Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Henry tries to agree with her, but he drops his phone and staggers. I pull Kat away, afraid he’ll throw up on us. But Henry lunges and falls flat on the floor, where we stare at him for a few beats before he begins to snore.
I take Kat’s hand and walk her out of her dressing room, closing the door and leaving Henry in darkness.
I guide her gently toward her bedroom, and she clutches me again in fear.
“Take me to your room, Heath. I’m scared of Henry, and if he wakes up, he’ll be so mad and come looking for me.
I can’t deny her comfort. I love her too much. I guide her down the long hallways to the Southwest corner of the manor, which was once the servant’s quarters.
“We need to hire someone. A babysitter of sorts who can be here at all times to keep you safe and make sure Henry doesn’t drink himself to death. I turn lights off and on as we progress, and the wind outside shakes the trees.
“I feel safe with you,” Kat says. She’s got her face on my shoulder and my arm is securely around her waist.
Contrary to whatever demented thoughts Henry holds, Kat’s body is gorgeous, full and soft and incredibly feminine. It’s a body I could easily get lost in.
When we get to my room, Kat makes sure the door is locked and then crawls onto my bed like a weepy forlorn child. I strip down to my boxers in front of her, like I have a thousand times, but the way she looks at me is different, and I become painfully aware of my stiff erection that’s now on full display through my boxers.
“Do you think my body is indecent?” she croaks, the pain audible in her voice.
“Far from, Kat. Your body is perfect,” I tell her. I don’t want to tell her all the things I’m thinking because those are certainly indecent.
She slips off my bed and throws herself into my arms. I’m overwhelmed with how much I love her and ashamed by how much she turns me on. She presses her body into mine, and I’m overcome by the knowledge that I’ve wanted her like this for so long. My cock can’t get enough of the closeness and the electrifying touch of her bare skin which I’ve spent years imagining and is so much better in the flesh. I want Kat more than I’ve ever wanted anything before, but this will be the death of me because I know Shaw wanted me to protect her like a sister.
But when she looks up into my eyes, seeking love and approval, her lips part, and I can no longer control my desire.
I wrap my hands around the back of her neck and pull her to me in a passion-fueled kiss that she returns with desperate fervor.
“Heath, I need you,” she says into the kiss.
Words I will obey and serve until my dying breath.
CHAPTER 5
Heath
(Age Eighteen)
Girls. Sure, I’ve thought about them. Abstract thoughts that someday, I might want to get married and have children, start a family, and settle down. But the thought was ephemeral, and I didn’t consider the path from A to B, more the comfort of family and the idea of not having to live my life alone without sharing it with someone.
But one girl in particular always eclipsed those ideations because Kat wasn’t just in my orbit, she was my whole fucking solar system. How could I make the necessary moves to date when I had all the love, friendship, and camaraderie I wanted within arm’s reach? Kat was my best friend, my confidante, my better half, so it seemed only natural that she would become my lover, too. Except for one technicality—on paper, Katelyn Shaw was legally my sister.
So what do you do?
First: You wait.
Second: You love in secret. You steal every minute.
Slip silently in and out of one another’s bedroom in the dark of night. Compose long, aching love letters about your forbidden love. Pretend to be friends all day at school, but during lunch, slip into one of the locker rooms and make out—kiss until your mouth is raw and your body is so full of yearning you could explode from a single touch.
I do everything I can to make her happy, to achieve a smile on her beautiful face. She’s lost her mother and father, and her legal caretaker is an absolute monster, so I cultivate her smiles, water them, give them sunshine and pray they will grow. Katelyn is a treasure, with beauty unmeasured, and I know someday she’ll know it too, once we escape this godforsaken hellhole we call home.
Wainscott Hollow. Our prison. Our gilded cage. Our forbidden love sanctuary.
“Heath! Wait!” Kat hollers down the hall of the commons of Fairmont. We are finally seniors. We’ve survived. We’ve almost made it.