“Missing something?” I frowned, bouncing Eli on my hip.
“Missing an emotion that made him compassionate and caring. Don’t get me wrong, I know my boy can love because he loves me but as for the rest of the world…” She threw her hand up. “He never showed the slightest interest. I honestly thought he’d never feel fondness for anything or anyone, but now I know I shouldn’t have worried. It’s not that he couldn’t feel, it’s just he never found anyone worth caring for.”
I grabbed one of his sketches and held it up. Like most of them, it was dark and strange. I tilted my head thoughtfully. “I like his illustrations. I’m looking forward to learning more about this part of him.” I cocked my head the opposite way, still inspecting the paper. “I think Elijah likes what he likes is all. Your description of him surprises me. I’ve only known him as a caring man.” I chuckled, realizing that all of our new encounters with him replaced the awful first impression. “Well, except for maybe the first few times we saw him.”
When I glanced over at her, she had a wide grin on her face.
“Elijah really likes demons, doesn’t he, Mommy?” Lucy said out of nowhere.
“Your children are beautiful.” Elijah’s mom grabbed Eli’s hand and played with him. “It would be a shame for you not to have more one day. That’s what I think.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Elijah
Hadley: We met your mom today. She tried to take Lucy home.
Elijah: I’m surprised she didn’t try to take you all home.
Hadley: Actually… lol! Will you be home tomorrow?
Drying my hair off with a towel as I stepped out of my hotel bathroom, my smile was damn near impossible to prevent. Okay, I wasn’t trying.
Elijah: Yeah, leaving the parlor around 2. I can pick you up from work if you’re working tomorrow.
Hadley: car seats aren’t in your truck, remember? Lol, they’re at my apartment since Olivia went home.
Well, fuck. That sucked. I was dying to see her and her kids. I couldn’t get it out of my head that Hadley’s asshole of an ex would be there trying to weasel his way back into her life while I was away. I had no right to get angry. In a lot of ways that counted, I was always going to be the outsider no matter how much I didn’t feel like one.
I rubbed my chest. That thought made me fucking miserable as all hell.
I knew Hadley had no interest in getting back with Scott. That much was obvious, but I also saw a mom that would do anything for her kids’ happiness, and that scared the hell out of me. Hadley already admitted to me about him taking advantage of his own daughter to use against her.
Lucy and Eli’s dad enraged me. I couldn’t for the life of me understand how he could destroy what he had with Hadley. The man didn’t seem to notice the perfection in his own kids.
Did he not realize someone would take one look at what he destroyed and fall madly in love with all the pieces he left behind? That was probably why he was mean to Hadley. He figured it out.
Only it was too late. I was going to do everything in my power to show Hadley that she and her kids were better off without him. That I could belong with them…. That they were everything I never knew I wanted. That a part of me was always there with them even when I wasn’t and that was never going to change. The only thing that’s changed was the way I saw things.
Elijah: I’ll see you guys tomorrow when I get home?
Hadley: That sounds good. Lucy won’t stop asking when we’ll get to see you again. She misses you.
Remembering our time alone at the parlor, the soft and heated way her gaze watched me, I swallowed. I wanted to take her in my arms right then and there but I didn’t want to do that the very first time I had her alone. No matter how much I thought about stuffing my hand in her jeans and sliding my fingers inside her pussy until she came. Pleasing her was the only thing on my mind. She was so perfect, and I wanted nothing more than to show her how much she deserved a thorough night in bed with someone who’d cherish every inch of her creamy flesh. That someone only ever being me.
Calm your shit, Elijah.
Great, I was sporting a massive erection. It was frustrating. I didn’t know when it would be the right time to show my intentions to Hadley. She was delicate, fragile from being cheated on, and she was also a parent.
But all of those things only made me want her more so that I could spoil her.
Fuck yes, I wanted to spoil her spirit, her mind, and every inch of her flesh.
Elijah: What about you? Do you miss me?
Hadley: Yes.
One word, but it was everything.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Hadley
“Why are you wearing a dress?” Lucy blinked up at me as I fiddled with the straps of my yellow sundress.
I glanced down at her before checking my reflection again. “Is something wrong with a dress?”
“You never wear one,” she said and mortification set in.
Oh, fudge. If my four-year-old took notice of my change of clothes after getting off work and thought it was weird, would Elijah think so too? I wanted to look pretty, but I didn’t want it to be obvious. I was already self-conscious about my breasts. I couldn’t wear a bra with the dress and since breastfeeding, I’d felt oddly off-balance, considering my breasts were larger than the rest of my body.
“Are we not going to Elijah’s now?” she asked with a frown.
“Yes, we’re still going over to Elijah’s.” I fussed with the hem. “You’re right. It would be silly to wear this when it’s getting dark.”
Lucy bounced up and down with a grin. “No, it’s pretty. You’re pretty, Mommy! I think Elijah will like it.”
My eyes widened like saucers. Whoa. Where did that come from? My daughter scared me. I wondered if maybe she listened in on a lot more to Olivia and my conversations than I realized.
“Why would Elijah like it?” I asked her cautiously, wanting to know my daughter’s train of thought.
“Mamaw said he likes you.”
“Did she now?”
A firm nod. “Said he likes me and Eli too, that’s why he spends time with us. Is that why we don’t hang out with Daddy anymore because you don’t like him no more?”
My heart fell to the floor as I bent down. “Lucy, you can see your dad anytime you want to. Mommy and Daddy just can’t be together, anymore. It’s too hard, and it makes me sad. I’ll explain this to you when you’re older.”
“Daddy makes you cry a lot. I don’t want you to cry, anymore.” Tears pricked at my eyes, so I wrapped my arms around Lucy and held her. “Mom?”
“Yeah, Lucy?”
“Daddy said Elijah wouldn’t be our friend one day. Why?”
“I hope that never happens,” I murmured.
“Me too. I don’t want him to stop bringing me stuff.”
I chuckled. “Lucy!”
“I want to bring my chocolate milk to share with Elijah.” She pushed away from me, and I smiled.
“Okay. That’s fine.”
“Can I bring my pony coloring book to show him?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I ask him to buy me another car?”
“No.”
_______
“You’re wearing a dress,” Elijah stated the second he opened his door. He ogled me for a moment before stepping to the side so we could enter. As we walked past him, his hot gaze seared into me.
“Mommy looks pretty, doesn’t she?” Lucy said, carrying the diaper bag. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she dropped it in the hallway with a huff like her work was done. “I should wear one, too!”
“Did you wear that for me?” There was a gruffness to his tone. His question and the way he said it made me tremble.
Turning around with Eli in my arms, I pretended not to know what he was talking about. “Olivia made me buy it…” I glimpsed down at myself. “Does it not suit me? Oh, fudge, it looks awful, doesn’t it? I just don’t look good in dresses.”
�
��Lucy, your mother is blind,” Elijah told Lucy then turned to me. “You’re absolutely gorgeous.” He leaned forward, grabbing a strand of blonde hair hanging between my breasts, letting it slide between his long fingers. I held my breath until he stepped away.
Lucy trailed through the hallway, peeking her head into the living room. “What happened to all the drawings?”
“I put them upstairs,” Elijah said. “I ordered pizza. Is that okay with you?” He looked at me again. I nodded, grabbing Eli’s hand when he pulled at my dress strap. “Um, I have a box of brownies at my apartment. If you want, I can go back and get them…”
“Yes! I want brownies!” Lucy answered.
“Do you have a mixer?” I asked Elijah.
He scratched his chin. “I think so.”
I walked into his kitchen and checked to make sure he had one before I said, “I’ll be right back.”
Elijah stopped me as I stepped into the hallway. I gaped at him like he was a stranger when he held out his hands for Eli. My gaze went from his hands to his face.
“I can hold him.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yeah. You’ll only take a minute. I can watch Eli while Lucy supervises me, right Luce?”
Lucy giggled. “Right.”
“She can tell me what to do,” he went on, putting a smile on Lucy’s face.
“I can do it!”
Grinning at them, I handed Eli over. Elijah placed one hand on Eli’s bottom and wrapped an arm around his back, holding my son against his chest. Eli stared at Elijah and then laughed. “This isn’t so bad,” Elijah admitted.
The two of them together. A giant, tattooed man holding my baby? Said man being Elijah. Ovaries exploded.
_____
“Are you sure you don’t want me to get him?” I asked Elijah as I placed the brownies in the oven. He was propped against the counter watching me with Eli in his arms facing forward so that he could watch me too. Lucy was in the living room drawing.
“He’s fine until he needs a tit,” was Elijah’s crass reply.
“Don’t say it like that.” I laughed, moving toward the sink to clean the dishes.
“He needs to learn to share, hogging them all to himself,” said Elijah.
What?
I froze. Heat lit up my body. Thankfully, my back was turned, so he couldn’t see my red face. Not seeing his expression, though, was torturous. Was he joking or hinting at something totally different?
The wooden counter creaked as he pushed himself off of it. God bless…Elijah was behind me, and the heat from him seeped through me. Eli’s little fingers grabbed at my hair and pulled. I felt nothing. My attention was focused on how Elijah leaned over me.
“You really are a pretty little thing, Hadley,” his voice was deeper, husky—purely sexual. “Instead of gorgeous, I was thinking more along the lines of how fucking edible you look in that dress.”
Damn, I thought. I meant, fudge!
His words spoke to a spot much lower than my stomach. I was speechless, but were words necessary? Suddenly, I didn’t know what to say or how to react. Scott had been the only man I slept with. The idea of sex with Elijah left me shaky. “Elijah…?”
I didn’t have to worry about doing anything though, now that Eli was touching my hair, it wasn’t enough for my little boy. He cried and jerked me out of the sexual trance Elijah put me in. “I think he wants his momma,” Elijah murmured, his voice still raw.
When I faced them, Elijah was right there. He had me pressed against the counter. He handed Eli over with barely an inch separating us. Eli was rooting around for a nipple, and Elijah did something even more brazen. Hooking his finger underneath one of my dress straps, with a slight tug, Elijah revealed one of my boobs, nipple and all. I helped Eli find it, and he nursed. Elijah watched him, then he was watching me, and I was breathing hard.
He leaned forward, having to lower himself to reach the side of my face with his own. “The things I want to do to you…” he rumbled in my ear. I closed my eyes. I could hear my own panting. “If you’ll let me… You, Lucy, and Eli stay instead of leaving tonight.” I gasped silently as a heavy hand slipped up my dress, sliding along my thigh. He found the edge of my panties and paused. He leaned away, his dark, sinful gaze staring down at me as he did. “You’re not making me stop,” he murmured lowly. “Hadley, are you with me?” He traced the edge of my chin with his index finger.
I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know what to say or do, all I knew was that I’d let him do anything to me the second we were alone. The doorbell rang, and I jumped. The smallest smile touched Elijah’s lips. “Pizza’s here.” His hand fell off my thigh but the other remained at my chin. When my gaze fell to the floor, he grabbed my arm. “Am I scaring you?” he asked softly. “I’ll stop if I am, but I want this. I want you.”
Oh, fudge. I was far from afraid. He turned my body into a noodle.
“I’m not afraid of you,” I whispered.
“Is that the pizza?” Lucy’s bare feet padded over the wooden floor as Elijah stepped away from me. I sucked in some much-needed air.
I kept thinking about what he said as we ate and watched the movie Lucy picked out. Stay… As tempting as those words were, I couldn’t. I had no reasonable explanation for Lucy. I had no idea what was going on between Elijah and me, but I wanted…
It wasn’t fear I felt —although I might feel it tomorrow—despite Elijah’s deliberate gaze that stayed with me the entire movie. The only emotion coursing through me was my heady desire for him.
Lucy rubbed her eyes. It was a little after ten, and I knew she would’ve crashed already if we weren’t at Elijah’s. “Tell Elijah goodbye,” I told Lucy as we walked into the hallway and put on our shoes.
Elijah hung his head but remained quiet.
“Will I see you tomorrow?” Lucy asked as he bent down so she could hug him.
He watched me nervously for an answer. I realized he might think he screwed up earlier, but there was no way I could tell him he didn’t so I said, “I want to see him tomorrow so, maybe he’ll come to see us.”
Elijah visibly perked up at my words. That made me feel special like I had power over his emotions because he liked me. “Yeah, you will.”
He walked us to our apartment despite me telling him he didn’t need to. We said our goodbyes. Elijah was reluctant and made sure I could hear it in his voice. It took thirty minutes to give Lucy a bath and put her in bed. Eli was easier, going to sleep after his bath and boob time. The moment they were asleep, I found my phone and sent Elijah the text I’d been wanting to ever since he had me in his kitchen melting from his touch.
Hadley: Do you want to come up? Lucy and Eli are asleep.
To make sure he knew what I meant, I added:
Hadley: We have to be quiet.
Two minutes later, there was a soft rap on my apartment door. Tiptoeing across the kitchen, I opened the door and there he was, dressed in the same dark jeans and shirt from earlier. The same raw hunger shone in his eyes.
Elijah invaded my space and forced me back a step as he came close. He shut the door behind him, locking the deadbolt while never taking his eyes off of me. “I thought I fucked-up earlier with you.” His voice was low, dark, and sweet all wrapped into one perfect man.
I shook my head and let my eyes trace the planes of his wide chest, remembering how he looked shirtless. His hand wrapped around me and gripped my butt before pulling me flush against me. For a moment, I was on my tiptoes, and then Elijah lifted me higher. My palms flattened on his chest as he carried me across the room. Elijah was so powerful that he did it with one arm as his other hand was occupied caressing my butt. His touch dampened my panties and ignited a fire within me. Everything about Elijah’s actions was purely sexual already pushing me to the edge.
He placed me on my feet long enough to wrench my dress over my hips. Then he carried me over to the kitchen table. The wood creaked beneath me but it didn’t collapse.
One
minute with Elijah and everything I knew about sex seemed dull and wrong. I’d never been manhandled and that was all Elijah seemed to like doing. What had I been missing?
Elijah rubbed his palms against the sides of my legs like it was a battle between gentle and rough. In the dimly lit room I could see Elijah’s hesitation. His eyes roved over me, unsure what he should do next.
He snaked his hand behind my neck. My heart beat wild in anticipation of our first kiss. Panting heavily, Elijah’s eyes clouded with a fierce sexual haze before he leaned in, and captured my lips—his five o’clock shadow scraped along my nose and chin. His tongue swept along my seam, seeking permission. He pulled it back and tried again. That time I parted for him, the dark mocha taste of him stealing all senses as our tongues met. My core throbbed as he gripped my neck more firmly and devoured my mouth like he was starved for me. Our heavy breathing, like a beautifully scripted love song, filled the room.
Elijah’s hand slid over my shoulder and grabbed my strap and it fell from my shoulder. He tugged at the fabric until my breast came free. As he cupped my boob—handling it rougher than I was used to—I moaned. Elijah continued kissing, flicking his tongue over mine before he dragged his mouth away. He placed his forehead against mine and then glanced down at my breast. When he slid his thumb and forefinger over my puckered nipple and pinched, I cried out. He tugged harder and squeezed. Milked spilled out. I raked my fingers through his hair.
“Holy fuck, you’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
I felt my face burning, not out of embarrassment. I was just so turned on.
He pulled at my other strap, not satisfied until he had both my breasts on display. He stepped away and admired me. “I’ve never seen anyone more perfect. You’re perfect. And I’m going to spend the rest of the night worshipping every inch of you.”
He bent down taking each of my breasts into his hands. Suddenly his lips were on my nipples. I sighed and gripped the edge of the table. His tongue flicked out, teeth caught and tugged just enough…Panting, I grabbed his hair again. He sucked and lapped giving each nipple attention. When I heard Elijah swallowing, it registered. He was drinking my milk!
One Percent of You Page 18
