Page 17 of Mr. Mistletoe
I stand, moving back. “James, I think you should go. I’ll call Mack to get you a room and a flight out first thing.”
James looks at me as if I’ve slapped him. “Wow,” he says, standing up. He grabs his already packed suitcase since he didn’t really unpack. “I thought coming with you would have you see me as someone.”
“What?”
“You knew I liked you. I really did and I thought coming here would change something but clearly not. You’re damaged fucking goods. I don’t need a woman who can’t fucking move on from a man who clearly doesn’t want her anymore.”
I take a deep breath. “He wants me. Deacon is the only man who has ever loved me. Please, get the fuck out before I lose my manners.”
“Thanks for the trip. I guess I’ll see you back in New York,” he says to me.
“I’m not coming back,” I say without even thinking twice. I can’t believe I just said that. I’ll go back to transfer everything but that’s it. “I’m home,” I say not only to him but to myself. James shakes his head and walks out, slamming my door.
6
Deacon
“So,you don’t want me to stay with you, is what you’re saying?” I say to Kimberly. She’s beautiful with her coily hair forming a halo around her face. It looks like an untamed mane right now because I couldn’t keep my hands off her from the second she gave me her virginity until now.
Kimberly blinks. She holds back tears that I know will make an appearance in a matter of seconds. “No, I want you to go back to Fairhope with your family. I need you to go back.”
“Why?” I ask. “Why in the hell do you need me to do all that shit?”
“Because Deac, I’m 18 and you’re 21, we have to finish life. We need to be able to show that we are more than just what others think we are,” she answered.
I can feel the confusion morphing all over my face. “What does that mean? I know what or rather who I am. I don’t get it. Why do you need to prove to others who you are?” I ask.
“Because!” she yells out. “I can’t go back, okay?”
“Let me ask you this one thing…Do you love me?”
Kimberly sniffles. She looks up at me like I hold all the answers in the world. Her big brown eyes glistening with fresh tears. She nods. “God, Deacon, I love you with every part of me. I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you but you need to know, it’s because I love you that I need you to go back. If you say you love me as much as I love you, then you’ll do this. For me? Please.”
I step closer to her. “I love you more than you could ever love me. I’ll do that Kimberly but understand one thing, I know you’re running…from what I can’t tell you, but you are going to always be mine, Charity. Nothing and nobody can ever take you from me. They can try but they’ll lose because I am your future. Your forever. Fuck being 21 and young, I’ve always known that I wanted you and it’s not going to change just because you’re scared. Just know that when I catch you, trap you in my web, you’ll never get out. I love you, Charity. For forever.”
I wake up in cold sweats. My bedsheet slides down my chest and to my lower naked half. I feel the breeze, and I look out at the open doors leading to the private area of the beach. I love sleeping with the doors open because the beach waves, breeze and sounds keep everything at bay. I take a deep breath pulling the sheets off me. I walk barefoot to my balcony loving that even though there’s no second floor to my home that I have one. I stand there, naked as the day I was born just watching the water and waiting for the sun to rise.
As I start to turn away, I spot a figure out on the beach. I squint wondering what the hell is going on. I’ve been human too long. I could’ve used my godlike powers but that’s the last thing on my mind. I don’t even bother putting on clothes as I hop over my balcony getting closer to the figure. No one should be on this end of the beach. It’s not meant for the public, so if they get flashed, that’s a-them problem. When I get closer. I see who it is. I cock my brow, “You know you’re not allowed on this part of the beach, right?”
Kimberly jumps and turns to face me. Kimberly audibly gasps from seeing me naked as the day that I was born. Her eyes widen and she takes me in. I’ve never shied away from what I looked like so she’s going to have to take me in because this is about the only time she’ll see me naked until she succumbs to me. “Deacon…” She breathes out my name as if it’s part of her prayer.
“What are you doing here, Mamita?” I say to her.
Kimberly hasn’t stopped staring at my dick. I groan. “Come on now, baby, you can’t keep looking at him and think he won’t come around to greet you. Chill, baby. Look up,” I tell her but she still doesn’t look away. I snicker and walk over to her. I grab her chin, making her look me in the eye.
Being this close to her, I can see the anger and sadness in her eyes. She’s been crying. Now that I take her in she looks a hot mess. Kimberly reaches out, her fingers trailing from my sides until they join each other behind me. She hugs me, not even caring about my nakedness. “Deac…” she calls my name out, reminding me about how she called it when she lost her dad. The desperation of holding on to me, clinging to me like it was her last hope. “I’m scared,” she says.
I wrap my arms around her and hold her to me, “Scared of what?”
“You.”
I hold my breath wondering what the hell she’s talking about. I want to ask her, but at the same time, I feel like she’s delirious right now. “Kimberly, what is going on? Are you drunk or something?”
She shakes her head as she sniffles. I feel the tears on my chest. “Let me say this, I…” she clears her throat. “You’re my, my...”
“We’ve been here before, Kimberly,” I say to her.
She shakes her head. “We haven’t. Not like this. This is different, Deacon. I can’t do this again. I can’t repeat the past.” Her words are like someone injected a cold serum into my body. I growl and I get out of her hold.
