Affairs & Atonements Read online

  “Is it Linda?”

  Christy smiled. “Yes, but it’s not just her. I suppose I’m just tired of my life. I can’t wait to leave that house, Hilda. To get away. To start a life of my own.”

  “You’re almost there.” Hilda clasped her palm, giving her an encouraging rub on her knuckles. “Just hang in there, okay? You’re going to be eighteen in a month. And then you can do whatever you want.”

  She nodded, biting her lip, hoping dearly she would get the freedom she desired greatly. But what would she do if she moved out? Where would she go? She needed a job and she had to start looking for one as soon as she could.

  “The boys are coming back, so cheer up okay?” Hilda smiled. “Who knows, Brendan might be your ticket out of Linda’s?”

  *****

  They sat together laughing at each other’s jokes like most normal teenagers. Someone looking upon them would have supposed they were carefree, unaffected by the burdens of life and their future.

  And she would have thought the three young people sitting with her would actually have all that. They all came from stable families with good financial backgrounds. Hilda’s parents were teachers. She had long envied Hilda’s relationship with her mother. Megan Eddings, Hilda’s mom was always very empathetic of her situation, inviting her often for meals and sleepovers. She wondered what her own mother might be like if she wasn’t half-crazed over her latest boyfriend. Who was it recently? Luke… Luke…

  Her eyes fell over the young man coming through the door to stand in the entrance, glancing at the customers as if he was looking for something. His blue eyes clashed with hers and immediately his jaw line tensed. He took long quick strides towards her and as he came closer, she stared in puzzlement at him, wondering why he was here.

  CHAPTER 2

  “We need to go,” he announced, his tall broad presence looming over her.

  “Ashton...,” she mumbled nervously. “Is there anything wrong?”

  He grabbed her wrist, pulling her out of her chair.

  “I’m sorry, Brendan. But something came up and Christy needs to leave immediately.”

  “I… of course,” Brendan mumbled confusedly. “What-”

  But Ashton hadn’t waited for him to answer. He was already mid-way to the door, dragging Christy behind him, leaving her companions in a state of bafflement.

  “Get in,” he commanded as he approached his vehicle.

  She pulled away roughly from him. “What’s going on?” she growled. “What do you think you’re doing dragging me out like that?!”

  He stared at her and then opened the car door. “Get in.”

  She disliked his tone and immediately opened her mouth to tell him so. But when he lifted an eyebrow, she decided it was in her best interest to do as he said- for now.

  She sat quietly, staring out at the passing vehicles. She had done well in holding herself steady and composed, but her heart pulsed rapidly at thought of being so close to the man she had always admired. Tonight, he had dragged her out of her first date. Why? Why when he had otherwise rarely paid her any attention before. There could be no possible reason other than something had happened at home. Was it Elise? Had Linda, perhaps, forgotten about her in all her sorrow? Her body froze and she turned to him, her face awash with shock.

  “Elise… Is Elise alright?” she sputtered.

  “Elise?” Ashton asked with puzzlement. “Yes, of course. Why would you think anything was wrong with her?”

  Christy reddened with partial embarrassment and rage. “Because you dragged me out from my date.”

  “Oh, right,” he drawled, leaning an elbow against the window.

  “Is that all you have to say to me?”

  He shrugged which only enraged her more.

  “Why did you come for me?” she asked, trying to retain some self-control.

  “Why did you go on a date with Brendan Croydon?”

  “Wha… What?” she uttered in disbelief. “What has that to do with anything?” She had spoken her thoughts out aloud. But really, what had that have to do with anything at all?! “That’s none of your business. You don’t have any right to interfere with my private life. Unless, of course, you have a perfectly good reason...”

  “I do,” he replied flatly.

  “Excuse me?”

  He swerved off the road, skidding to a stop.

  She caught onto the sides of her seat in complete surprise. She noticed he had only stopped a few meters from her house.

  She turned to demand what he was he trying to prove when she caught him in the midst of moving closer to her. She pulled back as he braced an arm on her headrest.

  “What… what are you doing?” she stammered, her body heating from his growing closeness.

  “What if I said I wanted to have a right to interfere… in your private life?”

  Her eyes widened. What was he saying? “What do you mean?”

  “You know exactly what I mean. I know you’ve been attracted to me from the very first day we met. All those little glances you do with your eyes. And those little…,” he glanced down to her lips. “Those little bites you do to your lips,” he rasped against her face. He cupped her face, his thumb tracing the shape of her mouth. “You know what you do to me. You’ve known it all along.”

  “That can’t be true,” she gasped. “I didn’t know. You’ve never showed it.”

  “No, I didn’t.” He tilted her chin up to him. “Because you were a minor. And I couldn’t wait for you to grow up. I wouldn’t have minded another month. You were turning eighteen soon anyway. But then Brendan Croydon interfered and I got scared.”

  “You’re lying,” she muttered, her tears welling in her eyes. “You’re teasing me.” She grasped for the door handle behind her. It had to be that. He was teasing her. He was no different from his cruel sister. He was playing with her heart. He knew how she felt about him. He was toying with her feelings.

  “Christy.” He breathed, leaning down to take her lips.

  Not like this! This was not how she had imagined it! How could he?! She screamed inside herself. She pushed him away with all her pent-up rage and opened the door, almost tripping out of it.

  She ran the last yards to her house, wanting to escape into the safe confines of her bedroom.

  *****

  She lay back on the soft, grassy mattress, looking up at the dying sun. She was alone and yet the memories of that dreaded evening from two nights ago didn’t leave her mind. He didn’t chase her and she was confused about that. Should he have, or not? Would she have been angry if he had? But he hadn’t come after her, which could only ever mean that he had been playing with her.

  She cupped her face, going crazy from the myriad of possibilities running through her head.

  Does he love me? Does he not? she repeated in her mind. She must truly be losing it. She was playing stupid love games in her head.

  “So this is where you go to hide away.” His voice broke through her thoughts.

  She snapped opened her eyes, startled by him.

  “What are you doing here?” She burst out, sitting up immediately.

  “Looking for you.”

  “Why?” she asked gruffly, dusting herself as she rose up to her feet.

  “Isn’t it obvious? You bolted and never gave me an answer.”

  “I don’t remember you asking me anything.”

  He leaned forward and picked out a grass straw from her hair. The touch of his hand against her hair tingled her and her first instinct was to draw back. But that would only make her appear naïve and silly, she told herself, doing her best instead to hold her ground.

  “Very well. I’ll ask you again. What do you think of us?” he asked silkily.

  “Us? There can’t be us.” She shivered at the mere thought of them together. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the Huntleys and the Pryors aren’t exactly the best of friends.”

  She walked away from him. If he refused to go, then she would have to. Becaus
e being so close to him and talking about a possibility of them being together quavered her already unsteady legs.

  He caught her elbow and swung her to him.

  “Stop that,” he growled.

  “Let go of me!” she snapped.

  “Will you stop that?! Stop that now!”

  She stared up at him in bewilderment. What did he want from her?!

  He hooked his feet behind her legs and tripped her to the grassy floor of the meadow. He went down with her, his hand protecting her head as she fell. The thickness of the grass cushioned her fall, but his hard body slammed against her and she let out a small cry.

  “What are you doing?!” she screamed. “Get off me!”

  She slapped at him and he caught her flailing hands and pinned it to either side of her head.

  “You’re such a fiery one,” he grinned. “Who would have imagined? You’re always so quiet.”

  “If I am under attack, you can’t expect me to just lie back and take it,” she minced.

  “I suppose not,” he muttered. “So don’t do that. Don’t run.”

  He breathed rapidly above her, staring down into her face. His eyes darkened, his body growing stiff.

  “You make me crazy,” he mumbled. “Delirious, mad… I try to stop myself. But it just happens. Each time I see you. Don’t you see? It’s why I had avoided you. You make me… lose control…”

  He let go of her and rolled off her and to her side.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing.” He ran his hand through his hair.

  She sat up, looking down onto him, wondering if she should take her chance and leave. Instead, she sat glued to her spot, fascinated by his vulnerable side. One she’d never witnessed in the usually confident Ashton Pryor.

  “Don’t look at me like that.” He squinted at her.

  “Like how?” she could only whisper back. What was happening to her? She should have been smart and run for her life.

  He pulled her down onto him.

  “Like that,” he whispered. “Like the way you’re doing now.”

  “And what if I did?”

  “I’d kiss you.”

  Her body tensed and her tongue licked her lower lip. His eyes followed its movement and his hand began to slowly caress her back. He rolled her back onto the grass, with him over her again.

  “I want to… can I…?” He palmed her cheek, gently stroking her lips with his thumb.

  “Ashton,…” she uttered.

  But she couldn’t say anymore because his mouth came down upon hers, possessing it hard and fast. He tongue wielded its way into her mouth, coaxing it, playing with it. She moaned, her fingers clutching the sides of his shirt, at his waist. His hands maneuvered its way beneath her shirt, desperate for a feel of her soft flesh. He clasped her small waist, tugging her close to him as he trailed her jaw with his lips and down to her neck.

  “You taste… smell so good,” he rasped.

  Something poked hard against her belly and she froze, looking down her to catch the tented front of his pants.

  “Ashton…,” she muttered, unsure of what to do. She had read about erections, heard of her friends’ experiences as they boasted about how hard they could make their boyfriends. But seeing that she could elicit the same reaction from the boy she had long fantasized about, took her breath away.

  He sighed, leaning his head in the curve of her neck.

  “You now know how much I want you.” He breathed. “But I can’t… I can’t…”

  “I… want you,” she whispered back, as she closed her eyes. Yes, she had always wanted him. He might never speak to her again after today but she didn’t care. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he decided to not know her later. She was used to being last in everyone’s priority. Always was the first though in hand-me-downs. But today, the man of her dreams wanted her and she wasn’t going to back-off. She wanted to lose her virginity to the man she loved and not to someone in the back of a car because she couldn’t find anyone else to do the deed.

  “I want you, Ashton,” she repeated.

  He raised his head, his eyes darkened with his passion.

  “I can’t, Christy.” He threaded his hands through her hair. “You’re a minor. I can’t.”

  “That’s silly. I’m only eight months younger than you.”

  “Yes, but you’re not eighteen yet.”

  “There are ways,” she whispered. “You know there are.”

  He stared at her, contemplating her words.

  “I want you,” she said again. “I want to feel you.”

  “I don’t have protection and I’m sure you’re not on any. Unless…”

  “No, I’m not, but it doesn’t matter,” she muttered.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  He took her mouth again, kissing her hard, sucking the breath out of her.

  “There’s no turning back if we do this,” he moaned. “It would be too hard on me.”

  “I know.”

  His hands ran up her legs to find the moist epicenter of her womanhood. She was wet and eager to have him. The mere touch of his fingers through her panties stilled her. He located her opening and inserted two fingers into it. She arched with ecstasy, never having experienced anything like it.

  “Ashton…,” she mumbled.

  “I want it to be special for you, Christy,” he groaned biting into her flesh just above her bosom. “Not like this.”

  “But I don’t want you to stop.”

  “And I can’t.”

  He reached down to his fly and pulled down his zipper.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, looking down into her eyes. “I promise you I’ll do better next time. But for now…”

  He pushed hard into her and she felt the hardened tip of his manhood press into her core through his cotton briefs. It was enough, she said to herself as she closed her eyes, her passion rushing through her veins like a drug. He rubbed against her core and she groaned, losing her breath slightly. She clawed into his back as he rocked with her, the tall grass whistling in the little breeze, swaying to its own music.

  *****

  “Marry me,” he said, cupping her face.

  “Ashton.” She looked up bewilderedly into his eyes. “I’m only going to turn eighteen. Don’t you think you’re being a little impulsive?”

  “I want you.”

  “And I want you too. But you don’t have to worry. It’s not even like we really did it. I’m still a virgin.” She blushed slightly from her recollection of how their steamy bodies locked together with passion only a few minutes ago.

  “You want out, right?” he said seriously. “You want to move out of Marshall and Linda’s. But where will you go? What will you do? I can give you all that.”

  “Ashton.” She pushed him away worriedly. “Yes, I do want that. But I don’t think marriage is the way to go about it. We’ve got a whole life ahead of us for that. And we still have so much to learn as a couple.”

  “What is there to learn? You know me. You’ve always known me. And I know you.”

  “Marriage… but marriage…”

  “I can protect you. You know how affluent my family is. With my name, you would be able to do things you could never do on your own.”

  That was true, she thought. Her father didn’t want her and her mother had most likely forgotten about her. She felt guilty asking Marshall for anything more already. With the chips she had in her hands, she would most likely end up a waitress or a check-out chick at a supermarket. It would take her ages to get through college and probably a better job. In the meanwhile, what guarantee was there that Ashton would make her the same offer ever again? Ashton was destined to go to the best universities in the country and meet someone who would suit him and his family. But as his wife, she’d always have him close to her and have some, if not equal opportunities, to make something of herself.

  “But what would your family say?” she said aloud. “Your parents would never agree. And Linda…�
�

  “I’ll take care of them,” he said confidently, kissing her shoulders. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed that I am the only son in the family. There is a lot I can get away with.”

  She hung her head in worry. “Okay. So how are we going to do it? I still have a month to turn eighteen.”

  “We need to be very quiet about it. Marshall would kill me if he found out I even dared to kiss you. He hates my family as it is.” He lifted her chin. “But I’m not going to wait either. I’ve already spoken to your mother and she is willingto witness our marriage if you agreed to it.”

  “You’ve spoken to my mom?” She looked up at him in surprise.

  “I called her up and she happens to agree with me. Without me, you don’t have much of a chance to life.”

  “How could you… how did you know I would even agree?”

  “I told you I knew you,” he replied softly, giving her a little kiss on her lips.

  *****

  She looked down at her thin gold band on her finger. She didn’t get a diamond ring. She never would have one of those long wooing engagements. But she was happy. She was beginning to feel she was getting a family of her own.

  “I’m sorry I can’t do more for you, Christy,” her mother said, sniveling slightly. “I’m such a terrible mom. But I tried. I really did.”

  “Mom, please.” Christy reached for her clasped hands. “I know. I understand.”

  “But you did well marrying Ashton. You did the right thing. You’ll do fine in a family like his. He will look after you.” Her long frail fingers fiddled with her wallet and pulled out an envelope. “I talked to your father and he wished he could have been here to give you away as well. But you know how it is when your father and I are in the same room.” She handed her the envelope. “It’s five thousand dollars between us. For you.”

  “Mom?”

  Joanna Huntley wiped her eyes. “It’s the best we could rummage under the circumstances.”

  Christy clutched tightly onto the envelope. “Thank you.”

  Joanna put her arms around her and hugged her. “Congratulations, darling. I’m so proud of you.” She laid a small kiss on her cheek. “I’ll say goodbye to Ashton and then try and catch that train back to Boston.” She gave her one last hug and stepped outside the hotel room.