Best to not get lost in the past."
Dafni sat in her own chair, appearing as regal as a Grecian queen of yore, her sharp cheek resting on her knuckles.
"So, tell me. You watch 90 Day Fiancé?"
Cory almost howled laughing, the very idea that someone else other than Morgan actually seriously watched the show nearly drew a tear from her eyes.
"Oh. My. God. Are you serious? Yes! It's Morgan's fault she got me hooked on it."
***
Hunter's phone jolted from his hand as the plane touched down at Cleveland Hopkins. He fumbled for it awkwardly, waking the older woman who was lightly snoring next to him. He must have dozed off, his mind racing with thoughts of Cory going to dinner with Dafni and Luther.
In the moment, it seemed like the sensible thing to do. Things with the neighbors had started off awkwardly, they were extending an olive branch to Cory to get through it. But then, the reality of the situation set in and Hunter began to panic. Luther had caught him watching Dafni. What if he told Cory what happened? Framed it like he was no different than Luther and turn his own wife against him?
Slipping his overhead bag from the bin, he shuffled toward the front of the plane. On his phone, the last message from Cory still sat on the screen. She was heading over for dinner and would let him know how it went. He texted her to say he’d landed safely and was getting a car to head straight to the client’s office to give a quick overview of what they’d be discussing in tomorrow’s larger meeting. With that in mind, he opened Uber and ordered himself a car.
The moment he hopped into the backseat and the driver pulled away he found himself worrying about the dinner. He should call her. Right now, before the dinner happened, before Luther had a chance to say anything. He would just put it all out on the table and Cory would understand. He stared at Cory's contact photo, doubt creeping into his mind.
She would want to know what he didn't say something sooner. From there it would escalate, she would accuse him of finding Dafni more attractive, of being a pig. Then there was the issue of the Uber driver. He'd hear everything, Hunter wouldn't be able to properly defend himself without sounded like a total creep in front of this guy.
A text would be better, he rationalized. Cleaner, straight to the point and get all the facts out before she had a chance to question them.
No, that was stupid. This wasn't the type of conversation you had with your wife via text message while hundreds of miles away. He laid his head back against the cool leather of the seat. This needed to happen face to face, where he could see her reaction, where he could explain that it wasn't intentional.
He didn't know Luther, not really, but something told him he wasn't the type of person who would say anything. His pulse quickened and he clinched his fist. If anything, he'd probably consider it progress toward whatever kind of fantasy he was spinning.
The Nexus building was larger than he expected. It was a sprawling building that looked at least 20 stories tall. Consolidation for a company of this size was pretty standard, but it still made a knot form in the bottom of his stomach. Hunter found a restroom in the lobby, swapped his travel blazer for the charcoal suit jacket he'd packed, and straightened his purple tie—Cory's choice.
The receptionist in the lobby pointed him toward the fourteenth floor and informed him Mr. Walker was waiting for him there. Hunter gave a polite nod, but she was already looking at her phone, uninterested in what he had to offer.
Hunter’s eyes swept the hall as the elevator opened on the fourteenth floor. It looked like every other large corporate building he’d seen. Rows of cubicles filled the open space. Tall windows dotted the floor plan, making the cubes nearest them more appealing.
A sign pointed him to the left, where rows of offices broke up the area. He paused in front of a smaller one. The nameplate on the door had been removed and replaced with a label written in marker: Mediation Room. It was flanked by various posters that read BREATHE. ALIGN. EXPAND.
A smile drifted across his face as he pulled out his phone to send a picture to Cory. She’d appreciate a large corporation like Nexus buying into holistic practices.
"Mr. Novak." The thunderous boom of Lawrence Walker's voice nearly caused Hunter to drop his phone. He slid it into his front pocket, he'd send the picture to Cory later. As Hunter turned to face the CEO of the company, he was a little taken back by his short stature, but he carried himself with all the confidence of a weathered CEO. His hair had patches of silver blended with darker brown on the top of his head. His jaw was set in what seemed to be a permanent state of skepticism. He extended his hand and Hunter shook it.
"Mr. Walker. Thank you for making time."
"Lawrence, please." He gestured toward the conference room. "The rest of the executive team will be joining us shortly. Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee?"
"Oh?" Hunter paused mid-stride. "I thought today was just us going over the slides and we were diving in tomorrow?"
"We're all here now. No reason to burn more money and man hours when we don't need to, right?"
A lump was forming in Hunter's throat, but he pushed it down. He'd handled worse. "Right. No time like the present." He offered the slightest grin. "A water, please."
"I noticed you checking out our new... ambiance." The word looked like it caused him physical harm. "We've recently engaged a wellness consultant. Mindfulness initiatives, intention-setting exercises, that sort of thing." He waved his hand dismissively. "Board insisted we needed to address employee burnout and improve morale. Personally, I think if people focused on their work instead of their auras, we wouldn't have a burnout problem in the first place."
Hunter maintained his best poker face. "Wellness programs are popular right now."
"Popular. Sure." Lawrence took a seat at the head of the conference table, leaning back slightly. "This woman has a whole presentation around breathing exercises and aligning chakras or whatever. Complete waste of time. Breathing exercise, as if my executives don't know how to breathe."
Hunter couldn't help but smile. The person he was describing sounded an awful lot like Cory. He couldn't remember her saying she had a client in Cleveland. It was possible someone else had landed Nexus of course, and if that were the case Cory was going to need to step up her game.
"She talks a good game, I'll give her that." Lawrence continued, the distain practically dripping. "Lots of buzzwords about expansion and alignment. The HR people eat it up."
"Sounds like she knows her audience," Hunter said carefully. "There's good money in the work-life balance space."
"That she does." Lawrence's eyes narrowed as he looked Hunter over. "I think we're going to get along nicely, Mr. Novak. You strike me as a man who deals with realities, not all of... this."
"I try to be. After all, work-life balance and green auras sound great, but they don't help the share price."
"No, they don't." Lawrences smile grew. "That's why we hired you. We need someone who can look at the numbers and tell us what's actually going to move the needle, not just make everyone feel good about themselves."
The rest of the executive team filed in over the next few minutes. The CFO, COO, two VPs whose names Hunter immediately filed away. If Lawrence thought he was going to throw Hunter off his game by moving up the meeting, he had another thing coming. He shook hands, made small talk about his flight and the weather. This was his element. This was where he knew exactly who to be.
"Ready to begin?" Lawrence asked, and Hunter slid his laptop from his bag, connecting it to the tv.
"Thank you all for having me. As Lawrence has pointed out, your time is valuable, so I'm going to cut straight to it." He clicked to an organizational chart, color-coded and annotated. "Over the past few weeks, I've analyzed every department in this company. Their headcount, output, redundancies, and growth potential. What I found is that Nexus isn't near as bloated as you initially thought."
He caught the subtle shift in the room. They were expecting him to be the executioner, to tell them they needed to cut a large percentage of their staff. Honestly, that's what Hunter thought as well, until he saw the holistic changes and remembered a conversation with Cory where she'd said those types of changes could increase productivity by as much as 5 percent.
"That said, there are inefficiencies. both in people as well as processes." He clicked again, bringing up a workflow diagram. "Your compliance team, for instance, is duplicating about thirty percent of their effort because two different systems don't talk to each other. That's not a staffing problem. That's an infrastructure problem."
Lawrence leaned forward. "You're saying we don't need to cut headcount?"
"I'm saying you need to cut less than you think." Hunter moved through the next few slides pointing out bottlenecks and proposing solutions. He watched their faces, adjusted his pace when attention flagged, circled back to reinforce key points when he saw skepticism. By the time he reached his final recommendations, the CFO was nodding along and one of the VPs had already started taking notes.
"Bottom line: a twelve percent reduction in operating costs. With the changes you've made with your most recent... additions." He saw Lawrence wince. "Actual headcount impact will be less than three percent. Most of that through attrition and voluntary buyouts rather than layoffs."
The room was quiet for a moment. Everyone looked relieved, Hunter felt like Superman. He couldn't wait to call Cory and tell her all about the jobs he'd actually saved.
"This is exactly what we needed to hear." Lawrence's smile widened and he leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled. "Let's move forward with the five percent reduction. Market speculation is a bloodbath and our investors are scared. The extra reduction in overhead will be exactly what we need to reenforce confidence."
Hunter's shoulders sagged and he looked around the table to ensure he'd heard Lawrence correctly. "Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. The five percent isn't needed. The process improvements alone would—"
"Would still result in a stock price that is relatively stagnant." He looked at the CFO who was nodding along. "What do you think, Dana? Seven, eight percent uptick?"
"At least." She was already making notes. "If we time it with the Q4 guidance..."
"Then we will all see a very nice Christmas bonus," Lawrence finished her sentence, practically hopping from the table with joy.
Hunter kept his face neutral, his fists balled so tight he thought he may break a bone. This was the part he hated. The part Cory always needled him about, even when she didn't mean to. He'd worked for weeks to minimize the damage, to find a path that didn't require gutting departments, and Lawrence had just smiled and used it as cover to do exactly what he'd planned to do anyway.
But he didn't show it. He never showed it. That wasn't what they paid him for.
"I think this calls for a celebration," Lawrence said, pushing back from the table. "There's a steakhouse downtown. The Marble Room. Best dry-aged ribeye in the city. Join us? Only seems right since all of this is because of you."
Hunter couldn't think of a place he'd rather be less, but he couldn't say that. Client dinners were how you got referrals. It was where you rubbed elbows with guys like Lawrence Walker who likely ran three other companies of similar size that would go through this exact same process in a few months.
"It'd be my pleasure."
He followed Lawrence toward the elevator, laughing at some offensive comment he made about employees trying to take good willed people like him to the cleaners. He made a mental note to ask Cory if Nexus was one of her clients.
***
Cory was shocked at how easy it was to converse with Dafni. Despite the fact that she remained imposing from her appearance alone, drawing out every insecurity Cory had ever felt in her life, and manifesting it in a single person. Dafni may have looked like a goddess of antiquity, but at her core, she was humble and open. They spent the next twenty minutes talking about trash tv and other guilty pleasures. She was almost disappointed when Luther entered the room.
"Dinner is served ladies."
The Moussaka sat steaming on the haphazard array of non matching plates, was a series of layered vegetables, and what looked like roots, a mixture of perfectly cooked meat hung from the sides of the eggplant slats, a subtle and warm amber residue invitingly seeped out from below.
Cory looked around for the béchamel, sure that it was made optional in case of dietary restrictions. Dafni slowly lowered her fork, her eyes roamed over Cory for a brief moment before a wistful, preemptive smile emerged.
"This traditional recipe. No sauce. Mesopotamia, hence roots and vegetables , no? I ate this growing up in Crete. Where no two homes make it the same. Try."
Dafni cut a sliver off the corner of her Moussaka, lightly bringing it to her full lips before biting the fork and sliding it out, a small moan of pleasure escaping as she did.
"That good huh?" Cory chuckled trying to preserve the decency of the moment. She ate a piece, still unsure of its composition, but despite its texture, it was a wealth of flavors, all competing for presence on her tongue.
"Oh wow. Wow." Cory set down her fork and closed her eyes, savoring the taste.
Luther swallowed a mouthful of the dish, wiping away the spittle from his lips with the back of his hand. "Greece now, it's a different world than what we have here. Food ain't even the biggest, it's belief. Culture. Old world."
"Yes. Crete called "Cradle of Gods" we all closer to something there. Because of that, community is everything. And you cannot "be" there without being part of group. You learn a lot about yourself from others."
Cory nodded, taking another bite of the delicious dish and hesitantly making eye contact with Luther.
"I'm sure you seen plenty of ole Grecian art. You can just about point a finger in any direction there, and you'll find somethin' special. It's about... proximity to the past and present."
Dafni nodded. "Yes. Because the body, our bodies they tell story, no? And stories are shared, celebrated. Pleasure, beauty, all admired."
Cory nodded and absentmindedly took a sip of her wine. It, coupled with the Moussaka elevated what was already a wonderful dinner to sublime. She found it hard to believe that Luther had prepared it.
"Yeah. Totally. I know what you mean. So like, a lot of what I do in my work is also teaching about acceptance and promoting positivity. Mindset, reframing, creating mind and body connections. Because like, the entirety of American workplace culture it's demeaning. It's stifling and we all have to-"
"Exactly. You see? You better fit for more open minded places, yes? Do, you practice religion?"
Cory shook her head and took another sip of the wine, shocked at how she already felt an invasive warmth spreading through her.
"No. Not after my father passed. My faith in God ended. I have faith in the universe now. I know, that's kind of silly sounding."
Luther shook his head. "Not silly at all. Belief is personal as much as it is shared. Lots of religions out there. Some gone for good, some developed by a lonesome soul and kept private. It's in our nature to believe, to keep searchin'." He leaned forward, reaching for the wine bottle to refill Cory's glass, despite her saying it was unnecessary. As he did, his collar shifted and Cory caught a glimpse of the same tattoo that was behind Dafni's ear.
"Oh wow. You two have matching tattoos?"
Luther's gaze shifted to Dafni, as he topped off the glass. "Why yes. It's all about shared experiences. Ain't nothin' in this world you should do alone."
"That's so cool. Like, Hunter has a tattoo on his arm, but we didn't get to experience it together." She reached for the wine glass taking another sip. "Dafni was talking about it this morning on our run. It represents freedom. right?"
Luther touched the spot behind his ear. "Freedom. Experiences. Too many people go through life without experiencing it. They hold themselves back out of fear, out of shame." He met Cory's eyes. "You should want to experience it all."
The words were innocuous. Inspirational, even. The kind of thing she'd say to her own clients.
"Yeah. That's beautiful, actually."
Her phone buzzed against her thigh.
She glanced down as Luther said something to Dafni about the wine. A picture from Hunter. It looked liked his client had a meditation room along with some posters: BREATHE. ALIGN. EXPAND.
*Hunter:* Saw this on the walk up, thought you'd appreciate it.
*Cory:* Oh my God that's so cool. What's the company?
*Hunter:* Nexus Capital. Have you heard of them?
Her fork slipped from her hand and rattled on her plate. "Sorry." She gave an apologetic smile, her fingers firing off her next text without looking at the screen.
*Cory:* OMG yes! I had a meeting with them. Their CEO seemed really against it. I'm glad I was able to win him over.
"...and that's why the Greeks understood that pleasure—" Luther's voice cut through her focus.
Cory's head snapped up, guilt flooding her face. "I'm so sorry, Hunter just—"
Dafni reached across the table, resting her hand on Cory's. Cory couldn't believe how smooth it felt. She should ask her about her skin treatment. "No, no, please. Marriage is important. You answer him."
Cory set the phone face-down. "I'm being so rude."
"Not at all," Luther said. "Communication is the foundation of any good marriage. It's fine, honest." He cut another sliver of meat then used his fingers to flip it into his mouth.
The conversion continued to flow, and Cory found herself thinking less about Hunter's messages and actually enjoying their company. The wine certainly helped, and despite telling herself multiple times she shouldn't have anymore she kept stealing one more sip until a subtle warmth spread through her body.
"Community is everything," Dafni continued as she raved about Crete. "You cannot just... how you say... exist there. You must be part of something larger. Share yourself."
"She's right," Luther injected. "America has this way about it. Now, ain't nothin' wrong with it, but it's all just so isolating. Life isn't meant to be divided up like that."
Cory was nodding along. Maybe she had them pegged all wrong. They weren't so strange after all. Just worldly. Open-minded in ways most Americans weren't. Her phone buzzed again, and she glanced down seeing that she had several unread messages from Hunter.
"I'm so sorry."
*Hunter:* Lawrence tried to sandbag me and have the meeting today, but I crushed it. Good news. I'll be home tomorrow.
*Hunter:* They're taking me out for drinks and dinner to celebrate. It feels dirty, but I can't say no.
*Hunter:* where'd you go? The neighbors aren't spreading lies trying to steal you from me are they?
*Hunter:* Ugh, they want to keep the night going. Insisting we go to some strip club.
Cory shook her head. Maybe the wine was going to her head, but she couldn't remember the last time Hunter seemed so needy.
*Cory:* Sorry, just trying to not be rude and be on my phone the whole dinner.
Cory: A strip club? Really Hunter? I'm over here trying to make peace with our neighbors and you're going to look at naked women?
*Hunter:* I wish you were the naked woman I was looking at.
*Hunter:* Can't stop thinking about this morning. How good your body felt. The sounds you were making. I'm getting hard just thinking about it. Want to see? ;)
Heat flooded her face. Her thighs pressed together.
"Oh? You must receive special message? Nothing to be embarrassed about." Dafni's hand lightly brushed against Cory's.
Cory's head jerked up. Both of them were watching her, probably judging her.
"I... no, it's just..."
"Nothing to be embarrassed about." She winked. "I know that look well."
Cory let out a nervous laugh.
Luther finished his meal, licking his fingers clean. "Americans treat pleasure like it's shameful. As if desire itself is something to hide." His hand landed on Cory's shoulder, squeezing. "But there's no shame in wanting it, darlin'."
Cory went rigid. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come out.
Luther withdrew his hand and leaned back. "Well, I think we've kept you long enough." His eyes dropped to her phone. "You clearly have other... matters to attend to."
"No, I—" Shame bloomed in her chest. "I didn't mean—"
"You weren't rude at all, darlin'. It's alright."
"Let us walk you to the door," Dafni said, already standing.
Cory scrambled up. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. This was lovely, really. Let's plan something for when Hunter is back. I promise I won't look at my phone."
"We'd love that," Luther said with a grin.
At the door, Dafni pulled her into a hug. Cory stiffened, then returned it awkwardly. Luther kept his distance, hands in his pockets, making her feel even more like she'd overreacted.
"Thank you for coming," he said.
Cory backed out the door. "Thank you again for dinner. It was lovely, really."
She walked across the lawn to her house, her head down as she replayed everything that happened. This was all hunter's fault. He left her alone to fend for herself, got her all worked up and then... did she really commit herself to doing this again?
She leaned against the door, welcoming the cool blast from the AC. They had a bottle of wine in the fridge, she could lock up, bring it to bed with her. She smiled, pulling her phone from her pocket.
Cory: Let me see just how bad you miss me.
***
The wine had been a mistake. Or maybe the bottle she opened when she got home was the mistake. She never drank like this, especially when she was home alone. But dinner had been... nice and then Hunter started texting her and he sent that picture.
She bit her lip. Maybe having him send the picture was the mistake. Her head was spinning. She pulled Hunter's oversized t-shirt to her nose and inhaled. The smell of him always helped her sleep. She'd started sleeping in his shirts senior year of college, and had carried the tradition over to their marriage once he started traveling for work.
God, she missed him.
The dull light from her phone caught her eye and she grabbed it off the nightstand, careful not to knock over the empty glass and half bottle of wine that sat next to it. She pulled up the picture he'd sent her from the restaurant bathroom before he went with his high power clients to throw money at naked woman. She zoomed in, studying the cock that she'd seen hundreds of times before. The light stubble of hair across his pubic mound, the vein the wrapped around the shaft like a snake.
She licked her lips, her free hand sliding up her naked thigh. He was standing in the bathroom of a restaurant but his manhood was rock hard. She closed her eyes, remembering the way it felt when he took her earlier in the day—the aggression, the hunger. A soft sigh escaped her lips as her touch glided over the cool texture of her panties. He'd be home tomorrow.
Goosebumps formed on her skin as her fingers traced across her green boyshorts to her other thigh. She placed her phone back on the nightstand, her eyes still closed. She didn't need the visual aid anymore. She could see it all behinds her lids. She squeezed her breast through the cloth of the shirt.
"Fuck, Hunter. Don't tease me. Take me like you did earlier. Please, baby. Don't make me beg. I'll do—"
A moan drifted through the open window. Cory's hand paused, her fingers just past the band on her underwear. Here we go again.
She let out a sigh, keeping her eyes closed as she tried to recapture the thread of her fantasy. Hunter's hands on her thighs, pulling them apart with enough power to bruise her. Hunter—
Another moan, louder this time. Dafni's unmistakably high tone crying out.
For fuck's sake.
Frustrated, she threw the covers back and stumbled over to the window, intent on slamming it shut. The breeze had been nice earlier, a relief from the humidity, but not nice enough to justify hearing this every night. She grabbed the window frame and started to push it down when movement caught her eye.
Their bedroom window was directly across from hers. The blinds were open. The lights were on. Her breath caught. Did these people have no decency? Didn't they care that they were putting on a show for the entire neighborhood?
Dafni's words from earlier replayed in her ears about community being important and something about shared experiences. She couldn't have meant—
Luther's massive frame stood at the edge of the bed, his back muscles taut, skin gleaming with sweat. Dafni was bent over the mattress in front of him, her dark hair spilling across the sheets, her fingers clawing at the fabric as another cry tore from her throat. Even bent over and wrecked with pleasure, she had an effortless beauty about her that made Cory's chest tighten with envy.
Cory's breath caught. Her hands releasing the window to cover her mouth.
She didn't mean to look. But her eyes drifted down to where they were connected. He was fucking Dafni like a man possessed. His entire body pushing into her, nearly moving the bed. And his... fuck, he was thick. Impressively so. She could almost excuse the noises coming from Dafni now.
Her stomach fluttered, and she squeezed her thighs together. She'd seen enough, too much actually. She grabbed the window seal again, hearing another moan flutter through the open glass before slamming it shut.
The noise must have been too loud, or maybe it was the beating of her heart. Whatever it was, it caused Luther to turn his head and look at her.
He had the same hunger in those pale blues eyes as the day he watched her changing. A grin spread across his face as his gaze held Cory's, his hips never stopping. If anything, he drove harder, deeper, making Dafni cry out as his gaze held Cory's.
Her hands were shaking as she yanked the curtains closed, her heart hammering in her chest. She stumbled back to bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, squeezing her eyes shut.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. She couldn't believe that just happened. After the fuss she made yesterday about Luther watching her changing now she was doing the same. She shook her head, she wasn't watching, she was shutting the window and caught a glimpse that was all. She could forget this entire thing happened.
But her body wouldn't let her forget. The ache between her legs had intensified, a persistent throb that demanded attention. She pressed her thighs together, trying to will it away.
She'd just finish what she started. Think about Hunter. His picture. His hands. The way he'd felt inside her this morning.
She let out another long sigh, her fingers slipping beneath the waistband of her boyshorts. She was already wet, embarrassingly so, and she told herself it was because of Hunter, and what she'd already started. It was because of the wine, the loneliness, his text.
She closed her eyes and summoned him once again. Hunter was pinning her against the wall again, his weight pressing into her as she locked her legs around his waist.
Her fingers found her clit, already swollen and aching. She circled it slowly, teasing herself the way Hunter always did. She could almost feel the scratch of his stubble against her neck, the heat of his breath as he whispered how badly he wanted her.
"That's it," she whispered her fingers adding more pressure. "Just like that."
Her free hand slid beneath the shirt, finding her breast. She rolled her nipple between her fingers, gasping at the spark of pleasure that shot straight to her core. Behind her closed eyes, Hunter lifted her higher, angling her hips as he filled her. Her finger slipped between her folds—
A muffled cry from next door.
The image flickered, she was looking out the window again. Luther had Dafni bent over the bed, his impossibly thick cock stretching her, while his paw of a hand pinned her down between her shoulder blades. His pace was ruthless, and Cory could see Dafni's body ripple with each powerful thrust.
Her walls clenched involuntarily around her finger, drawing out a muffled moan.
She forced the image away, determined not to lose the orgasm that had been building. Luther and Dafni disappeared, replaced by Hunter who was fucking Cory with the same tenacity. She was bent over now, face pressed into the mattress.
"Uhhh, yes, baby. You feel so good. So fucking big."
Her fingers moved again faster now, a second one joining the first. She fucked herself with the same rhythm she imagined Hunter using, her palm grinding against her clit with each thrust.
"God, yes. Harder." Her voice came out ragged, desperate. She pinched her nipple, twisting just enough to make her back arch off the bed. "Fuck me like you did this morning. I need it. I need—"
The pressure was building, coiling tight low in her belly. Hunter's hands on her hips. Hunter's cock stretching her open. Her fingers curled, and her thighs began to shake.
"Yes, I'm right there baby." Her fingers pumped faster, her palm slick against her clit. "Just like that. Oh fuck. Don't stop. I'm gonna—"
Through the walls Dafni's strangled cry peaked, but Cory wouldn't let it distract her again. She was there and she needed it. Her hips lifted off the bed.
Hunter fucked her harder, but his face began to fade suddenly replaced by Luther's.
"No. wai—"
But she was too far gone to stop. Luther stared down at her with his creepy smile. His fingers dug into her flesh with bruising force, all while his cock...
Her orgasm exploded through her.
"Ohhhh fffff ffffuck."
Her fingers couldn't stop, pumping through the contractions as her walls spasmed around them. Her back bowed off the mattress, every muscle seizing as wave after wave crashed through her. She heard herself crying out, couldn't stop the sounds ripping from her chest as Luther's impossible thickness filled her completely.
It went on forever. It lasted seconds.
When it finally released her, she collapsed against the sheets, gasping for air. Her fingers were still inside her, twitching with aftershocks. The shirt had ridden up past her ribs. Her boyshorts were soaked through, twisted around one thigh.
She stared at the ceiling, her chest heaving, waiting for her pulse to slow.
What the fuck was that?
The house next door had gone quiet. Luther and Dafni finished. Cory lolled her head from side to side, clinging to her husband's shirt as her body trembled from an orgasm that she couldn't explain.
It was a combination of many factors. The wine, the pleasant conversation at dinner, and then the unfortunate accident at the window. Maybe she would talk to Dafni on their next run, see if she could try to keep it down. No, no she couldn't do that. She would die of embarrassment. Her mind just misfired, that was all. Too much was happening at one and wires got crossed.
It was the wine. It had to be. The picture Hunter sent getting her worked up with no release. The conversation at dinner, all that talk about pleasure and bodies and shame. She was lonely and tipsy and overstimulated and her mind had simply... wandered. Misfired. Crossed some wires.
It didn't mean anything and she would pretend it never happened.
She withdrew her fingers slowly, wiping them on the sheets before pulling Hunter's shirt back down. Tomorrow he'd be home. Tomorrow she'd fuck him until she forgot this night ever happened. Tomorrow everything would go back to normal.
She pulled the covers up and closed her eyes, but sleep was a long time coming. Every time she started to drift, she saw pale blue eyes watching her from across the darkness.