A Rose to Change a Life

#5 Devin: A Spark of Chivalry

I could not let her walk into her current residence all alone, that would have been wrong and totally not my style. I might have a cheeky mouth sometimes – okay, more often than not – but chivalry was not dead in my book.
Elise was worried the moment we set foot into the door, her eyes sparkled with unspoken worry, I could see why Elva loved her as much. Elva did make up a lie, which I did not like at all, but it was not my place to tell, so I only raised an eyebrow and looked at her with my best 'you-should-tell-her-face'
Elva then invited me into her room, where she almost apologized for her earlier freak out. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she felt guilty and ashamed of it, but what should she be ashamed of? Having a past? Showing the softer part of herself? I would not tell her, but the situation in the park made me even more intrigued to trust her and find more out about her all at once. It might make me look like a creep, which is why I sustained from saying it. Yet. Pushing her into the direction of the shower was hard, because I kind of like the image of soaking Elva, not caring that her shoes made squishing noises on the floor, or if her shirt stuck to her lower back – it was even harder to not pull her towards me in her short bathing robe, which was honest to God red again, she looked darn good in it. I did notice her, I mean who would not look at a 5'8" woman with short white hair wearing clothes which made it barely possible to catch a glimpse of what lay underneath it all? What? I was still a guy with functioning body parts.

I fiddled with my phone, knowing that I had to leave right now or otherwise Kean was stuck somewhere he didn't want to be alone. I was afraid he'd get punched again. I was almost at the front door, when I heard her blurt the words, "I don't want you to go.", stopping me dead in the tracks. She would feel rejected when I left, I told her

the truth, that my brother needed me and that I was sorry to leave. I practically saw her effort of forming a fake half-smile, I studied her face often enough to differentiate between them.

_ ____________

Just when I thought it was over the small owl Elise rounded the corner, poor woman had nothing better to do than listen in on our conversation apparently, but this time, I was glad for it. She called me sweet! ME. Nobody gave me such compliments before, whom I hadn't considered family, which is why I blushed like Elva did multiple times around me before. We might open up a garden for tomatoes if we kept this whole red-face-thing up. I could not believe how big her heart was, she did not even know my brother and me fully, and still she trusted us to sleep under her roof. There was no doubt where Elva got her attitude from, even if she did not grow up around here.

 Before she hid in the kitchen again, Elise aka the elf, shoved me playfully – for such a short woman she was quite strong. My tenseness bled away by the minute, which gave me the bravery to tease Elva about her choice of clothes, leaning into her and grazing my teeth against her lower lip. Her lips were so soft, I wanted to kiss her fully, but I held back, restraining myself, to wait for a better moment to fully taste her lips. After all, it was all about teasing.

– ––––––––

Seeing my brother again let my shoulders slump with relief, the bruise on his cheek was still visible, as well as his obvious limp, but he was breathing and grinning from ear to ear when he looked at the two women. Not minding his manners, he whistled at them, though they did not seem to mind as he referred to them as beauties – yeah he definitely learned how to treat a lady from me – he charmed Elise by admitting his fondness of food, pretending to be a dog in search of a treat. Naturally, his computer was with him, it went everywhere he went, sometimes I wondered if it even had its own toilet stall. It was his personal baby, lovely surprise it would be for him when in the far future he'd have a baby realizing you couldn't turn it off, or exchange the hard drive. I almost snorted at that image.

 Kean, decent guy, left us alone after introducing himself to everybody, wishing us 'our fun' – his code for make-out-with-each-other. That kid truly thought too much of himself, ha.

When Elva invited me into her room the second time this evening, I noticed her nervousness, of me being in her room, probably thinking I was in striking distance of her bra and panties. Her room was unlike any room I'd seen before, quotes dominated her walls, letting her love for poetry shine through, it was cozy, self-made and just... her. 

She looked so vulnerable despite the influence of being in her own territory, I stepped towards her, taking one of her hands in mine. I had the feeling that I'd hurt her, maybe my calm attitude earlier was too much for her? I did not know, but I apologized anyway, which she quickly countered with being a madwoman, blaming it on herself. I was torn between telling her about my background and keeping it hidden to give her some freedom of her own, she did not need my problems to add to her pile, which had risen today.

In the end, I did tell her, all of it. I've never told anybody so much of me before and here SHE thought she was a mad woman, if she was what was I then? An idiot for standing up for his brother? A punching bag? A child?

Once a contained sob escaped me, I had not coped with my past in the last years and probably never would if things continued to be like this. Innerly I was wrecked, but whom could I appear weak to, my brother? No. I had to take care of him, keeping him out of harms length. My grandparents? Yeah, as if. That's it, no one else left, it was mom's wish for me to stay strong, I did not want to break, though I felt like I had. Still,  I knew how to heal it. Being melodramatic was never my strong suit, albeit I sounded like a depressed person – the disparity between me and a depressed person was, my medication did not come in form of a pill, it sat right across of me.

– ––––

BAM. I don't know how it happened, but suddenly, I felt it. Her lips pressed onto the burn marks. Causing me to hiss in a breath. I had to taste her. I leaned forward caging her in with my arms. My hand rested on her waist, where it fit snugly, I knew she was too stunned to move, but I did not mind taking over, finally, this was it. 

Our lips met, tentatively at first, then more forcefully when Elva gripped my shirt, bringing us even closer together. Her lips felt even better than I had anticipated, tasting of honey and something spicey. Male instinct got the better of me, despite my trying to be slow (don't look at me like that, I WAS trying!), and I pushed her back, letting our bodies connect everywhere, her fingers kneaded my hair, almost driving me crazy. My mouth found the soft spot under her ear all of its own, trailing kisses until I could scratch my teeth across her collarbone. She was not aware of it, but I felt her wiggle beneath me, fingers reaching under my hem, wanting my shirt to come off. I happily obliged, momentarily forgotten were my scars, the moment did not last long – I almost put my shirt on again, had she not smiled at me, her gorgeous smile, calling me a sexy devil.

My body was scarred, but Elva was not repulsed: Not at all, she worshiped them like they were telling her my story, whispering her secrets. She was wandering on dangerous territory when she traced her way to the waistband of my jeans, getting a hiss out of me. It was new terrain for me as well, I kissed girls before, sure, but not one of them meant as much as she did to me, they were the occasional diversion from my thoughts. Yeah. I was a male virgin, sue me. Even if I had little or no experience in what I wanted to do, my body knew enough to take care of the vital parts - letting my body, arousal and deep hunger for her lead. 

Our kissing turned more fierce each second, tongues wrestling a battle, nibbling, pulling, my hands trembled like mad when I tried to raise the hem of her shirt, but then she broke away like my hands burnt her.
Leaving me staring at her in shock. I was also a bit ashamed of having pushed her so much. I was not angry at her, just confused and worried -  the thing was, if she was ready to talk about it, I would listen. Everything before could be dealt with, "Either you run the day, or the day runs you." Jim Roth once said – but for now, I'll be happy wrapping myself around her while falling asleep. In my opinion, I have had the best make-out session of my life.