It had only been slightly mollified when they shattered together. Temporarily muted, but not completely gone.

Maybe not for her either. She didn’t seem one bit surprised when he turned her to face him and drew her into his arms the next morning. This wasn’t like the night before. Her cunt was warm and ready when he wrapped her top leg around his waist. And after he slipped inside, there was no adjustment needed whatsoever. He cupped the back of her head and hugged her close, jerking both of their bodies up in the bed as he drove himself into her.

That morning as the sun came up over the Potomac River, the only sounds in the room were her soft gasps and his animalistic grunts as he took her again. But the painful ache still did not diminish. It became worse and worse.

Eventually, they managed to get showered and eat a little something. Then he drove them to the National Mall for a private tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture—or as Dawn called it, The Black History Museum as if it were the only one in the world.

She was even more excited about this surprise than the cherry blossoms. “I’ve been trying to get down here since 2016 when it opened—you know, for Love Origins. This is amazing. I can’t thank you enough!”

Yet another pang of guilt pierced his chest. She was thanking him for his generosity, but they both knew the reason she hadn’t been able to make it down here. Because she hadn’t been allowed.

By now, he’d learned all about her thesis project. And after the tour was done and they were left to wander on their own, he confessed, “I can see how it would have been helpful to visit this place during the creation of your thesis. I am…sorry I didn’t allow you to come here earlier.”

The signs stuttered as they left his hands. Victor still wasn’t one to apologize. Ever. But she had never really known that about him. So she didn’t realize the significance of him doing so more than once. With her. Only with her.

And she surprised him by answering, “Don’t worry about it. I haven’t been able to look at a historical black anything for years without trying to incorporate it into my thesis or some other project I was working on in school. It’s kind of nice to be able to enjoy history for history’s sake for once.

History for history’s sake.

Beautiful words. But his heart chilled inside his chest.

He knew about the job in Pittsburgh. According to Phantom, who had looked into the offer for him, she had been specifically hired to work on an opening sequence revolving around the time of slavery in the U.S.