In a moment, I was on the back of my pony, Pumpkin. I must have been about six or seven, and I was absolutely terrified of him. He was gentle and calm, but that didn’t stop me from having a near panic attack every time my mother tried to bring me near him. I could feel the power of his body beneath me when I sat on him, even at that age. I knew this was not something to mess with. I felt a strong hand at my back and looked down at my mother. She was smiling at me, speaking words of encouragement, and I felt a sense of relief that she was there.
My mother morphed into Ash, and I wondered if it was possible for your heart to stop beating while you were dreaming. He was smiling down at me, strong and beautiful. He looked like that Ash I had known from months before, free of the scars and the heartbreak. He leaned down toward me, his lips on mine, his hands at the hem of my shirt, pulling it over my head. He pressed me up against the wall, trailing soft kisses along my collarbone, leaving me breathless.
I woke up with a start, aching, my fingers folded in a fist, clutching Liam’s shirt tightly. We were lying on the bed together, facing each other. There was a respectful amount of distance between the two of us, and I felt a gush of affection toward the boy that lay across from me. His eyes fluttered open, and I smiled at him. He smiled back and pried my fingers off his shirt.
“Are you okay?” he asked. I nodded and looked over his head to the clock that ticked incessantly above the door. I frowned. “What is it?”
“It’s way past dinner time.” I sat up and looked over at the desk, which was empty of its usual food tray. “Have they not come by with dinner?”
Liam shook his head slowly, his brow furrowed. “Maybe they were waiting…”
“Right,” I said, interrupting him before he could continue. “Well, it’s not happening tonight.” My voice was firm, and Liam raised his eyebrows at me. “Come here, and give me a kiss. That’ll have to be enough for them tonight.”
He laughed, a real laugh, and I felt myself smile back at him. “Okay,” he agreed, sitting up, his hair sticking up on one side. I leaned closer, using my fingers to flatten it down. He froze and looked down at me, and I swallowed hard.
“I’m going to have to give in soon, aren’t I?” I whispered to him. “If I want to survive. If I want Ash to survive.”
He didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to. I sighed shakily and stood on my tiptoes for a kiss. Our lips met, and I waited for him to pull away. He always seemed to know how much time was necessary for each kiss, what would keep them happy. He hadn’t pulled away and I found myself responding to him, more so than I had before.
Liam’s arms came up and wrapped around my waist, pulling me against him. His lips pressed harder to me, and I gasped. He pulled back and stared at me for a long moment, his eyes wide. The look in his eyes was pleading, and I found myself falling into it. My hand reached up to his chest. I felt the contours of his body as my hand traveled up his chest, across his collarbone, and came to rest at the back of his neck, where the end of his hair curled. I ran my fingers through it, and he closed his eyes, sighing.
“You’re not helping, Zoey,” he admitted.
I didn’t answer, lifting my other hand to his arm, feeling the muscles underneath my fingertips. I traced the veins, raising the light blond hairs, and smiled slightly at the goose bumps that formed there.
“Zoey…” he warned.
I had no idea what I was doing, except that the dream was so fresh in my mind and his body was pressed right against mine, and I was responding to it. I wanted to touch him. I kissed him nearly every day, and he always kissed me softly, affectionately. He never forced me further. He saw me as a person, as Zoey the girl. Not as Zoey the Eve of Sekhmet, the girl being forced to restart the human race. I was lonely, and my entire body ached for this, ached for love and affection. My hand left his arm and came to the hem of his shirt. My fingers traveled under the hem, against the warm, hard skin of his back.
“Shit,” he said, and his mouth came back down on me again. I gasped and threw myself into the kiss, my hands pressed tight against his back and neck. He kissed me long and hard, pressing his tongue against my lips until my mouth opened and our tongues battled together. I whimpered, and a growl ripped through his body. He lifted me and placed me on the bed. I looked up at him, breathing heavily. “Zoey…”
“Come here,” I said, raising my arms to him. “It’s okay.”
His eyes closed for a moment, and then he came over to me, his body covering mine. I arched toward him, loving the feeling of his hard body against mine. His lips found mine again and we kissed again, over and over again, our soft sighs and moans the only sound in the world.
Liam’s hand came up to my shirt, tugging on the hem and I reached for his hands. He looked up at me, frozen, and I shook my head, pulling the shirt over my head myself. Our faces were both flushed, and my legs went around his waist before I could think about what I was doing.