28. Eshe #2
I wasn’t going to die today, not after getting this far.
The palm trees weren’t giving me much coverage, so I decided to go near the shrubs around the lake.
Suddenly, the world spun as my body was pushed forward. My knees and palms planted into the pillow of the sands. I twisted my body back, and Ezra was on top of me. I rammed my knee up, but I barely touched him.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I thrust an elbow at his face, but he caught my wrist midair and slammed it down on the sands along with my other wrist. He straddled my waist. I tried to wriggle myself out, but his body was too heavy.
“You fucked up,” Ezra growled.
I panted, unable to find my breath. I met his eyes, and they were nothing short of murderous, but I wasn’t afraid. His eyes pierced into me, and he shook his head slightly.
“You’re losing control, Ezra,” I said breathlessly. I pressed my hips against him, but he didn’t budge. “What will happen if you lose it completely?”
I was taunting him, and I couldn’t help but smile.
His hand squeezed my wrists.
“Do you really want to find out what kind of man I am when I lose control?”
A dangerous question. One that I liked. The surrounding air became charged. It was electric.
No, my brain said, but my body defied me, and I froze.
What would happen if he lost control? Something told me I would shamefully enjoy it.
His other free hand brushed up my waist, causing flutters to spring all over my core, and reached my neck. I parted my lips and let out a breath. I felt his warm, possessive hand where it belonged, but my brain still wanted to defy him.
“Why are you always grabbing my throat? Do you have something against it?”
His fingers pressed, causing me to lean even further away.
“Yes, in fact, I do.” He leaned forward. “I hate it. I fucking hate your neck with every fiber of my body.”
He was lying through his teeth. I could feel it.
His face was too close. I felt the warmth of his breath brush across my face.
I almost forgot who I was when he lowered his gaze to my lips.
My breath hitched, and warmth settled between my legs. I grew limp under his body as I imagined what his lips would feel like…
I stretched out my neck so that he could have better access. I wanted his mouth on me, I wanted his breath all over me.
“Then do your worst,” I breathed against his ear.
The air became heavy and warm. His fingers burned around my neck.
“Eshe…” his voice lowered in a very clear warning.
I leaned even further to the side.
Something cracked in Ezra, and his hand slowly moved from my neck to my jaw, keeping it where I had it.
He leaned forward and then hesitated. A groan came from his throat at the sight of my bare neck. I felt the breath from his lips on my neck first.
My entire body awakened, springing to life, and his lips hadn’t even touched me yet.
His lips touched my skin, and then his tongue played against it. It was warm and wet, and I nearly lost myself in something I’d never felt before.
My core ached at his lips.
His lips widened, and his teeth sank into me. He bit—hard.
I whimpered. Pain sprinted through my veins, and I loved it.
He didn’t let go.
His hand tightened around my wrists and wouldn’t allow any movement from me.
Ezra’s tongue then danced on my sore skin.
Burning sensations rippled through my body, and I wanted more. My chest rose and dropped quickly. He bit and licked and sucked, as if my neck were his feast.
I closed my eyes and felt the entirety of his mouth on me, moving down my neck.
His lips brushed up the length of my neck and reached my jaw, leaving aching tingles in their wake, a riveting effect through my body.
“Tell me to stop, Eshe—” he whispered in a low, raspy voice.
I arched my back to press my body against his, not knowing I wanted friction. But now I needed more. His lips reached the back of my ear, and I nearly collapsed.
“Tell me to stop,” he nearly begged, the pain in his voice exasperated.
“Don’t stop, Ezra,” I breathed. My words were softer than I had ever spoken to Ezra before.
I’d never felt this way before, nor had my body.
I moved my head to face his, and our eyes locked.
Everything that we’d both been doing sang in the air between us. What happened just now?
There were no words. His eyes were so dark and beautiful.
I wanted him.
I always had.
Because I thought he didn’t want me, I turned my desire into hate at a young age. I fueled my body with hate for him. My heart cracked for a moment as I finally admitted to myself the lies I told myself.
“Eshe,” my name on his lips melted something deep inside of me. I rarely heard it from his mouth, but now it was starting to sound like his prayer.
I parted my lips. His head leaned forward, a piece of his hair hanging below his forehead as his lips beckoned mine.
“Ezra,” I whispered, answering his call. His body was still crushing mine, and I didn’t want him off me.
“This needs to stop,” Ezra said, but his eyes said something different.
“I never listen to you,” I panted, staring at him. “Why would I start now?”
His lips curved into a slow, sinful smile.
“You will learn to listen to me.” His eyes locked with mine, his thumb grazing down my wrist.
His lips were calling and calling, a sinful temptation.
Ezra’s hand squeezed my wrists to the point of pain. Something went off in my brain, and it wasn’t saying to get away. The pain released something in my veins that I had never experienced before.
His lips neared mine.
My world stopped spinning.
Time stilled.
They were so close.
Suddenly, Ezra let my wrists go and slammed his fist onto the sand. He was trembling. His nose flared as he breathed heavily.
With my hands free, I brought my trembling fingers to his neck, his jaw, his hair. I sensed he was slipping away from me, but I allowed myself this moment to feel him before the tension broke. He reveled in my touch like a panther, but I could feel his body straining more and more.
“I think I know your weakness now,” I whispered.
“Is that so?” A low chuckle escaped his lips, and it sent a fluttering sensation between my legs.
“Yeah.”
“Being high isn’t telling any truth. This is how anyone would feel.” He blinked, and his eyes turned cold and distant.
My veins boiled.
This is how anyone would feel.
“What if I told you that there was nothing in that smoke?” I had to tell him. He deserved to know.
His eyes locked with mine while my fingers were still wrapped around his short waves.
“What are you saying?”
“It was only water,” I explained, and lowered my hands to let him see the truth in my eyes. The confession settled loudly between us.
This was pure desire, nothing less. I wanted him to know that. He lost control because I was his weakness.
I didn’t know why, but it didn’t feel as great as I thought it would to expose him like this. It felt too real. Too vulnerable. And I, a fool, bled him apart.
“Playing games, are you, little warrior?”
Even the palm trees seemed to still in the presence of his voice, that question.
“I—I wanted you… to know the truth.” I lowered my voice and looked away toward the river, not able to stare into his penetrating gaze. I don’t know why my feelings were shifting. I had always reveled in hurting his ego.
“Now you know,” he said.
“What?” I met his eyes again.
“That you are my weakness, Eshe. You always have been.”