Page 54 of Pretty Thing

The clip plays silently, but I can hear the water and smell her bubble-gum shampoo.

Eden turns, and I’m left staring at the perfect canvas of her back and lush ass. Heat rolls through me hot enough to burn me to ash, craving my Pretty Thing.

My hand moves faster now as I grip the edge of my chair, heart hammering behind my ribcage. There’s something deeply wrong with how badly I need her. Not just sexually. That would almost be easier.

No. I need to hear Eden’s voice, have her attention, and feel the touch of her skin. I yearn for the relaxed look in her eyes when she sees me. I demand to feel necessary to her. She must choose me. Because no matter how close I get, it is still not enough.

I groan loudly as my cock thickens with the thought. I’m so close.

I want what is mine, and if Kyle thinks he can take her from me, then he’ll be removed from the equation.

The footage is coming to an end. Eden reaches for a towel. Steam curls around her body while my hand pumps hard and fast.

“Oh fuck…fuck yes.”

She pats the beads of water from her skin and lifts her eyes to me once more, and that’s it.

“Ahh, fuck…yes. You’re mine,” I growl, the sound low and vicious.

I cover the tip of my cock with my shirt and unload, feeling the hot jets hit my stomach while imagining coming inside of her.

Slumping in the chair, I try to catch my breath. I let the carnal sensations flow over and through me. For a little while, the desire that burns like liquid fire in my veins will be quenched, but it never lasts.

Reaching out, I hit a key, and the screen returns to the live feed. Eden is still sound asleep in the same position as when I left. All my protective instincts twist together with my desire until I can barely separate one from the other. It was well worth the effort to sneak into her house and plant cameras, just to watch her every night.

I shut my eyes briefly before I stand up and strip completely naked. I use my soiled T-shirt as a towel to wipe myself off, then I grab my beer and let the fan in the corner cool my skin.

Turning, I drag my fingers slowly over the newest sketch. Pencil lines of Eden sleeping peacefully. I move down the room, a timeline of my love and devotion. I stop to stare at the pictures I’ve taken and papered to the wall.

Beer finished, I move back to the monitors.

“You asked me for space,” I murmur to the empty room, “but you don’t understand. We are two halves of the same soul,” I say, smiling. “You’ll understand. Very soon…you will.”

fifteen

​. . .​

Eden

It’s day three of waking up alone, and today feels worse than all the others combined. I stare at the ceiling and rub at the sharp ache over my heart. It has finally hit me that my parents are gone. They aren’t just away on vacation in their RV or out to dinner with friends…no, they are never coming home.

Everything feels mechanical. Toss off the blankets, slip my legs over the side of the bed, try to stand without falling. I’m going through the motions.

Getting ready is still a slow process, one miniature battle at a time. If it’s not my side twinging when I move too fast or twist too far, then it’s my arm getting stuck in my sweater, or I step too hard, and my ankle screams. Everything I do is a struggle.

Grabbing my cane and phone, I hobble out of the room. There are still no messages from Felix. Shit. I told him I needed space, but the look in his eyes plays on repeat in my mind. I never meant to hurt him, and now he hasn’t been in touch at all.

I’m not even sure I should listen to Kris when Felix has been nothing but good to me. She called me early Sunday, blaming Felix for a rat being left in her room and one in Kyle’s bed.

The ringing is non-stop, pulling me out of sleep. Blinking, I fumble for the phone. My eyes struggle to adjust, making the words fuzzy on the screen, so I give up and just hit talk.

“Hello?” My voice is groggy.

“Eden, he’s a fucking psycho!”

I pull the phone away from my ear when Kris shrieks into it. Who and what the hell is she talking about?

“What?”