The drive up to the main house from the imposing gate took about seven minutes: the pathway wound around a hill surrounded by vast open fields of grass before it snaked up a slope onto a carved stone pathway. It felt like the longest seven minutes of Ash’s life. She felt butterflies in her stomach, and even the butterflies were feeling dizzy. When they got out of the car, Ash stood in front of the doors of the largest house she had seen in her life. The driver peeled away and Hunter ushered her inside. Hunter carried Ash’s duffel bag on his shoulder as they walked through the main house, and she followed closely behind him. Up to that point, the largest house Ash had ever been in was the State Orphanage. "The House," as the residents had called it, had belonged to a wealthy couple who had left their estate as a donation to the government. The estate had included the family home, which the couple expressly provided in their Last Will and Testament was to be turned into a childcare in

"She is like us, Papa. Like you, and me, and Grandpa," Hunter said to his father.The words hung in the air, punctuated by the clatter of silverware against porcelain.Silverio blinked twice, slowly. He turned to his wife: Lavinia met his eyes for a moment and then fixed her gaze down at the fork in the middle of her plate. Then he set his eyes on his son. He smiled at Hunter obligingly, the way one smiles when a well-meaning guest tells a boring story over wine and cheese. He returned to slicing his steak, almost nonchalant, as though he had heard something only vaguely interesting."Is she now?" Silverio asked without looking up from his plate."She is," Hunter answered, his gaze never leaving his father's face. His own plate was still untouched. He continued to hold Ash's hand under the table.Silverio chewed carefully on a piece of steak. He took a sip of water. He set the glass down and placed both of his hands on the table, palms flat."And how is she the same as you, me, and yo

”Mama!” Ash cried out.Lavinia drew back a little, surprised. Ash was still lying flat on the bed but she had tightened her grip around Lavinia’s hands. Her eyes looked sad and relieved, she had the expression of a child who had just woken up from a nightmare, relieved to find a parent by their side.“Mama?” Ash asked, this time sounding less sure.Lavinia merely patted Ash’s hand. She wasn’t sure how to respond, so she chose to keep quiet. Saying “yes” would have been easy and assuring, but ultimately confusing, whereas an outright “no” would have seemed dismissive, perhaps even insulting. She thought it better for the girl to answer her own question.Ash focused her eyes on the dark-haired woman who was holding her hand. She had emerged from her sleep convinced that this woman was her mother, but she clearly she wasn’t. This was Hunter’s mother, not hers.As her vision focused on the woman's face, realization set. Ash felt tears start to pool in her eyes. Hunter’s mother kept pattin

Hunter felt his breath catch in his throat. He wanted to move and yet he felt like he couldn’t. He was struck dumb by the vision he saw in front of him. “Holy . . .” His voice trailed off. There was no other word for it, really. Ash was an apparition and he was afraid that if he moved, the vision would disappear. He was struck by how utterly perfect she looked in the light. Her hair, her face, her skin, her whole naked body: love made her look perfect in his eyes. He started to get up from the bed, to pull himself toward her, but she pushed him down with her hands, crushing her lips against his. He ran his hands over the length of her body, feeling as much of her silk skin as he could. All the while he tasted her sweet mouth, desperate to take as much of her taste as he could. She felt him remove his clothes: first his shirt, then his pants, and finally his boxers. Each article of clothing didn't take more than a few seconds to remove but every movement that took her lips away fro

Hunter stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He had been in the shower so long that a cloud of steam followed behind him as he made his way out into the bedroom: the toweled god of the shower descending into the human realm in a warm, ethereal mist.Ash wore a large men’s shirt with a band logo on it. It was long enough to cover her like a short dress. Her sleepwear consisted exclusively of large men's shirts that she collected from working backstage at concerts and stage promotions. Sometimes bands would leave behind their unsold merch; most times they were just free shirts that the production team would hand out as uniforms to the workers. Ash worked a lot of odd jobs around the city when she had time off from school. She would have found work in a restaurant or cleaning houses over the holidays had Hunter not asked her to come here.She saw that Hunter was wearing only a towel and she made sure to keep her eyes on his face. She felt the gravity of her hormones