Making out with Matthew was so much better than just kissing him.

Streaks of cobalt colored my vision as I squeezed my eyes shut so tightly that electric jolts of neon pigment stained the backs of my eyelids.

The elevator doors squealed shut behind us, the thump of the engine rattling throughout the small box we inhabited, but it was the sound of my ragged breathing crushing through my ears that turned frantic as Matthew's lips, plush and velvet, slipped their way from my own lips to the side of my jaw and down further to my neck past the collar of my windbreaker and underneath to the sports bra that I'd worn for my self defense class.

Clumsy and passion laden, my hands delved beneath his all black ensemble, the suit jacket slipping over my hands as I trailed beneath to the skin, silky smooth and clad in deep muscle sculpted from years of extensive basketball training.

There, in the glow of the dim fluorescents and the silent whirring of the elevator, my hands snuck beneath every layer of clothing he had and made their way to his abs, thick bands of muscle that trembled beneath my touch and his labored breathing.

Skin smooth as silk and sinful as lust, the taut muscles beneath my hands gave way to a precarious V line that delved beneath his pants, but before I could dive under his waistband, his hands were on the move.

Skimming and sliding over my skin and clothes, Matthew's fingertips trailed a lingering, frenzied path downwards, fire licking up at me through his touch until his hands rested on my hips, his grip so tight I could feel the bite of his fingernails in my skin through the fabric of my leggings.

His thigh was pushed directly into my center, sending shockwaves of pleasure throughout my body as I rolled against him, moaning out into his mouth at the ecstasy of his touch.

His hands left my hips, then, one slowly delving beneath the line of my leggings towards where my body met his thigh, and the other...

The other hand raced up my body and captured me by my collarbone, trapping me against the back wall of the elevator while he pulled his lips away from mine and stared at me, shamelessly rocking against his leg while trying to chase some kind of release and head knocked back against the wall breathing heavily as his eyes roamed me hungrily, greedily.

He made sure to keep eye contact as his fingers met the waistband of my underwear, the elevator dinging floor after floor in the background as up we went, to the top penthouse floor that we had to only be at least thirty seconds away from reaching.

And then his fingers reached their destination, rubbing and tugging at the pleasure center of my entire being coiled tight from need and ready to burst from the oversensitivity, but he didn't stop there.

One more second and one of his fingers was inside of me, pushing up and up and curling against my walls as I arched my back and his free hand came to twist around my back, crushing me to him and the force of his touch.

"Do you like this?"

I cried out in response as his thumb circled my clit and he thrust another finger inside me, all ability to speak or be anything other than a mindless slave driven by my own desires leaving me completely.

"El, use your words, baby."

His husky voice nearly sent me over the edge as I hiked one leg up and around his waist, hands clinging onto his frame as I shamelessly fucked his fingers and rolled my hips with him as his lips once again captured the skin of my neck.

"Yes, yes please, don't stop."

Because if he stopped then I would have had to pull back and analyze just what the hell we thought we were doing, but driven by our passions we didn't have to think about anything at all but pleasure.

"I'm going to have my mouth right here, would you want that? Me fucking you with my tongue?"

A gasped whimper escaped me at his words as he emphasized his point by capturing my lips with his and entering my mouth with his tongue.

The expert sweeps of that damned tongue combined with the undulating movements of his fingers sending me to my desired peak, and finally, magically, the transcendency evoking shooting stars behind my eyelids and as my muscles contracted and my heart gallped at a breakneck pace, I sagged against Matthew's body, sated and out of breath and altogether exhausted, but in the best possible way.

It took me a few seconds to realize that he'd withdrawn his hand and the doors to the elevator bounced open with a loud DING that reverberated throughout my entire being, the feeling wholly and uncomfortably unwelcome as I realized that, in just a few short moments, I'd have to face my entire family with Matthew in tow.

I pulled back slowly, peeking at him while trying to catch my breath.

"Umm..." I started, unsure of how to go about acting normal in front of him, let alone the rest of my family, after coming all over his hand.

His lips tipped up in a half smirk, placing one hand behind my back while guiding me out of the elevator smoothly, like what we'd just done hadn't affected him at all, which couldn't be true. I had felt the tell-tale signs of his wanting for me through the leg of his pants, and I almost choked on the memory of it.

"Don't worry. You can return the favor later. I am helping you move in tomorrow at school, after all."

And then I almost choked again as thoughts of me repaying the favor flashed through my mind, images of me down on my knees in front of him with his hand fisted in my hair, using me to fuck my face-

He grabbed onto my elbow after catching me mid-stumble and didn't even try to hide the husky chuckle that slipped through his decadently kissable lips. Fuck. I had it bad for Matthew before kissing him, before letting him make me come in less than two minutes. But after? Just call me whipped. Dick-whipped. And I hadn't even seen the damn thing yet!

I cleared my throat and took a few deep breaths while straightening out my hair and zipping the collar back up on my windbreaker because I wasn't so sure that Matthew hadn't left a few marks on my skin below the collar and tried to walk as steadily as I could even as the proof of what we'd just done still echoed in the off kilter beats of my heart and my unsteady breaths.

I'd just slotted my key in the door when V appeared immediately, looking disheveled. V never looked disheveled, not even three hours after giving birth in the hospital bed did she look even slightly messy. The girl was a superstar and a damn knockout any day of the week.

But now? Her eyes bloodshot, hair sticking up on one side of her head and a trail of mascara dripping down her cheek, she was, most definitely, disheveled.

I immediately grabbed her by the arms as alarm took root inside me.

"What's wrong, are you okay?"

V nodded her head, and was about to answer me when Eli's voice sounded from across the room.

"Well tell him that I don't care what old asshole says! He's not allowed to go anywhere near her or me! In fact, he can just stay the hell away from my entire family for all I care!"

I cringed as I noticed the telltale signs of slurring evidenced in my older brother's voice.

"What the hell is going on, man?"

I jumped at Matthew's deep baritone voice echoing across the penthouse, momentarily stricken with shock as Eli's face grew deep red with anger.

"You. I told you that you weren't allowed back in that studio! What the hell were you thinking?!"

V stepped in front of me after Eli's verbal assault.

"Eli, calm down. Do not talk to Elodie like that. And besides, you know that's not the real reason you're mad. Why don't you just sit down and we can talk about this."

"Talk, yeah, right. Your dad might've been a real asshole, V, but at least he didn't fucking hit you. And the bastard wasn't even my real dad! He was Elodie's, but not mine. And thank god my real dad wasn't here to see what that son of a bitch did to her, because that motherfucker would be six feet under right now if he knew half the shit-"

"ELI! Just shut the fuck up and tell me what is going on right now or I swear I'm leaving and I'm not coming back until you've calmed down."

V cringed at my yelling because I assumed Evie was already asleep down the hall but Eli took a wavering sigh and thankfully stopped himself before rattling on about the things my father did and didn't do to me in front of Matthew, who didn't really even know the half of it.

"Our grandfather is dying. Well, your grandfather, my step-grandfather, but yeah. And apparently, your dad has been trying to get in touch with us to tell us but since we have restraining orders against him and our mother, they couldn't tell us, but apparently, a restraining order has never stopped Jay from getting anything."

"What do you mean?"

"He followed me back from the gym and cornered me in the parking lot. I'm assuming he's going to try to do the same thing with you. Apparently, he brought his dad with him and I just got off the phone with mom telling them to stay the fuck away from us."

The sensation of pins and needles exploded all along my skin. My mind swirled with possibilities of being followed. Was that my father watching me through the window of the studio earlier that night?

"Okay, so, we just need to careful where we go and watch our surroundings and have the cops on speed dial to pick him up if he breaks his restraining order. If he tries anything, I've had about three years of self defense lessons and I would love to give him a taste of his own medicine. I'll be fine."

Okay, so maybe fine wasn't the best adjective for what I'd be, but if I acted all freaked at the possibility of my father returning in front of Eli, then there was no way he'd let me move into school the next day.

"Right. Is that why you fought that guy last year? So you could practice for the real thing and fuck your dad up when the time came? And honestly, how fucking stupid is it of you to go back to that studio in the first place? It's like you have a fucking death wish, and-"

"Hey, bro. Lay off. You're drunk, and talking out of your ass isn't helping anyone. Your sister isn't concerned, you shouldn't be either."

Matthew's sharp tone didn't miss Eli's ears.

"Hey, bro," he said mockingly. "She's my sister, I have a right to be worried if she's out there putting herself in danger on purpose, not after I fought so damn hard to keep her out of it!"

I flinched at his sharp tone as tears pricked my eyes. I didn't know why it happened, especially since I'd grown up thinking of crying as a weakness, but still it happened anyway. I tugged my arms up to hug myself, give myself some kind of comfort, but V was there suddenly, holding me to her warm chest and comforting me in a way my real mother had never been able to do.

Eli should've known what yelling would do to me, as he was there when my dad would scream and get roaring drunk and then he'd hit mom, but then he'd turn his sights on me if I so much as made a sound, so I did what I did best: I hid. But I couldn't hide here, not now.

"You need to get yourself under control. I don't know what happened to you tonight, but that is not the man that I married. Your father would be damn ashamed to see the way you're acting right now, Eli Shepherd. Go the fuck to sleep, and we will talk in the morning."

"But I-"

"I said- Go. The. Fuck. To. Sleep. I'll be staying in Evie's room tonight."

There was frigid ice in V's tone. Those two hardly ever fought, and when it was over I had to clear out of the apartment for a few hours because of their make up sex, but this fight was different. V had never spoken to him like that, but then again, Eli had never spoken to me like that before.

Something seriously had him rattled. What had my father said to him to make him like this?

I tensed for a fight but he only scoffed and threw his hands up in the air before disappearing into the hallway to his shared room with V.

"I am so sorry, he knows what yelling does to you but I guess when he's that drunk he either doesn't remember or doesn't care. He hasn't been this drunk since the NBA finals last year, and even then, he was a happy drunk. He's never been angry drunk before, not once in our entire marriage."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You put him in his place and got him to shut the hell up so it's all good. What did my father say to him that got him so riled up in the first place?"

V paled, eyes widening and taking a step back out of my hold.

"Um...you know, it's probably better that I not say. I don't know how much Matthew...I mean, it's a discussion for another day."

Oh. It was something she didn't want Matthew knowing, something about my past that she didn't think I'd want Matthew knowing.

Matthew, who hadn't spoken a word since intervening on my behalf, finally spoke up.

"It's fine, I'm sure there's some things you'd rather keep private. I'll just head off to the guest room to get some sleep for tomorrow, assuming Eli will still let you move out for school, anyway."

"She's going to college. They have campus security and, well, she is a damn blue belt for god's sakes. Elodie can damn well take care of herself by now."

I had made sure of that. But as Matthew said goodnight and strode down the hallway towards the guest bedroom, I had to wonder: could I defend my heart as well as I could defend my body?