Alex removed his baseball cap and began twisting it around in his lap as Eloise continued to paint.
"No really," she insisted, running her tongue absentmindedly along her bottom lip, "I think I can get it right this time." Her long, graceful legs stretched out along the pink carpeting of her bedroom as she moved her paintbrush delicately across the canvas. Her legs were porcelain white, smooth and solid as they poured out from underneath her formfitting red summer dress. As she bent her head down to sample a color from her palette, a lock of red hair fell from her reckless ponytail and dropped down over one piercing green eye. She shoved it back without missing a stroke.
"Eloise," he said.
The emerald eyes flashed upward, eyeing him curiously.
"I just... uh..." He tapped the armrest of his armchair nervously. "Alice and Cooper and I are going out this Friday, to Aerenhart's, and I just wondered if you'd... you know, want to come along or anything."
He watched her carefully, the way she nonchalantly set the brush down and stretched her arms over her head, a small smile playing on her lips. She looked as if she were actually considering it. "Wow, Alex, that's... awfully nice of you to invite me and all, but..."
"But...?"
She sighed and tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling. "I don't know." She wouldn't look at him, her shoulders thrown back, chest thrust forward to outline a modest bosom and the smooth line of her stomach.
"Oh." He swallowed and stared down at his lap, his faded blue jeans, his crisp blue button-up shirt. It was a boring choice. He didn't blame her, really, did he?
He looked over at her. She had resumed her painting as if he'd said nothing at all, one hand toying with the charm necklace that draped around her shoulders and over the square cut of flesh around her collar.
"That's it? Like you just don't know and that's it?" He tried to keep the annoyance from his voice, but he was failing.
She looked up at him in surprise. "Well yeah. I just, it might not be such a good idea."
The words poured from his mouth before he could stop them, the heat surging through his body. "What the fuck? You think you're better than me?"
"No, Alex, it's really not anything personal—"
"Christ. Spare me."
She stood suddenly, her hands planted on her small round hips, and narrowed her eyes at him. "I am not about to sit here and apologize just because—"
He lashed out with an angry grunt and in one fluid movement pulled her down and onto his lap. She made an almost inaudible gasping noise as she threw her body weight forward in a vain attempt to remove herself from the wheelchair. He wrapped one arm unapologetically around her waist and pulled her back more firmly against his chest.
"You know what I'm sick of, Eloise? I'm sick of being turned down by every girl I like just because I'm in a goddamned wheelchair. What is it I'm lacking here?"
She lay still against him, breathing deeply. "It's not anything like that," she said after a moment.
"Then what is it? Am I too nice? I can change that." Taking a deep breath, he dropped one hand down on her thigh and let it slowly travel the length of her body.
"No, I like you, I do," she gasped out.
"Girls don't like nice guys. They want to be dominated. You think I can't dominate you? I'll dominate you." He pushed her away suddenly, and she went flailing toward her bookcase, where she caught herself and stood, regaining her breath, one hand pressed to her chest. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, full of utter disbelief regarding what had transpired.
Alex rolled forward and with the strength of his arms vaulted himself onto her mattress. With another grunt, he reached out for her arm and pulled her down on top of him. He pressed her body against his growing erection, his arms wrapped tightly around her back.
She had her hands on his chest, pushing, her expression unreadable. "Alex," she hissed, "You're acting crazy. Stop it."
"Oh, no," he shook his head. "No you don't." He rolled them both over so that she was pinned underneath his muscular frame, and caught her wrists up in one of his hands, pinning them above her head. Now she was stretched out in a graceful line, her chest heaving just inches from his nose.
Alex leaned down, his eyes boring into hers, and kissed her passionately, his tongue searching every crevice of her mouth, sliding eagerly along her own, exploring her teeth. She neither resisted nor responded, just lay dormant, the struggling now minimal. When he pulled away, she was staring at the ceiling.
"Alex," she breathed, "You're starting to scare me."
"Why?" he demanded, running a hand over her ear, along her cheek, down the base of her throat and finally to her awaiting bosom. "Because you like it so much?" He kneaded her breasts gently through the material of her sundress, never lifting his gaze from her face as the gentle curves of her body filled his hands.
