Chapter Five

Violet's heart pounded in her chest, threatened to come out from her throat as she waited for Elijah to explain. "What? Why?" she asked, or more like gasped.

He shifted and somehow she knew he'd moved a little closer even though she still couldn't see a single thing in front of her. But she felt his presence close in, as if the heat from his body wrapped itself around her body in a caress.

"I'm in a fraternity … something my dad has been pushing for. A way to get some connections. These guys are known for being wild with their pranks, especially since I'm running for an executive office position. The challenges they put people through. I've heard stories from being set out on a boat in the middle of the ocean and having to make their way back with a broken navigation system to being locked in a box with someone from their past."

He grabbed her hand against his stomach and set something against it. She wracked her mind trying to picture what it was … the lighter?

"I know," he continued, "that if you lit this, we'd be fine. Because I now know what we're expected to do to get out of this box anytime soon."

She swallowed. "What's that?"

He scooted closer, his breath fanning over her face. Slowly, as if he were testing her and at the same time, making it clear she needed to follow his movements, he brought their hands above their heads so their bodies were touching from hip to chest.

"I know there is a camera watching us right now," he said, frustratingly ignoring her question. "Most likely has night vision. And if we light this lighter, it'll be the only visual privacy we'll have."

"What?" she asked, disbelieving.

"And I know what we're in is the fucked-up dark version for Seven Minutes of Heaven."

Disbelief froze her for a few seconds. "You've got to be kidding me…"

"I'm afraid not."

"You all need mental help. This is crazy."

"Hey, in case you missed it, I woke up in here with you, just as confused as ever."

Despite the entirely messed-up situation, a thread of excitement lit deep inside her belly at the thought of what they were expected to do. At whom she'd have to do that with. And with their hips pressed to one another, their chests aligned, all she'd have to do is lean forward and tilt her face, then their mouths were surely to meet. She pictured it in her mind. Felt his breath fan across her skin.

"Okay," she said, inching her face closer to his. "Let's get this over with then." She was kind of proud of how confident she sounded when she was anything but. This was an entirely new experience for her, and she wasn't talking about just the box.

What sounded like choked laughter rumbled from him and his grip around hers which still held the lighter above their heads tightened. "What?"

Her stomach tumbled. She really didn't want to say it again. "Seven Minutes in Heaven is a make-out game, typically done in high school, right?"

He cleared his throat. "The PG-13 version, yes."

Her stomach clenched, and she bit her lip. A sneaking suspicion alighted up her spine. "And this version?"

"Fuck," he said, sounding as if he were talking to himself.

"Elijah?" she called.

He scooted impossibly closer so she could feel the definition of his body against her softer one. His breath coasted over her mouth, which despite the darkness, seemed to line up perfectly with hers. Moist air dampened across her lips, and she knew, she knew it as sure as she knew her name … if she moved at all, their mouths would touch.

She licked her lips, anticipation licking inside her body. The action did what she'd suspected would happen and her tongue touched plump flesh that wasn't hers.

Two things happened simultaneously: one, his grip tightened around her hand, and two, he growled. The sound caused her thighs to clench.

He leaned in with his body, dragging one hand down her arm, until she felt it settle at her ass. With a jolting movement, he thrust his hips forward and pressed hers to him.

She gasped and bit back a moan at the feel of him cradled against her. He was aroused, hard and defined.

Her body reacted almost instantly, warmth coating her core.

"This version," he said, his voice impossibly dark. Darker than the blackness surrounding them. There was nothing pure in that tone, nothing with hope. Much like there was no light entering this box. "This version requires us both to orgasm."

Her heart seized in her chest. "What?"

He rotated his hips, and with his hands on her ass, encouraged her to move slowly against him.

"Elijah…"

"Still want to ‘get it over with'?" he growled.

"Are you mad?"

His hands on her ass squeezed. The move felt so good she reacted without thought. One of her legs slipped over his hip, and he slid forward until his thigh rested against the most private part of her. A place no one had touched before. No one but her.

She gasped loud.

"I'm fucking pissed."

Violet tried as hard as she could to bite back the moan that wanted to escape her throat. The feel of his hard thigh on the most sensitive part of her caused all kinds of funny reactions in her stomach, to her body. Not funny ha-ha, but funny as in it all felt divine.

But before she allowed herself to succumb to the promise of pleasure, despite the situation they were in, his words caught up to her.

She reached up and grabbed the back of his neck with one hand, felt the thrill go through her as her other hand clenched around his still holding hers with the lighter.

"Elijah," she gasped, feeling him surge against her again. Her skirt had ridden up so the only barrier between his skin meeting hers was the damp panties she had on and what felt like basketball shorts he wore.

He drew back, surged in again, and his breaths panted against her ear. "What, Violet?"

Her nails bit into his skin as another delicious swirl moved through her. She arched her back and whimpered.

"Fuck," he said, low and guttural.

He shifted and fell between her legs, his hardness lining directly up over her clit. Stunned shock rooted her for a second, two, before she lost all coherent thought as he surged forth again.

She lifted her legs as if she'd done this a million times, wrapping them around the back of his ass so she could move with him, meet his thrusts with her own. If this was what she'd been missing, she felt cheated out of life's pleasure. The silky material of his shorts moved smoothly along her cotton panties, touching her in places no other had. He knew exactly where to rub against her, exactly how to move his hips. It was glaringly obvious he'd done this before and had no qualms about doing it again.

With her.

She leaned up in the direction of where she heard him panting. Used her hand on the back of his neck to guide her, finding his neck with her mouth, then tasted him.

He grunted out a low growl and dropped closer so she could continue her exploration.

Between her legs, blissful tension grew, and she tightened her legs around his hips.

"Elijah," she moaned against his neck, feeling the pressure build deep in her stomach. Her skin tingled as if she had a million different feathers brushing her.

He leaned in until his chest met hers, then a hand wrapped around her throat, held her in place as his lips brushed against the shell of her ear.

His hand disappeared from around hers, but she still held the lighter. She felt him shift. Then his hand was on the inside of her thigh, dangerously close to the gusset of her panties. He stopped moving his hips but trailed his fingers along the seam of her panties, close to where her core was. Surely, he could feel her heat. Without a doubt, she knew he touched her desire.

"You're soaked," he said, his lips brushing her ear.

Her face flamed despite herself. For the first time since they'd entered the box, she was grateful for the darkness.

She turned her face toward his so their cheeks kissed. He didn't move to capture her mouth, didn't move at all except for those fingers that continued their trek back and forth along the seam between her legs.

"What's going on?" she whispered, feeling an edge of unease creep inside the box with them.

"I'm debating on which way to tell you how much I want to fuck you right now."

She sucked in a breath. From what she remembered of Elijah, he'd been heartbreakingly handsome, but so, so cruel. Could she hand her virginity over to someone like that, someone who had made the first quarter of her life hell?

Despite how much she obviously wanted him now, despite how he made her body sing, could she really give herself into his care and expect him to take care with something that was wholly hers to give?

His words from the past few minutes filtered through her head, along with memories of how he'd been in high school. Her brows drew down. "Why were you furious?" she asked, her voice low and cautious. "Earlier."

He bit at the lobe of her ear, causing her to jump. "I'm thinking if I pull these panties aside," he said, and pinched the seam, snapping it lightly against her sensitive skin, "I'd be able to sink inside you without hesitation. You'd be hot and wet, but tight as you wrapped around my dick, much like your legs around my hips. Wouldn't you, Little Bird?"

"What?" she asked, her body half wishing he'd follow through, half hoping he wouldn't. "Little Bird?"

He settled his hardness against her but didn't move anymore. His fingers stayed along the seam. "Tell me you want it too."

She bit her lip, indecision wracking her. But that unease still hovered. "Why were you mad?"

"Fuck," he said and dropped his head to her shoulder, then rolled off her until he lay at her side. "You're determined to talk this out, aren't you?"

Irritation rose inside her. "I asked a simple question."

"So did I."

"You asked nothing. You said you wanted to fuck me."

His hand closed around her throat again, and he leaned close until she felt his nose brush along her jaw. "I asked you if you'd suck me inside you with as much of a promise as your body is screaming."

"Why were you mad?" she asked, her core clenching at his words.

"Fuck," he said again low. Then, "because I don't want to be doing this in here with you, but we have to if we're going to get out."

Her heart slammed against her chest just as her stomach rolled. Then she let the anger rise, familiar and sound, like an old friend she welcomed back home. She scoffed, the sound low and deep. "Of course you don't want to be in this box with the trash of your past."

"Violet, that's not—"

"I honestly don't know why you hate me so much," she said, the words tearing out from her. "I realize my mother tore apart your family, but she did it, and if you ask me, your dad did it, too."

"Vi—"

"But I did nothing other than exist, then suffer in your world. Locked in an enormous brick building for seven hours a day where you made my life hell."

"Damn it, Violet…" His hand tightened around her neck, but she was on a roll and the words set her free, like the bird he'd called her earlier.

So she let them fly.

"I've never even had a boyfriend because of you. And other girls avoided me because they wanted the attention of the almighty Elijah Cunningham. Who wouldn't?"

"Little Bird, listen to me."

Her stomach clenched as the pain of the past rolled through her. "I didn't get to experience a normal childhood, but I don't blame that all on you. I take responsibility for myself. I don't hate you for what you did. I hate you for continuing to hate me."

"Violet," he whispered, her words ringing out around them both. Sudden silence engulfed them like soft water of Candlewood Lake back home. She used to float atop the water, the sounds of the forest, of life, muted around her. She'd stare up at the sky, wonder where the planes high ahead had come from. Where they were heading. And she'd imagine running away herself.

She turned her face to Elijah and rested her cheek to his. His mouth remained at her ear, but he said nothing. Not that she expected him to. What could he say? Sorry? She scoffed internally. She didn't want his apologies.

"You keep talking about wanting to fuck me, not wanting to fuck me. Your games are continuing." She shook her head. "But it doesn't matter because the joke is on you." She laughed, the sound with no humor. "I'm a virgin, and there's no way I'm giving my virginity to you in this box."