Tainted Innocence

Chapter XIX

The young woman had bought a bunch of new movies to add to Jeremiah's dusty collection, including some comedies.

Lynn chose the first episode of Back To The Future and lay down on the sofa.
Halfway through the movie Jeremiah entered the room.

Lynn turned her head to watch him stare at the screen with a sceptical frown on his face.

She chuckled.

"It's Back To The Future.", she informed him.

"Uh... I've never really watched these movies.", he admitted as he sat at the unoccupied end of the sofa.

"Pity! They are great.", Lynn said and got up so he could scoot over.

He didn't say so, but as the movie continued she could see that he wasn't really enjoying it.

"Do you want to watch something else?", she asked leniently.

He shook his head. Then he got up to pour himself a drink. Having recently celebrated his twenty-first birthday he was now legally allowed to drink alcohol and did so from time to time.

Usually, Lynn wouldn't indulge in alcohol, but today she felt like she needed a drink. She had finished that damn paper, she had learned to accept her loss. Why not treat herself with one glass of Jeremiah's expensive Whiskey?

"Mind if you poured me one, too?", she asked him.

He raised his brows in surprise, but complied with her request, nonetheless.

It went on like this for a good hour. He was pouring them drinks, they downed them. Pour, drink, repeat.

By now Lynn had begun to find all sorts of things hilarious or cute.

After another laughing fit Jeremiah took her glass away, eyeing her sternly.

Lynn pouted.

"Give it back.", she ordered him.

"I think you had enough.", he objected.

"Come on! One more won't make it worse.", she tried to argue. Why did her speech sound so slurred all of a sudden, though?

"You had enough. You should go to bed."

"You're not my dad."

She got up, huffed in defiance, and tried to retrieve her glass. However, she accidentally lost her balance in the process and tripped over her own feet. Gravity did the rest, and Lynn fell onto the carpet, groaning in annoyance at her own clumsiness.

"That's it. You're going to bed now."

And before she could have voiced her discontent, he'd lifted her up and began to carry her to her room.

She looked up at his face, ready to argue with him once more, only to find herself transfixed by his green eyes.

She let her eyes wander, took in the sight of his pale, but chiselled features while her mind was going haywire.

God, he sure was handsome, wasn't he?

Wait, where did that thought come from?

Never mind... His hair looks so soft. I wonder how it would feel if I ruffled it?

What is going on here?

He smells so good. I want to bathe in that smell.

Stop. Just stop thinking! You're drunk as fuck, girl.

His lips are so full. I still remember how they felt on mine.

Hold your god damn tongue, already!

He laid her down on her bed, and was about to unbend as she suddenly grabbed his collar in what one could only describe as a fit of drunken recklessness. Solely acting on the most basic of instincts that had been provoked by her overconsumption of Whiskey she pulled him towards her.

"What..."

The rest of his surprised shriek was smothered by her lips that conquered his without further ado.

Her tongue slid into his mouth as she began to kiss him passionately. At first he didn't respond at all, and somewhere in the back of her mind a quiet voice wanted her to stop since he didn't seem to like what she did, but then, all of a sudden, he kissed her back impetuously. Encouraged by his fervor she pulled him even closer, resulting in his lying on top of her.

Lynns' arms wrapped tightly around his body as she revelled in the soft moans their passionate kisses elicited from him.

Intuitively she pressed her hands on his tailbone, consequently pressing his lower body closer to hers. She gasped as she suddenly felt his hard member flush against her aching womanhood.

More brazen than deliberate she shoved her right hand between them, slid inside his loose-fitting trousers and past his pants. The moment she felt the wet tip of his penis against her fingers, he instantly stopped kissing her.

Their eyes locked. Maybe it was the panicked look mixed with nervousness on his face, maybe the way his chest heaved with each laboured breath he took- whatever it was, it broke the drunken stupor and sobered her up in the blink of an eye.

It all came crashing down. Red hot shame flooded her brain, icy cold guilt seeped into her heart like poison. She promptly withdrew her hand that strangely felt as if it had been stung by a poisonous insect. Stifling a sob, she pushed Jeremiah away from her, as she came to the realisation that she had just betrayed Matt.

"I can't", she cried out in desperation.

"I can't. God, Matt. I'm so sorry. I never wanted to..."

The bed creaked as Jeremiah got up. The look he gave her made her want to curl up and die. He looked like she'd just stabbed his heart. Desperate, hurt and lost...

Without a word he exited her room. That was the moment Lynn Parker learnt that silence could be more painful than any insult.