Guardian of Eden (13 page)

“Oh Garrett.”
Maddie
placed my head on her shoulder and held me.

“I didn’t cry. I never cried about it. I didn’t want to give that bastard the satisfaction of knowing that he…” I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Violent tears rushed forth from my body in powerful spasms.

“It’s okay to cry, Garrett. You have to let it out sometime. You can’t hold something like that in. It’ll eat away at your soul until nothing is left.”

I cried for a long time.
Too long.
I felt weak and pitiful. As soon as possible, I dried my eyes and forced my breathing to return to normal. I sat up and rubbed the back of my neck.

“I’m damaged goods. I’m nothing, nobody. I have to be for someone to do that to me, right?”

“No, don’t say that, Garrett. You’re wounded, but wounds heal.”
Maddie
turned my face to hers. “I want to show you something,” she said as she unbuttoned her shirt. She opened it and revealed a thick scar down the center of her chest. She placed my hand between her breasts and said, “I had a heart transplant when I was 14. That’s why my dad is so overprotective and why I had that episode that Monday at school and why I’m so nervous around you all the time. I’ve spent most of my life in and out of hospitals and haven’t had a chance to talk to many boys.”
Maddie
brought my hand to her lips then entwined our fingers. “So, we’re both wounded, but we can heal each other.”

“So, are you okay now? Are you healthy?”

“For the most part.
My body has adjusted well to the heart. I still have to take a truckload of medications every day. Sometimes I have bad days, like Monday. I was pretty weak. I’m on a new prescription.”

I tucked a blond curl behind her ear then caressed her cheek. “I’m glad you’re okay.” I kissed her gently. “I don’t want to think…what if you…”
Maddie
silenced the thought with a kiss that made my entire body groan.

She scooted closer to me and crawled into my lap. My hands slid under her shirt and caressed her back. Her kisses deepened.

“
I want you so badly,” I said into her neck.

She pulled away from me flushed and breathing heavily. She gave me a wide-eyed stare. I thought I’d scared her. I thought I was moving too fast. I thought wrong. She stood, grabbed my hand, and slowly led me down a hallway.

The moonlight spilling through the French doors of the balcony in her bedroom set a perfect romantic mood.
Maddie
gently closed the door behind her then led me to the bed.

“
Maddie
, what are you –” She placed her finger over my lips.

“You don’t know how good it feels to have someone want me and not pity me.” She twirled a lock of my hair around her finger for a second then said, “For six years, I’ve spent my life thinking about my death. The day I met you in front of your locker was the first time I could remember when I wasn’t fixated on my own mortality. All I could think about was when I would get to see you again. And when you kiss me, Garrett, I…I never want it to end.”

I wrapped my arms around her waist, lifted her until our bare stomachs met then sealed her lips with mine.

We sat on the bed and she took my opened shirt all the way off. My heart pounded in my ears as we stared into each other’s eyes.
Maddie
ran both her hands over my chest then leaned forward and kissed each of the seven circular scars. I returned the gesture by placing my lips to her chest. Then I kissed my way up to her neck.

Maddie
undid my belt and tugged my pants down. I slipped her skirt down her thighs to her knees then we both awkwardly stepped out of our clothing and kicked them off the bed.

She ran her fingers through my hair as I unclasped her bra and nuzzled the warmth between her breasts. She moaned my name. The breathy feminine quality of her voice aroused me more than I’d expected. I lifted my head and stared into her eyes again. My hands inched up her thighs then slowly pulled down her panties.

We were naked. I marveled at each and every luscious curve of her body. I’d never seen anything like it.

Fresh tears welled in her eyes when I slid inside.

“
Did I hurt you?” I asked.

She shook her head then pulled me closer. “Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.” She wrapped her legs around me.

We were one. I filled her completely and absolutely. She wrapped me in exquisite warmth. Our bodies moved together to a rhythmic tune our souls played.

Maddie’s
breath
quickened. She clung to me tighter and tighter. Then her head fell back and she convulsed. I watched her so intently my own crisis caught me by surprise, but didn’t lessen the intensity.

We held each other as we lay side by side.

“Are you okay?” I whispered

“Yeah,” she breathed. “That was beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful.”

***

“Were you a virgin before tonight?” she asked me as we lay so close our lips were almost in a perpetual kiss.

“Not really.” My fingers traced up and down the side of her body from her thighs to her shoulder.

“Not really? Well, that’s a complicated answer to a simple question?” She smiled. “Care to elaborate?”

I rolled over to my back. She snuggled close to me and rested her head on my chest. “In the eighth grade, I belonged to the science club. Keisha was the only girl on the team. One night we all went to her house to study for an upcoming competition. After a while, everyone went home except me. I wasn’t in a rush to get home. Anyway, we kept studying. Then, out of the blue, she kissed me. When I asked her why she did it, she said she just wanted to know what it was like. So we kissed again. Then, somehow, we decided we wanted to find out what sex was like, so we did it. It was very mechanical. Two nerds performing a science experiment. We didn’t even get completely undressed or turn out the lights.”

Maddie
chuckled a little on my chest and said, “That sounds pretty awful.”

“
Yeah it was. I don’t think Keisha and I ever spoke again after that night.” We both laughed. “What about you? Were you a virgin?”

“Yeah, but not from lack of trying.
When I was 13, I was hospitalized for the umpteenth time. I thought I was going to die. I didn’t want to die a virgin, so I started scoping out possible candidates right there in the children’s ward. I settled on this 15-year-old named Charlie who had leukemia. Well, I threw myself at him. I flirted, bought him gifts, went to his room constantly. Basically, I stalked him.”
Maddie
paused.

“What happened?”

“We got to second base one night. But three days later…he died.”
Maddie
grew silent. I stroked her back and stared at how the moonlight glistened over her platinum blonde curls. She was quiet for so long, I was afraid she had fallen asleep. I didn’t want her to fall asleep. I wanted to keep talking to her.

“
Maddie
,” I said trying to gently awaken her. “Why don’t you ever mention your mother?”

“Because I don’t remember her,” she said with a yawn. “She died when I was a two. That’s why my father flips out over anything that poses the slightest threat to my health. I’m all he has.”
Maddie
propped her head up on her fist and stared at me. “Well, me and his politics. He’s a senator, you know?” she added. “Why don’t you mention your father?”

“He’s in jail.”
Maddie
winced as if the simple thought was painful.

“How long has he been in jail?”

“All my life, I just met him for the first time a little while ago.”

“What did he do?”

“He…um…apparently he killed my grandfather.”

 
Maddie
gasped and she sat upright.
“Oh my God.
Oh my God, why?”

“I have no idea.” I shrugged then went on to explain to her that so much of my life was a mystery.

“Garrett, we’re
gonna
figure this out together. If they won’t tell you the truth, well, I’ll help you. I’m sure my dad has connections. We can look up the old court case, or find the lawyers, or even the judge.
Whatever it takes.
We’re
gonna
find out what’s going on.”
Maddie
slammed her fist into the bed as a sign of her determination, causing her breasts to jiggle. A smile formed on my lips partly because I loved how willing she was to help me and partly because I loved to watch her breasts bounce. She noticed my stare and covered her chest in embarrassment.

I sat up and unfolded her arms revealing her delicious womanly body. Then I lowered her to the bed and made love to her again.

***

Maddie
awoke with a start.

“My phone.
My
phone’s
ringing. Don’t you hear my phone ringing?” She jumped out of bed and searched for her phone. At first, I didn’t hear a thing. I thought it was her imagination. Then I heard the faint ring. “Where’s my phone?” she yelled frantically.

“In the living room on the coffee table next to the candy jar.”

Maddie
stopped tossing clothes in the air and looked at me.

“How do you know that?”

I pointed to my head and said, “Photographic memory.” She smiled then took off running to the living room.

A few seconds later she returned and said, “It’s for you.”
For me?
I only gave one person
Maddie’s
number. I snatched the phone.

“
Eden, are you okay?”

“It’s not Eden damn it! It’s your mother and it’s two o’clock in the morning. Where the hell are you?”

I sighed in relief that Eden was not in trouble. I looked over at the clock. Sure enough, it was 1:58. I shook the grogginess from my mind and tried to figure out what happened. After the second time we made love it was only 9:30. We must have fallen asleep. I smiled at the thought. I rarely slept that long on any given night. Thoughts of physical trauma and violence often haunted my dreams preventing a night of completely restful sleep. Now that Eden and I had separate bedrooms, I sometimes went to her room during the night and watched her sleep making sure she was safe and at peace while the same security and serenity eluded me.

“Sorry, Holly.
We were…watching a movie and I guess we fell asleep.” I swung my feet over the side of the bed and searched the tangled sheets for my boxer shorts.

“Don’t ‘Holly’ me!” she yelled. I slipped on my shorts and sat on the edge of the bed trying to figure out why she would be so upset. “I am your mother and I’ve been worried sick. I was just about to call the police. I woke up Eden to ask her if she knew anything and she said you gave her this girl’s phone number.”