The anger was a living, breathing thing inside her car. It was a hot, toxic poison flooding her veins, mixing with a profound, bitter hatred for the man who had effortlessly dismantled her reality to feed his own ego. Her chest physically ached, as if the broken glass she had described to the therapist was actually shredding her lungs with every breath.
She turned onto her quiet, tree-lined street, desperate for the sanctuary of her empty house.
But as her headlights swept across the curb in front of her driveway, they illuminated the sleek, dark lines of a familiar car.
Audrey hit the brakes, her heart giving a sudden, erratic kick. It was Nate’s car.
A wave of surprise washed over her, immediately followed by a profound, overwhelming rush of relief. The crushing, solitary weight of the evening lifted just a fraction. He had promised not to abandon her to the wreckage, and he was already proving it.
She shifted into park and cut the engine. Before she could even unbuckle her seatbelt, the driver’s side door of Nate’s car swung open. He stepped out into the cool night air, the streetlights casting sharp shadows across the broad lines of his shoulders.
Audrey pushed her own door open and stepped onto the damp asphalt.
They stood a few yards apart in the quiet street, a heavy, charged silence hanging between them. Neither of them knew exactly how to bridge the gap. The ninety-day stipulation was a massive, invisible wall they were both suddenly forced to navigate.
Audrey finally took a step forward, wrapping her trench coat tighter around herself against the chill. "What are you doing here, Nate?"
Nate ran a hand through his dark hair, the tension evident in the rigid line of his jaw. "I called you. Three times. I just wanted to know how it went, but it kept going straight to voicemail. When you didn't answer... I couldn't just sit in my house wondering if you were falling apart. I risked coming over."
Audrey blinked, reaching a hand blindly into her leather purse. Her fingers brushed against her phone. She pulled it out, the screen lighting up to reveal three missed calls.
"I'm sorry," she breathed, dropping the phone back into the bag. "I put it on silent before I walked into the therapist'soffice, and my brain has been completely offline since I left. I forgot it was even in there."
Nate closed the distance between them, his hazel eyes scanning her face with a piercing, protective intensity. He cataloged the pale exhaustion, the tight clench of her jaw, and the raw devastation swimming in her eyes.
"You look like you're carrying the entire world, Audie," he said softly, his voice a low, grounding rumble in the dark. "How was the session?"
A bitter, humorless laugh escaped her lips. "It was shit. It was absolute, unmitigated shit, Nate. I had to sit there and listen to him map out exactly how he lied to me for months. I am so angry I can't see straight. I feel so much hate right now, and my chest just physically hurts."
Nate’s expression softened into an agonizing, pure empathy. He didn't offer a platitude. He didn't try to solve the equation.
"Come here," he commanded softly.
He reached out and pulled her flush against his solid chest, wrapping his heavy, muscular arms tightly around her. Audrey collapsed against him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. The familiar, intoxicating scent of bergamot, clean cotton, and rain immediately enveloped her. Nate pressed his face into her dark hair, inhaling deeply, his hand coming up to cradle the back of her head.
"I've got you," Nate murmured against her hair, his lips brushing her temple. "I am right here. For anything and everything that you need."
Audrey closed her eyes, the sheer magnitude of his devotion acting as a spark in the dark. The anger inside her suddenly demanded an outlet. She didn't want to be numb anymore. She didn't want to feel the cold, sterile ghost of hermarriage; she wanted to feel the blinding, consuming heat of being alive.
She pulled back just enough to look up at him. His hazel eyes were dark, tracking the sudden, dangerous shift in her breathing.
Audrey reached up, tangled her hands in his hair, and pulled him down into a fierce, desperate kiss.
Nate let out a ragged groan, his restraint instantly snapping. He kissed her back with a bruising, urgent hunger, his hands dropping to grip her waist. They stumbled backward toward his car, the collision of their bodies frantic and completely reckless in the open street.
Nate blindly yanked the rear door of his car open. He guided her backward, tumbling onto the leather backseat, the heavy door slamming shut behind them to seal them in the dark, insulated cabin.
The cramped space instantly ignited. Audrey tore at the buttons of his shirt, while Nate’s hands moved frantically over her clothes. He pushed her trench coat off her shoulders, pulling the fabric of her silk blouse down to expose her skin to the cool air of the car.
He dipped his head, his mouth searing a hot, wet path down her neck before his lips closed over the peak of her breast. Audrey arched her back, a sharp gasp tearing from her throat as he sucked and laved the sensitive skin, sending shockwaves of pure fire straight to her core.
"Nate," she gasped, her fingers digging into the broad muscles of his back.
He pulled away just long enough to reach into his pocket. The sharp tear of a foil packet cut through the sound of their ragged breathing. In the dark, cramped quarters of the backseat,Nate pushed her skirt up her thighs, his rough hands hooking the edge of her panties and moving them firmly to the side.
He gripped her hips, pulling her squarely over him, and pushed up, filling her completely.
Audrey threw her head back, her analytical mind completely short-circuiting as she rode him. The rhythm was desperate and heavy, driven by the absolute need to burn away the trauma of the evening. Nate helped her, his large hands gripping her ass hard, guiding her hips to meet his frantic upward thrusts.
