The black car pulled alongside her and broke. “Oh my God, Doc, did you really buy a gun to keep yourself safe? How adorable. Put it down. Do you want to get a sanction?” Brady stared at her from across the passenger seat; the window lowered enough for her to connect his voice with his scowling face. 

“What do you want?”

“Get in.” 

 

Her heart knocked hard against her chest walls, her breaths panting too quickly to slow; she gritted her teeth and dropped her hands. 

“Brady! Are you following me?” 

He raked a hand through his blond hair and blew out a breath. “Yeah, because I have nothing to do on a Friday night. Just get in the car. Lady.” 

 

Dammit. 

 

Holstering her gun, she shook her head and said, “I have a car here. I’m not leaving it. And I’m not following your passive-aggressive behavior. I’ll call you father and—” 

“But you left your phone at the hospital,” he interrupted, eyes widening in accusation. 

She bit the inside corner of her lip. Shrug. 

“I texted him I was on my way home. I wouldn’t fall off the grid like that, and John knows it.” 

“Just…” He motioned between the passenger seat and her. “Get in. I want to talk and really don’t want the wrath of my dad coming down on me my first month back home. We can debate my punishment later, all right?” 

 

She didn’t like it.

Not one bit. 

 

She glanced over at her car at the front of the lot—the white BMW she purchased right before she and John had gotten married last summer—and back to his black vehicle. She should’ve recognized it for what it was. But when you’re being stalked by someone volatile, logic doesn’t always compute. It was the first time she’d ever been in this position—the shoe on the other foot, if you will—and she needed to get a handle on whatever this was before it consumed her whole life. 

“I’m not leaving my car here,” she said, asserting authority into her voice. She couldn’t take the chance of anyone worrying about her.

 

After a moment of consideration, Brady conceded. “Fine. I’ll follow you to wherever, then we can talk. Stubborn…” He muttered this last part under his breath. She ignored it and walked quickly toward her car. 

They’ve made enough of a scene. 

 

After she parked in front of the grocery store near the hospital, she locked her car and opened the door to his black car. 

“The hospital, huh?” Brady said, halting her before she climbed inside the car. She raised an eyebrow. She’ll be damned if she took him to her office during office hours. It was normal for a psychiatrist, but she was not going to bring him there to cause her a scene. 

She sat herself in the passenger seat. 

“So, are we on the same page?” She asked. 

He pulled out of the parking lot and took a right into downtown. 

“That depends,” he said, keeping his gaze ahead, driving more cautiously and slowly than even John drove. “Are we talking about what you asked your Ex husband to do to me, or about how scared you are of me?” 

 

Against her will, her lips tip up into a slight smile. “Both.” She saw him shrug from her peripheral. “However you get your motor running isn’t any of my business, Doc,” he smirked, sending a quick glance her way. “Nothing is going on between Roman and me.” She stated.

“And”—Brady flipped the blinker to make a turn, and the car crawled onto a familiar street. Her heart picked up its pace—“I thought we might take a stab at a new approach on how we’re communicating. You know, to not break the house rules and shit.” 

 

They parked in front of a nightclub. A loud whirring filled her ears. She braced her hand against the dash as if she could back them out of the parking spot by sheer will. “Why are we here, Brady? I have a patient soon and.” 

He cracked the door, and looked over at her. “I saw your schedule. No, you’re not.” He winked, causing her gut to twist uncomfortably. “But you did buy a gun without dad’s knowing.” Forcing her jaw to relax, she said, “I received it from Roman.” 

“Ah, your ex husband again…tell me, Marlena, what’s up with that, huh? Dad can’t save you from me, so you’re turning to him?”

“No. Nothing is going on between Roman and me. I love your father.”

“I’m not knocking that theory—but that’s exactly what it is; a theory. A speculation. Even though I’m young, I still like to do things my way.” 

 

Great.

Just let me go…

 

“Are we done here?”

“And even though I’m young, I can see lust when it’s in front of me.” 

“Brady, there’s no-”

“Are you coming?” The reality of the situation hit; She was about to walk into the nightclub where she might be recognized. 

She held Brady’s stare and mentally cursed him. 

“Let’s go.” 

Although it was hours away from opening, her hope that the club would be empty was quashed when Brady banged on the blacked-out window and a tall man dressed in black unlocked the door.

 

“Can I help you?” Brady flashed a black card. 

“We need to use the office. Rahoul told me I could come by anytime.” The man rolled his eyes, as if they bothered him. 

 

His jaw locked tight, his chest raised with a heavy inhale, and his features settled into a resolute hardness. She stepped backward to deflect an oncoming confrontation when Brady said, “Tell him Brady Black was here, and he would—” 

The man beckoned Marlena, “—show yourself in.” 

At the bouncer’s pleased expression, Brady added, “I trust that this information will be kept confidential.” 

“Whatever, man.” 

 

“Come on. The office is down the hall.” Brady started to follow his way inside, then stopped to look back at her. “You coming?” The look Brady was giving her said otherwise. Besides, she thought she shouldn’t accept orders from a 23-year-old. 

Her body was suddenly very aware of Brady’s appraising gaze, and she touched the table behind her as she met his eyes, keeping herself steady. The melodic swell of cellos and violins crescendos, thickening the already dense tension. “I didn’t know you were a classical music lover,” she said, deciding to be the first to break the silence. 

He was in no mood for trivial talk of music, however. He turned and started down a darkened hallway, where she assumed she was to follow. 

Her insides twisted as she did, and before she was two steps behind him, he pivoted and grabbed her waist, hauling her against him. His clear blue irises seared into her as the hard press of his muscled chest tightened her nipples painfully against the fabric of her bra. 

“Brady!” she yelped, “what are you doing?!”

He dipped his head, lowering his mouth close to her ear. “I’m asking the questions now. What are you playing at, goddess?” 

“Playing? I’m not playing at anything,” she hissed. He pulled back to look into her eyes, and the rapid knock of his heart drummed against her breasts. “This wasn’t my idea, Brady. You wanted to talk to me, remember?” 

Frustration contorted his features. “I remember. I remember so well that I’ve ached for you every second since I returned to Salem.” 

“What? You’re making so sense.”

“I was awful, I know….”

Her eyes closed at his admission. 

“What are you saying?”

Hot desire thrummed through her veins, and a pleasurable shiver caressed her skin as his deep voice enveloped her. “This is all one big game for you, Brady. Why are you trying to scare me ever since your return?” she asked, forcing her eyes to open and the haze-inducing lust in his eyes into a pocket of her brain. 

His full lips kicked up into a grin. “Always questions.” 

“You’ve been causing problems ever since you came back. Yes, It’s my time to ask the questions, Brady.” 

His eyes slit. “And yet again, you wind up in my presence and not my answers.” As his hands purposely roamed up her back, her breathing swallowed. He clasped one hand around the nape of her neck. 

“The simple answer would be, Brady, that you are doing everything in your power to break up your dad and me.” 

“And the not so simple answer?” His smile faded. 

“Stop playing games, and let me go.” 

 

He angled her head back farther, his face closing in toward hers. “As exciting as this is, it isn’t a cat-and-mouse game, goddess. My dad is not the man you’re looking for. The man you need.” With deft movements that took her off-guard, he pushed her up against the hallway wall, his body caging her in. 

“Brady, stop this at once! Stay away from me.”

“Staying away…do you know how hard it is to stay away?” His whispered confession stole over her skin, then his lips were on her neck, her jaw, trailing a blistering path across her flesh. She tipped her head back, unable to deny her body what it wanted. 

Blinking hard, she regained her bearings and pressed her palms to his chest, inserting necessary distance between them. “What are you doing? If your dad knew about this—” 

“He wouldn’t.” His movements still. “It’ll be our little secret.” Releasing a pent-up breath, she sighed. 

“I’m practically your mother.” 

Brady lifted his head, and the sudden absence of his mouth left her skin cold. A slow smile curved his lips, meeting the gleam in his eyes. “You.Are.Not. My. Mother,” he said, sliding a hand between her thighs and eliciting a soft gasp from her, “Mmmmm…I hear you, you know, in the middle of the night. When you and him think everyone’s asleep. I can hear you. Moaning. Gasping…Pleading.” The toe of his boot kicked one of her feet aside, parting her legs, giving him unhindered access to touch her where she ached. “That drives me so crazy...” 

“You’re crazy-”

“-And you know what else is crazy?” His thumb applied just enough pressure to her clit to make her writhe against him as his fingers indelicately kneaded her sensitive flesh. “Is the fact that my dad was unfaithful to you by sleeping with that Hope.” Marlena bit down on her lip, the onslaught of trembles taking hold of her body as a hot, achy throb ignited within her core. Fighting against the need to pull her under, she said, “I love your father. Please, stop this…we can’t do this.” His hand got to her hair, his back arching to press his body closer to hers. 

 

Her body didn’t care, though. She did care—the tender ache pouring through her, yearning for Brady to bind her and take every part of her, screamed louder than her integrity or even common sense. Brady grabbed her wrist and anchored her arm to the wall above her head. His palm slid to her fingers, noticing the ring there. His eyes snagged the gold material as his thumb dipped beneath the rings to rub her skin. A sharp metal sound echoed their ears when the ring fell to the concrete below. 

“Now, this, right here, says you’re mine,” he bit out. 

He pushed the neck of her shirt off her shoulder, pinning her other arm to her side with the strap of her gun harness. His face close to hers, breath grazing her lips, he said, “You want me to ease your conscience, so this is easy for you. I won’t. You either surrender to it, or you walk away.” But even as he said this, pain flashed in his eyes, mocking his assertion. 

 

He couldn’t walk away any more than she could. She twisted her forearm beneath his hold and forced his grip to tighten the hold around her wrist. He loosened a low, guttural sound as she physically submitted to him. 

“Fuck…” he breathed out, pressing his hard want against the seam of her white pants, provoking a throaty moan past her lips. “There it is…your moans…your sweet torture is divine, goddess. But my patience is running thin—don’t make me wait any longer. I need to be inside you.” Then his head dropped to her bare shoulder. His teeth sank into her skin, and she sealed her lips together to stifle a scream. The pain awakened all her senses, stirring carnal desire in her belly. 

Her craving traveled to every limb, piquing every nerve. Her hips bucked, and she wrapped a leg around him, forcing his rock-hard erection against her clit. 

“Oh no, we can’t…” she got out around the catch in her throat. Brady’s rumble of frustration reverberated through her chest as his lips and tongue massaged the sting from her shoulder. He pulled away, just enough, so that the sudden release of pressure saturated her underwear. Then his hand was there, slipping between her thighs and caressing the ache away. 

“I know you’re wet for me,” he whispered. “I can almost feel you right through your pants…so fucking wet.” His eyes ensnare hers. “Just one order, goddess, and I’ll make the pain stop.” Her chest panged with need. 

All she wanted was to surrender completely. 

To run away.

To stop that madness.

To stay.

To close her eyes and be lost to him…but she shook her head, trying to stop this from happening. 

 

“I can’t… we can’t...your dad.” 

“My dad cares about Hope and the child they made.” He lowered her zipper, sending a terrifying thrill to her chest. 

“No..Oh, God no, Brady”

“I love it when you say my name like that…” His fingers pushed into her pants, and she gasped. “Tell me, goddess. Tell me to please you right now.” 

His hands found her hair, his fingers gripping at her back, her intoxicating scent surrounded him, dissolving his will to stop. 

“Ye-” she managed. 

That was all the consent Brady needed. His fingers plundered lower until they discovered her entrance. His middle finger slid into her slit, the heel of his hand already seeking her swollen clit. 

A hard shiver wracked his body as he swirled the pads of his fingers around her slick lips. “Fuck… You’re going to break me.” He rested his forehead against hers, their breaths mingling together as her thighs quivered, then his fingers sank deep inside her. A blazing current ignited her skin, and she clutched him to her, unable to control the overpowering sensations consuming her. She rocked her hips, helping him along—but he knew what she needed. Attuned to her body and her needs, he located the spot that sent her over the edge. 

 

She felt herself tighten around him, and he groaned, dropping his head to her chest. His hand cupped one of her breasts as his hot mouth surrounded her nipple through her shirt. His teeth nipped, and his tongue flicked, pulling the ache from her core to her lower back, the impending orgasm laying claim to her whole body. 

“You’re perfect,” he said, his warm breath touching the cool wetness of her shirt and spiking her blood. He bit down on her nipple just as his fingers pumped hard into her, rubbing the swollen mound until she was trembling in his arms. His strength supported her as she sagged against the wall. His hand pressed harder against her clit, claiming her. “Come for me, goddess. Soak me.” 

A clipped moan escaped her lips. 

“Come for me, let me hear you.” he breathed into her ear.

“Oh, God-” But the rest of her plea was lost as his lips crashed against hers, swallowing her cry. His tongue delved into the hollow of her mouth, and as his lips bruised hers in a crushing kiss, she broke against him. 

 

She was a lightning rod on a beckoning flame. 

She was devoured by it. 

 

His mouth continued to take her as the aftershocks swelled and ebbed, flowing through and over her body. Removing his hand from her pants, he broke away only to grasp the backs of her thighs and lift her up against the wall. His labored breaths brushed her mouth as he drove his cock against her throbbing center, a harsh curse expelling through his gritted teeth. “You make me an animal. I’m fucking going out of my mind.” All sense of reality and where they were was a distant memory. Her desire was already building again; the feel of his desire grinding against hers has her pulling him closer. Her hands fumbled until she’d successfully yanked the back of his shirt up, and she touched his hot flesh. The tight, corded muscles of his back moved beneath her palms as her fingers dug into his skin, seeking purchase. He mimicked her need, his hand sliding beneath her shirt and pushing her bra up to palm her breast. 

As the adrenaline surged, a small voice in the back of her head was trying to be heard over the roar of emotions. Its whispered threat said she should stop. 

No one touches her but her husband. 

He was too young.

She was married.

To his dad.

 

And as his fingers grazed the line along her collarbone, the pressing fear surged to life; becoming a tangible entity. She gripped him to her harder. Past the fear and pain and torment she spoke, “we can’t do this.” 

The echo of his moan reached her ears, and Brady’s movements halted. Lifting his intense gaze to hers, he uttered a curse before his lips tasted hers once more, then he forcefully pulled away. 

Panicked, she quickly rearranged her bra and hiked her pants, zipping them closed as Brady heaved strenuous breaths just inches from her. He reached down to adjust the straining bulge in his jeans, then turned and braced his hands against the opposite wall. She watched the rise and fall of his back as he visibly struggled to calm himself. Shaken but gaining equilibrium, she took an uneven step in the direction of the entrance.

 

“Stay with me.” Almost composed, she whirled around to face Brady.

“Are you listening to yourself? I’m married to your father, I love John.” 

“You keep saying that, but we’ve proven the exact opposite, haven’t we? Get rid of him, or I will.” 

The determined, hungry glint in his pale blues conveyed the absolute urgency of their situation. Tension radiated off him at high volume, crashing against her and expressing his need. She nearly wilted under the intensity of it. If they were alone—right now—Brady wouldn’t hold back. 

As volatile as he has been with her thus far, giving her no time to…acclimate, he was even beyond that now. The imagery flashing before her eyes of what he would do to her body in his state thrilled her as much as it terrified her. 

 

“Mister Black.” The man’s curious tone pulled her out of the seductive trance, and she turned to acknowledge him. 

“Did you get what you were looking for?” Eyebrows drawn together, he nodded. “I did. But I just have a couple more questions for Dr. Evans, then we can—” A sequence of beeps triggered from her phone. 

She drew her cell from her purse and swiped open the alert.

 

“Doc, I’m looking for you.

Are you on your way home?”

 

“I have to go.” And she knew—she was not staying with Brady. She glanced over and found Brady’s gaze already on her, a knowing, resolute look creasing the corners of his eyes. “Thanks for your time and cooperation, Mister.” Brady nodded to the man, leaving before he encountered further resistance. 

Marlena felt Brady’s hand on the small of her back. He guided her toward the side of the entrance, just out of eyeshot, and whispered near her ear, “I need to see you. Tonight.” It rang more like a warning than a promise. 

Her back tensed. “It won’t happen.” 

“Do you really want me to tell my dad about what you asked your ex-lover to do to me?” His thumb hooked into the back of her jeans, pulling her to a stop. His chest pressed close to her back. “Second, we’re not done here.” There was no catch in his voice, no hitch in his breathing when he delivered his response. She wanted to shut off the world.  

 

She turned to face Brady, and his arm stayed firmly in place around her waist. “Don’t do this. Don’t make threats.” The words blurted from her mouth before she could stop them. His eyes widened, hard gaze drilling right back into hers. 

“Marlena-” The accusation hung heavy in the air between them. 

She lifted her chin. “There’s no time to discuss this, Brady—” 

“Make time.” With a tense exhale, she said, “I have to go.” 

His lips press into a hard line. “Go straight home and wait for me there.” 

She balked, breaking out of his hold. “That’s not going to happen.” 

“So you’re going to go right to him?” The fury in his voice gave way to his desperation. He dragged a hand over his face, and his eyes pinned her with a fierce stare. 

“Don’t go.” 

She might always have reservations when it came to Brady. “I have to go,” she said. “It’s not just about Roman. I won’t let anyone, ever again, destroy my happiness with John.” She stepped closer and took his hand in hers. “And you’re right; I can’t make you keep this secret, but I’m asking you to do something that I can’t. Not to get involved….” 

“Shit.”

Looking down at their hands, he laced his fingers through hers. “You’re asking for a lot, goddess—” he looked up and brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek “—but I wish you’d let me in.” 

She swallowed hard. 

“Stay with me.” His stony blue eyes pleaded.

“I’m leaving.” 

Releasing his hand, she stepped away and rushed through the exit before Brady could convince her otherwise. 

“Marlena?” The fear in his voice just made this situation all the more real, and she desperately needed the security of routine to comfort her right now. As she stepped onto the sidewalk, the sound of something breaking from inside the club crashed through her resolve. Brady stood inside still, door open. 

 

She didn’t look back at the club. “I love your father, Brady. And I really hate underhanded tactics. Unless you want my wrath coming down on you your first month back, you won’t pull a fucking stunt like that again, and you will not breathe about this to John.”