One Percent of You

by Michelle Gross

  I didn’t know whether to be disgusted or flattered. It should have been strange at the least, but it wasn’t. I was too into Elijah and how good he made me feel to be self-conscious.

  I started to fall backward, unaccustomed to feeling so much at once. He lifted his head and dark animalistic eyes swept over me. Elijah kissed along my neck easing me onto my back. The joy my soul felt turned into an aching anticipation between my thighs. I was a trembling mess as Elijah’s palm splayed on my stomach. He gazed at me with so much admiration before moving on to my thighs. He spread them further apart and bent my legs until my feet were on the table’s edge. My dress was bunched up around my waist. Elijah tugged at my panties until they were off. The next thing I knew, Elijah buried his face between my legs catching me by surprise.

  “Ah!” I moaned.

  He rubbed his finger over my clit, and my back arched. My body shook as I started to come in his mouth. Elijah gave a satisfying groan and drank his fill. While his mouth sucked, he shoved his thick fingers inside me. The man worked magic leaving me writhing and crying out. When I thought I could take no more, he slipped in another finger. Then he gently bit along the inside of my thigh working back to my clit.

  “Elijahhhh,” I cried out as I came like a tsunami all over his face. He didn’t relent, even when my body convulsed and shuddered against him. He kissed along my thigh softly, quietly, his fingers slowing as if to give me a second.

  Just when my body started to relax, Elijah did it all over again. Minutes later, I reached my peak again. That was a first for me—multiple orgasms.

  My body was limp as he stood and leaned over me, his digits still pressed inside me. He dragged his teeth over my bottom lip allowing me to taste myself. Elijah whispered, “Baby, you’ll have to be quiet, or you’ll wake them. I’m far from finished with you.”

  I trembled and nodded as he curved his fingers inside me. My back arched again, and Elijah kissed me deeply, but softly this time. I placed my hand over his and raised my pelvis, urging him to a quicker pace. He groaned. “Jesus fuck, you’re so precious. I don’t deserve to touch you.” I kissed his neck. “Is Eli in your room?” I nodded. “The sofa then. I don’t trust you not to be loud.”

  I whimpered my protest as his fingers left my body. Elijah scooped me up with him. He placed me on my feet, pushing the sundress down over my hips until it pooled at my feet. My skin prickled with the awareness that I was completely naked in front of that man. The thought was as thrilling as it was terrifying. Stretch marks lined my breasts, but I saw nothing but desire in his dark eyes. The hard, long length of his erection trapped inside his jeans was another reminder that despite all the changes to my body after becoming a mom, Elijah was completely into whatever he saw when he looked at me.

  But I couldn’t be the only naked person in the room. I grabbed the bottom of his shirt, and he helped me lift it over his head, tossing it to the floor. I took him in. His muscled chest was peppered with dark hair. It was sparse—only noticeable up close as I traced his tattoos with my fingers. I dug my toes into the carpet.

  I loved everything about him.

  Feeling bold, I stepped closer and placed a kiss above his right nipple. I felt more than saw his hand move to his back pockets. He tossed his wallet on the couch before grabbing me by the waist and turning me around as he flopped down on the couch with me on his lap. My knees were at his sides, his giant erection pressed between my thighs. Heat soared low in my belly despite his jeans separating us.

  I ran my hands over his broad chest as I leaned forward and kissed him. He rubbed my arms up and down, then he cupped my butt, rocking me back and forth along his erection. Animalistic sounds came from deep down in Elijah’s throat. The guttural noise went straight to my pussy. He pinched and pulled at my nipples.

  “Elijah,” I whimpered. “Please.” I needed to know how he felt inside me before I drowned in all these incredible sensations I experienced.

  I placed my hand over the tent in his jeans and gripped him, sliding my fingers along his length. He was big. Suddenly I wanted to see every inch of him. Elijah started to unzip his jeans, and I moved back to give him room. Seconds later, Elijah’s jeans were around his knees. I gasped. The man went commando, and I got my first look at his dark, veiny cock, bobbing forward. He was so hard and thick, almost painfully so. How was he holding back? I wanted him to get his release more than I wanted my third one.

  As I reached out, he placed his hand on mine and brought it over his hard, straining erection and fisted it, dragging my palm up and down roughly. I moaned at the feel of him while his other hand opened his wallet and pulled out a condom. I removed our hands and watched in silent anticipation as he tore open the packet and sheathed himself. I moved toward him, and Elijah gripped my hips, aligning our bodies until I felt his head nudge my entrance. He paused and waited until the moment our eyes met. Nothing else mattered when I caught his eyes. It didn’t matter that everything was so perfect, shiny, and new between us. More than perfect, there was a sense of rightness in that moment. I felt like our souls had done this a million times before even if our bodies hadn’t. His hand left my hip and snaked around to the nape of my neck. He brought our foreheads together while maintaining a unified, carnal eye contact. This feeling would define me, would live inside me when I was eighty. For his soul bled through his gaze and seeped into mine before he entered me. A fleeting heartbeat later, he guided me down over him.

  My body ignited and bloomed for him. Nothing I’d known or felt before could have prepared me for that time with Elijah. We never blinked as he entered me. The heat that rolled through me was so much more intense because of it. That wasn’t sex. I didn’t know what it was. It was indescribable, and I came before he was all the way in.

  One thrust and Elijah was deep, stretching me perfectly as I slowly throbbed around him. The orgasm was torturously slow. It was never-ending. I was almost afraid. I’d never felt anything so incredible. He felt me coming and dragged me up leisurely and back down over him to guide it along. He knew exactly what to do, totally shattering me.

  Waves of ecstasy hit, and I had to fight to keep my eyes open. All I wanted to do was toss my head back and cry out. I was whimpering and on the verge of doing just that when he whispered, “Don’t, don’t close your eyes.” Something in my chest cracked open, and the fire burning my body settled within it. Elijah felt our connection too. There was no way he couldn’t. Pain and ecstasy crossed his face as he groaned. “Oh, fuck, Hadley.” He kept his pace slow, barely moving as he came right after me. His seemed to go on just as long as mine had.

  Afterward, still inside me, he placed a kiss on my jaw. “You’re perfect.” He kissed my other side. “Are you tired?”

  I was, but I also wasn’t since he was right there so I shook my head.

  “You’re lying.” He grinned, so I shrugged and smiled. “Just so you know, I normally last longer than that but between you coming on my face and that tight pussy I didn’t stand a chance.” I rolled my eyes playfully, and he pulled me off of him, discarded the condom, and wrapped an arm around my back as he switched our positions, tossing me onto the cushions like I was nothing. He had a good struggle with his jeans before he descended over me. “Since you say you’re not sleepy, I’ll make sure I do my job right this—”

  Eli cried, cutting him off. I sat up and Elijah scooted over. “Did we wake him?” he asked softly, worry stamped on his face. Elijah was still adorable when it came to Eli. He freaked out and got nervous every time Eli cried.

  Rushing to the bathroom, I quickly washed my hands and grabbed the robe hanging on the back of the door. Eli settled as soon as I picked him up. I had a small nightlight plugged into the wall in my bedroom, and I could make out his round eyes perfectly. I mentally groaned. He was wide awake. This would be one of his rare all-nighters. He slept most nights unlike Lucy did at his age, but sometimes he didn’t. I felt his diaper, and he was dry. I offered him a boob, but he wasn’t interested.

 
; Yep. His eyes darted all over the darkened room. Completely alert. A shadow fell over the doorway, and I glimpsed over to see Elijah in his jeans, still shirtless. “He’s wide awake,” I said.

  Elijah smiled and came in, his eyes skimming over my room. “His mom is loud,” he teased. I felt my flushed cheeks grow redder.

  I scoffed, dropping down on the bed with Eli. “He’ll be up a bit. You should probably head on home.”

  Instead of doing that, he sat beside me. “You work tomorrow, don’t you?”

  I nodded.

  “I’ll head out and change while you guys are getting ready in the morning.” He stroked the top of Eli’s head. My heart stopped. I studied Elijah’s face. He was staring at Eli with a peaceful smile. He wasn’t irritated nor did he leave the second Eli woke.

  He was still there. That moment was real.

  Did I dare trust my heart again?

  But most importantly, the mother in me said, “You should probably wash those,” I eyed his fingers, “and I have an extra toothbrush in the bathroom.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Elijah

  I was a fucking goner.

  I knew I was a poor helpless fool when it came to Hadley. But now I was a total never-going-back-to-the-way-I-was type of goner. Touching Hadley… Tasting her… I couldn’t believe she’d given me that kind of permission.

  Hadley and her family consumed my thoughts. All I wanted to do was be around them.

  I stayed up until two talking and laughing with Hadley before she finally dozed off with Eli between us. Her blonde hair was loose and spilled all over the pillow and bedcovers as she smiled at Eli and spoke to him and me. I was mesmerized further after I knew how she felt and tasted. How right her body was draped across or beneath mine.

  I was wild about her, fully dedicated to her and Lucy and the chubby butterball between us.

  I hadn’t missed the way Hadley’s eyes darted nervously over to the door every so often before she finally slept. She worried about Lucy waking and seeing me. I wouldn’t let her nervous energy scare me away though. I knew what I was getting into, and I wanted it even more because of it. Once Hadley saw that I wasn’t going anywhere, ever, I hoped that she wouldn’t hide me from Lucy.

  I didn’t just want Hadley. I wanted all three of them.

  I awakened stiff and cramped a few hours later. Terrified of rolling over onto Eli, I didn’t budge an inch. Something strange happened when I looked at him. My world came full circle and showed me what I was missing.

  Hadley sighed drowsily and swatted at her clock on her nightstand, catching my attention. It was cute how her eyes blinked as she looked toward Eli with a tender expression. Then they widened when she realized I was still there.

  Yeah… I wanted more moments like that.

  After dropping Lucy and Eli off at her parents and driving Hadley to work, I came home and the same thought replayed in my head until it was time to head to the parlor.

  I wanted it.

  At work, I tattooed and joked around. But every thought I had was of Hadley and me and everything in between.

  I wanted it.

  I left work an hour early to pick up Hadley from work. When I saw her walking out the entrance in a pair of dark gray The Flintstones scrubs, my world tilted on its axis. I swallowed my tongue as her gaze landed on mine. Shyly, she lifted her hand and waved, something she had never done before. Which meant she was still carrying around that nervous energy.

  Fucking shit. I was too.

  That cute, messy bun wrapped atop her head was doing shit to my brain. I thought about removing the band and watching her silky strands tumble across her shoulders as I bent her over and—

  I leaned across the console and opened the passenger door before she did.

  “Hey.” She sounded a little breathy as she jumped in.

  “How are you even more beautiful than when I dropped you off this morning?” I asked her seriously.

  She blushed as she buckled up. “Stop. I didn’t even feel like doing anything to my face this morning I was so tired.”

  “I’m a little upset that it wasn’t because of me.” Eli took all the credit for that. She laughed. I reached out and grabbed her hand, intertwining our fingers as I pulled out of the parking lot.

  “Elijah.” I didn’t like the tone of her voice. It gave me something akin to heartburn. I never thought about what would happen if she regretted last night. What if she pulled away completely? No Hadley. No Lucy. No Eli.

  I forgot how to breathe while my heart momentarily stopped at the idea of her…

  This had to be what dying felt like. The idea of losing what wasn’t mine in the first place.

  “Don’t,” I said, holding her hand more firmly in mine. “Don’t look or sound regretful. I know you’re a mom, and you’ve got plenty of shit to worry about. I’m going to be here. With your kids. Even if it means I never get to take you out on a first date alone, I want to be here with you.”

  My chest grew tight as she pulled her hand out of mine. “Lucy really likes you. I just don’t want to ruin that friendship she has with you and what you have with us. I’m scared.” I glanced over at her and saw the glassy look in her eyes. “I’m scared of losing our friend Elijah when things go south.”

  I grabbed her hand again, unable to bear her fears screaming at me. “Why can’t I be both? I can be everything you need. As far as things going south? That will never happen.”

  She didn’t remove her hand, but from the corner of my eye I saw her turning toward the window. “You don’t know that.”

  “Yes, I do because the only way I’d ever leave you guys alone is if you’d ask that of me.”

  I felt her gaze on me now. “What is it you want from me?”

  Lifting her hand to my lips, I kissed her knuckles. I glanced at Hadley and said, “Everything.”

  She finally whispered, “You sound real.”

  “Baby, I am real.” I placed our hands on my lap. “I want whatever you can give me. If what you need for me to do is take a step back, I will but I’m still going to come running every time Lucy calls, and I’m most certainly going to flirt with you every chance I get. Even if you don’t let me into that tight pussy again for a while, I’m not going anywhere.”

  I saw her squeeze her legs together as she placed her hand on her forehead. “I just need to think of Lucy and Eli and what this would do to them.”

  ______

  For two days and two long evenings, Hadley made me keep my hands to myself. I could see the wheels turning in her head, How do we go back to before Elijah had me for a meal on my kitchen table?

  It was amusing to watch the vigorous way she cleaned it the next day. When she caught me observing her from my spot on the sofa beside Lucy, her cheeks turned bright red and she kicked me out. With blonde strands falling from her bun and still wearing scrubs, Hadley looked almost feral as she shoved me through the door.

  “Stop that,” she scolded me.

  “Stop what?” I pinned her with a smoldering stare, but she shut it, anyway.

  I knew she was afraid. I saw it in her eyes, but I also saw how much she wanted to have me. For an independent woman who’d been hurt, the idea of being with me possibly terrified Hadley. I was safe as her friend Elijah… Next-door neighbor who her daughter liked Elijah… Well, I wanted more. I wanted to come home to them one day. I wanted to be always there Elijah… Never leaving Elijah… Husband Elijah… Stepdad Elijah… Forever Elijah…

  The next evening was no different. Okay, it was a little crankier than usual. I picked her up, told her how gorgeous she was, and took her to pick up the kids at her parents’. She lit into me for buckling Lucy in wrong and then pushed me aside so she could fix it. She was even more annoyed when I hovered to see what I was doing wrong. Eli was fussy, Lucy was hangry, and their mother was fussing at all of us.

  Lucy wanted candy. I got in trouble for stopping at a gas station to get her some. Hadley took the candy and held it for ransom until Lu
cy ate when we got to the apartment. At that point, I hadn’t said much. The deep scowl on Hadley’s pretty face let me know she was itching to fight with me.

  I knew what she was doing. She was sabotaging. She didn’t know what to do with me. She couldn’t understand what I was doing there with them. She watched me with terror in her eyes.

  All I wanted to do was wrap her in my arms and assure her I wasn’t leaving. I wish I could take away all her insecurities that her asshole of an ex gave her, but I knew it didn’t work that way. The only thing I could do was show her, but that could only happen if she let me in.

  “What are you still doing here?” Hadley snapped as she stood at the stove, flipping burgers.

  Lucy looked up from the coloring book, dropping her crayon dramatically. “Why are you being mean to Elijah?”

  Hadley blinked at her daughter and blubbered, “I’m not.”

  “Yeah-huh. Elijah’s been buckling me in since the last time you showed him, and you yelled at him, saying he did it wrong. Then you yelled at him for getting me candy.”

  “You need to eat first,” Hadley sighed.

  “You’re grumpy,” Lucy said, picking up a purple crayon.

  Hadley gawked at her like she wanted to say something, but she seemed to think about it, sighed, and then turned toward the stove. Eli cried. Feeling brave, I stood from my chair. “I’ll get him.”

  Hadley twisted around and narrowed her eyes. “I’ll get him,” she said, like I knew she would. I followed her the few feet it took to grab him out of his bassinet in the living room.

  “Elijahhh,” she dragged out my name as she cradled Eli.

  “You need to chill,” I whispered, pushing the loose hairs off the side of her face and forehead.

  “You need to chill,” she deflected.

  I sighed. “You’re so obvious.”

  “What?” she hissed.

  “You’re trying to make me change how I feel.” I gripped her shoulders. “Baby, I’m here to tell you it doesn’t work that way. I want you no matter what.” I tilted my head and smirked. “Especially like this. I can help loosen you up…”