A few months earlier...

I clung helplessly to Harry's broad shoulders as the pool water seemed to torrent around us.

My body was on fire, despite being submerged in water. It was the strangest combination, feeling both like I was being pulled under by the sweet, measured, but deeply delicious thrusts of Harry's cock, whilst simultaneously floating away on the pleasure he inserted into my system with his firm grip on my sensitive body.

The way his hands clenched my ass was perfection. The way his lips suckled on my neck was divine. The way he brought me forward every time he drove into me was my absolutely undoing, and with a deep moan, I shuddered and dug my nails into his shoulders, running my hands up to tug on the wet wisps of hair at his neck.

"Harry," My voice was a weak, breathy and deeply elated echo of what it had been minutes ago. It was laden with lust and about to break as he drove me to my breaking point.

Harry grunted lowly against my neck, a sound that somehow traveled down to the place where he was already buried, and I couldn't help but feel myself tighten. To hear him let go, even if just a fraction, was enough to set my insides on fire and make me crumble.

He was feeling this as much as I was.

I clung harder to him, feeling Harry's lips automatically venture up my neck until he found my mouth again. Maybe it was the needy whimpers leaving it, or maybe it was because he could sense I was close, but either way, Harry locked his mouth over mine and kissed me deeply until I couldn't hold back any longer.

Dissolving into his arms, I mewled and panted against his lips as my pleasure overrode my system. Harry seemed to pause for only a moment at the sound of me climaxing, his eyes taking in my face and body. What he saw, I couldn't tell. All I knew was the feeling his cock inside me was providing me, a wonderful stretch, a strange kind of pressure from the water around us, and the deep throb I could sense coming from his shaft nestled within me.

"Oh my God," I whispered in the aftermath of my climax. I rested my forehead against his shoulder, panting to catch my breath.

"Did I hurt you?" His voice was surprisingly firm, if not rougher than usual. But it was his question that surprised me the most.

I pulled back to meet his assertive eyes. "No, not at all. That was... wow."

"We should get out of the water," He spoke, making me curl my face in confusion. "Your skin is starting to prune."

I wasn't going to correct him and tell him it was his love-making that was making my skin dot and shudder in goosebumps.

"Whatever you say, Mr Devon," I still managed to tease, even with sparse breath and pink cheeks.

We both emerged from the water, Harry offering me a hand as I pulled myself up. He lifted me gently by the hips, before dragging himself out, the water pouring off of both of us. Luckily, the maids seemed to leave towels out on the few chairs that were down here. Grabbing one for myself and then tossing one to Harry, we both dried off, looking at each other.

I couldn't help but stare at his body, my eyes lingering on his massive erection that still stiffly poked into the air.

"You're staring," He announced. I lifted my eyes and met his.

"It's hard not to," I replied. "No pun intended."

Harry lowered his towel and wrapped it around his hips. "There. All taken care of." But those were lying words, since even behind the towel, his cock prodded out against the fabric in a more than obvious way.

"I could take care of that, you know," I replied, licking my lips. "I wouldn't mind doing so."

"I appreciate the offer, but I think it's best if you don't."

"Why?" I posed, lifting a brow. "Are you scared you going to impregnate me? I told you, I'm on the pill."

"And while that's reassuring, that's still not enough. Now, excuse me."

He began to walk away, but I stepped in his path and lowered my towel, dropping it to the floor. "In that case, could I ask you a favor?"

Harry's jaw was grinding something, but instead of staring at my naked and pert breasts, he looked at my eyes and met my gaze. "What?"

"Take me one more time?" I whispered, slowly pressing myself closer. Yes, I knew I was pushing my luck here. I knew that I should consider myself lucky that he even wanted to fuck me once. But it was just that, while the first time had been good, it hadn't been enough. I wanted more—needed more of him, to feel him even deeper, fucking me places no other man had.

Just for tonight. All night.

"You're not... spent?" Harry questioned, his eyes now slowly drifting down my body, as if expecting to find me sore already.

"No," I replied honestly, taking his hand again, bringing it to my folds yet again. "I'm still wet."

Letting him feel the evidence, this time on dry land, I saw as his eyes darkened slowly at the feel of my slick against his fingers. He ran his middle finger up my cleft a single time, pausing when I shuddered as he brushed my clit.

God, I wanted him again so much I could cry.

To my second surprise of the evening, Harry slowly leaned down and cupped my face, whilst keeping his other hand between my legs.

"You're sure you can handle more?" He asked, his voice lowering an octave. I trembled at the sound of it, that deep, authoritative voice rumbling into my ear.

"Yes," I breathed back, looking up into his dark eyes. "Don't make me beg."

He watched me closely. I could tell he was debating, but as always, he gave nothing away. Instead, he kept rubbing me slowly between my legs, torturing me every time he accidentally brushed my clit. Then, after what felt like grueling minutes...

"Put on your towel," He murmured against my lips.

Bending down and grabbing it, I wrapped it around myself, only to look up and see Harry heading towards the door. I stared in both confusion and disappointment, thinking he was calling it a night here.

At least until he paused in the doorway and looked back at me. "Are you coming?"

My eyes widened in surprise. So we weren't done?"Where are we going?"

His back straightened, just as he twisted the door open. "My bedroom."

And right then and there, I swore I could've come on the spot. Again.

Present Date:

"Is it true?"

It was late in the afternoon, long after my last class ended. Staring into the one classroom where the light was still on, I found myself in the doorway as I watched him still working. Of course. Where I had expected him to be; where I had needed him to be today.

At the sound of my voice, Harry's hand paused on the blackboard, his head swiveling towards the door where I was standing. Looking over the rim of his glasses, he regarded me with a look and clenched his jaw. "Ms Berry. What can I help you with today?"

The truth, hopefully.

I slowly came deeper into the classroom. I looked around the empty seats, then back over to the large blackboard where Harry was writing down what seemed like a problem for a more advanced class. It reminded me of the giant equation he had solved back on his own blackboard in his mansion, but then again, all math looked the same to me.

"Is it true what she told me?" I finally asked.

"What who told you?" Harry distractedly asked, having turned back to continue writing whatever important stuff he was writing. "Despite my intellect, you're going to have to give me a little more to go on than that."

I released a slow breath, then drew in a brave one. "Catarina."

Harry's hand paused on the chalkboard again, the tip of the chalk making a hair-curdling noise as the pressure against the board sharpened it. This time, he didn't turn to meet my gaze, but instead spoke to the blackboard. "Catarina came to talk to you?"

The icy grit in his voice told me all I needed to know about how he felt about that revelation. Maybe he had hoped we'd never meet or know who the other was, but I'd say the odds were pretty much against that, considering the facts.

"Well, she works here," I reminded him, needlessly. A fact he was well aware of, but a fact he had conveniently decided not to share with me. "Thanks for telling me, by the way."

Harry slowly lowered his gaze, staring at his shoes, before turning his eyes back up to the blackboard and picking up where he left off. "Whatever she told you, it's most certainly a lie. Don't forget who she's married to."

I hadn't. And it was why it had taken me days to come here, because as much as I wanted to believe her, I knew I needed to take a moment to actually consider if what she had said was another manipulation.

But how could this be another lie? What benefit would she have gained from telling me a truth that clearly didn't sit well with her, knowing a simple 18 year old with no brilliant smarts like herself had managed to get the one piece of the man she had wanted desperately. How could this have been a lie, when clearly she had hated admitting it?

But still, I needed the absolute truth. And there was only one person who could confirm or deny it indefinitely.

"So it was a lie then?" I asked, halting on my feet when Harry kept writing, seemingly not giving me much of his attention anymore. "When she told me you never slept with her and that I was your first?"

This time, the chalk snapped in half.

Harry slowly pulled away from the blackboard, but I saw the way his jaw was clenched tightly, a muscle working overtime inside it. He didn't meet my gaze as he sighed deeply and took a slow seat on the edge of his desk. "Cassandra..."

"Please," I said, slowly coming closer while watching him intently. This one truth, I believed he owed me. "Is it true?"

Harry remained quiet, eyes downcast, but after a full minute, he then finally pursed his lips. "Catarina and I didn't sleep together."

Admittance. A truth that for some reason made my heart soar happily. Thank God that manipulative bitch hadn't been with Harry that way.

But that was only half an answer.

"And me?" I pressed on, coming even closer.

"We most certainly did sleep together. Plenty, as I recall."

"Harry," I snapped at his sarcasm and stopped right in front of him. This was not the time to make me want to slap him.

At last, Harry lifted his gaze and met mine. His eyes were deep and penetrative, searching through my own for clarification. "Why is this so important to you?"

"Because," I said, realizing that it wasn't that he didn't want to give me the answer; It was that giving me the truth was hard for him.

As always, when people came too close to him, he shut them out.

"Because I need to know if she really never got that part to you," I whispered, now slowly lifting my hand and pressing it lightly over his chest. His eyes dropped to the motion, and for a long time, he simply stared at my hand resting over his heart. "Please, Harry. Was I really your first?"

The truth was, I didn't know why the truth was so important to me. I just knew that it was, and that I couldn't go onwards with my life, never not knowing the truth. Without knowing if...

If he had truly liked me enough to give that part of himself to me freely.

You see, from the brief, albeit intense time we had spent together this past summer, one thing had become clear to me; everyone in his circle, even people he referred to as friends, all wanted something from him. His help, his guidance, his money, his time—him. They all wanted something from him, but he had long ago decided that no one was ever going to own any part of him.

But that night... that night, he had given a piece of himself to me. I hadn't even known what I had been asking for. I had had no other agenda than wanting to taste him, to feel him, to kiss him and to see him dare to let go, for just one epic moment...

"Yes," Harry finally spoke. I was brought out of my thoughts when he softly laid his own hand over mine, cupping it in his own. He squeezed it lightly. "You were my first."

My eyes widened and my mouth fell open when he gently took my hand and lifted it to his lips. He kissed my knuckles delicately, lingering for only a moment, before he pulled away; a sweet, but friendly gesture.

My throat completely dried up. So it was really true. "Why didn't you tell me the truth back when I asked?" I finally whispered after a moment.

"Because it wasn't any of your business at the time," He quietly voiced, letting go of my hand and watching it drop to my side.

"How about that night in the pool, then?" I now asked, stepping a single step closer. His eyes lingered on the floor, watching the distance between us shrink. The muscle in his jaw worked again.

Instinctively, I lifted my hand again, but this time pressed it against his cheek. His eyes lifted from the floor and met mine, those deep amber irises piercing me. Our gaze locked, mine soft, his unyielding as I softly brushed his cheek, making the muscle unclench. Finally, he sighed and laid his hand over mine again, preparing to pull it away. "Cassandra..."

"I would've made it more special for you, you know," I found myself saying, although I didn't know why. Harry didn't strike me as the kind of man who cared whether or not the occasion was special. After all, he didn't even celebrate his own wins with a simple slice of cake. "If I had known the truth, I would've... I don't know, made it better for you or something. I don't know."

Harry suddenly arose from the desk. Taking my hand in his, he returned the favor and placed his own over my own cheek, brushing his thumb lightly over my cheekbone. His eyes never left mine, but stared wholesomely into mine.

"It was lovely, Cassandra."

My breath caught, and I found myself speechlessly staring up at Harry as his eyes trailed over my face, taking in every little feature.

"I have no regrets about what happened that night, nor how it happened," He softly continued. "I enjoyed every moment of it and wouldn't change a single thing. Never mistake that."

His words were honest to the bone, or at least that's what my gut told me. He could lie about a lot, why he was really here, why he was acting the way he was, but not this. This, for some reason, I believed wholly, and I suspected it was because of the way he was looking at me right now; With sincerity. Right now, he wasn't trying to make me believe a lie, but rather assure me of the truth.

"So why did you do it?" I whispered, swallowing a lump when this particular question had been itching on my mind for a long time.

"Why did I choose to join you in the pool that night?" He asked, lifting a small brow.

"Yes. I mean... you knew what it would lead to, right?" After all, I hadn't been very subtle that night with my intentions. Or earlier that day. Or my whole stay there. But surely that hadn't been the only reason he finally caved, because I had been practically (and literally) throwing myself at him. Had it?

"I knew," Harry confirmed, still not retracting his hand from my cheek. He kept gently brushing my cheekbone, as if he wasn't even aware he was still doing it. I didn't stop him.

"So why did you?" I breathlessly repeated, not sure he was aware how closely we were standing. How little space was between us. Nor that his eyes hadn't left mine for minutes, or the fact we were alone, and my heart was practically beating out of my chest. "Why did you... change your mind about me?"

His eyes studied me deeply, those flecks of green peeking out as he pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes slightly. His thumb finally stilled on my cheek and his gaze settled on my lips.

"I—"

A commotion outside the classroom had us both bursting from our little bubble. Harry pulled away the same time I gasped and took a step back. If anyone caught us like this, we'd both be in a lot of trouble. Harry more than me.

With a quick gulp of air, I quickly managed to compose myself as the door to the classroom was opened and someone stepped in. Harry straightened out as well, but I noticed the way his jaw locked up again, the muscle back to its ticking.

"Harry!" For fuck's sake, it was him again. Percy Havers, his friend and long-time esteemed colleague, and my current physics professor. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was planning these untimely interruptions. The far more likely scenario was that he was clinging to Harry like a leech, hoping his smarts might rub off on him.

"Percy," Harry's voice sounded clipped, but he still forced some politeness into it.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Havers seemed to say with some afterthought, looking between me and Harry. Perhaps we hadn't been quick enough to wipe away the intense emotions on our faces.

"Absolutely not," Harry bounced back quickly, giving a much more convincing tone to his voice than before. Maybe his brother wasn't the only one good at lying. "I was just talking to Ms Berry about her scholarship."

"Ah, yes! The lucky Devon-scholarship recipient," Havers immediately chuckled fondly, dropping all his previous concern as soon as Harry mentioned the prestigious Devon-attributes. "Surely you must feel very lucky, eh?"

"Oh... yes," I assured, after quickly clearing my throat. I did like Harry and forced a polite smile on my face. "Yes, very lucky indeed."

"I imagine the workload here is a bit much, though," Havers sympathized with a little smile. "Hope you're not setting the stakes too high for her, Harry-boy."

"Never," He smiled back reserved. "Though as you know, I do demand some level of achievement."

"Of course, of course, I do the same," Havers chuckled, shaking his head. "Well in that case, I hope you're keeping up with all your work, Ms Berry."

"Yes," I smiled stiffly, before clearing my throat again. "And speaking of which... I should probably go. Loads to study," I excused myself, knowing Havers wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon, now that he had his claws in Harry again.

"Best of luck to you," Havers sung cheerily.

"Thanks," I smiled, before briefly looking towards Harry. "Professor Devon."

He nodded back, and I caught his pointed stare, knowing this conversation wasn't over yet. Even so, I still decided to turn on my foot and leave.

I wasn't sure I could handle anymore truths today.

• • •

There. You got your pool scene.