We study each other. Who knew the eyes could be so expressive? Arkin’s speak their own language.
We kiss. It’s soft at first, but then the flames ignite. Arkin pulls me closer, his thigh between my legs as he explores my mouth with his eager tongue. I’m equally starved for him. We’re magnets, destined to come together in an inferno of lust.
When he slides inside me this time, it’s deep and slow. Gentle waves lapping at a beach on a sunny morning.
We’re our own cosmos.
And this is our starry night.
“Fuck me, baby. Give me everything.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Inever thought anal sex with a guy could feel so good. Even though I’m sore after my sex marathon with Arkin, it’s a good sore, like after a good gym session.
What surprised me the most was how natural it felt.
And even though I was nervous, I never felt worried or awkward about letting a guy top me. It felt like it was always meant to happen. Sooner or later.
Arkin is at the garden center with my dad, and Neriah is in her room. I chew my lip as I hover by the patio door, debating whether to pry. Mum is kneeling before a flowerbed, wiping the sweat from her brow with her gloved hand. As the door slides open and I step outside, she smiles at me over her shoulder.
“Off to see your friends?”
“Not today,” I reply, sauntering across the lawn with my hands in my pockets to prevent me from fidgeting. Mum doesn’t notice my unease.
I crouch beside her, sifting through the soil and pulling out a few weeds while she digs a hole for a new plant. “So, Mum,” I start, wetting my lip as the sun beats down on us from above. “You never told me about Arkin.”
Mum’s movements slow. “His story is not mine to tell.”
Irritated by her response, I toss the large weed with its long, fine roots into the buckets behind us. “The guy sleeps in my room, Mum. I deserve some answers.”
“Zachary,” she says, sounding tired, but I interrupt her.
“No… You invited a stranger into our home, into my bedroom. I deserve to know about him. You owe me that much.”
Mum puts her gardening tool down, removes the colorful plant from its plastic tray, and inserts it into the hole she dug. Then she scoops more soil over the top and pats it down while I wait for her to tell the truth. Something I can work with.
I’m falling for a guy I know nothing about. It’s slowly driving me insane.
“You want us to bond. You’ve got to help me here.”
She removes her gloves with a sigh. “Arkin’s parents passed away in a car collision when he was very young. After that, he was taken in by a distant uncle and his wife. He also has two younger twin siblings, a sister and a brother.”
I swat a wasp away that flies too close to my ear. “What happened?”
Mum puts the gloves down almost gingerly. “The kids were homeschooled for years. Their situation was awful. No one knew what was going on in that home.”
My brows knit together. “Mum?”
“Arkin was the oldest. One day, he escaped through a window and ran to the nearest house for help. The police arrived at the property and found his brother chained to the bed, naked except for an adult diaper. God knows how long he’d been there. Who does that to a kid, Zach? His sister was locked in a dog crate in the kitchen. She was emaciated—they all were—with infected wounds on her wrists and ankles.”
“And Arkin?” I ask shakily. “Was he…”
“The poor boy dislocated his own thumb to escape his handcuffs.”
I topple onto my ass. “Fuck…”
“Arkin knows how to talk but keeps his voice close to his heart. It’s part of his trauma.”
