Author's Note: Thank you's all around and read on, note's at the bottom.
Nice reviews are better than chocolate, unless maybe you're licking that chocolate off someone.
Seven: This Is Entirely Inappropriate
I remember this one time, after my parent's divorce and during the awkward shuffle between Washington and Florida, I was staying with my mother when I accidentally (but not really) listened in on one of her telephone conversations. My mom had remarried only a year after the divorce, which had hurt my father tremendously though he wouldn't admit it. But the marriage soothed Renee, centered her, and she seemed happy when I came to visit after school let out in June.
And I was happy too, I was officially a senior in high school and Renee seemed to actually want to take care of me while I was there, instead of the other way around. We slept late, went jogging in the morning (which I hated at the time, but it would later become a near daily habit) and ate food out of paper containers when Phil wasn't there.
It was also during that time I first truly realized that my mother wasn't just my mother. It's difficult to explain and looking back, makes me feel vaguely selfish, but until that point I had never actually realized that my mother was something else as well. That she had her own life and desires, goals and heartaches. She was this whole other person that I had finally begun to discover.
Anyway, that realization had a trigger. A week into my time with Renee, she'd let me go back to sleep instead of joining her for our morning run. When I finally woke up, she was already back.
I stumbled half awake to the kitchen, hoping to find enough eggs for omelets for the both of us, but when I got to the open doorway I saw that she was on the phone. Not wanting to be rude, I took a step back and I was going to keep going until I heard her side of the conversation.
"So let me ask you this, how was the sex?" My mom giggled into the phone, asking that question without a trace of embarrassment. I felt my own face flush a rosy pink. "Why not?" She asked. "You need to take him for a test drive, how else are you going to know?" She laughed again and I felt my mouth open in shock at my mother's brazenness. "Seriously, go for it."
That was the advice my mother gave to everyone about everything. A zip line tour in Costa Rica? Go for it. Spelunking in New Mexico? Go for it. I was thinking about that when I saw Edward shake water from his hair as he broke the pond's surface.
The late afternoon sun brought color to his face and made his wet skin shine. I was rooted in place, softly treading water, watching as he closed his eyes, allowing himself to float on his back. Transfixed was an appropriate definition of my state; I stared at the droplets of water rolling off his bare chest to rejoin the pond, helpless to say or do anything. He laid there motionless, every few seconds making the tiniest of movements to stay above the water.
I knew I was watching.
Edward knew I was watching.
His lips turned up into a smirk. "Were you going to say hello back?"
Had he said something? I couldn't think; he was only wearing boxers. "Hello," I relayed on autopilot. Sometimes I wished he simply wouldn't speak so I could enjoy his presence without embarrassment or irritation. I searched for something to say to prove I wasn't the idiot I'm pretty sure he thought I was. I could only come up with a mumbled, "nice day for a swim."
Edward tilted his head, squinting to look at me. "Hmm?"
I didn't respond for a long enough time that it caught his attention and he grinned, like he knew exactly what he did to me. I was about to say something rude to wipe the stupid smile off his face when he suddenly went under water. I stared at the space he'd occupied moments ago, trying to see where he was.
That is, until I felt hands wrap around my ankles.
Instinctively, I screamed.
And even though it only took a second before I realized it was Edward, I still kicked my foot out, hoping to connect with his too pretty head. I only connected with water.
His hands were still touching me. His fingertips brushed up the backs of my legs until I thought for sure he would have to tow me back to shore for CPR.
When he finally surfaced I expected that same smug expression from before, but not the look he was displaying now. It was hard to name and skimming through my mental file cabinets, I knew that no one had ever looked at me like that.
It was like…seeing an oasis after days of blinding heat in the desert. Laying out a feast for a starving man. Telling someone with no self control – look, but do not touch.
Edward's body was close, too close for sensible thought on my part. He watched me like he was waiting for an opening, my own personal loosening of morals. Still I said nothing. So he moved closer and with the languid back and forth motion of the water, our legs touched and he found the sign he was looking for. His mouth found mine and then I didn't know who was starving, him or myself. My hands tried to find purchase against him; I gripped his shoulders which caused us to sink deeper into the water, though we didn't care. I felt his tongue lap slowly against mine once before we went under, our bodies never breaking contact. He yanked us up roughly and pulled me forward while he swam backward toward shallower water. At the place where his feet touched bottom, mine didn't so he grabbed me up by the waist so I could wrap my legs around him; he kept me above water. I felt his teeth graze my lower lip.
It was around that damned time reality began setting in. I wondered briefly how many people were still inside my house and of those, who would be able to see down here? Not to mention the fact that I was almost certain Edward hated me.
He seemed to sense my distraction and bit me on the neck.
I spoke on a moan, "I don't think we should be doing this." But still, I tilted my head back, giving him access to my throat.
He growled in reply and readjusted my lower body so I was pressed against him more firmly.
And yet unbidden, worries grasped and pulled at my attention. What if this was some kind of entertainment, make me willing and pliable just so he could say he did. I didn't know him at all, what if?
Oh, what if, what if, what if…
I tried one last time half heartedly as his mouth heated a path across my collarbone. "This is…entirely…inappropriate."
"Prude," he mumbled against my chest, slipping down the straps of my bra; his tongue snaking over the lace. And then his teeth…
Oh hell.
Go for it.
I pulled his hair. "Cretin."
I felt the bounce of his laugh and gave up entirely when I felt the fingers of one hand moving my underwear aside. I let him. And he knew exactly what to do. I felt him brush across me once before slipping a finger inside; he made a deep noise low in his throat as I both tightened and fell limp in his arms.
"Look at me," he ordered. I did and he licked his lips.
My eyes focused on him until he started moving his hand; the other gripped me tightly, supporting my weight. When my gaze started slipping he pushed against me hard until I gasped and raised my eyes again.
Edward was completely in control and knew it.
He moved slowly and then more quickly and I felt weightless, like I might be carried away entirely if not for his grasp on me.
I couldn't say if you counted the time that passed in seconds or minutes, but soon he changed his ministrations until I wrapped my arms around his neck, begging him, please, for release. I squirmed and pressed myself closer and there was no way I could look at him anymore, but he seemed to have forgotten about that. Instead I felt his hands on me in abandon, coaxing and urging and all-fucking-knowing until my body coiled and finally, finally let go. My eyes shut tightly and my teeth, which had been gently grazing, bit down hard.
Only when he was sure I'd come down, did Edward move his hand, sliding it across my lower back under the water. My body relaxed, but I kept my face pressed into his neck, afraid to face reality. I knew people always said it, but I had really and truly never done anything like that before. Idiot. Crazy, impulsive, out of my mind idiot. The insanity I'd been so determined to keep control of had reared it's maniacal head.
And then a thought, we didn't have sex, but still…did this make me promiscuous?
The first thing I heard through my discordant and berating thoughts, past the sound of the water and our combined heavy breathing, was a car door shutting in the driveway. Coming or going?
I felt Edward tense where my legs were still wrapped around him, his hand that had been drawing patterns across my back stilled. "Shit."
I raised my head so we were eye to eye and I had a fleeting fear that his visitor was female. Before I could raise the question, he pulled us both so we were hidden by the gazebo. I tried to play it off. "Girlfriend?" My voice didn't sound as light as I had meant for it to be. I didn't know much, but I imagined that an overtly rude and gorgeous man who would do that to me might also have someone else.
He huffed a quiet laugh, "most assuredly not."
I unwrapped my legs and found my footing, dizzy from…well, everything.
His hands skimmed my sides, raising goosebumps. "I have to go."
"But…,"
He leaned down and kissed me once, chastely, and then again, less so. I felt his whole body hard against me and I suppressed a giggle over the knowledge that he was like that because of me. I also didn't think a promiscuous person would ever laugh over a man's erection.
We both glanced up at the sound of footsteps on his porch; Edward looked momentarily bothered before that smirk I recognized so well was set firmly back in place. His hand at the small of my back pulled me in close, really close; I had to crane my neck to see his face. He stared at me with that cocky expression that tended to make me nervous, now being no exception. "So, same time tomorrow?" He let me go and took a step toward the shore.
I stared at him blankly. "…what?"
Edward looked at me again, a towel in hand. He seemed almost, reluctant?
Now, I'm not a person that spends hours pouring over the details of a look, over analyzing a phrase or gesture, searching for intentions that may or may not be there. But, honestly…what?
I stayed in the water until he was inside his house, thinking about my mother's advice. Go for it.
"Fudge."
Author's Note: It didn't escape my notice that both my posts this week were of the citrus-y variety; I swear it was just a happy coincidence. A quick note on future chapters, don't be surprised if Alice says "fuck" a lot; it's one of her favorite words as of late.
And lastly, a special thank you to AmeryMarie for the pimping, go check out her awesomeness.
Reviewers get their morals loosened by Edward.