Chapter Twenty-Three
Ava
When I woke up, Channing was gone. It was already 10, so I rushed into the shower and picked something out to wear. Somebody knocked on the door while I was sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling my shoes on.
“Channing?” I called out.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“You can come in.” I slipped into my left shoe and grabbed my right.
He was already dressed, holding a muffin and a water bottle. He offered them to me. I slipped my shoe on and snatched them away.
“My mom is gone, and my dad’s at work. We have the house to ourselves. They had the staff set out breakfast for us in the dining hall.”
“This is all I need.” I took a drink of water.
“I was hoping you’d join me at the lake.”
“The lake?”
“It’s behind the house. My parents had it put in when I was younger.”
“That sounds wonderful. This place must be huge.” I took a bite of my muffin and washed it down with a drink of water.
“There’s the main grounds with staff quarters, a multi-level garage, tennis courts, and two pools. One is underground on the basement level. That’s my father’s. The other is housed in its own complex behind the house. Then there are the gardens, the lake, and my parents also own the forest on the far side of the hill behind the lake.”
“It is big.”
“It’s mostly dirty and neglected. The garden isn’t tended to. My parents don’t want to pay for it, and the staff has trouble keeping up with the cleaning. There’s a lot of dusty, unused rooms upstairs, and we rarely use the staff quarters. It’s abandoned.”
“I can’t imagine anyone needing all this,” I said.
“It’s nice, though, when the sun is out, and it’s not too hot. There are trails in the forest behind the lake. I can show you.”
“That would be wonderful.”
I finished my muffin and met Channing downstairs. He led me through the front entrance, along a tree-lined path that traveled around the house. It opened up to an overgrown field, and a dirt path traveling uphill.
When we got to the top, I could see the lake below. It was surrounded by thin forest on three sides, with bright green algae and foam rimming the edges.
When we started walking downhill, I could see the forest’s branches dipping into the water and the clumps of bushes behind them. The breeze was cool and misty. It was wet against my cheek and helped to wake me up.
Channing moved easily. He skipped over the rocks embedded in the hillside and checked back every few moments to make sure that I wasn’t having any trouble getting down the slope. He hopped off the final bank onto the ground below where the water was lapping at the gravel behind him. Then he let me hop down into his arms.
“Ah,” I laughed and wrapped my legs around him. He started kissing me, pulling his tongue back and forth between my lips while my legs slid lower until I was standing and he had his arm wrapped around my back.
There was a path that circled the lake shore. It must’ve been concrete at one time. I could see scraps peeking out of the dirt, but the lake had covered it with mud, and the land swallowed it.
In places, the path was muddy. I had to hop over little pools, and more than once Channing had to pick me up and set me down on dry ground. He had a boat tied to a cluster of trees not far from the bank. It was a little green canoe.
He waited near the water while I stared at the boat. It was narrow and tilted easily every time water hit it. One wrong move and that thing would capsize. We’d end up swimming in the water with seaweed and algae, and God knows what crawling around at the bottom of the lake.
“That thing is not stable.”
“It’s fine,” Channing stood in front of me near the edge of the water, close to the boat. I could see it rising and falling behind him.
“It looks like it’ll tip over.”
“It can, if you’re not careful, but you’ll get the hang of it.”
In the end, I let Channing pick me up and help me into the boat. It tilted sharply to the right, and I gasped. I was going to fall into the water. Channing grabbed onto the side of the canoe and balanced it. My heart was pounding. He untied the boat and climbed in. Then he grabbed the oars and began propelling us back, towards the center of the lake.
It was amazing to see his arms flexing as he wrestled with the water. I could see the strain on his face. Soon, his strokes grew longer and farther apart as his shoulders drew forward and back slowly. The momentum was propelling us. When we began to slow, we were nearing the center of the lake. He let the oars drop, and we began gliding aimlessly closer to the cluster of trees at the edge of the forest.
He sat back and stretched his arms above his head. “I love coming out here.”
I looked around. The wind was pounding now, staining my cheeks with mist. To my right was the house, a debauched Greek temple sitting on top of the hill with clusters of buildings on both sides. To my left was water, and farther out, the forest where the trees were thrashing wildly.
Channing was leaning back casually, his arms resting on the rim of the boat, stretched out and welcoming. “It’s quiet; no birds, no fish, just the wind.”
“It’s wonderful out here. I can’t imagine having this in my backyard.”
“I like to space my trips out. I don’t want to come here too often and get used to it. I want it to be a treat.”
“It’s too good to spoil,” I agreed. “Do you have fish here?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said, “They’re everywhere. You can see them chasing your lure when you throw it in.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes, it gets boring catching a fish every time. I just like going out on the water. It’s my escape. I prefer it out here. It’s better than the alternative.”
“I’ll bet it was hell having to come home from school,” I said.
“It was. They had parks, too, places like this that you could go on the grounds. I loved nature, listening to the sounds of the leaves blowing, and the birds singing. It shuts out everything else, and helps me quiet my mind.”
“That’s why I like the library,” I said. “This is better, though.”
We both laid back and stared up at the cold, white sky. It was a blank canvas. Anything could happen, but right now all that mattered was that we were together. Eventually, we both sat up, and he kissed me. Then he propelled the boat towards the forest, where the trees grew thick, and tiny vines grew out into the water.
There was a part in the trees not far from where we were. Channing moved the boat close to the shore and banked it. He tied it to the tree trunk and hopped out to help me out of the canoe. Had it not been for him, I would’ve fallen into the water when I stood up to get out, but he grabbed me by the waist and lifted me out.
The trail led up a bank, past a mountain of ivy, into the forest beyond. Channing had to jump up and reach down to help me up. Once I passed the tree line, everything cleared out, and there was nothing but pine, and a carpet of needles stretching out below me.
The trail led down the back end of the hill behind the house. The bed of pine needles thinned the further downhill we got until the path grew steeper and we were walking on packed soil. Around us, ferns grew at the base of the trees, their fronds stuck out over the path where roots sprang up out of the ground, creating natural steps.
Channing moved easily. The terrain didn’t bother him, even when we had to jump down slopes or climb up banks. He must’ve been taking this path since he was a little boy. That’s what it looked like.
Soon the land evened out, and the trees grew thinner. The ground was mostly clear, with clumps of pine. The path snaked through the trees, towards a cluster of boulders forming a half circle towering around what looked like a makeshift fire pit.
Channing and I took a seat next to one another and leaned against the rocks. The breeze had died down, and the canopy was dancing in the air. Channing reached around and wrapped his arm around my back. I slid down and laid on my side with my head resting in his lap.
The silence was siphoning away the voices that’d been spinning through my head. It cleared away my thoughts and left behind nothing but a clear, blank space. Channing had his head laid back against the boulder. I looked up at him and watched as his eyes drooped, and we both let the white noise lull us into a state just short of sleep.
We both came to around the same time. He got up, while I sat with my back against a boulder. I could hear his boots scraping against the dirt while he walked around behind me somewhere. When he came back, he was holding a pile of logs with a handful of pine needles.
He got the fire started easily, and had the flames going in less than a few minutes. “You’re pretty good at that,” I said when he sat back down next to me.
“I’ve been coming here and doing this since I was little. Sometimes I’d hide in the woods and sleep out here at night. My parents usually just sent some of the staff after me and went to bed after a while. The first few times they got really upset. Then it became common, and they gave up looking. I’d bring a little tent out here and light a fire. Sometimes I’d cook. I had a grill grate I used for a long time, but I don’t know where it went.”
“Did you ever throw parties out here?”
“No, this is my spot. The woods stay quiet, and that’s how I like it. If people start coming here, they’ll scare all the game away.”
“You hunt?”
“I hunt, I fish. I hike. I could live out here if I wanted to. I’d have everything that I wanted. I used to dream about doing that when I was a kid. Once, I stayed for a whole week. The only reason I came back was because I heard dogs running around the forest, and I saw people with flashlights. They sent out a search party. I just climbed back into my room and went to bed. When they tried to talk to me the next morning, I went back. They hated it. When I’d come back on break from school, I’d spend the entire time out here, so they started just leaving me at school.”
“Did they ever find this place?” I asked.
“No, they never found it. I made sure. That’s why I like running so much. It reminds me of being out here. I used to hike through with a little machete, slashing past brush to make trails. I’d set traps for rabbits, and once I found a deer walking through the forest.”
“Did you catch it?”
“No, but that was when I spent a week out here. I stayed up all night the first night with a makeshift bow and arrow, slashing through the forest. If he was around, the noise probably scared him away.”
“That’s too bad.”
“I should’ve lied and said I shot him.”
I laughed. “No, I like your story better. I would’ve loved to have been a part of your midnight hunt. It must’ve been exciting.”
“It was. I got pretty good at catching rabbits.”
“I’ve never done anything like that before. The most I had was a fishing trip when I was little. It was terrible. The hook got caught on my jacket and I started shrieking.”
Channing laughed. “It’s probably not your thing.”
“I’m dying to try. I always want to go out and hike and enjoy nature. I just never get much of a chance. I’m sure once I have more free time, that’s what I’ll be doing.”
“We can be hiking buddies.”
“That’d be wonderful.”
“I know a lot of places close by that are just beautiful,” he said. “And I’ve been all over the country. Yellowstone is magnificent. Then there’s the northwest, Oregon, and Washington, both beautiful—almost like a rainforest.”
“I’m just happy being here with you.” We watched the fire blaze up while he held me, and I rested on his chest. Then, when it started to go out, we got up, stretched, and began walking back up the hill. Even though it was mostly uphill, coming back was easier. We were both stuck in a sweet fog. He held my hand and helped me along the trail.
It wasn’t long before we were back on the boat with the moon rising behind the trees, casting a globe over the water. When we got to the other side of the lake, one of the servants was waiting for us. He told us that Channing’s mom was waiting for us with dinner on the veranda. He began to ask Channing about what we were doing, but Channing brushed him off. It sounded like Marie had been waiting for some time.
The veranda was flooded with a formidable cloud of smoke. Marie was sitting in the corner with a cigarette in her hand and an untouched salad sitting in front of her. We walked back to the corner table where she was sitting and took our seats. The bartender served us water and asked us if we wanted the chicken or the fish. The fish didn’t sound like a palatable offer, so I chose the chicken.
When he was gone, Marie said, “John couldn’t be here, Ava. I apologize. He has to fly to LA in the morning, so he’s getting some rest. You understand.”
“Of course.”
The waiter brought us waters. Channing sipped his quietly while his mother toked on her cigarette. “Did he take you out to the lake?” she asked.
I looked to Channing for some clue as to what to say, but he remained neutral. “Yes, we went on a boat.”
“Well, how romantic.” She butted her cigarette and sat back with a smoky glare. “You both made a huge scene last night.” She looked at Channing, who turned his head and focused on his water. “You’re lucky your father didn’t kick you out for the shit you pulled with that bottle. What the heck were you thinking?” her voice rose.
“I’m sorry, God. Don’t come at me like that.”
“You know, if you fail, you can’t come back here. You’re on your own.”
“With a credit card and two sports cars. He won’t really cut me off. Now can we please just have dinner? I don’t want to talk about this crap.”
“The weather’s nice,” I pointed out.
“Shut up, both of you. This is serious, Channing.”
“I’ve got a tutor. I’m working hard. I know what I need to do to pass. Now, will you leave me alone, and let me eat in peace? Jesus,” he drained his water and set it down at the table.
“Fine,” Marie went quiet, and we sat in silence until the food came when Channing spoke up.
“I’m going to pass.”
“He really is,” I interjected.
“I’ll buy it when I see it.”
“You don’t have anything to worry about,” I said.
“I don’t see the point in all this. Can’t we just get our dinners from the kitchen and go somewhere else with them?” Channing asked.
“No,” she said. “You’re my son, and it’s been far too long since I’ve seen you.”
He sighed and sat back in his chair. Dinner was roasted chicken. They gave me a thigh with tiny bones and a lump of mashed potatoes. Everything was bland, no salt, no spices, like cardboard. The food was decorative, a show, just like everything else in the house.
Channing didn’t eat, and neither did I. Instead, we stuck to our water and kept our straws in our mouths to discourage conversation.
After a while, Marie pushed her plate away and stormed off, leaving me alone with Channing. Channing shot out of his chair and cornered the bartender. They were together for a while. I could hear them talking behind me, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.
When Channing was finished, he took a seat across from me.
“What was that?” I asked.
“You’ll see.”
The bartender walked behind the bar and began pouring us drinks. For Channing, a whiskey and Coke, for me, a bright blue mix that tasted like cherries and rum. When the bartender was done, he went through a short menu, the things they had on hand, apparently. We both ordered steaks and went back to our drinks.
“If you do it right,” I said, “this kind of life could be fun.”
“It’s too much upkeep,” he said. “I want to live alone, somewhere out in the country. I don’t want anybody around, just me, the forest, and my beautiful house.”
I sat back and smiled. “Maybe near a lake.”
“A little snow,” he said. “Not much. Just enough to go sledding.”
“No, it should come down in great big globs that somehow miss the road and our driveway.”
“I’m not shoveling.”
“I know,” I raised a finger. “It’ll be at the base of the mountain. That way, we can miss the snow and drive up whenever we want to see it.”
“That’s perfect. We can go hiking and skiing, and hunt as many deer as we want.” He took a drink and met my eyes with a grin. “It would be wonderful.”
“Like a dream.”
We didn’t say anything until our food arrived—two massive plates with thick cuts of beef, salad, rolls, and baked potatoes with gravy, mushrooms, and mustard greens. It was delicious.
“See,” I said, in between bites of lettuce, “it doesn’t matter how much stuff you have. It’s nothing if you don’t enjoy it. That’s the problem.”
“Well, once you have everything,” he speared a cut of beef with his fork, “you get bored. You don’t enjoy things the way you normally would. Everything is drawn out and dull, so you just kind of fade into the background.”
“How boring.” I thought of the way his mother seemed detached, focused only on her cigarettes while she looked on at the rest of the world.
“That’s why I want that house. I want to get out and enjoy things.”
“I feel the same way.” I finished my salad and moved onto my baked potato. “I don’t want people cooking for me or bringing me drinks. If I want something, I’ll get it. In fact, I want to have cooking nights, when we decorate the table with flowers and try new recipes.”
“You can have china in a hutch next to the table,” he said.
“On display with plates sitting on little stands.”
“And a barbecue pit.”
“Yes, but just for you and me. No big parties.”
“No, for our cooking nights,” he said.
“We need lots of those.”
“And fireplace nights.”
“Mm-hmm,” I nodded, “and forest adventures.”
“We’ll go on walks every day,” he said.
“It’s going to be wonderful.” We finished our food while I contemplated what it’d be like to wake up in bed next to him every morning. We could do all of those things if we really wanted to, or anything we wanted. With his resources, we could live the life of our dreams.
We finished our food quickly. Soon, he was offering me his hand to help me up. There was a back gate leading outside, where the moon had stained the vast field of long grass a pale gray. It seemed to glitter when it swayed in the wind. Channing led me down a through the grass, behind a cluster of white buildings that must’ve been the guest quarters. Further downhill was an arched trellis covered in vines. A short path had been cut in a patch of green.
It must’ve been the gardens at one time. There were red brick paths lined with decaying wooden fences. Their posts had toppled, and the vines were eating at them. There were trees ringed with circles of rocks and rose bushes with their vines laid out across the straight path
The scent of fermenting petals, moss, and fresh blossoms stuck in the thick, warm air. Rose vines snaked around the trees, around the fence posts, with beds of blue, yellow, pink, and red petals laying on the ground below.
Channing took my hand, and we walked further downhill, where the trees grew thick on both sides of the trail. There was a bush at the bottom and trees flanking us on all sides.
Channing pulled the branches of the bush aside, revealing a path that led through the trees into a clearing beyond. He climbed in first, then pulled me through and collapsed on the grass, pulling me with him. He wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled my head close, so he could dampen the fall. I barely even felt it when we hit the ground.
The clearing was nothing more than a clean, soft bed of grass with a boulder in the middle. We scooted back, and he leaned against the boulder, so I could lie on my back and rest my head on his stomach.
We were far enough outside the city that the only light came from the moon and the stars. They stretched out above us in a milky band that fell below the tree line. Channing looked up at them with me while my head rose and fell with his breath. These quiet moments were sacred. We were bonding silently, delving into one another. We listened to the soft sounds our bodies made, our legs shifting in the grass, the beating of his heart, and the wind passing us by.
The boulder sheltered us from the worst of the chill, so we could just enjoy the sky. Soon I felt him starting to get restless, and we walked back to the house. He stayed close to me and held my hand as much as he could. I enjoyed the comfort of having him there, urging me on.
When we got to the back of the house, he led me through a back door where a private stairwell brought us to my room. He followed me in, I laid down, and he fell on top of me. He rested the weight of his body on mine, pressing me back into the bed, while his lips crashed over me. His tongue was moist and warm when it pressed past my lips.
He wrapped his arm around my back and sat pulled me up so that he was sitting on my lap. He stood up, and I saw his cock bulging out of his pants when he ducked down to pull off my shirt. He threw it behind him and moved onto my lips.
He pressed me back onto the bed again. I was laying on my back, and he had himself propped up so that he was leaning over me. His kiss traveled down my chin, leaving a wet, warm trail with it. He kissed my neck, the place under my ear, then cupped my head in his hand so he could tear into my neck. His teeth nicked the skin, and a jolt tore through me.
It was electric. His hand trailed down my side, over my breast. His thumb grazed my nipple through my bra, and I gasped. My breath flowed in, and his lips fell. He moved lower and began kissing my neck, my chest, and the space above my breasts.
He pulled his hand around my back, darted up to bite my bottom lip, and unhooked my bra. He tore it away and fell on my nipples. His lips pulled one up, and I felt pressure building up beneath my gut. It was a warm, tingling sensation that slowly turned into a trickle as he sucked my nipple in and grazed the other with his fingernail.
His fingers were cold needles spreading fire across my areola. His tongue did the same. The building heat from his breath became a tangible force moving inside me. The trickle became a wave, building up between my legs. I tensed my muscles to keep it from flowing out.
Channing fell lower and opened my legs as his lips moved over my stomach. A fleck of moisture trickled out, and I gasped. He dug his teeth into the skin below my belly button and moved his finger over my areola while he worked the button my pants with his other hand.
He had my pants unbuttoned in no time. Now he was holding on the belt loops on the sides. He pulled my pants lower as his kisses fell with them. He hooked a finger around the band on my panties and pulled them down with my pants.
My lips were exposed now. I could see light reflecting on the moisture. His breath was hot, flowing over them, piercing through to my opening, running over my clit. He moved down off the bed until he was on his knees and his face was digging deeper between my open legs. He pulled me forward so that my legs were hanging over the bed, and my feet were resting on the floor.
Then he darted forward and swept his tongue up past my opening. He rested it on my clit, and a harsh moan flew out. He reached one hand up to cup my breast and let his index finger flit over the nipple while he darted his tongue across my clit, back and forth, then down again. He rested it on my opening, then looked up to meet my eyes before he drove the tip through, just enough to make me jolt back.
I was throbbing now, pulling his tongue in. He flicked his finger across my nipple and used the other hand to clamp down on my clit while he pressed his tongue in further. It was hot, like an injection of liquid fire, but it wasn’t enough, and when his breath flew in, it left me aching for more.
His index finger fell down my clit. He drew his head back and rested the tip on my opening. He tapped it once, then twice, over and over until my voice was bubbling out and I was ready to scream. I caught myself and bit my bottom lip. Somebody might hear us if they walked through the hall.
Channing pressed the tip of his finger through. My mouth flew open, and a sharp breath flew out. He pressed it in deeper, up to the knuckle, and I tensed up. The blood rushed to my face, and I winced at the feeling of him sliding it through the rest of the way.
He rested the tip on my spot, and my head flew back. The wave of moisture growing inside me was starting to pool up. His finger was teasing it when he twisted and pulled out. He lowered his head and pulled his tongue down my clit while his finger twisted through, hit my spot, then back again, faster this time.
I could see his arm flexing. He must’ve been playing with his bulge. He was a machine, roaring through as my body took him in. It was sweet and fiery, a cardinal sin, but his dick wasn’t inside me, and he was stroking it faster now. He pinched my clit and pulled his head away. He stood up with his finger still twisting inside me.
I could see his cock bulging out of his pants. It was hanging down his thigh. The tip was sticking out. He pulled his hand down the length and pinched the head. It was throbbing at his touch. His finger was still pressing through, faster now, and my breath was racing. He pulled his thumb down my clit, and a wave poured out.
Warmth spread through my body, and he drove through deep. The tip of his finger grazed my spot, and my breath caught in my throat. My voice flew out, and the warmth flowing through me became a raging fire storm, tickling at my skin with its hot, feathery lips.
Channing was watching me the entire time, as the flame spread out, up my stomach, down my glistening thighs, staining the white sheets. His finger was still pushing through and pulling back. He was using his other hand to finger his button.
He made a show of stroking his hand down his shaft, then pulling the button open. After that, he let his pants fall. His cock flew up and pointed straight towards me. I could see the skin folding over the bright red tip as his hand moved back and forth over the shaft.
His finger slammed through me, and my voice was bubbling out. I loved the way it looked when he met my eyes and pressed through. Then he reached up with his other hand to clamp down on my clit.
I cried out.
He lowered himself on top of me and grabbed his cock by the base. He pushed the tip through, and I went wild. It was a terrible tease. I tried to push into it, but he held me back and began sliding through slowly, letting his breath fly out between us.
His lips crashed against mine, and his tongue pushed through. I could feel the tip of his cock pushing in further. He jolted, and his cock slammed onto my spot. My body shot up, and his full length was inside me.
His lips were wild, pulsing back and forth, his head twisting. His tongue shot through, and he began to drill me. His cock slammed in, faster and faster. The sound of him grunting cut through the silence, and I sat back.
My breath flew out with every thrust and came in sharp, panicked gasps. The sound of my heart pounding seemed louder than anything else around me. Then I felt his stomach touch mine. Our bodies crashed together, and his lips fell down behind my ear.
He tore through me while his teeth dug into the sensitive skin on my neck. I could feel his cock pounding at my gates. A small sea was building up. The current was churning through me, fueled by his dick. His hips thrust faster and faster as his teeth dug into my neck, below my ear, under my chin, above my breasts.
He reached down and began stroking my clit. His touch was pure fire. It came blasting through and tore open the barrier holding the storm in. Wave after cold wave flew out, up my chest, into my head, my legs, even my feet. Every blast was stronger than the last until I was overcome by it.
I felt like I was standing under a wall of water, being torn apart by the sheer force of it. I heard Channing gasp. His breath caught, and a hot stream flowed through me. He didn’t pull away right away. Instead, he lay at my side and turned me over so that we were facing one another, kissing while he moved his cock back and forth through me.
Soon my eyes were closing. He turned over and laid on his back, then wrapped his arms around my neck so I could rest my head on his shoulder. “Is it okay for you to be here?” I asked.
“This is where I belong. Will you sleep with me tonight?”
“Of course,” I closed my eyes to fall asleep.
“Let’s go tomorrow. Is that okay?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good,” he kissed my head and went quiet.