Part One
Chapter 1
A Lover’s Kiss
The last of my tears dried on my cheeks as I pulled into my boyfriend Tom’s driveway. Tick. Tick. Tick. The sound of the engine as it cooled filled the heavy silence. I sat there, my hands—trembling and wreathed white—clasped to the steering wheel. I blinked, bleary-eyed, into the tombstone darkness of his house. He wouldn’t be expecting me; I hadn’t planned to stay tonight. He would be asleep, exhausted from a long shift at the hospital, where he worked as a doctor.
You’re not even my child, Amy.Get the fuck out.My father’s voice had struck like a blade between my ears. The mingled scent of stale and fresh whiskey had charged up my nose. His words were terrible enough, but it had been the look of pure hatred in his eyes that had scorched my heart, spreading wildfire through my chest.
My father had made a few nasty remarks before, usually after too many drinks, but never anything like that—never anything so final, so irreversible.
I sucked in a battered breath, trying to calm myself, and rubbed my palms over my stinging eyes. I’d packed a few of my things and fled my only real home, the only father I’d everknown, and driven—sobbing—to the only person I had to turn to: Tom.
Tom and I had met at a hospital ball. Kelly, my best friend, had dragged me there. Plenty of other handsome men had been in attendance, but when he’d caught my eye, he’d held it. My stomach had fluttered. My heart had raced. I’d buzzed from head to toe and all the places in between. I’d taken in his thick brown hair and the sharp cut of his jaw. When he’d looked at me, it was as if I was the most stunning girl in the room. Even though it sounded cliché, or basement-novel worthy, I’d just known he was the one. Later, as I’d rested my head on his chest, for the second time in my entire life, it felt as if I’d finally found home.
We’d been head over heels in love ever since.
I worked late shifts as a barmaid, and the nights we got a chance to go out together were few and far between. But neither of us minded sitting on the couch, tucked in each other’s arms, sipping wine, and watching movies. We chuckled at the funny bits, and sometimes the movie faded beneath the sounds of our breathing as our bodies entwined. Tom was the man who made me smile, brought me flowers, took me to fancy restaurants, and held the car door open as I climbed in. We would lie in bed together talking about anything and everything. Everything was just easy with him.
The path to his house was laid out like tarot cards offering a chance of salvation. I couldn’t wait to climb into bed, snuggle into his back, and have him turn over and pull me into his body. He’d be glad to see me. We’d talk for a while, then fall asleep wrapped around each other. Or maybe I could distract myself from the hurt, savor the feel of his chest against mine. His hands on my skin. My vagina wrapped around his cock. There was nothing more soothing than a lover’s touch.
My father had hurt me . . . but I had all the love I needed. I had Tom.
Tomorrow we could go and collect the rest of my things and officially move in together. Next weekend we were both rostered off, and we could have a small dinner party to celebrate. A silver lining to the storm.
I drew in a shuddering breath, yanking my bag off the front seat, I climbed out of the car, and clicked the door closed. Above, clouds as dark as a killer’s secrets brooded in heavy silence. Damp, cool air wrapped around my body and slid down my parched lungs. From somewhere down the road out of the darkness, a girl’s laughter broke the silence. It sounded like the cruel cackling of a witch as she hovered over her crystal ball, taunting my despair.
A ball of lava tightened in my throat, and chills whispered over my skin.
Get it together, Amy. I tucked my free hand across my waist and hunched into myself. Garden lights leaked dimly through the green foliage, lighting the way just enough for me to see as I made my way up the path.
I turned the key in the lock and stepped inside Tom’s home. The scent of the vanilla candle I’d bought last week filled my nostrils. I reached up to flick on the hallway light. A faint giggle drifted down the hall, and I paused, frowning. Perhaps the noise had come from outside.
I placed my bag on the floor, cocked my head to the side, and listened. Muffled sounds of ecstasy hit my ears. They were definitely coming from down the hall.
There had to be some logical explanation. Maybe Tom was stuck at work. It wasn’t unusual for him to have to pull double shifts, and he could have let one of his friends stay. He’d likely given them the key, so they’d let themselves in. Yes, that madesense. People had stayed over before, plenty of times. That had to be it.
I took my hand off the light switch, leaving it off. I felt like a voyeur walking down the hall, but I was drawn like a moth to a flame toward the soft-yellow glow that bled out from under the bedroom door. A woman’s moaning filled the walls. Whoever was in our room, inourbed—the bed we had spent a full day shopping for and bought together—was enjoying themselves. I stopped, annoyed and unsure. I couldn’t exactly barge in, even if someone was in our room, in our bed, fucking.
Then there was a primitive groan. A deep sound I knew well. A sound I loved. A sound which came from Tom.
Fire roared through my heart. Nausea rushed to my stomach.No, please, please, no.I closed my eyes, trying to ease the hell tearing through my chest. He was cheating. Tom was cheating. I didn’t want to look. I couldn’t stand to see it, but I was compelled by a sliver of hope—maybe I had it all wrong...
My fingers shook as I twisted the handle and pushed the door. A fist punched through my chest, breaking bones, stopping my heart, and stealing the air in my lungs. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I just stood staring at the freckled, broad shoulders of the man I loved. The man I adored. The man I was supposed to marry. He was naked in bed on top of someone, a white sheet draped across his bottom half. With every thrust forward, a moan of pleasure escaped from the woman beneath him. My heart burned with such fierce intensity my knees almost buckled beneath me. I couldn’t quite understand what I was seeing, yet I knew the life I’d imagined with the man I cherished, the man I trusted, was shattered.
Tears streamed down my stricken face. His naked outline became an incomprehensible blur of movement. I must have made a sound, perhaps a gasp, but I heard nothing over the pumping blood that filled my spinning head. Tom turned hishead, his hazel eyes grew to a huge size, and his mouth sagged open.
“Amy.” His voice was a hoarse whisper. He half leapt, half rolled off whomever he’d had in the throes of pleasure, clutching the sheet to cover his erect glistening penis. For the third time in one night, fire exploded through my heart. There beside Tom, staring back wide-eyed, face flushed, blond hair disheveled, boobs bouncing, lay Kelly—my best friend. My only friend.
A voice in my mind yelled,Go, just go!
“Amy!” Tom’s voice sounded equally shocked and desperate, and he, in that crushing moment, looked as broken as I felt.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell at them, but all I could cry out was a low, raw sound I didn’t even recognize as my own. “That’sourbed.”
I turned and ran down the corridor, rasping in thin, pained breaths. My mind spun. My chest burned, and burned, and burned.
“Fuck. Amy,Amy!Please, honey.” Tom’s voice faded like a far-flung echo.
