Ever Bound by Odessa Gillespie Black Page A

she’d said. He loves my mother, but just when I thought it was a one-time thing, Grace repeatedly made Daddy come to her room. I’ve hated her since. I know you aren’t supposed to hate someone, but since I’ve watched my father slowly waste away to nothing but a drunken shell of what he used to be, I can’t help myself.”
    The evil flowing from Grace, through the house, contaminating everything she touched seemed to seep to the pond, up through the ground and made my skin crawl.
    “There’s something you should know. After a night of heavy drinking, he accidentally came to my room.”
    “Oh, God. I can’t hear this,” I said. “What happened doesn’t matter. You’re not her. You’re not like your sister. She’s evil. There’s nothing good about her.”
    “I’m sorry. I’m not the pure girl you thought I was. I’m not—” Tears flowed down her face again, so I took off my shirt and wiped her eyes. When her eyes rested on me, they drank me in. “When I look at you, I forget. You’re perfect. I don’t know why you love me. And after this…”
    “After this you’ll be mine. I know I don’t have much to offer, but we will be together. I will work day in and day out to give you the life you deserve.”
    Her eyes widened.
    “I mean, unless you decide on college. I would still wait. Then, I’d marry you—”
    Annabeth jumped in my arms and pushed me back.
    “If you’d still have me,” I finished with a laugh.
    The grass wet with dew on my back and Annabeth lying on top of me almost took my senses, but I shook the instinct to ravish her away. For the moment.
    “You’ll be mine until the day I die. Even beyond.” Her hair fell over her shoulders and caressed my face.
    The lantern flickered.
    Our gazes locked.
    As the glow under the smoke-smudged glass went out, a flame of desire blazed under my skin. I had to get up and away from her. Remaining a gentleman would be impossible if she covered my body with hers much longer.
    “We have to leave. Now.” Though it would have been no problem to shove her away, her slight weight, the warmth of her body, the sound of her quickened breath, and the anticipation of the cherry taste of her tongue weighed me down.
    Her lips brushed mine, but I moved to the side so my cheeks caught the rest.
    I took a deep breath and remembered my faith.
    “Is being in the dark alone with me really that unpleasant?” Annabeth sounded so much older. And sure of what she wanted.
    “You do understand that I have to strain to be alone with you in broad daylight.” I was breathless. What little air I could take in was filled with her hair’s fresh floral fragrance.
    Her skin was silk as her fingers caressed my arms, my neck, then my chest.
    I didn’t want to move.
    I didn’t know which I needed more.
    Oxygen or her.
    As she lowered her lips to mine, the cherry and honey taste of her tongue mauled every principle I’d ever held dear.
    I rolled her over with the thought that I would finish kissing her and release myself from her trance, but I hovered over her. I ran my hand down her side and pushed her night gown up her leg. I winced, waiting for a slap, but there was no rejection.
    Stop Cole . My inner voice. Not the boy voice, the mature male that knew if I went any further, I wouldn’t be able to stop.
    Her small hand slid down my face and gripped my arm. “Please, don’t stop.”
    “I have to.” I remembered all the reasons in a number list of why I shouldn’t, God being first and my lie being second. The list went on. I tried to pull away.
    “Make me forget all the bad, Cole.”
    It was what she wanted, and it would make her forget. Could it be that bad?
    Bad.
    The lie was bad.
    My lips hadn’t told her a falsehood, but it was an omission of the truth. That was the worst kind of lie. “I must tell you something before we go any further.” I closed my eyes. “It may change everything.”
    She put her hand over my mouth, and with her thumb caressed my lips.
    I