In the Beginning Page 3

  I had to break away. I reached for the water bottle, but his reflexes were faster than mine. Sitting up, he held the bottle out to me. I swallowed hard again.

  “Drink?” he offered. I could only nod in response. His eyes still held mine. Together we lifted the bottle to my lips, and I awkwardly drank while his eyes focused on me. It was only when he shifted to watch my throat that I was able to pull away from his trap.

  “I got it,” I said, tugging the bottle gently from his grasp. I took a long swig of the refreshing water and closed my eyes to him. What was I doing? I thought.

  “It’s very warm out here,” he said, unzipping his sweatshirt to reveal a white t-shirt, form fitting and hugging his chest. The thinness did little to hide the dark snake under the fabric. Brilliant colors shone through the material, and without fully seeing the display, I knew a large reptile was etched into that broad chest. He caught me staring at him again.

  “It’s a cobra,” he said, answering a question I hadn’t asked. “You don’t have any tattoos, do you?”

  I shook my head, still unable to form words as my blood raced through me. I tried to take a deep breath.

  “What would you get, if you did?”

  I didn’t know and said as much.

  “You’re very innocent, aren’t you?”

  I took offense at his words, when I shouldn’t have. I was innocent, so it was truthful. Yet, I didn’t want to be. It wasn’t that I hadn’t been with another. It was that I hadn’t experienced what I thought it should be. I didn’t know how to react to his words, but I needed to step away from him. I wasn’t sure why we were still together. He didn’t remember last night. I shouldn’t have been encouraging him.

  I stood and turned away from him. Removing my shirt and then my jeans, I walked toward the stream and slipped slowly into the refreshing river. It was cold, but I had grown used to the temperature. This was baptismal water that cleansed my body and my soul when I felt I needed it. Now was one of those moments. I needed to stop imagining him with me.

  “Holy fuck, it’s cold,” he blurted behind me. I turned abruptly, lost again in my thoughts of him with me. His solid chest was exposed above the water, and my mind raced to what lay hidden below. He slipped down and underneath, disappearing for a brief second, before popping up directly in front of me. My racing heart beat enough to raise my chest as he stood before me with ripples of water riveting down his hard skin. He wiped his hand over his head to remove access water then scrubbed down his face to clear his eyes. My mouth opened to gain more oxygen.

  “This feels...wonderful,” he spoke softly, his eyes holding mine again. He reached out a large finger to push a loose hair behind my ear.

  “You feel wonderful,” he said so low, it was almost a whisper.

  “You don’t remember,” I reminded him. His eyes shifted down to the red bra that held my breasts and a finger traced over my ear, down the side of my neck and straight across the skin exposed above the satin.

  “It’s slowly coming back to me,” he breathed.

  His eyes shifted back up to mine, as my chest rose and fell with excitement and nerves. I wasn’t afraid of him, yet I was. He terrified and thrilled me.

  He leaned forward and kissed me. Being the fool that I was, I let him take my lips again. The soft feel of them was a drug; the hard control of them, an addiction. I’d never done drugs before, and I never would because I couldn’t imagine anything that would be as powerful as his kiss.

  “I was wrong,” he spoke while his lips still touched mine. “You are the best feast I’ve had.”

  I melted at his words. My mind wanted them to be true. I was ensnared in the deliciousness of wanting him to desire me. My hands slipped up the front of his solid chest and circled round his neck. His hands wrapped around my lower back and he pulled me against him. We were skin to skin again, and the cold water around us might have steamed for the heat coming off our bodies.

  We were still only waist deep, but his knees gave out and he dragged me down. The water enveloped his shoulders, and he broke the kiss to pull me over him. His legs pressed between mine and he glided backward with me pressed into his chest. He was moving us through the water, keeping contact with our bodies, as one arm propelled us slowly and the other held me to him. My legs didn’t know where to go and they voluntarily wrapped around his waist. He stopped but remained covered by the stream.

  Like magnets, our cores were attracted. We lined up perfectly without much maneuvering; his hard length pressing against my throbbing center. I rubbed against him, as a means to shift, and his large hands gripped my behind. He held me tight along his solid core, and he flicked his hips upward. I gasped, and his mouth captured mine again. My arms wrapped around his neck, holding me in place over him, as he moved between my thighs in a torturous rhythm while his mouth worked mine with rapid fire.

  I sucked his lower lip and released him to gasp for air. Again, I couldn’t breathe. It was like he was taking the life from me. Being the willing fool, I was letting him. A brief whiff of air was all I was allowed, and he dove into my mouth again. The force of his tongue overwhelmed me, and his large hands squeezed my hips. I ground against him under the water, in desperate need of friction and relief. He pulled back from my mouth and the force made a delicate popping sound.

  “You’re tempting me to do things I shouldn’t do,” he growled against my neck, and he moved my hips to encourage the rub against him. I clasped his broad shoulders to hold myself steady against him as my hips rolled up the length of him. I couldn’t speak. All my energy, all my concentration, all my focus was between my legs, over him. I needed a deeper connection. A connection that would be too painful to bear after it was broken.

  His fingers tickled over my thigh and a thick digit entered me, after pushing aside my underwear. I sucked in more air and slammed down on that finger. My mind had escaped me. My heart had closed down. My body took over as I felt the most pleasurable surge crawl from my toes to my center and release over him. It was almost instantaneous. It proved my innocence. It showed my ignorance.

  My eyes had closed, so his mouth over mine again surprised me. I held onto him like I might drown in the waist-deep water as I felt the last of my experience slowly subside. My hand hesitantly slipped down his arm, and he must have sensed where I intended to travel because a hard clasp encircled my wrist.

  “No,” he said. I stopped. Every inch of my skin crawled and I suddenly felt the icy water. I held every part of my body still, willing my breathing to pause, and my heart to stop.

  He kissed my shoulder then gently pushed me back from him. His eyes tried to reach mine, but I had to look away. He stood to his full height, and I suddenly felt like an errant child, or at least a disobedient teen. A silly girl who momentarily worshiped a man she could never have.

  I slowly stood as well. Water cascaded down my skin, which felt cool regardless of the summer heat. My red underwear set was soaked through to expose a dark mound of hair and bright pink nipples. I didn’t meet his eyes. His rejection was enough. I turned and exited the stream.

  + + +

  7

  [Cain]

  Every inch of me vibrated. I wanted her more than air itself. I was literally shaking with desire, and when she didn’t reject my touch, I nearly exploded in the stream. Concentrating on pleasing her became my mission, and it didn’t take long before my finger, surrounded in her warmth was clenched and drenched. Another part of me longed to feel the same experience. I needed to be connected to her.

  But it would have been so wrong.

  She was sweet. She was good. I was a killer. She was taking the fight out of me, but I could not give in. I needed to stay strong. I couldn’t give her my poison. I saw the pain in her eyes, felt the stiffness of her body. She wouldn’t understand. Temptation like me would only lead to her ruin.

  I watched her exit the water like the goddess she was. Slow and methodical, she graced the small wake then broke through the last drops. Water cascaded do
wn her like a trickling waterfall, and I longed to lap up every drop of her. I wanted to drink her in like the refreshing water from our lunch. She would cleanse my soul, and I would turn hers black. It was very tempting.

  I followed after her when I knew my body had calmed enough. My boxer briefs did nothing to hide the bulge that still remained. I needed relief, and yet I took the pulsing as my punishment. I’d teased the heiress of this garden. I taunted her, and with the strength I knew she possessed; she walked away from me.

  She dragged the sheet into the sun and lay down. I had no choice but to lay next to her. We would drip dry in the afternoon heat. I let the warmth envelope me and listened to the steady control of her breathing next to me. We didn’t speak. I fell asleep.

  When I woke, she was surrounded by books again.

  “You work too hard,” I said. My voice was rough from my nap.

  “I have a lot to learn,” she replied, not looking up. She had covered herself with her t-shirt again, but still had not redressed in her jeans.

  “Like what?” I asked, as I pulled the book out of her hands and looked at the page. I didn’t even pretend to read it. I closed the text and placed it to the side.

  “Why study so much?” I asked.

  “Some of us have to use our brains, not our bodies.” She smirked, and I didn’t reply. I was curious if she knew who I was after all. Then I recalled she didn’t know my last name.

  “No, honestly. Why are you working so hard?”

  She explained to me how she wanted to be a doctor. Her parents had been killed, and if they had received proper medical attention, they might have been saved. My heart thumped an extra beat to think she was alone. I mentioned her grandfather, who she clarified was her great grandfather. He worked the vineyard, inspecting the plants, and sampling the wine. Her grandparents ran the villa inn. She was an only child.

  “He’s been my driving force. If a man can work as hard as him, drink wine daily, and live to over ninety, there must be a solution to a well lived life.” She squinted toward the river as I watched her face.

  “All I’ve ever known is to fight,” I sighed. “The body is a machine, and I use every ounce of it to serve my purpose.”

  She looked down at me as I still lay on my back. Her eyes scanned mine then traveled over my face and down my hard body. She wasn’t admiring me as much as inspecting me. I felt examined and evaluated. It might have been the first real physical I’d had in a long time.

  “Are you a boxer?” she asked softly.

  “A fighter. MMA,” I responded.

  “MMA?” she said slowly. “I asked if it was a school.” Her words were said in such a way that I sensed she felt ignorant. She didn’t seem like the type to know what mixed martial arts were, though.

  “Yes, you did,” I said. “I majored in winning,” I bragged, and her face twisted as she looked at me.

  “How can you remember that I asked you that?”

  “I might remember more than you think,” I implied. We were silent for a few minutes more, when she looked at her phone and stood to dress. I followed her lead as she suddenly seemed rushed.

  I stopped her hands that fidgeted with her hair and pulled her close to me. She stood against me, but not into me. She was rigid as I wrapped my arms around her to embrace her. She let me hold her for a moment before my hand slipped down her arm and my fingers entwined with hers. I held her hand against my chest, while my other still encircled her waist. Slowly, I moved us as my hips swayed back and forth. We were dancing, and a memory flashed through my head.

  “We danced last night,” I stated. A slow smile crept over her face.

  “Yes, we did,” she whispered.

  “After the wedding ceremony,” I added.

  Her smile twisted like she was trying to contain it.

  “Yes,” she said quietly.

  “I remember holding you like this. Do you remember?” I tugged her toward me and felt her finally relax like she had last night. We had melded together as if one body. We briefly danced in display while the divorcee women quietly cheered us on.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “I remember you saying those words, too,” I groaned softly and let my lips briefly brush hers.

  I understood why the snake tempted Eve in the garden. He couldn't help himself. He was drawn to her beauty; she could not deny him because of her kindness. She trusted in him, too easily. That was her downfall. Not the bite of forbidden fruit, but her faith that he meant her no harm. I did not trust myself, but I couldn't give up the lie, not yet.

  + + +

  8

  [Sofie]

  We'd stopped dancing. Holding me, he whispered as he stared at my lips, “Have dinner with me?”

  “I...” I paused. “I can't.” I wanted to say yes. He was so good at this. He had all the right words, all the right phrases. My body still vibrated from where he touched me, and a trickle of moisture released from my thoughts of him. I wanted more. I desired him, all of him. My wayward imagination stalled my answer.

  “I have to work the bar again.”

  “Call in sick. Don't you have an in with the owners?” He tweaked his lips into that half smile and the lower half of me fluttered with delight. I wanted that smile to be mine, to believe it was only for me.

  I couldn't do that to them. My grandparents. I'd already told him about my parents' death: a chance encounter, a random act of violence. My mother had been shot first. The police believe she was trying to protect my father. He was killed second. They were found holding hands in a dark alley behind a lower casino in Vegas.

  “Well, I can't leave you alone.” His smile continued. “Strange men in a bar. Who knows what might happen. Don't want you running off and marrying the first man that you meet.”

  He was teasing me. It was sugar candy sweet and damnably upsetting rolled together. The truth underlined in his jest. I had met a stranger. I had married him, even if all pretend, it had happened. I was letting myself get caught up in the masquerade.

  In an unprecedented move, I kissed him quickly. A sharp brush of my mouth on his before pulling away from him.

  “Funny.”

  His mouth was on mine again. If he was a fighter, I could image he was a world champion. He took no prisoners in his fight for my lips. I didn't stand a chance against him. There was no competition. I'd let him win every time.

  “I wasn't joking,” he said pulling back from me. As I breathed heavily, like I did each time he claimed me, I noticed the edge to his voice. His eyes shifted to cold darkness. Something must have passed through his thoughts. Like a ghost, it was there and gone from him. He closed his eyes slowly and tenderly pressed his forehead against mine.

  “I’ll come have dinner with you, instead,” he said. His eyes still closed as his head rested against mine.

  “Okay,” I weakly spoke. I needed to break the spell and yet I didn’t know how.

  We returned to the villa in quiet companionship. His arm rested casually on the back of my seat and he played with the hair at the base of my neck. I pulsed and clenched between my legs and shifted several times to quell the sensation. I tried not to envision his finger in me, or another part of him, that I longed for more and more as time passed. I was afraid we were on borrowed time as it was.

  We separated without a word as he held the door for me to enter the main entrance. He took the stairs two at a time, while I passed under the staircase to the private rooms below. I feared he wouldn’t show for dinner like he promised. The First Wives Club was hosting a small dinner party in one of the private rooms. The main dining room was quiet except for a movie director and his mistress, the bald man who seemed to follow Cain, and the injured rock star who hadn’t spoken much since he’d been here. I stood removed from it all behind the bar.

  I wore a black wrap dress, in hopes that Cain would appear. My hair was left to air dry and fell in loose waves. I didn’t want to wear my glasses, but after the hours of reading I’d crammed into the late afternoon,
in hopes of diverting my lusty thoughts, I had to wear them to focus. I could hardly read the menu after a day of intensive textbooks or online study. I was wiping off a bottle to take to the private dining room when I heard his voice behind me.

  “Got anything stronger,” he asked and the smile in his tone warmed me.

  “On second thought, no more Grandpa’s Passion for me,” he laughed. “How about a beer?”

  I opened the small beer fridge and pulled out a bottle. He waved off the chilled glass and wrapped his large hand around the base of the bottle. My eyes traveled the finger that had been inside me and I swallowed hard, crossing my legs to stop the throbbing down low. He tapped the finger against the glass and caught me staring at his hand.

  “The best part of my anatomy, minus one,” he said as he raised the bottle to his lips. I couldn’t look away, yet I knew I should. Those lips did tortuous tempting things to me that I loved and hated. I couldn’t be with him. He was a stranger, but the attraction to him was greater than any polar force.

  “Use them to fight with, don’t you?” I nodded once at his thick hands.

  “I do,” he said, and his eyes jumped up to meet mine. Dark chocolaty brown hit me with enough strength to make my knees shake. The words rang between us.

  “So...um...when’s the next fight?” I tried to make small talk, but I wasn’t good at it.

  “Let’s not talk about the fights, for now,” he sighed. A weight sat heavy on his shoulders. When I nodded my head to let go of the subject, I saw the pressure release and his back relax.

  “Not busy in here tonight,” he said, stating the obvious while scanning the emptiness of the place.