Cruel Boundaries

by Michelle Horst

  “Like hell there is!” Daddy shouts jumping up. “You’re cousins! Family members don’t date each other!”

  Noah pushes away from the wall meeting Daddy in the middle of the room. “I’m adopted. She’s not my cousin.”

  Daddy rubs a hand over his face, clearly frustrated. “Justin, talk to your boy.”

  Uncle Justin gets up, and with all three of the men standing it’s making me nervous. The last thing I want is for our family to fight!

  “Son,” Uncle Justin says, “you’ve grown up as cousins, nothing can change that.”

  Noah glances at me, and I can’t let him stand there by himself, not when he’s fighting for us. I get up and go stand by him, and he quickly puts an arm around my shoulders, drawing me into his side.

  “Fuck,” Daddy curses, shoving his hand through his hair. “This is not right, Amy!”

  “Daddy, I never thought of Noah as my cousin. Noah and I …” I look up at him, finding strength in his deep green eyes, “we use to fight like cats and dogs.”

  “Exactly!” Daddy snaps. “How can you go from hating each other to loving each other in a blink of an eye?”

  “Uncle Garrett,” Noah lets go of me, and takes another step closer to Daddy. It’s way too close for my liking, “When did you realize you loved Aunt Kris? From what I understand she must’ve hated you, so when did it change?”

  I frown, not having a clue what they’re talking about now.

  Momma says, “I thought you didn’t want her to know, Noah.”

  “I still don’t want her to know, but I want you to remember what it felt like when you started loving Uncle Garrett. Was it something you could control or stop?”

  Momma shakes her head a small smile playing around her lips. “You’re right, Noah, there was no way I could stop those feelings.”

  “So you understand that there’s no way I can stop mine?” Noah asks Momma. “You understand that I love Amy and nothing will change that, don’t you?”

  I gasp and look up at Noah. “You love me?”

  He looks surprised that I’m asking. “Of course I love you, Princess. Why would you think any different?”

  “Because! She might not feel the same!” Daddy snaps.

  “Daddy!” I snap, for the first time growing angry with him. “I told Noah I loved him. He knows how I feel. Stop trying to stop us from being together!”

  Momma gets up and comes to stand beside Daddy. She takes his hand and once she has his attention she says. “You didn’t give me much of a choice, Garrett. You decided you wanted me and that was the end of it. You might have forgotten but I sure have not. If the kids love each other, and if they want to date, we are not going to stand in their way.”

  “But, Kris,” Daddy says, “this is not right, they are practically family!”

  “No buts, Garrett! There was nothing right about the way we met. And the fact that they are ‘family’ makes it even better, if you want to know the truth. We know Noah. We trust him. He is the best man for our daughter. Stop trying to stand in their way and be happy for them!”

  My eyes dart to Daddy and I whisper, “I love him, Daddy.”

  That seems to do the trick, because Daddy lets out a huff of air. “It doesn’t mean I have to like the idea of my angel dating,” he growls.

  I throw myself at him, hugging him tight. “You’ll never like the idea of me dating. You’ll always see me as your little angel, and that’s fine by me.”

  ~*~

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Noah~

  Everything is pretty much back to normal. I returned to work a week ago, and Amy is trying her hand at writing a book. She says it’s her way of dealing with all that happened. She’s writing it out of her system.

  I really hope it helps her heal.

  I’ve never had a problem initiating sex with a woman, but since that night Louisa forced us, I’ve been scared. I’m not sure what Amy’s reaction would be if I initiated sex.

  So, I’m lying in bed wide awake, with Amy next to me. I’m rock hard and there’s not much I can do about it.

  I listen to every breath Amy takes, wondering if I should take a chance and wake her, but then I decide not to.

  Amy lets out a deep sigh and turns her back to me. I hear her moving some more, expecting her to settle back, but she doesn’t. The movement becomes rhythmic and her breathing picks up.

  I turn on my side, moving closer to her. I place my hand on her arm and she goes riged. Can it be? Nooo, what would the odds be that she’s finger-fucking herself?

  She tries to pull her arm back, but I stop her and let my hand trail down her arm. I reach her wrist and then follow her hand into her panties.

  Oh, fuck, this is so hot!

  I press my hand flat on hers against her pussy. I press my dick to her ass and groan, “You’re so fucking hot. Keep your hand there.” I let go of her hand for the second it takes me to shove my boxers down. I move a little down and grabbing hold of her knee, I lift it over my thigh. I pull her down until my dick is pressing against her panty covered pussy. I move her panty to the side and then I’m skin to skin. “Fuck, I’ve been so hard for you.”

  I move my hand over her hip and then cover her hand again. I guide her hand down until she can feel me at her entrance. “Noah!” She breathes hard and it’s so satisfying knowing my girl needs me.

  I thrust into her and it’s an erotic feeling with our hands right there. Once I’m seated to the hilt, I guide her middle finger into her pussy, alongside mine.

  “Feel that, Princess?” my voice is hoarse as I keep our fingers inside her and then I pull my hips back, letting my dick slide out. I feel myself pull out and I know she’s feeling it by the way her breath catches.

  “Finger fuck yourself with my dick in you,” I whisper, pulling my hand a bit back so it’s just covering her hand. I thrust back in. Her finger right there is making her so much tighter.

  “Noah,” she gasps, “fuck I’m gonna come!” I press hard down on her hand as I thrust into her. Her hips start to do this sexy swiveling motion and then she’s clenching on me, her back arching with pleasure.

  She’s hardly done when she starts to sit out. I slip out of her not quite done yet. I watch her get on her knees and then she leans over me. My eyes widen and my lips part as her mouth closes over my dick. Her hand grips the base of my dick and she starts to suck me off.

  “I won’t last, Amy. Oh shit, I’m not going to last,” I groan the words out as pleasure sizzles up and down my spine. She sucks harder and it destroys all my self-control. I grab her hair and start to thrust into her hot mouth.

  She moves her hand down my balls and then she presses one finger to the muscle right there. A wave of pleasure overwhelms me, like I’ve never experienced before. “Ahh … fuck … yeah, right there!” I groan around the words as I thrust faster and she presses down harder on the muscle right under my sack.

  Her tongue swirls around the head of my dick and that’s all I need to come. My legs shake with the force of the orgasm.

  I watch Amy lift her head, wipe her mouth with the back of her hand and then she straddles me. She starts to rub her pussy against my semi-hard dick, and I’m surprised by how fast I harden for this woman.

  A smile graces her lips as she sinks down on me, and then she starts to ride me with a slow rhythmic thrust of her hips.

  This is different. This time there’s no hurry and I get to watch her slowly ride me. She lifts her arms and grabs hold of her hair. It makes her breasts thrust into the air. Such a perfect sight!

  She keeps the slow rhythm, her clit rubbing against the base of my dick. It’s so fucking sexy.

  “Ah …” the sound is filled with sex and lust, and then she starts to moan, “Ah … Noah, fuck me hard,” she begs as her body goes tight. I quickly flip her onto her back and slam my dick into her. Her back arches off the bed, and she presses her breasts into my chest.

  “Let your pussy suck me off, Princess,” I rasp the words between
breaths as I keep slamming into her. She keeps tensing around me and then I feel her pussy clench around me, sucking me in deep, and it makes me come, filling her.

  She pulls me down on top of her and whispers, “I want to feel you just for a moment longer.”

  I love this woman so much! I love her strength. I love her body. I especially love her pussy and the way she makes love to me. She’s my match in every way. There’s no fucking way I’m ever letting her go.

  I push myself up so I’m leaning over and then I press a kiss to her mouth. “I love you, Amy. Never doubt that I love you. You’re my life now.”

  ~*~

  ~*~

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Amy~

  I’m halfway with the book I’m writing. It’s not exactly a book, but more just me scribbling all my thoughts down. With every word I feel the pressure in me gets lighter.

  I close my laptop and grab my bag. I’m meeting Noah at my parents place. He’ll go there straight after work, so I’m heading over a bit early so I can catch up with Momma.

  When I walk in I yell, “Momma? Where are you?”

  She pops her head around the corner that leads to the kitchen, “In here, Angel. Come sit by me.”

  When I walk in, Momma’s busy loading a pie into the oven.

  “Yummy, that one’s mine right? Y’all have your own pie.”

  She laughs and it sounds good. With everything that’s happened I haven’t seen Momma smile much.

  She pours us each a glass of wine. “Don’t tell your dad,” she says as she hands me mine. I always sneak in a glass with her.

  “How are you feeling?” she asks, trying to get a peek at my back.

  I shrug away from her. “I’m fine, Momma. Don’t do that. It really doesn’t bother me that much anymore. Noah puts on that oil for me, so it will heal nicely.”

  She takes a sip of her wine and then asks, “So are you and Noah happy?

  I nod, and I can’t keep back the smile. “I love him. I love him so much. I really can’t imagine my life without him.”

  “I’m happy for you, Angel.”

  “Me too,” I whisper, really feeling happy, “Noah is the man for me.”

  Noah has become my everything. He’s super protective of me but I can understand why. I’m just as protective over him. We make the perfect couple, because we understand each other.

  I’ve taken his advice, about just being me, and being happy. I tell myself that’s all that matters every single day. Sometimes a doubt will crawl in, but Noah is quick to ease them away with constant reminders that he loves me.

  We are far from over what happened, and it will take some time still. All that matters is that I have Noah.

  ~*~

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Noah~

  It’s been one hell of a day. I’m leaving work when I find a woman leaning against my car. She looks so familiar, but I just can’t place her. She tucks some of her jet black hair behind her ear and pushes herself off of my car.

  “Can I help you?” I ask, in a hurry to get home to Amy. Tonight I’m proposing to her. I’m not waiting months. I want her in my life forever. I want her as my wife.

  “No, but I’m here to help you,” the woman says, her voice is much harsher than I expected. “I’m Bridget, but my friends call me Birdie.” She reaches her hand out to me and I just stare at it.

  “Look, I’m not-” I start to say but she cuts in.

  “I’m your sister.” She just says it, just like that. I stare at her, not sure I heard her right. “Actually, we’re twins.” That’s another shock.

  She looked familiar, because she looks like me. She has the same black hair, same green eyes. She is the female version of me. “I’m not looking for a huge brother-sister reunion. I’m just here to warn you that our father is being released from jail, and he will come looking for you.”

  “I don’t even know who he is! Why would he come looking for me? How did you find me?” This whole scenario is just too confusing.

  “He has his ways. In his last letter he said he’d be visiting you for money, seeing as he wasn’t getting any for me.”

  “This is all a bit sudden. How did you find me?” I ask again.

  A man walks up to us, his whole body and the way he holds himself screams danger. He reaches his hand out to me and then says, “I’m Cole. I’m a friend of your sister’s. I helped her track you down. It’s best you listen to her, we have a file on that asshole in the car. You can look through it so you know what to expect once he’s released. He is one fucked son-of-a-bitch that should never see the light of day, if you ask my opinion.”

  ~*~

  To be continued in Twisted Boundaries…

  See where it all ends with …

  Twisted Boundaries

  Prologue

  Birdie~

  There are different shades to black. There’s your normal black, then there is the kind where it’s so dark you see spots.

  It’s so dark you see things children shouldn’t see.

  It’s so dark you see the Bogeyman.

  It’s the one your daddy whispers about through the door. “Here comes the Bogeyman. The Bogeyman’s coming to get you.”

  It’s so dark you see fear in every speck of dust.

  And then you smell it when you wet yourself. You feel it when it gets cold, because you’re standing in your own pee, and there’s nothing you can do about it because you’re locked in the closet.

  You smell fear. You smell it in the stench around you when the hours become months.

  You taste the fear in your tears, you hear it when your stomach growls for food.

  The Bogeyman is real.

  The Bogeyman is my daddy.

  He only listens to one song. The man plays guitar, plucking the strings hard, as hard as the Bogeyman drinks. He sings about skeletons in the closet and the Bogeyman sings with him.

  “I’ve got a skeleton in the closet and she ain’t ever coming out,” he sings loud, but sometimes he’ll stand in front of the closet and he’ll whisper, those are the days I believe him. “I’ve got a skeleton in the closet and she ain’t ever coming out.”

  ~*~

  Chapter One

  Birdie~

  Living in Lyman, there’s not much to do on a Saturday night. Some of the seniors at my high school decided we should all get together at the lake. Our senior year is over and it’s just another excuse to make out, and get drunk. Reece and Link dragged my butt out here to the lake. The lake is the last thing I want to see, especially at night.

  Too much water and darkness: two things I fear with an ungodly fear.

  Facing only one of those at a time is terrifying enough, but both at the same time is so overwhelming.

  It has only been five years since I’ve moved to Lyman. Five years since I’ve stepped out of the darkness.

  I still can’t think of my life before Lyman, because I’m sucked right back to that horrible time. The anxiety builds slowly, taking on different shades black and pulling me under, until there’s nothing left of me but the skeleton, the terror.

  I was placed with Pastor Beasley and his family. That’s where I met Link. He’s a foster kid, as well.

  When we graduated Pastor Beasley told us life is full of pebbles. You pick up pebbles along the way; some might be smooth, some rough around the edges - it doesn’t matter what they look like – it only matters what you do with them. Pastor Beasley believes we all throw our pebbles into the same lake and the ripples we make affect the ripples of other people. Some people’s pebbles skid over the water and they have a smooth life. Other people’s pebbles sink, and they don’t get to live that long. Then there are those – like ours, he says we have to ride the ripples together and nudge each other ripples along, safely to the other side of the shore.

  I’m thinking about those words Pastor Beasley told me as Link drives us out to the lake.

  ~*~

  I’m staring at the fire some of the guys just made. I�
�m trying really hard to ignore the night creeping in around me, when Wyatt Holden comes and sits next to me. I wrap my arms tighter around myself, trying to make myself smaller than the five foot three inches I already am. I had a five inch growing spurt over the past three years, but the doctors said I will always be small, because of what happened. I’ll always have the scars, too.

  So when boys like Wyatt sits down next to me, I feel dwarfed. Wyatt is a year younger than me and he towers head and shoulders into the stars. He’s brother Aiden and cousin Cole are even taller, they’re a different kind of breed altogether.

  There’s something about the way they all carry themselves. Every girl is head over heels for a Holden brother, or Cole Trenton. Those boys just have that something that makes them stand out from a crowd. Then there’s Trend Mason, to round of the equation. Cole and Trend are best friends, every girl’s dream team.

  Cole is the one I spent my nights dreaming about. My stomach does this weird flip thing every time I see him. Maybe it’s because he’s the quiet one out of the four. His icy blue eyes have a way of looking right through you. They are the lightest shade of blue. I always avoid making eye contact with him. I’m scared of what he’ll see if he looks at me.

  I’ve had a crush on him since the first day he helped me open my locker. Our senior year has come to an end and there won’t be any more days were he can help me with my locker. My heart feels heavy as I stare at the flames licking at the darkness.

  ~*~

  So next to me sits Wyatt Holden, a boy that can have any girl’s attention. I’ve never talked to him. I just like to keep to myself. I’m scared someone will ask questions I can never answer, if I let them get close.

  “Hey, Birdie, you having fun?” he asks, surprising me that he knows my name.

  Tongue tied I can only sit stunned. A Holden brother is actually talking to me? I can feel him looking at me, but I just can’t bring myself to glance back at him. Being near one of the elite four makes my brain go into near shut down mode.