Chapter 2

“You okay, Ev?” She asked again when she got no response, moving from the bed to the black inflated couch near where he stood.

“Er… yeah, yeah,” he stuttered, still staring at his phone like the thing just became a wild animal. “Yeah, babe. Everything is just fine,” he lied through his teeth, already dreading the content the mail held.

“It’s just a mail from Thomas, my brother in England. I must have mentioned him before. He was just made a full time professor at Oxford and has been appointed the dean of student affairs at Easton University because of that,” Evander continued as he looked through the letter head again in obvious disbelief.

Clara was hundred percent sure he had never mentioned his brother during their time together but let it go because Evander always seemed to get in a mood any time she brought up his family.

“Are you sure that’s all? You seem worried,” she pushed, already on her feet, his face in her hands.

He let out a heavy breath, “I am.” He surrendered, rubbing the spot between his brows where his crease would usually appear. “We haven’t spoken in ages,” he said, running his hand through his thick black mane in dire need of a haircut.

“Then this would make for a happy reunion. You are free from Ed and the other guys at the construction site. I have no pending jobs and no contracts for now, I say it’s perfect. We should go visit him and congratulate him.” She beamed already thinking of how much fun it would be and how she would finally get to meet his family, even though it was just his brother.

“It is not that simple,” he grunted. “My family is a bit…complicated. We’re not like the regular family you are used to.”

Clara was in no rush to console him this time, instead she watched him, studied his expressions. She could see the tension in his shoulders, the narrowing of his eyes, and the little beads of perspiration dripping down his temple. If Clara hadn’t known better she would have guessed the text was from his boss and not his brother. Did she know better?

Evander seemed really disturbed. His eyes dim, calculating, scheming, like a million things were going through his head at that very moment. All of this because of a text from his brother, it was the total opposite of what she thought his reaction would be.

Clara cupped the back of his neck with both palms. She had since gotten up from the inflatable couch and was standing next to Evander who was still very much stuck to his position on the bed.

“I’m sure it is all in your head,” she assured, placing a kiss on his cheeks, “and you’d probably be laughing at each other in no time,” She finished and set his phone aside.

Evander could not imagine his brother laughing at anything, least of all at him or his jokes, but for Clara’s sake, he did not correct her.

Clara pulled him closer by the neck of his tank to her level, her back arched to match his height for a kiss, one so brief she doubted it would make a difference. He let out a breath and fell on his back; she followed his lead and stood by the bed but did not go further to sit. Instead she pulled him back to a sitting position, his head leveled with the upper part of her trunk, and to her chest. 

She could feel him relax upon contact with her soft body, her soft bosom. She was happy she could make him relax. He had seemed so tense earlier and it was unnerving. Was she doing it again? Was she being too willing to let it go? Was she observing what she a normal person shouldn’t be observing, being borderline obsessive? No! Ev had told her that her differences made her unique and in her shortcomings she would find her greatest strengths, whatever that meant. 

She wish she understood but she didn’t.

Ev was so wise, like he was from another lifetime, having had this lifetime a million times. He was vast and simple and he had cared for her, loved her even when she couldn’t love herself. It was through those clear blue eyes she was able to understand the world – he was her lighthouse.

Evander held on to her, loving the comfort in her embrace and yet knowing she was only a means to an end. She was the object of his vengeance, a tool through which an eye would pay for an eye, through which he would get recompense. But was that all he felt as she held him close to her, providing the very comfort he craved but was never blessed enough to get in the past? He knew it wasn’t and that greatly upset him. He felt way more than he should, more than he was allowed. Had he been too preoccupied? Lost in a bubble of his own design? A distraction he had somehow let into the only light in his heart? No, he could not let that happen. It would destroy it all.

Evander lifted his head and looked straight into Clara’s eyes, dark grey eyes like the clouds before a heavy rain. Those eyes showed curiosity needing answers to all the questions she probably had but answers she would never get. Those eyes were hungry for the truth but had somehow settled for only a version of it. He had always found her eyes peculiar, for if the eyes were the windows to the soul then in hers he saw a soul bathed in holy water, so pure even his presence in her life was not enough to leave a smear on it. It provided unexplainable peace and he knew if he stared too long, he would definitely be lost.

Before he could think better of it, he met her lips with his, their tongues dancing to a song of their own making. He could taste the apple she had taken that morning on her tongue, as his glided against hers, and he loved it. He wanted more, needed more. Pulling her with him to the bed, she hovered over him running her hands through his hair. He pulled at her bottom lip and gave it a little nimble; loving the breathy moan she let out, causing him to let out a groan of his own. She was warm and he felt free, like running your fingers through a bunch of calm roses on even calmer fields. 

He let go of her tongue, she let go of her lungs, coming up for air for the first time, exhaling in deep passion. He immediately felt like he was drowning again, wanting a taste of that freedom again, he switched their positions. He knew he should not be getting this involved but he couldn’t stop himself. One supple breast in one hand, his mouth on the other as she lets out cries of ecstasy. He couldn’t stop, not when everything screamed at him to take her at that very moment.

She wound her hands around his slender yet sturdy flame, sliding them to grab his backside, pulling him even closer leaving nothing but their clothes between their skins.

He nibbled on her right nipple, soothing it with his tongue second later and she went wild. Gripping his head, she drew him even closer to her bosom. She wanted him, he knew it, felt it and he was more than happy to oblige.

Clara thought happy thoughts and thoughts of security. Was she living a dream? How could she have been so lucky to have grabbed the attention of such a perfect man?

This man who brought her to climax time and again, made her feel emotions she never thought possible. That was what he could do. That was his pull, his versatility. He could stimulate her mind and her loins equally. She was in love with a man that loved her twice as much and she relished in it even as she reached her peak for the third time in the same hour. What he had seen in her that made him want to get closer, she still had no idea because she was as plain as plain could get. Was she doing it again? Was she underestimating her worth, her potential? In all honesty, she still could not answer that for it was a question that has taken a front seat in a world that was her mind. She did not care though. She knew only the present, her steady movements close to yet another release, their bodies entangled with each other and the sheets, the groans and grunts from the man she loved as he reached his highest point still in her. This man loved her just as much as she loved him and that was enough for her. She drifted into slumber in his arms, she was happy.