“El, you can meet us there after school is over. I’ve bought your ticket.” He pulls an envelope out of his pocket and presses it into my hand, his intense stare never leaving my face. “You leave two and a half weeks after school gets out. That gives you time to finish your exams and pack some stuff and work out the scholarships. It’s only a few weeks earlier than you planned on leaving so it shouldn’t be too big of a deal. This way, my dad won’t see us together. He won’t have a reason to come after you to get to me.”
I stare at him blankly, my hand clutching the envelope along with Adam’s fingers that are still wrapped around it. We’ll be apart for six weeks. The thought of that sends a stabbing pain straight into my heart. “Okay.” I know we don’t have a choice. Adam can’t stay here and risk having his dad or any of his shady associates jumping him, and he won’t allow me to be a target for his dad because of our relationship.
Adam releases a huge breath that I hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Thank you.” He finally shows me that heartbreaking grin of his. My heart flutters in my chest, pounding madly just from his gorgeous smile. He moves his hands to cup my face, pulling me in for a long, deep kiss, and I practically melt from his touch. His tongue pushes in insistently, tangling with mine, making a claim on me.
When Adam finally releases me and touches his forehead to mine, I’m breathless from his kiss. “Thank you,” he repeats, stroking my cheeks with his calloused thumbs. “It’s only a few weeks Sweetheart, then we’ll be together in a new place and start a new life.”
Adam tilts his head and kisses me again, his touch becoming more urgent, more desperate. His hands slide down my back to grip me tight, pulling our bodies together as he tries to get as close to me as he physically can. I reach for him, my fingertips brushing across the rough skin of his unshaven jaw.
“Adam.” My voice wavers, barely a whisper.
He stands and leads me to my room, closing the door behind us. “How long until your parents are back?”
The look he gives me sends tremors down my spine, his pupils blown so that the hazel is barely visible. “A few hours at least.”
Adam closes the gap between us, pulling off my shirt and throwing it to the floor. He grabs his own, tugs it over his head and wraps his arms around my waist, needing the feel of our skin rubbing together. The heat, the softness of my body against the hard planes of his.
“Jesus…” He takes my mouth in another passionate kiss. We break apart only long enough to shed the rest of our clothes and fall onto the bed. “I need you, El. I…”
“I know, Adam.” And I do know. I feel it too. I need the closeness of him physically, the connection of him moving inside me.
Adam’s lips follow the lines of my body, his light stubble scraping against my sensitive skin as he trails wet kisses over my breasts and stomach until he reaches the apex of my thighs. His tongue swipes over the delicate folds and the breath is sucked from my lungs.
“Adam…” My back arches and I fist the sheets, needing something to ground me as his touch sends me flying. He takes his time, exploring every part of me, bringing me to the brink of something impossibly perfect. “Oh God, oh God…” My voice is stolen when Adam’s tongue flicks over that sizzling spot one last time and I fall, brilliant white sparks flashing behind my eyes.
Panting, I open my eyes to see Adam kneeling on the bed, quickly rolling a condom on his hard length. His eyes meet mine and I shudder. He always looks at me as if I’m the sexiest woman on earth, like he wants to devour me and fill me up until we’re both sweaty and sated.
“El…” My whispered name is reverent, the love he has clear in just that one word.
Adam lays over me, brushing his mouth over mine, skimming his tongue over my lips, and enters me with one desperate thrust.
“God El.” His head drops to my shoulder as he chokes on his words. “I love you so much.”
My fingers caress his neck, finding their way into his hair. I tug on it to bring his mouth back to mine so I can whisper against his lips. “I love you, Adam.”
The kisses become insistent and we move, our sweat-slicked bodies finding the perfect rhythm. Our moans become louder, the words we say turn into unintelligible mumbling, and then… bliss. Electricity hums across my skin, every nerve ending exploding with pleasure. It builds up in my core and unleashes in a burst of ecstasy, my body thrashing and writhing as Adam thrusts to his own completion.
We lay tangled up in the sheets, my head on his chest so I can listen to the steady beating of his heart. Adam strokes my hair, pulling his fingers through it and sending shivers across my neck.
He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “It will all work out, Sweetheart.”
I want so badly to believe him, to have something I haven’t had in a long time. Hope. A future. A life worth living.
chapter 17
Adam
The loud bass wakes me from a fitful sleep. I’d never flown before yesterday, or maybe it was today. I can’t be sure, but I did find out that jet lag is a complete bitch. I couldn’t sleep at all on the plane. I was too worried at the thought of leaving Ellie behind, of not being there to make sure she’s safe, that by the time we landed twelve hours later I’d been up for twenty-four hours straight. I check the small digital clock next to the bed, midnight, and someone is in my flat, ready to party.
The past week has been the longest and the shortest one in my life. It seemed as if I didn’t have enough time with Ellie, between studying for her final exams and her mum’s illness, I was relegated to a few spare minutes in between everything. I took what I could get from her, greedy to spend our last days in her bed, wrapped around each other.
“Shut your bloody noise holes!” Dax yells from the bed next to mine, startling me. I whip my head around just in time to see him cover his face with a pillow. Dax can be a bit of a bastard when he doesn’t get enough sleep.
The music gets louder when someone opens the door to our room. “Hey idiots, come out here and meet everyone,” Hawke says. I can tell he’s already had a few drinks from the slight slurring of his words and his crooked grin, plus, he has a half-empty beer in his hand, which he finishes while waiting for our answer.
“We’re fucking tired, shit for brains!” Dax shouts, his voice muffled by his refusal to remove his head from under the pillow.
Hawke laughs and turns to me. “What about you? You coming?” he asks, pointing at me with his empty bottle.