Page 119 of The Scientist
Nicky stood frozen, her face a portrait of shock that quickly melted into practiced composure. "What the hell are you talking about?"
He smiled bitterly. "I have to hand it to you, Nicky. It was really fucking clever. Coming to my room in the middle of the night saying your shower broke. How long did you wait for me to fall back asleep before you staged this?"
"Staged what?" she demanded, though the attempt at looking innocent didn’t quite land.
He pulled out my phone, shoving the picture in her face.
She paused to look at it before rolling her eyes and brushing the photo aside with a dismissive wave. "So there's a picture of us sleeping together. Big deal. I don't know if you remember, but we used to do that all the time together."
Lex's face twisted into a cruel smile. "You might have gotten away with that excuse if you hadn't caught the headboard in the photo," he said. "Notice anything unique about it, Nicky?"
She looked at the photo again, and I saw the exact moment she realized the same thing I had.The fucking birds. Her eyes widened, and the color drained from her face, a brief flash of panic crossing her features.
“That’s what I thought.” He handed me back the phone. “Listen to me now and listen closely... After today, do not ever speak to me again. If you have something to say when we’re at work, you email me or send someone else to tell me. Do not say hello when we pass each other in the hallway. Don’t even look at me. I don’t want to see you outside of work ever. Never show up where I’m at, and if you’re already out somewhere and I show up, then leave. The same goes for Hadley. I don’t want to hear Hadley’s name out of your moutheveragain. I let you get away with this kind of shit for way too long, but that’s over now. If you even breathe in a way I don’t like, I promise to have you fired, and I will make it my life’s mission to see to it that you never work in this field again.”
“Lex, it was just a joke—” Nicky tried saying, but he cut her off.
“We’re done.” His face was full of disgust. “And let me be clear about one last thing—I never loved you… not even close.”
He stormed out, grabbing my hand and pulling me back to my home.
When we reached my house, his chest was still heaving with anger as he stood outside my doorway. I was too shell-shocked by this revelation to be angry with Nicky. I knew it would come, but all I felt in this moment was complete and utter relief.He hadn’t slept with her. As I let that sink in, a new feeling started to fill every square inch of me.
I was elated.
I waited another minute for him to calm down before asking, “Do you want to come in?”
His gaze lifted to meet mine. He simply nodded before following me inside.
“I didn’t sleep with her,” he said as soon as we were inside. “She was banging on my door in the middle of the night, spouting some bullshit about her shower being broken. I let her use mine, but I fell back asleep the second I laid back down. I'msorry I didn't tell you, but I barely remembered her coming in. She knows how those sleeping pills affect me.”
“I know.” I believed every word he said.“I’m sorry. I know it hurts that she betrayed you like that.”
He scoffed. “I couldn’t care less about that. I meant what I said. She was never important enough for me to care about. I only ever put up with her bullshit because I didn’t want her to be excluded purely because we broke up. My feelings and loyalty ended there. I only care about the fact that she upset you and made you believe I slept with her.”
“That’s what I think we should talk about,” I said. “This isn’t working for me.”
He looked crushed. “Hadley, just give me another chance. I can make this right—”
“No. Lex, listen to me,” I said, cutting him off. “I didn’t confront you about this whole thing because I felt foolish for making assumptions. I realized we’d never talked about what this is, but I’d like to do that now.”
“Okay,” he said warily.
I took a breath. “I don’t want to see anyone else. I’ve never felt this way about anyone, and I want to hear you say it here and now... That you’re mine and I’m yours.”
He gazed into my eyes like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His throat dipped as he swallowed. “I’m afraid I’d scare you if I confessed the true depth of my feelings for you. So, I’ll just say this... I’m yours. There is no one else for me.”
“Good,” I whispered, the emotions rising up in my throat. “Now kiss me and don’t be gentle.”
His eyes locked with mine and a split second later his hands were in my hair and his mouth was covering mine. I groaned at the contact and the relief I felt at coming together again. And he wasn’t gentle. On the contrary, it was like each of us was barelyable to hold back. Our tongues clashed, our mouths moving together in a rapid frenzy.
He kissed me until I knew my lips would swell ashe held my head securely to him, turning it exactly how he wanted it to deepen the kiss. I pulled at his shirt, trying to tug it over his head as he did the same to mine. Our hands were everywhere, pulling each other closer as we tore our clothes off in no time.
We didn’t make it to the bedroom. He bent me over the couch, and I heard a condom wrapper tearing moments before he pushed into me. I cried out, gripping the edge of the sofa. I felt his chest leaning over me as his tongue trailed across my back and along my neck before he slammed into me again. He reached around to grab my breast as he picked up the pace and pounded into me. I matched his thrusts, and I could hear his heavy breathing as he whispered things in Russian above me. One hand held my waist, while the other gripped my shoulder as he steered my body onto his. The pleasure was mounting, and I desperately wanted to see his face when I came apart for him, so I turned and pulled him in for another searing kiss before dragging him down to the floor with me.
I pushed at his chest to lie back, his eyes never leaving my face. I straddled his hips, lining him up at my entrance before I slowly sank down. He groaned loudly, gripping my waist as his head fell backward. I started to move, and his hands tightened around my hips, rocking my body back and forth over his. He was staring up at me with a raw hunger in his eyes that bordered on primal as his hands rose to caress the swells of my breasts. The air was thick with the sound of our ragged breathing. I leaned forward to place my hands on his pecs, giving myself better leverage to move faster as sweat began beading at the base of my neck.
He lifted his hips while simultaneously pulling me over him, hitting the exact spot I needed until I came so hard my visionstarted to blur.He continued pushing and pulling at my hips as I convulsed around him until he found his release moments later. It came out as an agonized moan at the same time my body had collapsed on top of his.