House of Glass by Jen Christie

return.”
    “She won’t return,” I insisted. “She can’t have the house. Not anymore.” The bitterness in my tone surprised me.
    “Funny how you sound like her right now.”
    “I don’t know. It has a pull. It has a presence. When I’m inside it, I’m certain of things, everything else seems so far away. I don’t think about the things that cause me pain.”
    “Like your father.”
    “Yes.”
    From where I stood next to Lucas, I could see the whole island, where it curved like a scythe, dark hills rising, blotting out the sky with their inky forms. There were small points of light where each house was. “Do you see all those lights?” I asked him, pointing. “There, see?”
    “I see.”
    “I used to be one of those twinkling lights. My father and I. We had a simple life. Nothing to speak of, except for the two of us, and now that is gone.”
    “I’m sorry,” he said and he reached for me, but I pulled away. “And you are here, with me.” He was persistent and pulled at me again, bringing me to him. He lifted his hand and touched it to my temple. “That light burns here, in your memory, and it will never go out.”
    He folded me into his arms and I melted there. He smelled of the sea, of the tropical wind and a hint of the garden. He blotted out the entire world, and the only thing I knew was him, his slow, even breathing and the strong embrace of his arms.
    I could not say how long I clung to him, but it seemed like hours. I brought my hand up to trace the line of his jaw, and the diamonds that I had forgotten about flashed between us.
    I held the necklace to the sky. The diamonds glittered and winked, twinned to the stars above. A hand covered mine, entwined the rope of jewels and reached even higher, so that the diamonds dripped from the moon.
    I could feel his body against mine, and when he spoke, it was a whisper in my ear. “Are you coveting these diamonds?” he asked, almost indulgently.
    I answered hotly. “No. I would rather have the stars in the sky.”
    He laughed. “I would give you the stars. I would even give you the sun.”
    “I don’t believe you.”
    I lowered my arm and turned around, and the necklace tangled between our hands.
    Then, I gave in to my passion and pressed against him. Every time I took a breath, my breasts touched against his body.
    He was tense, as if he were holding back. I lifted my one free hand to his face and ran my fingers over his chin, feeling the stubble, rough against my skin. I touched his lips, felt his warm breath, and then I brought my lips to his.
    A passion within me was uncapped, and I went wild, kissing him, mad for the taste of him, the feel of him against my skin. We kissed at the top of the world, a fortress beneath us, the stars above, and only my thin cotton gown between us.
    He stood still as stone and allowed me to come at him, kissing him, again and again. When I was spent, when his stubble had rubbed me raw, and all I could do was pant, only then did he move. When he did, it was with a roar and an explosion of strength. He was a force like a tidal wave, crushing us backward until I collided with the stone wall.
    He dragged his lips across the skin of my neck. I felt every sensation magnified a thousand times over and I cried out.
    He stopped. “Did I harm you?” he asked.
    “No.”
    He lifted our hands, still joined together by diamonds, and held them right in front of us. “The moment I first saw you,” he said. “I knew you would be full of passion, I knew it in my bones.” He kissed me again. “But I didn’t know you would be such a mystery. Shy and wild, understanding.” He took a deep breath, and raised the diamonds up. “I’d give you anything you desire. Just name it.”
    I pulled away from him and the necklace strained between us. “Is that what you think? That I can be bought with diamonds? With diamonds?”
    “No. Not at all.”
    I moved away from him sharply, forgetting about the necklace. It broke apart, and