Roman's eyes only gleamed with confusion for a split second, before they turned dark with lust.

His hands grabbed my waist as soon as I was in front of him, and effortlessly he lifted me up, placing me so I was sitting on the top of his kitchen counter. My hands were tangled in his hair, pulling him towards me. Roman didn't allow himself to be pulled to me, however. He resisted, looking at me in the eyes.

"Don't fuck with me, Lilac," he said, his voice was so deep, I felt it in my bones, "don't play with me."

"I'm not playing," I whispered, continuing to try and move his head towards mine. "No games, Roman."

"Are you sure?" Roman asked me, his eyes glancing down towards my lips, and then back up to my eyes. "There's no going back."

I disregarded his last sentence, too preoccupied with how my body felt pressed up against his. His upper body was still bare, only a towel covering the rest of him. His abs, though not glistening with water any longer, were still irresistible. They were begging for me to reach my hand out and run my fingers along the well-defined ridges.

"Do you have any idea how perfect you are? How beautiful you are? You have no idea what you make me feel, Lilac," he said to me, I could feel the hunger in his voice, the desperation.

Feeling brave, I bit my bottom lip before looking through my eyelashes, teasing him even further.

"What do I do to you, Roman?" I asked him breathlessly. It wasn't a rhetorical question, either. I really did want to know how I made him feel. I wanted to know why he was chasing me, why his words were haunting my mind. I wanted to know why there was this unbreakable spell of attraction between us.

"You drive me fucking crazy, and you know it," he said. One of his hands left my waist, and it traveled upwards, holding the back of my neck instead.

"Do I?" I asked him. My body was painfully aware of how close he was to me, all my blood seemed to have rushed to between my legs.

"You don't realize how long I've been waiting for this, for you," Roman said to me, his voice becoming deeper and deeper as he kept speaking. The way his eyes had darkened completely let me know he was telling me the truth, as did the way he held me close to him like he was worried I was going to change my mind.

"You don't realize how long I've known how much better I could be for you, you don't realize how hard it was to wait until you saw it too. I've been waiting for so long now, Lilac."

"What are you waiting for now, Roman?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows like I was daring him to make the next move, and in a way, that's exactly what I was doing. I wanted him to take control of me like I knew he could.

He let a small groan escape from his mouth at the moment I said his name. He pulled my face towards his, finally, his eyes drifting towards my lips. I closed my eyes and leaned into him, and my mouth caught his. I swear every nerve in my body was on fire. I felt his lips against mine, moving gently at first, but then strengthening as I moved my lips with his, in perfect synchronization. I parted my lips slightly, and his tongue rushed into my mouth, exploring freely, fighting for dominance against my own. Our tongues danced for a moment or two when I felt his hands move from my face down to my thighs, gripping them tightly.

After what could have been either eternity, or just a couple of seconds, I had to break my lips away from his to find my breath. I had lost it, and I wasn't sure if it was because Roman had taken it, or simply because I was so turned on that my body had forgotten how to function.

Roman didn't seem to need any air though, as he quickly moved his lips down to my jaw, leading down to my collarbone. He ran his lips across my skin, leaving tingles of electricity as he went. I let my head fall back, giving him better access and his mouth roamed freely on my neck. I briefly considered the fact that he might leave marks on my pale skin, but at the moment, I felt so good the thought was almost instantly disregarded.

I didn't think about anything, in that moment, besides the way his mouth was touching my skin. I didn't think about Jesse, I didn't think about the boat accident, I didn't think about all the lies that my life had become. Even though in the back my mind I had already accepted that this would be another lie I would add to my list of deceit. It didn't matter though, the feelings that Roman was giving me were worth lying for. It was worth the risk of getting caught, of getting found out. In this moment, even the threat of Jesse finding out what I was doing didn't scare me.

Even though the feelings that Roman were making me feel scared the hell out of me, they also made me safe. The way his large hands were moving up and down my body, they made me feel protected. They way he was holding my body, keeping me stable so that I didnt tumble off the counter top, it made me feel cherished. So, even if this was just a one time thing, which it was, it was worth whatever lie I was going to have to come up with later.

Roman hooked his arms around my legs, pulling them around his waist. His hands moved to my back, and he was the one pulling me towards him this time. He stepped away from the counter, and the way my body was now entangled with him meant that I moved too. My stomach only dropped for a second, worrying that he was about to drop me, before I realized how strong he was. He carried me effortlessly towards the couch. He gently placed my body down, while I ran my eyes over his large frame once again. The towel that was covering his lower body was still tightly wrapped around him, unfortunatley, but soon enough... it too would come off. In that moment, I was sure of it.

Well, I was sure of it, until my phone started vibrating from where it was held in my bra.

"Ignore it," Roman instructed, coming closer to me. He still had that dark look in his eyes, the one that made me feel like clenching my legs together. "Don't answer it, Lilac."

I looked at him, wanting to follow his instructions. I should have followed them, I would have if I had known then, who exactly was on the other end of the phone line, and what they had to say. Foolishly, I gave Roman a small smile, before tugging my phone out of my bra. I frowned when I looked at the screen, I wasn't expecting Khalil's name to be flashing across my screen.

I hesitated, looking between Roman and my phone. Roman seemed to understand what my decision was going to be before I did, because he groaned, shaking his head and falling into the couch beside me.

"Sorry," I muttered to him, before accepting the incoming call and holding the phone to my face.

"Hello?" I said into the phone hesitantly, and I realized my voice was strained, breathless like I had just been running a marathon.

"Lilly?" Khalil answered, and I heard the panic in his voice. I stood up instantly, wandering into the kitchen, nervous as to what this call could possibly mean. I knew it couldn't be anything good. Nothing Khalil was going to say could be anything other than related to that night.

"What's going on?" I rushed out, my eyes flickering back to Roman, who was watching me. His annoyance that I answered the phone seemed to be disappeared entirely, it was only concern on his face now.

"Listen, Lilly. I need you to meet me," Khalil told me, his words coming out rushed like he was talking in cursive. "Can you meet me?"

"What, right now?" I asked, my heartbeat beginning to race.

"Yes, now. I can pick you up. Are you at your house?" Khalil asked me, the speed of his words increasing.

"No, I'm downtown," I told him, praying that he wouldn't ask me why.

"Downtown? Okay, can you meet me on the corner of Fifth and Main?" He asked me.

I mentally calculated where that was in respect to Roman's building, thankful that it was only five minutes away.

"Yes, I can meet you." I said finally, my curiosity was rising, as was my dread.

"Lilly, just make sure you do one thing, okay? Its important." Khalil told me.

"What?" I asked, not having a clue where this was going.

"Whatever you do, do not tell Jesse. Okay? Lie if you have to, I don't care. Jesse cannot find out."

I opened my mouth to respond, but Khalil had already hung up. I pulled my phone down, staring at it with an open mouth, as if I was trying to decipher what just happened.

"Everything okay?" Roman's voice brought me back down to earth, causing me to turn and look at him. He wasn't seated on the couch, like I had expected him to be. He was standing right behind me.

"Oh," I cleared my throat, trying to steady my voice and keep the panic out of it. "I'm all good. Everything's fine. I just have to meet a friend."

Roman nodded, reaching out to me. "I can drive you. Where do you need to go?"

I stared at his hand as it felt it land on my arm. As if I had been under a trance, no doubt partially induced by my own hormones, when Roman and I were kissing, I had been awoken from it by the panic that was rising in my blood. I stepped back, away from him quickly. He titled his head at me at the same time his arm dropped back to his side.

How stupid could I be? This is why I end up in these situations, this is why I have to lie to everyone I love. It's because of me, and my reckless actions.

"No, I'm okay." I told him quickly, turning and walking towards the door. I opened it, about to leave when Roman spoke again.

"Lilac," he started, but I didn't let him finish.

"This was a mistake, Roman. I have to go." I let the door shut behind me, as I hastily moved towards the elevators.