Kaden knows my body like it was made for him. His fingers are knuckle-deep in me, arched and pressing all the right spots. He's rewiring me, making my legs twitch under me and my hands pulse on his shoulders. To any passerby, we look like a couple romantically swaying to the music, exchanging an innocent intimacy that doesn't go past a hand at the waist and a polite smile. It's a lie, though. There's nothing innocent about how he grips my ass; nothing polite about how he rudely tells my pussy it belongs to him by shoving it full with him. We're lying to everyone except the full moon above us that makes his fingers glisten with my slick.

Kaden and I are good at lying— to the world, to ourselves. We pretend like there's only business between us, but we touch each other in our daydreams, dreams, and while we're fully conscious. Just like tonight.

He pulls his fingers out. Right as I'm about to complain, he licks his fingers clean, eating me. His eyes do the same. They eat the flush of my cheeks, the panting on my lips, the delirium in my gaze.

He fills me back up, but instead of pumping his fingers, he swirls them around.

"I love this tight, warm pussy." He grunts, licking me from chin to cheek. "I wish I could lap it dry."

"Do it," I dare. I know that he can't get on his knees to lick me, but it's my nature to push his buttons.

He growls and shoves his fingers deeper, pushing my buttons— all the right ones.

I tremble from how fast he finger-fucks me. His bicep must be on fire. The thrusts are shallow and fast. My pussy clenches, desperate to pull him closer, but he pulls out right in time to avoid my clutch. He's teasing me; playing me.

"Kaden," I moan. "Stop. I'll– I'll..."

It's his endurance and the determination in his brow that push me over the edge.

I slump down. Kaden holds my full weight as I fall apart in his hand. The shards that remain of me crumble through his fingers. Our dance has reached its ending. Our performance was so passionate that I'm left sore and breathless.

I feel something prod me. It's too soft and warm to be a finger.

"Alpha," I whisper when he slips the tip of his cock into me. The painful heels I wore all night bring our height closer, making it easier for Kaden to enter me.

"What are you doing?" I stupidly ask.

"Collecting my trophy." Kaden grunts, soaking his throbbing length in me.

"Hey, Kaden! Come back to the party!" Someone yells in the background.

I freeze, mortified. Kaden growls with frustration and shoves his erection back into his pants. The slacks do little to tame his cock.

He reaches for his neck, pulls his tie off, and uses it to wipe between my legs. After straightening my skirt, he bends down to pick up a glass of brandy. He splashes the cup on my dress, and then on himself. The tie is shoved into what remains in the cup.

The smell of alcohol is overwhelming, masking what we were just doing.

Our eyes meet, and what I find in his expression makes me feel like I'm orgasming again. He stares down at me with stars in his eyes, complementing the moon above us. His eyes are hooded, his lips parted, his breath mixing with mine just like our pelvises had.

His look touches me more intimately than his fingers did. This look pierces deeper.

"Kaden!" someone calls again, breaking the moment.

"Goddamn it," he huffs, takes my hand, and leads me back into the crowd.

"Woah, what happened?" Darian asks when he gets a look at us. We're practically dripping alcohol.

"Nothing. Kaden just fell and spilled on us." I lied.

"Are you sure, Kenna? I remember you being the one who fell into my arms and spilled all over my fingers."

Oh, my goddess! The cheeky bastard!

"Excuse her," Kaden tells Darian. "She's drunk," he continues to dig his grave.

"It was a pleasure having you two here, even if you desecrated my balcony." Darian smirks.

I become red from head to toe.

"Darian..." Kaden scowls, stepping forward. I grip his forearm.

"Woah, calm down, buddy." Darian laughs. "Nobody noticed. I promise I won't tell my wife if you name your firstborn after me. He can have his uncle's name. Isn't that cute?"

"How about I don't play bowling with your teeth and my fists?" Kaden offers.

"Deal."

The two shake hands, and then Kaden escorts me. We bid some goodbyes on the way out before getting locked in a tense car.

I lower the window to air out the smell of alcohol, and I pretend like the man sitting next to me doesn't have fingers wet with my melted passion.

Kaden stares out of the opposing window.

"I—"

"So—"

We return to silence for fifteen minutes. The roads are dark, but we're followed by Kaden's security. I'm pulled out of my thoughts when a bump in the road tips the car, and I wind up sprawled over Kaden's lap.

I quickly scramble off.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

"Mhmm." My eyes don't meet his.

"Kenna?"

I sigh and look up. "Yes?"

"We can't pretend like the balcony never happened."

I nod.

"Will you transfer packs, or will you acknowledge what I already accepted and stay?"

No words come from me. I wish I could at least reply, "I don't know," but I don't want to make a liar of myself. We have lied enough tonight.

Kaden rumbles with a low chuckle.

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Clearly, you're hiding something," I insist.

"It sounds like you're projecting, sweetheart. Are you hiding something?"

Damn it, he's right. Everything is bothering me. I want to be the bigger person who walks away, but it feels lovely to be small in Kaden's protective embrace. I don't want to be big, but to be suffocated by his lips, wobbling under his overwhelming gaze, crushed by his weight as he thrusts between my thighs.

There are no more bumps on the way home. Only a flatline of silence.

When we arrive, the car parks at the road, and Kaden walks me home. My heels dangle from my hands and my bare feet stride over the cool grass.

"So this is it," he says when my cabin comes into view.

"Yeah. I..." I stop when I notice a figure on my porch, illuminated by my dim lights.

It's a woman.

We approach my cabin, and the woman turns to face us.

"Sylvie?" Kaden recognizes her.

Her eyes lock on me, and although my dress only shows my leg and back, I feel naked. Her teary eyes are saturating through my clothes, making me feel like a promiscuous woman.

"Kaden..." she sniffles. "I tried calling when I heard you went to the gathering with Kenna and I..." her eyes shift to me. "Kenna, I'm so sorry I showed up here. I don't want to be intrusive, but I really need to speak with Kaden."

Awkwardness rips through the clearing. I want to walk away because this doesn't involve me, but the woman is standing on my porch and blocking my entrance.

I'm a home-wrecker in my own home.

"Um..." I shoot Kaden a panicked glance. "Okay. Can you let me through?"

"Sylvie..." Kaden interjects. He clears his throat, regarding the situation carefully. "Is it an emergency?"

"No. Oh, Goddess, I'm so embarrassed. I needed to talk about us. Are... are you choosing to be with Kenna?"

I should have tripped over my heels and broken my neck earlier tonight. Maybe that way I could have escaped this cringy exchange.

I approach my porch, hoping to disappear behind my door.

"What relationship? I thought I was clear that I could not offer sex or affection. We were friends that went to public outings together. That's all. I'm sorry if there was any confusion."

"But you held my hand so tenderly! And when you complimented my dresses and..." Sylvie chokes on a sob and runs off, her arm brushing mine.

We watch her disappear into the woods.

Kaden looks at me, looking uncomfortable.

"I..."

"Go," I decide for him, the word thick in my throat like a pill I can't swallow. "Go make sure she's safe."

His hands clench and unclench. He looks toward the woods and back at me before shouting, "Fuck!"

He runs a hand through his hair, messing it up. "I'll return tomorrow. I..."

"Go make sure she's safe," I repeat. "You owe me nothing."

I hear an exasperated sigh before he runs off into the night, following Sylvie's trail of tears.

– • –

In the morning, I can still smell the brandy on my body. I've showered from head to toe, splashed perfume on, but still smell like a cheap nightclub.

The scent does little to distract me from what happened last night.

I walk into the clinic and sigh when I spot Chaney. "Yeah, yeah. I smell like an alcoholic in a brewery. Let me have it."

She doesn't smile. She doesn't even look up at me.

"Chaney?"

She bites her lip and looks at me with a torn expression. "Hey, Kenna."

"What's up with you? Did you confuse the Tic-Tacs with pain meds with again?"

"No... it's about you." She takes my forearm and tugs me into a supply toom. "There are ugly rumors circulating."

So soon?

"Is Sylvie talking?"

"No. People are talking on her behalf, though. You know everyone expected her to be Luna since she was Kaden's arm candy. They're calling you the other woman who tore them apart." She bites her lip. "And I know it's not true, but Kenna, I've been hearing gossip for years. Nothing has ever been this outraging. It's so hot that everyone is talking about it."

Knowing that I'm in the spotlight makes my skin crawl, but I knew this would always be a risk as long as I stayed beside Kaden.

"Don't worry, Chaney. It will die out eventually. All rumors do."

There's no confidence in my words.