Glimmer (21 page)

Avery walked over and took my hand, leading me in the direction of the cars.  Ben followed behind, aided by Claire and Frank. 

Christopher stood away from Frank’s car as we approached.  Frank deposited Ben in the front seat and then took his place behind the wheel.  Claire and I climbed into the backseat. Avery got in my car and pulled up behind us.

“Hey, Christopher,” Frank said out the window as he started up the car, “can you drive Avery’s truck back to the Adams’ house?  We shouldn’t leave any of the vehicles behind. The keys are in the ignition.”

“There’s no way I’m getting into that dea-”

“Thanks, Chris!” Frank rolled up his window and drove away.

Approximately forty-five minutes after they arrived at the hospital, my little brother, Wyatt Thomas Adams was born.  He was blessed with a head of thick brown hair and a strong desire to sleep, so Avery and I both instantly had something in common with him.  Wyatt was the sweetest person I’d ever seen and I couldn’t believe that I’d doubted I would feel anything for him. 

Dad and Avery’s mom called Melody’s cell from Portland and spoke to Mom, explaining that they were stranded due to the storm, but that the pass would be cleared by the next morning, so they would see us all tomorrow evening.  Mom said that she looked forward to their visit, that she had one heck of a story to share with them, and that she was letting Avery drive me home to the cabin.  I could hear Dad putting up a mild protest over the phone, but Mom politely reminded him that she’d just given birth and was tired as hell.

Frank, Ben, and Melody all went to Claire’s house for the night.  We made plans to call each other in the morning and meet up at the hospital again. There was still so much to discuss.  Ben was formulating a new plot for recovering the spirits that Mildred had locked away. I was put in charge of bringing Mom her bag.  After everything that had happened, she still wanted it.  That must have been one cute coming home outfit she’d picked out for Wyatt, but probably not risk-your-life cute.  I kept that thought to myself.

We got out of the Legacy and lumbered up the cabin stairs.  Avery opened the door for me, resting his hand on the small of my back, guiding me inside. 

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been this tired in my entire life,” I said, kicking my high heels off across the floor.

He pulled me to him, kissing my forehead.  “You wanna take a shower? I can start it for you.”

“
That
is exactly what I want to do.” 

We walked into my bedroom.  I went to the chest of drawers and pulled out my most comfy and unflattering outfit, a pair of dark green sweats and a huge gray sweatshirt that used to be Dad’s, and hung them over the end of the bed.

Avery got the shower going and then came back into the bedroom.  “Are you hungry?  Or thirsty?  Mel told me to make you drink lots of water.”

I reached back to unzip my dress, my muscles aching and tender.  “Argh.  Can you get this stupid Barbie dress off of me, I can’t do it myself.”

He came up behind me and swept my hair up off of my neck, pushing it over my shoulder. “Jesus,” he whispered, “you’ve got sand and asphalt ground into your skin, Zellie, you should have had the nurses look at you.”  Gingerly, he peeled the edge of the material from my skin and slowly unzipped my dress.

“Thank you.”  I exhaled, finally able to breathe easily.  “That dress was like a satin strait jacket.”

“No problem.” He looked toward the bathroom. “The water’s probably hot by now.”

I winced trying to wriggle out of the dress.  Avery rushed around to the front of me and grabbed my hands, putting them on his shoulders.  “Here, let me help you.  You probably bruised some ribs.  Being run over by a truck can do that.”

“Ha,” I said, wincing again. Avery’s hair brushed my face as he gently pushed my dress down, letting it drop to the floor.  “You’re okay, though, aren’t you?” I asked. 

He nodded his head.

I grinned. “Turns out, I
am
a better Retroact than Ben.  Who would’ve thought?”

“Me,” he said, putting his hands on my hips and helping me step over the wadded up dress.

For some reason, it hadn’t occurred to me that Avery helping me get undressed would mean that I would be standing in front of him in my underwear and a strapless bra.  I mean, he’d seen the goods before, but it’d been a while.  He looked down at the floor, but left his hands on my hips.  “Are you good?  Can you make it to the shower?”

I stepped to the side. Walking I could do, but my back was throbbing with pain. “Can you, uh, help me take the other stuff off?  I promise I’m not trying to seduce you or anything, I just don’t think I can get....especially the bra...” I tried looking up at the ceiling.

Avery chuckled.  “You’re not
trying
to seduce me, huh?” He reached around my back and unhooked the bra, sliding it forward and throwing it in the general vicinity of my laundry basket. 

I grinned, bringing my gaze down and looking into his eyes.  A bit of the awkwardness between us was fading.  It kinda had to under the circumstances.

Abruptly, Avery moved away from me and whipped his shirt off over his head.  He stepped on the backs of his shoes, almost falling over, catching himself on the edge of the bed.

“What are you doing?” I asked, frozen to my point on the floor.

He unbuttoned his jeans and pushed them down. “I’m gonna help you take a shower.”

Standing there in his boxers, the sight of his body made me lose my breath all over again.  “Okay,” I managed to say and turned to walk into the bathroom.

“Unless you don’t want me to,” he said.

I held my hand out behind me in response, hoping that he took it.

Without hesitation, he reached forward and grasped my hand.  I led him into the bathroom and pushed the shower curtain back, steam escaping and engulfing us.

“Underwear off?” he asked.

“Yup,” I whispered.

He slipped out of his boxers and threw them over his shoulder.

“I meant mine,” I giggled, to the detriment of my ribcage.

“Oops.” Avery smiled wickedly and then slid mine down my legs.

He took hold of my arm and we got in the shower, facing each other. I stood directly under the stream. The water was soothing and hot, relaxing my muscles.

“Turn around, let me wash the dirt off of you.”  I obeyed, turning my back to him and pulling my hair forward.  Next I pulled the ribbon out and undid the braids. I grabbed the shampoo from the rack hanging over the showerhead and squirted a large dollop into my hand. I would have to wash it twice, since Giselle had loaded it with so much product.

Avery leaned around me and took the soap from the rack.  “Okay, tell me if this kills. I’m going to try and be very gentle, but some of the rocks are in there real good.”

“Okay.”  I held my breath in anticipation.  He placed his soaped up palm against my skin and rubbed in a light circular motion.  It wasn’t so bad, considering.  I concentrated on washing my hair when I saw that the water rushing by my feet was tinged with red. 

I’d rinsed the shampoo from my hair, shampooed again, washed my face, and applied conditioner by the time Avery was done cleaning my back.  I was sure to have a whole mess of scars.  He put his arms around my waist and kissed the nape of my neck.  A whole mess of totally worth it scars. I turned in his embrace, putting my head back and letting the water flow through my hair. He moved closer to me, planting light kisses across my collarbone.

“I love you, Zel,” he whispered.

“I love you.” I kissed him like I was starving and he was bread.

When our hands started roaming all over each other’s bodies, I had a brief moment of clarity. “Avery, we gotta get out of this water before we fall and give ourselves concussions.”

“Right.” He turned the shower off with his foot and hopped out.

I pushed back the curtain.  With my muscles more relaxed, the getting out was much easier than the getting in.  Well, that, and a dripping wet, naked, oh-my-frickity-fracking-God beautiful Avery was standing before me, waiting to wrap a towel around me. I did not lack motivation.

Stepping onto the bath mat, I took the towel from him and dried my hair.  Then, to his amusement, I dried his.

“Here,” he asked, holding his hand out for the towel, “let me dry your back off and see what we have to bandage it with.” 

Once again I obeyed, turning away from him.  I glanced over my shoulder, trying to get a look at myself in the mirror. Not a pretty sight.  I had a six inch patch of raw, scraped up flesh between my shoulder blades. At least the bleeding had stopped.

Avery dabbed my skin dry and then set about rummaging through the vanity drawers for first aid supplies. “A-ha,” he said, pulling an Ace bandage, a small bottle of Bactine, a roll of white tape, and some scissors from the cabinet under the sink.  “This should work pretty well.”

He disinfected the area and then covered it with sections of cut-up Ace bandage, taping it along the sides.

“All done,” he said.

I admired Avery’s handiwork in the mirror.  He’d done a good job.  “You should be a doctor.”

He smirked.  “You bring ‘em back from the dead and I’ll patch ‘em up.”

Catching his eye in the mirror, I smiled. 

I’d made the decision even before he’d helped me in the shower; before he’d bandaged my wounds.  I’d probably made it the instant I’d breathed in air and realized I was alive again. “Avery, can we...do you want to...um,” I shook my head and closed my eyes, embarrassed, which was completely dumb because we’d been naked and touching each other for almost half an hour.  I took a deep breath. “Want to take a nap?  And by nap I mean--”

“Yup.” He dumped the supplies he’d been holding onto the counter and scooped me up in his arms. Taking five steps into the bedroom, he laid me on the bed. He walked over to where he’d left his jeans and pulled his wallet from the pocket. “I managed to keep a few of these before my mom cleaned out the truck.” He tossed the condom onto the bedside table.  “Not that we need it right this minute.”

I got under the covers and scooted over with my back to the wall, making room for him to lie next to me.

“Wait,” he said, grinning, “one more thing.”  He shut my bedroom door and the door to the bathroom and locked them both.  Then he climbed into bed with me, taking me in his arms. “I believe you requested a bed and a room with doors that lock?”

“Yes, I did.”  He kissed me slowly, letting me know we had all the time in the world. Avery made me feel safe and mended.  Hopeful. All at once I was overcome by our bond. Surprising us both, I rolled on top of him, straddling his hips.  I kissed his neck, along his jaw line, taking his earlobe between my teeth.

“Jesus, Zel, it’s going to be over before it gets started,” he moaned under his breath, sliding his hands up the outside of my legs to my waist.

I nipped at his bottom lip. “Get it started then.”

Grasping my waist, we rolled clumsily so that he was on top. He trailed his mouth down my body, flicking his tongue over my nipples and then moving lower.  I fought the urge to put him in a headlock with my knees. As tired as I’d been, I was filled with electricity now.  I’d had an idea that he could make me feel this good, but the reality was all-consuming. Suddenly, a rush of warmth radiated throughout my entire body.  Now I knew why Claire thought we’d become sex addicted zombies. Little by little, my muscles relaxed so that I felt like I was sinking into the bed.  Hazy, I looked down at Avery, expecting his expression to be self-satisfied, but he looked wild and suffering instead.

He climbed up my body until his forehead rested on mine.  “Zellie?” he pleaded.

Knowing exactly what he wanted, my hand searched the bedside table, found the condom and slipped it into his hand. I was ready. He entered me as cautiously as he could, showing way better control over himself than I had earlier.  When I didn’t yell and throw him off me, he fell into a rhythm.

I’m not going to lie, it hurt, stung worse than getting the sand and asphalt washed off my back.  I tried not to let it show, concentrating on his face above me.

Opening his eyes, he found me staring at him. “You okay?” he asked, slowing down, “I’m not hurting your back...or anything?”

I shook my head no and reached up, twisting my hands in his damp hair, bringing his mouth to mine.

When it seemed like he could hardly stand to focus on kissing me anymore, he rested his face next to mine, hooking his chin over my shoulder.  I wrapped my arms and legs around him tightly, waiting for it to be over.

A little while later it was.  He was heavy on top of me, but I didn’t move. I recognized the sinking into the mattress feeling.

“Oh, God, I’m probably crushing you,” Avery said, coming out of his daze. He pushed up on his hands, his arms shaky.

“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything, but...” I smiled up at him.

He smiled back at me, goofy now, and then dipped down and kissed me sweetly.

“Cool?” he asked.

“Cool,” I replied.

“Am I smiling uncontrollably?” He giggled. “Because it feels like I am.”

“You are, and I’m glad.”  I giggled too. He was slap happy.

He gently pulled away from me and collapsed onto his side.  “You need anything?  Water? More blankets?”

“Sleep,” I said, overcome with exhaustion, “First we are gonna sleep and then when we wake up I want to try doing what we just did again.” I snuggled up close to him, resting my head in the crook of his elbow.  “Sound like a plan?”

Avery laughed and then kissed me on the forehead.  “Sounds like a plan,” he said, his expression turning thoughtful. “And after that?”

I slid my arm around to his back, holding him as tight as I could. “After that,” I sighed. “I have to figure out how to take down The Society.”

The End

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