“That was a moment of weakness.” I said.
“Ah, I guess I will have to pull the good moves on you then. Soon enough Harper and you’ll be falling all over me and I just may make you suffer.”
He winked at me
, assuming that I would be the kind of girl to fall all over him.
“You wish. I don’t even know your full name.” I said as I unwrapped my sandwich
and took a giant bite out of it, as un-lady like as I possibly could.
“You are so unbelievably sexy, you know?” He smiled
, penetrating his eyes deep into mine. It was as if he was locking them in and shutting the world off around us. Quickly I looked back down to my sandwich, shoving it far into my mouth. He was tricking me into this. For a non date, this felt like a date. I didn’t even know what a date was. I never really dated in high school but from everything I read and saw in the movies, this sure seemed like one. Somehow I needed to divert the subject.
“So, you w
ant to know more about me, eh?”
“Yeah,
like I said I don’t even know your last night.” I spit out with a fistful of food stuffed into my mouth.
“Well
for starters, my middle name is Andrew but I secretly hate it. Ryder Andrew”
“Oh yeah
? Well Ryder Andrew, where do you come from?”
“Ah, my lady,” he joked
, again playing with the formal intonation of British royalty but failing so miserably with his thick southern accent, “I am from Houston, Texas. Born and raised, but I moved here about five years ago when I was 23.”
“Okay, so tha
t answers my next question then. You’re 28. Do you know how old I am?”
“Wel
l assuming I saw you at the club that one night, I was going to guess you went to the college and now you’re drinking this wine here so I’m hoping you’re at least 21.”
“I am at least 21
. In fact, I am 21.”
“I do like my ladies younger you know?” He smirked at me while taking a bite of his sandwich.
“So, you’re a pervert then?” I snarled.
“Ha! A
nd you must be a comedian?” He growled right back. I actually kind of enjoyed him playing with my insults instead of sulking in the corner like a baby.
“Is your family back in Texas
then?” I asked.
He shifted uncomfortably on the blanket and put his sandwich down. Before he spoke he took a big pull of his champagne and played with his thumbs. Slowly and very quietly he said, “My parents live in Texas, but I have family here.”
Oh. I guess there was something else that he didn’t want to tell me, but I didn’t want to push him because for the first time in the entire night he became uncomfortable and vulnerable. It was easy to tell that he was rarely uncomfortable by the way he carried himself so I decided to cut him some slack and not fish any further. Instead, I looked up at the sky and noticed the small lights in the distance. We normally don’t get stars here, but sometimes if you squinted hard enough you could see the outline in the sky. It was like something was desperately trying to peer through the layers of soot and air pollution to expose the true beauty, but some force of nature and man was stopping it from happening. It would take a miracle for that little star up there to shine.
“In Texas, you could drive out into the fields with your truck and pull your bed down and sit there watching the stars bl
ister in the sky all night long,” he said noticing my fascination with the sky, “Tell me something about yourself Harper.”
“Um…” I wasn’t sure exactly what I was supposed to tell him. Hello, my name is Harper. I am completely and totally fucked up and you proba
bly will regret ever meeting me but I would love to fuck you before you go?
Classy, real classy Harper.
“My last name is Mae and I grew up in Chicago. I don’t talk about my family and my best friend is Skye who is basically like my only family. I go to University of San Diego and am majoring in creative writing. Eventually, I want to be an author.”
“I felt like I just read yo
ur bio in a book. Tell me about you! Like something that no one else knows, not even your best friend Skye.” He mocked the last part, quoting me and matching my tone. I giggled at his attempt to sound like a girl--it was a disaster, yet utterly adorable.
“I don’t think I should.”
“Let’s not kick around the bush here. I know there is something haunting you inside. I saw it. Instead of playing these get to know you games why don’t you tell me something about you. I want to figure out what makes you tick.” His voice was low and his words slipped out of his mouth dusted with slow passion. “I want to know what scares you.”
I went silent in shock, scared that this man could see inside of who I was and
more importantly what I was hiding from the rest of the world. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat hoping that suddenly thunder would disparage above us and rain would come pouring down. So much for being saved by the bell…
“Can I tell you something at least?” I nodded, still unable to speak from the fact that in such a short period of time this man was able to understand who
m I was inside rather than the façade I put on the outside.
“A few weeks ago
, I was spending time at the club I normally hang out with my buddies. I was on the dance floor when I saw a beautiful brunette in a tight outfit dancing with her friend. Her ass was plump and shaped in a perfect O. I felt like I had to come up behind her and feel what she had against me. I wanted to feel her hips thrusting into mine and when I finally recognized you as the girl from the coffee shop, I felt a rush to get to know you. It was some weird cosmic way of saying that I had to get to know you.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? That was you?” I hollered at him
, getting off the blanket. That night meant something more to me than I had felt in a while. I was falling in love on the dance floor, which scared me. What if I could fall in love in reality? I would only end up getting hurt again. I wasn’t the kind of girl who fell in love. I fell in lust, that is all.
A
confused expression crossed his face as he stood up from the blanket. I grabbed his wrist and lifted the sleeves above his hand. I saw his entire left hand covered in tattoos and there it was again, “Evelyn” was in script on his wrist.
“Are you married or something?
Who is Evelyn?”
“Is that why you left the dance floor? You saw this?” He grabbed my shoulders trying to pull me into him
, but I pushed him away. He was too strong for me so I faltered along the unsteady sand and fell.
“Who is she?
Why are you here with me when you have some other girl’s name tattooed on your arm?”
“Did it ever cross your mind that maybe that could be for someone who I lo
ve very much with all my heart and is a part of my family. She is not someone I have ever slept with, will sleep with or even think about sleeping with. In fact, it is repulsive and almost incestual to even think that.” He huffed and reached his hand out to me, lifting me off the sand and brushing the remaining grains off my backside.
“I am disgusted by all of this. I am completely creeped out that you keep following me. I don’t know you and then you act like you know me. It’s really making me mad.”
“Ugh. You’re really something Harper. You cannot imagine how infuriating you are.”
“I am infuriating?” My voice grew louder as I spoke, “I have no idea who you are and here you are coming in thinking you understand what I have gone through. You have no clue what I have been through in my life and you have no right to tell me how I should let th
ese “demons” out. Quite frankly it’s annoying. This non-date is over. I am going home.” I started to head off until I felt his firm hand grasp my arm.
In the smallest voice that echoed the voice of a child beggi
ng his parents to stop fighting Ryder mumbled, “Please don’t leave me.”
“I didn’t mean to seem like I was stalking you. I just couldn’t get you out of my head. I kept thinking about the moment we shared at the club and my thoughts keep racing about you. I want to get to know you. Something about you wants me to save you from your past.”
My face turned towards his and we were inches away from the water. The tides rolled in and the gentle lull of the water rocked a calm peace over the scene. I looked up at his eyes and for the first time I saw something else in there. Desperation. There was desperation for me to try to understand him.
“It’s gettin
g late, I should be heading out,” I said knowing that this was far too comfortable for being something so new, so raw. There was something my heartfelt when I was around him. It was like a contrast between the quick pulse and the ravenous passion I had for him with the fullness my heartfelt for him and for his pain. I wanted to understand why he was so desperate to understand me, but I didn’t want to get too close because I knew what happened when you let your guard down…when you fall in love. When you fall in love you must fall out of something and normally that something is yourself. When that loves fails--like all love does--you end up losing yourself and your place in society. Life isn’t fair, but it was my job to make sure that I didn’t get hurt any more than I already had.
“Please,
” I begged quietly, hoping that he would let me go.
“No,” h
e said and he grabbed me by my arms and pulled me into his chest. I felt myself letting go and breathing him in, taking in his scent. I needed what was going to happen. There was a force that was pulling us together. A force I couldn’t deny.
He smelled musky
, like worn leather with a hint of vanilla and mint. His chest felt tight and his muscles ripped through the seams of his shirt. I was able to feel every outline of his abs with just my hands that lay against his chest. He stood there holding me; grasping onto my back as if I was going to run away and never come back. After what seemed like an eternity, he let go of me only to stand there with his hands still on my arms looking down at me.
His blue eyes had a fire in them as they searched my body, scanning it up and down. His neck reached slowly down to meet m
y mouth. No words had to be exchanged for him to understand that it was okay if he gently laid his lips against mine. His hands reached to cradle the back of my head and ever so slowly he placed his lips against mine. A spark flashed through my entire body. As my lips met his, we began exploring each other’s lips in a dance where two entities meet and unite as one. His hands pushed against my head, pressing my lips harder against his as his tongue slipped into my mouth. A slight groan escaped from my mouth and suddenly I felt ravished with a hunger so deep within me nothing was going to stop my body from giving into him.
He picked me up as I wrapped my legs against his hips and he lowered me on top of the blanket, our lips never parting. While his tongue explored the depths of my mouth, my body convulsed with a need for something greater than just kissing. I had never felt so connected to someone
through a make out session. I wanted to find out more so I slipped my hands under his shirt to feel the definition in his abs.
The night sky echoed a slight breathe and I looked around for a second to make sure no one was around us. The beach was silent ex
cept for the rolling of the waves that crashed next to us. I reached to pull off his shirt--parting from him for only a second to admire the definition in his abs and the tattoo on his chest of a heart. I traced my hands over it, noticing it was perfectly placed over his own heart; however, this heart had a dagger drawn through the middle.
“Come here,” h
e growled at me while once again pressing against me and flipping me over onto my back. This time his hands fell from my head tracing the line of my body down towards my breasts. My nipples responded to his caress by hardening, his touch electric. He ripped off my dress in one sweep of his hand and exposed my stomach and black-laced bra and panty set. I secretly thanked myself for wearing my best bra and panty set instead of the plain white ones I had tucked in my drawer.
His hands traced the outline of my breasts as he slipped his fingers under my bra
, lightly flicking my nipples with his hands, teasing me.
“God you are so sexy,” he groaned deeply.
He pulled me up onto him so my legs were straddling his hips and he stared me flat in the eyes as if to tell me that he wanted desperately to make love. He responded only by removing my bra and letting it slowly hit the sand. Right now all I could imagine was tasting his body with my lips and feeding into the electricity that sparked when our bodies were entwined together as one.
After he removed my bra he flipped me back over and mounted me. Instead of placing his mouth delicately against mine, he turned my head to the side and started kissing my neck ever so slowly making his way down to my breasts. As he reached my nipples he placed his lips over them slowly nibbling them
. With each flick of his tongue something in body kept telling me that it needed more. Instinctually, he understood and moved his lips away from my breasts in slow kisses down my navel.
As he reached my lower belly where the V of my hips began to meet in a point, he slipped his hand against the top of the lace of my panties and ripped my underwear in half with one swift move of the wrist.