Innocent Lies (8 page)

He motioned for me to take a seat
and walked back in. I picked at my nail beds not quite sure what he
had planned. Being not a small man he moved with the lightest of
step. I didn’t even hear him return until I felt his body at my
back. He placed a plate, filled with a little bit of everything he
had prepared in front of me. He bent over and dished me two chicken
legs. His hot breath swished down my neck and made me
swoon.

“Eat up, my lovely,” he whispered
in my ear. I watched him take a seat and pick up a fork. “Don’t
bruise my ego and not eat.”

I pinched off a piece of roll and
dipped it in butter. I placed it in my mouth, and he moaned. I
smiled and cut my eyes over at him. The gold specks in his deep
brown eyes had an extra sparkle.

“I’m trying to be a gentleman, but
if you keep working your tongue like that I might not be able to
control myself. After all, the demon in me can only be so good.” He
laughed and placed a spoonful of peas in his mouth. At that moment,
I wanted to push back that one blond curl that fell against his
forehead and work my tongue over his face.

After the sixth, seventh, or maybe
it was the eighth bite of everything, I willed myself to push my
plate back. We needed to talk not guzzle down food like a couple of
pigs. I took a drink of tea. When I set my glass down, his eyes
went hard.

“Talk to me,
beautiful. Tell me all about you.” He said with a somber
expression.

“I would rather
ask you questions. I know nothing about you.”

I didn’t want him to learn about
me at that point, because he was the first person that had the
power to break my heart.

“I would rather you not. Privy, you
might not like all the answers.”

I needed to know who the man was
that had stolen my heart and could so easily finish destroying it.
I picked up my plate. “I just want to know where you were raised.
About your siblings. Thank you for dinner.” I felt the tears coming
and pushed my chair back to retreat to the solitude of his house.
An irrational response I know, but being rational and Ethan didn’t
exactly go together.

I started to empty the scraps off
of the plate into the garbage disposal and wiped back
tears.

“Dylan, don’t.” Ethan’s body was
suddenly at my back. That smell that was only him, was strong. I
was paralyzed. He leaned into me and placed a hand on each side of
the counter caging me in. I bit my tongue to fight back a sob and
looked at the water swirling down the drain. He flipped back my
hair and kissed the sweet spot behind my ear. “My parents are Neal
and Helen Asher. I have two sisters and two brothers. I had three,
but one of them recently passed away.”

“I’m sorry.” I
rubbed my nose with the base of my hand.

He didn’t move. “I’m not. He got
what he deserved . . . I’m from Memphis, and moved here to take
care of some family business.” He nibbled on my neck. “I want this.
Hell, I have never been anybody’s ideal, but I’ll be yours. I’ll
always take care of you.”

Neal Asher sounded familiar, but I
couldn’t focus on that. There was a deep sadness in Ethan’s voice.
He was hiding something I was positive. I didn’t care. Ethan Asher
was what I wanted. He gripped my hip and pushed me against him. “Am
I really the only girl who has ever been here?”

“Yes,” he said against the skin on
my neck. “This is my home. I’m not going to muddy it up with the
memory of some random girl.”

“I’m here.”

“You’re not some random girl.” He
twisted me around to face him. I slipped my arms around his neck.
“Please, don’t leave. I want you. I want us.” Ethan mumbled in my
ear.

“I’ll stay, if you
promise me one thing.” I said, peering into his emotion-riddled
face. Even if he eventually broke my heart, I couldn’t walk
away.

“Anything,” he answered,
guardedly.

“Kiss me. Kiss me, now.”

Ethan’s tongue peeked out to wet
his lips, his eyes closed. “Damn,” he purred into my mouth. I
wrapped my arms around him and felt his hand firmly grab my behind.
His lips were soft but demanding. He yanked on my top lip with his
teeth. “I have wanted to taste you since I first saw you,” he
murmured and plunged his tongue in my mouth.

His tongue caressed mine with the
lightest of touch. He was fighting to hold back. I fisted his shirt
in my hands. I didn’t want him holding back. I bit down on his
lower lip. He growled and the next thing I knew he was lowering me
on the couch. Ethan’s weight bearing down on me was too much. I
tore my mouth away from his.

He jumped off me. “Sweet Dylan, no
I can’t. There is nothing I want more than to rip your clothes off
and bury myself so deep in you that you beg for mercy. I can’t. Not
until you know how fucked up I really am.” He bounced up too fast
and slammed his fist into the coffee table, cracking it.

I flinched. “Ethan, I’m pretty
screwed up too. You can’t hurt something that is already
damaged.”

His eyes flamed as he leaned over
me again, suddenly unusually calm. “My love, you have no idea what
you’re saying.”

Wednesday, October 8,
2014

A cool breeze feathered across my
skin as I took a step onto the crisp grass. Ethan curved his body
around mine. “I like you in these.” He whispered as he slipped the
blindfold from my eyes.

I twirled around and took in the
field Ethan carried me to the first night we ever
shared.

I looked back at him. “You
promised dinner and a show?”

“Shush,” Ethan
said, tapping his finger on his mouth. “Look up.” He pointed up
into the air.

I tilted my head back and sucked
in a sharp intake of air. Darkness enveloped the sky, I could only
see a sliver of the moon blazing. It was the perfect backdrop for
the breathtaking view of twinkling stars.

Ethan escorted me to the middle of
the field and fanned out the quilt he was holding. I could not look
away from the night sky as he guided me to lay down. It simply
mesmerized me. Ethan directed my attention over to the irregular
bands of light from the Milky Way. I noticed the twinkling lights
of the big and little dipper. As Ethan promised, a show begin as
various sized meteors cascaded through the sky about every fifteen
to thirty seconds. The panoramic view made it possible to witness
several meteors at the same moment while also marveling at each one
individually.

“It is . . . WOW.”
I whispered.

“Like the show?”
He reached over and took my hand in his.

I didn’t answer him. My face more
than showed him that I loved it. Every once in awhile, he would
place a kiss somewhere on my body, rather it be my hand, my jaw, my
shoulder, my hair. But that was as far as he tried to go. No matter
how close I scooted next to his body, he never tried anything
beyond a subdued kiss.

There was so much I wanted to know
about the man laying next to me. I would let him talk in his timing
and prayed he never expected answers from me. Because I would lose
him if he ever knew what I had done. And the thought of losing him
was slowly becoming my biggest nightmare.

I snuggled onto his chest and
watched his peaceful face as he stared out into the heavens. His
eyes washed over me. It was clear something was on his mind.
Something was always on his mind.

I was curious how far we would
allow each other to travel in the vast depths of our past. I wanted
to know what often seemed to weigh heavy on his mind. But I would
drill on that another day. That day I was at peace that I knew
exactly where he was, in my arms.

As breathtaking as the shower of
stars were, I couldn’t seem to look away from his face. I was
beginning to realize that stargazing was more than a fascination
for Ethan. It was an escape.

“Are you happy
with your life now?” Ethan asked, never shifting his eyes from the
sky.

I pondered his question and had a
touch of fear rake my body as what would make him ask such a thing.
I couldn’t answer him. I haven’t been truly happy since the day my
daddy died. Well, I take that back. I had only been truly happy
when I was with Ethan. I got up and dusted off my jeans.

“Ethan, you
promised me food.” I didn’t even believe I could have eaten, but if
Ethan was going to probe into my life I was ready to leave.

He stood up and wrapped a wisp of
my hair around his pinky. “Is my sweet Privy hungry?” He bent down
to grab the quilt we had been laying on.

“Yes and I thought my boyfriend .
. .” I stopped dead in the spot I stood and cut the sentence off
when Ethan spun around at the word boyfriend.

I tucked my chin onto my chest and
twisted the hem of my shirt around my finger. Ethan was not a man
anyone would ever use the term boy with, but I thought we had
something special. So that glare he shot me was confusing. He had
crossed his arms and the smile he had sported all day was absent
from his face.

“Did the word BOY . . . friend
just come out of your lips?” He asked and emphasized the word
boy.

This is
childish.
“I assumed. Well,
you know what they say about a person that assumes something?” I
winced under his gaze that curiously held mine.

He took the step between us. That
damned expression he casted never changed.

“They make an ass out of
themselves.” A playful smile lit up his face as he slipped his arms
around my waist. “I want to be so much more than your BOYfriend.”
He snarled his nose, gleefully. “I want to be your everything.” He
sucked on my collarbone. “Because you are my girl, my
all-time-favorite, my everything.”

His eyes consumed mine. For the
first time, he was not just looking at me with lust or even with
the foresight of love, but with reverence. It turned my legs to
jello and my heart to mush. I ran my hands around his neck,
savoring the moment between us. He licked his upper lip. I closed
my eyes waiting on a kiss. He tilted his head closer to mine,
nearing the gap between us. “Come on, my GIRLfriend wants to eat.”
He brushed his hand down my arm and gripped my hand.

Friday, October 24,
2014

When I woke up that Saturday
morning, I felt a little bummed that Ethan had to work. I smoothed
my hands over the sheets and scrunched up the pillow under my head.
It had actually been the first day that I awoken in my own bed in
two weeks. Before Ethan, it had become a tradition for Sarah,
Deacon and her longtime girlfriend Allison, and me to go out for
brunch at least once a week. I got up to get dress, planning to use
that day to rekindle that ritual.

“Ready?”

I glanced up from my small desk,
tucked into the corner of my bedroom, and found Sarah jumping down
on my bed. She crossed her legs and snuggled a throw pillow onto
her lap.

“Yeah, let me brush my teeth and
I’ll be ready to go.” I started to place my written ramblings in my
backpack. I glanced up and noticed that Sarah was happily bouncing
out of the room.

I raced to the bathroom and threw
my hair up, in what had become my uniform, a tight bun. That day
was going to be one of the best I was sure. After coffee and
doughnuts, Sarah and me were headed out to meet Ethan and one of
his friends for drinks. It was not my usual idea for a fun time,
but anytime with Ethan was my ideal. Sarah was just hoping that
Ethan’s friend had a body like his.

When Sarah and I pulled up to the
little bistro, Deacon had demanded we meet at. We found Allison and
Deacon waiting on a small bench out front. Allison was super petite
at only five feet and maybe a hundred pounds, she made even my
small frame appear average. Her dirty-blond hair flowed down her
back in natural waves. Even as timid as she was, she would had
turned any guys head. It was something very appealing about her
natural face. She raised her eyes and gave Deacon a shy smile as
Deacon took her hand in hers. I was still not sure what my take on
homosexuality was, but they had to be one of the most caring and
sweet couples I had ever been around. Even with the connection I
shared with Ethan, we could still had taken a few lessons from
them.

“Damn, Dylan you look hot in that
number. I have got a hot friend if you ever want to bat for the
right team.” Deacon said with a small chuckle.

I pulled at the new delicate lace
sundress I had picked up the day before. I had worn a similar one
of Sarah’s a few days ago and it seem to punch all of Ethan’s
buttons.