As he asked why, he caught me looking at the sea. Yes, I was paranoid about Bram being able to see us. Somehow, Blake understood me. He extended his hand to me and I held his hand. He led me to the hallway going toward the other end of the house. Suddenly, he hesitated going any further. He stopped right where he was and faced me. His hand moved to the small of my back, he got even closer and pressed me against the wall.
I lifted my head, looking at him, and he titled his head down. I closed my eyes and relaxed against the wall, against his body, and his lips were on mine and I felt it…
I felt nervous, happy, as if my heart was melting, and I felt scared of this being the only time I got to experience that, and then our kiss deepened and I started to feel like I needed more. I had to have more. My hands were behind his neck, I tangled my fingers through his hair and as I felt his body press against mine even more, I tugged at his hair and a moan escaped his mouth. He stopped kissing me just when I felt I needed air. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. That was the kiss I dreamed of and so much more. That should have been my first kiss and every kiss after that.
He started to kiss my neck.
“You need to stop me because I know I won’t be able to stop myself,” he said in a rushed tone.
I didn’t say anything and he kept slowly kissing my neck. His hands moved from my back to the hem of the already short dress that I was wearing and I felt him move the dress up.
“All you have to say is no,” he whispered and I knew he didn’t mean it. He couldn’t really want me to stop him, not kissing me the way he was.
I turned my head slightly where my lips brushed against his ear, and whispered, “I want you.” I don’t even know where that came from. It wasn’t like me, but I couldn’t stop myself from saying it.
My hands went under his shirt, grabbing the hem, lifting it over his head and throwing it on the floor. He grabbed the shirt and opened the door to the first room we walked by, locking the door behind us. Inside the room, we went back to kissing. My lips felt sore, but it didn’t matter. I had to have more. He didn’t even stop kissing me to take my dress off. We just made our way to the bed, where still kissing me, he slowly moved my dress up. I fought between closing my eyes and leaving them open so I could watch him; everything about him: his chest, his brown eyes, his dark hair... He put his hands on mine, fingers intertwined and brought my hands up and over my head and then, I couldn’t help but to close my eyes and bite my bottom lip as I felt him inside me.
“Are you okay?” he whispered in my ear.
I nodded, assuring him that I was but I knew even then, he seemed to be taking it easy. Every time he started to move faster, he hesitated and slowed down again. That was, until he went deeper and I had to fight to keep my voice down, then he moved away and lay down next to me, trying to catch his breath.
“Fuck!” he said.
I gave him a puzzled look wondering if I had done something wrong.
He sighed. “I don’t mean to sound rude or to completely destroy the mood, but please tell me you are on some kind of birth control.”
I stared at him, not knowing what he meant.
“You know…. protection.”
“Oh. Right! Yes, you don’t have to worry about that.” I left out the part where I couldn’t have kids. I might have legs but I was sure that I was still not ‘wired’ as a human.
He took a deep breath and leaned over on top of me kissing me again. This time, he stopped and slowly pulled the dress off me, taking me in. As much as I wanted him again, I wasn’t sure if my body could physically handle more. When my dress was completely off, he laid back down, pulling me closer so my head was lying against his chest.
“You are beautiful, Arianna.”
“Thank you,” I said awkwardly.
“I mean it. I don’t know what it is about you, but this isn’t something I would have ever done. I just couldn’t… I couldn’t resist you.”
There was an awkward silence after that.
“So,” he said, “How was my kiss compared to your fairy tale image? Did you feel nervous, happy, or any of that?”
I grinned without looking up at him. “I felt all of that and more.”
He didn’t say anything, but with my head lying against his chest, I could hear his heartbeat speed up.
He shifted uncomfortably and sighed. “You understand that this can’t go any further, right? After today, I’ll have to do what I need to do for my family and I don’t… I don’t accept the idea of cheating. Love or no love, if I’m tied to someone, I’m not putting them through that.”
I didn’t want to understand, but I did, and all I could do was to enjoy him for as long as I had him.
I nodded and looked up at him. Even though he just met me, I could tell he felt bad for things being the way they were.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
I nodded.
“I’m going to make us something to eat. Just stay here. I’ll be back soon.” He kissed me before he got up, then he put on his boxers and went out of the room.
This was the first time that I actually noticed my surroundings. The room was huge and beautiful. It had windows going all the way across on one of the sides, and I couldn’t even bear the thought of looking outside… of looking at the sea. Yet, I stared at the windows, terrified at the thought of what was happening in my world.
“Arianna?” he called.
Startled, I jumped and looked to the other side. I was so distracted that I didn’t even notice that he was back in the room. He carried a tray with fruits and juice and set it on the bed.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded.
“I wish you’d tell me more about yourself and your… hmm…. situation. I’d like to help.”
“Thank you, but trust me, there’s nothing you could do to help.”
He sighed. “You should eat something.”
He watched me as I ate, looking as if he was hesitating to tell me something. Then finally, he did.
“I had a message on my phone. Everyone is coming back later today and they are bringing Brooke with them.”
“Brooke?” I asked.
“My soon to be girlfriend again, or fiancé, or whatever you want to call it.”
“Oh,” I looked away.
“I’m really sorry. I feel like I should have controlled myself better around you. I just—”
“Please don’t apologize,” I said. “I wanted this.”
He nodded but he gave me a puzzled look as if he didn’t understand why I would want him.
Still covering myself with the bed sheets, I moved closer to him.
“What are you doing?” he said, grinning.
I shrugged. “You already feel guilty anyway. We might as well take advantage of it.”
I didn’t need to say anything else. Within seconds, the tray was set-aside on the floor and he was under the covers with me, his hands wandering around, exploring every single part of my body as we kissed.
Stopping was harder than I thought, but we knew that his family would soon be here. As I got in the shower and got dressed, happiness was slowly leaving me as reality began to set in. I knew that I’d be taken to the city with no idea on what to do or where to go. I also knew that I’d likely never see him again and that he would definitely never be mine again.
Chapter Eight
When I got out of the room he was already dressed and he stood by one of the windows, staring at the sea. “I can see the boat,” he said in a sad tone.
I nodded getting more and more scared. I sat down on the couch and he sat next to me.
“I know that I keep saying this, but there’s just something so different about you—” He shook his head as if he couldn’t comprehend what he was feeling.
I looked away.
If he only knew how different I was…
I didn’t know how long it passed as we sat there in silence, but next thing I knew, there were two women walking in the house, with a little girl run
ning in front of them. That was the little girl I had saved from the water and she took Blake and me by surprise as she ran toward me, jumping on my lap and giving me a hug.
Blake stared at Molly and me in admiration. The older of the two women gave me a genuine smile. She then looked from Molly to Blake with such love. Something about her made me feel comfortable and relaxed. I didn’t even have to look past the fancy clothes to realize that to her, family was the center of the universe. The younger woman, who I assumed to be Brooke, was the opposite. For one thing, she looked furious. Her perfectly done hair, nails, clothes, and the way she carried herself, made her look intimidating, but none of that was as bad as the way she looked at me.
I was honestly afraid of what the little girl would say, but she just stared at me for a while, then she ran her little hands through my hair, “You are pretty,” was all she said.
It made me smile, and the same happened with Blake. That was the first time I’d seen him smile like that and that smile made me melt.
“Molly really likes you,” said the older woman. “Are you one of Blake’s friends?”
I didn’t know what to say but luckily Blake took over.
“Yes, Mom. This is Arianna. Arianna, this is Brooke,” he said motioning toward her. She looked even more furious! Blake noticed it too. His whole body language changed as he got up and moved toward her. He gave me an apologetic look before looking back at her.
“Thanks for coming. I really want to talk to you,” he said.
“Do you?” she asked in a stuck up tone.
He nodded and gave his mom a look that begged for her help.
His mom looked at me, “Come on, Arianna, Molly… let’s go outside for a bit.”
I froze.
Molly turned to her mom, “I want to play in my room!”
I could hug that kid all day just for that.
“To your room it is,” said her mom.
Molly and I got up and she held on to my hand. As she dragged me to her room, I looked back at Blake and he looked miserable.
Her room was across from Blake’s. Once we closed the door, his mom faced me and said, “Arianna, would you mind watching Molly for a few minutes while I get settled and get her snack ready?”
“I’d love to.”
She gave me a genuine smile.
“Thank you.” She smiled down at Molly. “She really likes you. She usually isn’t this friendly with people at first.”
I smiled as Molly ran over to her kitchen set and started to grab things for a princess tea party.
As soon as her mom was gone, Molly looked up at me and smiled. “This will be a princess tea party. I’ll be Ariel but you can be my mermaid friend,” she said. “Did you bring your tail with you today? It was so pretty!”
After being terrified for a second, I decided to play along and hope for the best. “Not today.”
“It’s okay, maybe you can be Cinderella today. I have a tiara that is really pretty!”
By the time her mom got back, I was sitting on the floor and Molly had done my hair and was trying to do my makeup too. Her mom walked in and set Molly’s snack on the table. Her mom didn’t look as happy as before although she did manage to smile at me once she saw me sitting there.
“Is everything okay, Mrs. Crawford?” I asked.
She sighed and nodded.
“Please call me Cindy.”
“Okay.”
“How did you get here, Arianna?” she asked in a nice way. “I just didn’t see any other boats out there.”
“I brought her in after I took you to the city, Mom.”
I froze before looking up to confirm that the voice I heard was the voice of the man from the sea; the man who made this all possible.
He leaned against the doorframe and grinned at me. His grin alone made my skin crawl.
“Oh you know each other as well?” she said.
“Yeah. Look, mom, Blake doesn’t look too good. Brooke took him back but she is giving him hell. She kicked me out of the living room, too, but maybe you could go help him out.”
She sighed. “Watch your sister,” she said.
As soon as she left, Molly looked at him, “This is a girls-only tea party. Can you please leave?”
“Oh, excuse me for interrupting, princess,” he said playfully.
He looked at me. “I know you want to talk and we will. For now, I’m glad you seem to be adjusting well. Probably even better than I thought possible,” he grinned. “My name is Owen by the way. Come look for me when my mom is back.”
I didn’t even say a word, simply because I couldn’t. I was speechless.
I played with Molly for a while longer until she decided that she wanted to watch a movie… the little mermaid, of course. She fell asleep within minutes and I kept watching it until Blake came in the room.
I stood up, fast. He glanced at Molly before looking back at me. “I know I have absolutely no right to ask you this, but I think I know how I may be able to help you.”
“You do?” I asked confused.
“I want you to stay here.”
I gave him a puzzled look.
“Please. I don’t want to send you back to whatever you are running from. That is the least I can do.”
There was such a pleading tone to his words that I couldn’t say no, if not for that then for the fact that I had nowhere else to go.
“My mom needs someone to keep an eye on the house when we’re not here and to maybe help her with Molly a little whenever she is here, which isn’t often. Is that okay with you? She’ll pay you.”
“Have you already talked to her? Is she okay with me staying?”
“Of course. She seems to love you.”
I nodded. “She doesn’t need to pay me. Letting me stay here is more than enough.”
“She insists and so do I,” he said smiling.
“How did it go with Brooke?” I asked, afraid to hear the answer.
“As okay as it can be. She is resting now, which gave me the opportunity to talk to my mom about you staying. You can have the guest bedroom. That is now yours and we all have to go back tomorrow, but you have enough food and clothes for the week. I’ll come back next Friday with more things and everyone else usually comes on Saturday during Summer time.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
We fell into an awkward silence. It felt so strange being this close to him and not be able to touch him.
He looked like he wanted to say something, but finally, all he said was that he had to go. Cindy came back shortly after and talked about how glad she was to have someone to watch over the house and help her with Molly. She walked me through the rest of the house showing me all rooms and telling me that I was welcome to anything in the house. She also apologized in advance if Brooke was rude to me in any way, which I didn’t understand at first being that I had yet to talk to her, but I guess that was more of a warning than anything else.
I found that out later that evening when dinnertime came around. Cindy had cooked dinner and sat a plate on the table for me to eat with the rest of the family. Molly wanted me to sit next to her. That was the first time I saw Owen all day, so we had yet to talk and in a way, I was trying to postpone that a little longer. I wasn’t ready to be alone with him.
He sat across the table with Brooke and Cindy, as Molly had requested that Blake sat on the other side of her. Dinner was quiet and awkward at first then it turned more and more awkward from there. Blake did his best to not look at me. Brooke had her gaze locked on him, and Owen grinned as he looked back and forth between the three of us.
Cindy noticed and tried to make things better by asking me questions, but that just made it all worse.
“So, Arianna, how did you meet Blake and Owen?”
I froze.
Owen decided to interrupt then and answer her question, which took both Blake and me by surprise.
“We met her at a party in the city last summer,” he said.
“Oh, okay. Well, I can
’t tell you enough how glad we are to have you here.”
“Thank you,” I said awkwardly.
Luckily, Owen decided to turn the focus of the conversation on Blake, talking about some meeting that they had in a few days and school. It turned out they both worked for their dad whenever they were not in class. Blake was going to law school and Owen to business school. I couldn’t help but watch Blake as he talked about both work and school, he looked truly unhappy and that literally made my heart ache for him.
Halfway through dinner, Brooke looked at me and giving me a look that was making me uncomfortable she said, “Arianna, would you make me a drink?”
“I—I… hmm… sure. What would you like?”
Blake had been talking to Molly and he suddenly stopped. His smile turned into a frown as he quickly got up and announced that he would get it.
Brooke stared right at him. “Why not let the help get it?”
Blake started to say something but his mom gave him a warning gaze.
“It’s okay, I can get it,” I said.
Cindy shook her head and looked at Brooke. “Brooke, sweetheart, maybe you misunderstood my son earlier today. Arianna is a friend and is being kind enough to help keep an eye on the house for us. She’s not our maid.”
Brooke rolled her eyes and got up to make herself a drink.
Cindy looked at me and mouthed an, ‘I’m so sorry.’
Blake just got up and walked outside and Owen looked from Blake to me, seeming amused.
After dinner, Cindy purposely asked Brooke to help with the dishes, as Molly and I sat on the living room floor and colored.
Owen looked at me and moved his head motioning toward a game room they had at the back of the house.
“Time to talk,” he said.
As I got up, this was the first time I was brave enough to look outside and all I saw was Blake sitting on the sand and staring at the ocean. Whatever was happening at my home didn’t seem nearly as important as what was going through his head at that moment.
I was so tempted to go check on him, and I’m sure that Brooke noticed, because she stopped helping with the dishes, and grinned at me before going outside.
I had to practically force myself to walk away and to go talk to Owen.
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