I cling to his wide shoulders as he moves us back towards the wall of greenery. Twigs and branches dig into my back, but it supports us and allows our bodies to mash together. I can feel his erection and I grow wet instantly. Lucas’s large hands graze my shoulders pushing down the straps of my dress, his lips leave mine and follow the path that his hands just made.
Each kiss is carved into my skin, branding me. Scarring me. I pull Lucas’s face back up to mine, craving his kisses. He’s panting, so am I and he pauses. I fear he’ll stop. I don’t want us to think right now, all I know, is that I just want him. I slam my lips against his and he groans into my mouth before pushing his body harder against mine. His erection has me shifting.
His hands grip my face as he deepens the kiss with his tongue. He tastes of mint and lust.
I touch the bare skin at the top of his shirt and want nothing more but to have it off. The heat of his skin has my own searing.
When his hands leave my face and touch my arms, I shiver under his fingertips. My shiver turns into a tremble as he continues down and slowly lifts my dress until his hands touch my bare thighs. It’s a bolt of lightning into my system and I cling to his shoulders again to keep myself upright.
Lucas’s lips leave mine as he kisses my jaw line at the same time his fingers push aside my panties. Automatically I spread my legs a little more, giving him access as he dips his fingers inside me. Both of us groan.
“You’re so wet.” He whispers in my ear as he pushes his finger deeper before pulling it out. The loss is immediate, I groan, and he pushes back in, this time with two fingers. Stretching me. I spread my legs further, giving him more access. His lips return to mine and our kisses are broken with my heavy gasps and moans. Lucas continues his rhythm of plunging his fingers inside me. My body is alive. My breasts feel heavy in my bra and my nipples brush the fabric almost painfully. A feeling in me is building and I clamp down on Lucas’s shoulder and he moves quicker.
“Lucas,” I call his name as my body is overtaken with bliss.
“Come for me,” he whispers against my lips and I shatter right there on his hand.
The comedown from such a high is strange. I take in my surroundings. It's like I woke up. Lucas is watching me and there is a look of awe in his eyes. He removes his hand. His fingers are slick with my juices. I inhale as he sucks them.
My heart beats wildly, I’m trying to understand this want in me, I want him again. How is that possible? My dress has fallen back into place and slowly Lucas pushes back up my dress straps, before placing a kiss on my swollen lips. I can taste myself.
“You taste so sweet,” he tells me and my core tightens again. His erection seems larger now and I wonder what that would feel like inside me. My cheeks blaze.
“You are perfect. Don’t be embarrassed.” He steps away with a pained expression on his face and reaches back, wrapping his fingers around mine. I know this isn’t one sided, I wanted to touch him too, but I’d never touched a man before.
“What about you?” My cheeks grow hotter.
“We have time, but not right now.” He tugs me with a devious grin on his face as we walk deeper into the maze, one I hope we never return from.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
LUCAS
I told Ella we had time, but we don’t. My body still hums with a want for her. I won’t allow it. It wouldn’t be fair. Her hand fits perfectly in mine as we walk through the maze. Each time I look at her, my cock twitches. She’s stunning. Her smile has me pausing. My heart is tripping over itself. I love what she does to my system, flooding it with all of her.
“Why did you hesitate coming into the maze?”
Her question catches me off guard. Had I? I’m thinking back to when she stepped into the maze I hadn’t wanted to enter. I didn’t want her to come in here in case she felt the darkness of this place. But that isn’t possible. The only thing Ella is doing is replacing the darkness with her light.
“I got lost in here when I was eight.”
She nods, “I got lost in here the other day.” Her eyes dart to the left. “Henry found me.”
The blood turns to ice in my veins. “Did he hurt you?” What had she endured at his fucking hands?
She looks at me again. “No. He helped me find my way out. How did you get out?”
She’s telling the truth. “My mother found me.” The painful memory has me releasing Ella’s hand. She looks hurt when I untwine our fingers.
“Henry led me into the maze and left me here.” I look at the hedges now. They don’t seem so scary. At eight it was terrifying. As I grew up, it felt worse that he had walked me in here on purpose and left me. He was a cruel nineteen-year-old.
“It took them two days to find me. They had no idea where I was.”
Ella’s eyes grow impossibly wide and she shakes her head. I start to walk because I don’t like sharing and I might find it easier to talk while I walk.
“George told me my mother couldn’t be controlled when she found out that Henry did it on purpose. He was jealous of her love for me.”
I glance at Ella and she's staring directly at me. I reach back and take her hand in mine again, twining our fingers. Her smile is soft and she bites her lip.
“She beat him really bad.” That day is foggy to me. I had spent two days terrified and alone. I remember my mother’s beating heart as she carried me from the maze. I remember her holding me so tightly that it hurt. My father’s shouts were so loud that they hurt my ears, light was shone in my face, it disappeared as my mother held me tighter until my father coaxed her to release me, to let the doctors make sure I was okay.
I was more traumatized than injured.
“My father stopped her.” I glance at Ella again. I felt bare talking about this. “She nearly killed him.”
Ella doesn’t speak but I see the horror in her eyes.
I stop again and look around the hedges. “He built this maze to trap me.” I’m half smiling at his dedication to hurt me.
“That’s so horrible Lucas. I’m so sorry.” Ella tightens her hold on my hand as she speaks.
“He gets credit for dedication.” I try to lighten the mood. I’ve never shared this with anyone.
“Why did he hate you so much?” Ella asks the question that I have always asked.
“My mother favored me.” My heart pounds. I haven’t thought about her in such a long time. Now every bedtime story, every teddy bear picnic, roars to life inside me.
“Your mother?”
I have to release Ella’s hand again. She is poking too much and I don’t like it. I stop walking and turn to face her. I don’t know what I’m ready to do, but she has this look on her face of devastation that causes my anger to deflate.
“She’s locked away. I don’t know where. But my father visits her. We aren’t allowed. She’s … not balanced.”
Ella takes the two steps that separate us and wraps her arms around my waist, while leaning her head against my chest. It takes me a moment to respond to her hug before I wrap my arms around her. I can feel the dampness on my shirt before I hear her sniffle.
“Don’t cry.” I try to make her look at me, but she isn’t letting me go. Placing a kiss on the crown of her head I pull her closer and hold her for just a little while.