Page 46 of A Hurt So Good

“Don’t look at it like that, Arya!” I growl.

“How should I look at it?”

“The same way I do. Don’t make me the fucking hero. I’m not. I’m no one’s hero.” I feel her lips press into the flesh of my back, and I want to turn and shake some sense into her.

She keeps her arm tightly around me, keeping me close to her. I’ve never felt so at ease as I do right now in her arms. Maybe I’m fucked up in the head, or maybe I am insane. I don’t really know anymore, but I know that night changed me forever.

“He used to hit my mom a lot. I saw it. He didn’t care I saw it; it didn’t bother him. Then, one day, I was sick and home from school. Mom was off doing what mom did, and there I was alone with him. I remember coming out of my room and seeing him in the kitchen with a knife in his hand. I thought he was making lunch or something, but he looked so strange. His eyes were different. He held the knife in his hand, just twirling it around. I remember standing there and staring at him, wondering why he was doing it.” She stops and takes a deep breath. I know this is hard for her because it’s killing me to listen.

“Then what?”

“He called me into the kitchen, seeing as I was already standing there, and asked if I was hungry. He made me soup since I wasn’t feeling well. We ate lunch together like we usually did when Mom was gone. He smiled at me. He fucking smiled at me,” she says angrily. Her arm tightens around me, and I grab her wrist in my hand, holding on as tight as I can.

“Anyway, we cleaned up from lunch, and that’s when things changed. He went on a tirade about my mom cheating on him and that she only had me to trap him. I was ten, and it didn’t make any kind of sense to me what he was saying, but I stood there listening because it was my dad. Eventually, he calmed again and I thought that everything was fine. I didn’t notice the knife in his hand when he walked toward me, smiling. I fucking smiled back at him, War. I smiled right before he plunged the knife into my stomach.” A sob rips from her throat, but she doesn’t stop.

“I screamed from the pain, and I fell onto my back. He was looking everywhere but at me until I screamed louder. Then he dragged his eyes down to mine as I cried. He dropped to his knees, almost as if he was unsure what to do. He was mumbling something under his breath, but I couldn’t hear what he said. I asked him to help me. I asked him to call my mom. At the mention of her name, his eyes darkened, and he raised the knife and stabbed me two more times. I was screaming so loud that he put his free hand over my mouth to shut me up. I must have blacked out after that, but from what I was told, he stabbed me three more times. When they took him to jail and asked him why, he wouldn’t give them an answer. I never got an answer.” As much as I want to turn to face her and hold her right now, I can’t because my demons haunt me. My demons want to break her in ways her dad never could.

So I lay here, letting her hold onto me for as long as she wants.

And in her arms, I slowly fall asleep.

Chapter 20

Harlon

Arya finally broke down and told Denz what her dad did to her. Needless to say, we were all pissed about it. We still are, but he’s in prison now, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

We’re all hanging out today in my dad’s library. Arya is sitting on the desk with a long t-shirt on, flipping the pages of a book while we hang out. I have my laptop open, but I can’t take my eyes off her. Whatever she’s reading has her in a trance. Her eyes stay glued to the pages while she chews on her bottom lip. I know I’m not the only one who’s noticed, either.

“What are you guys doing in here?” I look over when I hear my dad’s voice.

“Just hanging out,” Denz tells him. He nods his head as he slips his hands into his pockets and walks all the way into the room. He strolls over to where Arya sits on the desk and pulls his hand from his pocket, plucking the book from her fingers. He raises an eyebrow at her, and she smiles.

“Don’t like my choice in books?” she asks him.

“Quite the opposite. I think this is a good book to read.”

“What’s it about?” War asks lifting his head from his phone now to see what the two of them are doing.

“Sex. Life. Love.”

“Arya, are you over there reading porn?” Denz chuckles.

“It isn’t porn,” Dad responds for her. “It’s about sexuality. It’s about sensuality.”

Dad sits the book on the desk next to Arya before stepping in between her legs. She looks up at him strangely but doesn’t tell him to move. The three of us share a look before looking back at them.

“There are many ways to give a woman pleasure, as you boys very well know,” he says, pushing Arya so she’s lying down on the desk. Dad slides his hands up her inner thighs as she gasps before he stops. “But there are rules when it comes to women, as I’ve taught you, boys.” He leans over her, his nose touching hers. She stares up at him, her lips slightly parted as dad moves his hand to undo his slacks. We all share a look once more, but fuck, how do I look away from this? Dad teases her entrance before slowly slipping inside her while the three of us watch. Arya gasps, arching her back.

“You want to give them exactly what they want. The pleasure. The pain. The excitement,” he almost whispers. “But what you never give them is a kiss. Because kissing for a woman is so much more; it means so much more to them. It means,” he ghosts his lips near Arya’s but doesn’t kiss her before speaking again. “That they belong to you. It means they are giving you a piece of them, and you are giving them a piece of you.” His lips hover over hers but they just stare at each other for a long time as he slowly moves in and out of her. Arya’s chest rapidly rises and falls as he takes her so slowly.

His hands move to grip her inner thighs when he really begins to fuck her. Arya grabs his shoulders as he takes her on the desk, with all of us watching in awe. It’s not like we didn’t know there was some kind of attraction there, but I didn’t realize it was to this level. Nevertheless, he keeps going, sliding in and out of her until she’s gasping for air. I watch as he tenses, and then hecomes, not allowing her the chance to finish before he pulls out of her.

She whines as he smirks and leans down, running his tongue over her clit. Arya nearly leaps off the damn desk at his touch, and when he really gets to eating her pussy, she cries out for more. He dives in, licking and shoving his tongue inside her as her legs begin to tremble. Then she finally lets go and comes all over his mouth. I’m almost jealous he’s the one tasting her right now and not me.

When dad pulls away, he adjusts his slacks and turns to us, giving us a smirk before leaving the room and leaving Arya on the desk a panting mess.

Arya lies there for a long minute as if she’s thinking something, her eyes narrowed on the ceiling.

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