Page 52 of Chemistry: The Chemist

Slowly, he turned toward me, eyes delicate. “Are you expecting?”

Recalling the emergency contraceptive I’d swallowed shortly after spending time with him, I shook my head. “No.”

Besides, it had only been a week since we’d been intimate. That wasn’t enough time to detect a pregnancy if it was the case. For us, it wasn’t.

“Then, no, Eden. I don’t have a child.”

He snatched the blanket from the bed and freed me of his hold. He disappeared into the closet and was back in the middle of the floor with me almost immediately. I was unable to react before my hands were free, my dress was on the floor, my panties were ripped, and my body was pressed against the sheets.

Chem’s palms aligned with mine, above my head where he’d pulled my hands. As if I was the most precious thing on this earth, he glared down at me. His breath, I could feel it on my bare skin. I was a mess between the legs. He was driving me wild, slowly and deliberately.

“I missed you.” I breathed out, sealing my lids to avoid the disappointment.

Needing to know he’d missed me too would kill the moment. Needing validation of my relevancy in his world would butcher my feelings.

He slid into me gracefully. The fabric of his pants rubbed against my bottom as he did so was evidence of his urgency. He longed to be inside of me. Once he was, he released a breath so relieving, that I felt the weight lifted from my world as well.

“I’ve missed you more,” he confessed through a barely audible whisper in my ear.

There was resistance in his words. Regret. Reservations. Resignation.

He’s undoing, I quickly noted. He’s unraveling right before me.

His state wasn’t taken for granted. Neither was it subject to judgment. It was welcomed. Embraced with my own truth.

Without urgency, he slid in and out of me. Though he was silent, he filled me with the validation I’d been seeking. Always sought. I was confirmed. I was validated. I was assured even when it didn’t seem like it, I wasn’t alone.

Just as he’d promised, he was there. And somehow, I felt as though I’d never be alone again. Not as long as he was part of my world.

Morning had come. Morning had gone.

The afternoon had come. The afternoon had gone.

I stretched my limbs at exactly five-twelve in the evening. The sun was beginning to settle, casting an orange glow across the bedroom. The windows were too high to see out of, but they told stories my eyes couldn’t, still satisfying my soul.

My feet touched the cold marbled floor as I rolled out of the massive bed. A yawn nearly ripped my face apart. It felt like I had been asleep for a month.

In his presence, I easily lost track of time. It didn’t exist. Though it should’ve been troubling, it was comforting. On bare feet, I began combing the room for the man himself. The couch on the other side of it was my first stop.

Not here.

The shower was next. He wasn’t there, either. I used the opportunity to relieve myself. As I sat on the toilet, I waited for him to burst through the door at any second. Waiting was in vain. By the time I’d washed my hands and dried them, he was still missing.

Without a cloth covering an inch of skin, I made my way into the hallway. I checked nearly every room before realizing he wasn’t upstairs. I took the stairs to the first floor where movement seemed nonexistent. I pushed forward, regardless, determined to locate Chem. Not only was I missing the rhythm of his heartbeat, but I had one between my legs that only he could regulate.

“Sheesh!”

Startled, I placed my hand over my heart, completely forgetting I was nude.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. You must be Eden?” a woman dressed in a crispy uniform with her hair in a neat bun asked.

“Yes.” Nodding, I tried catching my breath. Suddenly, I felt parched.

“I’m Jennie.”

“Do yo-you know where Chem is?”

“Yes. I’ll go get him. You just stay righ?—”

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