Page 58 of Pretty Thing

“You have nothing to apologize for, so there is nothing to forgive.”

I gasp as his mouth brushes mine and sparks race through my body. I’m frozen while his tongue traces my lips.

“Sweet and salty,” he whispers, and my body trembles from a whole new reason. “Your tears are mine, Pretty Thing. Say yes.”

“Yes.”

“Good girl.”

My heart races like a scared rabbit in my chest. I’ve never kissed someone, and have it feel like this…warm, electric, so freaking good. His lip ring adds a whole different sensation, cold and hard, compared to his soft lips. All the dark and what I thought were dead parts of my heart light up.

Dear Lord, it seems wrong. I just lost my parents. How can I possibly feel these emotions so strongly? Am I betraying them by wanting something for myself? I grip the front of his shirt, knowing that I’m falling headfirst over a ledge, but don’t want to stop.

Felix palms my butt and lays me on my bed, while still kissing me. Feral need mingles with trepidation, making everything a jumbled mess. He slowly pulls away and touches his forehead to mine.

“Get some rest. I’m going to make us something to eat.”

My tongue runs over my lips, and I can still taste him. I love how his eyes watch me as he plays with his piercing.

“You’re tempting me to do things that we shouldn’t yet.”

“Is that a bad thing?” I press my thighs together, wiggling under his intense stare.

“No…anything with you can never be a bad thing. But today has been emotional, and that is not the reason we should do this for the first time.”

I look away and bite my lip as I try to regain control over the wanton desire gripping me by the throat.

“You’re right,” I agree, but it doesn’t stop the craving.

He covers me with my blanket and cups my cheek, his fingers incredibly tender.

“I’m just downstairs. I’m not going anywhere. Okay?”

“Okay.”

I watch him walk out. As soon as he is gone, my eyes start to close. Before I know it, darkness creeps in as the heaviness of the day finally pulls me under. Everything feels right again. It may seem crazy, but Felix has become such an important part of my life. I know that now, and I won’t let him go again.

sixteen

​. . .​

Eden

The buzzing noise makes no sense, but its persistence pulls me out of a deep sleep. Blinking, I have no idea what time it is or even what day. I reach for my phone, see Kris’s face, and a flash of annoyance goes through me. With a heavy sigh, I hit talk.

“Hey…what’s going on?”

“Thank God. Where have you been?” Kris is frantic.

“I got home from the lawyer’s office and fell asleep. I was wiped.”

“Please tell me that Felix isn’t there?”

God not this again. I glance at the open door, and a light is shining up from downstairs. My hand balls into a fist.

“He is. Why? What’s going on now,” I ask my voice as cool as steel.

I slide my legs over the edge of the bed as gingerly as possible. My ribs ache, my arm is annoying, but my ankle really hates me today after the fall.