Goddess Secret (7 page)

“Thanks,” she mumbled, but was trying to maintain some level of composure. She was too shocked to process what just happened.

“My pleasure,” Adin whispered in her ear while he ran his hand down the length of her arm.

She needed a subject change and fast! “Er, how did everything go at school?”

Adin chuckled as he stepped away. “Fine. I should be free tomorrow night.”

“Good.” She put her hands on her desk and leaned against it while Adin sat back down on her bed. “Calli wants me to go to the game tomorrow night and watch her perform. I’d rather not go alone.”

“That sounds like fun.” Adin smiled and rubbed his hand on her bed next to where he was seated. “Why don’t you come over here and sit next to me?”

She nodded timidly and stepped over to her bed to sit next to Adin.

“Is everything okay? You seem awfully nervous,” he teased while he stroked her hair. She kept her face down with her eyes locked onto her fidgety fingers.

“Yeah, I think I was just, um, I wasn’t expecting you to see me with my shirt unbuttoned.” She looked up at Adin. His eyes were glowing.

“It wasn’t
completely
unbuttoned. Besides, I tried to help you with that,” he murmured while gazing into her eyes.

“Having your hands on my shirt buttons didn’t really help my nerves,” she confessed.

Adin chuckled. “Well, it’s not like I was
un
buttoning your shirt.”

She knew he was only joking, but the thought of Adin unbuttoning her shirt transformed her mood instantaneously. She was no longer feeling the nerves in the pit of her stomach. Her breathing accelerated, and her mouth fell open. She reached her hand up and stroked his face. He processed the change in mood almost as quickly as her mood shifted, and his eyes bored into hers.

“Have you thought about unbuttoning my shirt?” she whispered.

“Legacy….” Adin shut his eyes and shook his head.

Oh, yeah, he was resisting. He was such a gentleman—
damn it
. She’d cure him of that eventually. She slanted in his direction and tilted her head up so that her lips were near his ear. “Is that a no?”

Adin turned his head so that his cheek was against hers. He put both of his hands on her hips and lightly clutched her. “Not exactly.”

“So you
have
thought about it then,” she breathed while she slid her hand into his hair, twisting her fingers in his sandy locks.

He leaned his head down and kissed her neck, working his way up to her ear. “Yes,” he said slowly right into her ear.

Her other hand slid down his face and into his hair too. “How far did you get?”

He groaned and squeezed her tighter. “Pretty far.”

She slid one hand back down to caress his cheek while her other hand traveled down the back of his head. When she reached his shoulder, she squeezed it, and he started kissing her ear. “How far is
pretty
far?”

Adin panted into her ear. “Umm, well, since I plan on spending the rest of my life with you, I hope I get to show you some day.”

“Mmmmm, I hope you get to show me some day too. Someday
soon
.”

Adin moaned as he traced his lips across her cheek until they met hers. She threw her arms around his neck, and they kissed passionately. Yes! Adin was ravishing her with his mouth and they both held onto each other as if they couldn’t get close enough fast enough. Just when she thought she’d broken down his defenses, Adin eased up, delivering short kisses, and then peppered gentle pecks along her cheek. They kept their arms wrapped tightly around each other while their breathing slowed.

Then Adin looked at her with a sincere smile on his face. “I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable earlier.”

She shrugged. Who cared about that? “I shouldn’t have been nervous with you seeing me like that. You
have
seen me in a bikini. There was much more skin that time than what you just saw.” She chuckled.

“True, but still, I never want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Well, since we are on the topic of comfort, can I ask you something without you feeling uncomfortable?” She looked down. She and Adin had never really talked about this particular topic, but after the shirt incident, and her new challenge to push his limits, it seemed like this conversation really couldn’t be put off anymore.

“You can ask me anything.”

She wasn’t so sure about that, but she needed to figure out a way to ask what she needed to ask. “The things that you’ve, um, thought about it…”

“Yes?” Adin whispered with a crooked smile on his face.

“Have you done those things with other women?”

“Are you asking me if I’ve ever had sex?”

Good. At least she didn’t have to spell it out for him. “Uh-huh.”

“No. I haven’t.”

She sighed. She didn’t really think he had since he’d already told her he’d been in love with her for years. But she needed to know for sure. He was a man after all. Love and sex were mutually exclusive to some men. “Good.”

Adin loosened his arms and freed one hand to stroke her face. She could feel his fingers trembling as he caressed her cheek. “What about you?” he whispered.

“Nope.” She tried to sound casual, but she felt her cheeks get hot.

Adin sighed through smiling lips and kissed her softly.

After the biggie question was out of the way, they spent the next couple of hours talking about old boyfriends and girlfriends, and the people they’d kissed. It wasn’t an easy conversation, but it was necessary. At least she was the only one doing any of the blushing.

She realized she talked a big game when she considered breaking down Adin’s sexual defenses, but the truth was she was an inexperienced virgin. And Adin was every girl’s wet fantasy. She got the feeling when Adin did let himself loose on her, she’d be taken in every sense of the word.

His power and raw hunger were banked, but she got the feeling the tight leash he had on his desires was there for a reason.

Chapter Five

The next morning, Legacy noticed the weather was still unseasonably cool. Even though it was September, the weather was usually hot here in the south up until October, and even then it tended to be fairly mild. But she got a chill standing in front of the opened window. The summer heat disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Over the summer, the weather had gotten hotter and hotter. But now the heat of their relationship didn’t seem to manifest itself into the heat of the temperature outside. It wasn’t like they’d cooled off in the making out department. Their relationship was even more fervent than she could’ve ever anticipated. Legacy needed to be aware of this and try to make sure she understood how her passionate feelings for Adin were now manifesting themselves—if they even were anymore.

When Legacy got to school, Calli’s car wasn’t there. She took her time getting out of her car and making her way up to the benches where they usually met before school. She read over her chemistry chapter while she waited, but she didn’t have to wait too long before someone joined her.

“Good morning,” River said, and Legacy looked up.

He stepped over to her bench and sat down beside her.

“Morning.” She smiled.

River chuckled. “Did you not read the chapter last night?” he asked as he glanced at her chemistry book.

“I read most of it, but I didn’t get it finished.”

“Too busy shopping for new clothes?”

“No, Calli and I didn’t spend too much time at the mall.” She looked up at River as she shut her book. “I had company last night.”

River’s smile faded. “Oh.”

“Hey, Legacy,” Calli said as she walked toward them, carrying a large box.

Legacy and River stood up and walked toward her to help, but River quickly took the box from Calli before Legacy could have a chance.

“What is all this?” he asked as he put the box down on the bench.

“Spirit sticks, candy, posters, other stuff for the pep rally. If we have anything left, we’ll be throwing it into the stands during the game. Are you coming tonight?” she asked River.

River glanced at Legacy before answering. “I’m thinking about it.”

“Well, you should. We’re really proud of our routine.”

River looked at Calli. “Are you going home before the game? If so, you could just ride back with me.”

“No, I have way too much to do.”

River’s eyes slowly made their way to Legacy. “Um, are you coming tonight?”

“Of course.” She smiled. “I wouldn’t miss Calli performing.”

“You can ride with me, if you want.” River shrugged like the offer wasn’t a big deal, but she knew better.

She shook her head. “Adin’s coming.”

River shrugged again and looked away.

“Did you talk to Zach?” she asked Calli to change the subject, but quickly regretted asking her in front of River.

“Yeah, he’s supposed to come tonight.”

Good. At least Legacy didn’t say something that would’ve required explaining to River. “Do you need help taking this stuff somewhere before class starts?”

“I need to take it to the field house,” Calli said as she leaned over to pick up the box.

“I got it,” River said, taking the box. “Just lead the way.”

They walked to the field house to drop off the pep rally goodies and then headed to chemistry.

The excitement of the first game made the start of the day go by quickly. Before Legacy knew it, it was time for her Spanish class, and since she had that class with Calli, she was able to talk to her without River being in earshot. Not that he was ever rude about including himself into girlie chit-chat—he was just always beside her.

“I’m sorry I asked you about Zach in front of River this morning. I was trying to get the conversation off Adin, and Zach was the first thing that popped into my head.”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. I like River just fine. I don’t care if he knows about Zach.”

“But that’s your decision to make, not mine.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway. Zach called, and he’s coming tonight.”

She glanced at her hands and looked back at Calli. “What did he say?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. He misses me. He can’t wait to see me. Things like that.” Calli shrugged.

She raised her eyebrows. “I hope he sounded more sincere saying those things compared to how you just sounded.”

“I want to believe him. I’ll just have to see.”

“Good idea.”

Calli shrugged. “Enough about Zach. Any news on V.D.?”

“Nope. I’ll probably do some digging this weekend.”

“Let me know if you need any help with that.”

Legacy nodded, but she really didn’t know where to start.

All their classes were shorter today to allot for the afternoon pep rally. When it was time to show school spirit, she and River sat together, and Ellen and Kate migrated over, too, because their boyfriends were down on the field in their football jerseys. Since this was the first rally of the season, the coaches had to introduce all the players and cheerleaders. They screamed when Calli was introduced, and her BFF skillfully tumbled across the field, sporting her back handspring skills.

After the rally, everyone disbanded and headed to their cars. River walked Legacy to her car and hugged her good-bye.

“I’ll see you tonight,” she offered.

“Sure.” He shrugged, holding her car door open for her. She could tell that he wasn’t happy about her bringing Adin, but at least he wasn’t being verbal about it. She smiled at him as she got in, not letting him get away with this pouty crap. He finally cracked a smile. “I’ll see you tonight,” he agreed.

On the way home, she thought about River and Venus. She liked River. She enjoyed spending time with him, talking and laughing. She still didn’t feel any romantic feelings for him, which she was very happy about, but as she thought about Venus, she hated the thought of Adin forming even a friendship with her like the one she had with River. She knew these feelings weren’t fair, but she still felt that way.

Legacy freshened up with a cute outfit after she got home. She heard Adin’s car just as she’d finished getting dressed and quickly glanced at the clock, thinking she was running late. Nope, he was early. She quickly finished touching up her makeup and headed downstairs, but Adin never knocked on her door. She waited a few more minutes, and there was still no Adin. She looked out the window, and his car wasn’t in her driveway. What the hell? She knew the sound of his car just like she knew the sound of his voice. She had definitely heard him pulling in. She was sure. She opened the front door and stepped out, walking into the yard and looking down the street.

She didn’t have to look far. Adin’s car was parked in front of his grandma’s house. She sighed in relief since she knew she had heard him driving down the road. At least she wasn’t hearing things.

She turned to walk back up the porch and heard his grandma’s door open. Adin walked out with his grandma at his side, laughing. He saw Legacy, and his face lit up even more. He motioned for her to come over, and she did.

“Hi. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was—”

“You didn’t, dear,” Adin’s grandmother said.

“Grandma, you remember Legacy, don’t you?” Adin asked as he stepped over and put his arm around her.

“Of course. I watched her grow up too.” His grandma tsked.

“It’s nice to see you again, Ms. Smith.”

“Oh, please, call me Rose.”

“Rose.” Legacy nodded. “I don’t think I ever knew your first name.” In fact, through all the years that she’d known Adin’s grandma, Legacy was sure she had never heard it. “But it’s a beautiful name.”

“And a beautiful flower. It’s my favorite. Poor Dinny, he’s had to hear all my stories about roses over the years.” Legacy looked at Adin, and he was looking down at his grandma with a smile on his face.

“Grandma, she doesn’t want to hear about that,” Adin muttered.

“Sure she does,” Rose continued. “I have a substantial rose garden out back. Dinny helps me with them. He’s very handy.” She smiled at Adin, but he was still looking down. “You should see the flowers that it produces. They are simply gorgeous.”

Adin looked up at Legacy. “She’s seen some of them.”