"Don't you have enough books already?" I inquired with a distressed groan as I sagged against one shelf. The bookstore wasn't very energetic today, and I appreciated that. I wasn't in the mood to be trampled by people trying to find the book they were looking for.

Eden paused her action of sniffing a book. When she caught me staring at her, she flushed red. "With every blessing comes a curse," she muttered, mortified that I caught her smelling the book. Placing it back, she sauntered into the next aisle. "It's a blessing to us readers that we can use books to travel to different worlds and times. But it's also a curse because it means we'll never be satisfied with the books we have. We'll constantly want more."

Her words sounded like a quote I'd heard somewhere before, but I couldn't remember from where. She stretched for another book and opened to a random page. I watched her lean forward, ready to smell it, but she stopped abruptly, peeping at me. I chuckled. "Go ahead, baby. Sniff it." She rolled her hazel eyes at me for taunting her and shut the book, casting it into the basket of books I was carrying. It kept getting heavier by the minute, and we'd only been in the store for twenty minutes. "And it's definitely a curse for your wallet. Books are expensive."

Eden sent me a close-eyed smile. "It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." She wandered further down the aisle, pausing once in a while to stare at the spines of some books. There was a shyness to the way she walked, and I knew why. Kenzie picked Eden's outfit for the day to make her feel better. I had no idea why she was down in the first place, and when I asked, both girls gave one another a weird look.

Her outfit comprised a light blue tennis skirt that was apparently shorter than what she was used to because she kept tugging it down. Kenzie paired it with knee-high socks and a pair of converse. Apparently, she was going for a soft aesthetic and I still didn't know what that meant. Lastly, she wore a cropped white cardigan with a little bow in the corner.

I knew she felt like people were judging her outfit, and she felt like she didn't suit it. To me, Eden was undoubtedly better than any of those models on magazine covers or billboards. She was better than those two-dimensional photoshopped images, and I truly hoped she could see that.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Eden's voice was melodious, and I hadn't even apprehended that she stopped in front of me.

Wrapping my free arm around her bare midsection, I pulled her close before whispering, "you." She rolled her eyes, although there was a contented blush on her cheeks. I leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to the seam of her lips. Her mouth dropped open, and I slipped my tongue inside. "Ever had an orgasm in a bookstore?"

Her eyes met mine, glossy with need, and I cursed softly. She was always so eager. I'd never get enough of her. Checking for cameras, I pulled her into a different aisle and shuffled her into a secluded corner. Dropping the book basket to the ground, I held her against the shelf.

I wrenched the elastic from her ponytail and threaded my fingers through her hair. She moaned into my mouth as our kiss became ravenous. I pinned her hands above her head, digging my hips into hers. Wedging my jean-clad thigh between her legs, I cupped her perfect ass, making her ride my thigh, grinding her clit against it. Eden moaned as I rocked her hips on my leg. She sucked my tongue into her plush mouth.

Shifting my hand underneath her short skirt, I pushed her panties to the side, groaning at how wet she was for me. Without another thought, I shoved two fingers inside of her, loving how tight she was around me. She melted between me and the shelf. I kissed her again, biting her lip. "I love your mouth," I grumbled, thrusting my fingers harder. "It'll look so good wrapped around my cock." Her pussy fluttered, and I grinned.

A soft moan fell from her swollen mouth. "Oh."

"Be quiet if you wanna come," I ordered her, kneading her clit with my thumb, and she trembled. "Grab the shelf above you, Eden." She reached up and curved her hands around the shelf. I praised her and hoisted her legs so that they wrapped around my waist. "Good girl. Keep them there."

Eden gasped when a book tumbled to the floor, alarm creeping into her heavenly eyes. "Someone could see us-"

"No one will see us," I affirmed, showing her we were in the textbook aisle. "School's closed for the break so nobody will come in this aisle," I smirked devilishly. "Except for my baby. Spread your legs, show me what's mine." Her thighs fell open as I pressed her into the shelf.

She gripped the shelf securely as I tortured her neck with my teeth, leaving marks for everyone to see. Eden was mine and nobody had the right to fuck with her. My fingers never stilled in their attack on her clit, but I merely teased her, not wanting her to come just yet. "Right there," she moaned when I tweaked her swollen clit.

I nibbled her bottom lip again. "No other mouth will taste you and no other hands will touch you. Can you tell me why that is, baby?"

"Because I'm yours," she sighed quietly when I twisted my fingers inside her.

Shoving my fingers deeper, I growled, "mine. You're not gonna forget that, are you?"

A laugh escaped her, but it dissolved into a moan. "As if you'd let me." I grinned, sliding down her until my face was level with her pussy. Stopping my fingers, I leaned forward and licked through her folds. "Oh, my." Her hips bucked against me as my tongue traced, scrutinized and fondled her pussy. She tasted so fucking good and I couldn't help but savour it.

When I slithered my tongue inside of her, her pussy throbbed around it and I grunted. "That's it, baby. Come for me." She curved her spine and let out a choked sound. "Fuck, baby." I cussed, lapping up all the cream she gave me. Once I was satisfied, I drew back, wiped my face and stood up, allowing her to release the shelf.

Eden weakly caressed my back, and I wrapped her up in my arms. Both of us fought to get our breaths back as she sank into my hold. She placed her chin on my chest, looking up at me, and I brushed the hair from her face. "I want to please you too," she mumbled and my heart clenched.

"You do please me," I replied, meaning every word. She smiled, lips tilting slightly at the corners. Unable to help myself, I leaned down to kiss her, and she stopped me by placing a hand on my chest. Seeing the look she tossed me, I burst into laughter. "You let me kiss your pussy, but not your mouth?"

She grimaced adorably as she took her elastic back from me. "Not in that order, twat."

"Barf!" An obnoxious voice exclaimed. I let go of Eden and twisted around, spotting Nolan holding one book in his hands. I'd forgotten he came with us to the bookstore. There was a tantalising glint in his eyes as he gazed at Eden, who squirmed apprehensively with her daisy necklace. By her appearance, it was obvious what we were doing. "Save that for the bedroom, guys."

"Shut the fuck up, Bean," I grunted, causing Eden to laugh and Nolan to pout. Subtly, I fixed my pants and Nolan smirked. "Why are you here again?"

"To stop you from defiling Eden in a bookstore, duh," he delivered with a wink in Eden's direction. She quickly tugged her skirt into place. When Nolan caught the death glare I was sending him, he settled his book in the basket I picked up before raising his hands in surrender. "Okay, fine. I need some textbooks for when I go back to uni after the break."

Of course, he'd be the one to come into the textbook aisle. When he made to move away, I took his book out of the basket and pushed it against his chest. "Get your own fucking basket."

He gasped in offence, but before he could say anything, Eden stepped up to me. She took the book from Nolan and placed it back in the basket. "Don't be mean, Christian," she murmured, going onto her toes to press a kiss to my cheek before sauntering away as if I didn't just make her come in public.

Nolan smirked. "Yeah, don't be mean, Christian."

I waited until Eden rounded the corner and was out of sight before I lowered the basket and wrapped a hand around Nolan's throat. "You think you're funny, huh?"

He wasn't in the least bit phased. "I do, actually. Usually, I can't make inappropriate jokes. But with Eden around, you can't bully me anymore." I growled, and he patted the hand that was around his neck, smiling at me. Letting go of him, I picked up the basket. "I find it adorable that she never calls you Chris. It's always Christian."

He tried to imitate her accent but failed miserably. I elbowed him one last time before following the path Eden took. Nolan had a point. I was always the aggressive one in our friend group, and sometimes I'd get pissed for no reason ever.

"I know what you're thinking," Nolan murmured as he fell into step beside me. "You're thinking that you've finally found the one," he did the jazz hands. "The one who's going to tame the beast that is Christian James. Give it up for Eden everyone!"

Eden poked her head around a shelf, still looking rumpled, and I suppressed a smile. "Did you call me?" Nolan merely beamed at her, so she looked at me and I shook my head. "Oh. Okay." She went back to scanning the shelves, tying her hair up. I scowled at Nolan as he sniggered to himself.

Something must've caught Eden's eye because she stood at the same shelf for five minutes. I walked closer, peering over her shoulder to look at the book in her hands. "The Man In The Library? You're into thriller?"

She shrieked, my voice making her jump. Placing a hand on her heart, she challenged, "did you have to scare me like that?" I shrugged and fixed her cardigan before I looked at the book she was handling. "Have you read this?"

When I nodded, Eden suddenly grimaced. "Yeah, about three years ago, I think. It's some dark shit. Have you read it?" I asked in return.

"Yeah," she returned, turning the book over in her hands. "Did you know this book had three drafts before they released it? Sometimes I even get confused about which one is the published one." I didn't even think she apprehended she was rambling, signifying she was nervous. "We had to - I mean, the author had to take out so many unnecessary scenes or else the book would've been too long." There was a jesting lilt to her voice as if she was making a joke, but she was the only one who got it. And I didn't miss her slip-up either.

"Sabrina's read some of Marlene Meyers' books," Nolan added, taking the book from Eden to gawk at it. "But I don't think she's read this one. Is it new?"

Eden shook her head. "It's actually the first book she published. She worked as a reporter for a few years, and then she realised how much she liked mysteries. That's what got her into writing." Her attention then swivelled back to me as she inquired, "did you enjoy it, though?" There was an underlying purpose to her expression, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to interpret her words.

Perhaps I was reading too deep into her inquiry, so I merely shrugged. "The plot was really dark, but it was written great. I, however, knew from the beginning that Daisy was going to die at the end." At Eden's inquisitive look, I elaborated. "The author spent too many chapters making us fall in love with Daisy. I knew she was going to end up being killed off."

"Spoiler alert!" Nolan bellowed, green eyes wide and horrified.

I scoffed. "Were you even going to read it?"

A sudden blush surfaced on his cheeks, and he glimpsed away. "No. But imagine I was going to!"

"Then imagine I didn't spoil it for you," I riposted, making Eden giggle at Nolan's expression. "Problem solved."

Eden grabbed the book from him and tossed it into the basket just as Nolan shifted to her and implored, "Eden. Please obliviate me so that I won't remember that spoiler."

My girlfriend suddenly released the girliest shriek I'd ever heard. Even Nolan covered his ears, but Eden wasn't dissuaded. "Are you a Potterhead?" she urged enthusiastically.

Before he could answer, I declared, "of course he's a pothead. It's obvious."

Nolan frowned. "Potterhead." He then turned back to her. "And yes. Sabrina's probably sick of watching the series with me but I can never get enough."

"That's exactly how I feel!" Eden shot back with a wide grin, and I couldn't hide my smile at the sight of it. My gaze drifted to her neck that I doubted she even realised was painted with my teeth marks.

"You know, back when my hair was still dyed black, people used to tell me I looked like Harry Potter. They always told me: Nolan, you look exactly like Harry Potter. You even have green eyes. Daniel Radcliffe didn't have Lily's eyes but you do," the blonde man winked at my girlfriend.

"Nobody told you that," I groaned. "You literally just made that up."

He shushed me. "And you look a lot like Hermione Granger," he told Eden, and she smiled shyly. In all honesty, I could see the resemblance too. "If I dye my hair again, we could form The Golden Trio!"

"I'd love that," Eden expressed in an animated tone.

"You guys don't have a redhead," I added, although I regretted my words immediately when Eden frowned sadly. Which was why I kept going. "But you could ask Ethan," I suggested, bringing up the guy who used to play as a winger on our high school soccer team.

Nolan smirked at me, mouthing, "whipped." I couldn't even find it within myself to scowl at him. "Christian can be Luna Lovegood," he appended and Eden snorted. "You can tell he's got nargles in his head."

"There's gonna be nargles up your ass when I'm done with you," I admonished, wondering why I had to be the blonde girl who always spoke in an airy voice. She was way too sweet to be me.

"Changed my mind. You're Lucius because you're an asshole!" he shot back. Eden rolled her eyes at us as she began marching towards a different shelf. "Caleb is Oliver Wood, Charlie is Tonks, Sabrina is Luna Lovegood. And Liam is Kreacher because they both have a humongous nose-"

I cut him off with a smirk. "Liam and Sabrina are siblings. They have the same nose." It took a second for things to sink in and he quickly began spluttering. "You better shut up or else I'll let Sabrina know you think she has, what was it again? A humongous nose?"

With an indignant huff, he swung on his heel and went to look for his textbooks. I smiled smugly to myself and took a seat on a bench, waiting for them to finish up collecting books. Reaching into the basket, I pulled out the book by Marlene Meyers. Eden didn't really seem like the type to be into thriller books.

The first time I read this book, it had me thinking about it for weeks. Everything was so graphic. Marlene must've done some excellent research, or she had to have been through some dark shit in order to come up with a plot like that. The book was about a girl named Penelope Smith. She had a tutor who worked in the library. The man became attached to her and her friend, Daisy, the further the book progressed. Everything about the librarian, Gary, rubbed me the wrong way.

The climax of the book was absolutely horrible, but I had to admit it was written amazingly. I was, however, disheartened when Daisy died. As I'd mentioned, the author spent a lot of time making the readers fall in love with her character.

I opened the book, looking for one of my favourite chapters. It had a scene that actually made me smile. In that scene, Penelope and Daisy were permitted to be regular kids before things took a turn for the worst. They were goofing around in the library where Gary worked, waiting for him to finish his shift before he started the tuition session.

The two girls were weighing their reading styles and bantering about how if they'd had enough money, they'd buy every single book in the store instead of having to borrow from the library. Finally, finding the page, I scanned it before freezing suddenly.

There on page one hundred and twenty-two, Daisy Johnstone muttered to Penelope about how being a reader was both a blessing and a curse, and I immediately recognised the quote. The frown on my face felt permanent.

"Why do you look so glum?" Eden asked, and I glanced up, seeing her standing there with two more books in her arms. For a second, I couldn't answer. My mind was working too fast. The longer I stared at her, the more nervous she got. She fidgeted clumsily with the necklace she always wore. My eyes zeroed in on the daisy pendant dangling from it.

"Nothing," I shook my head, snapping out of my daze. "Ready to pay for these?" I questioned, and she nodded, still disturbed. I tossed Marlene Meyers' book back into the basket and let Eden walk off with it whilst I went to find Nolan.

For some reason, I couldn't help but think that there was something Eden was hiding. She'd suggested that she had a passion for literature and it got me thinking. Perhaps she wasn't just a mere reader. She knew a lot about the book and its author. How did she have access to three drafts before they published the original version? I knew I'd have to reread the book in order to piece things together - because with the way Eden spoke; it sounded as if she helped write it.