by C. A. Harms
If I could just get through the next few months I thought I could save enough for a deposit and first month’s rent. I could save every extra dollar. I could pull more shifts but say I joined a study group to explain the extra time away from home. I didn’t need anything big, just four walls and a door.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Wanna take a walk?” Chills covered my neck as Eli whispered near my ear. “I promise to keep you safe in the darkness.”
Of that I had no doubt.
I nodded as he stood, holding his hand out to me.
“Where are you two going?” Marcus asked knowingly, but neither of us answered.
Walking hand-in-hand we moved away from the water.
Have you ever attempted to hold hands with a guy who has a good six inches of height on you? It’s odd. Eli released my hand and held out his hand, stepping in front of me. I chuckled when he crouched down and held his arms out to his sides.
But I didn’t hesitate.
I climbed onto his back willingly and wrapped my arms around his neck. I took the opportunity to press a kiss to his neck and of course he reached around and squeezed my ass appreciatively.
“Pervert,” I said teasingly and he didn’t deny it at all.
That familiar comfortability washed over me as he continued on his path, carrying me as if I weighed absolutely nothing.
“You wanna tell me what you and Marcus were really talking about?”
There went that easy-going feeling. I was glad he couldn’t see my face.
“S’mores,” I said, almost singing the word. “It started out about pizza, and how he thinks I work too many hours, then it led to dessert, which led to s’mores.”
Please believe me.
Did I feel guilty for lying? So guilty, but he was better off not knowing. Elijah wasn’t the type of guy to let something like that go.
“Where are you taking me anyway?”
“Someplace private.” I liked the sound of that.
“But we have a tent.”
“Ten feet away from everyone else, and babe, we’ve already established the fact that you are loud.”
“Evil ass,” I said with a smile. “But true. In my defense, though, that is all your fault.”
He shrugged, completely owning that little fact.
I took the chance to look around as he led us further into the darkness. I had never left Gainesville before, and it felt nice to get away.
Eli came to a stop and I looked around, noticing that he had brought me to a secluded little area overseeing the water in the distance. We were hidden, but through the trees we could see the glistening of the moonlight over the water below.
“This is so peaceful.” I stepped closer toward the opening and stopped when I felt him reach out to grip my hip from behind. The moment his chest pressed to my back I leaned toward him a little further as he continued to circle my waist.
I could feel his lips against the side of my neck as he slouched behind me, triggering me to moan. It seemed to only fuel his hunger as he began to suck and gently bite. “I’ve been waiting to get you alone all night.”
“Alone is good.” At this point I was practically panting.
His left hand began to slide upward to cup my breast and lightly massage it. My knees gave just a little and he used his other arm to hold me in place.
“Do you know how much I crave you?” He pinched my nipple, tugging lightly. “I think about you every minute, remembering every fucking kiss you give me. Sometimes if I close my eyes I swear I can feel your tongue tasting me. I can sometimes even smell your perfume.”
He continued to kiss and tease as he carefully began to turn me in his arms. “I’m addicted to your smile, your laugh.” I looked up at him, suddenly feeling emotional.
What did I do to deserve him?
I almost felt like I was meant to find him, meant to experience what I felt every time he looked at me.
I don’t know what came over me but the rush of emotions had me seeking him out. I just wanted to feel him, I needed to feel him. I rose up, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him toward me. My lips found his because I needed him to stop saying all those sweet things. My heart couldn’t take it right then.
Maybe it was a mixture of Marcus bringing up Carl hitting me and me lying to Elijah again, but I just needed the talking to stop. Otherwise I’d be a crying mess and then I’d be forced to explain. I couldn’t explain, not now.
What I needed was to feel him, feel his hands on me, feel him moving inside me. I didn’t care that we were out in the open and that I might wake up everyone within a hundred-mile radius; I just needed him.
Suddenly I was backed up and pressed against a tree just before Eli gripped the backs of my legs and lifted me, hooking my legs over his hips.
My head fell backward, thumping against the trunk behind me just as he pushed his hard cock against me. “Oh my god,” fell from my lips as I pushed my own hips forward, searching out the friction it caused.
“You keep calling me god and I’ll start believing I am.”
“To me you are.” I lifted my head again and searched out his mouth.
His tongue broke the barrier of my lips. I took everything he was willing to give and matched it.
“If we don’t stop, things are going to get out of control real fast.”
“I don’t care.” And I didn’t. I wanted him so badly I could feel my body shaking with anticipation.
“I don’t have a condom.” His confession halts us for a moment. “I didn’t bring ‘em with me. They’re all back in the tent.”
I leaned in and rested my forehead on his as he still held me up, pinned to the tree.
“I’m clean,” I whispered. “I also get the Depo shot.”
He leaned back and gave me a confused look, making me laugh.
“It’s a birth control shot, so I never forget to take the pill.”
He nodded as if he was registering my words. “So are you saying…” He stopped and I understood it was because he wanted to hear me repeat the words to be sure he’d heard me correctly.
“I haven’t been with anyone but you since I was a junior in high school, I’m clean. I’m also protected, so if you—”
His mouth took my own in an aggressive kiss that took my breath away. Like the flood gates were opened and Eli came rushing in, I suddenly felt consumed by him.
He put my feet back on the ground, but only long enough to undo my jeans and lower them and my panties. With quick movements he unfastened his own and when they were shoved down mid-thigh, I was once again lifted and pressed to the tree.
He was looking at me, and my gaze dropped to the small space between us to see him fully erect and eager for final approval.
“Yes,” I whispered, my voice shaking with need.
“I’m clean too,” he confessed, and nothing in me doubted him.
I nodded my head just before he lifted me up enough to position himself at my entrance. Without another word spoken he began to slowly and torturously enter me. My body reacted almost immediately and my inner muscles contracted, causing him to moan.
“So tight,” he growled, pushing in that last little bit and taking in the feeling without moving any further. He looked up at me, finally pulling his gaze away from the place we were joined. “This is real.” There was something in the way he looked at me so intensely that made me believe him.
This was real. I had never felt so connected to someone before.
With each movement of his hips I could feel myself building. I bit down on my lower lip to keep from screaming and he watched me as if I was a ticking bomb. He knew it was only a matter of seconds.
“Let go,” he urged me and I shook my head.
Suddenly it became a goal for him, driving me further and further into the depths of pleasure. There was no way he was going to allow me to hold back. The harder I fought it the harder he pushed to hear me.
“I need it,” he growled as he moved his hip
s faster, knowing that he was hitting the one spot that drove me crazy. “Let go, Blake.” Hearing him whisper my name both excited me and felt like it healed that spot inside that felt so very raw.
My lips parted at just the right moment and before I could stop it, I ignited, calling out his name.
“Eli!” It echoed through the space we shared and I couldn’t be sure those down below didn’t hear it too. Except I didn’t care.
***
“What time is it?” I said, still half asleep, feeling Eli’s hand slide over my hips before dipping down between my thighs.
“Early,” he whispered, “really early.”
I should have been complaining that he’d woken me up before the sun had completely risen but I couldn’t concentrate. The only thing I could focus on was his hand as it slipped beneath the side of my panties. Or the way his finger traced over my clit before pushing inside me.
“I woke up and felt your body pressed to mine. I was unable to control myself.”
“So this is my fault?”
“Oh yes,” he pressed a kiss to my shoulder, “all your fault.”
Forget arguing, I didn’t have a conflicting thought in my mind. Yes came to mind, only yes. More, yes please.
“I just thought we could start our day out with a bang before we go canoeing.” He chuckled when I looked back over my shoulder and rolled my eyes at his corny joke.
He turned me over and positioned himself between my thighs.
“Or we could just…” pushing forward he made sure I noticed how excited he was, “…forget this all together and go back to sleep.” When he started to lift his body off mine I gripped his t-shirt and pulled him back.
“That’s what I thought,” he mumbled just before leaning in for a kiss.
Something that started out slow moved forward quickly. He had me on my back, my pajamas pants removed along with his own. Fisting his cock in his hand, he moved closer and just as he began to push inside me, loud cracking and popping rang out around us.
He jerked back as I screamed out, followed by a roaring “What the fuck?” from him.
The loud popping continued around us, and I grabbed for the cover to shield myself. Elijah, forgetting that he wore nothing from the waist down, unzipped the tent and rushed outside.
“Motherfuckers,” he roared.
Laughter filled the space between Eli’s pissed off rant and the last few scattered pops.
“I just thought you and Screamer could use a few fireworks.”
“I’m gonna kick your fucking ass.”
“Will you put some pants on first, dude?” I covered my mouth trying not to laugh at what I imagined was taking place outside. “Look around, Red, everyone else is getting a show already but me wrestling with a naked guy will dampen my cred with the ladies.”
“What cred, pinky dick?” Elijah grumbled very unhappily just before he marched back inside and zipped up the tent.
When he sat down by my feet, I could no longer hold back my laughter, garnering his full attention.
“Fucking firecrackers,” he told me though I’d already figured it out. “I’m gonna get that little shit when he least expects it.”
“I’m sure you will.” I could see the dedication in his eyes.
“Everyone just saw me naked.” I had already heard that discussion. “Including Morgan,” he added and my eyes widened. “I think Xavier might be pissed.”
I pressed my lips tightly together in an attempt to stop the laughter. When I couldn’t, I lay back, rolled to the side, and buried my head in the pillow.
With a loud smack my ass cheek began to sting and suddenly Eli was on me again. My laughter quickly faded and I found myself panting beneath him. “Shhh,” he whispered, “I’ll take care of you.”
I knew he would and ever so slowly he did, over and over again.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Elijah
“Are you paddling?” I could hear her talking, but I was entirely too focused to respond. “Hello, are you listening to me?”
I looked up just in time to catch Cat rolling her eyes when she looked over her shoulder, catching me checking out her ass. Hearing her mumble the words “dirty pervert” made me chuckle.
“You should have sat behind me,” I offered, still laughing. “Then I may have been able to focus on rowing instead of on your ass.”
“Had I sat behind you I’d be driving blind.” She shook her head and my gaze once again fell to the way her ass shifted with each pull of the oars. “Giant man in front of me, not that the view would be bad, but I’d see absolutely nothing else.”
Brent and Jay in the canoe near us were laughing with me as my woman continued to ramble. The best part was I thought she’d forgotten we weren’t out there alone, considering some of the things that were spilling out of her mouth so freely.
“As if your hands haven’t been on my ass more than enough over the last couple nights. Hell, I think you slept with your hand in my pants cupping my left cheek last night.” Jay was doing his best to hold back his laughter. “You barely let me get any sleep and here you are making me row your giant ass while you sit back there doing nothing.”
“Babe,” I tried to interrupt her but she was lost in her outburst.
“Would it kill you to put a little effort into it? Seriously, I’d be better off jumping overboard and swimming to the end. At least then it’s only my bodyweight I’m supporting.”
“Babe,” I said a little louder and she shot me a glare.
“What?”
I said nothing more, only nudged my head toward the guys. She twisted around and followed my movement, looking in the opposite direction.
I thought for sure she would apologize, or get embarrassed as she usually did, but she proved me wrong.
“Hey Jay, you wanna trade places? You can lug ass man around for a while.”
Apparently when Catherine was exhausted she got cranky.
“Dude, you need to let that woman sleep.” Brent gave me a serious look. “I think I seen her irises turn red.”
Cat didn’t much care for us laughing, but eventually she just flipped us off and turned back around. I tried for the rest of the trip to keep my focus on rowing instead of on her ass. But I couldn’t lie—there still was a time or two I got lost in the shift of her hips and had to remind myself that I had a job to do.
***
I leaned back in the seat, allowing Cat to rest her head in the crook of my neck. My arm stretched out behind her to support her body, but it didn’t matter if I was gonna pay for it later. I didn’t want her sleep to be interrupted. Apparently I had worn my girl out and I did feel bad about it.
Her light snore filled the space where we were tucked far in the back of the large van we’d rented to haul half of us. The others were in the second van behind us.
Closing my own eyes, I curled in closer, and when she purred, I swear it was like a tiny kitten, I felt my chest squeeze tight. I was falling for this girl more and more each day. I was doing what I had so far avoided throughout my college career. I was committing fully to one woman, one I believed could be “the one” for me.
There was this almost natural feeling with us, as if we knew one another more deeply then we should this soon. We’d shared a lot of things, and though I did know there was more to be told, I felt like we connected.
I wanted this with Cat. I wanted what X had with Morgan.
“She really cares about you, ya know.” I opened my eyes to find Marcus watching us from the row in front. “She talks about you all the time and when she does she gets that dreamy look in her eyes. You give her comfort.”
“I care about her too.”
Why I was telling him this I didn’t know, I was a private guy. If I was telling anyone about my feelings it should be her. But I’d admit, to myself and no one else, Marcus was easy to talk to. I also knew he was her friend, a close friend. Any friend of my girl was a friend of mine.
“I’ve been trying to get her to
move in with Morgan and me.” This announcement surprised me. “She’s been talking about getting her own place and I guess her living alone doesn’t sit well with me.”
I squeezed her a little tighter. “Me either.” She had never once mentioned anything to me about moving out. Then again, she and I didn’t really talk much about her home life. Not for lack of trying on my part, she just shut down pretty quick when talking of her life outside of school, me, and Porter’s.
“Maybe you can convince her to consider it.”
“Maybe,” I said, still floored over the moving at all thing.
I could tell Marcus knew more than he was saying; the knowledge was written on his face. The idea that he knew my girl more than I did, didn’t sit well with me. I should have been happy that she confided in him but I wasn’t. I wanted to be the one she turned to. I wanted to be the one to fix all her wrongs and take care of anything she couldn’t.
For the rest of our ride home I held onto her just a little tighter. My head lay against hers, my nose pressed to her hair as I breathed her in.
When we pulled into the drive at the house and everyone began piling out of the van she began to stir in my arms. She smiled when she looked up at me and fuck if I didn’t feel that smile all the way to the deepest part of my gut.
“Stay with me tonight.” The question started out as just that but I was not above begging. I wanted her near me; I wasn’t ready to let her go yet.
“I just spent two nights with you.”
“Okay.” Lifting my hand, I pushed back a strand of hair that had fallen in her face. “But I want you to stay here in my bed with me tonight.”
“Will you let me sleep?” When she arched her brow I laughed at the way she was challenging me. “Because you, Jay, and Brent saw how I get when I don’t get the sleep I need.”
“Yes, we did,” I assured her, skimming the tip of my nose over hers, causing her eyes to flutter shut. “One more night before we go back to reality. I promise to let you sleep as long as you are doing it in my arms.”
