Between the Two [COMPLETE]

2~I Crave You (Rev.)

“Okay. Brussel sprouts, bok choy, and broccoli,” Asher laughed, accepting his cup of rocky road ice cream. We’d spent a good few hours on the dance floor, even outdoing Jazmine as she headed home after the third call from Bobby. I told her I’d take a taxi home, that I wouldn’t be out too late, and I’d keep my phone on in case anything happened. Once reassured, she left and we decided to get some air and found ourselves getting ice cream from a 24-hour fast food joint. “f**k, marry, kill. Go!”

I chuckled at the absurdity, almost choking on the strawberry shortcake ice cream. “Oh, gosh. Damn, this is hard.”

His eyes widened and I could already hear him saying, “That’s what she said,” before it even spilled from his mouth.

I rolled my eyes, returning to the ridiculous question at hand. At first, it was with celebrities and movies and we’d made it all the way to vegetables. How? No clue, but hilariously, I enjoyed every minute of it. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t have the nagging feeling of the world about to crash down on my shoulders with Nani, with Hawthorne Peaks, and with Melissa and her new family. He made things…uncomplicated…and I was basking in every moment, wishing it would never end. “Umm, I would…”

“Don’t think about it, just say it.”

“Fine. f**k broccoli, marry bok choy, and kill brussel sprouts.”

He laughed, the sound like soft velvet to my ears. “Why kill brussel sprouts?”

I swallowed the bite of ice cream before answering. “I just don’t like them.”

“Ok. I get it. I’m the same way with carrots, not a fan.” I smiled, taking another bite, savoring the taste, the evening wind blowing along the sidewalk we strolled on side by side. I embraced the tiniest of moments with him, watching the way he licked his spoon, how his eyes swept over me before retreating foxily as if unnoticed. With a few cups of water and the ice cream, I was sober enough to note every little action he did, whether he noticed or not. “So are you finally gonna tell me…what brings a girl like you to Haw Peaks?”

“Haw Peaks?”

He chortled acerbically. “Hawthorne Peaks. You’re deferring again.”

“Not deferring.” Yes, I was. “Just never heard Hawthorne Peaks called that.” Yes, I have. Although six years had passed since I’d been to Hawthorne and currently just lived a couple of towns over, less than two hours away, I remembered the local name of the place, an inside joke with a twang. Taking another bite of ice cream to ‘defer’ a bit longer, I held it in my mouth, not ready to discuss Nani or move back in with my mother. So I focused on school. “I’m transferring…to HPU, majoring in communications with a minor in literature. That’s what brings a girl like me here.”

He smirked, satisfied with the answer yet knowing there was more to the story. He didn’t pry though, which I appreciated. “Hopefully, we’ll have some classes together. Film and screenwriting.”

“Nice. Used to be a theater major but changed—”

Gently, his thumb brushed some ice cream from the corner of my mouth, my body halting at the abrupt touch. He paused his stride as well, looking down at me. The street lights seemed to make the green in his eyes flex with hints of gold. Taking a step closer, I subconsciously tucked a hair behind his ear, feeling his body shiver at my touch. Slowly, he leaned closer, the smell of sweet ice cream enveloping all my senses, the heat from his body bringing illusions of melting into him. Why did I feel this way for a complete stranger I’d only met tonight?

It’s as though I’d already known him before.

“I…” he started, lips less than an inch from mine. My heart rushed, awaiting his lips on mine. “I…should get you home…before…?”

“Before what?” I instigated, a part of me not wishing for this night, this moment in time, to end.

He smirked handsomely, his hand now placed on my hip, the night air pushing us closer. “Before I…want…yo—”

Before he could finish his words, I reached up and sealed my lips to his, tasting him, embracing him wholeheartedly. Ordinarily, I’d never kiss anyone upon first meeting them. Hell, I hardly ever kissed anyone. The only reason I wasn’t a complete virgin was because of…that night. I pressed closer to him, erasing the memory and feelings of my past as I focused on the way his lips intertwined with mine, how his body encased me in a gentle flame of ecstasy. He pressed hard, deepening the kiss, his cup of ice cream now touching the back of my neck, counteracting the heat of our connection. Electricity rushed through me, a passion I’d never experienced before.

The air left my body the moment he pulled away, trying to catch his own breath, as though he’d stolen my very essence and I needed it back, needed him back. I wanted more. And for my birthday, I knew I wanted him. Only this once, I told myself. “I want you too. So…” I grinned at him, biting my bottom lip seductively. “Wanna continue…?”

Within half an hour, Asher was handing the hotel clerk a platinum credit card and receiving a card to a room upstairs. This was crazy! I’d only known him for a few hours and here I was, rushing to a hotel room, wanting to devour him. I was delirious! But I wanted him for a few more hours. He made all the pain and misery of the past few months with Nani, my mother, Hawthorne Peak, and everything disappear. I didn’t understand the effect he had on me, but everything seemed to melt away as we talked, as we kissed, as we danced, and I needed that. Even just for a night.

“You’re sober, right?” he asked for the fourth time.

I nodded, holding his hand. “Yes. Completely. I wanna do this.”

“I do too.”

Before we could even get to the room, he bent down to kiss me once more, pulling every fiber of my essence with his touch alone. His lips soon traced down my cheek, then my neck, quite greedily as he pushed me gently against the wall of the hallway, his hand pressing against my waist. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, needing his touch on my flesh. When he came up for air, his eyes, shining like emerald stones and clouded with lust, warmed me from the inside out.

“Open the door,” I told him, breathlessly, unable to contain myself.

“As you wish.”

He kissed me once more before drawing the card out and opening the door. The moment he cracked it open, all our self-control evaporated as we clawed at one another, our bodies the only thing tangible in the darkness of the room. Electricity vibrates through our intertwined bodies, my hand grasping the hem of his shirt, hinting for him to take it off as he signals for me to do the same. There were no words between us, making it all the more magical as we navigated each other's buttons of pleasure. Once his shirt was off, I took a moment to admire the structure of his body, strong and muscular to match his height. His skin seemed to hum beneath my fingertips as it brushed against a few scars and bruises that settled into him over the years, inching down to kiss his shoulder, down his forearm, his hand that held mine.

Everything about him intoxicated me in ways I’d never experienced, yet I knew I could fall into the grasp of addiction the longer I stayed with him.

“I want you so badly, Lilah,” he whispered in my ear. I could have melted in his arms as he nibbled on my ear, his hands now roaming around my naked torso. I pressed closer, feeling the passionate heat of him, his hands now on my waist as he lifted me in his arms, my legs instinctively wrapping around him. I kissed him deeply, his tongue dancing with my own in a silent symphony of well-wishes and hidden desires of lust and cravings.

Lightly, he placed me on the bed, his broad body shadowing mine. My fingertips skimmed his back, feeling the etches of muscle and scars, my nails pressing into his flesh as our lips collided in a passionate cycle of ecstasy. I moaned to him as I felt his manhood pressed between my thighs, our bodies blooming for one another.

I need this.

I need him.

Just for one night, then I’ll be satisfied, I told myself.

I’ll be good.

But for right now, I plan on doing some very bad things to him in this room.

I caressed his cheek as I ran a hand up toward his luscious locks of dirty blond hair, hearing him growl under his breath, greedily taking every inch of him in. His jeans against my pants seemed to wane the anticipation of one another, his body pressing me into the bed, his fingers tangled in my raven hair. I moaned, “Asher,” which only made him press harder.

Then he lifted himself up on his forearm, catching his breath as he looked down at me, the only light through the room being moonlight and luminous billboards outside. “Damn, you’re beautiful.”

My cheeks reddened at the compliment, not knowing if I should thank him or continue to kiss him. He was also handsome with his chiseled jawline, green eyes that could captivate any woman, and a voice that made my knees tremble. Could I tell him that? That his good looks made me want to devour every portion of perfection he was serving.

His finger caressed my cheekbone and when it came close to my mouth, I licked his callous fingertip, a pleasurable sigh escaping him. “God, I need you.”

He quickly sat him, his body now towering over mine beneath the moonlight, making me notice for the first time, the long serpent that coursed from his left peck down his right arm. The serpent’s inky scales were detailed beautifully as they coiled around his arm from the branches tattooed on his chest, stopping at his wrist where it held a juicy apple in his mouth as if offering it when he offered his hand. The sight of it made me quiver in arousal, leaning up to kiss his forearm, accepting the apple he offered and all that came with his. His breath hitched in his throat, looking down at me with a dark hunger.

Taking his arm away from my touch, he lowered them to my jeans, unbuttoning them to reveal my underwear beneath, his eyes never leaving mine as he maneuvered them downwards.

Cah-clink.

The spell that had us so absorbed faltered for a moment, our eyes looking down at my cell phone that fell out of my pocket and onto the carpet floor. The screen lit with several messages which brought me back to reality, to the inevitable, and away from his blanket of lust that had cocooned me a second ago.

“One moment,” I told him. He nodded, running his fingers in his hair, having to force every fiber of animalistic instinct to continue our torrid affair. Lifting himself off of me, I pulled my pants back up as I reached down to grab my phone.

14 missed calls.

27 text messages wondering where I was and urging me to the hospital.

My heart sank into my stomach, replacing the sultry butterflies that once resided with painful nausea and resentment. Nani!

Hastily, I pounced off the bed, straightening myself as I quickly found my blouse. “I have to go.” I looked back at him, his gaze sad but understanding as he leaned back on the headboard, watching me prepare to leave him. “I’m so sorry. It’s an emergency.”

His eyes widened, his mouth opened and a small piece of me wished for him to join me, to not leave me alone to ponder on the what-ifs. Then he closed it, that sudden wish vanishing with that one gesture, his mind probably wondering the same thing I was: Would it be alright? Would bringing him into my wavering world of inevitable death and painful goodbyes be appropriate?

After a second, he forced a smile and nodded, coming to an answer. “I guess I’ll see you around.”