The NOVA Trilogy Boxed Set

by Jayce, Aven

  “And your mother? What did she mean earlier about the Rosen reunion? Why was your family there?”

  Cove stands and turns on a light, pulling out the photo album that I looked at earlier. He opens it to the wedding announcement, handing it to me. I take it from him, and read through the names on the card that I hadn’t noticed earlier, Cove Everton II, and Leondra Rosen. Cove places his finger over his lips as a reminder to stay quiet.

  “Your mother’s a Rosen?” I mouth to him.

  He shakes his head yes while reaching for the card, placing it back in the book and on the shelf. I can see his erection pushing against his grey jeans before he turns off the light and returns to bed.

  “My mother’s cousins are Devery, Dayne, and Doron Rosen. Your father’s old roommates and best friends are Dayne and Doron. They were all at the reunion that day, and that’s how my parents met your father, and your father found me. He used to call me his young white dwarf star. Some people in the business still do. I was never sure if Devery knew anything about me, or about Paul. I only saw her a few times after that day. Small world, right?”

  “Confusing world,” I reply. “Cove?” I place my hand over his erection and I’m surprised that he doesn’t back away.

  “I’m not going to do this with you right now, Sophia. I’ve been hard since I saw you looking at yourself in the downstairs bathroom mirror. My balls ache, but partly because you kneed them earlier. I have to get through this night, get us on the plane, then we can have a full day before the expo to discuss my feelings, and what you heard me say to my father. Until then, I need to stay focused.”

  He sits up and leaves the room, closing the door as he exits. I listen to his footsteps travel down the stairs and over to the kitchen, where he opens the refrigerator, twisting off another bottle cap. It drops onto the counter and bounces before it rolls to a stop.

  “Drinking won’t keep you focused!” I shout down to him.

  I fidget thinking about his body and that beautiful, yet sadly injured face. I’m unable to fall asleep. I don’t want to masturbate with him just a room away. I want him next to me. If he would just rub against me one time I could easily release. I’m that close.

  “Fuck,” I whisper, getting out of bed and walking down the stairs, approaching him as he leans against a cabinet in the kitchen. He looks at my chest and down to my lower nakedness. Taking a sip of his beer, he shakes his head, hinting at my poor judgment. I know my father can see me, and I don’t care. He shouldn’t be spying on the Evertons and if he doesn’t like what he sees, he can turn off his fucking camera.

  “Sophia, think about what you’re doing,” he says in a calm voice, taking another sip of his beer.

  “At least you looked this time.”

  “I always see you, in my own way. What do you want me to do? I already told you we’re not going to do this, so what do you want?”

  “I need you, and if you really meant everything you said about me, you’d come back up those stairs right now.”

  He smiles and takes another swig before putting the bottle down on the counter. He folds his arms and stares me up and down again.

  “There’s a lot more to a relationship than sex,” he says.

  “Ergh,” I respond, stomping my foot like a kid. “You piss me off so much, why can’t you just touch me?”

  He smiles and looks over my shoulder, and I realize we’re not alone. I turn to see Leondra standing only a foot away. She’s smiling too, and I realize I’ve made a complete fool of myself.

  “Well, I’m glad to see the two of you are beginning to work things out,” she says. “Someone famous once said, being naked in front of one another while arguing is a lot better than inflicting pain on each other while clothed.”

  “Who said that?” Cove asks.

  Smiling, Leondra says, “I just made it up.”

  Cove laughs at his mother as I cover myself, walk back up stairs and pull my tank quickly over my head. I slide on my pajama bottoms and walk out to the second floor landing.

  “I’m sorry, Leondra,” I yell down, while shooting Cove my middle finger. He laughs again, finding my sexual frustration cute. I turn and close the door, leaving the two of them to talk. Cove’s not going to say very much with my father listening, and if I eavesdrop, I’m no better than him. I learned my lesson earlier.

  I position the pillow over my head and let out a silent scream, kicking my feet on the bed like a toddler in the middle of a tantrum. It seems cruel to share his feelings about me with his parents, and then to ignore me like everything he said would have no effect on me. Throwing the pillow down to the floor I roll onto my stomach and reach my hand between my underwear and pajama bottoms. I listen for Cove and Leondra’s voices to make sure they’re still downstairs, not wanting them to walk in on me while I’m having some me time.

  My fingers find just the right spot, resting between my two outer lips. It’s only a few moments before I can feel an orgasm begin. I lift my head slightly off the bed to watch the door for unwanted guests. My lower body pushes into my fingers, and I work them quickly back and forth across the spot. Fuck, I need you, Cove.

  I put my head down onto the bed and my fingers slow as I reach my climax. I bite down on the sheet, trying not to make any whimpering sounds. My fingers feel the surge shoot across my mound as the orgasm races and pounds, imitating my beating heart. I roll onto my back, rest my fingers down below, and feel both the pulsations and my breathing begin to slow.

  That took a whopping thirty seconds. All I needed was for him to touch me and I would have exploded. What is he waiting for? We can do this. We can make this work.

  The door creaks open and I move my hand from under my pants, turning to see Cove in the doorway.

  “You fall asleep yet?”

  “Are you kidding me?” I say in a perturbed tone. “What do you think?”

  He walks in and pulls his shoes from his feet, unbuttoning his pants and his shirt. He takes everything off except for his boxers and slides into the bed next to me.

  “You were masturbating.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “The bed is extremely warm, you’re out of breath, and,” he takes my hand and sniffs my fingers, “your scent is on your hand.”

  “So what if I did?”

  “Did you think about me?” he laughs.

  “You asshole, of course I did. What do you think?”

  “Sophia, I know you’re angry at me. I had no right to take my resentment for your father out on you, and I’m sorry. Do you think we can get past all of that, or are you going to be pissed at me forever?”

  “I’m not pissed at you for smacking me,” I pause for a moment, not believing the words that just came out of my mouth. “No, wait, yes I am, you can’t touch me in such a way. Who the fuck do you think you are? You’ll never get away with that again.”

  “Well, you didn’t let me get away with it the first time either.”

  Reaching down to gently apologize to his balls, I come into contact with his stiff erection instead. It’s completely out of his boxers and ready for action. He takes my hand, trying to stop me, and I break away from his grip, heading back down to his shaft. He prevents any further encounter by standing up and putting his pants back on. He comes back to bed and lies on his back next to me, eyes glaring at the ceiling.

  “I was going to sleep next to you, to comfort you, and to let you know that I’m sorry, but I think that’s probably not the best idea right now.”

  “Listen to me, Cove Everton,” I say, lifting my body over his. “I just pleasured myself, with thoughts of you fucking me as my visual, and why? Because I can’t get you out of my head and I hate it. I hate the fact that I’ve fallen for you. That never happens to me. And I overheard how you feel, but you still refuse to get close, or touch me. You’re about to burst as well, I see it, and I feel it. And no, I’m not talking about this thing,” I say, grabbing his hardness through his jeans. “I’m talking about your voice when you w
ere speaking to your father, I’m talking about the tear that you had running down your face earlier. It was for me. And now you come in here and strip down, but I can’t touch you. Fuck you.”

  “Sophia,” he says calmly, with his arm over his eyes. “When and if the time is ever right, I want to be with you forever. You mean more to me than you realize. But you’re still not being patient with me, and I’ve asked you quite a few times already to do so. I don’t want this to be about sex, and only sex. I came in here to spend time with you, not to fuck you.” He rises from the bed and sits in the horse-patterned chair across from me. The room is dark, but I know he’s looking directly into my eyes. “I also don’t want to hurt you, and I’m afraid I’ve already done so, not just physically, but emotionally as well. If I go through with my task for your father when we get to Vegas, we’ll probably never see one another again. I need you to remember me as someone who cared for you, and not just a good fuck.”

  “So you think you’d be good at fucking?”

  He stands and heads for the door. I leap from the bed and pull him back into the room before he has a chance to escape. He turns around and his face glows in the hallway light. He’s seriously hurt by my comment.

  “Cove,” I say softly, while holding onto his forearm with my hand. “I’m sorry. I’ve never had anyone treat me as well as you do and sometimes my reactions are based more on a lack of self-confidence, or uncertainties with how I’m feeling, than what I’d actually like to say. Maybe I know that this is about to end, so I try to make a joke out of everything to cover the pain that I feel.”

  We embrace and he kisses the top of my head.

  “I am sorry, Babe. You can lie next to me, and we can just talk, or sleep. I promise I won’t touch you.”

  “I need to let you go, Sophia. I’m sorry.” He breaks away and leaves the room, closing the door behind him. The light cuts out and I’m left standing alone in the dark, waiting for his return.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  The alarm on my phone sounds, waking me early enough to pack and get ready for our flight at six. It’s three in the morning and I slept by myself in Leondra’s spare bedroom. It took me an hour to fall asleep after Cove left the room last night. My mind raced with thoughts of him, and what’s going to happen to us when we get to Vegas. I hope Mera’s okay and she’s keeping her head above water with my father.

  I see Cove asleep on one of the blue sofas as I walk out of the bedroom. Lewis is snuggled next to him, and they’re both sound asleep. He has one of his arms stretched above his head with a foot on the floor, and looks prepared to jump up in a rush if someone were to enter the place. Lewis on the other hand is curled into a little ball, with no plans of stirring or protecting us from intruders. I reach for my phone and snap a quick picture of the lovely sight before it disappears before my eyes.

  Cove sits up upon hearing the click of my phone, in search of the noise. He spies me on the top landing and smiles, stretching his arms over his head while he yawns. I can’t help but view him as a little boy at times.

  “What’s so amusing?” he asks.

  “You’re very cute, even when you first wake up and your hair is all messy. I think you’re adorable.”

  He glides his hand through his hair, tousling it back into place.

  “Return the compliment Cove, don’t leave her hanging.” Leondra’s voice calls out to her son from the dining room table where she’s drinking coffee and reading the news on her iPad.

  “Good morning, Mother. You look beautiful,” he smirks.

  “Oh not me, say something nice to Sophia.”

  The three of us laugh and I send Leondra my I don’t give a shit look.

  “No worries. I know I’m hot,” I say, walking down the stairs like a model strutting her stuff.

  “Why don’t the two of you shower, pack, and I’ll make you both some breakfast before you head out for your flight.”

  She’s being very casual about our trip, and I wonder what Cove said to her last night. He was in the bedroom rather quickly, and I don’t believe they spoke for more than five minutes after she returned from the prison. If my son were heading out to confront and possibly join forces with the devil, I wouldn’t be as calm as she is right now. I wonder if she even knows about his plan. Fuck, I just realized I don’t even know exactly what he’s up to, except for his thoughts on resurrecting NOVA. His parents would never allow him to do that, and I think I know him well enough to recognize that he wouldn’t harm a child. So what exactly would it mean to bring NOVA back?

  “What are you thinking about,” he says, as he pours himself a cup of coffee.

  “NOVA.”

  He places his cup on the counter and looks at me; his eyes squint as he tries to grasp my intentions. “This isn’t the time or the place to talk about NOVA. Not another word about it comes from your mouth, do you understand? And I’m talking to both of you.” He looks over at his mother, then at me.

  I nod, respecting his past, as well as his mother’s presence in the room with such difficult subject matter. She stands and pulls some eggs out of the fridge as Cove continues to sip his coffee.

  “Is it okay if I shower here before I go and pack?”

  “By all means, Sophia, feel free to use the bathroom in the foyer or the one upstairs next to your room,” Leondra says, while cracking eggs into a bowl.

  My room. I like that. Upstairs I find a clean, long-sleeve black dress that I had packed for Mera’s, just in case I was there for a while and we were able to travel out to a bar or to dinner. It’s knee-length, and somewhat dressy, but comfortable enough for the plane. I have no bra and I’m out of clean underwear, but I can put those on later in my loft while I pack my bag for the trip.

  I decide to use the foyer bathroom, leaving the upstairs one for Cove if he needs it. I’m more comfortable in this space, and it was the last place that he pressed his lips against mine.

  The claw foot tub has a long hose with a showerhead attachment that you have to hold by hand. I turn on the water and walk over to the toilet to relieve myself. Next to the it is a waist basket, only about a foot away from me, and upon sitting down I can see a wad of tissues that he used to clean up his stuff. He must have masturbated very recently. It’s good to know he couldn’t control himself either.

  I stand and flush, smiling as I walk over to the tub. The water’s warm and I undress, pulling the curtain around me. As I lather up I hear the bathroom door creak open. I peek out of the curtain to see Cove placing clean towels on the counter.

  “Hey,” I say to him.

  “Sorry to disturb you, I thought you might need these.”

  “Come over here. I want to ask you something.”

  He gives me a hesitant look and walks over as I peer out from behind the curtain.

  “Did you think about me last night?” I whisper with a smile, looking over to the wastebasket, then back at him.

  He turns and walks out but I can sense the grin on his face as he leaves and closes the door.

  I love the playful interaction the two of us have. It’s something I never had with Evan or experienced in any other relationship besides Mera, and I can only imagine Cove feels the same way. The more I think back to living with Evan, the more I realize he was just a roommate with benefits. There was no interaction between us other than in bed, and Cove’s comment of wanting more than that has me re-evaluating how I’ve trained my body and mind to find pleasure explicitly through sex. I thought I had feelings for Evan, maybe even loved him as a friend, but now I’m not sure it was anything more than convenience at the time. He was a body in my space that I thought would keep me company, and now I believe I felt more alone with him than at any other time in my life.

  With Cove, I have another extreme; he comes complete with a sweet and loving mother, something that’s been missing from my life. It’s weird being in her home, and yet strangely comforting. Maybe I’ve lost my family; my mother and my father, but perhaps I’m discovering a new one. Sh
e wants me here, and I’m sure she’s just as lonely as both Cove and myself. We’re three insecure people, all with good cause in feeling so, trying to find a way out of our wavering, unstable worlds. It’s probably unhealthy for all of us to be under the same roof, but the alternative of being alone in our respective lofts is just as distressing. With Cove and I approaching our mid-twenties, we should be out on our own, but our pasts are so uncommon that we don’t fit into any sense of a cultured norm. He’s still a boy at times, having never experienced his teenage years. Most kids spend time despising their parents, rebelling against them and their beliefs. Cove wanted just the opposite. He needed them to help him, to comfort him, and save him. I believe he’s still searching for that from both of them. He’s the strongest person I’ve ever met, having gone through what he did, but also the weakest when it comes to leaving the past behind. And then, there’s me. I’ve spent years being cared for by my father, sheltered, spied on, I act juvenile and never developed into a confident adult, while my mother has found me to be worthless and a burden.

  We’ve happily entered Leondra’s home, unknowingly seeking a safe haven and her welcoming guidance, without acknowledging….

  “Sophia,” Cove says, knocking on the door. “What’s taking you so long?”

  “We’re fucked,” I whisper.

  “What?”

  “I said we’re fucked.”

  He opens the door and closes it behind him as I finish putting on a small amount of make-up.

  “You look incredible, but you need something warmer on your legs. You’re going to freeze.”

  “I have some sweater tights I’ll put on once I get to my place.”

  “So, what did you mean by that?”

  “You and I,” I say looking over to him. “We…”

  “Stop. Everything’s going to be fine. You’re thinking too much. Stop playing things over in your mind and trust me. I’m taking care of this, and you, Mera, and my mother will all be fine.”

  “And you?”

  “I can take care of myself. I always have.”