Eden
The slight peck woke him up as he opened his eyes and stared at me.
"Hey, you."
I smiled at him, and I was sure that all the love I felt for the man lying next to me me was impossible to be overlooked even by a blind person. The whiskey colored orbs which initially showed surprise, softened and slowly filled with gentleness and happiness.
"I missed you," I said before he could even open his mouth in greeting, "It was a mistake for me not to have left with you last night. I know it now. Im sorry." He looked straight into my eyes observing every tiny movement of my face as if trying to see through me. With my expression that was surely the perfect image of remorse, I asked, "Forgive me, please?"
Those words obviously undid him because after a few moments a slow mischievous grin began to spread on his face. "How sorry are you exactly?" He asked with a smirk as he repositioned himself to lie on his back and held his arms open for me to move closer to him. "Very," I replied in relief as I inched myself closer to him and put my head on his chest.
With my one arm I gently caressed his taut abs and I shoved my legs in between his to intertwine them with his muscled ones. The heat of his whole body felt welcoming and comforting. He looked at my fingers on his stomach and then at me, with softness in his eyes and a big smile on his lips that just melted my heart.
"Honestly, there is nothing to forgive. I understand why you did what you did. But," he paused and I knew what he was taking a short breather for, namely, to tell me about his conversation with Mr. Holloway, "I went to the party yesterday despite my initial plan not to accept the invitation because I needed to talk to James as soon as possible." At those words he looked away from me and directed his gaze at the ceiling. He didn't want me to see the turmoil that was raging inside him which had to have been visible on his face.
However, I wanted to see it, all of it. Every side of him, every facial expression he could possibly have in his lifetime. So, I lifted my hand and gently pulled his face to look back at me. "Tell me," I coaxed him. And so he did. As I already knew all of it, because I overheard the entire conversation, my focus was entirely on the play of emotions that were clearly evident with every word he said.
I just nodded in understanding and agreement every now and again while he talked. He ended his speech by expressing his disappointment about his mother's lie, the biggest one he had ever been told, even worse than Amanda's, according to him. The feeling of betrayal was visible in his face and audible in his voice. I hugged him tighter, as much as I could, until our skin seemed to have fused together, and the heat between our bodies felt too hot to bear, but neither of us cared.
"I hate lies so much," he murmured emphatically, "those untruths can cause so much damage, and more often than not they're unnecessary ones." I gulped at those words. They seemed like a dig at me for the incident with Levi, and they felt like little daggers to my heart. I hated disappointing him, hurting him the way I did the previous night. Knowing exactly what I had to do in that situation, I moved away from him a few inches and lied on my side with my elbow resting on the mattress to look him directly in his eyes before I began my speech.
"This won't ever happen again. I can make promises if you want, but I'd better let my actions speak rather than reciting any words of avowal," I began, "I still can't explain why I did what I did last night. But, being raised by a pastor father, and me being a good girl all my life, I grew up valuing honesty a lot." His face was neutral except for a slight upward movement on one side of his lips as he nodded in understanding and in acceptance of my words.
After taking a few moments to gather more courage for the continuation of my monologue, I looked down at my fumbling fingers as I admitted, "But, I have to confess that I changed a lot because of the one and only relationship I had in my life."
I stopped because of the lump that had formed in my throat. Because I had to massage the spot with my hand to lessen the growing pain, I was forced to change my awkward position. In the end it felt more comfortable to remain seated next to his lying form. He watched me carefully and had to have seen the unshed tears in my eyes because he immediately sat up too and pulled me closer between his legs. I was scared of what he would think of me after I told him everything.
"I don't know if I should tell you this, or if you want to know about my past. My ex, I mean," I said hesitantly, "It's not normal to talk about exes in front of the current lover, is it?" He put his finger under my chin to lift up my face to look at him. "I don't care what's considered normal or not, but I want to know everything about you, or as much as you're willing to share with me, that is," he replied in encouragement, "I firmly believe that lovers should be friends too, because a relationship that is built on a foundation of friendship has an even stronger bond. Or so I think. And that is something I learned the hard way."
I love you so much. You're amazing. Those thoughts came bubbling out from the depths of my heart that was overflowing with love for the incredible person sitting in front of me. "You're absolutely right," I agreed. And with that I told him everything about my past relationship. He let me speak without interruption.
I admitted my foolishly crazy and intense love for Vic that made me lie to him, but most importantly and sadly, to myself too, about my true feelings and wishes during our relationship. Once more, he made me look him in the eyes as I bowed my head down again in shame at my confession. I didn't leave out anything about my past. At the mention of the abuse I had gone through, I saw his nose flaring in anger and his eyes gleaming with rage. "I hope he for his sake that we never cross paths."
The threat made me shiver as I knew it wasn't an empty one. I felt as light as a feather after my speech. As if all the weight of my past had been lifted of my shoulders. As if my soul had been washed clean by the metaphorical Holy Ghost, and was now glimmering as brightly as that of a new born baby without a single sin. The fact that Keane then knew all those things about me, made me feel even closer to him, and it seemed like it was an important milestone moment for us.
It was as if my old carefree and happy self had reappeared from the depths on my being, after it was suppressed by the negativity and unhappiness of my past. "Thank you for listening." He shook his head, "Thank you for sharing those things with me." I squeezed both his hands that had been holding mine for the last few minutes. "Now you. It's your turn," I said with an encouraging smile, "Tell me why you accused me of being a gold digger. Why you thought that you were my plan B."
He let go of my hand and scratched himself at the nape of his neck, looking a little uncomfortable in his own skin. "My slight insecurity when it comes to Levi reappeared last night," he admitted slowly, with hesitation, "It happened several times during college, you see. Everyone knew about his rich dad. Hmm. Turns out he is my father too, after all. Ha. The irony is ridiculous." A forced and bitter smile appeared on his handsome face.
"Amanda was the one who chose me over him, and I was happy about it. So much so that I punched him in the face when he told me that she tried to seduce him," he continued, "He warned me about her, but I didn't listen. I completely ignored him when he screamed at me after I proposed to her." It was his turn to look down at his hands in embarrassment then. "Needless to say, he hadn't been invited to the wedding. We didn't talk much after that. It was only when James had the heart attack that I saw him again after a long time at the hospital."
It made me sad to know that Amanda had tricked Keane and made the two guys fight. Crazy bîtch. Pff. Her loss, my gain. "Anyways," he began again, "I totally freaked out when I saw you two. Especially since I wasn't expecting you to be there in the first place. My brain stopped thinking logically, and I was just once again reminded of the many gold digging girls from the past. I'm sorry if I hurt you with what I said. They were said in shock and fear."
I nodded my head in understanding, "It's ok. Don't worry about it." I finally got why he said those things to me the previous night. "Wait," I interjected in surprise as something of what he said rang a bell in my brain, "You were at the hospital when James was there?" He nodded, "Why?"
I smiled at him, "Because I saw you and even followed you to the elevator. Seriously, I thought I was going crazy from missing you and thinking so much of you that day. Sadly, the head nurse called me to tell me that the hospital director wanted to talk to me about being stationed at the Holloway's mansion. It was the day after our first night, remember?"
At that he grinned and had a glint of kink in his eyes. "Yeah, I definitely remember," he replied with his eyebrows wiggling suggestively. "You remember leaving me too? Without a note?" I asked accusingly, "I lost my phone the night before that and had to buy a new one to check my voicemail to see if you left a message there. Luckily for you there was, or I'd have hunted you down to the ends of the earth, or simply, to your apartment." I chuckled at my ridiculous statement.
His grin lit up his whole face. "Is that so?" He asked before he threw himself at me, holding my hands over my head next to my face. I was lying with my back on the mattress looking up at his handsome and playful face and I couldn't help but smile, "Yeah, that's exactly so."
He slowly leaned in closer while staring at my lips that were partly open. I too couldn't keep my eyes from his face, and I had to gulp and wet my lips from dryness as I was like a thirsting person who was in desperate need of a drink. I simply couldn't wait to taste his mouth.
When our lips finally touched it felt like forever since the last time, despite the fact that it wasn't. I had missed him so much. My body finally felt a sense of completion at his taste and nearness, as if I was lacking something only his presence could make up.
We were kissing heatedly and I could feel him pulling away the blanket that was covering his naked lower body and separating it from mine. I moaned in pleasure as he positioned himself between my legs.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
"Eden. Keane. Are you hungry? Breakfast is ready," came Alex's voice from the other side of the door.
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Dear readers!
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Callie