She shoved at my chest, but I wouldn’t be moved. “They can watch me cum all in your sweet little cunt.”
“Please.” I could see the horror in her eyes. Still, I didn’t care.
“You like it when I do that Eden, cum deep inside you?”
Her pussy clenched, trying to milk me again.
“Please stop, they’re going to catch us,” she whined.
“I don’t care, Eden.”
“Please. My momma will hate me if this ruins her marriage.”
I wanted to laugh. My father was already on the verge of moving on. He never stayed long. After my mother died of cancer when I was five, he moved from woman to woman, never making it past a year or two in a relationship with any of them. Him leaving was inevitable.
“I haven’t even cum yet. We can’t stop until you make me cum,” I taunted, angry that she continued to deny me. In reality, I wasn’t going to last much longer. I was straining to hold on to my nut.
“Stop, King.” Her voice rose as she panicked in earnest.
“Make me stop, Eden.” I challenged her.
Before I could say more, she maneuvered herself, so her leg fell free. She reached up and gripped my hair. She snatched my head forward. It felt like she’d ripped hair from the scalp.
She brought the heel of her hand forward, striking me directly in my sternum.
“Fuck,” I cursed and staggered backward, my dick slipped from her pussy, my hand fell from her neck. Where the blow landed hurt like hell and I couldn’t catch my breath. She used my moment of incapacitation to shove me, before hopping off the chair, she took a few steps back while glaring at me angrily. Tears made her eyes sparkle.
“You’re such a fucking jerk sometimes. I don’t know why I love you, asshole.”
I don’t think she realized what she’d said as she stalked off towards the stairs. My pain was quickly forgotten. It became hard to breathe for an entirely different reason. I froze in place because “I love you too” was stuck on the tip of my tongue. It had been about to flow out of my mouth naturally, without thought. I had never said those words to anyone besides my mother when I was a child, never thought I would. But I loved, Eden.
I tried to think back, to pinpoint the moment where things between us had changed from something dirty and lustful to love. At first, all I wanted was to own her, like one owns a toy or an object. I got off on her shenanigans. I liked her fire. Then one day out of nowhere I started noticing her smile and realized that I wanted to be the cause of it.
I could hear my father and Ruth’s voices heading my way. I fixed my basketball shorts and trailed behind Eden before they reached me.
She was in the shower in her bathroom when I found her. I stood outside the shower stall, giving myself just a minute to look at her. She had the roundest ass I’d ever experienced, and it was soft. And I loved the way her skin reminded me of warm honey.
She jumped when she turned and found me watching her. Her lips pressed into a thin line of distaste and aggravation. “Get out!”
“What did you say to me before you ran away?” She stared at me like I’d grown two heads when I stepped in behind her, under the spray of water, with my gym shorts and t-shirt still on.
“What the fuck are you doing? I’m so–” I took a firm hold of her waist to keep her from leaving, then I kissed her, stealing her breath, halting her words. She kissed me back, greedily sucking my tongue. When I pulled away, she reached for me. Her eyes were low and dark. I knew if I reached down between her legs her pussy would be dripping. The fact simultaneously annoyed and gave me a weird sense of pride. She was always ready to fuck me, anything else and she’d whine about us getting caught or she would talk about how it wouldn’t look right.
“What did you say to me?” I repeated.
“Wh—What?” She shook her head in confusion.
“What did you say to me downstairs?”
“I said you’re an asshole,” she answered
“You also said you loved me.”
“No the fuc—” She paused mid-sentence. A thoughtful expression came to her face. She must have run what she said back in her head because she suddenly ducked her head.
“I love you too, Eden.”
“Get out, Ashford.” That wasn’t the response I expected. Maybe she hadn’t meant to say it. Maybe she didn’t love me.
My heart pounded hard against my rib cage. Suddenly something in me snapped. Before I could stop myself, my hand flew up to grip her jaw. I got right up in her face. “You meant it didn’t you?” I sneered. She winced. “You wouldn’t play with me like that, Eden. Would you?” I backed her up into the shower stall. Water rained down onto her hair causing it to cover her face. With my free hand, I pushed it back. She was crying, but I didn’t care. She must have seen how important her answer was because she finally answered.
“I wouldn’t lie. I love you. Don’t ask me why or how or when, because I don’t know, I just do. I couldn’t tell you that because I knew it would change everything.”
“Nothing will change.”
She looked at me skeptically, like she knew me better than I knew myself. It turned out she did because everything changed after that.
“I was young and dumb.” Her voice broke through my thoughts, settling me back in the present.
I raised my head to look at. She had her eyes closed. She was still so beautiful.
“Last night didn’t feel like we were over. You don’t want me anymore, Eden? I remember all the times you begged for me.”
She sighed but said nothing, just turned and stared at me. I couldn’t decipher what was going on behind her eyes.
I lifted my hand and scratched at the spot next to my heart. My chest ached. I had always been able to read her before.
“You’ve changed, Eden.” She drew her lips into a tight line. “You reek of weakness now.” It made me angry. I slammed my hand against the bathroom door.
She didn’t react. Still, she said nothing. The silence was deafening in the cramped space.
Old Eden would have cursed me out. She had so much fight in her back then. I almost felt sorry for the current her, almost. I felt that whatever had happened to her after I went prison, she had brought on herself.
I walked further into the bathroom, then crouched down next to the bathtub.
“Why are you back here, Eden?” I knew there was something she and her mother weren’t telling me.
She sighed. “It’s a long story, one that I’m not telling you. You all will find out soon enough anyway.” Her voice was filled with so many emotions I didn’t pressure her to tell me. I eventually would.
I pushed myself from the floor. “Get out of the tub, Eden.”
She massaged the bridge of her nose. “I should have left you alone back then. Getting involved with you has been the catalyst for all of my problems.”
“Ouch.” I feigned hurt knowing she didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean half of what I said. We were both just angry. “Kitty still has claws.” I removed a towel from the rack and held it out for her to step into. “Get out of the tub, Eden. I want to talk to you before your mother gets back.” By talk, I meant—fuck her. My dick had been missing her since I’d awoken to find her gone. I was missing her. I couldn’t stop missing her. Through all the anger, the fact that I still wanted her remained.