The roof was high and littered with gaping holes, the same as the main room in this place. It was small, tiny in comparison. Maybe it had been a child’s bedroom at one time, if this had been a house. Or maybe a stable room if it had been a barn.
“Look,” he said softly and pointed at the ground.
The way the roof holes were positioned, and how the moonlight came through, she could see what he pointed at. A perfectly shaped heart right in the center of the floor.
“I used to come here so much before going to BMA. I still come here occasionally, but after my father stopped trying to beat the shit out of me on his benders, because I could handle my own, I haven't been here much.”
They still held hands, and she gave him a light squeeze, telling him without words she was right here with him.
“But I noticed this the last time I was here and thought you might like to see something a little unusual.” He let go of her hand only long enough to lay the blanket on the floor.
She sat on the blanket, and he took the spot beside her. The blanket wasn't very big, so it had them sitting so close their bodies touched. The heart-shaped moonlight was just inches from where they were, and they didn’t say anything as they stared at it. And then she reached her hand out, the bluish glow in her palm, as if she held the moon’s heart right in the center.
“I mean, it isn’t the most incredible thing in the world, but for what it is, I wanted to share it with you.”
She looked over at him. “It is incredible, and something that I won’t forget. Thank you for showing me.” It may have only been a trick from the shape of the warped and rotted wood, but out of that ugliness came a perfect, beautiful splash of light.
They said nothing as they settled against each other, Keira now between his legs, her back to his chest, Reese’s arms wrapped around her. They sat there in silence, but it was the perfect quiet that made everything seem to come full circle.
Keira tilted her head back and stared at the sky that was visible through the roof. The moon was bright and right above them. A dusting of stars could also be seen. They were in a dirty, old structure, a place that had once been full of life, but now was ancient and broken, and so very sad. Just like so many things in life.
“My parents are drunks. When they drag themselves home, it’s to either pass out, drink some more, or my father will start shit with me. When I said my home life was shit, I meant that. I’ve always had to rely on myself for everything, and I learned I couldn’t count on anyone else at a very young age.”
She slid her hand over his arm, which rested across her belly. “I’m so sorry, Reese.”
“Shit, I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this. It’s bringing down our night together, and that’s the last thing I want to do. But I find that I want you to know everything about me.” He paused for a moment, as if thinking of how to say what he wanted next. “Maybe I want you to see how fucked up I am… how you could do so much better than me.”
She shifted so she could face him, and for a second, she just stared into his eyes. He’d been hurt in the past, his life nothing like how she’d grown up. Her parents may’ve been absent for a lot of her childhood because of work, but they loved her and Alex. They didn’t hit them, didn’t make them ever feel like they weren’t wanted.
“But you accept me for who I am, what I am, and what I don’t have.” His eyes searched her face, as if she held the answers. “And I have no clue what you fucking see in me, but I won’t let you go.” His words seemed so… final.
Keira didn’t say anything, because she didn’t know what words could be uttered that would have the same impact as what he just told her. So instead of saying anything, she tilted her head and kissed him with all the emotion he conjured inside her. It was fierce and strong and had her heart wanting things she’d never envisioned for herself.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed closer to him, needing this like she needed oxygen in her lungs, like she needed blood in her veins. It was powerful and consuming, and she wasn't going to fight it. She didn’t want to.
She was needy and anxious, aroused and excited.
And she wasn’t going to stop this from happening.
And when he used his upper body to press her to the blanket, she let him take control, leading to this moment that would no doubt shape every other encounter she had for the rest of her life.
She couldn't breathe, and not because he devoured her mouth, not because she knew where this moment might lead to, but because his very presence was this pressure that was overwhelming as well as frightening.
And she wanted more.
She adjusted herself so her legs were spread, his much bigger body now positioned between them. He settled his weight on her, a comforting, addicting feeling that had her pulling him closer. And when she felt the hardness between his thighs press against the most intimate part of her, a startled, pleasure-filled gasp left her.
He pressed his mouth against hers, and she let go, just felt and smelled and experienced everything that was Reese. His warm tongue slid along hers, stroking, mimicking the exact sexual
