by Craft, Lana
Eden sighed in defeat and eyed the TV across from her bed. It was on mute but when a picture of her flashed across the screen, she reached for the remote and adjusted the volume.
“Bullshit,” Eden whispered, cringing as pictures of her filled the screen, a collage of every look she had ever tried and failed. At one point her hair had even been pink. How had she ever thought that was a good idea?
“Former child star Eden Winters was admitted into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center last night after an apparent drug overdose. This occurred just days after Eden was arrested for driving the wrong way on Interstate 5. Our sources indicate that suicide could have been a factor. More information will be made available as it comes in.”
Eden rolled her eyes at the attractive news anchor on the screen. The gleaming smile on her face hardly matched the words leaving her mouth. Suicide? As usual, the press managed to get everything wrong, but Eden had to admire them for trying.
When the men reentered the room, Eden sighed and shut off the TV. “What’s going on?” she asked again, feeling a lump surface in her throat. "Look, you have to tell me who he is,” she continued, narrowing her eyes at Dr. Odom. “I have rights you know.”
“Eden,” Dr. Odom responded, looking over at Trent as he attempted to frame his response. “You should know that temporary memory loss is quite normal in situations like this—”
Eden smacked her lips. Not this again. What he was insinuating didn’t make any sense. None of this made any sense.
“I'll give you two a minute,” Dr. Odom finished, nodding at Eden and Trent before exiting the room.
“Wait!” Eden called after him, sitting up. This was truly unbelievable. “Come back! You can’t just leave me alone with him! Do you have any idea who I even am? I—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Trent took a step forward and held up his hands to indicate that he didn’t mean any harm.
“Stop right there!” Eden choked out, looking around in a frantic search for something she could use to defend herself with. “I don’t know who you think you are, but I don't know you. Please...just leave."
Trent ignored her and took a seat in the chair beside her bed, lighting up a cigarette despite the presence of the bright red ‘no smoking’ sign plastered to the wall across from him.
Eden was livid. That level of nonchalance was the last straw.
“Look, just tell me who you are,” she insisted, keeping her eyes trained on his as he pushed open a window and blew a thin ring of smoke out into the night.
“Didn't you hear?” Trent teased, his blue eyes shining against hers. “I’m your knight in shining leather.”
Eden started to tell him that she didn’t find his weak attempt at humor funny, but something in his expression stopped her before she could. He wasn't just another crazed fan looking to cash in on his five minutes of fame.
He was the man who saved her life.
But that still didn’t explain how he had managed to fool anyone into thinking he was her fiancé. Eden cringed. She could only imagine what the tabloids would do when they got their hands on that bit of information.
“Mind if I bum one?” she spoke up, changing the subject and nodding at the pack of cigarettes in Trent’s hands. It was obvious that she wasn't going to get any answers out of him. Her entire body ached and she figured the nicotine would at least help a bit with numbing things.
Trent raised an eyebrow and snickered. “I'm not sure that’s such a good idea,” he said, rubbing his jaw. “You know, all things considered.”
“Excuse me?” Eden countered. Here he was breaking the rules himself and he had the nerve to pass judgment on her? “You’re kidding right?”
Trent shook his head in disapproval but pulled out one for her anyway, lighting it with the end of his own before handing it over to her.
“So,” Eden managed, licking her lips. “I’m guessing you’re Trent, then?” His name rolled off her tongue with ease and he smiled, flicking the butt of his cigarette out the window before closing it.
“Thanks,” she said. “You know, for what you did,” she continued, genuinely meaning it. “But what’s with the fiancé thing? No offense but that’s just creepy as hell.”
Trent ran a hand over his jaw and scratched his head. The truth was, he hadn’t come prepared with any answers for her.
He was simply acting out of instinct.
Chapter eight
Shortly after Eden fell back into a morphine induced slumber, Trent saw himself out of the hospital and returned to the small apartment he shared with his brother, forcing a few stragglers who had come from the party on their way. He needed some time to digest everything that transpired.
Alone.
“You going to be okay man?” Miles spoke up from behind him.
Trent turned to face him. His face was swollen and purple and he was slouching more than usual. Probably another bar fight, Trent figured. After all...he hadn't gotten the reputation of being a mean drunk from out of nowhere.
“Yeah,” Trent said, collapsing on his bed as Miles lingered in his doorway. “I'm just gonna hit the sack for awhile. It's been a crazy night."
Miles nodded and turned to leave, but something seemed to occur to him and he hesitated with a foot in the hall. “Hey,” he spoke up, turning back around. “That girl back at the clubhouse. The one who got all fucked up. Did you uh...did you know her?”
There was something off about this tone but Trent didn't have the energy to read too much into it. “Nah,” he responded, stretching his arms. “She was just a crow eater. You know how it goes.”
Miles started to say something else but he seemed to think better of it in mid sentence. Trent listened to him walk off and exhaled a deep breath, taking a seat at his desk.
Before he knew what he was doing, he pulled up Google on his computer and searched Eden's name. He had assumed it would be just another shot in the dark, but he was taken aback when dozens of results filled his screen. He spent the rest of the night clicking through each link, reading every bit of information he could find on the young woman who had come so close to losing her life just a few hours prior.
It was all there. Her upbringing or lack of one. Her fall from grace. And her illicit climb back up the ladder. Trent read about every scandal and every “bad boy” she was ever linked to. He read about how her career began to fizzle out when she was no longer quite as young and cute as she once was, and how just as her bank account began to run dry, she was offered a porn deal by a company with a reputation for turning out former child stars.
The weirdest part of all, though, was that with each piece of information he learned about her, Trent felt like he knew her even less.
None of this stuff mattered. It was all just a smokescreen. If he really wanted to know her, he'd have to put in work, and whether he liked it or not...he knew it would continue to eat away at him if he didn’t.
Without another thought, Trent grabbed his keys and stuffed them in his pocket, pulling off his t-shirt and tossing it into the overflowing hamper beside his bed. After cleaning himself up, he exited his apartment just as the sun was coming up and glanced down at his watch.
The mall opened in an hour. It was never a place Trent would voluntarily go but if he knew anything about women, and he liked to think that he did, it was that gifts were the easiest way to siphon the truth out of them.
After scouring through dozens of clothing racks with the assistance of a teenage sales attendant, Trent walked out of Macy’s with an outfit he thought Eden would find suitable. Even if she didn't love it, he figure it was at least better than the hospital gown she was currently wearing.
Trent was halfway back to the hospital when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled off onto the shoulder of the road and came to an abrupt stop as dirt and gravel flew around him. His phone alerted him to a missed call and a voicemail and he slid it open, pressing play on the voicemail.
It was Miles and he sounded frantic, something he s
eldom ever was. “Trent…it’s me,” he spoke up. “Look, I really need to talk to you. Call me back as soon as you get this.”
Trent frowned, pressing redial as a heavy lump formed in the base of his throat. Miles picked up on the first ring. "Trent,” he said, talking in a low voice. “You alone?”
Trent looked around, kicking at a patch of lifted dirt. “Uh...yeah,” he replied, leaning back against his bike. “Why man? What's going on?”
The other end of the line was silent aside from the sound of Miles' rapid and uneven breathing. “Look,” he said, keeping his voice low. “I need you to get down to dads old place as soon as possible. I can’t explain right now, just get there fast. And Trent...bring the girl, okay? I don’t care what you have to do...just bring her. It's important.”
“Wait,” Trent interrupted. If he wasn’t worried before, he sure as hell was now. “Slow down man. You’re not making any sense. Just tell me what the hell is going on so I can—” but before he could finish his sentence, the call dropped and when he tried to call back, Miles' phone went straight to voicemail.
Trent paced alongside the road as a few cars drifted past him. He had never heard Miles sound so shook up about anything. This was the last thing he needed on his plate right now, but his brother was his brother and he wasn’t about to leave him high and dry. Before he could talk himself out of it, he straddled his bike and pulled onto the empty stretch of road ahead. He didn't think about how he would explain this to her. He didn’t think about anything.
He simply drove.
Chapter nine
24 hours prior…
The sweet aroma of sex filled Eden’s nostrils as she kissed her way up Miles' tattooed flesh, swirling her tongue around the faded cobra on his bicep. As she ground above him, moving her hips in time with his, she told herself the same thing she always did.
That this would just be a quick fuck. In and out. By the time it was over, she'd get what she came for and they'd part ways the way they always did.
Of course...it came as no surprise when two hours later, their bodies were still sweaty and entangled. Eden simply couldn’t handle herself when she was with him. For all his shortcomings, Miles fucked like a wild animal in heat. He was hung like a stallion and had the stamina of three.
Unlike all the other drugs Eden lost herself in, one hit of him was never enough. Each time that he fucked her she swore it would be the last time, but it never was.
Eden studied their bodies in the mirror above Miles' bed as he pounded into her, bringing her closer and closer to her third orgasm of the night. His ass was all muscle and flexed as he moved, making each and every thrust count.
“Fuck!” Eden panted, tensing beneath him. She simply couldn't control the vulgarities that spewed from her mouth every time he pounded into her the way he was now. For those all-too brief moments in time, he made her feel as though she was his only concern in the entire world. It didn't matter that he didn't think about her at all outside of these weekly meetings, nor did she about him.
As Eden was pushed closer and closer to her orgasm, she turned and caught a glimpse of the tiny white bag that awaited her on his dresser. She couldn't wait any longer. As good as this was, she had come here for a reason.
“Miles,” Eden mumbled, trying her best to shift from beneath him. “I...I should go.”
But Miles wouldn’t relent. Eden's knees buckled beneath her as he ignored her high-pitched protests, grabbing hold of her breasts and trailing wet kisses down her neck. The meaty head of his cock pushed flush against her ass, begging for entrance into her most delicate opening.
Eden closed her eyes in anticipation of what she knew would come. Miles never asked to have her this way. All verbal communication between them had dissipated long ago, and in its place, something far more carnal had surfaced. These days, he simply took action, not giving her any opportunity to resist him. “Come on,” he teased, his breath heavy on her neck as he grabbed hold of her hips. “You know you want it.”
Eden exhaled a deep sigh. She could hear people moving around on the other side of the wall, losing themselves in the music pouring from a sound system in the front of the clubhouse, but the party going on out there was the last thing on either one of their minds.
As Miles grabbed Eden by the throat and shoved his stiff cock deep inside her ass, she buried her head in the pillows beneath her, trying her best to stifle the intensity of her moans. “Oh fuck!” she gasped, tensing as his skilled fingers found their way inside her dripping slit.
Miles went to work on penetrating both of Eden’s holes as she moaned beneath him, gripping hold of the headboard for support and bracing through the pain as he brought his palm down roughly against her ass.
As he tightened his grip on her hips, he continued to violently slam into her, forming a rhythm in time with her soft whimpers. As his pleasure overcame him, he pushed her even further forwards, remaining deep inside her as he delivered one firm slap after the next to her supple ass cheeks.
Eden had learned the hard way that there was something about anal sex that turned him into a rabid animal in bed. Sometimes he was capable of being sweet and passionate, but as soon as he slid into her ass it was like a flip would get switched and an entirely different person would step forward. Someone far more degrading.
As Eden lost herself under the intense weight of Miles' thrusts, she heard him grunt behind her, as clear an indicator as any that his money shot was approaching. With a few more firm pumps, he pulled out of her and began to jerk his twitching shaft over her ass, sending his sticky seed flying clear across her flesh.
The first shot made contact with the dimples on Eden’s lower back, and the next came further up, but Miles wasn’t satisfied yet. He turned her around and shoved her down in his lap, grabbing hold of her head as she went to work on easing her mouth around his still-throbbing cock.
“That’s it,” he groaned, his grip tightening on her hair as his knees buckled under the weight of his pleasure. “Suck me dry. Make me cum one last time baby.”
Eden moaned into him and grabbed hold of his ass with both hands, glancing up at him as her suction on his shaft tightened. A look of ecstasy was etched across his face, and his eyes were practically rolling back into his head.
Miles came again, loosening his grip on her head as his salty seed filled her mouth. After swallowing every last drop, she went to stand, but he grabbed her by the face and ran his calloused thumbs over her mouth, managing to find a forgotten drop. Eden complied by grazing her tongue lightly over it, keeping her eyes steadied on his as he lowered his face within inches of her own. The kiss was soft at first, but it quickly grew more eager.
“Good girl,” Miles finally said, letting go of her and reaching for his smokes. He lit one and offered a hit to Eden, but at this point, she had other things in mind. She pulled herself off of him and gathered up her clothing from the floor, turning to look at him from the doorway once she was dressed.
This was how it always was with them. How it would always be. They didn’t cuddle, they didn’t whisper sweet nothings into each other’s ears, and they certainly didn’t love each other. “Well, alright then,” Eden said, snatching the tiny white bag from his dresser.
Miles met eyes with her and shrugged, and with that, she stepped into the crowded hall and closed the door behind her.
After clawing through a crowd of gyrating bodes, Eden entered the bathroom and was immediately relieved to find that it was empty. She turned on the tap and splashed a cool stream of water on her face before taking a quick look at herself in the mirror. Her hair was frizzy and knotted, her makeup was running, and all in all...she looked like she had just gotten done having rough sex with a man she barely knew.
“Jesus,” Eden muttered, taking a seat on the edge of the bathtub as she rummaged through her purse. She popped the lids off the pill bottles inside and swallowed down a few random capsules, topping each one off with a hit of coke.
It was decent quality an
d it did the trick in numbing some of the shame she felt, but it definitely wasn't Miles' usual stuff. She had been buying from him long enough to know the difference. As her high settled over her like a warm blanket, Eden removed her clothing and slid into the bathtub without thinking, seeming to forget that she wasn't in the comfort of her own home.
It was the last thing she remembered before it all faded into black.
Chapter ten
Trent returned to the hospital to find Eden awake watching TV. She was so focused on the screen that at first she didn't even notice him. He stepped inside her room and pulled an overstuffed backpack off his shoulders, rummaging through it as she lifted her gaze over to acknowledge him.
Eden raised an eyebrow when he pulled out a pile of clothing and tossed it on the end of her bed. She took it all in, looking up at Trent as a perplexed expression worked its way across her face. He tossed her a pair of flats to top it all off and zipped up the bag, pulling it back over his large arms.
