Where was she?
Impatiently, Lucian checked his watch. Carolyn should have arrived half an hour ago. Where the hell was she?
The buzzer sounded. Finally! Lucian pushed the button to let Carolyn into the building. He was waiting at his open apartment door when she got off the elevator. "What took you so long?" he demanded.
"I'm sorry," Carolyn replied. "Traffic was heavier than I expected."
She entered the apartment and Lucian closed the door behind her. "I was worried," he said. "You should have called."
"I lost your number, remember? You were going to give it to me last night, but we, um, got sidetracked."
"You should have made sure you had it before you left. But at least you're here now."
Lucian gave Carolyn a perfunctory hug. She smiled tentatively at him. "It's good to see you again. It's been a while."
"Yes, it has." Lucian led her to the couch. "How have you been?"
"Good, thanks. Work's going much better."
"Good to hear. How are things with your boyfriend?" Lucian deliberately kept his tone light, but just the mention of Carolyn's boyfriend angered him. He shouldn't be asking about her boyfriend; he should be her boyfriend. Hadn't he put enough time into dating her, into reassuring her and showing her how he felt? They'd dated off and on for months; he knew Carolyn's feelings for him were as strong as his for her. And yet she'd turned around and found someone else. Granted, he hadn't spoken to her for a couple months, but she'd known he had things going on. She should have had the respect to wait for him, not just assume it was over.
"He's fine," Carolyn said. "Thanks for asking. How about you? Any new dates on the horizon?"
"I told you last night, I don't think I'm going to bother dating for a while. The dates I've been on lately were okay, but no chemistry. I think I'm getting burned out on the whole thing."
"Sorry to hear."
As well she should be. After all, she'd caused him more stress and pain than any other woman he'd dated in the past couple years. Lucian shrugged. "Shit happens. A break might be a good thing."
"Maybe."
"The women I've dated weren't all that interesting. When I was with them, I kept thinking about you."
Carolyn shifted uncomfortably. "You did?"
"Yes, I did."
"Lucian, I- I don't know what to say."
"You have no problems thinking of what to say to me on instant messenger. Why is it different now? You still think about me, too, Carolyn. I bet you think about me when you're fucking your boyfriend."
"Of course I still think about you. You meant a lot to me." Her eyes narrowed. "But when I'm with him, I'm thinking about him. You and I are over, Lucian. We can be friends, but nothing more."
Lucian struggled not to explode at her. She was a liar, nothing more. "Our conversation last night didn't seem like it was just between friends, Carolyn. I wonder what your boyfriend would think if he knew you were playing with yourself while you typed to me about sucking my cock."
"I wasn't playing with myself. I only said that because-"
"Because you wanted to play with yourself? Because talking to me like that makes you so horny you don't know what to do?" He slid closer to her, pressing his thigh against hers. "How wet are you now that you're with me again, Carolyn?"
"Stop it." She moved away from him. "I said it because it was part of the conversation. I wasn't really playing with myself any more than I was really sucking you. And I'm not wet at all. That isn't why I'm here."
"Why are you here, Carolyn?"
Without giving her a chance to answer, Lucian roughly pulled her to him. Ignoring her struggles, he crushed his lips against hers. His tongue forced her lips apart and probed her mouth.
It took a moment for Carolyn to shove him away. "Stop it, Lucian! I just came to see how you're doing. I haven't seen you for a while. I came to try to be your friend. That's all."
"I don't believe you. We both know why you're really here, Carolyn."
"I'm seeing someone else. Exclusively. I'm not going to cheat on him."
"Then why did you come to see me? You were part of that conversation last night. You know what you said. If you're not going to cheat on your man, why did you say all those things to me? Why did you come here after talking about what you'd like to do if we saw each other again?"
"I don't know." She shook her head. "It was a mistake, that's all. I shouldn't have said any of those things. I shouldn't have come."
She started to get up, but Lucian grabbed her arm. She stared at his hand, but didn't protest. "Don't you dare walk out on me," Lucian snapped. "You keep telling me about this boyfriend of yours, but I don't think you care about him as much as you let on. If you did, you wouldn't keep cybering with me."
"It isn't cybering. It's just talking. Flirting."
"Justify it however you want. You know the truth. And you and I both know it isn't over between us. One might even say you're cheating on me by seeing this guy."
"Cheating on you?" Carolyn exploded. She yanked her arm out of his grasp. "We were never a couple! You made that abundantly clear, remember? Friends with benefits only, no strings, no commitment. Even if we were still seeing each other, I wouldn't be cheating on you, because we never agreed to be exclusive! Besides, you're the one who disappeared for two months. Didn't even bother returning my calls. As far as I'm concerned, when I stopped hearing from you, we were over."
"So you started fucking some other guy."
"Lucian, it isn't like that. With him, it's a relationship. A real one, not 'friends with benefits'. He treats me well."
"Unlike me?"
"I didn't say that." Carolyn lowered her voice. "You were nice to me. But we don't work, Lucian. Everything I do or say seems to piss you off. We spend more time fighting than talking. I'm sorry I've been having those IM conversations with you. It's so familiar to me to talk to you like that, but I shouldn't be doing it anymore. It's dishonest of me, and I'm sorry. That's why I'm really here, to talk to you about this face to face. To say goodbye, Lucian."
Again she started to stand, and again Lucian held her back. This time, it wasn't just a hand on her arm. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto his lap. She squirmed, trying to get away, but he held her tightly. "You aren't leaving, Carolyn," he said. He thrust against her ass. "Feel that? Feel how hard my cock is? That's for you, and you're going to take care of it."
"I'm not sleeping with you, Lucian!"
"Yes, you are." In one quick motion, he pushed her onto her back on the couch and held her there. "That's why you're really here, isn't it? You love fucking me, and you know it. You aren't leaving until I'm done with you."
"Lucian, please! You're scaring me!"
"Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you." He unzipped her jeans. "I'm just going to fuck you, just like we talked about last night."
"No!"
Tears came to Carolyn's eyes, but Lucian was beyond caring. He'd had enough of her teasing, of her broken promises and lies. How could she say they didn't work? They were great together. The sex had always been fucking fantastic. His only regret was that they lived too far apart to see each other often. But she was here now, and he was going to take what belonged to him. She was his, whether she wanted to be or not.
He tugged at her jeans. "Lift up, or I'll lift you."
"Please don't do this," Carolyn begged. "Lucian, please!"
He raised his hand, though he would never actually hit her. "Lift up."
Sobbing, Carolyn lifted her ass so he could pull down her jeans and panties. Lucian's cock twitched as Carolyn's shaved cunt came into view. He pulled her clothes all the way off and tossed them on the floor. "You look wet." He jabbed a finger into her. "You are wet. Thought you said you didn't want this."
"I don't!"
