Page 268 of Ominous: Part 1
She’s so fucking tight around me, I swear I’ve never felt anything this good in my life, especially with her legs latched onto me like she doesn’t ever want to let me go.
“You have me,” I tell her, pulling back, my brow to hers as she bucks her hips, trying to fuck me herself. I slide my hands lower, circling her neck with both, squeezing her so tight she can’t breathe, and she’s still shifting on the counter, fucking me, shallow movements, but it feels good all the same.“I’m all yours, Nightmare Girl.”I bite the side of her face, hard, and her calves tremble, wrapped around my waist. I flex my fingers tighter.
No breath leaves her lungs.
And if you want tokeepbreathing, you’re all fucking mine.
I think some things, maybe, are better left unsaid.
44
Eden
Luna ison the balcony off the living room, alongside everyone else.
Her eyes snap to mine, and for a moment, Eli’s fingers tangled with my own, his scent all over me, we stare at one another as I stand in the doorway, Eli sliding the door closed behind us.
Jasper, Janelle, and Dom—sitting in a row in Adirondack chairs—stop talking, and only the tumultuous ocean waves cut through the silence.
The wind blows, Luna’s short, auburn bangs intwining around her eyes. She’s got a pack of cigarettes clutched in one hand, a white lighter in the other as she leans against the balcony, her back to the sea.
Eli squeezes my hand.
I ignore him.
Then Luna shrugs, like she’s shaking off any animosity between us, and pulls a cigarette from her pack with manicured nails, the lighter in her palm.
Surprising me, she extends the long, white stick toward me. “Want one?”
I glance at her peace offering, my eyes taking in the cream-colored dress she’s wearing over her bikini. The way her hand trembles a little, and I have a feeling she doesn’t try to stop fights and put aside grudges very often.
Despite what I saw her doing with Eli, I recognize the gesture for what it is.
Dropping Eli’s hand, I nod once, taking the cigarette.
“Thank you,” I tell Luna, and it feels as if everyone is still holding their breath around us. But when I put the cigarette between my lips and she offers to light it as I cup my hands around it to block out the breeze, the conversations pick up again.
I can feel Eli’s eyes on me, and I wonder what he’s thinking. I hope this doesn’t feel like a betrayal to him, but I know how relationships are tangled in Eli’s head. He probably doesn’t really feel like anythingbadhappened in the kitchen. Like it’s normal for us to move on so quickly.
Maybe it is.
I put up a boundary and I think Luna will respect it, moving forward. Besides, it’s been a couple of hours. The clock in the bedroom I’m sharing with Eli—where I went and cleaned up and pressed a damp cloth to his shallow cut—said it was three when we headed out here. It’s officially Halloween, and it’s the devil’s hour.
Anything can happen, and befriending Luna seems like a magic all on its own.
Together, we lean against the balcony and watch the water, a dark blue, glinting under the moonlight. Behind us, conversation between Janelle and Jasper picks up. About cars, of all things. Something about imports being “trash,” according to Jasper. I expect Eli to join in, but shockingly, him and Dom are both quiet.
I cough a little on the tobacco, turning my head away from Luna to blow out smoke, then I twirl the stick between my fingers, looking at the cherry under the moonlight.
“We good?” I ask her, keeping my voice down.
She’s got her elbows propped on the sleek metal railing. There’s an entire day bed behind us, beside the padded chairs, but no one is on it.
I imagine sweltering summers, lounging with Eli there. Sticky nights spent in bliss. I imagine how this trip would’ve gone if we’d been alone.
But I like the fact I claimed him. It was an urge I couldn’t resist, with the knife. I never would’ve really cut Luna, I don’t think, and I didn’t mean to hurt Eli, either, but… I wouldn’t take it back. Besides, I wanted him to know I want him. I’ve come to understand he needs his love drenched with a little blood, wrapped up tight in bruises.
“Yeah,” Luna finally says, blowing smoke into the night, the blue-green glow of the pool down below tinting it aquatic colors. “We’re good.”
