Page 26 of Rough Ride

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Eliana wasn’t making this easy on him. Thinking she was asleep, he’d stayed up late into the night keeping watch over the house. It was the only way he could know who may be stopping by. It wasn’t uncommon these last few days for one of Max’s enforcers to swing by to ensure everything was fine. Although Eliana still wore the tracking bracelet on her ankle, Max wasn’t going to take any risks.

So here he sat, on the back deck smoking a cigarette and watching her through the sliding glass door. The way she stood in the laundry room folding clothes from the dryer and putting them into the basket was easily the most erotic thing he’d ever seen. Her hair was pulled into a bun on top of her head, wisps of hair sticking out in every direction. No makeup but her skin glistened as though she’d recently applied lotion.

She was wearing a white tank, like the ones he wore under a dress shirt, and barely-there blue lace panties. Likely under the same assumption that he was sleeping, he’d never seen her prance around the house in so little clothing. He could tell, even from his distance, that she wasn’t wearing a bra, and every time she bent to retrieve another article of clothing from the dryer, her supple breasts moved freely under the thin fabric. The darker skin of her rosy areolas came to a peak where her nipples budded.

Kye's hand wandered beneath his belt line while he watched her. Earbuds dangled from her ears, and her hips were moving subtly as she undoubtedly swayed to the music. When she turned to start another load of wash, he got a full view of her ripe ass. God how he wanted her bent over like that while he drove himself into her. Kye groaned as she stood and reached for the top shelf to grab the laundry detergent. Her shirt rode up, and he caught a quick glimpse of the heart tattoo on her hipbone.

Having seen it only in passing while he’d been preoccupied with her more heated parts, he now couldn’t get his mind off it. He wanted to suck on that heart until it bruised. Maybe that was the reason he was forcing this delay. She wanted him. He could smell it on her, and she’d done everything but show up in his bed naked and begging for it.

That was a tantalizing thought.

Kye wasn’t going to fuck this one up. How much damage had he done already? If he’d done a better job protecting her these last few years, she likely wouldn’t be in this situation. The last thing he wanted now was to have her like some quickie one-night stand simply because the stress of their predicament demanded it.

No. He wanted her slow. Languid. And Passionately. He wanted her stretched out on her stomach while he slid into her from behind. He wanted her on her back, spread open and panting while he rocked his hips relentlessly. He wanted her against the wall of the shower, wet, hot, and slippery. Wanted his tongue to taste every inch of her from neck to navel, from throat to ankle, and then all over again.

Grinning, bemused with himself, he joked, I’d have her in a car; I would have her in a bar. I’d have her most anywhere, bent over, on top—I don’t care.

Eliana shut the door to the washer and gathered her things before leaving the room. The light switched off, and the glow left Kye in complete darkness on the porch. Closing his eyes, he pumped his hands a few more times before grunting as he ejaculated. His body shook for a moment as his high receded, and he put his cigarette out.

Kye waited until he was sure she wasn’t around before he slid inside and pulled his now sullied pants off in the laundry room, lifted the lid to the running washer and tossed them in to rid the evidence from his trousers. He noted that she’d folded a few of his things and left them sitting on the dryer. Among them were a pair of gray sweatpants he pulled on. They were still warm.

Poking his head around the corner, he saw Eliana disappear into her bedroom, closing the door only halfway. Thinking himself game for a little mischief, and still riding the high of his hurried and self-gratified orgasm, he wondered if he’d catch another glimpse of ass cheeks if he snuck to the doorway in time.

Gently pushing it open, he saw her standing with her back to him. That glorious lace-covered bottom still peeking out at him. Her earbuds were discarded on the end table, and she was reading what he knew was her old diary.

Stepping too hard on a floorboard that creaked, Eliana turned with a gasp when she heard and saw him standing there. Her eyes were red and dripping with tears. Kye sobered abruptly.

I’m a jerk in a box; I’m a jerk in my socks. As I jerk here I stand, with nothing else but my dick in my hand…

“Baby, what is it?” Kye asked, rushing forward and taking her into his arms. She was still clutching the white book in her hand, and she sniffled a few times against his chest before pulling back.

“It’s stupid,” she said, sniffling again and sitting on the edge of her bed. He hated himself for noting she was now eye level with his crotch, so he sat next to her.

“Tell me,” he encouraged and began rubbing her back.

“I needed something to keep me busy, something to occupy my mind.” She gestured to the diary. “I thought reading would help.” A fresh wave of tears sprang from her eyes, and she buried her face in her hands. He let her cry for a moment, gently stroking her hair. “Do you have any idea how much I loved you?” she asked when she had regained her voice.

Kye swallowed hard. It occurred to him simultaneously that she was both confessing she loved him and using the past tense to do so. Did that mean she didn’t love him anymore?

“You came into my life so unexpectedly, and it’s like the moment you did, everything else stopped.” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “I can read it all here. I bought this journal at the start of my junior year. It’s all ‘Harvard, Harvard, Harvard’ and then… just you.” She began flipping through the pages as though it was a catalog of events. “Kye and I went to the arcade. Kye stole my favorite pen again. Kye surprised me at work. Kye and I spent the whole night in the treehouse. Kye, Kye, Kye!” Slamming the book shut, she tossed it onto the ground.

“I’m sorry,” he said, not knowing what else to say. Although agitated by his touch, she shrugged until he removed his hand. “You’re mad at me?”

“Yes,” she said, standing again. “No,” she contradicted and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Do you remember what I told you about my dad?” She abruptly changed the subject. “That I didn’t so much miss him as the idea of him?” He silently nodded. “My dad was never there. He thought he was, but he wasn’t. Now that he’s dead, I have to face some hard truths. I don’t think I ever loved my dad. I loved the idea of having a dad. He’s dead, and he’ll never be what I hoped he would be one day. That dream is gone and buried with him. The only thing I can do now is grieve the loss of something I never had.”

“You deserved better than what your dad gave you…” Kye started, but she waved her hand to dismiss his condolences.

“I’m not talking about my dad,” she said in an even tone. Kye fell silent. “Reading through my old diary was like reading about another lifetime. I was a different girl then. I was so full of hope. You were a different boy.”

Kye swallowed hard and folded his hands in his lap. He couldn’t deny she was telling the truth. Thinking back to that kid who’d first moved to Pine Hill with a duffle bag and a chip on his shoulder. Had he ever truly thought he could rescue both of them from this fate?

“I loved you so much, Kye,” Eliana said and pressed a hand to her throat, “but just like my dad, I have to grieve the idea of you now.”

“You… you never really loved me?” he asked, surprised that his voice was cracking. Eliana looked startled.

“No, Kye,” she said with new tears. “I loved you very, very much. What I mean is… the Kye that I said goodbye to on the side of the road that night… the Kye that I danced with at prom… is not the same Kye who walked back into my life three weeks ago.” She took a deep and shaky breath before expelling it. “The Kye I loved is gone. I can’t keep trying to recreate him in you. I have to grieve him like someone who has died. Do you understand?”