Page 59 of Cruel Devotion

As a man falling head over heels for the one perfect woman meant for him, I slumped next to her and hugged her close, knowing what we had actually done just now was making love.

19

HALEY

Iwoke up in Eli’s arms but didn’t open my eyes. From the angle of the sunlight streaming in through my bedroom window, I knew it was much later than it should’ve been.

Monday mornings were supposed to be early ones, starting with sociology class. I’d told Aunt Cindy I would walk to campus since she had the minivan, but that would’ve meant leaving much, much earlier than now.

“I don’t want to ever get up,” Eli murmured into my ear, sluggish and sleepy.

I smiled, nestling against him, and sighed. He sounded gruffer and sexier with this morning voice, but I was too sore to try to encourage him again.

I gave him my virginity last night, and it was as perfect as I ever could’ve dreamed it to be. He’d blown my mind with how good it felt for him to fill me like that. He’d done it just like I wanted him to, hard and rough.

It didn’t surprise me that I’d get off on a little bit of pain. Having some kind of kink had to be normal, but pain was what it took to jar me into the present. It kept me out of my head, not hidden behind a shell, and I savored the rush of endorphins that followed the pain.

Pain and pleasure.

He’d granted me both.

Last night, he mixed them together in such an intoxicating blend that I feared I’d never be sated for long.

“How late is it?” I asked him, opening my eyes and rolling over to face him instead of spooning him.

“I don’t care,” he replied cockily, smiling and staring into my eyes.

“We’re missing class.”

“Yeah.” He secured his arms around me more. With a gentle kiss on my brow, he reminded me that while he could be hard and rough when I needed him to be, he was also so damn sweet.

I’d been convinced that I’d never willingly speak to him again after learning he’d pursued me only for a dare. But when he explained that he’d chosen me over securing his future, that was all I needed to hear. That was commitment. That was…love?

After a deeper exhale, he leaned over me and partly smushed me deeper into the bed. Pairing his stretch with a long kiss, he had me giggling and smiling all over again.

He grabbed his phone off my nightstand, though, and lay on his back to check it. I snuggled in against his side. Under his guidance, I rested my head on his shoulder and watched as he looked at the time and scrolled through notifications.

And I cringed. Multiple missed calls showed from his parents, all of them unanswered and unnoticed because he’d put it on silent last night. We spent the whole evening and night kissing, making love, and just talking as we caught our breath and snuggled.

The sight of his parents trying to get ahold of him was the sharpest shift back to reality that I didn’t want.

He didn’t hide the screen from me, letting me skim through it all as he scrolled through the messages.

“Was it worth it?” I asked him.

“Was what worth it?”

I pointed at his mom’s messages demanding to know where he was.

“She tracks my phone,” he reminded me. Over the night, we talked and talked, and he shared a little more about how strict and expectant his parents were. I couldn’t believe that his mom tracked him constantly. That kind of hovering was an insult, but I understood why Eli was more or less trapped with that phone. He couldn’t buy his own without a job, and he couldn’t have a job during college because he had to focus on his studies.

“See?” He scrolled to another text.

Mom:I just checked on the student portal. It shows in the gradebook that you were marked absent from both of your classes this morning.

Mom:I demand an answer, Eli. Right now. Why are you such a slacker and not in class?

I frowned. “You haven’t missed sociology once this semester. Until today.”

---