Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
There was something different in his expression. Despite confessing something so sweet and kind and so unlike him, he was distant. His walls were already back up. He might have been looking at me, but his mind was still somewhere else entirely.
I faintly smiled, trying to lighten the mood. I gave him the only peace I could.
“Your mother reminds me of someone. Yacumama, it means Mother of Water. There’s an old legend in the Peruvian Amazon about her. She’s a serpent that lives in the rivers and lagoons. She protects the water, but she can also be deadly if you don’t respect her home.” I paused for a moment. “Where I’m from, we’re taught from an early age to respect everything: elders, family, nature, food… We’re raised on honor, respect, and pride, to never forget where we came from.”
He listened to me so intently, and I found that extremely endearing, him wanting to learn about my culture instead of making me adapt to his. It was the first time there was this deeper connection between us. It wasn’t just superficial anymore. We were adding pieces of ourselves to each other. Our souls were now communicating in a way they weren’t before.
“Your mother saw something beautiful and dangerous, and instead of getting rid of it, she taught you to respect it. That’s what mothers do, Onyx. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
He narrowed his eyes at me, nodding slightly. “Different memories, stories, worlds… same warning.”
Needing him to hear this, I reminded, “If you forget everything else she’s ever taught you, just remember she was trying to keep you alive.”
We stayed quiet for a minute, taking one another in, in a way we never have before. I loved everything about this moment, both of us understanding where we came from. It didn’t matter that they were worlds apart. We still managed to find common ground.
* * *
And that was very special to me.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Hennessy: Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
He was the first to break the silence. “I kept everything she left behind. Most of it is in a storage unit. Though this”—he gestured to the greenhouse—“was the only thing we kept of hers on the property. My father got rid of everything else. And quite frankly, he probably would’ve gotten rid of this had he remembered it existed. I don’t even think Deja remembers this place… She was so young.”
“How long has it been here?”
He shrugged. “Forever. It was passed down from the Devereaux wives, but someone else always took care of them. My mother was different. She was the first to take on this place. You should’ve seen it before she got her hands on it. Everything was dead, rotting, even the building.” He looked all around. “Until she brought it back to life.”
“And you kept it for her?”
He softly smiled, placing his hands on the pocket of his hoodie. “I’ve tried.”
Again, there was nothing but silence all around us. You could hear a pin drop.
Then out of nowhere, he ordered, “You need to stop trying to figure me out. You won’t like what you find.”
My eyebrows pinched together.
“Don’t confuse my kindness for an invitation, Hennessy.”
Confused, I questioned, “An invitation to what?”
“To get too close to me.”
“You’re the one who brought me here.”
“I know.”
“Then stop making it so easy to want to get to know you. We’re friends, Onyx.”
“Friends, huh?”
I was about to reply, but the air was immediately knocked out of me from the impact of his mouth on mine. It was almost like he was trying to prove something to me.
He didn’t falter, parting his lips, beckoning me to follow, and I did. His hands were on the sides of my face, pushing me back until I felt the wood where the belladonna flowers lay.
Ignoring the sting I knew he felt from his back, he lifted me onto the edge. The belladonna was now inches away from us. With his hands on me, it was the scariest, most liberating feeling I’d ever felt. Like I was standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down, ready to jump. Not caring if there would be land or water beneath me.
My mind scrambled with thoughts and emotions I couldn’t control, label, or even understand. It was one giant clusterfuck of weeks of wanting to know the truth of all of this history between our families, the Graves Academy, and the Brotherhood. On top of the emotions we were triggering inside each other.
He kissed me deeper, harder, and with more determination. I had never been kissed like that before. The desire burned off him. My chest rose and fell faster and faster with every slip of his tongue in my mouth. With each deep breath I inhaled, and each caress of his fingers along my face, a groan escaped his mouth, and a moan vibrated out of mine.