Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 89985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
I didn’t know the extent of the abuse she’d suffered at the hands of her father. All I could do was make assumptions.
Sinking my fingers into her hair, I decided to just go for it, and I took possession of her lips, kissing her hard. She gasped, and I used that to my advantage, plunging my tongue into her mouth, and hearing her moan. She tasted like mint toothpaste. She’d not even gotten to sip her coffee, and her cereal wasn’t eaten.
Niamh smelled good, and she tasted good. I ran my other hand down her body, and knew she felt good as well.
My arousal wasn’t forced. I wanted to be inside her. This was not going to be a hard task.
All too soon, Niamh pulled away and nibbled the corner of her lip. “I don’t know what to do,” she said.
I think it could be the most honest she had ever been with me.
“Normally, you kiss me back.”
“I, uh, Peter, I … Pickle Quest is not my home. I don’t intend to stay here too long.”
“You’re moving on?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.” She frowned. “I don’t know, when it’s the right time. I’m traveling, you know. Making enough to be able to move on.”
Now that was a lie, but I wasn’t going to call her out on it. Niamh wasn’t leaving Pickle Quest alone.
“Then how about you and I have some fun while we’re at it?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I can’t have fun.”
I wasn’t going to be swayed. Winking at her, I pulled her in and kissed her again.
****
Niamh
I didn’t want to go to the pool that morning, but Peter was a giant pain in the ass, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He drove me to the gym and told me to hurry up. We did the usual warm-up, only this time as he helped me into certain positions, I wondered if he was doing it on purpose. His fingers seemed to linger, like he wanted to remind me of his hands on me this morning.
It was impossible to forget the kisses Peter had given me. The one last night and the few this morning. Even when we were alone at the gym, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to kiss me again. He didn’t.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That was all I could think about—him and kisses, and so much more.
This was totally inappropriate and insane, and so many different things all wrapped into one. I shouldn’t be thinking or feeling this way. It was only a matter of time before I had to leave Pickle Quest, and I didn’t really know Peter.
Getting into any kind of relationship came with serious consequences. My father would kill him. Not out of any parental concern, but because he was my dad. He would do anything to hurt me, especially if he thought I had feelings for Peter. Which I didn’t.
I didn’t know what love was, or how you were supposed to feel about a man. I didn’t even love my parents. To me, love was a feeling that was meant to be strong. It was a feeling that had power over everything else. I wasn’t stupid, I didn’t think love would heal all wounds or any of that crap. I knew love had the ability to make pain heal.
I didn’t know why I was thinking about this now. The lunch shift had already come and gone. Now was the lull, when I cleaned tables and filled empty containers. Customers didn’t like when salt or pepper were out. I also had to replace mayonnaise.
Taking a deep breath, I glanced around the diner, checked to see the familiar faces, trying to make sure no one snuck up on me. I’d been tempted to phone my mother lately, to see if I could get an update. I know she’d lie for my father. If I called her, that might alert her to my presence. This was all insane.
This was the part of running away I didn’t think about. The part of not knowing what he was doing. If he even cared what was happening. I didn’t even know if my father was out looking for me. There was no way to get in touch. I hated this. All I wanted was to live my life as far away from him as humanly possible.
I wanted to be alone and be free. I didn’t know if I would ever get that.
Being the bastard daughter, I thought I would have more freedom. I wasn’t a good enough child for him, and yet there were times I did feel more trapped by being this person to him. What did he want with me? If I wasn’t a good enough daughter, why bother to find me? I could spend days trying to figure something out, but the truth was, I think it was a power trip for him.