Tonight was opening night.

It had been two and a half weeks since Zach had been arrested. Two and a half weeks of living with Kaleb. Two and a half weeks of not living in a perpetual state of fear.

The last two and a half weeks were a dream come to reality.

The only true downer of the past weeks would be that since Zach had been arrested, my very private, abusive home life had become... not so private.

Everyone knew.

The play's opening had to be pushed back a week in order to let my bruises heal over my face and to just give Kaleb and myself some time to recoup and get our minds straight after that night.

Dave was beyond disturbed when Kaleb and I went in for the first rehearsal after having a solid week off. The moment we walked in to the theater, all conversation stopped.

I knew some of my bruises were still evident and would take at least another week to heal up but would be fine for the opening of the show.

To put it simply, Dave was obviously troubled that this had been going on under his nose, Jackson was livid with rage, and Meg... she was beside herself in sadness that I hadn't felt I could tell her.

She called a lot the week I was out with Kaleb for recovery. She tried to be respectful of my space but Meg being Meg could only respect our boundaries so much.

She came over twice, not for lack of trying to make an appearance more often though. I knew she cared about me and I knew she just wanted to help and to be honest... I wasn't against it.

She was one of the kindest people I had ever met and she wanted to be my friend, to try and help take some of the burden from my shoulders by simply offering me a listening ear and shoulder to cry on. I of course held back as much as I could towards the beginning of her constant calls but eventually her sweet, nurturing nature broke me.

It felt beyond refreshing to say that I actually had a friend again.

Everyone else had several questions of course.

How long was it going on? Why didn't I leave? What was going to happen to Zach?

To the last question, I truly wasn't sure.

I had signed a restraining order, answered the last of the questions that the police had and they said that if they had any further information that they would call me.

I knew Zach was being tried for attempted murder; a charge that could easily put someone behind bars for at least ten years.

Aside from that, I really didn't want updates on what was happening with him. He was out of my life and for that I was truly grateful. I was getting a second chance to live the life that I wanted, that I started out living and hearing about Zach only threw me into a downward, depressing spiral that I wanted no part of.

But today was opening night, and nothing would tear down my nervous excitement today.

I always loved opening night. It's the first time you really get to hear the laughs, the sighs of despair, and the soft sobs as the echo through the theater throughout the performance. The thrill of performing for a live audience would never die for me. It was buried deep within my bones and tonight, I would get to experience the joy once more as the curtains pulled back and Act 1 began.

And as I heard the bustle of the crowd from the other side of the curtain while I sat backstage, I knew that moment wasn't very far off.

"It's gonna take a lot of self-restraint not to touch you whenever I want over the next two hours," a familiar, deep voice mused out next to me.

My attention flew to find Kaleb watching me with playful, curious eyes as he stood perched up against a wall, arms crossed over his broad chest. My eyes immediately lowered and greedily took in how exceptionally handsome Kaleb looked in his costume for Dan.

He was wearing a crisp, white, long sleeved shirt that did little to hide his true, massive build that lay underneath and a pair of tan slacks that I was almost positive formed to his backside with perfect precision.

Kaleb's thick, raven colored hair was swept back into a more styled and professional look that I wasn't accustomed to for him but it worked none the less. His usually clean shaved face was now covered in a light scruff across his jawline that Dave required Kaleb to grow out for the role.

It gave Kaleb an even more masculine, ruggedly handsome look than usual and I was more than alright if he wanted to keep the facial hair after the show closed.

"My eyes are up here, Peaches."

I felt the blood rush into my cheeks as my stare snapped back up to Kaleb's more than amused azure stare.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself," I mumbled out coyly as I fought off a smile.

"I know the struggle," Kaleb hummed out hungrily as he made his way towards me, instantly engulfing me in his embrace as his large hands slipped around my slim waist, bringing his solid chest and mine flush up against each other's.

Kaleb's dark stare slipped down and took in the rather short, tight, sapphire blue dress I was sporting for Alice for her first scene.

I felt Kaleb's warm hands tighten their hold on my waist as Kaleb shook his head slowly and brought his amorous gaze back to mine.

"Every guy in that audience is gonna have their eyes on you tonight."

"But you're the one I'm going home with," I quipped back in a loving tone.

At this, Kaleb's lips tilted up into a sweet grin, his eyes filling and shining with adoration as he brought his hand up and caressed his fingers across the rise of my cheek bone lovingly.

"I like that answer."

Pressing my cheek into Kaleb's warm hold, I smiled up at him.

"Me too."

The play began about ten minutes later when the clock hit 7 pm. The audience was eating it up and only pumped myself, Kaleb, Jackson, and Meg on ever more with every gasp or cry they would let out during the course of the night.

By the time we headed towards the end of the show, my adrenaline was circulating through my veins at a rapid pace and I was almost sad that we had seemed to reach the end of the play as quickly as we had.

Time really does fly when you're having fun.

The play was now approaching some of the last scenes in the play. The next scene would be the one that Kaleb actually realized his true feelings for me during, where Alice tells Dan she's leaving him. Yet, the scene starts out very very differently than how it ends.

Both Kaleb and I climbed into the bed on the completely blacked out side of the stage in preparation to begin the scene. We had to be as silent as possible since Meg and Jackson were mere 15 feet away from us performing their scene on the opposite side of the stage.

Once I had settled myself back into the soft mattress and underneath the covers of the makeshift bed, I felt as Kaleb shifted his entire body over top of mine, hidden underneath the security of the covers as well.

My body that was barely covered by the black, silk negligée that I was wearing was all too aware of the fact that Kaleb's perfectly toned body was quite bare as well, aside from the boxer shorts he was wearing underneath.

The exquisite ridges of his firm torso teased my hormones as he rested his weight against my body and once again I found myself wondering; when would I be ready to take that final step with him?

I was desperately in love with him, undeniably attracted to him and fully his in every way and form aside from that small and yet highly significant aspect.

I was ripped out of my lust filled thoughts as I felt two large hands wrap around my upper thighs and slowly push up the hem of my negligee until his hands came up and gripped the smooth skin of my waist in his dominating grasp.

"I think this is by far my favorite scene," Kaleb mumbled out as he nestled his face into my neck.

This scene was supposed to open up with my character, Alice, crying out in orgasm as her and Dan finish having sex before the scene officially begins. Kaleb and I had been getting more and more into the scene with every rehearsal. Touching more, grabbing at each other's bodies more anxiously, grinding and kissing our way through the entire scene until the lights came up on our side of the stage and I would cry out a fake climax that I was wishing more and more was real.

A sharp gasp tore past my lips as I felt the nip of pleasurable pain course through my neck as Kaleb sunk his teeth into the soft spot between my shoulder and neck.

On instinct, I pushed my hips up into Kaleb's and ground my pelvis against his as my core began to throb more and more with each passing second.

"Careful there, Peaches," Kaleb warned in a low, sensual voice that only stirred my hormones even further as his lips worked against my skin in fiery kisses, his hot tongue trailing across my bare skin and igniting a lustful flame deep within my core that only Kaleb could scorch out.

"What if I don't wanna be careful?" I asked, my voice thick with lust that I couldn't seem to control as the words spilled from my lips without thought.

That's exactly how things seemed to work whenever Kaleb's body was in this close proximity with mine and his lips worked as expertly across my skin as they were now.

No thought, only actions.

A growl vibrated through Kaleb's chest and into mine as I rolled my hips up into his again, noticing a slight bulge pressing against my hip bone that was beginning to grow prominent in Kaleb's boxer shorts.

"I hope you're good at keeping quiet, Peaches."

Confusion circled through my mind until I felt one of Kaleb's large hands drop down to the laced strap of my underwear.

Oh my god.

I was suddenly very aware of the audience of 200 people or so sitting just feet away from Kaleb and I as I felt the brush of his fingers against the center of my quickly dampening panties.

Was he going to do what I thought he was in front of 200 plus people?

The answer to my question came swiftly as Kaleb pressed a chaste kiss underneath the base of my ear as he simultaneously pulled my underwear to the side and I felt one of his commanding fingers slide across my slick folds.

I quickly sealed my lips together to keep in the instant gasp of pleasure that shot through my body at his exhilarating touch.

"Oh, god," I whispered out as I felt one of Kaleb's fingers slip inside of me, filling me completely and almost immediately hitting a severe pleasure point inside of me.

"Quite, Peaches," Kaleb mumbled out against the base of my neck. "Wouldn't want the audience to hear you."

I threw my head back into the pillow, pressing it into the soft material as Kaleb began to pump his finger inside of me while his thumb pressed against my clit, moving in titillating circles that sent waves of obscene pleasure pulsing through my core with each skilled movement of his thumb.

"Kaleb," I breathed out as quietly as I could as my mind began to run wild with lust as Kaleb kissed his way up my cheek. I immediately turned my head to the side and found his lips with mine, connecting our lips in a passionate kiss that sent my heart into over drive as his fingers continued to propel my body closer and closer to that pleasurable finish line.

Kaleb's lips moved over mine with an intensity that I only matched as I drew my arms around his neck and pulled him into me completely, needing to be as physically close to him as I felt to him emotionally in this moment.

A soft moan slipped past Kaleb and I's kiss as I felt him increase his fingers actions inside of me. Jolts of pleasure pulsed and radiated through my body and I suddenly realized exactly what he was doing.

He was attempting to time my actual orgasm with the exact moment the lights came up on our side of the stage and my character was supposed to scream out in fake climax.

He wanted me to have a massive orgasm in front of hundreds of strangers.

And for some crazed reason, that fact turned me on like never before.

Kaleb's soft lips broke from mine, our intense breathing intermingling with each other's as he watched me as I climbed higher and higher to that glorious finish line that only Kaleb could seem to push me over.

Kaleb's stare was filled to the brim with an erotic hunger and he seemed to be mesmerized as he watched my face contort in pleasure with each passing second as he pumped his fingers rapidly inside of me, his thumbs actions quickening to an almost unbearable point.

"I'm close-"

"I know," Kaleb cut me off to say, his voice husky and low as he spoke above me.

My eyes screwed shut as I felt my entire body begin to tense up as I was sent higher, my core screaming in a dire release that was just seconds away.

"I love you," I managed to say in a strangled wisp of a voice; my eyes fluttering open for just a second to find Kaleb's.

"I love you too, so fucking much," Kaleb whispered, his voice swelling with such a firm devotion and adoration as he kept his eyes fixed onto mine.

"Come, Leah," Kaleb ordered, his eyes drilling into mine as his expert fingers threw me over the edge as his thumb pressed down onto my clit firmly and sent an earth shattering orgasm crashing through every inch of my body.

A loud, guttural cry ripped past my lips just as the lights on Kaleb and I's side of the stage came up.

My orgasm lasted far longer than my normal, fake climax would but I couldn't be bothered to care as I was far too focused on riding out my orgasm to the fullest and soaking up every pleasurable sensation that was currently coursing through my body.

Finally, my breathing died down into soft pants as my core's sensitivity dwindled down as my climax came to a close and the reality of what just happened abruptly sunk in.

I just had 200 strangers watch me as I had a very real, very intense orgasm.

My wild eyes met Kaleb's, taking note to the wicked amusement sitting in his azure stare.

He was more than pleased with himself as well as desperately turned on as I felt his solid erection pressing into my hipbone, begging to be released.

And if I'm being honest... I felt no fear at the feeling of him ready and waiting against my body.

In fact, I liked it. It excited me as even as I trudged out of the bed on wobbling legs and started the scene, I couldn't seem to get the circling question from dissipating from my anxious thoughts.

Was I ready to finally sleep with Kaleb?