WREN

“So, this is your place?” Eric glances around my shoe-shack. “Clean.”

Thank God I scrubbed it top to bottom.

“It’s small, I know.”

Genuinely his eyes land on me as he asks, “Why does one person need more space?”

“I like it here.”

He shrugs like the subject is closed and mutters, “That’s what matters,” walking to a shelf I hung in the wall, myself, so I could showcase those pictures on it. “This your mom? She looks just like you. Shorter hair.”

Smiling, because that’s what I always think, too, I stand by his side, both of us staring at her laughing image. “Yeah, she says I’m her second chance at greatness. Like God made two of us in case she didn’t get there.”

“Well, she’s hot as fuck,” he says, matter-of-factly. He laughs and bumps our shoulders together.

“Don’t talk about my mom like that.”

“I’d do her.”

“Stop it!”

He starts tickling me and I fight him off. “What…you don’t want me hooking up with your mom, Wren? What’s wrong with you, are ya some kind of tattooed prude? I’ll tell you what, you can have my Dad in return.” He winces and shakes his head. “Okay, joking about that kind of sick shit is over.”

“See?! Not funny, huh?”

“Not funny. I was wrong. Except for this!” His fingers tear into my ribs again, tickling like crazy. I scream and dodge him, running into my kitchen. He dashes in after me, spreading his arms to full wingspan so I can’t escape again. I move left and he moves right, both of us looking sneaky. I duck to try and run under his arms. He scoops me into the air, flips me upside down sending my sunglasses and keys clattering to the spotless tile.

“Forget what I do for a living?”

With all the blood charging into my face, I challenge him, “You throw a ball to other people! You’re not a catcher!”

“Oh ho! Is that right?” Walking like Frankenstein he carries me off into my bedroom like this, upside down and helpless to escape. “I just hand the ball off, eh? Is that so? How about I hand you off right now!” I yelp as I’m flung onto my full size bed, white comforter tugged tightly at the corners, orange and gold pillows stacked high against a pine headboard. Eric leans his back against a wall, crossing his arms as he watches me scramble to a more flattering position.

“How’d you choose your tats?”

Catching my breath I demand, “Why? Thinking of getting one?”

Chewing on his lip, Eric stares into his thoughts. “My dad and his brothers all have matching ones. My cousins and I should do the same. At first I thought maybe it would be just the faction of us who hangs out the most, but it’d be better if we all did it.”

“Faction?”

“I’ve got a lot of cousins. Seventeen, so some of us have sort of grouped together over the years, we’re closer to each other than the others.”

“I’ve heard of some of your family,” I confess, tearing off my shoes and throwing them to the ground so I can sit on my heels. “You can’t live in Atlanta and not know about the Cockers.”

“Which ones?”

“I know your uncle was a Senator. I know about his daughter because everyone does, after what happened with them.” Eric nods, eyes flickering with the weight of their story. I continue, “Your cousin Gabriel of course, which is her brother so basically them who are the most famous out of your family, huh?”

Eric scratches the back of his head. “I’m no slouch.” He catches a pillow I throw at him.

“Besides you.”

Chuckling he spins the pillow on his finger and then tosses it back and walks over, pointing to the birds tattooed on my right hand. “There, those are for your name, right?” I nod, and he smirks, “The one on your back I still haven’t gotten a good look at.” Tugging back the fabric he studies it. “This a phoenix?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Is there a reason?”

“No matter what happens I can always rise up and find my way out of the ashes.”

Eric sits on the bed with me. “Scoot over, let me get a better look.” I adjust so that my back is to him, and throw my hair over one shoulder. He lifts my shirt off, fixes my hair again so that nothing blocks his view, and unsnaps my bra. From my neck to my tailbone the pads of his fingers slowly make a trail of goosebumps sing into my skin. He kisses the tattoo, lingering to whisper, “I wanted to check this out since the first day I met you, and here I am, kissing it.” I sigh as his hands slip around and fondle my breasts while his lips caress my shoulders, my neck, all the while taking his sweet time.

He lowers us onto the bed and I melt into him, our legs entwined as hazel eyes explore all aspects of my face. They’re darker with the blinds down, the sun of Cascade Park gone now. There they looked more green.

Eric murmurs, “What’s this scar here in your eyebrow?” tracing it with a lazy finger.

“I fell on the monkey bars when I was four.” Caressing a scar on his chin I ask, “Is this from the game against the Bears last year when you got ambushed?”

“Nah. Got this in Junior year of high school during practice. I was being lazy and didn’t secure my helmet. Got tackled and it went flying off. I smacked my jaw on the ground, lost a tooth.” Opening his mouth he pokes at it. “This one’s fake. Looks pretty good, huh?”

Nodding I touch it, too. “Can’t tell at all.”

“Modern technology, right?”

“Amazing.”

You’re amazing, Eric. What are you doing in my room?

He drops down to kiss me and I respond. As our tongues dance, one of his hands slides down my stomach then disappears into my shorts to cup the throbbing part of me. I slip my fingers into his hair, enjoying the warmth, the soft texture, as we kiss. A moan escapes and Eric groans in reply, his erection more insistent against my inner thigh now. We adjust our bodies so he can slip my shorts off. I tug his pants over his hips and he does the rest, unbuttoning his shirt next while I gaze at his disciplined muscles and rippling flesh. His skin, so warm, presses into mine as he lies on top of me, weight giving in to gravity as our mouths play and get to know each other better. The boulder, the dappled sunbeams, the open terrain of the forest was amazing.

Yet so is this.

Our hands explore each other’s nakedness as our kisses never hurry, tongues dipping in and out, paired with sighs and moans. The pad of his thumb circles my clit. Without thought our bodies shift, my legs spreading for him and Eric gracefully adjusting to penetrate me while we kiss. I stiffen as his girth stretches my sore walls. His cock feels like bottled heaven, and the slight tinge of pain only adds to my pleasure. One of his hands cups my head, the other my ass as he slowly thrusts his strength between my thighs, giving me all of him with each stroke. My fingernails dig into his skin as I lose myself in the pleasure of being with this man.

“Eric,” I moan, breath shortening, “You feel so good inside me.”

He kisses me and rasps, “You’re amazing. I’m stunned, Wren. Out of my body, yet I’m right here, you know?”

“Me too.” Arching my back as his length reaches the furthest point in me I reach for a kiss and Eric dives down to claim my mouth. After a deliciously long while I gasp, feeling my orgasm hovering on the edge of my core. Long beats of pleasure pulse just under the surface and I whisper to him, “I’m on the pill, take it every day.”

He kisses me once before asking, “You want me to stay inside you then?”

“Yes, please stay.”

Our mouths find each other. I feel him becoming harder, filling up. The ache grows in both of us, hurting for release but not wanting this to end. I inhale sharply as he slows down but increases the depth, and each time the stroke dives in, his generous size fills me.

Eric groans and I know he’s close. His kisses become urgent, even desperate. Our hands dig into each other as we abandon ourselves to the fire. His chest fills with air as he gasps, tears from the kiss and roars, unleashing his orgasm and taking me over the cliff of ecstasy with him. I tremble in his arms. Going tense with heat as he slams sure strokes, wincing before he blinks and gazes into my eyes, trying to catch his breath.

In amazement Eric thickly whispers, “You know why Peter had to do what he did?”

Confused he’s bringing that up now, I frown, “Why?”

“Because otherwise you would’ve stayed with him, and you’re not meant for him. You’re meant for me.”

Touching his face, my heart melts, my body boneless. “Oh, Eric, don’t say things like that to me today. It’s too scary.”

Lowering into a quick kiss he tells me, “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”