It was past 2 a.m.
The house was dark except for the silver moonlight spilling across the bedroom floor. The sheets were wrecked, the pillows scattered, the headboard bore fresh dents.
Laura lay curled against Alex's chest, one of his arms locked around her waist, the other tracing lazy circles on her bare back. They were quiet for a long time: just breathing, just existing.
Then Laura spoke, so softly he almost missed it. "Tomorrow is Day 4."
Alex's fingers stilled on her skin. "Yeah," he said, voice rough from screaming her name earlier.
She pressed her forehead to his collarbone. "Day 5 we go home."
The words hung in the air like smoke.
Alex swallowed. "We knew it was coming."
Laura's fingers tightened on his ribs. "I don't want to go back to pretending."
He pulled her closer, until there wasn't an inch of space between them.
"We won't," he promised. "We'll figure it out. Together."
She was quiet again. Too quiet.
Alex tilted her chin up so he could see her eyes. They were wet.
"Talk to me," he whispered.
Laura's voice cracked on the first word. "What if they never accept us? What if Dad looks at me like I'm ruined? What if Lina can't even look at you? What if we lose them?"
Alex's heart cracked right down the middle.
He cupped her face with both hands, thumbs wiping away the tears that had started falling.
"Then we lose them," he said, voice steady even though it killed him. "But we don't lose each other. Never again."
Laura searched his eyes, trembling. "You'd really choose me over your dad?"
"I already did," he said without hesitation. "The second I touched you, I chose you. Every day since, I've chosen you. I'll choose you until I'm ashes."
A broken sob escaped her.
Alex kissed her: slow, deep, tasting salt and fear and love.
The kiss turned hungry fast.
He reached blindly to the nightstand, grabbed the last foil packet without looking, and tore it open with his teeth. Laura watched him roll it down with shaking hands, eyes never leaving his.
When he slid back inside her, it was slow, deliberate.
They moved like they were trying to fuse into one person.
Slow, desperate thrusts.
Her legs wrapped high around his waist. His hand fisted in her hair, anchoring her to him.
Every roll of his hips was a vow:
I choose you.
I choose you.
I choose you.
Laura came first: clinging to him, crying into his neck, body shaking with more than just pleasure. When she came, it was quiet and devastating: clinging to him, sobbing his name into his neck. He followed right after, burying himself as deep as the condom would allow, pulsing inside the barrier, arms locked around her so tight she could feel his heartbeat through his ribs.
Afterward they stayed joined, neither willing to separate even by an inch. He stayed inside her, arms wrapped around her so tight she could barely breathe.
Laura's voice was barely audible against his skin. "I'm scared."
Alex kissed her temple, her cheek, the corner of her mouth.
"Me too," he admitted. "But I'm more scared of a life where I have to pretend I don't love you."
She nodded against his chest, tears soaking his skin.
They fell asleep like that: joined, tangled, terrified, and more in love than ever.
The first rays of Day-4 sun slipped through the curtains.
Alex woke before Laura for once.
He lay on his side, watching her sleep: red hair fanned across the pillow, lips parted, one arm flung above her head.
She looked innocent, Beautiful, Completely fuckable.
He smirked. Payback time.
Quiet as a shadow, he grabbed one of his black T-shirts from the floor, rolled her gently onto her stomach (she didn't stir), and carefully tied her wrists together behind her back with the soft cotton.
Tight enough to hold. Loose enough not to wake her yet.
She stayed blissfully asleep, cheek pressed to the pillow, ass slightly raised.
Both of them still naked from the night before.
Alex rolled on a condom in record time, knelt behind her, spread her thighs just enough, and slid inside her in one slow, perfect thrust.
Laura woke with a sharp gasp, eyes flying open, body tensing around him. "B....brother....this is not right...."
"Says who?"
"Me!"
He pulled almost all the way out and slammed back in.
"Then fuck you," he growled against her ear. "And look, I'm already fucking you."
He grabbed the T-shirt "rope," yanked her arms back, and started pounding: deep, punishing strokes that made her whole body jolt forward with every thrust. Laura's protests melted into loud, desperate moans that echoed off the walls. The rhythm was brutal and perfect revenge.
Until her phone on the nightstand started buzzing like an angry hornet.
Laura's head snapped toward it. "Hey....stop....look who's calling!"
Alex glanced over, still buried inside her, and froze.
"LINA!"
"What the....pick it up! Untie me first!"
He quickly pulled out, yanked the T-shirt loose, and handed her the phone.
Laura answered on the third ring, trying to sound normal while Alex knelt between her legs, smirking like a demon.
"Hi, Mom…"
"Hi, sweetie! We just got home."
Alex slid back inside her: slow, deliberate, torturously slow.
Laura's voice jumped half an octave. "Already?"
"Yes, my cousin is fine now. So we came back early."
Alex started moving: tiny, teasing circles.
Laura bit her lip hard. "Okay… great."
"Why are you breathing like that? What are you doing?"
"Nothing," Laura managed, glaring at Alex. "Just… a little workout."
Alex grinned and thrust deeper.
"Oh! Where's Alex?"
"Here," Laura squeaked, shoving the phone at him.
Alex took it, trying to keep his voice steady while still rocking into her slowly. "Hi, Lina."
"Hi, sweetie! Eating properly?"
"Yes. Laura can cook now."
From below, Laura mouthed: asshole.
"Oh, is she? We just arrived home. How's the lake house?"
Alex thrust hard once; Laura's eyes rolled back.
"Just… working out," he said, perfectly calm.
"Okay! When will you two come back?"
"Tomorrow," they answered in unison.
"Alright then, have fun!"
The call ended.
Alex tossed the phone aside, grabbed Laura's hips, and flipped her onto her back.
"Now," he growled, sliding back inside, "let's finish our workout properly."
Laura wrapped her legs around his waist, nails digging into his shoulders, and smiled up at him with pure sin in her eyes. "Yes, brother."
The headboard slammed against the wall again.
Outside, the morning was peaceful.
Inside, Day 4 had officially begun…and tomorrow suddenly felt a lot closer.