Drawn (31 page)

Sliding out of me, he kisses his way down my body, leaving a trail of prickling heat in its wake. He settles himself between my thighs, moaning his pleasure as his tongue slides through my folds.

My hips jolt as he sucks on my nub. “You’re magnificent Etta,” he murmurs. “My own personal heaven.” He slides his fingers inside me, sucking on my clit, pulsing my insides as he continues to seduce me further with his words. “I want you. I need you. Let me love you. Be mine forever.”

My body bursts over his hand, in his mouth as his pulses continue and my hips jolt. Climbing back up my body, he thrusts himself back inside me, pumping quickly, continuing my orgasm as I start to call out.

My moans become increasingly louder as his hips thrust back and forth at great speed. He hoists my legs up, positioning my feet on his shoulders, increasing his depth.

“Holy shit,” I call out as I explode again. He slams himself into me one last time, shuddering against me, spilling his juices inside me.

Suddenly my consciousness revisits me, reminding me that this is exactly what I’m upset about. It’s exactly why I need to go. I can’t trust him.

Passively, I go through the usual routine where he cleans me and gets us both ready for bed. When he curls us together, under the blankets, I pretend to fall asleep quickly as he plants his soft kisses on my skin.

Dampness pools beneath my face as tears slide silently from my eyes and I force my breathing to stay steady. Eventually, I feel his body relax, and his breathing evens out. It’s then that I slide out of bed, quickly and quietly grab my bag, and I leave.

“Aaron,” I whisper into my phone once I’m in the stairwell.

“Etta?” he asks, his voice groggy from sleep. “What’s going on?”

“I need you. Can you please drive me home? I’m outside.”

“What? Of course. Shit Etta, are you ok?” he asks, immediately sounding alert.

“Not really. Just please. Hurry up. And Aaron?”

“Yeah?”

“Please be as quiet as you ca
n. You don’t want to wake him.”

When I reach the foyer, I spot my discarded underpants and pick them up off the floor, shoving them into my bag as I exit the building and wait outside on the path.

Seconds later, Aaron is slipping out to meet me.

“Did he hurt you?” he asks immediately.

“No. He just…” I burst into tears, instantly Aaron’s arms are around me, strong and familiar.

“Let’s get you out of here,” he whispers, guiding me toward his car.

Once on the road, he asks, “Where am I taking you?”

“Take me to the 24hour Coles. I need to buy something.”

When we pull into the parking lot, I ask him to stay in the car, I don’t really need him with me while I buy pregnancy tests.

Rushing in, I head straight for the pharmaceutical aisle.
Normally, I love how they shelve all of the condoms and lube, right next to the pregnancy kits. Tonight they taunt me. I can’t believe I was so stupid.

I select one of every test they offer, I don’t know which one is best, so it seems logical to just use them all.

As I climb back in the car, Aaron glances down at the grey plastic bag in my hands. You can clearly see the labels through the opaque plastic.

“Shit Etta,” he says, meeting my eyes, his own filled with sympathy and worry.

“I know,” I sob.

As we drive back to my place, he reaches over and takes my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’m here for you ok. Whatever you need. I’m here for you.”

I nod, fighting the floods of tears that keep forcing their way out of me. I just want to get home. I just want to find out if it’s true.

When we get to the townhouse, all is quiet
. It’s almost 5am and I’m sure that my roommates are either sleeping or still out partying – who knows with Kensi. Selecting the key for my room on my keychain, I unlock my door and let Aaron in.

“Can you wait here for me? I don’t really want to go through this on my own.”

“Of course,” he whispers, moving over to my desk chair and taking a seat.

When I get to the bathroom, I unpack the tests, and remove two sticks from different packets, reading the instructions and following them for each one. Placing the caps on the end of each of them, I wash my hands and clean up the packages, taking everything back to my room to sit with Aaron and wait.

“What did they say?” he asks as soon as I enter the room.

“I don’t know yet. It says to check in three minutes.” I set them on the desk and stash my plastic bag with the remaining tests and empty packaging on the floor.

“Um, Etta?” he says looking at them where they lay. “I think you already have your answer.”

“What?”

“Have a look.”

My stomach turns sour with nerves and I shake my head. “I don’t want to. Shit. I can’t do this. Just tell me. They say yes don’t they?”

“Um… yeah, one says ‘Yes’ and the other has a pink line in each window.”

“Oh crap,” I breathe, leaning forward and rocking my body. “God I’m such a fucking idiot!”

“No Etta. Sometimes things go wrong. It doesn’t make you an idiot.”

“No, you don’t understand. I told him I wasn’t on the pill and he said we’d be fine. I believed him. I thought that meant… oh shit, I should have insisted. I’m a fucking idiot.”

He doesn’t respond, and I’m too busy freaking out with my head in my hands to pay attention.

“I’m too young to have a baby Aaron. I can’t do this. I can’t be pregnant. I’m not even finished uni and my parents. Fuck! They’re going to kill me. They’re going to make me go back home and they’re going to kill me!”

As my mind reels, he sits there silently, listening to my ranting. I don’t think he knows what to say.

“You know what? Maybe they’re wrong. I’ll go and drink some water. I’ll take some more tests.” I rise from the end of the bed and step past him to go back to the bathroom. But his hand reaches out and takes mine.

“Etta,” he says gently. “The other tests will all say the same thing. They’re accurate.”

“No,” I whisper. “I need them to be wrong.”

He pulls me toward him, and wraps me in his arms. “I’m sorry,” he says.

I lean against him, sinking down until I’m sitting on his lap, shock taking over my emotions. “I can’t have a baby. I just can’t.”

“Henrietta!” I hear from outside. I’m still sitting on Aaron’s lap, still in shock from the results of the test.

“Oh shit. He woke up,” I say, locking eyes with Aaron.

“She’s not here. She’s never here,” yells Kensi. “Now go home, we’re trying to sleep.”

“Check her room. The light’s on,” he calls up.

“Fine. Hang on.”

I hear her leaving her room and trudging up the hallway to mine. “Etta,” she calls as she knocks gently. “Your psycho boyfriend is outside yelling for you.”

“Tell him I’m not here. Please,
” I beg through the door.

She sighs, so loud that I can tell she’s not at all happy about this. “Fine. Just turn your light out,” she says quietly. “She’s not there,” I hear her yell back down to him. “Her room is empty, I just turned the light out myself.”

“That’s bullshit. Henrietta, I know you’re in there. I can see Aaron’s fucking car. Do you really think I’m that stupid?”

Aaron and I both stand.
“Stay here. I’ll go and talk to him,” he says.

“No Aaron, he’ll hurt you.”

“I’ll be fine. Just stay here.”

As he heads downstairs
, I move over to the window and open it. “Please just go. I need some time away from you to think.”

“Don’t do anything stupid Henrietta,” he tells me.

“It’s a bit late for that – I already did! The moment I trusted you,” I argue back.

“I’m coming inside to get you,” he states, making a move toward the house, pausing when he sees Aaron in front of him.

“You need to leave. She said she wants some time to think.”

“She can think just fine when she’s safe with me.”

“Go home, Damien.”

“Get the fuck out of my way
, Aaron.”

“No.”

They move toward each other and before you can even blink, Damien has Aaron on the ground and is standing above him, his fist cocked, ready to punch.

“Stop!” I screech, racing down the stairs as fast as my legs will carry me.

When I burst out the front door, both men are on their feet, circling each other like predators.

I run and place myself between them. “No!” I yell, putting my hands on both of their chests. My breath catches when, even though I’m angry and confused, my body leaps for joy to moment my fingers connect with
Damien.

Every traitorous cell in my body seems to be begging me to go to him, never has my rational mind had a chance when I’m around him. I force myself to focus my attention on the hand that presses against Aaron, on the bond we have, and the trust that he has never broken or taken advantage of, before I speak.

“If you have one bit of love for me, you will do what I ask. Please Damien – go home. Give me some time. I need to figure out what I’m going to do. This is a very new development.”

His hand moves up to his chest and closes over mine, his eyes pleading.

My heart swells to bursting in my chest, painfully reminding me of everything between us. “Please,” I whisper, shutting my eyes so I don’t have to look at him anymore. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to keep saying no.

Slowly, his hand relaxes, and he takes a step away from me.

“What the fuck is your deal?” Aaron says as he moves. “Who the hell tricks an eighteen year old girl into getting pregnant? You’re all kinds of fucked up mate – worse than I ever expected.”

Shit. Not even me standing in the way could stop
Damien’s fist from flying out and hitting Aaron in the jaw. He stumbles backward slightly, and my mouth drops open as I watch him fall.

When I look back at
Damien, he’s walking away.

***

Over the next week, I don’t hear from Damien once. As much as I said I needed space, I didn’t think it would be this hard to be away from him. I’ve felt ill all week. I don’t know if it’s because of the pregnancy or because of the heartache, but I’m struggling to eat anything and keep it down.

By the following Friday, I’ve decided to go and see my parents. I really need to talk to my mum. I know she’ll be able to help me decide what to do.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, the moment she sees me. I’ve arrived early, so I can talk to her without dad there.

“Oh mum, I’ve really screwed up,” I cry, bursting into tears and flinging myself in her arms. Even as large as I am compared to her, her embrace is still a comfort to me.

“Nothing can be that bad Etta. Come inside and sit down. Tell me everything.”

Taking a seat on the couch in the living room, my mother turns toward me expectantly. I fill her in on how intense my relationship has become, as well as the colossal error I
’ve made, having unprotected sex with him.

“I thought we were safe. He said not to worry,” I moan, hating myself f
or being so gullible. “And now…now…”

“You’re pregnant.” My mother puts in for me.

“Yes,” I nod, tears falling from my eyes, as I wallow in my own self-pity.

Sighing, my mother takes my hand in between hers. “Honey, I’m not going to tell you what you did wrong. You’re already beating yourself up about it as it is. You’re young,
you’re trusting – you always have been. And I’m also not going to tell you what to do about the baby.

“My concern, however, is what
Damien’s agenda is. Why would a twenty-two year old man lead an eighteen year old girl to believe everything would be fine if they didn’t use protection? I mean, he’s not a stupid man. He’s clearly very intelligent, so he must have known.

“The only conclusion I can come to, is that he was purposely trying to trap you. To force you to stay with him. And that really worries me Etta, a man who would do that, isn’t someone I want dating my daughter, let alone fathering her child.” She lifts the sleeve of my t-shirt and nods toward the circular bruises in my bicep. “Are these marks from him?”

“Yes and no. I was fighting him, and he was trying to stop me from walking home in the dark. He would never hurt me on purpose mum. I know that much – he does love me.”

“Do you love him?”

“Yes. Very much. I truly feel like he is the divine part of me. My body literally calls out to him when he’s near. It’s like every fibre of my being wants him around, and I have a really hard time saying no to him. But when I’m away, after a while, the cloud lifts and I can see what’s going on. I can see how he bosses me around and tries to run my life, and I can see what a lifetime together would do to us.”

“What do you think it would do?” she asks.

“It’s just… the way we fight… the jealousy, and his secrets…I think we’d end up hating, or worse…killing each other.”