Elastic Heart

“I haven’t talked to my parents since the day I left home. For them, when Janey died, the world stopped turning. I’m sorry I can’t offer you a big, warm family. All I have are pieces of one.”

I lifted off him and crossed my legs. “Both my parents are dead, my dog was murdered, and I stalk my stepdad because I’m too afraid of what he thinks of me. One piece of your life is worth more than my entire being. I’d be happy to have a piece of yours.”

Law reached out and stroked my cheek. “The biggest tragedy in your life isn’t your parents’ death. It isn’t Morris. It isn’t Raskol. It’s that you continually devalue yourself. The biggest tragedy of your life will be you not realizing how amazing you truly are.”

Tears brimmed the surface of my lids. I hadn’t cried for Morris. I’d kept my tears inside when he’d ruined my reputation. I hadn’t cried for Effie. When she’d left me alone, it had hurt worse than a punch to the gut, but I hadn’t cried. Despite my desolation, I hadn’t cried for Raskolnikov either. Yet there, in the freaking Boston airport, I was about to cry.

Law didn’t say another word. He opened his arm for me and I gladly took the comfort. I nestled myself against his chest and let his scent sooth me. Tears fell silently but his shirt soaked them up. It wasn’t tears of sadness that fell, but tears of undoing. The thing I’d feared for months had finally happened: I’d come undone. It hadn’t happened in a blaze of glory, with Morris in pieces at my feet and Salt Lake City in rubble, though. It had happened pressed against Law, a man who promised to do me back up.

Law gave me the window seat again. When we lifted off, the city below looked like sparkling glitter. I was mesmerized by it. Boston was so beautiful from up in the plane. Twinkling like stardust, you could almost forget all the terrible things that happened there. Up in the sky, a city wasn’t made up of murder per capita, but glimmering lights.

I touched the window, its pane cold against my fingers. It was nighttime now and I couldn’t see anything. The sky was painted black. I turned my attention back to the sleeping cabin. Law had sprung for first class tickets again. Before the trip, I’d never flown first class. We had big chairs the size of twin beds and the attendants brought us anything we wanted. Flying like that, I was almost able to forget the circumstances that had led to it.

Law was asleep, his Grecian profile all the more prominent when illuminated by the soft glow of the overhead plane lights. I reached out to touch him but pulled back just as quickly. Shaking my head, I turned back to the window. Whatever had happened between Law and me in Boston would most likely stay in Boston.

“What are you thinking now, Dandelion?” Law’s words startled me and I turned to see his eyes open and studying me.

“How long have you been awake?” I squinted at him, as if I could stare the answer out of him.

“I was never asleep.”

I folded my arms, decidin

g to reply truthfully. “I was just thinking about what happens when we land.” Law stood upright and leaned into me. The invasion of my space wasn’t drastic, but the single act seemed to dominate me. I swallowed.

“What are you thinking?” Law’s voice was dangerously low. I knew that timbre. I’d been swayed by it before. I tried to look away but Law closed whatever distance was left between us. I had nowhere else to look but him. His body. His severe edges. His calculating gaze.

“I’m wondering what will happen,” I whispered.

“To?” Law pressed.

“Us.” Law gripped the back of my neck and pulled me into him. It wasn’t a kiss—it was a merging. I didn’t just taste the power, I felt the cutting intensity throughout my body. I responded instantly, wrapping my arms around his neck and moaning into his mouth. Law stopped and undid my hands from his neck. I opened my eyes, confused.

“Can’t have you waking everyone up,” Law said, grinning. “Be good and you’ll be rewarded.” I wanted to rebel at that. I nearly slapped him across the face. Yet deep inside, his words made me glow. I dropped my arms to my sides and waited for instructions.

Law traced a finger from my cheek down to my collarbone and carefully brushed aside my cotton shirt. I shivered as my shoulder became exposed. Bending down, he placed a light kiss on the tip of my shoulder. I bit my lip to keep from whimpering.

“Good girl,” Law murmured against my skin. It took all my willpower not to grip Law by his powerful shoulders. I didn’t want him to stop, though, so that meant playing by his rules. I kept my hands next to my sides because that meant Law would continue kissing me.

Law placed a hand on my stomach and I gasped.

“Shh…” Using his other thumb, Law tugged my bottom lip. “You have a beautiful mouth, Dandelion. Don’t let it get us in trouble.” I was speechless, or at least I thought I was. My thoughts got jumbled up with his hands on my mouth and my stomach.

Then he did something amazing.

Something reckless.

He slid his hand from my stomach and beneath my jeans. My mouth popped open.

“You’re okay,” Law said, his eyes still locked with mine. I wasn’t okay—I mean, I was okay, but my heart was about to explode from the tension and anticipation. Law’s palm was only an inch away from me—the deep, needy part of me. I had never known how much I needed something until right then. I couldn’t cry out, I couldn’t beg, so I did the next best thing. I sucked the finger he had on my lip inside my mouth and bit. Hard.

Law’s eyes darkened for a split second and then I felt him—his hand on the naked, deep, needy part of me. He covered all of me and it was the most delicious feeling in the world. My heart fluttered. My stomach ached. My thighs tingled. My vision blurred. And this was all from just a touch.

“Is this okay?” Law’s voice was gruff. It sounded like he’d been yelling for weeks. I took a few deep breaths before responding.

“Yes.” It was all I could manage and it came out in a sigh.

“What do you want?” Law punctuated his question by pressing his palm harder into me. I was on the verge of hyperventilating.