Through the Dark

by Riley Ashby

  “I love you, Ellie.”

  I froze. Was he being serious? The intensity in his eyes drove home his point.

  “I knew we were meant to be. I’ve wanted you for years and held back because you were too young, or too vulnerable, but you’re here now. I have you.” He licked his lips, wiping at the hair stuck to my face. “You don’t have to say it back. I won’t be upset. But I needed you to know.”

  I could only stare at him in shock. He loved me? I wanted to echo back the sentiment, but despite the progress we’d made today, the past still weighed on my heart. It was too much.

  Rhys wrapped me in his arms. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dropped that on you.”

  “It’s okay,” I whispered, trembling with this new knowledge. “I just don’t know what to say.”

  “Then don’t say anything.” He lifted me and placed me on the mattress, then covered me with the comforter before sliding in beside me. “Just be here with me. I’ve spent so many nights wishing you were here so I could kiss you good night and wake you in the morning. That’s all I need for now.”

  I smiled at him. “I can do that for sure.”

  “Good girl.” He pressed a light peck to my lips. “Do you need anything? Water? Food?”

  “I’m good.” I snuggled into his chest. “You won’t leave?”

  He kissed the top of my head. The promise in his next words echoed across the years that had driven us apart. “Never again, baby. I’m here to stay.”

  *

  I twisted my fingers nervously as Carson’s car pulled into the driveway, and my mom emerged a moment later looking even more sun kissed than usual.

  “It’ll be fine.” Rhys came up behind me and wrapped one arm around my waist, planting a kiss on the top of my head. “We’re adults. And despite what you think about your mother, she’s a reasonable person.”

  My heart was thudding against my ribcage so hard I thought it would fly out of my chest. I tilted my head back to look at him. “I don’t want anything to undo the progress she and I have made with her these past few weeks.”

  “Just relax.” He spun me in his arms and I linked my arms around his neck. “She’ll be happy for us. She’s always talking about finding you a nice man to take care of you, and about me settling down and starting a family. Her sentiments won’t change just because we found that in each other.”

  I grinned out of one side of my mouth. “Starting a family, eh?” I pressed up onto my toes so we were eye level. “You’re moving right along without me.”

  “Oh, you’re coming.” He picked me up and set me on the counter, his hands on my knees. “I’m breaking you down slowly. I had you in my bed all week, didn’t I?”

  He was right. I hadn’t come back to the house except for new clothes. All the food I’d bought for the week had gone bad while I lived off his stash, waking every morning to breakfast in bed and closing out each evening with a gourmet meal, perfectly paired with delicious wine.

  My breath caught as his hands traveled up my legs. I squirmed a little under his touch, my skin growing hot. I leaned forward to hold my lips an inch from his. “Maybe I should play a little harder to get.”

  “Fourteen years wasn’t playing hard to get?”

  I laughed and closed the final distance, falling against him and letting our lips come together. There was nothing soft or gentle about the way Rhys kissed me; his hand went to the back of my neck as our tongues met in earnest. I moaned and grabbed his shirt—he had such a way of getting to me.

  We jerked apart at a clatter and a gasp; turning, I pulled even farther away from Rhys as I met my mother’s eyes across the kitchen, her bag in a pile on the floor.

  “Mom—” I started, but Carson clapped his hands over his chest and started laughing hysterically. I frowned.

  “I told you,” Carson said between gasps, and my mom grumbled as she picked up her bag and yanked out her wallet.

  “Couldn’t you have held out for one more month, Elle?” she asked good-naturedly as handed a fifty dollar bill to her new husband. “I told Carson you wouldn’t give into him until you started school again.”

  I looked over at Rhys, who was smiling bemusedly at his parents. “What are you talking about?”

  “We had a bet,” Carson said as he put away the money from my mom—his money anyway, since she didn’t work. “I’ve been saying for years Rhys would win you over eventually. We wondered why he waited so long.”

  Rhys rubbed his hair. “Um, child predator laws?”

  Mom pointed at him. “I appreciate that, thank you.”

  “Oh my God.” I buried my face in my hands. “This is somehow worse than what I was expecting.”

  Mom laughed as she walked over to me and wrapped me in a hug. “It’s fine, sweetie. Just try to keep it quiet now we’re home.”

  “Oh my GOD.” I squirmed out of her grasp and hopped off the counter. “I’m going out to the pool. Please don’t talk to me for two hours, minimum.”

  Rhys was no help, laughing with his dad off to the side as I escaped into the late afternoon sunshine. I fell into a chair near the pool and tried to read, but couldn’t focus on anything. After a few minutes, Rhys sat next to me.

  “I’m mad at you,” I said, staring at my book, but he rolled to the side and leaned across the gap between our chairs.

  “What did I say? Everything went fine.”

  “I wouldn’t call that fine.”

  He shrugged and knocked my book away. “They’re totally on board. You can stay over every night and we don’t have to worry about pissing them off.”

  I raised one eyebrow. “You think I’m going to be staying with you every night?”

  He gave me that lopsided grin once more. “If you don’t, I’ll carry you over my shoulder.”

  “Such a caveman.” I matched his grin and ran a couple of fingers up his arm. “I like it.”

  “Do you now?” In one smooth movement, he pulled me to my feet as he stood and dragged me back to his house. “Let’s find out what else you like.”

  Looking over my shoulder, I met the eyes of my mother staring at us from the kitchen. She grinned and winked, causing my face to flush just as Rhys pulled me into his house and shut the door behind him.

  Chapter 10

  Rhys

  The summer passed too quickly, but she was by my side the entire time. Every day we made progress on healing the animosity littering our past. I apologized for slights she herself had forgotten, but I had to make sure everything was addressed. She was the most important person in my life, had been for a long time, and I’d spent too long mulling over every time I’d purposefully hurt her feelings, or ruined her day, all because I couldn’t stand to see her happy when it wasn’t with me. I set my days to make hers better, picking her up when she had a bad day at work or taking a long lunch if she wanted to see me. And of course, it meant giving her space when she wanted it. Letting her sleep in her own bed if she craved alone time. I’d sneak into the house long after everyone else went to bed and sleep on the couch, just to be a little closer in case she changed her mind or danger presented itself. Once, in the early morning hours, I woke slightly as she laid beside me, nudging my body closer to the back of the couch to make room for her along my side.

  Two days before she started her master’s program, she was making me breakfast one morning. Or rather, attempting to, having never learned to cook very well for herself after years of living in dorm rooms or with her mother to cook for her.

  “Now add the milk,” I instructed as she stirred the scrambled eggs.

  She bit her lip. “I know how to do it.” She tilted the milk jug forward, dumping twice as much liquid as was needed into the pan. She looked at me sheepishly. I couldn’t help my laugh.

  “Let me help.” I took the pan from her and tilted some of the milk into the sink before returning it to the stove. She snatched the spatula from my hand and resumed stirring. In a minute, the eggs had firmed up and were looking much fluffier. “N
ow for the best part.”

  “Cheese!” She danced a little in place as I dumped half a bag of cheddar on top of the eggs. She folded half of the eggs on top of the others and flipped off the heat to let it melt. When she looked at me next, she was beaming. “I’m a chef!”

  “Slow down there, Gordon Ramsay. It’s just scrambled eggs. You should have been able to figure this out long before now.” I picked her up and set her on the counter and turned to pull some plates down from the cabinet.

  “I like having people cook for me! That’s no crime.”

  “Well, now you can feed yourself when I’m not around to do it.” I divided the eggs between our plates and we set about eating, her sitting on the counter and me standing in front of her. We were both ravenous after another late night in each other’s arms, and ate quickly. “These are tasty! You did a good job.”

  “Well, like you said, it’s just eggs. We’ll see how I do with the tofu next time.”

  I laughed as I took her plate and set it in the sink along with mine. “Tofu’s even easier; no egg shells to deal with.” We’d had to fish a few shell fragments out of the eggs before adding them to the pan. How someone made it to twenty-two without ever having learned to crack an egg was beyond me. Returning to her side, I wrapped my arms around her waist and tugged her a little closer to me, so her knees had to part to wrap around my hips.

  One hand on my shoulder, she traced another finger down the center of my chest, skipping across the gray fabric of my T-shirt. “I came to a realization last night,” she said quietly.

  I frowned. What could she mean? She sounded almost afraid. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

  She shook her head. “No. It’s just…” She bit her lip and looked up at me. “I realized … I love you.”

  I couldn’t move for five full seconds, trying to absorb the words. But then I snapped, wrapping her up and pulling her off the counter, spinning around as she grabbed my shoulders and held on for dear life.

  “Rhys, stop!” She laughed. “You’re going to drop me!”

  “Nope.” I stopped spinning long enough to kiss her, then dropped her to the ground and grabbed her hand. “Put on shoes. I have something to show you.”

  “Huh?”

  I dragged her to the door and stepped into my sandals. “It’s a surprise. I wasn’t sure how to do it yet, but I do now. Come with me.”

  We ran across the lawn to the garage and loaded into my car, peeling out of the driveway and onto the road. She peppered me with questions as we drove, but I refused to answer. I just held onto her hand and looked at her every chance I got, wide grin splitting my face like an idiot. “Tell me again.”

  She flushed a deep red. “You’re being weird.”

  “Just say it. Please?”

  She leaned across the console and bit my earlobe. “I love you,” she whispered. I turned my head to catch her lips, keeping my eyes on the road.

  “We’re almost there.”

  “Are we going to campus?” She squinted at the familiar streets and buildings as I took the direction to where she’d be teaching and taking classes in a couple of days.

  “Not quite that far,” I said as I turned into a sleepy little neighborhood, then into the driveway of a two-story brick house. Her eyes widened as she turned her head to look at me.

  “You didn’t…”

  “I did.” Turning the key, I jumped out of the car and ran over to the passenger side, extending my hand to help her step down from the car. “Signed this weekend. That’s where I was while you were shopping with your mom.”

  She jumped into my arms again, squealing like a little girl. “I can’t believe it, and so close to campus! I can visit you between classes!”

  “I want you to do more than visit.” Stopping at the front door, I maneuvered a little to unlock the door while still holding on to her, not setting her down until we crossed the threshold. “I want you to move in with me.”

  I held my breath, waiting for her hesitation like she did when I first said I loved her, but there was none of that this time. Impossibly, she broke into an even wider smile. “Are you asking?”

  “Not really.”

  “Then it seems like I don’t have a choice.” She pushed up on her toes to kiss me, fists gripping my shirt as she pulled me down to her. “I never really did when it came to you.”

  “It was always going to be like this.” God, I loved this woman so fucking much. Would she ever stop surprising me? “We were always meant to be together.”

  “Isn’t that the truth.” She sank back to her heels and looked around the house, hands still wrapped in my clothing. “Can you show me around?”

  “Hell yeah,” I said, and she giggled as I scooped her up once more. “Let’s start with the master bedroom. Prepare for rug burn, Ellie, because I’m not waiting another second to have you in our new home.”

  Epilogue

  Three years after I gave away my heart to the man who had been my bully, became my step-brother, and transformed into my best friend, I walked across the stage to accept my Master's degree in Psychology. I had a job lined up at an eating disorder clinic, I lived in a beautiful house with the love of my life, and my relationship with my mother was thriving. There was no doubt in my mind that choosing to move in with my mom that summer had been the best decision I ever made. It led to me reconnecting with her, falling in love with Rhys, and coming into myself.

  I had allowed so much to hold me back ever since my parents divorced, leading to some truly shameful behavior. But with Rhys' patience—and occasional spanking—I finally felt like the person I was meant to be. Someone who loved her whole life, not just parts of it. Who reveled in her friendships and relationships, who had a good job in a field she loved, who woke up every morning excited to face the day.

  Mom, Carson, my dad, and Rhys were all present to see me graduate. We took a photo together afterward, all five of us. It turned out that once I let go of the animosity I held toward my mom, it was easier for her and Dad to get along too. She hadn't been taking his alimony for years, funneling it instead into my college fund and a nest egg to help keep me afloat if I ever lost my job. She was nowhere near the monster I had made her out to be.

  We went to dinner afterward and late and laughed for hours, before Rhys finally hustled me out to his car and home. He'd traded in his Range Rover for a Tesla, arguing that I needed something closer to the ground so that he didn't have to help me in and out of the car, but he still rushed to offer me his hand everywhere we went. My little old Civic was long gone, replaced by a beautiful new one with all the bells and whistles and that told me long before I needed any kind of maintenance.

  “I had to get you out of there,” he said. "I was afraid you were going to nod off before I could get you into bed."

  I tried to suppress a yawn. "It has been a long day."

  "Just let me take care of you," he said, kissing my knuckles while he steered with one hand, eyes always on the road. "A day like this deserves to end with a bang."

  My jaw dropped. "Did you just make a dad joke?"

  He couldn't hide his smile. "I've been saving that one up for weeks."

  "You are incorrigible, Rhys Williams."

  "Does incorrigible mean unfuckable? Because if not, I don't really care."

  The car pulled silently into the garage, and I hopped out before he could run around to assist me. "Wait downstairs," I commanded. "I have a surprise for you."

  "For me?" He squeezed my ass as he followed me into the house. Even three years later he couldn't keep his hands off me. If anything, he'd gotten even worse about it. "Today is supposed to be about you."

  "Deal with it, Williams!" I shed my clothing as I ran up the stairs and down the hall to our bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes for him to follow when he came up. Digging through my underwear drawer, I pulled out the lingerie I'd been hiding for the past couple of weeks in preparation for this night. I stepped into the thong, then pulled the top over my head, letting th
e fabric flow around my belly.

  "All this for me?"

  I whirled to find Rhys leaning against the door frame, grinning that same lopsided grin. I folded my arms and stamped my foot. It always turned him on when I acted like a brat. "You were supposed to wait!"

  "You know I have horrible patience." He stalked toward me, slowly loosening his tie, but leaving the knot intact. When he finally met me next to the bed, I extended my arms, wrists together, and he cinched the tie around them like a leash. "That's better." He yanked me toward him and kissed me. "Now, let's take a look at you."

  He held my hands up and I twirled in place, showing off my pink thong covered in blue bows, the pink bra covered with blue tulle that flowed around my body. "It's called a babydoll."

  "Oh, I know what it's called. Makes me wish you'd been naughty today so I could smack your ass in it."

  I giggled. "Do you like the colors?"

  He held me at arm's length and studied me a little closer. "Kind of looks like nursery colors."

  "Yep." I twisted my hands to grab the tie and yank him toward me, pushing my hips forward so he could feel my belly. "Do you have a preference on which one you'd like?"

  It was his turn to gape at me, his breath coming a little too fast. "What are you saying?"

  Stepping back just enough that I could place both our hands on my stomach, I bit my lip, then whispered, "You're going to be a Daddy."

  He pulled me to him, somehow freeing my hands so that I could embrace him back, burying his face in my hair as he cried. "You're serious? This isn't a joke?" My hair muffled his voice.

  "I'd never joke about this, baby. We're going to have a little boy or girl soon."

  I wiped the tears from his face as he finally pulled back to look at me, then swooped in to kiss me fiercer than he ever had in his life. Harder than he had when I said I loved him. More passionately than when I'd agreed to move in. I found myself moved to tears by his exuberance, his utter glee at the news.