Control Freak ✔️

37 sand castles

"Amazing."

"Really?" She tossed her arms around him again, and soon he felt himself lost in the smell of her hair.

"Yeah."

Cassidy gently persuaded the flowers and radio out of his hands and set them on a tree stump. She fiddled with the stations and the antenna for a while until she found one she liked that worked. Then, she quietly drifted away.

Ivy smiled. "Do you know how to dance?"

Caleb gulped, but he couldn't answer. She stared deeply into his eyes as her hips began to sway. She guided his hands down her silk dress and stopped them at her waist. Before Caleb knew it, he had begun to move, too. It was easy, like floating. In that moment, he thought to guide her by the chin and face her.

For the first time, her pupils fled from his, and she could no longer look Caleb in the eyes. He took hold of both of her arms as he chased after her gaze, and her eyes began to glisten as she melted in his embrace.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered softly. She grazed his ear with her soft lips, as they curled into a delicate smile. Then, she embraced him tightly in her arms and planted a gentle peck on his cheek. They stayed there, holding each other for what Caleb hoped would be an eternity.

That night, they lay in bed together. But Caleb was awake, looking up at the ceiling. Ivy had her eyes closed, rolled over on her side.

"Ivy," he murmured.

"Yes, Caleb?" she replied without turning over to face him.

"You were awake, right?"

"Obviously. What is it?"

"I've just been thinking a lot lately."

"About what?"

"You and I. Hey, will you turn around?"

"Sorry, I'm just tired. What is it, dear?"

He took her hand in his fingertips. "I was just thinking about how I haven't always been that good to you, and, I'm gonna change that."

"Oh, Caleb, you've been good to me," she cooed with a little yawn.

"No, I haven't. I'm talking about really growing up and doing right by you, ya know?" he said with a tiny gleam in his eye. "I'm thinking I'll marry you, give you a couple kids, when we start our new life, we'll build our forever house. What do you think of that?"

"Build a house? Can you even build a sand castle?" she teased.

"I can learn how to do both. That's how much time I plan on spending with you."

"Oh, Caleb." She rolled over, halfway on top of him, caressing his cheek as she kissed him deeply. "You know... we've only really fooled around a little. What do you think about taking it all the way?"

"What do you mean?" he asked bashfully.

"You're still a virgin, right?"

"Y-yeah."

There was a sadness in her motion; a frailty in her ambivalent touch. "Me too. So I thought maybe we could...change that." She stared deeply in his eyes, and finally he felt like he understood her, as he felt her heart beating against his chest.

He took her in his arms and guided her onto her back. She followed his motion like a misbehaved child, anxiously awaiting a harsh punishment from her father. She lay underneath him as he came down with her; her lusty, simpering lips pouted his name.

She reached up and combed her thin fingers through his black hair. She tugged at his undershirt. He lifted the bottom of hers, taking her by the nape and kissing up and down the side of her neck as she then undid her bra.

Ivy tumbled to the sheets again, compelling him to chase her, as she folded her legs to conceal her final article of clothing. He let his hand glide down her thigh, when he reached her knee he gently pushed it away as her chest began to heave in anticipation. He took his time, admiring her naked beauty as he let her panties fall from his fingertips. She lay there, with her hands above her head; finally, she opened herself to him.

He removed the rest of his clothes and fell deep into her arms as she let 

He touched her lips as he took her face in his hands once more and kissed her. So she kissed him back, this time as if she had never kissed him before and would never kiss him again. She lingered on his lips, framing in her mind a portrait she would keep forever. Then, she brought him down to the nape of her neck where he could rest as she pet his hair.

The morning light peeked through the curtains. Gently, it crept over his face. He raised his arms, rubbing his eyes before reorienting his senses. The sky was still awash with the radiant orange of the dawn swimming into the room.

Finally, his eyes found the front of the room. At the foot of the bed, was a man in a gray wife-beater, looking back at him over his shoulder. On the side of his shining bald head was a tattoo, designed with pointed tips reaching his neck and ear like the claws of a dragon. His face was coarse and rugged. He pulled the sharp corners of his lips up into a warm, welcoming smile.

"Mornin,' sleepyhead," he crooned in his raspy tone. Caleb lay there, petrified under the covers as his pupils raced all over the room for an escape route.

"C'mon, get up," said Clark. His tone was surprisingly sweet. "It's early in the day, so just come on. Let's do this the easy way for once."

"What are you doing here? Where's Iv—"

"Ah, I didn't say ask questions," he interjected. "I said 'get out of the bed and come on.'"

"Okay," breathed Caleb. "Okay." Suddenly, the covers went flying up as he sprung out of the bed and darted for the window. He didn't get far, clutching at the latches with each rabid finger being torn away one-by-one as Clark wrangled him into submission. Caleb bucked and screamed as he tried feverishly to kick away.

"It's always the hard way with you, damnit!" He slammed Caleb against the window so hard that it cracked on the first impact, and then he sent a rocket uppercut into his gut hard enough to crack the window even further. Caleb faltered forward, slumping over Clark's shoulder in a daze. He was still conscious, but slightly stunned.

"That's better."

Clark herded him downstairs, commanding him to drop to his knees when he reached the foyer. Caleb's vision was still blurry; his head was spinning. But he could make out the graceful legs of his lover, gingerly approaching from the other room.

"Ivy," he panted. "What's going on? How did your ex find us? How did he break out of prison?"

"I'm sorry, love," she whined. "But it's time that you know: I wasn't being honest with you when I told you that he was my ex... He's my father..."

*WARNING* - The story gets very dark from here. Skip to Chapter 40 for safety.