Page 76 of Student Seduction
“I wanted a piece of you with me always, Emersyn. Something nothing could take away, not even time or distance.”
My eyes met his and I could see so much in his intense stare. Love, pain, adoration, lust. He was a walking, talking open wound I had caused. It was the mirror image of the bleeding gash I carried across my heart that he had caused.
I caressed the tender skin lightly with my fingertips. “It’s beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as your version, but it will have to do.” He turned his forearm over and showed me the inside. Latin words I couldn’t make out in beautiful handwritten script. “This one is for you too.”
I tried to make out what words I could. “I only recognize love and free. I took French instead of Latin.”
His eyes were soft but dark when they locked on mine. “Roughly translated it means if you love her, set her free.”
My emotions formed a rope around my heart. He was pulling it tighter with every word.
When I finally spoke, my voice came out a strained whisper. “If you had asked to me stay, I would’ve stayed.”
I couldn’t elaborate any further, couldn’t begin to articulate how much I loved and needed him in that moment.
He glanced at the horizon and his gaze remained there as he spoke.
“My mother loved butterflies. Did I ever tell you that?” His gaze flickered back to me and I shook my head. “She loved to sit in our yard and watch them just…be. She’d plant certain types of flowers to attract them. The blue and black winged ones were her favorite. Swallowtails or something I think they were called.”
The cadence of his voice indicated how sacred this memory was to him. Him sharing it with me felt as intimate as anything else we’d done.
“Axel always wanted to know why we couldn’t catch them. Couldn’t put them in jars or something and keep them in the house where she could look at them all the time.” Aiden inhaled deeply. “I think I was nine or ten when she explained why.” He let his hands drift across the surface of the water. I watched the ripples as the gentle waves rolled toward me.
He paused for so long, I wondered if he was going to tell me the rest.
I reached for him, taking his hand in mine and leaning against his warm skin. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew instinctively that we both needed the physical contact.
“She said, ‘their lives are short and much of it is spent cocooned in darkness. I would never deprive them of their freedom. I love them too much.’”
His words brought moisture to my eyes. He turned to face me, tilting his head when he saw my tears threatening to overflow.
“I’d never do that to you,” he said reverently. “I’d never hold you back from finally getting your freedom. I love you too much.” He rubbed his nose tenderly against mine. “This is your time to spread your wings and fly, beautiful girl. To finally get to live your own life instead of picking up the pieces someone else left behind.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered back. Finally saying it was deliciously indulgent. I wanted to roll around in it, wallow in it, soak it up like sunshine.
“But I miss you,” he confessed. “So fucking much.” His mouth met mine in a fevered frenzy of need. At some point, I ended up airborne, in his arms as he carried me to the shore without breaking the contact of our mouths.
The sand made for a soft landing and we remained there long after the sun disappeared into the sea.
We didn’t make love, but we basked in the love we shared. Love that had grown like a desert wildflower from an instant attraction, to a deeply forbidden desire, that now left us tangled inextricably together like vines.
At some point, I ran up to the house, grabbed a blanket and told Deb we were going to look at the stars for a while. Thankfully my dad was out of town at a real estate convention and wouldn’t be back until later tomorrow night.
Wrapped in Aiden’s arms, I told him my every fear, hope, and wish for my new life punctuated by long, languid kisses that went on until we had to come up for air. When I mentioned how intimidated I was about attending art school and the competition and learning how to live on West coast, he reminded me to be open to possibility, to embrace the newness of it all, knowing that I’d find my place wherever I was in the world because I made art out of everything.
When the sun came up, he laughed.
“I haven’t even told you what I came here to tell you yet,” he said in a groggy voice two octaves deeper than usual.
“What’s that?”
He stroked my face gently. “I resigned from teaching and coaching in Elksboro. I went to an open tryout in Raleigh right after you left. I haven’t heard back officially yet, but the coach of the Hurricanes took me to dinner and wanted to talk about my future with the team. That’s why it took me so long to get here. There were two rounds of tryouts and he had me going to their practices a few times a week.”
I sat up so abruptly it made me lightheaded.
“Aiden, that’s amazing.” I kissed him quickly. “I’m so, so proud of you.” I kissed him once more on the lips, knowing my time feel his lips on mine was running out.
