Belonging to Lust

Heath looked away, not wanting to wander from her touch, but also needing to think on this. The right thing to do would be to go to the police about Alice White being physically abused by her father, but his Zaiyia was plotting another direction to that mark entirely and needed time from him. He didn’t want to give her any more time. However, he trusted her to do what was right. Returning his eyes to hers, he surrendered to her request. “Fine, I won’t go to the cops just yet about Alice.” He watched her shoulders sink with relief and her hands lower from his face, but he wasn’t finished yet. “What we’re gonna do instead is invite her over here and discuss it with her in private...after you’ve had your talk with her, of course. If she and her siblings are still suffering abuse by the hands of their drunk dad by that time, then they might not have much time left before he takes it too far and cuts their life short.”

Wow, Zaiyia never really considered that fatal possibility before. She knew what alcohol could do to people. Hell, she’s even been a victim to a few of it’s consumers before. She of all people should know how awful it could get and yet she never considered Alice to be in that stage of mortal danger until now. If her father was evil enough to put his hands on his own children then it truly was a matter of time before he snuffed their lives for good. As much as Zaiyia didn’t want to go to the authorities and in the process shatter Alice’s trust, she also didn’t want to wake up one morning to the news that her former enemy had been murdered by the very man they knew had been hurting her behind closed doors in secret. No matter what they’d been through, she didn’t want the girl dead. Giving him a nod, Zaiyia sat back down and said. “You got a deal. I’ll figure out a time to invite her over the minute I’m done talking with her...if she’ll even hear me out afterwards. I’m not sure if I’m just gonna end up upsetting her or what.”

“Do what you have to do, baby. I’ll take care of the rest if I have to.” Heath comforted her, placing his hands on her shoulder and giving them a reassuring squeeze. “And thank you for informing me of this. I know it wasn’t easy for you.” His eyes flickered down to her succulent lips. “Now, give me a kiss.”

Zaiyia flashed him a smile before leaning back up onto her knees and giving him a kiss that immediately turned greedy. She felt his arms enfold around her slender body and pull her bare chest to his own. Parting her lips, she allowed his tongue entry into her mouth, both mutually tasting of Cheetos. She moaned in the kiss as he deepened it, curling one hand to hold the back of her neck. Her hands ventured upwards to explore his short hair before pulling him to her to delve even further.

Heath wanted to continue this, and take it much further. But there was something else on his mind that he wanted to get off his shoulder before it was too late, and the longer they continued to fall into each other, the less time they had. Internally loathing himself for being the one to cut off this moment, Heath mumbled against her lips. “You have school tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” Zaiyia verified, her eyes shut and her concentration on their kissing. “And?”

Finally deciding to sever the kiss, Heath gazed down at her with worry. “Do you feel like you need a few more days before going back, or do you feel ready?”

Confounded by what he was talking about, Zaiyia stared up at him with furrowed brows for a second. Why on earth was he asking her if she needed more time from school? For what? “I’m not following you here. Is something going on, Heath?”

“Well, it’s been a tumultuous weekend for you.” Heath reminded her with a shrug, his green eyes avoiding hers. He didn’t want to bring up the ordeal they both had endured but it needed to be mentioned. It had been too calamitous to sweep under the rug and pretend it never happened. “I just want to be sure you’re in a strong mental space to tackle school. If not, you’re welcome to stay home for as long as you need to.”

At first, Zaiyia didn’t respond. She was too befuddled on what he was talking about, her brain a pile of mush from all his kissing. It took a few minutes for it to recover enough to report to her what he was referring to. She had almost committed suicide this weekend and no one knew of it but him. A cold chill streaked down her back and made her shiver. She couldn’t believe she had managed to forget something so mortifying as suicide and he still remembered it. Perhaps it wasn’t strange that he did and she hadn’t. She hadn’t cared to live a second longer, and was prepared to throw her worthless life away like a candy wrapper. To Heath, her life wasn’t a candy wrapper, it was worth salvaging. Enough to where he clearly hadn’t forgotten it. Now knowing what he meant, Zaiyia could see in his eyes that he was worried that she might still be in that frail state, and could go off the deep end again if something in school so much as rubbed her the wrong way. He didn’t want her stepping foot in that exasperating building unless she was strong enough to withstand it like before.

Smiling at him, Zaiyia placed the palm of one hand on the center of his bare chest, wishing to feel his skin again. “Hey, I’m alright, Sullivan. You got nothing to worry about anymore, okay? I can handle this.”

Tendering placing his large rough hand over her dainty one, Heath curled his fingers around it and steered it upwards over the spot where his heart thumped in his chest. “I just wanted to make sure.”

Zaiyia couldn’t be irked at him for bringing such a negative subject up. If she didn’t love him so much she probably would have been. At a time like this, there was no room for such doom and gloom. She wanted nothing but affection and love nourishing this moment between them. But it was her fault for traumatizing the poor man for what she did. She hadn’t ever consider how her suicide would have affected anyone, she couldn’t. There was so much pain flushing through her system she couldn’t fixate on anything but ending it to somehow save her own life. It sounds pretty twisted, but it was true within that moment. Nothing else was going to stop the pain but suicide...at least that’s what she had believed.

“Heath, I have you now.” Zaiyia reminded him, her brown eyes gleaming with love and exhilaration. “Do you know what that means?”

“What does it mean?” Heath inquired softly, the corner of his lips curving into a smile.

“That means right now, I can do anything.” Zaiyia gloated with a wink. “The sky is the fucking limit for me, baby.”

Chuckling at her passion and frankness, Heath grinned down at her. She made him feel good. She made him feel proud of himself for giving her that ample morale to tackle the world, and he believed she could. He hadn’t realized he needed to hear her say that until she said it. “Thank you for saying that, Zai.”

“It’s no problem.” Zaiyia replied before gesturing to the box of donuts they hadn’t finished yet. “So, do you want some of these here donuts? You don’t know what you’re missing.”

Releasing her from his sentimental hold, Heath reached for one and while gobbling it down, muffled out. “This is shit is deliciously unhealthy, I hope you know.”

“I know right!?” Zaiyia burst out laughing, picking up another. Her brown eyes scanned the amount of snacks they brought upstairs to her room. “You know, we only brought up unhealthy junk. Not a single option is healthy.”

“Goodbye abs.” Heath snorted to himself before offering her a sip of his Mountain Dew. “Want some?”

“Sure!” Zaiyia tilted her head back for him to pour some between her parted lips. She was highly impressed when he didn’t drown her with it, and wiped her mouth on her arm. “Mmm, so good the dew of the Mountain is!”

“How do you plan on stopping the bullying?” Heath asked her suddenly. “Are you sticking with my plan?”

Zaiyia filled him in on their updated plan. “We’re gonna involve the Principal in it. We want him to gather everyone in the gymnasium and use his security to keep the kids in line while Alice clears the air with everyone. As soon as he gets back from his family emergency we’re gonna ask to see him in his office.”

“If you need some help I can put some fire under his ass for you.” Heath offered. “By acting as a concerned parent of course.”

“If all else fails, I’d appreciate it.” Zaiyia thanked him, leaning over to bestow a kiss on his lips.

“It’ll cost you though.” Heath snuck in stealthily, taking her by surprise.

Arching a brow at him, Zaiyia asked. “Cost me what?”

“A shower with me before we take an afternoon nap.” Heath requested with a sexy smile.

Zaiyia laughed at him. “Oh puh-lease! I doubt we’re gonna take a nap, Mr. Energizer Bunny.”