by Jessop, K. L
The second he opens the door, my nerves are instantly replaced with butterflies as his eyes widen. His breath catches and warmth floods between my thighs when his liquid eyes snake over my body. No words are exchanged; the air crackling between us is the only thing that speaks. He’s in only his shorts, looking sexy as hell. Desire swirls in my lower stomach and I suddenly want him against me.
“Everly?”
“Hi. I just… umm. I....” Not knowing what else to say, I step forward, push up on my tiptoes, cup his jaw and press my mouth against his. “I wanted to kiss you,” I whisper against his lips, neither of us moving away. “Do you want me to go?”
He shakes his head and whispers back. “No.” Right before his lips find mine again. Without breaking the connection, he lifts me around his waist, and we kiss in his doorway like we’ve not kissed for ages. After he takes a step backwards, the door is kicked closed before I’m backed up against it. He deepens the caress, devouring me in every way, tugging on my bottom lip before diving his tongue in my mouth and coming at me faster and harder. I breathe his name when hot, wet kisses draw down my neck, the scruff of his jaw sending tingles everywhere. His large hand cups my breast, his other on my thigh, and his erection presses against me. The urge I had to kiss him has now blown into pure hunger as I rock my hips into him.
Jesus, what has he done to me?
I’ve never craved anything as much as I crave him, and I’ve never seen him as ravenous as he is now. I’m wet, on fire and intoxicated by his touch. Neither of us can get enough.
“Adam Knight, you’re making me feel like a giddy teen,” I pant.
“Feelings mutual, beautiful. These damn butterflies in my stomach are going crazy. I’ve missed you.”
“Do you think I look pretty today?”
“No. You look fucking incredible.” He tugs at my hair. “And I’m really digging this.”
I grin. “You’re digging it?”
“Totally digging it.”
His lips come back to my neck, this time in softer butterfly-like kisses as my eyes wander around his light, fresh looking hallway. “Were you busy?”
“I am now,” he growls against my skin.
“Where’s Bailey?”
“Back garden.”
It’s not until my eyes move to the opening of the living room that my breath catches. My stomach somersaults as the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
“Put me down,” I whisper, needing to investigate.
“What?”
“Put me down.”
He groans with frustration, but when I’m on my feet, I move away from him, entering the room and going over to the mantelpiece. I’m speechless, completely lost for words as I observe the large canvas painting on the wall. The centre is a black circle—like a hole—that swirls out into a rainbow of colours that fills it from corner to corner—a painting that was created with my very own hands.
He has my painting on his wall.
“Adam…” I murmur, reaching out to hold his arm, not taking my eyes off the artwork.
“Beautiful, isn’t it? I bought it a few years ago. It's called—"
“Believe in your dreams for they will one day come true.”
“You know it?”
“Yes.” I don’t want to cry, but can’t help the emotion that fills me. My earlier conversation with Mum plays my mind. Fate.
Is this fate?
“The artist is unknown to the public eye, apparently. They just produce work for their web and charities.”
“B.E.” It’s the initials I go by and only Anita, my parents and I know the true meaning behind it. It’s nothing fancy, but it keeps my identity secret.
“Wow. You really do know a lot about this artist, or this piece.”
“Reverse the letters.”
“What?”
I turn to look at him, still stunned of my findings. “B.E. reverse them.”
He frowns, thinking for a moment and when he looks at me, his eyes widen in astonishment. “No.”
I nod, smiling. “That's my work, Adam.”
Now he’s the one lost for words as he looks back at the picture. His eyes dance all over it as he no doubt tries to comprehend what is happening before looking back at me with an amazed smile. “You mean to tell me, that your artwork has been on my wall for the past three years and I had no idea?”
I nod.
“Well, I’ll be…”
“Crazy right? Some may call that fate.”
His eyes darken and he pulls me towards him, pressing his forehead against mine. “Every second of every minute that you’ve been back, you’ve blown my mind.”
He crashes his mouth to mine and rekindles everything inside, making me want him more than ever. “Take me to bed, Adam,” I whisper.
My dress is off in seconds and a delicious growl leaves his throat when I stand in only my soft, pink lace underwear. The urge I had to look around the space and see everything that makes this home his, has now been put on hold because the masterpiece in front of me is everything and more. The more his hooded eyes observe every part of me, the more my toes curl into the plush bedroom carpet.
“Jesus, Everly. Every goddamn fucking thing about you is perfect.” The fire in his eyes burns deep and I feel it in the depths of my soul, smouldering away.
“Make me yours, Adam.” There’s double meaning behind my words, but right now I need nothing more than for him to release this excruciating ache between my thighs that has only heightened since he opened the front door to me. I’m hot, hungry for his touch and in desperate need to feel every part of him. When he steps closer, our eyes never leave each other. His fingertips dust over my waist, the hum of our proximity electric as I run my hands up the ripped muscle of his chest and over his shoulders, linking my arms around his neck before I devour his mouth.
“Tell me what you want, Everly.” His deep, husky voice creates another swirl inside of me as my heart slams against my chest with the honesty I murmur.
“I want to feel every part of you in me and on me. I want you to take me in the way you need. But first, I need to be kissed. Everywhere.”
His liquid eyes and hard swallow tell me enough.
He starts at my lips, a quick kiss before moving to my chin, my neck, collarbones, slipping the strap off my shoulders before the band is released and I’m exposed to him. My breathing becomes heavier when his mouth covers my breast, and I moan his name out in a whisper when his tongue covers my nipple. He continues kissing and caressing my body in a sensual path to my stomach. His fingers clasp the thin lace of my underwear, and as he slides them down my legs, his eyes hold mine. My head dips, my body now quivering with need as he kisses my hip bone, the inside of my thigh, before moving to the other and doing the exact same drawing over my skin, working his way back up my body to my mouth. As our lips connect, I’m backed onto the bed before he starts that intoxicating trail once again. The lower he goes, the more my body reacts to his touch. Want. Need. Passion. Every word you can imagine that makes a person feel wanted and worthy is caressed into my skin, little by little, piece by piece, making my heart and soul explode with deep intensifying adoration.
“So beautiful, Everly.”
“Please, Adam.”
When his tongue runs up my sex, I cry out, lifting my hips and curling my fingers in the locks of his dark hair. Holding me in place, he doesn’t stop. His mouth of magic takes and devours. Every pulse in my body thrashes against my skin so strongly it takes my breath, and when that unbelievable burn pools in my lower stomach, I cry out his name, over and over as he takes everything from me.
“You taste so damn good.” He kisses me hard, providing me with the taste of my climax before he pulls back to remove his shorts.
My body is floating in ecstasy as I try and control my breathing.
“That was amazing,” I pant.
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?” His breath is ragged as his naked frame stands before me, his hand stroking
his hard dick as I watch.
My mouth waters, needing him inside me.
“The way your eyes turn a darker shade with lust. The way your chest rises and falls, your stomach dips when I touch you because you’re breathless. The way your heart pounds when I kiss you. Everything. Do you have any idea how much I want you?”
I shake my head, knowing exactly what I do to him because he does the same to me. I whisper. “Show me,”
“Turn over.”
I’m on my front, and the second he climbs back onto the bed, that little bud of nerves starts to hum once again. Warm kisses dust down my spine as he nudges my legs apart and when he enters me, my eyes close on the whisper of his name. His hard frame covers mine; hands lock together as he begins to move, taking me how he needs, giving me what I crave and expanding my heart for him more and more as we ride the wave of each other over and over. This. Him. Us. It’s everything.
“You’re mine, Everly. All mine.”
And I am, I always have been, and regardless of where we go from here, I always will be.
28
Adam
I stretch my arm out across the mattress only to find it empty and cold. Blinking my eyes open, I lean up on my elbow, looking across the darkened room to see Everly’s silhouette over at the window, the moonlight highlighting her face as she sits in the window seat. “Everly? You ok?”
She answers softly, still looking through the glass. “Insomnia and me are great friends at times. I didn’t want to wake you, so I’m just sitting here, looking at the stars.”
“Are they shining?” I sit up fully, rubbing my eyes so I wake up properly.
“Very much so. Although, the glow from the town is blocking out a lot of them.”
I watch her for a few more seconds before an idea comes to mind. Getting out of bed, I scramble around in the dark to find my shorts. Placing them on and finding my shirt, I pick up Everly’s dress before going over to her and kissing her on the head.
“Get dressed.”
She looks up at me a little confused. “Why?”
“Just do it.”
I leave her to it and head downstairs, ruffling Bailey's head when he greets me in the kitchen, he, too, wondering what is going on. After finding a blanket, marshmallows and a lighter, I place them in my rucksack before putting on Bailey’s lead and heading out to my car to place him inside. Everly is right: the night sky is lit with stars, the environment around me so still it brings a little chill to the air. Going back inside, I find Everly coming down the stairs. “Adam, what’s going on?”
I take hold of her hands. “How do you fancy going to do some star gazing?”
She smiles, her eyes sparkle.
Each day that I see less darkness in her hues is another day where I feel at ease.
“Like old times?”
“Like old times.”
After locking up, I drive us through the sleepy town towards the lake, all the while her hand rests effortlessly on my thigh, channelling that warmth right through me. Once we are parked, I grab the bag, take Bailey on the lead and Everly by the hand, leading us down the trail towards the cabin.
“How do you know where you’re going? It’s dark as shit down here,” Everly whispers.
“It’s the wildlife photographer in me.”
“We don’t even have a torch.”
“The moon is bright enough to show us the way. And you don’t have to whisper, there’s no one out here.”
“You don’t know that.”
I squeeze her hand to reassure her as the cabin comes into view. I can’t help the smile that hits my lips when I hear her sigh and whisper to herself. “Oh, thank God.”
Bailey immediately curls up on his bundle of blankets when I switch on the light to the cabin, and Everly sits on the bed. Finding the firelighter fluid, I head back out, collecting the few logs I’ve stored outside. The surrounding area of the cabin is now all cleared back and free from any regrowth, the cabin itself almost finished with just the replacement wood to attend to outside so it’s ready for winter and free from any water leaks in the event of bad weather. It’s surprised me just how much I’ve missed this place since redoing it. Yes, I’ve come to the lake often over the years, but I never ventured down into the depths where history still lies.
I don’t know who I have to thank for it: Mac, Everly or Mr Braithwaite. I guess they’ve all have had some sort of an impact in their own way. But the one person that I really have to thank is the beauty that’s waiting inside. I still don’t think she has any clue what she does to me, back then and now. She is completely hypnotic. I can’t get her out of my head, and every time she is close, I want her closer. What is so sad yet so astonishing is that she is unaware of just how beautiful she is, inside and out. I also believe she is unaware how far she has come since returning and is oblivious to the fact that I want nothing but her. I just hope she will let me in and let me be the person I want to be for her. Lighting a small campfire, I go back for my girl, only to find her standing in the doorway, leaning against the wood, watching me. She’s wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and a smile graces her face.
“You ready to come out?”
“This can’t be like old times because we haven’t got any marshmallows. Disappointed in you, Mr Knight.”
I grin. “Who says I haven’t got any? They are in my rucksack.”
She chuckles, holding out her hand. “I’m impressed. Lead the way then, kind sir.”
She sits herself on the old oak tree bark while I lay out the blanket and unpack the bag, taking the marshmallows out. The silence is suddenly broken when I hear her laugh.
“You alright over there?” I ask, grinning at whatever it is that has made her feel elation.
“I can’t believe you have my artwork on your wall.”
I chuckle, still in disbelief myself. “I know, right. It was just by chance that I saw it. I’d wanted something for the house, and when I searched online for abstracts, the images you have on your website came up. Small world.”
“Just think, if I hadn’t come back, you would never have known.” She comes over to sit on the blanket, opening the packet of marshmallows and stabbing them on the skewers ready to be toasted while I poke the fire with another log before chucking it on it.
“I’m glad you came back. Life was pretty dull without you in it,” I admit. Her eyes flash to mine and she’s searching. Looking away, she begins to toast the marshmallows and the smell of them brings back so many memories of the two of us. On the days of our holidays, the only place a person had to look if they needed us was down here. Shut off from the world, mobile phones left at home, all that mattered was Everly and all that mattered to her was me. We’d swim in the lake, spend nights around the campfire, talking about everything and anything, right before I would take her inside and love her body until the early hours. She had been my future then and she still is now. I'm not going to stop until I make her my forever.
“I used to hate these things before I met you,” she says bringing me out of my thoughts. “They made my throat feel all funny.”
I chuckle. “I can remember your face when you first had one. It was like you’d just sucked a lemon.”
“I didn’t like the way it felt in my mouth when I sucked on it.”
I look at her with a raised brow, the boy in me immediately reading the dirtiness in her words.
She bursts out laughing and falls into me after realising what she’s said. “Oh God. I don’t know what’s worse: the fact I could have picked better words or the fact your mind went straight to the gutter.”
I shrug. “I mean, it’s taken you until now to tell me you don’t like the feel of it in your mouth. Should I be offended here?”
I grin and laugh right along with her as she belly laughs and snorts, wiping her eyes as happy tears gather in the corners.
Fuck, she’s amazing. This right here is why I know I can’t be without her.
“Stop twisting my words.” After wi
ping her eyes, she hands me a skewer with a toasted marshmallow on it and starts picking at her own with her fingers.
“I used to hate Cider until you made me drink it one time,” I say randomly, thinking back to the time we’d been celebrating our end of school term. We’d been fifteen and had wanted to hang out with everyone in the park. A group of lads had played football, a group of girls had huddled in the corner talking about makeup and who they fancied from the school basketball team, and Everly and me had sat aside from everyone talking, kissing and forgetting everything else around us.
She holds up her hand. “Hold on. I never made you drink it; you stole the cans from Bobby Ginger because he pissed you off earlier that day and you wanted payback.”
“Well, I never heard you complaining when I offered you some, too.”
“Um, excuse me, you only gave me one can. You drank the other three and lapped that shit up like it was going out of fashion.”
“I decided after the first one made me woozy that it was good stuff. It made me feel happy.”
She laughs. “Happy? Adam, it made you giggle like a dickhead. Not just a boyish laugh, like proper girly uncontrollable giggles.”
“I think that was the only time Mum never yelled at me.”
“She thought you were hilarious.”
“It was a good day. And then Sam and Jamie came home and ruined it.”
“He ruined a lot of things.”
Shit.
I feel like a dick when I see her smile drop, hating the fact that only moments ago she was completely carefree. Is this what it’s like for her? What it’s always going to be like for her? Happy one minute and then in the next, back to black because a trigger has sent her spiralling… She doesn’t deserve that, and I certainly don’t fucking want her feeling like that. Reaching out, I twirl my fingers around her newly cut hair. “I’m sorry, Ev. I didn’t mean to bring him up.”
A smile tugs her lips. “Adam, he was part of your family for years. I can’t expect you just to not talk about him. I’m fine.”
She may be fine with me talking about him, but I’m not. It was a slip of the tongue move and one I’m not going to repeat. That vile piece of shit has no part in who we are today. Wanting to change the subject, I think about the recent hype that’s hit the town and the buzz it always brings on our little community: the summer fair—a gathering of locals, music, games and beer. “So I take it you know it’s the Summer fair this weekend.”