I checked my watch and saw that it was time for my lunch break. Hooray, I thought with a sigh. I cleaned up my work station and packed everything away, taking my lab coat off and hanging it up. I went to my desk and got my handbag, taking my phone and turning it on as I walked to the staff room to have something to eat. As soon as my phone was on it buzzed repeatedly with several text messages that I had missed while I had been working for the duration of the morning. The last text message was from ten minutes ago.

I know you’re getting the messages. The last text read. I sighed. Derek, I thought. My mind jumped back to the memory of the party we attended two days ago. If I closed my eyes and thought hard enough, I was back in the confines of the basement with Derek circling me like prey. The rest of the party was a blur after that, my mind was hazy and there wasn’t much I remember. I felt terribly guilty, I remembered that. I also remembered Bryan asking me where I had got to.

“I was just helping Derek with some of April’s old stuff,” I lied. I was very nervous and jittery, unable to give Bryan eye contact, feeling that if he could look in my eyes, he would read me and know the truth. “He wants to burn it!” I said, laughing nervously, a loud, shrill laugh to try and give the appearance that everything was okay.

“Are you okay?” Bryan asked, pulling me to the side, a concerned look on his face.

“It’s the alcohol,” I said, lying again. “I hardly ever drink. The wine must have gone to my head.”

“We can go home if you like?” Bryan asked. I feared that if I said yes then he may get suspicious of me and wonder why I was so eager to get out of there. It had been such a long time since the trio had been united, and Derek threw such legendary parties that no one wanted to be the first to leave. I may have felt guilty then at the party, but I would feel worse if we left because of my odd mood.

“No,” I said. “We’ll stay. It’s been so long since the three of us were last together.” So we stayed until the early hours of the morning. I was very clingy with my husband, trying to make up for what I had done. Now it was the beginning of a new week and I wanted to forget everything, but the texts from Derek were making it difficult for me to forget.

I sat down to lunch and tried to ignore the text messages but then, ten minutes later my phone rang. If I ignored his call then Derek would know that he was getting to me, and part of me didn’t want to give him that satisfaction. Thankfully the staff room was empty, one of the perks of getting the late lunch break.

“Yes, Derek?” I answered.

“Why hello yellow hair,” he said. I knew he was smiling wolfishly at the jibe, I could almost hear it in his voice.

“Please stop texting me.”

“So I met this girl at my party over the weekend. Gorgeous blond with bright blue eyes and a winning smile. She hadn’t had sex in a while, I could tell. I manage to get her away from the party for a bit, and guess what? We totally did it up against the basement wall,” he said, ignoring my request and teasing me.

“Derek please,” I said.

“Begging for it again are we?”

“I’m serious, Derek. What happened was a once off. It shouldn’t have even happened in the first place. I love my husband very much, and I feel terrible about what I did. You will stop texting me, and you will stop ringing me, for Bryan’s sake. He is your best friend and I know we both love him in our own ways,” I explained, getting slightly emotional.

“Can we at least meet up?” he asked.

“You know we can’t.”

“Why, don’t you trust me?” he asked.

“You and I both know the answer to that question,” I stated. I was starting to tire of his sarcastic tone and jibes.

“Do you trust yourself?” asked Derek.

“What? Of course I do.”

“Well if that’s the case, come around to my house after work so we can talk. If you can trust yourself enough then we shouldn’t have a problem,” he said, before hanging up. He was setting me up for failure, we both knew that. But that was what made the situation so dangerously delicious and naughty. I hated myself for betraying Bryan, but I was finding it more and more difficult to ignore Derek and his confident manly charms.

I tried to focus on the present and my job, forcing all thoughts of Derek out of my mind. Thankfully we were very busy at work so this was easy to do. Except when five o’clock rolled around and it was time for me to knock off and go home. But Derek had challenged me. If I didn’t go and see him then he would know that I didn’t trust myself around him. He then may become more ferocious with his pursuit of me. If I did go I could prove him wrong. But what if once I got there he wore me down and we ended up having sex again? I tried to tell myself that I was being ridiculous. I was grown woman and I could take care of myself. I simply wouldn’t let Derek Greene get the better of me.

I purposely took my time driving across town to Derek’s house. Once I got there I parked up and sat in my car for ten minutes, questioning my options and deliberating about what I should do. What’s the worst that can happen? I thought. Of course I knew what that was, but I told myself over and over that that would not happen. I was a big girl. I had resisted Derek all those years ago for the sake of Bryan and our love, I could do it now.

I knocked briskly on the front door, wanting this to be over as soon as possible. I had lied to Bryan about being home later than usual but I didn’t want to push it. I noticed with a sort of cold enthusiasm that I was getting good at lying to my husband.

“Hello yellow hair,” Derek greeted, ushering me inside. I hesitated and he chuckled. “So you don’t trust yourself? I knew it. You can’ resist my charms.”

“Of course I trust myself,” I said, walking past him and into the house, trying to muster as much confidence as possible.

He offered me a seat at the dining table in the kitchen, sitting opposite me, a glass of wine waiting in front of me. “So what lies did you tell Bryan this time?” he asked. I hated his tone of voice, very derisive and taunting. He was making fun of me and he was making fun of my husband. It immediately set me on edge.

“Do you have no decency at all?” I asked. “Bryan is your best friend, do you have no feelings towards him at all? Does this friendship mean nothing to you?”

“Janet of course it means something to me. I can’t believe that you would even think that of me,” he rebuked.

“So then why are you doing this?” I questioned.

“Because life is short, you have to seize the day and live life. I’m sick of merely existing. I want to live. This failed marriage and what went down between April and I has taught me there that is a whole world out there, so many opportunities and experiences that I am yet to find. I am a free man, I can do as I please,” he said, leaning back in his chair and smiling at me.

“That may be, but I am not a free person. I love Bryan,” I replied. Derek got up from his seat and sat on the edge of the table next to me, tucking a hair behind my ear and then running his fingers down the side of my face and jawline, using the lightest of touches.

"Life is short Janet. We cannot let opportunities pass us by, only to regret it later. I'm sick of thinking 'what if'. I'm never going to let anything pass me by anymore. I'm sick of thinking about the consequences and letting it stop me. Don't you ever just think 'screw it' sometimes? It's very liberating, to not care about the consequences of your actions."

"It's also very dangerous Derek," I told him. He stared at me and smiled, his grin mirroring his sardonic and apathetic attitude. 

When he spoke to me he was very quiet but very commanding. “Did you not enjoy our little escapade in the basement? Did it not ignite a passion in you that you thought was long gone? Dead even? You love Bryan, of course you do, but the sex is boring. It’s plain and uneventful. Where once you liked the regularity of your life and the routine of your married existence, you question it now. You beg for excitement and liveliness, for something out of the ordinary to happen but it never does. You’re too afraid to ask Bryan for something new or to change it up in the bedroom for fear of upsetting him. He might think he’s not enough for you or that you need more than what he can offer you.”

He had read my thoughts. Derek Greene had read my mind, everything he had said was true. I questioned everything in that moment, wondering how he had known all that about me. I knew what he was doing. He was seducing me, using his natural charm and charisma to get me into bed. I wasn’t in control of myself anymore. My self-control had stayed in the car. At work even, with my lab coat and scientific research.

He leaned down and kissed me lightly on the lips. It was the lightest of touches, yet it made me feel something inside me that I hadn’t felt in a long time. Of course I knew it was bad and of course I knew it was wrong, but I let him kiss me anyway a second time. When he kissed me a third time, his lips lingering in front of mine, I kissed him back. I returned the kiss, becoming swept away in the moment. Derek stood up, placed two hands on my shoulders and pulled me up with him.

Soon we were kissing passionately and with force, his tongue grazing my lips and then eventually forcing its way into my mouth. I broke off the kiss in surprise and Derek looked at me, wondering if he had done something wrong, but soon we were kissing again, our tongues rubbing together and doing a dance. It was fantastic. I hadn’t felt this much passion and lust in a long time. This was dangerous, wrong and naughty, which was what made it so exciting and thrilling. Derek moved the wine glass he had set out for me, picked me up slightly and lay me down near the edge of the table, which wobbled slightly.

He lifted my shirt up so my belly and bra were exposed and then he worked on my belt and trousers, removing those and throwing them to the cold kitchen tiles below, my panties soon following on. He spread my legs, got down on his knees and was kissing up and down my inner thighs. He parted the folds of skin and soon he was kissing my pussy, licking, gently biting and nipping with his teeth. It had been so long since someone had done that to me that I lost control almost immediately. I was very wet within a matter of minutes and soon I was running my hands through Derek’s dark hair as he licked and sucked.

He lifted first my left leg and then my right, placing them on his shoulders. I crossed them over his back, drawing him closer to me. He eased a finger inside me and concentrated his efforts on my clit, sucking and licking it, changing pressure and speeds, teasing me slightly by circling around it and then pressing on it with his tongue. I was dancing ever closer to the edge and Derek knew this, but still he teased me. It was when he sucked on my clitoris and flicked it with his tongue that I was forced over the edge, rolling my hips and moaning loudly, the table shaking with me. Before I even knew what was happening, Derek had withdrawn his finger, stood up, lowered his pants and entered me.

He held my hips and moved me back and forth on him, slamming into me. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he was deeper inside me. We both moaned. A slew of swear words left my mouth as I begged him to fuck me harder and faster, which he gladly complied with my request. The wet sounds of us slapping together was the only thing that could be heard for a while as his thighs crashed into mine. His thrusts sped up, as did his moans and groans and I knew that he wasn’t far off.

The sound of his impending orgasm and the ever changing looks on his face was enough to set me off again as I had my second orgasm while he was inside me, swearing loudly for all the world to hear, wanting to be fucked hard and fast. Slow and sensual was nice, but so was a good, quick screw. I saw Derek’s body stiffen and I felt him swell inside me as he came, shooting jet after jet inside me. He slumped over slightly when he was finished.

It took a moment for us to regain our breath. Derek leaned down and kissed me, and as he did he slipped from within me, leaving an empty feeling down there. I sat back up and slowly got dressed, Derek watching me as I did. I felt bad, but not as bad as I had done the first time at the party, little more than two days ago. Did it get easier each time? Did the conscience slowly fade each time someone cheated? No wonder people did it if it was so easy.

Derek kissed me once more as I walked to the front door, mentally preparing myself to see my family again. Derek’s kisses were so intoxicating, so addictive. What was I going to tell Bryan this time?