And I want.
He looks more like the boy I used to know when he’s like this. Softer. Sweeter. Falling in love with nineteen year old Reese was effortless. On top of being drop dead gorgeous, even if in a more boyish way, he was strong and smart and funny, and he treated me like I wasn’t the adopted foster child of the help. For those few weeks that summer so long ago, I was just a girl and he was just a boy. Two people who met in the woods to escape their respective worlds and find solace in each other’s company then, eventually, in each other’s arms.
I inch my way a little closer to Reese’s warmth and close my eyes, letting my mind wander back to the last time I saw him in childhood. Back when I didn’t know that there was no one I could trust.
********
Summer, 14 years ago
I push back the last pine limb that hangs between me and the clearing, catching and holding my breath as I move it. It leaves my lungs in a long hiss like a deflated balloon when I see that the meadow before me is empty. The lush, dappled grass is here. The tiny purple flowers are here. The heavenly quiet is even here. Everything is as it should be, only I’m alone. There is no Reese awaiting me.
I step into the opening, biting my trembling lip as I remind myself that I knew there was a chance he wouldn’t show. I knew Reese’s father was here and I knew he was afraid of what that meant for him and his future, but he promised me that he’d come, that nothing and no one would keep him from me. And I believed him.
Dejected, I walk around the little hidden clearing, mourning each tiny flower that I crush under my foot. Each one feels like a broken dream, a broken promise. A broken heart.
The snap of a twig draws my attention. I c**k my head to listen. No one has ever accidentally stumbled upon this haven before. I say a silent prayer that this won’t be the first time.
Another twig snaps and I hear the rustle of leaves crunching and limbs moving. Someone is definitely coming.
I hold my breath and watch in the general direction from which the sound seems to arise. My heart is a swollen ball inside my chest, filled with the sudden hope that it might still be Reese.
And then he steps into the meadow, the sun sparkling in the dark golden highlights of his hair, streaks that he’s earned while working outdoors here at Bellano with his uncle. His stunning blue-green eyes crinkle at the edges when he smiles at me and, as always, my heart melts.
“You came,” he says simply.
“I told you I would. I thought maybe you…”
Reese’s footsteps are muted by the thick grass as he crosses the tiny field to me. “I told you nothing would keep me from you.”
“I know you did, but I knew your dad was here.”
“He still hasn’t arrived. Malcolm says he’s supposed to be getting in this afternoon.”
“So this might be our last day together?” I feel panic clawing at my chest. Reese is the one thing that I look forward to every day, the one saving grace this life has for me. Without him, the world is an ocean of despair intent on drowning me. He’s like my life preserver, the one thing I can cling to that doesn’t threaten to drag me under.
“No. Kennedy, I told you—”
“I know what you told me, but I’m just so afraid…”
“Don’t be. He can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do. And I told you that if I leave here, I’m taking you with me.”
“But it’ll be three more years before I can leave with you. Hank would never let me go before I’m eighteen.”
“Then I’ll make him.”
We both know that as powerful as Reese’s family name is, there is no way he could make Hank give me up. Even Reese can’t save me from some things. But I don’t even want to think about that right now. I give Reese my bravest smile and nod, unwilling to waste one more minute on such an unpleasant topic.
Suddenly, I feel frantic. I feel an urgency, a soul-deep need to share everything I can with Reese now, before life swallows up the last bit of happiness that I have.
“Reese, there’s something I want to give you today.”
“What’s that?” he asks, brushing my bangs out of my eyes as he so often does.
I don’t answer him. I just look up into the eyes that I’ve come to love so much and I pour out my heart.
He watches me for several long seconds, waiting for me to answer. When I don’t, his smile slowly dies and he reaches up to cup my face. I know the instant he realizes what I mean. His eyes darken and take on a sort of…hungry look that makes my stomach feel like liquid fire.
“Are you sure?” he whispers hesitantly, as though he’s nearly afraid of what my answer might be.
“Yes.”
He bends his head, his lips brushing mine in a kiss so tender it makes me want to cry. When he starts to pull away, I rise up on my tiptoes and press my mouth harder onto his, winding my arms around his neck and holding on tight.
Reese slips his tongue between my lips and I lean into him, molding my young body to his bigger, firmer one. His broad palms skate down my sides, leaving a chill in their wake. Suddenly, I can’t get close enough. I can’t warm enough. I can’t get enough of Reese.
With trembling, frenzied fingers, I reach for the hem of his shirt and slide my hands underneath, reveling in the hot smooth skin of his rock hard abdomen and muscular chest. Reese moans and moves his hands around to my butt, pulling my hips into his, thrilling me with the rigid bulge there.
“Make love to me, Reese,” I pant desperately, urging him to pull his shirt over his head.
He leans back enough to do just that, tossing it somewhere on the ground behind him before his lips return to mine and he meets my passion with a blazing fire of his own.
In the quiet of the meadow, in the still of one summer afternoon, Reese undresses me and lays me gently on a bed of thick grass. He nuzzles my throat and kisses my chest. He laves my ni**les and squeezes my hips, worshiping every inch of me until I’m nearly overwhelmed with the need to have his body covering mine.
I’m on the verge of visceral chaos when Reese leans back and digs a foil package out of his wallet before stepping out of his shorts. He stands naked before me, all tan skin and lean muscles. I watch his biceps shift and his abdomen twitch as he tears open the packet with his teeth and unrolls it over his enormous length.
As much as I want to squeeze my eyes shut against the thought of that fitting inside me, I don’t. I don’t want to miss one moment, one glance. I don’t want to miss the sight of one expression as it flits over his face.