“Well, now you’ve given me permission to make you scream.” I reach for her hips, finding the lace of her panties and ripping them from her body before latching on to her clit.
“Zayn,” she cries, her back arching, her hands twisting in the sheets beneath her. “Oh God. Oh God. Fuck.”
Pushing two fingers inside her, I circle her clit before grazing it with my teeth.
“Come for me, Poppy. Show me how much you missed this.”
Bending my fingers just so, she moans as I hit the spot before upping the ante on her clit.
“Come, Pops.”
“Zayn,” she cries, her muscles tightening around me and her body convulsing with her pleasure.
I don’t stop until she’s ridden out every last second, before standing, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand and dropping my pants and boxers to the floor and climbing between her legs.
Leaning over her, I capture her lips, allowing her to taste herself on me. She moans, her nails scratching down my back.
“I,” I say, dropping a kiss to her lips. “Missed.” Kiss. “You.”
“Zayn.” My name rips from her lips as half a demand for more and a warning.
“Shush, baby. Let me take care of you.” Reaching down for my pants, I find a condom in my wallet and rip it open.
Poppy watches my every move with her bottom lip sucked into her mouth.
Part of me expects her to tell me to leave, that this shouldn’t happen. But she never does.
Instead, the second I sweep my cock through her folds, her hips roll and she immediately sucks me deeper once I push into her.
“So fucking tight,” I murmur against her lips as I slowly slide into her, inch by glorious inch.
Her hands burn a trail down my back before her nails scratch all the way back up.
“Fuck, yes,” I grunt, dropping my head to the crook of her neck once I’m fully seated.
My speed increases and she meets me thrust for thrust as I chase the release we both need.
Dropping my hand down her body, I press my thumb against her clit and she detonates beneath me dragging me over the edge right along with her.
After pulling the condom off, I fall down on my back beside her and tangle my fingers with hers as our hearts return to normal and our skin cools.
“We shouldn’t have done that.” Her words are like a bucket of ice that is thrown over me.
Rolling onto my side, I turn to look at her. Tears pool in her eyes once more but she refuses to let them drop, or even look at me as she continues staring at the ceiling.
“If this is going to work, then this,” she says, gesturing between us. “Can’t happen.”
I look around the room and gasp when I find her suitcase sitting open on the other side of the room.
“You’re coming back?”
“Yeah but—”
“Don’t do this, Poppy. Don’t shut this down because you’re scared. I’m scared too. Fucking terrified actually. But this,” I say, scooting closer to her and wrapping my arm around her waist. “But this is right. This is how it’s meant to be.”
“Jake’s not my cousin, he’s my brother,” she blurts.
“Uh… what?” I ask, my brows pulled together in confusion.
“My dad… well, he wasn’t my dad. I’ve come back for him, for Harley and Rubes. To finish school so I can finally get the fuck out of here for good.” She swallows before turning to look at me. “I didn’t come back for this. You need to leave.”
30
Poppy
I force the words out past the huge lump in my throat, but as much as it kills me to say them. I know I’m right.
I can’t move in here, attempt to restart my life while Zayn and I continue with this dirty little secret we started.
It’s never going to work. We’ll get caught and it’ll ruin everything. Jake won’t have it. Harley will hate me for lying to her.
The best thing that can happen now, is that both of us forget it even happened in the first place.
This is time for a fresh start, for all of us.
I can’t watch as he swipes his clothes angrily from the floor and storms to the door.
He’s still naked and my eyes beg for me to look over at him, but I can’t. One look and he’ll know I’m lying. That the last thing I want right now is for him to walk away.
But it’s for the best.
With the silence around me threatening to engulf me. Zayn crashes about in his room for a minute or two, before the door is ripped open once more, he storms down the stairs before the force of the front door slamming rattles the entire house.
It’s not until he’s left, taking a piece of me with him, that I allow myself to break.
Curling in on myself, I hug the pillow that vaguely smells like him to my chest.
I must cry myself to sleep because the next thing I know, I come to, still naked and still hugging the damn pillow. My eyes feel puffy from the crying and my throat is dry.
He didn’t come back last night, that I’m pretty sure of. Where did he go? Back to the party? What did he do?
Before I’ve processed the thought, I sit up in bed, wrap the sheets around my body and reach for my cell, intent on torturing myself by scrolling through social media for evidence of what he got up to. Did I send him straight into the arms of a willing cheer slut? A shiver rolls down my spine at the thought and my stomach churns.
I did the right thing. I did the right thing, I tell myself over and over. But it doesn’t matter how many times I hear myself say the words, my heart doesn’t listen. It just continues to ache knowing I sent one of the best parts of my life away.
I knew he was going to be angry, rightly so, I did slam a door in his face. But I thought he… my thoughts trail off. I only believed what the evidence was showing me. What else could I do?
Trust him.
Irritated with the little voice inside my head, I climb out of bed, glad that I didn’t drink last night, having a hangover would only have made today worse than it already is. My body aches as I move, and when I look down at my hips, I find the faintest of bruises from Zayn’s tight grip.
A lump crawls up my throat and my hand comes up to cover my mouth as I attempt to keep myself together.
Coming here was the right decision. I knew that the second Jada drove me into town. Something settled inside me, and even walking into this house, I felt more at home than I did any time I was in Auntie Trish’s.
Jake wanted to come and get me and drive me back himself. He wasn’t happy when I told him no, but he’d already been out twice in the past week. It was Friday night, he should have been out enjoying himself, although I did swear him to secrecy.
I wanted to surprise Harley and Ruby and not have to worry about the fact that Zayn knew I was coming. In hindsight, was that the best idea I’ve ever had? Probably not.
The feeling that washed through me the second our eyes locked in Ethan’s house is one I’ll probably never forget. The regret, the need, the pull. It was all stronger than I expected, and it nearly knocked me on my ass. Add in the anger that filled his features and pulled his muscles tight and I knew I’d made a mistake.
Shaking the memories from my head, I pull off a robe that’s hanging on the back of the door and head for the bathroom.