Heather had never wanted to touch him, except when they had sex, and even that was minimal. He glanced at Becca again, wondering at some of the might-have-beens. She delighted and amazed him on so many levels. Like now. She was perfectly happy to have him hold her hand, and by the same token he knew that if they had sex, she would participate just as energetically in bed. His throat tightened with emotion.
Part of him wished Bash was their son, that they weren’t just now feeling their way through a relationship. That they were already a couple. He glanced at her and imagined her growing big with his child. His cock jumped.
“Can I stay with you, Becky?” He had to clear his throat and felt again a stab of awkwardness. Why couldn’t he be easygoing like Jake? Or Sam? Hell, any of that crowd. Even Evan and Doc Jenny were comfortable and openly affectionate with each other.
Becca squeezed his hand. “I can feel your brain going a mile a minute. What is it, Eli?”
They pulled up behind The Secret Ingredient. Eli put the SUV in park and turned off the ignition. He swallowed past the lump in his throat. “Becky...damn! I feel like some pimple-faced teenager.”
Becca laughed. “Eli, you were never a pimple-faced teenager. Trust me on that. I spent enough years drooling and dreaming about you, I should know.”
He huffed out a relieved breath. “We...we kind of got off to a rough start and then leaped way ahead.”
She laughed. “Yeah, like right into bed.”
“Well it’s about that. I don’t want you to think this is only about sex.”
“I know it’s not.”
He turned toward her and stroked his fingers down her cheek. “I love you, Becca. I want everyone to know that. I want to be able to walk in the door and give you a kiss. I want to take you out to dinner. I want everyone to know that we’re together. Eli Mercer and Becca Allred.”
She stared at him. Why was she just staring at him? Oh God, was that a tear rolling down her cheek? He rushed back into speech again. “Becca, baby. Don’t cry. If that’s not what you want...it’s okay. I...”
She threw her arms around his neck. “You idiot!” she whispered in his ear. “I’ve wanted you for as long as I can remember. Nothing’s ever changed that.”
Something loosened inside him. He grinned in the darkness of the car and hugged her tightly enough that she protested.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Can we go upstairs? We don’t have to go to bed...I mean to have sex. We can just sleep. I know it’s late.”
She opened her door and slid from the car. “Eli, you can have whatever you like.”
“Oh God.” His dick was going to split his zipper open.
* * * *
She loved the way his body quivered when she touched him. Was that bad? To enjoy that feeling of power? It was more than just knowing she had a hold over him. It was also knowing that she would never use it to hurt him, knowing that as he lay naked in her bed, he was trusting her with a side of himself she now knew to be incredibly vulnerable.
He watched her silently in the muted light of her bedroom. Becca met his warm, chocolaty gaze as she trailed her fingertips across the firm muscles of his chest and then down his arms. From the corner of her eye, she saw his swollen shaft twitch, but she ignored it. She took her palms down his thighs and his calves until she cupped his heels in her hands and slowly massaged the arches of his long feet with her thumbs, and still he watched her. She lifted one foot and ran the tip of her tongue along his sole, eliciting what sounded almost like a growl.
“I want to touch you,” he whispered hoarsely.
She smiled, once again wielding the power that was hers. She crawled up his body, allowing her hair, the tips of her breasts and the soft skin of her belly to just gently graze him. She felt the nudge of his cock and quickly dipped her head to lick a pearlescent drop of moisture from its reddened tip.
“Baby,” he growled. “Please!”
“Am I pleasing you? I want to Eli. You’re so beautiful. Tell me what I can do to please you?”
His eyes pleaded, and she knew he was reluctant to say it, but she waited, her mouth hovering just above him.
“Suck it,” he croaked. “Oh please, suck me.”
She smiled, saw the hope in his dark eyes, and slowly lowered her face to take him between her lips. Almost instantly, his hands were twined in her hair and he moaned. She took him as deep as she could, deeper than she would have thought possible, feeling him fill her mouth and throat. As she continued to work on him, she turned her body until she felt his hands slide up along her thigh and into the warm wetness between her thighs.
The sensation was incredible, feeling him gliding in and out of her mouth while his whole body shook. He plunged a finger into her and she moaned around his thick cock. His balls tightened in her hand.
“I’m coming, Becca. Shit!” He arched up off the bed, but she kept him firmly in her mouth, swallowing his warm seed as it pulsed inside of her. With gentle movements, she licked him clean, amazed to see that he was still hard. Becca turned her head and looked at him once, brow arching delicately.
He smiled so sensuously she felt even more moisture flood her. “Let me love you.”
He rolled her over and covered her. Becca reveled in the weight of him on top of her. So many men made her feel like a freak, like some Amazon warrior princess. But Eli was big, and with him she felt delicate and feminine. His fingers stroked her sex, rubbing her until she moaned.
“That’s it. Does that feel good?”
“Yes.” She sighed her agreement, arching against his fingers and moaning in pleasure as he slipped two fingers inside her. His calloused hands sensitized her skin until she was whimpering, her face buried against him. “Please,” she begged.
He sat back on his heels, slowly stroking his shaft before he positioned himself at her opening and filled her inch by inch. She shifted to accommodate him and twined her arms around his neck.
“Okay?” he murmured.
“Oh yes.” She shivered with anticipation, knowing just how wonderful it would feel when he began to rock his hips, pumping himself in and out of her. He paused, his breath gasping. “What is it?”
“I need a condom.”
Becca fumbled with the drawer on the nightstand, blindly reaching inside for one of the foil packets. He withdrew slowly, she heard the packet tear and then just a moment later he was pushing back into her.
“That’s it, Eli,” she groaned. “You feel so good.”
He rested his weight on his elbows so he could turn her face to him. As his lips covered hers feverishly, he thrust deeper and faster until they were both moaning. Through eyes glazed with passion, she watched him rear backwards, his hands on her hips as he pushed in and climaxed. The feel of him sent her over the edge, fast and far enough that she screamed.
He rolled with her, cradling her and stroking her while their breathing returned to normal and their hearts settled to a regular beat.
“Every time, Becca,” he whispered. “It just gets better and better.”
She hugged him to her and nestled her face against his chest. As she drifted off to sleep a frown crossed her brow. Becca had always been one to go with gut feelings, and right now her gut was telling her things were too right, too perfect. And perfect didn’t last.
Chapter 11
Eli was the first one to reach the alarm. Snuggled next to him, Becca mumbled in her sleep and tried to pull the covers over her head. He chuckled softly and gathered her close, kissing her temple and running his hands along the silken skin of her ribs to her butt.
“Rise and shine baker lady.” Her hand circled his semi-hard shaft and he groaned. “Oh babe, don’t tease.”
“Not teasing,” she mumbled. Her hand began to move.
He turned on the light. “You got time?”
“For a quickie.”
He rolled her over, pushed her thighs apart and found her already wet. His cock stiffened all the way. “I’ll pull out. Promise.”
; “Mm.”
He rocked into her, gently, lazily rolling his hips in a rhythm that skyrocketed her passion. For several minutes, the thumping of the bed drowned out the knocking at her door.
“Do you hear that?” Becca’s voice came out in staccato bursts between Eli’s thrusts.
He slammed into her again. “Hear what?”
“Knocking.”
“It’s the headboard.” He thrust in and out again then grinned. “See?”
Becca laughed and pushed him off her. “I’m serious!”
Eli lay on his back, his cock throbbing and begging to come. “Tell them to go away. On second thought, let me tell them. I think the message will be loud and clear.”
As he started to get out of bed, Becca pushed him back. “My house, my rules. I get the door.”
He thought it was a shame when she covered her curvy derriere with a long sleep shirt. As she padded down the hall, he sighed and pulled on his pants. Chances were someone knocking this early in the morning was not going to go away any time soon. He had just managed to adjust himself inside his jeans when heavy feet sounded in the hallway. He was instantly on the alert as he heard Becca’s panicked voice.
“Don’t go in there! It’s my house...my bedroom. Caleb!”
Dark hair mussed and green eyes blazing, Caleb Allred pushed through the doorway and glared at Eli. For God’s sake. What had he done now?
“You know, I figured I’d just get Becca. I didn’t realize y’all were such a two for one deal these days. Don’t you have a kid, Daddy?”
Eli’s back was up instantly. But before he could even open his mouth, Becca pushed Caleb out of the way from behind and rounded on him.
“You have no right! Don’t you dare question him as a father. And what exactly makes you such a self-righteous prig? I’ve watched you screw anything that moved since high school, and if you couldn’t screw it, you and Noah both spent a lot of time jacking off to it.” As Caleb’s face reddened and Eli started to feel sorry for his friend, Becca continued. “You think I didn’t know about all that? So who are you to sit in judgment of Eli, of me?”
Caleb glared from one to the other. “Well at least I don’t have pictures floating around of me fucking on my back porch. Damn! What were you two thinking? And why would you let anyone take pictures?”
The silence in the room was endless. Eli stepped forward and put his hands on Becca’s shoulders, drawing her back against his bare chest.
“Would you care to explain that, Allred?” Eli growled.
Caleb’s gaze skittered to the big bed where two people had obviously slept, among other things, and back to the two of them. “Think we could move this into the other room? I’ve been sleeping in my car for the past three hours hoping to catch Becca first thing.”
Eli’s eyes narrowed. “Well you’ve got us both, and since neither one of us knows anything about any pictures, I think we need a little more explanation here.”
Becca sagged against him for a moment and he squeezed her shoulders in support.
“I’ll start some coffee,” she said. “Caleb why don’t you go to the living room and Eli, you can finish dressing.”
He looked down into her upturned face. “You all right?”
She nodded.
“Good girl. I’ll be right there.”
His mind reeled as he collected his shirt and located his belt and shoes. Who the hell would have taken pictures of Becca and him?
When he entered the loft’s main room, Becca was silently making coffee while Caleb had collapsed on the couch, his eyes closed, and a scowl on his face. Eli slipped up and put his arms around Becca. Her shoulders were tight, and he saw the bewildered hurt on her face. He ached for her.
“It will be all right, Becky. We’ll make it all right. Together.”
She swallowed and looked up at him. In addition to the hurt, he saw anger there. No, Becca was no hothouse flower ready to wilt. His rose had thorns.
“Here. Take your coffee and Caleb’s. I’ll bring mine in along with some croissants.”
Eli handed a mug to Caleb then took a seat in the same chair he’d bent Becca over just a few days ago. The thought that someone had watched them, had photographed them making love pissed him off big time. There was a tremendous difference between a lighthearted fantasy and an actual invasion of their privacy.
“Okay, Caleb. Talk,” Becca said.
“I was over at the bar at the motel there by the interstate, kinda scouting things out you know, to see what kind of a crowd they drew. Everyone there was your basic buckle belly with either the John Deere cap or a cowboy hat.” Caleb’s wide mouth curved faintly. “Even the girls. Except for this one chick. She’d bellied up to the bar and was doing shots while she flashed some serious cash around. She had that long-haired bleached-blond beach look, you know? It just didn’t fit, right down to the hard core tan.
“What really bothered me was she looked familiar. And you know how I am about remembering faces, so it really irked me that I just couldn’t place this chick. She was looking at something she’d pulled from an envelope and was working mighty hard to make sure neither the bartender nor anyone else nearby saw what it was. Well, I ambled over there like I was drunk, bumped her on purpose and then bent down to help her pick up stuff.”
Eli swallowed. “What did you see?”
Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “You and Becca, bare ass naked going at it on your screened in porch. Do you have any idea how I just didn’t even need to go there?”
Becca glared at him. “Trust me. I can imagine.”
Eli swirled his coffee in his mug, uneasiness nagging him. “Did you say blond?”
Caleb shifted his gaze off his sister. “Yeah. Bleached though. I saw roots.”
Eli found Becca’s gaze and held it. “I kind of freaked yesterday. I thought for a moment I saw Heather behind the wheel of a car, but the driver I saw was blond. Heather’s hair was brown.”
Becca’s mug clunked as it hit the tray. “I had a blond woman in yesterday. God that sounds stupid, I mean how many blondes are there? But she was no one I knew, and that was a switch since it wasn’t the weekend. She nosed around for quite a while before she finally bought something to eat. Then she bought two more loaves of bread and started asking questions about the business.”
Eli’s gut twisted in a knot. Now his worry expanded to encompass more than just his son. If it was Heather, coming in to visit Becca had been a deliberate slap in the face.
“What color were this woman’s eyes, Becca?” Eli heard the tension in his voice, felt the tightening in his jaw, and resented the cause of it.
Becca shook her head. “She wore sunglasses the whole time, which was also strange.”
“Blue.” Caleb looked from Becca to Eli. “She didn’t have on sunglasses in the bar. Dark blue. Like Bash.” Each word sounded like it was pulled from Caleb. “That’s probably where I recognized her. I remember now seeing a picture of her and Bash together. Jesus, what’s she doing here Eli?”
It took Eli a moment to swallow the fury roiling through his gut. “Looks to me like the new start she was bragging about down at the coast is going to involve financing from Becca and me. That must be what’s behind the photos.” He stopped, closed his eyes for a moment and then looked squarely at Becca. “I am so sorry, baby. I never thought she might go this far in trying to get money out of me. If...if you don’t want to have anything more to do with me, I’ll understand.”
She set her cup down, narrowed her gaze on him, and stuck out her chin. “Now you’re making me angry, Mercer. If you think I’m going to let your ex scare me off, you don’t know me well at all.”
“Becca, you gotta know she’s planning on using the pictures to get money out of me.”
“Out of us. Even if I wanted to back out, it’s too late. But that’s not the case. I told you it’s more than sex. If all I’d wanted was a hard...”
“Becca!” Both men said in unison.
She clamped her mouth
shut as she blushed. Eli was on his knees in front of her holding her hands. “We’ll fix it. I’ll go to Sam and Jake as soon as it’s light, then talk to my folks.”
“She’ll try to make you look like an unfit father,” Caleb murmured. “And with the pictures she’s got, she could make some of her shit stick.”
Eli chafed Becca’s hands. The light of battle shone from her sea green eyes. Looking at her in that moment, Eli knew he had never loved a woman any more than he did Rebecca Allred. That she would stick by him without a moment’s thought or wavering meant the world to him.
“Look, Bro,” Caleb murmured. “We better go. If all this shit’s gonna start hitting the fan, it might be a good idea if you were gone before folks start shifting around. I’ll give you a ride.”
Eli nodded. “Thanks, Caleb. I’ll meet you out back. If you don’t mind, I’d like a moment here.”
Caleb nodded, hugged Becca, and strode down the hall toward the back door.
Eli waited until he heard the clank of the heavy door shutting, then pulled Becca into his arms. He stroked her long hair back from her face and gazed into her eyes. “I know you’re willing to stand with me. It might get nasty. I just want you to understand that, and I have to give you another chance to back out.”
She cupped her hand against his cheek. “Never. She hurt Bash. She hurt you. But I’ll be damned if she’ll hurt any of us again. Talk to Jake. Talk to Sam. I’ll do whatever we must to call her bluff.”
God he loved her. Eli tilted his head and kissed her hungrily. “I’ll call you later, after I’ve talked with everyone. If she comes back, call your brother.”
Becca nodded.
* * * *
She could have spit nails, or at the very least gnawed through a few. If Jared wondered why Becca was unusually silent, she was not about to enlighten him as to what was going on. Not unless she had to. Not unless they had to tell everyone that Heather was around.
Becca kneaded the dough she was working with.
Surely Jake could put a stop to it. The woman was extorting money from Eli. And if she tried anything at all with the photographs, well surely that was a crime.
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