Page 75 of Fate Fiction

His eyes became glassy and soft. He brushed one away with a callused thumb, “oh, Dani.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I whimpered. “I’m what you came here to escape.”

Evan assessed me, his biting lower lip as he sat in contemplation. “No, you’re not. Maybe I’m being naive, but when I’m with you I don’t have the same urge to hide like I do with other people. I like that you see me.”

I swallowed away more tears. “There’s something else⁠—”

“Do you want this to continue? Honestly?” Evan cut me off.

“I do. Honestly,” I answered. He didn’t process what I’d started to say.

I was too scared to repeat it.

“Then let’s let it happen. No more running, for my sake. I haven’t properly trained in months and I’m too out of shape to keep chasing you. Let me want you. Don’t try to make me believe I’m wrong for feeling how I feel about you.”

“I can manage that,” I stiffly laughed.

“We have two days, and I’d really like to spend them with you and forget about the world outside. Unless, of course, you don’t want that?” He leaned in closer, laying his palms on my thighs, gazing up at me.

“I do,” I said meekly.

I wasn’t as pliable as one of the fictional characters I’d write about. I couldn’t write a few lines and fix my mistakes and shortcomings. In the fictional version of these moments with Evan I’d tell the imaginary Dani to stop things now and not fall into this madness deeper. I’d make her get up, apologize, and wish Evan a nice life before going back to her cabin. But fictional Dani wasn’t the one feeling this draw towards him so deeply. She didn’t have an insistent desire-shaped thrumming in her core that was impossible to ignore.

She wasn’t feeling how good Evan’s touch felt.

I exhaled at the sensation of his cool, rough palm against my hot skin.

He cracked a grin, pleased with himself. “I’ve thought about touching you since I met you. When you walked up in that bikini—” he shuddered a breath. “—I was trying very hard to be a gentleman.”

“Is that so?” I purred. Lust was rendering my brain useless, covering it in a candy coating. I reached out a hesitant hand, grazing my fingers up his arm.

Evan pulled back, his eyes locked on me. “I didn’t exactly have the foresight to bring condoms. I assumed⁠—“

“I get it. I’m on the pill, and given my ex’s…dalliances…I just got tested. I’m all clear.”

He nodded as he repeated the word "dalliance" under his breath. “It’s been a long time for me. Like…a really, really long time.”

“We don’t⁠—”

Evan leaned towards me and laid his hands on my thighs. His thumbs rubbed in continuous circles on my skin, so close to the part of me I desperately needed him to touch. I wanted to guide his hands further upwards. “I want to,” he said. “I don’t even want to take it slow. I’m not beating around the bush here, I want you fuck you, Dani.”

Those six words would play on repeat in my mind for eternity. No matter how this ended. I could practically feel my jaw hit the floor. I. Want. To. Fuck. You. Dani.

“I need you to tell me if you want that too,” he continued after a beat of silence.

“I do.”

“You do what?”

“I want you to fuck me,” I exhaled the words. Anxiety fled my lungs.

His fingers danced along the hem of my shirt. He slid his hand beneath the fabric, grazing the softness of my stomach. Millimeter by millimeter, his touch unwound me. He guided the fabric over my head, exposing my torso to him. And my sensible bra that was probably one of the least sexy things in my wardrobe. I didn’t care, because the way Evan McLeod looked at me made me forget everything else.

I guided his hand around my waist, letting his palm rest just above my hip. The cabin was dark. The last remnants of the setting sun illuminated his blue eyes.

“Kiss me,” I said. Unwarranted confidence had taken over like a horny version of Ratatouille, someone else was pulling the strings and taking charge.

Evan dipped his head low and his lips found mine in the growing shadows. I ran my fingers through his damp waves as I took in his warmth and clean scent.