AllFreeNovel
Share Us
On the rare instances when I’d catch him deep in thought and ask him how he truly was, he’d smile, pat my hand, and assure me that he was fine. Better than fine. He found enjoyment in his work. He found peace in his puzzle books. He found contentment with us.
But I worried he lied.
I worried he wanted more. Needed more. And eventually, he’d look for more.
He was twenty, after all.
All the guys I knew had fucked multiple girls and been in numerous relationships.
Yet on the nights when I couldn’t sleep and I sat leaning against my windowsill, panicked at the thought of Aslan sneaking out to find someone who wasn’t me, I always sighed in relief when he didn’t.
He’d never flirted with anyone when he drove me around town or picked me up from school or completed chores for my father.
It was as if he ignored that part of his humanity.
I’d have almost believed he didn’t need anyone to touch him or love him if I didn’t catch the fire in his gaze whenever he dropped his guard. The last time it happened—when we were watching a movie as a family last week, and I’d laughed at something silly and turned to Aslan to see if he laughed too, I’d been struck breathless at the smouldering, deep, black heat in his stare. With the TV flickering over his face, he looked as if he battled every feral instinct not to snatch me, savage me, and tear me into well-fucked pieces.
But then my mum had turned to see what made me tremble.
And Aslan had blinked.
His throat had worked, and his fists had clenched, and by the time he opened his eyes again, the inferno within him was replaced with bored humour, successfully smothered before my parents could notice.
“What’s in your hands?” He sat up in bed, pushing the black sheet to his waist, revealing the hard ridges of his toned chest and stomach.
My mouth went dry.
I forgot how to speak.
The undercurrent that always flowed between us felt particularly vicious tonight.
My nipples pebbled, and my stomach twisted, and it took all my strength to lift my gaze to his. I smiled as if the delicious sight of his pillow-ruffled sun-bronzed brown hair, sleep-hooded eyes, and perfectly toned body didn’t make me tingle all over.
Those butterflies that I constantly trapped and suffocated in a glass jar flurried and fought, desperate to be free to leap into bed with him, dive their wings through his hair, and flutter against those lips I’d only kissed once.
I swallowed hard as I always did whenever I thought of that kiss on Noah Beach. How he’d stiffened and stopped breathing. How, for the tiniest of heartbeats, his lips had shifted beneath mine, and the groan that’d escaped him set fire to every droplet of my blood.
But then he’d pushed me away.
He’d told me exactly why it would never happen again.
And I’d respected his reasoning ever since. Not because I didn’t want him more than anything, but because I didn’t want him to leave...and I was terrified he’d vanish if I pushed him.
“I got you a gift.”
“What? Why?” His voice was husky and low. “I don’t need anything, and even if I did, you could’ve waited until morning to give it to me.”
“I could’ve, yes. But I...I wanted to see you.”
“You saw me at dinner a few hours ago.”
“You and Dad were poring over the nautical maps of Whitsundays. I know you’re going with them next week, and I can survive on my own, but...I’ll miss you.”
He sucked in a breath, his eyes darkening. “It’s only four days.”
“Four days of being alone.”
“You’re the one who said you’d rather stay here than crash at a friend’s place.”
