Page 141 of Awestruck at Dusk
“I like it, Billie,” he said with a smile. I liked him calling me Billie too. It felt so intimate and special that we could call each other by the same name. He laughed a low, husky laugh in my ear and tossed the condom away. “Hey, Billie.”
William made his decision and unleashed himself completely. His body curved around mine, his gaze trained on me as I finally felt him. I allowed myself to look deeply into his eyes as our exquisitely compatible bodies delighted in the rapture of the perfect closeness, recognizing ourselves and wondering why the hell it took me so long to choose him.
I’d never burned like this before, yearned for someone this way, but the realization was so terrifyingly filled with delight. So we both gave in to the fire and allowed it to kindle our souls into oblivion.
Freedom
WILLIAM’S WARM LIPSagainst my cheek woke me up.
“Hey,” he whispered, brushing a strand of hair off my face. “You were smiling in your sleep.”
“Was I?” I placed my hand on his cheek and smiled at him. He was wearing his black-framed glasses again and his hair was damp. He smelled like soap and cologne. I definitely needed a shower too. “Ilovethis geeky look on you.” I took my arms above my head and stretched.
“I’ll make sure to keep them on next time,” he said with a soft laugh, pushing them up a bit. “I would have woken you up as you deserve, but I need to get going soon. It’s the last days of filming, and I just want to get this over with and go back to New York.”
“Well, you can wake me up any way you like, any time you want,” I said, sitting up with an almost stupid smile on my face looking out the window, feeling a bit groggy. He’d woken me up a couple of times while we slept last night, and I didn’t even see at what time we ended up falling asleep for good. “What time is it?”
“It’s a bit past 5:00 p.m.” William laughed.
“Oh, God. I think I might still be operating on Eastern Standard Time,” I replied, shaking my head with a smile.
“I was hoping you might want to stay,” William said. “We can fly back together. We’re only five days away from wrapping.”
“I—yes. I’ll stay.” I would miss school, and I knew they were coming to get me, but I didn’t care anymore. I’d find a way. I had to stay.
William smiled the sweetest smile I’d ever seen on his face as I noticed a bunch of papers spread on his side of the bed. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Not really,” he said with a soft, breathy laugh. “I’ve been going over the script. But I’m used to it. And I guess we found the magic formula to chase your nightmares away.” He lifted a brow. “You slept like a baby.”
I gave him a soft peck on the lips, smiled at him, and said, “I did.” I couldn’t have been any more drained after the last crazy twenty-four hours, so my mind had obviously shut down during sleep.
“So what’s the second thing?” William asked. “I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said last night. About wanting to tell me two things, but you only mentioned the Haute Magazine story.”
“You’re right,” I said, standing up, pulling a cover with me. I looked around, trying to spot my bag, feeling self-conscious about being naked in the light of day.
“Please don’t do that.” William stood up, grabbed a robe he’d left on the bed, and walked toward me with one of his little smirks.
“Do—what?” I smiled nervously up at him.
“Cover yourself like that around me.” William snatched the covers off my hands and tossed them back on the bed. “You don’t have to. You’re gorgeous.” He kissed my cheeks and placed the robe around my shoulders, helping me run my arms into the sleeves. “But I guess that’s the smart thing to do right now since I need to leave soon.” He chuckled as I fastened the robe’s belt around my waist with a smile.
“Come.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the living room space, where I spotted my bag in the distance. William must’ve placed it there at some point while I slept.
We sat down close to each other, and I took Caleb’s letter out.
“Aaron gave this to me when Caleb died. And the second thing I wanted to talk to you about is regarding the contents of this letter.”
“Okay.” William lowered his brows and ran an arm around my shoulders, his hand moving up and down against my robe.
“I’ll try to be brief since you have to leave, but—”
“Don’t rush yourself,” William cut me off in a soft tone. “If I’m late, I’m late.”
I took a deep breath and began to say, “Caleb, he—wrote a lot in this letter. Things that opened my eyes and made me think and confirm certain thoughts and feelings. But it was mostly very revealing and what I wanted to share with you is regarding my mother’s death.”
William readjusted himself in his seat and grabbed my hands, as if bracing himself for impact.
“I know why my mother died.” I focused on breathing, trying to push down the gale of emotions. William’s hand moved to my thigh and stroked my leg in a gentle, soothing way.
