Crown of York

by Charlotte Byrd

  As he stands before me, my hands find their way to his hair, burying my fingers deep within the thick strands. I drop one hand into the crook of his arm. The muscles underneath my fingertips curl and flex with each move. His skin is soft to the touch, but it is the strength in his taught muscles that sends waves of warmth through my core.

  He comes back up to my mouth, giving me one last kiss. Then he breathes hard into it and pulls off his shirt.

  When he looks down at me, his eyes are big and wide. They look at me with adoration as if I’m the most beautiful woman in the world.

  He kisses me behind my ear again, nibbling on my earlobe. He breathes in and out and I hear the echo deep inside.

  He wants me.

  It’s as if he is desperate for me.

  It sounds almost like a growl.

  Easton moves his hands to my hips and pulls off my pants. It takes one strong yank and they come off. Then he kneels down before me and slowly pulls down my underwear.

  He nibbles at the lace near my hipbones and follows them with his mouth as he pulls them off my hips. I place my hands on top of his shoulders and run them up and down his neck.

  His shoulders are wide and powerful, each muscle expands and contracts with each breath. When he removes my underwear, I hold on to him for balance.

  Suddenly, I’m naked. No, not naked, but nude.

  I’m not exposed.

  I am loved.

  He looks at my body with adoration.

  I have a lot of insecurity with my imperfections, yet he doesn’t see any of them. I look at him in return.

  Each muscle in his stomach flexes and relaxes. His body is chiseled, taut and tan, the kind of body I’ve only seen in the movies. He looks as if he were airbrushed.

  “You are beautiful,” he says and I blush.

  “Your body is…amazing,” I mumble as he kisses me again.

  When he pulls away from me, he gets down on his knees and opens up my legs. He kisses my thighs and then deeper inside of me. He opens me up as his fingers find their way in. My legs start to feel weak. Warmth starts to spread through my body.

  “I have to sit down,” I say.

  “Wait.”

  I watch as he gathers our clothes and then carefully helps me down onto them. The romance of making love on the beach can be quickly squashed by the reality of sand getting into everywhere.

  As I lie down on the blanket of clothes, Easton lowers himself on top of me. His hard and thick cock presses hard into my pelvic region. I reach down for it to feel it with my hand.

  It’s large and smooth and thick. My legs open wide for him and he slides inside.

  Now, we are one.

  As he thrusts in and out of me, nothing else matters.

  The sand feels cool and soft under my back and it accommodates our movements. With Easton inside of me, nothing and no one can hurt me.

  It’s as if our bodies were made for each other.

  Warmth starts to build in my core.

  I tilt my head back and give out a long moan.

  He says my name over and over again as his movements start to accelerate. With each thrust, he goes deeper and deeper inside me.

  When he gets close, he moans right into my ear, “Oh…Everly!”

  “Stay with me,” I mumble as I feel myself getting close.

  He continues to hold onto me tightly, pushing deeper inside of me.

  And that’s when it happens.

  An explosion.

  Ripples of pleasure spread throughout my body.

  My legs go numb.

  Even my vision gets a little blurry.

  “Easton,” I yell into his ear digging my fingers into his back.

  “I love you, Everly,” he says kissing me over and over again.

  Part 4

  Chapter 31 - Easton

  Before…

  Right before the elimination, my father calls me into his office. I’ve come to dread this, but I gather my strength and go inside. There’s no use fighting it.

  Just as before, I find him sitting at his large desk, reading a book. He doesn’t look up at me until he turns the page and finishes the chapter.

  I wait.

  This is his game and I let him play it.

  “Thank you for coming, Easton,” he finally says, closing the book.

  I glance at the cover. It’s Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. I’ve given up trying to figure out what a man like my father could get out of a book like that.

  “What do you think about Everly?” He comes right out and asks.

  I look at him, trying to gauge what my answer should be.

  After a moment, I give him a small shrug.

  “You like her, don’t you?”

  “I don’t really have an opinion about her,” I finally say.

  “Now, c’mon, that’s not what it looks like to me.”

  I inhale deeply.

  “I don’t care either way,” I say after a moment. “I mean, she’s just a girl.”

  My father furrows his brows and then gives me a coy smile out of the corner of his mouth.

  “I know that we don’t always see eye to eye, son, but my intentions are not bad in asking you this.”

  I glare at him, completely unconvinced.

  “You don’t trust me?” he asks innocently.

  “No, I don’t like her,” I finally say. “She might end up being my stepmother.”

  “We both know that’s a lie,” my father says, getting up from behind his desk.

  He walks around the room slowly.

  “Since I know that you like her, I thought of maybe changing up a few things about this competition.”

  My heart starts to beat faster, but I don’t make a move or a sound. I wait for him to continue.

  “I was wondering what you would think about possibly choosing a wife for yourself?”

  The words take me by surprise. I have never considered this as a possibility.

  “Is this a joke?” I ask.

  “No.”

  “Why…? Why would you want to do that?” I ask.

  “You and Abbott are getting on in years. It’s about time I had some grandchildren.”

  I shake my head, more from shock rather than disagreement.

  My father’s loud laugh thunders around the room and leads him into a long speech about the importance of family.

  “You see, despite how many new children I have, I have always been and will always be partial to you and Abbott. You are your mother’s children, after all. My first wife’s.”

  The mention of my mother ticks at my heart, but I clench my jaw and continue to bear his words.

  “When you get older, you will understand the meaning of family a lot more. It represents so much more than just the individual family members. It becomes your legacy.”

  No, your legacy will be the atrocities that happen on this island, I want to say. Your legacy is the hate and suffering that you foster.

  My father drapes his arm around my shoulder and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

  “None of us are getting any younger, my son. I want to play with some grandchildren before I get too old.”

  Even if they are the same age as your children? I want to ask, but again I bite my tongue.

  “Don’t you have anything to say?”

  “I’m not sure what you want me to say.”

  “Do you want any of the women here?”

  The question comes with so much gravity that it nearly crushes me under its weight.

  “I thought I would offer you first pick of the litter so to speak, before I asked Abbott.”

  I nod, taking it all in.

  “Yes,” I finally say. “Yes, I like Everly very much.”

  “Good, that’s settled then,” my father says. I wait for him to elaborate.

  “What is?” I ask after a moment.

  “Oh, Easton, don’t be so dim-witted.”

  I stare at him. It’s not that I don’t understand what he’s saying.
It’s just that the words don’t really make any sense. Is he really talking about letting me marry Everly?

  “Do I have to spell it out for you?” He asks.

  I nod.

  “Tonight, at the elimination you will chose the one you want to marry and give her a ring.”

  A smile forms at the corners of my lips.

  “If you want my advice, you should take her for a ride in the sack before you make your final decision. The last thing you want is some frigid cunt.”

  His misogyny and disrespect makes me want to punch him, but I don’t say a word. He has just given me everything I wanted.

  He continues to talk about not only the importance of marrying well, but also for marrying someone you have affection for.

  He doesn’t mention the word love, just affection.

  Apparently, he has made this mistake a few times.

  “You also don’t want to marry anyone stupid. They will make you look bad no matter what you do,” he says.

  I wonder where my mother fits in all of this, but he doesn’t mention her.

  I stand before him and listen until the speech is over, and all throughout my thoughts keep circling back to Everly.

  My future wife.

  That is, if she will have me.

  A loud knock on the door interrupts him, and Abbott walks in. He has sunken eyes and sallow skin, as if he hasn’t slept in days.

  His t-shirt is dirty and ripped at the collar and his hair is wild and oily.

  “Why do you look like that?” My father gasps. “You look terrible.”

  “You sent me to Hamilton, remember,” Abbott says with an accusatory tone, rubbing his unshaven face. “I came straight from there.”

  “Oh yes, of course,” Father waves his hand in the air. “I forgot.”

  “If you had ever stepped foot in there, you wouldn’t ever forget that place,” Abbott whispers under his breath.

  My father doesn’t hear him.

  Instead, he continues his speech about the importance of a good marriage. We listen, occasionally exchanging looks. Father drones on and on, finally coming to his point.

  “Abbott, you need a wife. The contestants have been narrowed down sufficiently, leaving only the creme de la creme. I’d like you to pick your wife from the ones who are left.”

  “I’ll take Everly,” Abbott says without missing a beat.

  Chapter 32 - Easton

  When he says her name…

  Abbott looks at me when he says her name.

  Is this a challenge? He gives me a small knowing smile. I clench my jaw and ball up my fists.

  “Everly? Huh?” Father laughs. “What is it with this girl? Maybe I should spend a little more time with her.”

  My blood is starting to boil. A familiar knot forms in the pit of my stomach. It throbs as if a bile of anger is oozing out of it.

  “You don’t know anything about Everly,” I say in a cool, calm tone.

  I inhale deeply trying to calm myself down.

  Don’t take the bait, I say to myself.

  Don’t let them see you sweat.

  “I know that you don’t want me to have her,” Abbott says.

  “That’s not a good reason to take a wife, son,” Father says shaking his head.

  “She landed me in Hamilton,” Abbott says under his breath.

  This time, Father hears him. “Actually, you landed yourself there. You and your temper.”

  Abbot stares daggers at me.

  “Okay, let’s make this fair, then. Easton, you have been on a date with all the contestants already. So, why don’t you, Abbott, do the same? Take them out, talk to them, see what you think.”

  “Even Everly?” I ask, trying to hide my shock.

  “Yes, even Everly,” Father says decidedly.

  I follow Abbott out of our father’s chambers ready to fight. My fists are balled up so much that the whites of my knuckles are showing.

  My steps are hard and deliberate.

  My back is tense.

  Every part of my body is ready to throw and take a punch.

  But Abbott surprises me. He turns around and wraps his arms around me in a warm embrace.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “I missed you,” he says.

  I try to push him away, but he just pulls me closer.

  “I’m sorry,” he finally says, rubbing the mist in his eyes.

  Is that a tear?

  I did not know that Abbott Bay was capable of anything close to that.

  “I’m sorry,” he says again. “I’m just really tired. I haven’t slept in…a long time.”

  “What happened in Hamilton?” I ask quietly, feeling the muscles in my body starting to relax.

  “Um…nothing. Nothing special,” Abbott says, turning away from me.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  He shrugs.

  Whatever happened in Hamilton must’ve been something horrible. I have never seen my brother act this way before.

  He has always been a loud, pompous prick.

  And this tenderness?

  This humanity that he’s exhibiting now?

  This isn’t like him.

  “You can tell me, you know,” I say.

  I’m putting myself out on a limb. Maybe it’s a mistake.

  “I don’t want to fucking talk about it,” he snaps and walks away from me.

  I don’t follow him.

  Instead, I go down another hallway, taking the long way down to my place.

  “Everly!” Abbott yells on top just as I’m about out of earshot.

  “What?” I yell back.

  He’s standing far in the distance.

  All I can see is his silhouette, but the way the acoustics work, his voice comes in loud and clear.

  “Everly!” He says, with a loud, evil laugh. “She’s mine!”

  I walk outside shaking my head. This time I’m angry with myself. Just as I thought that there may be an inkling of something human in him, he vanquished it completely.

  Abbott Bay is exactly the person I always knew he was.

  Some of my first memories are of him sitting on top of me with a pillow over my head. He was trying to suffocate me and make it look like an accident.

  When our mother caught him, he lied and pretended that we were just playing a game. When she asked me if that were true, I said yes because I was so afraid of him.

  Abbott Bay is evil.

  Whatever inkling of emotion I just saw back there that was just a pity party thrown in his own honor.

  He may have suffered in Hamilton, I have no doubt about the fact that he did. But instead of focusing that anger on our father, the person who sentenced him to that place, he will take out his anger and frustration on Everly or anyone else he deems to be weaker than him.

  He is a coward and a first-rate bully.

  I have to do everything in my power to protect her from him, but what?

  My mind races a mile a minute in search of an answer. But nothing occurs to me.

  If I attack him now, Father will likely throw me into Hamilton as well. Then, I will be even further away from her.

  No, I need to create some sort of diversion.

  I need to buy time.

  He has to be stopped.

  From doing what exactly?

  I know that he is capable of a lot of darkness, but will he do that on a date?

  While everyone is watching? No.

  He reserves his dark deeds for private moments.

  Perhaps, going on a date with him is one of the safest ways that Everly could be with him. In public.

  But then again, I managed to have alone time with her. I’m sure he could, too.

  I don’t know what to do. I don’t have a solution.

  Just a myriad of possibilities and outcomes that all lead nowhere good.

  There is one thing I can do. I can warn her.

  My walk turns into a trot and then an outright run.

  I pick up my feet and
race back to the main house. I run upstairs to her room and burst through the door without knocking.

  It’s empty.

  I try the other girls’ rooms.

  They are empty, too.

  Where did everyone go?

  Chapter 33 - Everly

  When I can’t escape…

  My heart is beating. I’m sitting in a large recliner with my feet up. There’s a box of Milk Duds on my lap and one melting in my mouth. The room is dark and Teal’s face is bathed in a soft blue light coming from the screen in front of us.

  I wish we were watching a movie, but we aren’t.

  We are watching their date; Abbott and Catalina.

  She’s the first one to go.

  I’m next.

  Teal is holding my hand, whispering that it will be okay.

  All I can think about is all the ways that it will not.

  Abbott is acting polite and cordial. Catalina looks beautiful and like she’s having a good time. Is she?

  Abbott and Catalina don’t know each other, but he knows me. I don’t know what’s going to happen on my date with him except that I doubt that it will go as smoothly.

  I can’t bear to watch their dinner any longer.

  The long pauses.

  The smiles.

  The conversation about nothing in particular.

  The room feels like it’s closing in around me. I jump out of my chair and run outside.

  I try to gather my breath, but it seems to escape me.

  When I was eleven, I tried to do a spin in the air off the monkey bars after watching the girls’ gymnastics team at the Olympics on television. I was so inspired that I just decided to go for it. I flipped up in the air, did half a turn and landed flat on my back.

  Everything turned to black.

  I couldn’t feel any part of my body at first except for my chest, which wouldn’t let me take a full breath of air.

  Standing in this hallway, I feel the same way. It’s as if the wind got knocked out of me.

  My thoughts drift back to Easton and the night that we had spent together. The closeness and safety that I felt just a little bit ago is gone.