HEART OF THE CHOSEN (CASTE BOOK 1)

Chapter 7

For more than a month, we continued this morning ritual where we found ourselves in front of the school gates. I could better control my hormonal teenage urges, at least during class, but when Thomas dared to touch me or whisper sweet nothings in my ear, I struggled every time. I took it upon myself to slow down the pace a bit, so we had rarely been alone since the evening at the restaurant. He asked me to go out several times, but I always invented some excuse to dodge it. This violent attraction to him freaked me out, torn between the anguish of appearing frivolous and taking the plunge much too soon. I appreciated that he never insisted and respected the distance I was trying to impose between us. Olivia, one of my precious chaperones, recently got hold of Eric. And believe me, she didn’t care about being cautious. I was left speechless when she told me about her first evening with him. They had gone out for a drink in a trendy bar in the capital and then met at Eric’s place for a last drink. The conclusion, they had thrown themselves on each other. They didn’t show up much together in high school, but once outside, they spent most of their time with each other. Olivia often went to Eric’s and was surprised to see Thomas there rarely. So it had been a week since I had lost some of my new joy due to latent paranoia. Where could Thomas be the rest of the time he wasn’t at school or with me? Was he seeing someone else? In this case, I was mistaken from the beginning about his true feelings toward me.

Anxiety was gaining on me more each day. Thomas was filling my every thought now, and I was in total panic at the thought of losing him. To top it off, a young inspector named Clovis Carrere had come to ask me about Cedric’s death. On my little cloud lately, I have only occasionally thought of my ex-boyfriend. The high school students had moved on since that inspector’s visit and were leaving me alone. I also thought Thomas’ constant presence by my side calmed their desire to make disparaging remarks about my supposed involvement in his murder. Sam had also met the inspector to tell him of my presence at his side the night of Cedric’s murder. Carrere hadn’t looked any further, or so I thought.

It was Friday, and Sam was going to spend the weekend at the Lakenheath military base. Stung by a morbid curiosity about Thomas’ absences, I took advantage of my cousin’s absence to invite him over.

“Would you like to come home for dinner tonight?”

“What?” Thomas said, raising an ironic eyebrow. “So, that’s it. You’re finally going to allow us to see each other face to face!”

“Yes, Sam isn’t here for the weekend, and I would like to discuss some topics with you.”

“Well, okay, I’m coming for dinner,” he replied, smiling.

“You could come straight after class.”

“Yes, but I won’t have any spare clothes.”

I didn’t understand his allusion at the time. Then it clicked!

“Oh! I’m not inviting you to sleep at my house!” I protested as my cheeks turned crimson.

“We never know! You could change your mind. Well, of course, I wouldn’t be against it, but don’t worry baby, I can perfectly stay good for a whole night.”

His smile said a lot about his sincerity. I didn’t believe him for a second, but felt my lower abdomen boiling just thinking about it. How I was looking forward to tonight! No! I shouldn’t look at it that way or my resolve would be shattered. And, yet...

“How about ordering Chinese?” Thomas suggested as I swallowed visibly.

“If you want!”

At the end of the class, we went straight home. Olivia called me on my mobile to ask to spend the night at home the next day. I accepted immediately because, lately, I didn’t like being alone at home. Since Cedric’s death, I had a strange feeling that I was being watched. I became almost paranoid. I double-locked the doors on returning as usual and looked out the window for possible malicious individuals. Anything!

As soon as we arrived, we hadn’t spoken a single word when Thomas lifted me with his muscular arms. Legs wrapped against the body of my dark ephebe, I had no choice but to melt under his kisses. It was a superhuman effort to push him away. He looked at me in bewilderment and then, as if he finally realised what I was asking, he put me down.

“Oh, excuse me,” he said, looking down, “but you don’t know how hard it is for me, for God’s sake!”

“Oh yes, I know,” I reassured him, very sure of myself. “ Come.”

I took his hand and asked him to sit down. I sat in front of him with one leg stretched across the couch. He gently took hold of my foot and took off one of my boots.

“Something has been bothering me for a while now, and I wanted to talk to you about it,” I said to him, eager to get to the heart of the matter.

“What?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“As you know, Olivia is going out with Eric, and she told me that you weren’t home often. Since she spends all her time there, I’m curious to know what you do for the rest of your days.”

“And how can I stay at home!” he said, as if the answer was obvious. “The first night, I slept soundly. Once they came back, I could never sleep a wink!”

“Oh!” I said, surprised.

“I prefer to be away when possible.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Why are you asking me that? Were you thinking about something else?”

“Well, precisely, since nothing has happened between us yet… Anyway, I’m not stupid. You’ve known women very intimately, and… I thought that… maybe… you were seeing someone else.”

I guessed he was watching me intently as I kept my head down. I was now ashamed to think he could betray me and to have revealed my suspicious side to him. It must not have been easy to share the apartment with his brother on those occasions. I knew that Olivia had stayed there often if only to avoid being with her mother. My lack of confidence in Thomas was due to only one reason: I still didn’t understand what he could find in a girl like me.

“Eve, I’ll be honest,” he said suddenly.

Ouch! In the end, maybe I was right.

“You’re the one I’ve been looking for for a very long time, and I’m serious. Please look at me.”

Surprised by this revelation, I already felt the tears invading my eyes. I raised my head.

“I want you, and only you,” he added, staring intently. “I want you all to myself and forever.”

He moved forward to take me in his arms and placed a delicate kiss on my lips. I was made speechless by his statement.

“Do you allow me to take a shower?”

“Yes…uh…sure,” I replied unsteadily. “My bathroom is upstairs, and you have clean towels under the sink.”

He disappeared up the stairs while I remained frozen on the couch. It took me a moment to realise what he had just told me. How could it be so perfect? Why did I have this stupid feeling that something was wrong? Was it the low esteem that I attributed to myself because of the adventures of the past year? Maybe it was also my inexperience with him that made me suspicious. I didn’t have the answers and was tired of repeating the same questions. I finally decided to sweep all these questions from my mind and got up, more resolute than ever.

I stood behind the bathroom door, my hand resting on the wall, and my breathing quickened. Slowly, I lowered the handle and slipped in, the sound of running water from the shower covering my every move. Through the glass of the sliding doors, I guessed the naked body of my sublime partner, inhabited by virile and delicate movements while passing shower gel on his chest. I had already removed my top and took off the second leg of my leggings with difficulty. I slid off my underwear, letting them fall to the floor. I thought I had gone crazy. I had never been naked in front of anyone before, but, far from being intimidated, at that moment, I slowly opened the sliding doors. Thomas turned around abruptly. After a second of surprise, he admired the view before him. My white skin must have looked even paler underneath the long black hair that cascaded over my chest. A smile on his lips, he revealed a perfect body. The effect of the water on his skin highlighted his shimmering musculature, and his wet hair gave him a wilder look while slight tremors shook his body. His muscles were tense to the extreme, then my gaze rested lower on his anatomy. I remained speechless. When I said his muscles were tense, that was an understatement compared to what was before my eyes. Euphoric anguish seized me. I had never seen a naked man before, in flesh and blood, and, in front of Thomas’ impressive proportions, I stifled a nervous laugh.

He took a step back, giving me enough space to admire his youthful body. Now the water was plastering my hair to my chest. With a slow gesture, he passed it behind my neck. He poured the shower gel into his hands and put it on me. His touch caused an exquisite shiver under my skin. He started washing my neck. The dripping foam reached my chest, as did his hands later. I was getting unsteady, my eyes still locked on his. I was panting more. His hand moved down to the small of my back before going around my waist and sliding lower. My body was throbbing, my breathing was getting more and more suffocating, and I hadn’t moved an inch from the start. I lifted my head, the water pouring over my face. Turning abruptly, I kissed him. Then, in a movement that I hoped would be graceful, I moved forward and pressed myself against him. My hands drifted to his ass. Hard and firm, I lingered on this part of his body that I loved so much about him. Fingertips, I returned to his stomach and, with a delicate caress, I began to wash what I had never touched before in a man. He gazed at me with his clear and feverish eyes. Our bodies rippled impatiently. As if reading my thoughts, he turned off the water and grabbed a bath towel before lifting me in his arms to the bedroom. He put me on the floor and, standing up, looked at me again with his clear eyes. He smiled even more.

“Lie on your stomach,” he whispered in a soft, dark voice.

I complied. He stuck his wet body against mine, and I could appreciate each of his muscles. All my limbs radiated as a vast eruption of heat reached my brain. I had never known such an emotion, this feeling of expectation of what would undoubtedly happen. The noise around me almost got me out of my trance. An object fell and crashed on the floor of my room. I wanted to raise my head but Thomas stopped me. He no longer loosened his grip, kissing me on the side of my mouth.

“Focus on us,” he whispered in my ear, a strange lightness in his voice.

I closed my eyes, his hands slid down my back and lingered a bit on the curve of my buttocks. I heard the sound of a packet being torn. Finally, he turned me around in front of him, enclosing my arms in his manly grip. I was his, at his mercy. Unable to move, I let him slip between my legs.

At that precise moment, I felt an incandescent heat shoot through my body as if lightning struck me. Sharp pain in my crotch nearly made me cry out as Thomas pressed himself closer to me. I still didn’t realise what was happening to me, as passion assailed me. But, as he went back and forth, this pain disappeared, giving way to an unnamed ecstasy. I closed my eyes to better feel the undulating movement of his hips and the contractions of his buttocks under my hands. I stared into his eyes, my breathing becoming more and more ragged. Thomas was even more lavish when he made love. His mouth slightly parted, and a vein stood out in the middle of his forehead under the effort. Suddenly, his hand grabbed my hair. A new warmth crept under my spine. I grabbed his buttocks and lost all control over my body. He put his right hand under the small of my back and pulled me to him. Growls escaped my throat as I was seized with violent spasms. A little embarrassed and not very confident in my abilities for love, I tried to turn my head away from his smouldering gaze but he stopped me.

“Please look at me, Eve!” he implored me, as if his pleasure depended on it.

Again, he pushed me across the bed. His arms curled around my shoulders as he picked up the pace. I thought my head was exploding as I cried out in ecstasy. The fever had invaded my brain and left me imprinted with a delicious feeling of bliss. Thomas followed me with a hoarse moan, his nervous body rearing up as his lips remained an inch from mine. I heard a big CRASH!

“What’s that?” I asked, sitting up abruptly.

“I think it’s an o****m,” he replied, breathless and with a smile on his face.

“Oh! uh… yes, but I was talking about the noise.”

“Come here.”

He laid me down facing him and slid the back of his hand down my arm. Immersed in his eyes, I had already forgotten the noise that had brought me out of my sweet trance.

“It was fantastic,” I said with a blissful smile on my lips. “Did you like it?”

“You were sublime.”

“That’s true! And we can start again after how long?”

He laughed.

“Let me recharge my batteries, and I promise not to keep you waiting too long.”

He kissed me again, and I got up, despite the slight pain in the crotch. The bedroom was lit only by the half-open bathroom door, thus creating a subdued atmosphere in the room. All I saw was an incredible mess. Books and trinkets were silt and smashed on the floor, and I swore the bed had moved. I was going to spend a lot of time putting all this away. Before doing this, I cleaned up in the shower and finished washing my hair. I gradually became aware of what had just happened, and such euphoria seized me that I burst out laughing. Thomas was sensuality personified and I couldn’t have asked for a better first time. I was now looking forward to the second. I was still reliving the scene while aftershocks were waking up in my insides. Was it normal to like it so much? Was he sincere when he said I had done well? I no longer had time to ask these questions because Thomas, whom I hadn’t heard entering the shower, stood behind me. I didn’t bother to turn around, sensing what would inevitably follow.

The next morning, we woke up in each other’s arms. After careful cleaning of my teeth, I finally put on a nightie. I felt like I had been naked for ages, and I wasn’t used to being exposed for so long, especially in the company of a man. Returning to the room, I found that Thomas was still sleeping, his eyes closed, one arm tucked under his face. I went down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Radiant, I could have jumped for joy. I set up two placemats on the large living room table, a bowl, a coffee mug and a glass of orange juice. It was already 11:00 a.m. I took my first coffee, comfortably seated, legs stretched out on the sofa, rewatching the movie of our crazy night again. I realised that there would never be any going back. I didn’t want to. I had spent the best night of my life and wanted this happiness to continue indefinitely. Then an idea occurred to me, and I grabbed my cell phone to call Olivia.

“Hello?” replied Olivia in a sleepy voice.

“Did I wake you up?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter.”

“Oh! Well, would you mind if I cancelled you tonight? Sorry, Liv, but I’d like to ask Thomas to stay tonight.”

“He would be delighted!” came a voice behind me.

It was Thomas, stark naked. I could see that the legend of men waking up had nothing to do with the myth.

“Am I hearing Thomas?”

“Liv, listen… uh… I’ll call you tomorrow if you want.”

“Oh, yeah! And you tell me everything! Oh, Eve, can you just tell me whether or not you had s*x with him.”

“Um, yes.”

“Yes! And it was: a. Awesome, b. Very painful, c. Absolutely orgasmic.”

“A and C.”

“Oh, my darling! I can’t wait to see you!”

“Okay, so see you tomorrow,” I said before hanging up, smiling.

Thomas was sitting upright next to me. The sight was incredible.

“I wouldn’t be against clean clothes,” he said, an amused smirk on his lips.

We spent the day lounging between my bedroom and the sofa in the living room. I had borrowed tracksuit bottoms for him and a T-shirt from Sam’s closet. As for me, I decided to stay in a nightie all day. In the evening, he asked me to accompany him home to pick up some things. We made the journey by bus. There were so many people crowded together that Thomas and I were stuck against each other all the way, which didn’t displease me. The distance between the bus stop and Thomas’ apartment was nearly an hour. Once out of the rush of public transport, we arrived in front of an entirely white building, whose refined architecture gave a very contemporary design to the structure of the building. The lower entrance had two intercoms and opened onto a large marbled hall with an elevator in the back, which was exaggerated in size considering this building was only five floors. He pressed the second button.

“Eric is probably here, so we won’t hang around, okay?”

“Okay.”

Thomas opened the first door on the right in the hallway, Eric was standing near a coffee table sorting through some documents. I could have sworn I saw him hide a few when he saw me approaching Thomas.

“Where did you spend the night?” Eric asked him in a forceful tone.

“At Eves.”

At the time, I thought his pupils were becoming flamethrowers. He stared at me with his piercing eyes.

The red rose to my ears. I had no talent for holding Eric’s gaze. He noticed my embarrassment and softened.

“Excuse me, I have some things to do.”

He grabbed his jacket and car keys and walked past me, this time without a glance. He disappeared behind the door.

“What’s his problem?”

“Eric is just… very protective of his little brother. He just wants to make sure I’m in good hands. And believe me, he can be reassured on this level, because, baby, you know how to use your hands!”

“That’s right.”

He chuckled as he walked to his room. I observed the decor in the living room, dark furniture, a few paintings and a leather sofa. With no trinkets or ornaments, we can guess immediately that this apartment belonged to a man. The walls were white, the taupe-coloured curtains matched with two armchairs, and an enormous flat-screen television on the wall sat enthroned above a sideboard with noticeably rounded corners. No matter how hard I looked, there were no photos. I went into Thomas’ room. A huge bookcase filled the entire left wall, a very impressive quantity of books, some with very damaged bindings, must have been from a few decades ago. On the right wall was a large bed with immaculate sheets. Next to it was a desk with a laptop on it and, across from me, Thomas, who was looking for some things in his closet. He had buried a few in a bag when he grabbed my arm to leave.

“We can go.”

I followed him to the elevator. He had pressed the button for the basement, so I concluded that we would take the Golf parked in the parking lot. I imagined him stopping the elevator to satisfy one of my unacknowledged fantasies. A sign that I had become obsessed. Thomas was thoughtful but didn’t fail to notice the blush on my cheeks.

“Do you still want more?”

“Would it be wrong if it did?” I replied, caught in the act.

“No, baby, but you’re gonna kill me at this rate.”

“Oh!”

He kissed me with his back to the elevator doors about to open. This tender act prevented him from noticing the man who stood behind the door with a sawn-off shotgun in his hands. He fired.