Chapter 12
CHAPTER
TWELVE
Troy doesn’t get a chance to come in or even honk the horn for me before I’m bounding out the door. I hop into his truck, excited to give him the necklace.
“Do we have to get right to work, tonight? Or can we detour for a little bit?”
He glances over at me. “I was thinking the same thing. Anywhere specific you want to go?”
“Somewhere private.”
The smile that slowly inches across his face makes me laugh.
I know what he’s thinking, and we can absolutely do that too.
He drives us down a small access road we’ve taken before that divides two cornfields.
Last time, the corn was only a few feet high, but now it towers over the truck at eight or nine feet tall.
It’s like pulling into a tunnel. The dark wraps around us, broken only by the headlights of the truck.
I glance behind me and it looks like a black wall.
The breeze is a hiss through the papery rows, blowing a musky sweet smell through our open windows.
It feels a little creepy when the road appears to dead end at a wall of corn but once we get close, I can tell there’s another road crossing it.
Troy turns and backs up so we’re sitting at the little T junction where the roads meet. It’s a perfect place to not be seen or heard. “Private enough?” He grins over at me, putting the truck in park.
“I have something for you.”
His eyebrows rise and I unbuckle my seatbelt to face him. I reach into my pocket, pull out the opal necklace and hold it out. His mouth opens and for a long moment, he just stares at it as it turns slightly under the dome light.
“What…where did you get that?”
“You were right. Your dad’s wife had it.”
Wide eyes land on mine. “She gave it to you?”
“Of course not. I went into her trailer while everyone was at the welcome dinner and found it in her jewelry box.”
He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind as he slowly takes it from me. It wasn’t exactly the reaction I was hoping for. “You broke in and stole it?”
“I didn’t break in.” I shrug with a smile. “I walked in. Don’t worry, I took a couple of other pieces of jewelry too, so they won’t suspect you if they notice it’s gone. The other jewelry is junk though. I’ll toss it out tonight.”
He stares at the little heart lying in his palm, then closes his hand over it.
His arms wrap around me so suddenly that I let out a squeak as he squeezes me tight and buries his face in my neck without a word.
After a moment, he lets go, cups my face with the necklace still dangling between his fingers, and kisses me hard.
As soon as our lips part, he stares me in the eye. “You’re fucking brave and amazing and please don’t ever do any shit like this again.”
Before I can respond, he kisses me again, longer and deeper this time.
He doesn’t seem to know how to feel and it breaks my heart.
The necklace means so much to him. It’s all he has left of his mom and the only reason it was kept from him was pure cruelty.
He also isn’t blind to the risk I took to get it.
I probably shouldn’t tell him about having to hide under the bed.
Maybe after we’re free, it’ll feel like a funny story.
“I have no intention of becoming a burglar. That belongs to you. It always should’ve been yours and I wanted you to have it before we leave.”
He brushes his fingers through my hair. “Sybil….” He pulls me into his arms again. “I love you,” he says fiercely. “You are my entire heart. Do you know that?”
Tears prick at my eyes, and I slide my hand over the back of his neck, stroking the warm skin with my thumb. He loves me. I’m not sure anyone has ever loved me. “I love you, too. You’re the only thing that matters to me.”
We sit there holding each other for a wonderful minute. He loves me. That’s all that keeps beating in my head. He loves me and I love him, and we’re going to escape and have the life our parents and the cult took from us.
The radio is playing low. When the DJ announces the next song, Troy reaches over and opens my door. “Come on. Let’s get out for a minute.”
I don’t know what he’s doing but I’d follow him anywhere. He cranks the radio up loud, then exits the passenger side door behind me. His warm hand catches mine and he leads me down the middle of the dirt road.
The headlight beams create a private stage just for us. Troy pulls me close, and I press my head to his chest, looping my arms around his neck. One of his large hands settles on the small of my back, and he cups the back of my head with the other. We dance together slowly.
All around us, the corn stalks rise up like a living fortress, rustling in the warm breeze.
Beyond the edge of the rows, the world completely vanishes into heavy darkness.
There’s no Keeper here. No governors or stewards, no rules, responsibilities or punishments, only the earthy sweet scent of the fields and the beating of his heart under my cheek.
From the open windows of the truck's cab, the sweeping piano chords of Bon Jovi’s “Always” spill out into the country air. The cinematic swell of the ballad helps create a beautiful moment out here in the middle of nowhere. The universe narrows down to the two of us.
I wish I could go back and tell myself that this was in my future. I want to visit the hopeless younger version of myself that cried herself to sleep from loneliness and tell her it’s going to be okay. That she’s going to love and be loved beyond her wildest imaginings.
It feels like the words we exchanged still hang in the air around us when Troy looks down at me.
The song builds toward its crescendo as the electric guitar begins to soar into the night sky.
His gaze locks onto mine and he mouths the words of the chorus as we spin in a slow, gentle circle, our giant shadows dancing along with us.
When Troy leans down, pressing his forehead gently against mine, raindrops begin to fall. A few drips suddenly become a downpour, followed by a loud clap of thunder that makes me jump.
We burst into laughter and make a run for the truck. “We’d better get off this road before it turns to mud,” he says, starting the engine.
We won’t get any work done in this weather. “Where do you want to go until the storm passes?”
“Remember the barn I showed you near the drive-in theater?”
“Of course.”
He turns onto the main road as hail begins to mix in with the rain. “I didn’t plan for us to work tonight anyway. I just wanted to be alone with you.”
I reach over to take his hand. “That’s all I ever want.”
He parks as close as possible to the barn then has me wait while he pulls a large plastic tote from the bed of the truck and takes it inside. A few minutes pass before he returns to open my door.
We dart through the pouring rain, laughing when he slips and almost falls. The barn is dry and lit by the glow of two kerosene lanterns. He’s made a pallet to lie on by covering a pile of hay with blankets and a thick comforter.
Oh, now I know what he had planned for us tonight.
He gives me an apologetic look. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I wanted this to be different for you. In a bed at least, so if you want to wait…”
“No, I don’t want to wait.” Alone in the lanternlight with the rain beating down? “This is perfect.” I’m nervous but there’s no one I feel safer with than Troy.
I sit on the plush comforter with the soft hay underneath and smile up at him.
He takes off his shirt, and his skin looks golden in the glow of the lanterns.
The boy I had a crush on has become a man with a broad chest and lightly defined muscles from working so much.
Something low in my abdomen clenches when he unfastens his jeans and slides them down.
He sits down beside me in only underwear, and I pull my shirt off, tossing it aside.
His arms are around me the next second, and we kiss like we’ll never have another chance.
We’ve both wanted this for too long to hold anything back.
My hands roam his body, exploring all the areas I’ve always wanted to touch.
The planes of his back, his abdomen, his thick, muscled thighs.
He caresses every inch of me, leaving wet, sucking kisses down my body.
He pauses when I reach between his legs.
He’s already hard. A shudder escapes him as I lightly run my hand over his cock, surprised by how smooth the skin feels and how solid it is.
He wraps his hand around mine and shows me how he likes to be touched.
The groan he lets out and the way his lips part is so satisfying. I love this, being able to make him feel good. I want to make him lose his mind the way he did me, but I’m not sure my hand is enough. When he closes his eyes for a moment, I lean down and gently suck him between my lips.
“Oh fuck, Sybil, yes,” he gasps, his fingers threading into my hair. “Go slow, baby.”
I take my time, alternating between sucking and licking, not going very deep, but also stroking him with my hand. His moans and whispered praise urge me on.
“Yes, oh that’s so good. You can suck a little harder. God yes.” It doesn’t last long before he stops me, puts me on my back and kneels over me. “My turn.”
I thought his fingers felt amazing before but the first swipe of his tongue between my legs puts that to shame. It feels good but so intense that my knees keep trying to close.
He pauses to ask, “Is it too much? Do you want me to stop?”
“No! I just…”
He chuckles and moves to lie between my thighs, parts them with his hands, and looks up at me with a wicked smile. “Now I’ve got you where I want you. You’ll just have to come for me.”
He dips his head and resumes. Oh, he wasn’t kidding.
No matter how much I squirm or tug at his hair, he doesn’t falter.
He licks and sucks at my clit, slow and steady and unrelenting until I’m half out of my mind from it.
When he slips a finger inside me at the same time, and I cry out his name, my entire body is consumed by pleasure so overwhelming the world disappears.
After my head clears a little, he crawls over me. “I could watch you come forever. You look so beautiful.”
“I’m good with that,” I reply, and he chuckles as I catch my breath.
“Are you still sure you want to?” he asks, giving me a soft kiss.
“More than anything.”
“You know it might hurt at first? I’ll go slow. Try to relax.”
I’m nervous but more than ready. He presses in and it feels so strange. Good, but so much bigger than I expected. His strokes are short, only going a bit deeper each time. His eyes meet mine. “You okay?”
“Yes.” I lift my hips to encourage him and he leans over, kissing me as he slides all the way inside then stops. A sharp pain shoots through me, then fades to a burning sensation and my hands leap to his ribs.
“I know,” he murmurs, planting soft kisses on my lips. “I’m sorry. It gets better, I promise.” He moves slowly, and after a few strokes, the pain fades into pleasure.
“Oh Sybil, you feel so good.”
My hands find their way to his ass, and I wrap my legs around him, moving my body with his as our moans echo around the barn. He was right. It definitely gets better.
The expression of happiness on his face after we’ve finished and lie cuddled together, listening to the rain is seared into my memory.
There are some things that can’t be taken from us by anyone. The memory of tonight is ours alone.