Page 119 of Reclaiming Adelaide

Yes. I wanted her on my tongue—her essence, her flavor until I’d become drunk on her very being.

I moved faster, curling my fingers, licking her harder until her thighs slammed against my head and her muffled screams and the pumping in my ears were all the melody I fed off of.

My fingers lodged between her knees and pried her stiff knees apart, freeing myself from her succubus’ grasp.

Pulling the end of her dress from her face, I latched onto her lips, making her taste her deliciousness.

A smile ripped across her face as I pulled away.

“There’s that smile.”

“I can’t move.”

“Don’t tell me I broke you?”

She laughed like someone strummed the strings of an exotic instrument whose harmony hadn’t been heard in centuries.

“No. But my muscles are like liquid, and I’m pretty sure you’ll have to carry me inside.”

“I think I can manage that.” I pressed the button on the roof again. “Take us home.”

This limo boxed us in, hindering my ability to exact the right amount of—

A whimper hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. Adelaide had curled her knees up to her chest on the floor, her hands covering her face, which only amplified her newfound sobs.

Fuck.

“Come here, sweets.”

I sunk to my ass beside her and gathered her into my arms.

Her breaths hitched with rapid repetition as she hid her grief from me. “I’m such a terrible daughter.”

My stomach twisted in knots at her admission. How many times have I thought the same thing about myself? I should’ve prevented it. I shouldn’t have run like a coward. But life had a way of working itself out, and I finally saw the bigger picture. She’d see her need to grieve in her own way as imperative for her healing.

“Who told you that?”

“I just…” Her breath faltered like it stopped in her chest before escaping. “I feel guilty.”

“Why?” I dipped down, cupping her cheek. “Because you didn’t stay for the funeral?”

She nodded.

“Funerals aren’t meant for the dead, Adelaide. They are for the living. And you don’t need to be there to honor your parents.”

“But I should have been.”

I rubbed her back in soothing circles as she released another round of shuddering sobs. “Just because society tells you to attend doesn’t mean you have to. It’s okay. You handled it the best way you could.”

“But they’ll never forgive me.”

“Adelaide, look at me.” I pulled her up from my chest and wiped the tears from her freckled cheeks. She bit her lips, still swollen from my cock. “There is no right or wrong way to grieve. For anyone to tell you otherwise is a heartless asshole.” How many times had I recited the same words of wisdom to Becca, yet she still felt guilty for her grief, having lasted fourteen years? “Do you understand me? I don’t want you to feel guilty or unforgiven. There is no one here to ask for forgiveness.”

She tucked her face against my chest and nodded. “I wish it was that easy. I feel like I’m going to go insane at the drop of a hat.”

“Listen. You have every right to go insane, but you have to come back. And if I feel for a moment, just a single moment, you may not, I’ll be there to make sure you do. Every time.”

I held her tight, rubbing her back with comforting circles and smoothing out her hair, which had become crimped from her braid until the vehicle stopped in front of my home.

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