MOON

by Lindsay Becs

  I lick her sweet pussy from back to front, groaning from the taste of her. The vibration sends her bucking into my face again and again. I smile into her as I continue to lick and kiss her sweetness. She all but loses it—along with me—when I push a finger, then two, inside her. Everything about her is so damn perfect and beautiful. I’d eat her every day if I could. Before long, she tightens around my fingers as I pump them in and out of her pussy and suck her clit. Her cries of pleasure fill the air around us.

  Once she’s calming down, I pull my fingers from her and suck them into my mouth. “You taste so fucking good.” Her already flushed face burns redder from my confession. “Don’t be embarrassed with me,” I tell her, leaning forward to kiss her lips.

  “I didn’t know it could be like this.” She breathes into our kiss.

  “Moon, I want to love you in all the ways you should be loved. The only way you should have ever known. I want to erase our past and make a future. Our present, right now, is our new beginning. You’re a new Moon. My Moon. My Andromeda. My everything. You’re a goddess, and I’ll gladly be Endymion and love you forever in life, in eternal sleep, in everything in between.”

  “Endy…” She sighs in sated love. “I want that. I want you,” she says, putting her hands on my face. “Make love to me, Endy. Please take the hurt of the past away and make me new.” Tears begin to fill her eyes, but it’s not from sadness; it’s in hope.

  I kiss the tears that escape from her eyes. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

  “No. But I want you to be what I remember, what I know. Not anything else.”

  I almost break. Why did I have to come from such evil? I push the thoughts away and kiss her again, deeper, with all the passion and love that’s written in the stars. Her shaky hands push my boxers down over my ass. I run my cock through her wet center, coating me in her. Rocking back and forth, I get her moaning into my mouth as I keep kissing her. I pause at her entrance and start to rock back and forth again, working slowly into her tight pussy.

  I pause once I’ve filled her fully, giving her time to adjust. “Are you alright?” I ask, searching her bright moon eyes shining back at me.

  “Yes. So much yes,” she pants as we stay unmoved.

  It’s the first time that we’re united, and it feels like home. She fits me like a tight glove, but more than that, it feels like she was made for me. We lie there in each other’s arms, our union making us one, and I’m overcome.

  “I love you. Fucking hell, I love you so much, Moon.”

  “I love you, Endy. I swear on the moon and stars I always have and always will.”

  She cracks through the last of my resolve with her promise. She loves me. I start moving in and out, kissing all over her face, down her neck, and stop at her pebbled nipples. I lightly bite one and feel her clench around me. She’s close. I move my hand between us and rub my thumb in circles on her clit as I pump in and out where she meets me thrust for thrust. She’s beautiful. I suck her other nipple into my mouth, and she moans loudly into the sex-filled room. She’s perfect. I kiss up her neck and whisper, “I love you,” once more in her ear, tipping her over. She’s mine.

  “Endy!” she shrieks when her orgasm shoots through her.

  Hearing her yell my name as she clamps down on me is all I need. I pull out of her when I feel my balls tighten and lightning strike up my spine. I come—hard—all over her stomach. I collapse onto her, not caring about the mess that’s between us.

  We lie there panting, sweaty, silent.

  Then I hear her cry.

  “Moon?” I shift to look at her, but she turns her face away from me. “I’m so sorry. I ruined this, didn’t I? I hurt you. I’m a fucking monster.” I move to get up and away from her, not wanting to look at the hurt I’ve caused yet again.

  “No,” she says, pulling my hand to stop me. “Don’t you see? That was everything, Endy. Everything.”

  “Yeah?” I turn, running my hand down her face.

  “Yeah.” She turns her head and kisses my palm. “You replace all the ugly with beautiful. All the monsters with gods. All the pain with pleasure. You turn my scars into stars. No one can do that but you.”

  I kiss her long and hard. She has to know that she is all those things and more to me, too.

  Everything.

  She’s my Moon, lighting up the darkness that surrounds me.

  14

  Moon

  I gasp for air; do you hear me?

  I see your face but you won’t heal me

  You scratch at all my open wounds

  Screaming, I shout to the moon

  Endy. Endy. Endy.

  I can’t stop thinking, saying, feeling his name, his presence.

  He told me I was his everything, and I feel the same about him. I’m sure no one will understand our pull, our tether to one another, but it’s so strong and fierce, I’m afraid of what might happen if we try to break it. Every pore of my body screams for him. So much him. We may be crazy, unhealthy, but I’d rather be this than asleep and locked away any longer.

  After we made love—because that’s exactly what it was, making love; we made and created love together out of something horrible—he fell asleep. I stared at him, learning every part of his face all over again and for the first time as a man. I don’t want to go another day where I can’t be with him. Feel him. Look into his bright sky-blue eyes and see the hope and light of day.

  Now, I’m sitting in his rental car while he drives us to my parents’ house. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified of what they’ll say and do when they find out who Endy really is. But I’m willing to fight. I will fight with every fiber in my body to keep him with me and in my life, no matter the cost. I need him, and I know he needs me, too.

  “I can feel the anxiety radiating off of you over there. Are you staring at me so it jumps to me?” Endy teases, squeezing my hand.

  “I’m staring at you because I like to.”

  “Oh,” he says, sounding surprised by my answer. “Well, by all means, keep looking,” he chuckles.

  “Are you nervous?”

  “Petrified,” he says through a huffed laugh. “But I’m here. We’re here. Doing this together,” he adds, kissing my hand and calming me.

  I blow out a breath, leaning my head back. “Thank you for doing this. I know I’m asking a lot from you. Bringing you into the lion’s den of the unknown.”

  “I’d walk through fire for you, Moon. Again and again.”

  We drive in silence the rest of the way. The second we pass the “Welcome to Maddison, North Carolina” sign, all the energy in the car shifts.

  “Just breathe. It’s just us,” Endy says, kissing my hand again.

  I swallow and nod as my body begins to tremble from nerves, from fear, from my past meeting my present.

  Ten minutes later, we pull into my parents’ driveway. We sit, both of us collecting ourselves before we move. Endy reaches over, cupping my face in his hands, and kisses me soft and sweet.

  “Just us,” he says against my lips. And then he’s gone, out of the car and around to open my door.

  Just us. I can do this. We can do this. It’ll be alright.

  The front door opens before my foot hits the pavement. “Selene, I didn’t know you were bringing anyone with you,” my mother says from the doorway, her judging eyes taking in Endy from head to toe.

  I move faster then, stepping out and taking Endy’s offered hand. “Hi, Mom. This is Tavin. He’s my friend.” I say friend but cringe inside because the word friend sounds so empty compared to what he actually is to me.

  “You know I don’t do well with surprises, Selene. Remember what you learned before. You need to consider other people’s feelings and respect them before taking action.”

  “I’m sorry, Mom,” I say looking down at my feet.

  “Well, it’s done now. Come in. I’ll set another place at the table.”

  We follow my mother inside, and although I can feel how much ang
er and annoyance is radiating off of Endy, I can’t look at him. She ushers us in and sits in a wing-backed chair in the living room. She hasn’t even uttered a hello to either of us. I walk to sit on the couch across from her, Endy standing behind me. I feel my mother’s eyes burning into my skin where she stares disapprovingly at his arm draped over my shoulder, our fingers entwined.

  Endy clears his throat in the quiet room. “Hello, Mrs. George. I’m sorry for the inconvenience I might have caused, but thank you for having me in your home.”

  “Hello,” she replies coldly, her judgment filling the air.

  Thank the moon and stars, because right when I thought I couldn’t take the silence any longer, my dad comes in. I stand to meet him, throwing my arms around his neck for a hug I need so desperately.

  “Selly! Look at you. You look beautiful today,” my dad croons, making me blush and smile when he pulls back from our hug.

  “She brought a friend,” my mother chastises from her chair.

  “Dad, this is Tavin.”

  My father extends his hand to Tavin, which Tavin takes from where he stands behind me. “Nice to meet you, Mr. George.”

  “It’s been too long since we’ve seen you, Selly. I missed you.”

  “It’s only been a couple months.” I roll my eyes.

  “Maybe, but I still miss you when you’re not here.” I hate the sadness that sits in my dad’s voice.

  “It’s alright, Dad. I’m doing really well. Things are good,” I add, smiling up at Endy. He gives my hand a squeeze.

  “I see that. How did you two meet?”

  “I’m a long-distance truck driver. I happened to stop in at Pot Meet Kettle where Selene works.” Hearing Endy call me Selene feels so foreign. I also wonder if he’s being evasive on purpose or if he’s trying to go in slowly with how we tell them the truth about our relationship.

  “How do we know we can trust you with our daughter?” my mother quips. I guess I should be happy she cares.

  “I’m twenty-eight, not sixteen anymore,” I mumble.

  “Selene, you aren’t like everyone else. You have to be careful.”

  “Mrs. George, I understand your concern for your daughter. I agree, she isn’t like everyone else; she’s so much better, brighter. She’s perfect.” My cheeks burn red from Endy’s words.

  “Still. You drive a truck, for Christ’s sakes. You could take her and hide her and we’d never know the difference.” I feel Endy tense next to me.

  “Melanie. Enough!” my father scolds my mother. “I apologize for my wife, Tavin. As I’m sure you know, we’ve been through a lot through the years and are protective over Selene. Living that many years not knowing where your child is, is difficult to move past.”

  “I understand. It’s a valid concern. You don’t know me, but I would die before I’d let anything happen to her.” He looks down at me, and my eyes fill with tears. I give him a small nod, letting him know it’s time to rip off the Band-Aid.

  “Mom… Dad… I, uh, have to tell you something.”

  “Selene, don’t be dramatic. Spit it out,” my mother says, being dramatic herself.

  “Tavin is the one who got me out. He saved me.”

  Silence.

  All around me is silence. I feel my heart pounding, waiting for the explosion. But nothing.

  “I don’t understand. What do you mean he got you out?” my dad asks hesitantly, leaning forward in his chair now.

  I look at Tavin, his brows pinched with concern marring his face. But I smile up at my savior, my Perseus. “Tavin was there with me all those years. He took care of me and protected me. He’s the one who got me out as soon as he could and took me to the diner where I was found. He saved me.”

  “Moon, I—” Tavin starts but is cut off by my dad.

  “Thank you,” my dad says with tears filling his eyes as he stands to reach Endy, who stands, too. My dad throws his arms around him and continues to say thank you over and over.

  “But you weren’t one of the ones rescued,” my mother says in disbelief. “If you were there the whole time, where did you go after they found Selene at that diner? All the families were notified. Each child returned. I don’t remember ever hearing the name Tavin spoken.” She pauses and squints her eyes at Endy. “Who the hell are you? Where have you been all this time?”

  “My father was the one who took them,” Endy says, pausing to look down at me. “Her. My name is Tavin St. James. Thomas St. James was my father.”

  “How dare you step foot in my house! Get out!” my mother roars, charging toward Endy and my dad.

  “No!” I yell, jumping from my seat to join them in a stand-off. “I love him,” I add quietly.

  “You love him?” my mother balks at the thought. “You don’t know what love is. I have no doubt he got in your head and took advantage of your state. He’s a monster just like his father, I’m sure,” she seethes into his face.

  “He never—” I begin to defend him, but Endy puts his hand on my cheek, stopping me.

  “Don’t you touch her!”

  Ignoring my mother, Endy looks at me. “It’s OK. I’ll be in the car. I won’t leave unless you tell me.”

  “No. You stay here with me. You don’t need to leave,” I plead, then turn to my mother. “He’s not leaving.”

  “Let’s all sit down and cool off,” my father says, trying to defuse my mother a bit. But he still looks shocked and confused.

  “I never wanted to hurt her. I always did everything in my power to protect Selene the best I could,” Endy tells them, regret and sorrow filling his voice.

  “That’s enough. I’m not sitting here and listening to this. I’m calling the police,” my mother announces, but when she moves to leave the room, I lose it. Everything I’ve held in for so many years comes boiling over.

  “No!” I scream as tears begin to pour down my face. “Why do you always want to take away the best parts of my life, Mother? You are the one who hurts me more than anyone else in this room. Whatever doesn’t fit in your pretty little box needs to be fixed or taken out with the trash. But I’m done trying and pretending. I remember. I’m remembering everything. It’s not all pretty and perfect or socially acceptable to you, but it was my life. Mine. Not yours, not Dad’s, not Kaylin’s or Barron’s, but mine. You can’t erase it. And parts of it I want to remember. Those parts, the good and beautiful ones, the ones that aren’t surrounded by evil, are the ones where Endy was there with me,” I cry, clutching my hand to my broken heart.

  “Who’s Endy?” she asks. Of all that I just said to her, that’s the only part she zeros in on.

  “I am,” Endy says, pulling my defeated body into his.

  “I thought your name was Tavin? None of this makes sense, Selene.”

  “When we first took her, I knew her name was Selene. Selene was the name of the goddess of the moon, and when I looked into her eyes that first day, I saw stormy moons in them. I called her Moon and told her my name was Endy. On the nights I could get away from… from…” Endy starts stammering. I know it’s because of how much he hates his father.

  “Zeus,” I say helping him. “We called him Zeus.” Endy gives me a small smile. “Endy would tell me stories about the stars in the sky.”

  “This is all too much,” my mother says in a huff.

  “Melanie, please. This young man took care of our daughter when we couldn’t. He brought her back to us. There is no need to call the police.” My dad tries to reason with her.

  “Philip, how can you sit there and be so calm? This monster probably raped her.”

  “Stop it!” I cry again. “He’s not a monster!”

  “Mr. and Mrs. George, I swear to you, I never laid a hand on her like that. I love Moon, Selene. I never want to hurt her or cause her any pain.”

  “I can see you care for our daughter, but you have to agree that this is all a lot to process. This can’t be healthy for either of you. A relationship built this way… It’s not good, Selly. You have to
recognize that. Both of you,” my dad says to us. He’s always been the voice of reason or at least tried to be. But right now, I hate it.

  “I don’t care,” I whisper into Endy’s chest, clutching his shirt.

  “I suppose you’ve kept this from Dr. Greer, as well,” my mother snarks.

  “Actually no. She knows about Endy.” I may not have told her everything, but she’s aware enough.

  “Clearly she isn’t doing her job then if she is allowing you to do this with him.” The way she says ‘him’ like he’s vermin has me wanting to lunge for her.

  “I should go,” Endy says then, surprising me.

  “Then I’m going, too.”

  “No, Moon. A lot has happened in the last couple days. I’ll stay at a hotel tonight and come back in the morning. You need time with your family.”

  “No. I don’t want you to leave me. Not again. Don’t leave me, Endy,” I cry, afraid that he won’t come back.

  “I’ll be back in the morning,” he assures and kisses my temple.

  “It’s for the best, Selene,” my dad agrees, pulling me back to keep me from chasing after Endy.

  “No! Don’t leave me! Please, Endy! I love you! I swear on the moon and stars, I love you! Don’t leave me, Endy!” I continue to yell as he walks away and leaves me to crumble in my dad’s arms.

  “He’ll be back in the morning, Selly. Calm down,” my dad says when Endy closes the door.

  I thrash and scream and cry, fighting to get to the door, to get to Endy. But he left me. Endy left me after he promised he wouldn’t, and now I’m alone again.

  My parents lock me in my old bedroom “for my own safety” after Endy leaves. Whenever I threw fits like this and lashed out, that’s what they always did. Little did they know how much that hurt me. They locked me up and left me alone just like I had been for years before. They weren’t any different than Zeus in that aspect.

  I stop fighting not long after, and then I hear my brother and sister arrive home. I hear my sister’s annoyance and my brother’s complaints that I have ruined their evening and wasted their time. It’s just like so many times before once I came home.