Grand Adventure

Chapter 11

 Dani held him as tightly as she could, tears running down her own face. He buried himself against her as she rocked him gently, desperate to ease some of his pain but having no idea how. Eddie's hands had an iron grip on her, his fingers painfully digging into her skin, but she didn't care because she knew it didn't compare to the agony he was feeling in this moment. She just held on as he shook in her arms, years of disappointment, neglect, and heartache just pouring out of him in great, consuming waves.

Jesus, she hated that woman. Dani wasn't sure she'd ever hated anyone as much, not even Jason Carver after what he'd done. He was a monster, yes, but he was a monster who tormented people he barely even knew. He was a monster who went after anyone he saw as an easy target or a threat. It didn't justify it but it made it less personal. This woman was the worst kind of monster. She was a mother who didn't care about the pain she caused to her own child and then just inflicted more without even a second thought. A mother was supposed to protect her children at all costs, to keep them safe, to use their own body as a shield if necessary. She wasn't supposed to be the cause of the hurt. She wasn't supposed to be the sword that drove into them, gutting them completely.

Eddie had put himself out there. He'd had his heart on full display, just yearning for one small sign of love or affection from the woman who'd given him life, and she'd taken a hammer and smashed it to pieces. She had to have seen the grief written all over his face at her words and she hadn't batted an eye. She'd been more concerned for the new family and the rich, classy persona she'd built for herself. She'd been more concerned about the secret she'd been keeping finally coming out to bite her in the ass. Dani had no doubt her new husband wasn't aware she'd abandoned a kid years ago and never even contemplated how he was doing all this time.

Dani had spent so many years trying to build up this beautiful boy, trying to develop an armor around him from this hateful world. He saw himself as someone who wasn't worthy of love. He saw himself as someone who wasn't going to amount to enough. He even questioned whether he was good enough for her. Dani had heard all the awful things people in the town and kids at school had said about him. Not a word of it was true, but he had always had a hard time believing that. She had tried so hard to show him how absolutely perfect he was and that woman had probably destroyed it all in the span of fifteen minutes.

Eddie's hands began moving from her waist, gripping her arms as he gasped in a teary breath. He pulled back from her, his eyes finding hers, red and puffy and so achingly sad that she felt she could almost hear her own heart breaking. His hands continued moving, sliding along her shoulders, her neck, until they grabbed onto the sides of her face and then he was kissing her.

Dani felt like she was drowning in his lips. This was unlike any other kiss they had ever shared. This kiss was filled with desperation, a desperation to somehow make everything that had just happened disappear, to feel anything that wasn't the gnawing ache that was surely ripping through him. His lips smashed painfully against hers, so hard she was sure they would bruise but found it didn't matter. Dani met it with just as much intensity as he was giving, filled with a powerful urge to help him in whatever way he needed.

His tongue slid past her lips, exploring her mouth and she met it with her own, her hands tangling in those long tresses. Eddie's body shuddered as he whimpered against her mouth, the aftershocks of a soul wringing cry session rolling through his body. His hands moved from her face, gripping the bottom of her shirt and pulling it over her head, throwing it into the corner of the room. Then his hands were on her again, roaming over every inch of bare skin he could touch.

"Eddie, wait a minute" she whispered breathlessly, absolutely willing to give him whatever he needed, but the fervor with which he was coming at her was honestly a little off putting. She just wanted to make sure he was okay.