by Brooks, Abby
James nodded his head. “That’s for sure. She’ll stay with me.”
Ian made a face as if that made perfect sense and Ellie’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Excuse me,” she said, laughing. “I know Moore men apparently have this bossy gene, but I’m right here. What if I want to go home?”
“That’s out of the question,” both Ian and James answered at the same time. Ellie looked to Juliet and Diane, who only smiled and shrugged as if to say what are you going to do?
“Ben doesn’t know where I live—” she began.
James held up a hand. “And how can you know that for certain?”
“James is right.” Ian threaded his fingers into his hair. “You’re going to have to assume that if this guy is unhinged enough to do the damage he did to your cafe, that he knows where you live and has it out for you. You can’t be alone.”
“But—” Ellie began. She turned to Harry, who shrugged.
“They’re right,” Harry said, an apology softening his gray eyes. “I know you don’t like it, but they’re right.”
Ellie took a sip of her scotch, followed by a long drink of her coffee and sighed. “I can take care of myself,” she muttered.
“I know you can.” James stood and put his hands on her shoulders. “You always have and you’ve done a good job of it. Thing is, now you don’t have to anymore. You’ve got an army of Moore men at your disposal.”
The day had been too emotional for Ellie to make any sense of what rose in her chest, the flip-flopping in her stomach. She just smiled and relaxed into his touch and promised she would make sense of it all after she had time to process. Reminded herself not to get too caught up in the fairy tale. This wasn’t her life. She was only borrowing it for a few months.
The men were wrapped up in a discussion of how to get Good Beginnings put back to rights. Ian had lumber and building materials. Harrison had some kitchen supplies and could sacrifice some glassware, plates, silverware. Frank thought he could get a good line on some tables and chairs. Even Lilah thought she might be able to help with painting the walls. Maybe pick out a better color scheme.
Juliet caught Ellie’s gaze from across the table. “They’re good people,” she said. “Take it from me, meeting a Moore was the best thing that ever happened to you.”
“I couldn’t be happier,” she said and meant it with all her heart.
* * *
“I had a thought,” James said as they climbed into the truck after a long day with his family. “I’m supposed to go to The Pit tonight with Ethan and Oliver. You should come.”
“I have very little interest in watching you get beat up, thank you very much.”
“Hey! I’ll be doing the beating, but thank you for your vote of confidence.”
“Either way. Not interested in worrying about how badly you’re going to get hurt, even if you do hurt the other guys more,” she added after she saw his face.
“For the record, I didn’t invite you so you could watch. I thought it might do you some good to get physical. Maybe throw a few punches yourself.”
“You want me to what? Take my anger out on someone else? Double no thank you.”
“Well, not on someone else. Because then I would be the one worrying about you getting hurt. But on a heavy bag? Hell yeah I want you to do that. I think it’d do you a lot of good.”
Ellie shook her head. “I’m a lover, not a fighter.”
“You’re a damn good lover, but the way you fuck makes me think you’d be a damn good fighter, too.”
Ellie blushed from her head to her toes. “Thanks? I think?”
“That’s a mighty fine compliment, sweet Ellie.” He turned the truck towards Bliss, away from his house and nerves danced in her belly. “Think about it, you’ve spent your whole life fighting, but it’s all been internal. You versus all the shit life had to throw at you. How good would it feel to ball up that tiny little fist of yours and take all that mental anguish and make it physical?”
“Sounds like a different kind of awful to me.”
“Nah. Here’s the thing. You take all that mental anguish and you make it physical and just sweat it out. You channel it and use it to fuel your body. What happens to the gas that runs this truck as I’m driving?”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “Okay, Mr. Condescending. I get it.”
“I’m not trying to be condescending. I’m just saying.”
She couldn’t believe it, but she was actually considering his idea. Actually on the verge of agreeing to go to some weird, testosterone driven place called The Pit and learn to throw a punch. Her busy life never left time for exercise even though she knew she would feel better if she were more in shape. Maybe fighting wasn’t exactly the way she had envisioned getting in shape, but she never turned down opportunity when it came knocking.
James turned the truck onto a familiar road and Ellie realized where they were going. “Why are you taking me to my apartment? I thought I wasn’t supposed to go to my apartment.” She hated the surge of fear that ate away at the calmness being with the Moores had brought her.
“Just to get you some clothes to work out in.”
“But I haven’t even agreed to go yet.”
“You didn’t have to. I knew you would.”
They weren’t in her apartment long, but being there gave her the serious creeps. James kept a flashlight in his truck and somehow, walking around the darkened apartment with only a single beam of light to illuminate the corners made everything seem sinister and dangerous. She dug through her drawers as quickly as she could and found an old pair of sweats and a sports bra that might still fit. She grabbed a tank top that she usually used for sleeping and was a little shaky by the time they got back in the truck.
“You good?” James asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.
“Yeah. I’m fine.” She wasn’t, but she would be soon.
“Okay.” He flipped on the turn signal and craned his head to check for oncoming traffic before he pulled out onto the road. “Now, give me the real answer.”
“It was a little strange being there. In the dark. Afraid some psycho might be there, too. Or had been there, too.” She held out her hand and showed him how it quivered. “I’m shaking.”
James threaded his fingers into hers. “You’re safe with me. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He flipped on the radio and gave her his favorite wicked smile. “The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same thing, fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters. Be the hero, Ellie.”
“Wow,” she said. “That’s deep. I’m impressed.”
“I’d take credit if I could, but some other guy way more famous than me said it.”
She wasn’t sure how throwing a few punches at bag hanging from the ceiling was going to make her a hero, but after that cold hand of fear crept up her spine and twisted its fingers around her heart in her apartment, she couldn’t think of a reason not to learn how to throw a decent punch.
24
Turns out that a semi-secret MMA focused gym called The Pit looked every bit as intimidating as Ellie had imagined it would. It smelled. It was all concrete and harsh lighting and the central focus was what looked like a boxing ring in the middle of the cavernous room.
“That’s where the magic happens,” James said as they passed it.
“I’m not sure magical is the term I’d use to describe this place.”
But, by the end of the evening, Ellie was already talking about the next time she came back. She was so excited, she could barely sit still on the ride back to James’s house. “You were so totally right,” she said, rubbing her hands and flexing them, fascinated by the way they ached as they moved. “I so needed that. I think I’ve needed that since the day my dad died. When can we go back?”
James laughed, this gentle heart-warming sound. “Let’s wait and see how you feel in the morning, once the soreness has had a chan
ce to set in.”
“I don’t think a little pain is going to talk me out of wanting to do this again and again.”
“That’s not what I was saying. What I meant was, let’s wait and see how sore you are so we can decide when your body will be ready for you to get back to the gym.”
All her life, Ellie focused on being strong. On standing up for herself and getting things done no matter what circumstances collided with her. And she did a damn good job of it, if she did say so herself. But, she never, not once, actually believed that she was strong. She never faced her circumstances with a true confidence in her ability to overcome them. She just knew that if she put her head down and kept moving, she could outlast things.
Tonight, as she learned how to throw a punch, how to position her body to gather more power behind her fist and how to shape her hand so she was less likely to get hurt, she felt strong. In control. It was the first time ever that she had truly felt confidence wash over her and sitting in the passenger seat of James Moore’s truck, heading back to his house after spending a day with his family as they pledged their desire to help her navigate through this latest batch of hard times … well … it was heady stuff.
James pulled into the driveway and Ellie hopped out of the truck before he even had the keys out of the ignition. “First one to the bathroom gets the first shower.” She raced up the steps to the porch.
“There’s a slight problem to your plan,” James said as he put one foot on the bottom stair and leaned on the railing. “The door’s locked.” He had his keying on his forefinger and spun it around.
“What’s it gonna take to get those keys from you, big boy.”
“You’re going to have to wrestle me for them.”
Ellie put a hand on her hip and gave James a suggestive look. “I’m sure there’s a better way.”
“Oh, sweet Ellie.” James leveled her with a predatory look and began moving up the stairs, keeping her pinned in place with his gaze. “I can think of so many different ways.”
When he reached her, he placed both his hands on either side of her head, pinning Ellie between his body and the door. Ellie went limp. Breathless. Her chest heaved as she met his hungry eyes, knowing that there was a heat to her own gaze. “And just what are those other ways?” She let her eyes drop to his lips. Arched her back ever so slightly so her breasts pressed into him. And then, on a whim, she put her hand between his legs and smiled when she found his erection pressing so firmly against his jeans that she could clearly feel the outline of the shaft and crown.
James groaned. No. It was more of a growl, his voice low and feral. He lowered his face to hers. She touched her tongue to his lips and then took his bottom lip between her teeth while squeezing his dick with her hand.
James kissed her. He took her face between his hands, the cold metal of the key ring pushing into her skin, contrasting the heat of his mouth on hers. He spread her legs with his knee, pushing his thigh against her throbbing clit. When Ellie sighed in appreciation, pressing her hips forward for even more friction, James smiled.
“Does that feel good, sweet Ellie?”
She nodded and rubbed her hand on his cock. “Does that feel good?”
In one swift movement, James had her hands in his, had them pinned behind her back. His lips tormented hers, the stubble of his beard raking across the tender skin of her mouth. She pulled on her arms, trying to free them from his grasp and only tightened the grip he had on her wrists. It sent a surge of heat between her legs.
“Stop fighting, Ellie.”
The authority in James’s voice melted her. She did as she was told, grinding her hips forward, desperate to feel the bulge of his cock pressed against her. James unlocked the door and pushed it open, took her in his arms and walked her into the house, his hands running up her back and right back down again to squeeze her ass. Somehow they made it upstairs and instead of guiding her into the bedroom, James took her into the bathroom. He turned on the shower.
“Take off your clothes. Let me see that body.”
Ellie took her time, pulling her shirt down so it went taut against her chest before she slowly lifted it over her head, tossing her hair and swiveling her hips as she dropped it to the floor. She let her eyes burn into his as she unbuttoned her shorts, pulling them down to reveal the thin white lace of her panties before letting them fall.
“All the way.” James gestured at her bra and undies.
“I’m feeling awfully lonely here, the only one naked. Join me?” She stepped towards him, her hands reaching for his shirt to pull it over his head. He grabbed her wrists
“Come on, James. You know you like it when I challenge you.”
James pulled his shirt over his head and then reached around to unhook her bra. She shrugged it off her shoulders and it joined the rest of the clothes on the bathroom floor.
“I never said I liked it. I just said you were the first one. I was speaking more about the way you tell the truth. I never said anything about liking being challenged in bed.”
“We’re not in bed,” Ellie said, cupping his dick. “We’re in the bathroom. And this guy down here says he likes what I’m doing very much.”
She got down on her knees, undoing his button and unzipping his pants and then pulling them down around his ankles as she went. “You’re such a dirty thing,” he said as she reached into his boxer briefs and stroked him. Slid his underwear down and sucked on his tip. He groaned and then reached down to pull her up. “I want you in the shower. Now.”
Ellie slipped off her panties and climbed in, the warm water pounding on her breasts and then her shoulders as she turned to face James. He ran his hands over her slick skin, cupped her breasts and pressed his hips into her. And then he spun her around so her back was to him, pressed forward on her shoulders and pulled back on her hips so her hands went to the wall and the water streamed down over her head and back.
James guided himself into her, moving slowly at first, giving her time to get used to being filled with him. The angle brought him deep inside her and as he gained speed, she found her voice, crying out as he slammed into her again and again. She looked down so the water ran off her forehead and chin rather than into her nose and mouth. Her breasts swayed in time with his thrusts.
“You like it when I take control, don’t you?” He changed his speed, slowing down and pulling himself almost all the way out before sliding himself back in, stroking her inner walls.
“Yes.” She moaned as he fully sheathed himself inside her. “I need it.”
He reached around and rubbed her clit and her muscles began to clench. “And you like it when I take care of you.”
Ellie wanted to throw her head back, but the water was pouring down on her head and streaming off her shoulders. “Oh, God, yes!’ She pushed her hips back, eager for him to build speed. “I need…” Water entered her mouth and she swallowed.
James picked up speed, driving himself into her with more force. “You need what?”
She needed him to move faster. To bring on the orgasm he was building for her. She needed the release. “I need…”
James slammed into her. Drove himself deep inside her. Again and again. Harder and deeper. “You need what?” His voice was a low growl.
“I need you!” Her orgasm shattered her, weakening her knees and obliterating her words and still James slid in and out of her, working himself up to his own orgasm. She held onto the wall for dear life as she continued to come, not trusting her legs to keep her upright.
“I want to come on your ass, Ellie.”
No one had ever said that to her before and it did something to her. Shifted something in her heart and deepened her own orgasm until she cried out with each of his thrusts until finally he was gone and she was empty and she heard him grunt behind her. Something warm slid between her cheeks and the water washed it away. She leaned her head on the wall and gasped for air, afraid to trust her legs and straighten.
“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
James sounded genuinely concerned and he ran a hand down her back.
“Oh, no. I’m not hurt. I just don’t think I can stand.” She pushed off the wall and turned to face him, her hair plastered to her head, back and shoulders. Water rushed off her breasts and poured off her hard nipples.
James grinned. “I take it that’s a good thing?”
“It’s a very good thing. The things you do to me…”
James reached around her and turned off the shower. “What do I do to you? Tell me all about it, and don’t skimp on the detail.”
“You do things to me that have never been done to me before.” Ellie shook her head. “Good things. Very good things.”
“Is that what you call detail?” James threw open the shower curtain and grabbed two towels, wrapped one around his waist and handed the other to Ellie.
“You’re lucky I can form coherent sentences after what you did to me. So yes, given the circumstance, I consider very good things to be detailed.” Ellie dried her hair and then wrapped the towel around her, let her eyes wander the contour of James’s back as he disappeared into his room to change.
She checked her face in the mirror and wiped away some of the mascara that had pooled below her eyes. James hadn’t come inside her and she was ashamed by how relieved she was by that because it only highlighted the fact that she’d lied to him last night. And now, he thought she was on birth control and would want to come inside her every time. Tonight was a fluke. A gift from some god somewhere who had taken mercy on her after a terrible day. She couldn’t count on him to want to keep pulling out.
She was either going to have to tell him the truth or get her ass to the gynecologist to get some free samples and get her ass on the pill. She much preferred option B. If she admitted to the lie, it would shatter the trust he’d built in her. And rightfully so. Lying to him about being on the pill was a vile thing. She just couldn’t bring herself to tell him.
25
