by Elisa Adams
Eric apparently didn’t find it at all funny. “Do you have any idea how much danger you put yourselves in? You could have been killed.” He shook his head at his sister before turning his attention to Ellie. “What were you thinking? I told you to call if you ever got into trouble.”
“I wasn’t in trouble,” she lied, frowning at him.
“You snuck out, came down here to do something you had no business doing. You had to have known that it would make me angry, or you wouldn’t have done it.” He growled before he pulled her into his arms. “I was so worried about you. Don’t you ever do that again.”
His embrace was so tight she had to struggle to draw a complete breath. At the same time, it felt good. She’d never been so glad to be alive. “Believe me. I won’t.”
“I should have known you’d pull something stupid like this, Merida. I’m just surprised you got these two to go along with you.” Eric shook his head in utter disappointment.
“It was their idea,” Merida scoffed, turning her attention to Ellie and Amara. “Are we ready to get out of here, or what? I don’t want to stand around all day.”
“You two, go,” Eric said to Merida and Amara. “I’m taking her home with me.”
He stopped them as they started to walk away. “Merida?”
She pivoted with her hands on her hips. “What?”
“Don’t think I’m going to keep this a secret from Sam. He’s not going to be happy with this little stunt.”
Her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Ellie pulled back just in time to catch the smug look in Eric’s eyes, directed at his sister. “Actually, I have no problem at all telling him how you went against his orders to wait for backup. How do you think he’s going to react to this one? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
With a defeated sigh, Merida shook her head and turned her back on her brother, following Amara to her car.
“What is Sam going to do to her?” Ellie asked as she watched them drive away.
“Probably put her on a probation of sorts,” he told her. “She’s a bit of a loose cannon, and she needs someone to watch out for her. I think it’ll be a while before he lets her work alone again.”
“That would make you happy, wouldn’t it?” she asked, suspicion lacing her tone.
He shrugged. “I suppose.” But the look in his eyes told her how thrilled he was. “I just want to protect her, you know. Our mother left her in my care, and I’m going to see that she’s safe, even if it kills me.”
He released her and she walked over to the passenger side of his car. “She seemed to do okay for herself. Maybe she doesn’t need as much protection as you think.”
He put his arms on the car roof and glared at her. “Why don’t you let me worry about that, okay? Don’t think I’m finished with you yet. Now that I know you’re safe, I’m going to tell you exactly how I feel about what happened here tonight.”
Rolling her eyes, she slid into the passenger seat. “Save it,” she said when he got behind the wheel. “I know. You’re disappointed in me. You’re angry that I took off without telling you. You’re—”
He put his finger under her chin and turned her to face him. “Yeah, all of the above. But mostly—and this is important so you’d better listen closely—I love you. If anything ever happened to you because you’d gone following my sister on one of her crazy schemes, I’d never forgive myself. The bottom line is, I’m not going to let you do that again. Even if I have to tie you to my bed to stop you.”
She gaped at him, her mind trying to wrap around his words. She started to speak, but he stopped her with a curt shake of his head. “Whatever you have to say can wait. Right now I need to take you home.”
* * * * *
Ellie was surprised when Eric pulled his car in front of her house. “This is home?” she asked. She’d expected him to drive back to where he lived, not just down the street to her little house.
“Yeah. Is there a problem with that?” He continued when she shook her head. “You were nuts to go out there by yourself.”
“I wasn’t alone.”
“Why didn’t I guess sooner what the three of you had planned?”
“Because we’re smarter than you are?” His eyes darkened at her words and she gulped. She jumped out of the car and bounded up the front steps, making it nearly to the top before Eric grabbed her around the waist and hauled her back against him.
“Don’t even joke about this. It isn’t funny. You had me scared out of my mind.” The sincerity on his face said he meant every word.
“I was fine. I wasn’t worried at all.”
“You’re such a liar.” He kissed her hard on the lips, grimacing as he pulled away. “You smell like smoke, and I hate to say it, burned flesh. You need to take a shower.”
“Then put me down so I can go do it.”
“No way. I’m going to have to watch you every second, to make sure you don’t go all vigilante on me.”
“I won’t.”
He sighed and set her down on the ground, resting his hand on her shoulder.
“Still, I’m going to stay close. I have to be sure you don’t run away again.” Humor sparkled in his eyes, highlighting the soft gold flecks in the green.
“Oh, all right.”
She unlocked the door and ducked out of his grasp, running inside. Eric chased her all the way up to the bathroom, where he pushed her against the door and kissed her thoroughly. This time, she didn’t mind being caught at all.
* * * * *
“I helped, you know,” Ellie said sometime later. She opened her mouth to let Eric feed her another strawberry. There was something extremely decadent about having a gorgeous man feed her fruit in bed.
“You’re still stuck on that, huh?”
“I didn’t want to change,” she confessed. “I didn’t want any part of your life.”
“I was afraid of that,” Eric rubbed the berry over her lips before dipping his head to lick off the juices.
“But it’s better now. I think everything’s going to be okay.”
“That’s great.” He smiled. “But now I think I’m going to have to keep an even closer eye on you than ever.”
“Why is that?”
“Because now you’re going to think you can walk around combating evil. That’s not good for you, you know.” He trailed the berry down the line of her throat. “I’m an old man, Ellie. With you out chasing trouble, I just might have a heart attack.”
She swatted his side. “Ha, ha. I think this was a one-shot deal. I have no interest in doing what you and Merida do.”
“Good. I’m glad. But you have to understand, there will be times that I won’t be able to be home. As much as I’d like to, I don’t think I can give up my job. It’s too big a part of who I am.”
“Maybe you could take me with you, you know, to observe and keep you company.”
He sighed heavily. “Why didn’t I see that coming? Okay, maybe. Maybe. But don’t push it.”
He was silent for a little while, his expression thoughtful. When he finally spoke again, she had to strain to hear. “I love you, Ellie.”
Her heart filled to bursting with his words. She’d waited so long to hear them from him, and now that she had it was better than she could have ever imagined. She ran a finger down his chest, delighting in the little shiver that ran through him. “I love you, too.”
“Even after everything I did?”
She nodded and kissed the tip of his nose. “You didn’t do anything so terrible. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
He caught a strand of her hair and twisted it around his fingers. “Just so you know, I don’t plan to let you go anytime soon.”
She laughed. “I was kind of hoping you’d say that.”
His answering smile was nothing short of devilish. “In that case, sweetheart, don’t plan on getting out of this bed anytime in the next century, because I plan to spend at least that long showing
you how much I love you.”
About the author:
Elisa Adams was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. She continues to reside in the New England area with her workaholic husband, three children, and a quirky dog named Duchess. A full time mom, she divides her free time between writing, reading, and spending time with family.
Elisa welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o
Ellora’s Cave Publishing at P.O. Box 787, Hudson, Ohio 44236-0787
.
Also by Elisa Adams:
Dream Stalker
Just Another Night
Midnight
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