Page 96 of The Secret
“Get yourself off on me. Oh, fuck.”
Everything frays at the edges. He pulls back onto his knees, pinning both my thighs outward as he fucks into me hard and fast, watching his cock disappear into me over and over. With the lack of friction right where I need it, my orgasm starts to back off, but he grinds into me, not letting up on the pressure and I explode around him, body arching off the bed as he rubs wantonly against me, my orgasm shuddering on and on with his cock all the way in.
“Yes, Liss ... Jesus.” He keeps the pressure up until I subside and grips my knees hard and starts moving. I tighten my muscles and he lets out a sound like I’ve never heard before. One more thrust, two, and he buries deep as he jerks above me. The pain and pleasure on his screwed-up face make tears track down my cheeks again. I am not a crier for fuck’s sake—what is wrong with me?
He collapses down, and the ticking silence of the apartment fades back in against the loudness of our breaths. He rolls to the side, eyes closed, and I follow him.
His chest is rising and falling, sweat running down his temple and I grin at his profile.
“Let’s make a plan,” I say.
SEVEN MONTHS LATER
EPILOGUE
DAN
Monday, November 7, 2022
Water is streaming down the pane of the window. How can there be so much water in one place and so little in another? I know why this is, but it still astonishes me that you can fly from one country to another in sixteen hours and go from baking heat to this.
The café door opens in a gust, and the people at the table next to me flinch from the cold and damp swirl that accompanies it. Liss’s dark curls are in a crazy halo around her head, and I can’t help the smile that breaks free: Her hair looks like it does when we’re sweaty and spent in bed and I harden in my jeans.Every damn time.Will this intensity slack off? When we have several kids under our belt and we’re tired and fed up and sniping at each other after a long day of work? My heart swells as she heads toward me.I have this now. Losing my mother and in all the trouble that was my father, I never thought I would.
She plonks herself opposite me at the table, droplets of water bouncing off her shoulders onto the Formica as she starts unwrapping layer after layer of clothing.
“Warm enough?” I say.
“How can it be so cold here?” Her thoughts echo mine so perfectly it makes me laugh.
“I could definitely do with the nice balmy warmth of Cape Town right now.”
She looks out at the students scurrying across the intersection, dodging the dancing raindrops. Then she turns to me and grins. “I could eat a horse. How did it go today?”
“Good. I think.”
My first day of teaching Economics in a temporary post at the university. It’s taking me months of networking and volunteering to secure it. It only happened because someone had to go on maternity leave, and NYU was happy to get a working visa for me. But it’s a solid six months, and having a job has lifted a load off my shoulders.
“We’ll end up staying here a while.” I chew my lip.
After I came to see Liss seven months ago, I went back to talk to Jed about the farm and what I wanted to do. We decided that Benny would stay with him for the time being, until Liss and I could work everything out. Benny has always been used to me coming and going, and Liss and I Skype with her almost every night.
Liss squeezes my hand.
“It’s not simple or easy to lead this life. The university is good to me because I’ve been with them a long time, plus John is so flexible. If he left, that could all change. We’ve just got to be adaptable. We can head back to South Africa when your six months are up. It might work out better for us to be there longer term.”
I nod at this. And as Benny gets older, who knows? Maybe having family in the US could open up all sorts of options for her.
“I want to give you everything, Liss, everything your asshole dad never did.” She hasn’t let me meet her dad yet, but I’ve been living the furor of Lauren’s wedding prep secondhand for a while.
Her eyes soften on me. “I’m so happy,” she says simply.
“What, really? Despite all this …” I wave my hand around.
“Yeah. I know I’ve got worries, but being with you …”
This woman. I reach over the table and squeeze her hand. The last few months with Liss have transformed me, even with all my employment anxieties. I’ve got to know her friends: Matt her housemate, Janus and Jo, Kate and Fabian. Meeting all these ambitious, good people has put a rocket under me. Janus is the most protective guy I’ve ever met of anyone who’s in his circle, and he insisted I use his international lawyers. They’ve waded into my father’s mess in South Africa and got things moving in a way I didn’t think would be possible. They’ve filed motions and been so aggressive that he’s got them all running scared.
“I like being here. I like your friends.” I grin. “And I love you.”
