“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I have a surprise for you,” he says.
Pulling out a green tie with gold accents, he secures it over my wrists and then wraps it around the headboard.
Shivers run down my spine.
I have never done anything like this before, and I feel myself getting more excited with each passing moment.
“Do you want me to stop?” he asks.
I shake my head no.
He takes another tie, blue this time, and puts that one over my eyes.
With my eyes closed, my other senses come alive. With my hands tied up, the rest of me is exposed and overwhelmed with pleasure.
“Do you want me to stop?” he asks.
I shake my head no.
“Keep going,” I whisper.
Henry runs his fingers down my neck and over my breasts. I arch my back when his hands make their way down my torso. My legs seem to open on their own. But he closes them and says, “Not yet.”
He starts kissing my toes then slowly makes his way up my legs.
This time, however, when my legs open to welcome him inside, he takes it a step further. His kisses which are soft at first, get more rushed and powerful with each moment.
He wants me as much as I want him. A warm sensation starts to build somewhere in the center of my core. I flex my toes to release some of the tension, but it doesn’t go away.
When his fingers find their way in, I feel myself getting close. With my eyes closed, I am able to let myself go in a way that I could never let go before. It's as if I am suspended in animation. I don't focus on him, and I don't even focus on myself. Suddenly, I am just able to enjoy the moment.
His fingers start to move faster and faster, and I feel myself getting closer to that explosion. But then, he surprises me. Pulling away for a second, he opens my legs wider and pushes himself inside.
My body immediately welcomes him in. I wrap my legs around him and push him deeper inside of me. And then, just as our thrusts and movements become one, my body seems to yearn for his.
My heart rate speeds up and even skips a few beats. I feel myself getting closer. But it's not going to happen, right? It has never happened before. Why would it happen now?
And then, it does. The feeling takes over before I realize what is happening.
It overwhelms me and consumes me.
It catches me completely off-guard, and yet I somehow ride the wave all the way to the end.
“Henry!” I yell out.
His thrusts speed up and a moment later he joins me on that impossible high. When he finally collapses on top of me, he whispers my name over and over again, occasionally adding an I love you.
“I love you, too,” I say, letting out a deep sigh of relief.
“What the hell is going on here?”
Her voice sends shivers down my spine.
It’s not her, I say to myself. No, it can’t be her. What the hell is she doing here?
“Aurora?” she asks in her disapproving and disappointed tone of voice.
I try to get up, but only then realize that my hands are tied up and that there’s a blindfold over my eyes.
“Get these things off of me,” I hiss to Henry.
Stunned, he doesn’t move until I kick him. Then he jumps into action.
After my arms are free, I quickly pull down my blindfold.
Whatever mortification I feel doesn’t make my face flush, but instead causes all of my blood to drain and pool in the bottom of my feet.
My breathing slows down, and I can barely feel my heartbeat.
My mother doesn’t turn around to avert her eyes.
Instead, she glares at me and then at Henry then back at me. I tuck the blindfold and the tie from my wrists under the pillow, but it’s too late. She has already seen them.
“So, I see that the two of you are still together,” my mother announces, folding her hands across her chest.
I pull the sheet up around my body to cover myself up and briefly glance over to Henry who is already covered up from the waist down.
“We never talked about it much after you left for Montana,” I inform her. “But, yes, Henry and I have been seeing each other since then.”
“So, that little talk that we had?" she asks. “That just went straight in one ear and out of the other?”
“I wouldn’t say that. I have taken it under consideration, but I feel like I have earned the right to spend time with whomever I choose.”
I’m proud of myself for not causing a scene. I could have cried and yelled, but I remain steadfast.
Yes, she caught me in a terribly embarrassing position, but it’s she who walked in on us.
“So, you don’t even think you owe me and your father an apology?” my mom asks.
“An apology for what?”
“Well, we thought that we had reached an agreement with you, and we took you at your word.”
“We did not reach any agreement,” I insist. “You told me that you did not like Henry and I listened to you. But at no point did I promise you anything.”
“And at no point, did you inform us that you would be moving in with him.”
“And why would I?"
“Because we are paying for this apartment. We are paying for your monthly expenses.”
“And that means, what exactly? That you own me?”
She purses her lips and raises her hand in the air to strike me. I shut my eyes and wait for impact. But nothing happens. When I open them again, she takes a deep breath and relaxes her shoulders.
“Don’t be such a bitch, Aurora, it won’t always look as good on you as it does now,” she says.
“Get out!” I yell, trying to stay strong. “Get the hell out of here.”
I bite my lower lip. My façade starts to break.
“I will. But you better start looking for another place to live,” Mom says.
The first crack appeared when she walked in on us. And the longer we talked, the harder it was for me to pretend that I was okay. When the door slams shut behind her, my tears break free and spew out of me as if they are a geyser.
16
Henry
When her mother leaves, Aurora lies back down on the bed and stares into space. I want to do something to help, but I don't know what.
“How could that happen?” she asks. “How could they catch us like that twice? And my hands were tied up. Why the hell did you put that blindfold on me?”
“I had no idea that your mother was going to be here today,” I say defensively. “I thought that it would be something fun to try. And you seemed to like it.”
She shakes her head. I kneel down before her and take her into my arms.
At first, she resists and then she gives in. Her shoulders move up and down as she sobs into my chest.
I hold her for a long time without saying a word.
Eventually, she pulls away, and wipes her tears off her face.
“I did like it,” she says. “It allowed me to get out of my head and relax. How did you know that was gonna work?”
I look up at her.
“What do you mean work?”
“Well, you know…” Her voice trails off.
"Oh, you actually…?” She nods and gives me a wink. “And then she came in and ruined everything.”