Chapter 6

Theodore froze. The stool slipped from his hand and crashed to the floor.

Tabitha's soft fingers started roaming restlessly over the bare skin at his waist, sending a tingling numbness shooting through his whole body.

"L-Let go." His voice came out hoarse, and his Adam's apple bobbed hard.

Instead of letting go, Tabitha plastered herself even closer. She pressed her soft cheek to his back, her hot breath spilling over his spine, one warm puff after another.

"So hot…" she mumbled, dazed. "You feel so good… Let me hold you…"

Theodore gritted his teeth and started prying at her fingers, peeling them off one by one. Each time he loosened one, she wrapped them back around him even faster.

He could feel his self-control fraying by the second. The heat pooling low in his stomach rose, and his temples pounded.

Sure, he hadn't done the deed before, but he had plenty of theoretical knowledge. Based on everything he'd ever seen in videos or "educational" content online… yeah, he was definitely getting hard.

But even if he was ready to go, he was a man, not some animal.

"Don't push me. I really will lose it." Theodore suddenly turned, gripping Tabitha's shoulders and shoving her half a step back.

Truth was, Tabitha wasn't completely out of it. Her brain had cleared for a brief window after soaking in cold water for a while.

There was almost no chance she was getting out of here unscathed. If she wanted to stay alive, she had exactly one option left. Her life had already been paid for with two others, so she couldn't just die here. That would be giving Caroline and Jordan exactly what they wanted.

She hadn't even gotten revenge for Tufty yet. How could she just die like that?

With that thought, Tabitha reached up, looped her arms around Theodore's neck, and rose on tiptoe to press herself against him. If she wasn't even afraid of death, then what did being chaste and all that nonsense matter?

Besides, Theodore was as tall and handsome as if he'd walked right out of a magazine. And judging from how desperately he'd been trying to protect her, his character probably wasn't that bad, either.

He'd saved her once, so now she'd save herself and save him, too. After this, they were even.

"I'm not pushing you," Tabitha said, her eyes going hazy. She blurted out in a silly, fearless rush, "I… I wanna sleep with you!"

Theodore stared at her incredulously. What was she, a full-on pervert?

"No way! I-I don't agree to this, and I'm not taking advantage of someone half-conscious. Go back to the bathroom and soak in your cold—"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before she sealed his lips with hers. They were unbelievably soft, and they carried heat and her unique scent.

Theodore's mind went blank, and his ears rang. Every last shred of rational thought blew apart on the spot. He went rigid, his hands still frozen mid-push in the air, his fingers twitching.

Tabitha was a complete novice. She pressed her lips to his and just stayed there. After a beat, she rubbed against him twice, as if she were making sure she'd found the right spot.

She was unsteady balancing on her toes; she hung off him and slowly slid down. Her lips moved away from his and brushed along his jawline instead.

Theodore's breathing fell apart.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" His palm landed at the small of her back. He meant to push her away, but the second his fingers felt that slim curve of her waist, they tightened on their own.

Tabitha tipped her head back to look at him, her eyes misty and glistening. "I do."

Before he could even process that, she launched herself at him again. He wasn't prepared at all, so they fell backward onto the bed after she tackled him. He sank into the mattress.

She swung a leg over and straddled him, her clumsy kisses raining down all over him in a messy, breathless rush. Only one thought was in her head—to stay alive.

There was a saying that if a person was going to die, they might as well die happy. Even if she slept with him and still ended up dead that night, at least she would've gone down swinging, right?

Tabitha didn't give Theodore a chance to speak. She sealed his lips and practically devoured him.

His brain short-circuited. He had zero defense against how aggressively she was throwing herself at him.

He wrapped his arms around her and sat up without bracing himself against the mattress. Cupping her face in both hands, he rasped, "Are you… are you gonna take responsibility for this?"

Tabitha actually chuckled at that. Wasn't he supposed to be some male escort? Why was he acting like some pure, untouched virgin asking her to take responsibility for popping his cherry?

"Yes, I will," she said firmly.

In her head, though, she added, "I'll take responsibility… by tipping you extra."

"Really?"

Tabitha was on the verge of losing it. Her voice came out choked as she pounded on his chest. "Why are you dragging this out? I don't wanna die. Just treat it like doing a good deed and save me one more time."

Something seemed to click in her foggy mind. She backed up a little and gave him a once-over, her gaze finally dropping to Theodore's groin. "Or is it… you can't get it up?"

A vein throbbed at Theodore's temple. Sure, she'd hit the nail on the head, but did she have to be so blunt about it?

"Honestly, I don't care. Even if you can't, you're gonna make it work tonight!" As soon as the words left her mouth, Tabitha's lips crashed back onto his. She sounded like some shameless pervert.

It was the first time Theodore had ever heard something that bold. He honestly had no idea what to do, but he didn't push her away this time.

He had just started to close his eyes when something in his peripheral vision snagged his attention. On the wall at the foot of the bed, a tiny red light was blinking. It was probably from a camera or something.

Whoever was out to get Tabitha really hadn't left her any way out, huh?

Theodore's fingers tightened at the back of Tabitha's head as he palmed her nape, yanking her in and deepening the kiss. His eyes lifted in open challenge toward the camera.

With his other hand, he grabbed a small ornament off the nightstand and hurled it straight at that blinking dot. The hit landed dead-on with a dull thud, and the light went dark.

The noise startled Tabitha. Her mouth slipped off the corner of Theodore's lips as she glanced dazedly toward the sound.

He caught her by the back of the neck again and dragged her back down to him. His lips hovered a hair's breadth away from hers as he rasped, "I can save you…"

He tilted his head, his mouth brushing the edge of her ear. "But after tonight, you don't get to pretend this never happened. You came after me first!"

Tabitha froze. Before she could even process that, Theodore had already rolled them, pinning her to the mattress. His fingers slid along the small of her back, hauling her higher against him. "Tell me if anything feels wrong."

She arched her neck, a muffled moan slipping from her throat. Her hands gripped his shoulders, her nails digging into the wound on his back until fresh beads of blood welled up.

He let out a low laugh and dipped his head to kiss the tiny red mole just above her collarbone.

"Pretty ruthless," he murmured. For all his words, his movements were unexpectedly gentle.

The wedding photo above the headboard had never looked more ironic.

The bed started rocking again, bodies tangling and rolling. Heat built and built until no one knew how late the night outside had grown.