We snuggle together, naked and unashamed as Adam begins reading me breathtaking, romantic passages from the books he has collected. I rest my head on his chest, enjoying hearing his deep voice rumble as he reads the sexy words.
He reads a section from After You by Jojo Moyes. The last line swirls around my brain. “It was like tiny fireworks going off all over me, bits of me I’d thought dead reigniting to life.”
“I can totally relate,” I tell him honestly.
He agrees before picking up the next book. I become lost in the beautiful, passionate prose he shares with me.
As he reaches for the last book, I murmur, “I could learn to love to read, if you would help me find more wonderful books like this.”
“I would love to curate books for you. I saved the best for last,” he promises.
My heart thrums fast, anxious to see what delightful words are going to emerge from this sexy man’s lips. He cracks open Atonement by Ian McEwan. When he finds the page he wants, he begins reading. “They began to make love against the library shelves which creaked with their movement.”
I can’t even let him finish. I’m so turned on I can’t hold back any longer. I gingerly remove the book from his grasp and set it aside before giving him an intent, desirous look. That is all of the encouragement he needs. In a fraction of an instant he rolls us over and glides inside me.
7
Adam
I’ve always loved the library, but after spending a night of naked passion here with Evie, it’s my absolute favorite place in the world. The hot memories we have created here will live on in my memory forever. I hope to create many more marvelous moments with the gorgeous, naked woman cradled in my arms.
When she begins to stir, I press a kiss to her forehead. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“Morning,” she murmurs, snuggling further into my embrace. Her wiggling makes my morning wood twitch, but I ignore it because I have something important that I need to discuss with her.
I trail my hand lightly down her spine and back up again as I try to figure out how to approach the subject of her stepbrother with her. My mind was so full of shock about her truly being a virgin that I allowed the horrifying portion of her statement to slip by without discussion.
Just as I open my mouth to speak, she says in a quiet voice, “I’ve already lied to you about more than just our silly game.”
She has my full attention now. My heart begins hammering rapidly in my chest, but I try to keep my voice normal when I ask, “Oh?”
Her head bobs against my chest, but she remains quiet. I’m beginning to think she may leave me hanging and wondering when she finally says, “Well, it was more a lie of omission.”
I wait for her to continue, but she pauses again. When I feel the warm wetness of a tear on my chest, I become even more desperate to know what she hasn’t told me that she believes to be this important.
“This has been a fantastic night that I’ll always remember,” she says in a somber voice.
“It almost sounds like you’re saying goodbye.” I try to keep my tone light, even though the ceiling tiles begin swirling in my vision. I can’t let her go. I won’t.
“We need to leave it at this, Adam,” she says as she sits up and begins dressing.
I bolt up and shake my head at her. “You can’t mean that. This is only the beginning for us.”
Tears are welling in her eyes as she says, “No, this is the end.”
I’m having difficulty taking in enough air as I yank on my clothes. This can’t be happening.
“I can’t thank you enough for making my first time so magical. I’ll cherish these memories forever.” She gives me a wobbly smile.
“They don’t have to just be memories,” I remind her. “We can be together. I want to be with you––always.”
“My stepbrother, Marco, won’t allow it. He’ll kill you if he finds out you were the one who took my virginity. He had big plans for auctioning it to the highest bidder, and now those plans have been foiled.”
“I’ll take care of him,” I assure her confidently.
She’s shaking her head. “You don’t know what he’s like. He is mean, and he plays dirty. I can’t let you take him on. It won’t end well.”
“I have a black belt in karate. I’ll be able to handle him.”
A tear slips out and trails down her cheek. I long to reach out and comfort her, but sense that it won’t be welcome in this moment. She swipes it away herself before saying, “Not if he has a gun.”
“I’ll be fine, and I’ll never let him hurt you again,” I assure her.
“It’s not just him,” she wails before adding in a rush, “I got paid to come here.”
“He sent you here to me?” My face twists in confusion. This doesn’t make a lick of sense. If he had plans to sell her virginity, why would he offer her to me for free?
“No, Marco doesn’t know I’m here. He normally keeps me completely under his control. He makes me work at the bar he owns, and I have a mattress in a corner of his apartment. The only time he lets me out of his sight is when he takes a woman upstairs to bang.”
I try not to cringe at the disgusting mental image she draws for me.
“Yesterday, he left his laptop open in his office, and I saw the listing with my photograph and an open auction for people to bid on my virginity. The bidding was already in the high six-figures, so I know he would force me to go through with it.”
Her story is horrifying, but she states it matter-of-factly as if this is somehow what she deserves. I try to reach a hand out to her, but she pulls away.
“He can’t do that,” I tell her, in case she has any doubts.
“Not now,” she lifts one side of her mouth into a sad smile.
Fury boils through my veins that this man has convinced Evie that he is in charge of her. I half-shout when I say, “Not ever! He doesn’t own you, and he doesn’t control you.”
“You don’t know what he’s like,” she whispers sadly, before adding, “That’s why I jumped at the chance for the money. I’m going to use it for bus fare and get as far away from him as possible.”
She has skipped over some important details, and I’m confused. “What money? Why would someone pay you to come here and be with me?”
The pained look in her expression is gut-wrenching. I want nothing more than to make this better for her, but I don’t know how.
Finally, she says, “While Marco was upstairs with his wife-for-fifteen-minutes, I waited on a guy that comes into the bar fairly regularly––a firefighter, named Gabe––and a couple of his buddies.”
I begin to feel lightheaded. I went to school with Gabe and know him well. He was at the class reunion where I overindulged in alcohol the other night.
“They were talking about you and how you were whining about being lonely at your reunion. They decided I would be the perfect woman to get you out of your slump––especially since you mentioned seeking your perfect Eve. When they pooled their money and asked me to come here, I couldn’t resist the chance to get away from Marco’s grasp. I grabbed the cash, made them promise not to tell Marco, and took off. I thought about just taking the money and not following through on coming here, but I made them a deal. Besides, Marco would never think to look for me at a library.”