13
Dolly
I’ve kissed a lot of people, but I’ve never kissed anyone like Oscar Shadowvale.
He kisses me with his hands on my throat, my breasts, my hips. They’re everywhere all at once, and I am lost to him. If I thought I was getting out of this with my heart unscathed, I was dangerously mistaken.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Destroying you,” he says.
“Why?”
“Because I want to.”
Because I deserve it, I’m sure, but there’s more to it than this.
He likes me.
He likes that I’m bratty and mouthy and troublesome.
He’s getting pleasure from this exchange, just as I am.
I kiss him back, hungry for everything he has to offer me. He doesn’t know just how much I need this, just how much I need him.
“Oscar, I-”
“Stop talking, Dolly.”
This time, I do. I let his body take control of mine, and I straddle him in the tub. Water is everywhere. I’m covered in bubbles. My clothes are heavy and waterlogged, but neither one of us really cares. I cup his face as I kiss him back, and Oscar comes alive beneath me.
There are so few moments in life that feel satisfying, but this does.
He does.
“You’re hard,” I say.
“And you’re wet.”
“From the bubbles.”
“Because you want me.”
“I know.”
He pulls back.
“You know?”
“Yes.”
“Have you felt this way for a long time, Dolly?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t want to tell me, did you?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Oscar asks.
“Because I thought you’d think I was crazy,” I say.
“How could I think a beautiful woman was crazy?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
“Stop selling yourself short, Dolly. That’s how we got into this mess in the first place.”
I stare at him, and suddenly, I pull away.
“Stop,” he says.
“No. I don’t want this. I don’t want you to touch me anymore.”
“Why? Because I told you the truth?”
“No, because you were an asshole about it.”
“I’m sorry,” he laughs. “Are you offended? Maybe think about how I was offended when you had me abducted.”
“Are you ever going to get over that?” I ask.
“It’s been hours,” he says. “So, probably not.”
“Oh.”
“Time for bed, Dolly.”
Oscar points at the door, and I quietly climb out of the tub.
“I don’t have any other spare clothes for you,” he says. “You can sleep naked. Leave the clothes here.”
For the second time tonight, I undress in front of Oscar.
Then I go to bed.