Castles Burning Part One

by Nicole Ryan

  “Were you a good girl while you were away baby?” Aden asked, pulling my hair gently from over my shoulder and planting a soft kiss on my neck, and I finally caught the shift in his voice.

  This is the man whom only I know behind closed doors. The man only I can satisfy fully, the only man who can satisfy me fully. He trailed his fingers with a feather light touch down my spine, and kissed my tailbone; caressing me again before landing two more hard pops, making me groan and arch my back, my toes curling.

  “Answer me sweet heart. Were you a good girl?” He purrs into my ear, between gritted teeth, sending goose bumps down my breasts, as he lifts my head from the bed with his fingers laced in my hair. Tingles dance across my nipples as they shift slightly against his coarse leg hairs from the movement.

  “No.” I breathed, barely audible.

  “No? What should we do about that?” He purred, nipping at my ear, licking it softly.

  “Whatever you want.” I was practically panting.

  With that said he grinned down at me and obliged, popping my bottom in a circular motion, starting on the top of my left cheek, then right. He pulled his fingers along my skin before popping the lower left portion of my bottom, and then the lower right. Only when my skin began to throb did I begin to feel whole again, normal again, my hands gripped the blanket, my hips grinding against Aden’s thick thigh muscles. As if reading my mind perfectly, Aden slid me off his lap and started to massage my bottom, pink and heated from the contact of his palms. He planted a soft kiss on each buttock before slithering up, his hands caressing my calves and squeezing the flesh all the way up my body to my shoulders, where he gently turned me to face him, settling between my legs.

  Cerulean eyes met mine and instantly I felt the magnetic pull, the need to have him fill me again, as I realized I missed him more than I even knew. Aden dipped his head to kiss me, first my lips, then my jaw and neck, resting his head on my chest for a moment before his warm lips found my nipple. I watched as he slithered his cool tongue across one, and then the other, his eyes never leaving mine, challenging me to move. It was like staring into the eyes of a cobra; held, mesmerized by the beauty and danger and the uncertainty of which side you might be charming.

  When I felt him pressing against me, my legs were nearly convulsing with longing, and as he pressed forward, stretching me, filling me deliciously I knew this was what I had been longing for, for so long. As Aden began to move lithely inside of me I felt the panic and anxiety melting and draining from every fiber of my body, as each thrust ignited vibrations of pleasure. I slid my hands up Aden’s arms, to feel each ripple of his muscles, and then took his face into my hands, I marveled at how beautiful he was.

  Aden’s hand came up to take the back of my neck into his hand, lifting me gently, with his other arm around my waist, and pulled me on top of him. I was now straddling him on the bed, sitting on his lap this way his face was just a bit below me, but very close. I could feel his hot breath hitting my throat, it sent chills down my breasts and I closed my eyes to revel in the sensation of his fullness this way.

  “Look at me. Don’t think about anything but me. Understand?” He ordered.

  “Yes.”

  “Yes what, baby?” He purred against my neck.

  “Yes, Aden.” I whispered as I twisted my fingers into his thick, curly black hair.

  “Good girl, I missed you so much. I don’t want you to ever be that far away from me again.”

  “I won’t. I promise, never.” I was really panting now, my eyes slid shut again.

  “Look at me baby.” Aden said as he took my jaw into his hand gently. “I want you to sit down on me all the way; I want to be all the way inside you.” His hand slid between my shoulders to press my breasts fully against his throat as he lifted his hips to press deeper inside me.

  Opening my eyes I let my knees which were on each side of his waist, slide open more, lowering myself an inch or two, I could hardly stand him after all this time.

  “Feel that baby?” He asked.

  I nodded, I felt his need to have complete possession of me, and it excited me, made me feel special, important.

  “I like watching the reaction in your big brown eyes when you take all of me.” He said, wiping stray hair away from my eyes. Nodding in response, not trusting myself to speak I lowered myself to the hilt, dragging my eyelids closed as my eyes rolled back in my head. “I love when you bite your lip. Look at me baby, open your eyes. Please.” He said, his hands were pulling at me madly.

  Deliberately opening my eyes for just a second and then closing them again, I wondered if my old tricks would still do the trick. I found myself wondering who he had been with these last two years. I didn’t want to think about the fact that Aden had likely slept with someone else, as I had, and I tried to push the thought away. My heart began thundering in my ears when he stopped moving under me and lifted me off of him. I sat back on my elbows and looked at him playfully.

  “Are you pushing my buttons baby?” Aden asked slowly, a lopsided grin spreading across his face. I nodded, licking my lips, trying to push the nagging question of WHO away.

  “Get on the floor.” He said, shifting his weight on the bed, and standing before me. I slowly slid from the bed, down to the thick carpeted floor.

  “Good girl, on your knees.” He ordered as he took some of my hair and let it fall through his fingers.

  Fuck….yes. I did as instructed and waited impatiently for the familiar scenario. Aden’s hand came to rest on top of my head.

  “Look at me baby; open your mouth for me.” He said, slowly stroking his erection. I looked up at him demurely through my full lashes, smiling inwardly at the gleam in his eyes as they danced and twinkled like only I had ever seen them do… maybe. Pushing the thought back I closed my eyes as Aden slid deep into my throat, like I had done so many times before, sucking from his base to his tip before opening my eyes again to meet his, seeking his approval, which I found displayed before me in his astonishing features. I didn’t realize I was digging my fingers into the tops of my thighs until Aden instructed me to put my hands behind my back.

  “Stand up baby, lean over the bed.” It was a perfect height for my hips to comfortably rest over the side, and take Aden from behind. “Are you ready?” He asked, licking his fingertips and dragging them along my folds, which were already wet with my excitement.

  He ginned wolfishly at me before sliding the tip of his penis along my lips, silky with longing for him, up and down the length of me torturously, before finally sinking into me. Waves of satisfaction began to ripple through me once again and when he started to move I felt drunk with lust, if not the alcohol.

  “How’s that baby?” Aden asked as he slowed his movement to a near agonizing pace. “Does this feel good?”

  “Yes.” I sighed, sinking further into the soft bedding, nuzzling my face on the soft flannel, while gripping it with my fingers. Aden brought his hands to my hips and lifted me slightly and rested his thick fingers against my clitoris, before picking up tempo, and adding pressure to each thrust. The friction of the force behind him combined with the pressure of his fingers sent me quickly over the edge, sweet warm honey running down my thighs as he found his own blissful release.

  ***

  Christie’s screams woke me up and I looked at the clock, it was almost ten in the morning. I scrambled into my sweats and tank top, and as I was running out of the room I nearly collided with Aden. I wondered briefly why he wasn’t still in bed with me, before the screams peeled out at the other side of the house again.

  “Christie?” I cried out, as Aden and I entered the great room, Alex came in from the patio with a nearly finished cigarette and leapt over the couch toward their bedroom with a puzzled look on his face. After throwing the door open, I did a quick scan of the room before we found Christie huddled in a corner screaming, blood all over her hands. She was holding her stomach, and rocking back and forth as she stared at the blood, shaking her head.


  “No…” I whispered as I rushed to the bathroom to get a towel, “Christie why did you do this again?” I demanded from the bathroom.

  When I returned with the towel, I saw Aden, staring puzzled at Alex, who was slumped in a chair and had covered his face with his hands. I lifted Christie’s arms which were wrapped around her abdomen, to inspect the damage. I wrapped the towel around her left arm, which luckily had only one long thin cut; the bleeding had already begun to slow.

  “I’m sorry Amber, I’m sorry.” Christie sobbed before crumpling into my lap.

  “What the fuck is going on?” I asked Alex, who pulled his face down with his hands and pinched his eyes before motioning with his head to go out of the room. A quick inspection of Christie left me confident that the bleeding had stopped, and I peeled some of the towel away to be sure. The cut was much thinner than I originally thought, it was hardly bleeding now. Covering it again just to be on the safe side I kissed Christie’s cheek before standing and following the boys out of the room.

  Aden and Alex were already outside, I watched them through the glass for a moment, Alex was smoking a cigarette and Aden was listening intently as Alex told him something. I stepped out onto the deck and went to sit in one of the chairs, the soreness on my bottom suddenly made an appearance as I sat, it was worse than expected so I decided to lean against the table instead. I caught a chuckle from Aden as I did so; I winked at him before crossing my arms over my breasts and looking back at Alex.

  “Give me one of those cigarettes.” I said to Alex, holding my hand out toward him, he handed me the one he’d just lit before lighting another for himself and taking a deep drag. He scratched his head as he released the smoke, and stared out toward the lake.

  “Her mother called about a month ago.” He said, taking another drag from his cigarette, he held it pinched in his cup hand, like someone straight out of the do-wop era. “They released him.”

  “You have got to be kidding me.” I expected my jaw to hit the floor.

  “This last month has been really hard for her, I’ve stayed at your guys place countless times when her grandmother was out, and even sometimes when she’s home. Christie doesn’t feel safe, she doesn’t even sleep.”

  “I can’t believe this! How is this even possible?” I demanded.

  “I don’t know.” He shook his head and slowly released a swirl of smoke, it slid out of his nostrils as he stared out at the lake, something I couldn’t put my finger on lingered in his eyes. He looked almost hurt, or maybe fearful.

  “What do they expect Christie to do?” I asked softly.

  Alex shook his head in confusion. “I don’t know, none of us know anything. Except that he is out.”

  “This is such bull shit!” I cried, flicking the ash from my cigarette violently.

  “They never found him guilty of the murder. They don’t have any reason to believe that Christie is in any kind of danger.” Aden offered.

  Almost three years ago Christie’s fraternal twin, who had pretty brown hair and brown eyes, had been viciously attacked while jogging. Her head had been bashed against the concrete so hard that she’d been pronounced dead when the paramedics arrived.

  After taking one more drag off my cigarette and then putting it out, I made my way back into the house to start some coffee. The boys stayed outside behind me, but I needed some space to think about all of this. The day was cold and proving to be cloudy, the air smelled of rain and I wondered what we could do all day when fishing was obviously not going to be much fun.

  Christie made her way from the bedroom to the kitchen and I handed her a coffee cup as she shuffled to a bar stool. I looked through the cabinets and fridge at the things we’d brought along. Making a quick assessment, I decided to put out some meat to defrost, and soak some beans to make burritos for the night. We could send the boys off to town to get some ice and make margaritas and have chips and salsa. These were all Christie’s favorite things, and I knew she would be cheered up by the evening’s festivities.

  As the boys came in from the patio I filled Christie’s cup with more coffee and poured my own, “Hey will you guys go to town and get some ice? I want to make margaritas tonight.”

  “Yeah we can go now if you want.” Alex said, noticeably less shaken. Christie didn’t meet his gaze, though I could see he longed for it, he stared at her intently as she nursed her coffee. After a moment he swallowed, and I watched as his jaw clench as he ripped his coat from the stand beside the door and dashed out.

  “Sure. Drive safe looks like rain.” I said my eyes on the door. “Is he okay?” I asked quietly.

  “He will be. I love you.” Aden said as he planted a kiss on my temple before heading out the door.

  Christie sipped her coffee and gazed at me over her cup.

  “He didn’t sleep with me last night.” I said finally, after the door closed softly behind them.

  “Sure sounded like he did.” She quipped with a wink. I was glad to see her out of her funk, I snapped her with the dish towel before hanging it back up and putting in a bagel to toast.

  “We had sex, and went to bed together, but this morning, he was in his room.”

  “Weird.” Christie said simply before sipping her hot coffee.

  “Weird? That’s it? That’s all you can offer?”

  “Well what do you want to know? I know you’ve got something else on your mind, I can tell. Stop beating around the bush and ask.” She said plainly.

  “Did he have a girlfriend while I was in Chicago?” I looked at the toaster while I waited for her answer.

  “No, not that I know of, there were some rumors about him and a girl he was in school with, but she moved back to California after they got their certificates. Why?”

  “He’s different, sort of. I just keep wondering who he dated while we were on a break.”

  “You’ve been gone for two years Amber. You barely called anyone or even let us know you were alive until a month before you came back. Aside from a couple visits.”

  “I know, but it was hard being there alone, not having any friends or family and when I called you guys it just depressed me, so I just surrounded myself with friends who were there.”

  “And boys.” She grinned.

  “Ugh. Don’t remind me.”

  “Oh it couldn’t have been that bad. You gave him your flower after all.” Christie teased in her most innocent voice, fluttering her eye lashes.

  “Ha! Only because I was lonely and needed a distraction.”

  Christie erupted in genuine laughter and I immediately felt the tension melt from the room. “You know what? Alex walked in on Aden in the bathroom one time shortly after they started to room together, and he told me he had no idea God was so cruel to him until that moment.” She said as she pointed to her groin with her finger.

  Laughing at the image of poor Alex walking in on Aden, I put a bowl of fresh strawberries on the table and grabbed a container of yogurt from the fridge, and two spoons from the drawer.

  “Want to share?” I asked Christie.

  “Sure, I’m starving. I’m serious though Amber, I don’t know how you can handle that. The big ones hurt!”

  “I know.” I replied with a wink.

  “You are so crazy.” She laughed.

  “I love it, what can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment I guess.” I shrugged and winked.

  “That you are.” She laughed.

  “So what’s new with you and Alex, are things getting serious?” I asked as I scooped a strawberry through the yogurt.

  “I think so. We went and looked at engagement rings a couple months ago, so I’ve been waiting on pins and needles for him to ask, but he hasn’t. Maybe when my disorder came back it frightened him off.” I put my hand over hers.

  “You and Alex have been together for over two and a half years, he knows your disorder inside and out and it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference in his love for you, you know that.” She nodded and smiled through her tears at me, her p
retty green eyes shimmering with hope and excitement.

  “I know I can get it under control again Amber, this is only the second time since… well, since I got the call.”

  “Good. I’m so proud of you!”

  We finished up our breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen and great room while the boys were in town. When they came back through the door, they were singing idiotically and presented us with flowers and chocolate.

  The boys and I spent the rest of the day talking about the situation and reassuring Christie that I would be living with her and her grandmother now, which seemed to make her more comfortable with the idea of going back home, but obviously didn’t remove her fear of the situation.

  Later that night, after dinner, we settled in the great room to relax and have drinks while the rain came in a downpour. Christie’s arm looked excellent and I was confident now that she had not cut herself very deep at all, she sat down next to me on the couch and I kissed her freckle sprinkled arm before entwining our fingers.

  “Feeling better?” I asked her as Alex handed me a margarita, Aden put on the stereo system and came to sit next to me.

  “Yes, much better.” She said as she watched Aden sit behind me and curl me into his arms.

  “So good.” I told her and kissed the side of her mouth softly. When I leaned away her eyes were closed still, and when they opened their dazzling green made her pretty red hair seem like fire framing her face. “I missed you while I was gone too.” I told her.