His forehead rested against the back of her skull. “You’re freezing.” His soft words barely reached her ears. “I know a cure for that.”
The innuendo sent need and a wash of images surging through her—letting him warm her up. His skin pressed against hers. Those skilled hands searching out her buttons.
Her every nerve ending pleaded for more. She pressed tighter against him, and the hard length digging into her butt. “I’m listening.” She wouldn’t open her eyes. Wouldn’t destroy this moment by letting reality seep in completely.
Desire surged between her legs, and her head swam with images of their clothes coming off, his mouth roaming her body, and his thick cock—currently pressed against the small of her back and tempting her—as it dove inside her.
His hand brushed the bottom of her breast, and she arched her back with a moan. When he glided higher and caressed her nipples through the fabric of her bra, the dampness in her panties grew. Her hips rocked, her ass grinding against his erection.
Something whispered at the back of her mind. A reminder that she shouldn’t do this. Fuck it. She wanted him, and she knew the attraction went both ways. She was tired of hiding behind the past. Eli wouldn’t threaten her job, and she needed to stop using her fear as an excuse. Even if there was nothing between them beyond the physical, she was going to enjoy every minute of it.
She reached a hand behind her, seeking him out by touch alone. His groan echoed through every inch of her, and sent pleasant chills over her skin when she grasped his cock and stroked through his jeans.
“Stop.” His arm fell away, and seconds later cool air flooded in around her, chilling everything he no longer touched.
“What?” Confusion flooded her, and she rolled into a sitting position so she could look him in the eye. “Did I misunderstand?” Keeping her tone clinical and cool was the only way she could keep the hurt from leaking into her voice.
“No.” He turned away. “I shouldn’t have done that, though. I’m sorry.”
What did that mean? “So we were both good with it, and nothing’s wrong, but it’s not right?” Uncertainty and doubt twisted her gut in on itself. It took every ounce of her control to keep her tone steady. Even then, she wasn’t sure she managed.
“You should get home.” He folded the blanket. “I can finish up here.”
The ache of rejection grew in her chest. None of this made sense. “No.” She stood in front of him, forcing him to look at her. “We don’t operate this way. Talk to me.”
His gaze bored into hers. “We do this time. The conversation is over. I’ve got this. Go home.”
His cold command destroyed the wall of composure she was building around herself. She narrowed her eyes, and tried to obliterate any feelings using anger. “You’re the boss.”
*
Eli wanted nothing more than to call out, apologize, and spend the rest of the day with Marley. The only thing that kept him from stopping her, from pinning her to the wall and stripping her down, and doing everything to her they both wanted, was his fear of what it would cost her.
Seeing her hurt, betrayed expression was better than seeing her dead.
He tried to lose himself in his work. The hours ticked away, as he finished his wiring and cleaned up the traces of their presence in the building. But he never managed to banish the images of Marley from his thoughts.
The entire drive home, fantasy taunted him. Of christening one of those executive offices. Stripping her clothes off a piece at a time. Kissing along her bare breasts. Hearing her gasp, as he tasted her nipples. Tasting every inch of her skin. Sliding his cock inside her. Watching her ride him. Drinking every gorgeous curve, and making her moan until she was spent from pleasure.
He pulled up in front of his house, unable to shake the images. It was true there was nothing he wanted more… Except for her to live.
What he needed was a cold shower, and something to distract him.
He stepped through the front door, and a growl slipped out before he could stop it.
“Late night?” Loki lounged on the living room couch, ankle crossed over the other knee, and arms stretched across the back.
Eli tossed his keys on the stand by the entrance way. He was rarely in the mood for his brother anyway, but knowing he’d been responsible for the delayed cable… For Marley losing her weekend. For— “Get out.”
Loki didn’t move. “How’s your top worker? A little extra tingly after yesterday?”
A denial rushed to Eli’s lips, and he cut it off. He rolled the words over in his head, looking for the angle. It was easy enough to assume Loki thought they’d slept together, but denying it meant admitting he’d at least had the thought. Not that he could deny it at this point, but he was going to try. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Charged. Lit up. Electric?”
Rage roared through Eli. He should’ve known the accident yesterday morning was more than just shitty wiring. He crossed the room in a few short steps, grabbed Loki by the front of his shirt, and hauled him to his feet. “You asshole. Stay the fuck away from her.”
Loki laughed, and held up his hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But he did. Eli knew it. An entire family of people who held the gift of elements—specifically electricity. It wouldn’t have taken anything for Loki to shock Marley. It would’ve been a passing thought. Eli had no idea about the why, but the verbal taunting was too much to ignore. Except it didn’t make sense. “Why Marley? I thought you liked her.”
“She’s fine, I guess. It’s you I don’t like. This will make you miserable. She’s just a casualty.”
Right. The drawback of having a brother who was not only immortal, but had zero regard for human life. Every couple of decades, Eli managed to forget about that. Fury poured through him. “Don’t go near her, or her environment, again.”
Loki wrenched out of his grip, straightened his clothes, and stared back, eyes cold. “Or what?”
“Or I’ll find a way to make your eternity a living hell.” Energy crackled over Eli’s skin. Sparking and flickering. His clothes might not survive. He didn’t care. He wasn’t going to rein the fury in.
Loki patted him on the shoulder, and stepped around him. “Like yours is? At least I know you’ve got practice.”
Eli snarled. Keep this verbal or make it physical?
“I’ll make you a deal.” Loki cut him off, before Eli could swing.
Eli turned to face him, rage gnawing at his senses, roaring to be let out.
“I’ll stay away from her. I’ll even resist the urge to off her just to see how you react, if you keep your distance from her as well.” Loki smirked.
No. Not in a million— Eli cut off his own rampaging defiance. “Deal.” The single word sounded foul as it struck his ears. He’d intended to anyway. Besides, as reason clawed its way back into his skull, he remembered the best way to win an argument with his brother and piss him off at the same time was to concede.
“Wait, what?”
“I’ll stay away from her, if you will. It’s a deal.”
Loki’s mouth worked up and down, but no sound came out. He held up his index finger, and then dropped it. Finally he shook his head and turned away. “Good. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”
As Loki walked out the front door, Eli collapsed onto the couch. None of it made any sense. Why had Loki tried to hurt Marley? All that, just for a bargain he knew Loki wouldn’t uphold?
He had no intention of keeping his promise to Loki, either. Even if he needed to keep some distance between himself and Marley, he needed to also make sure she was safe.
He needed to find a way to keep her from the harm of his curse, and everything else associated with his family. Maybe it was time for him to move on. Leave the family business behind. Make up his mind about whether Marley was safer with him keeping an eye on her or just leaving her to her own life.
Chapter Six
Marley had never bee
n a fan of company Christmas parties. The first time she’d gone to one, she’d been nineteen and working the help desk for her college. All those years ago, it had sounded like a good idea. That had been the day she realized a lot of her coworkers were different people when they were off the clock. And drunk. And had nothing in common with her outside of knowing the people at the core of the gossip about who’d tapped whom in the copy room. No office party she’d attended since had been any different.
The reminders of why she hated these events raced through her mind, as she leaned against the bar in the Brazilian grill. She watched her colleagues filter in, and gather in packs of two or three. She twirled her straw in her Diet Coke. She’d been tempted to ask for a shot of rum in it, but these weren’t the people she enjoyed drinking with.
Except the one person she couldn’t locate. The only reason she hadn’t ditched the party and just gone home. She hadn’t seen Eli for the last three days; he’d only corresponded with her via email, and hadn’t come out of his office while she was in, because he was busy.
She knew it was bullshit, and she intended to call him on it. If this was the only place she could track him down—short of going to his home, which was next if it came to it—then she was waiting here until he showed up. Confronting him over email didn’t feel appropriate. It was too easy for him to brush her off. To avoid looking her in the eye.
She figured this was her best chance. Lots of people, no room for a scene, and nobody really paying attention to them anyway. And it was his father’s company. He wasn’t going to flake out on a holiday party for his own family’s business.
An hour became two. She told about five million people—or ten, she lost count—that yes, it was cold, and yes, she thought it might snow and give them a white Christmas, and of course she was excited their work week ended today, because movers were relocating everything to the new office starting tomorrow.
Thinking about the new building dredged up memories she wasn’t sure she wanted, but couldn’t help sliding into. As people gathered for dinner, she still hadn’t seen Eli. Had she missed him? If he was working to avoid her, it would be easy to do in this crowd.
She grabbed a table with some of the people on her team, unable to keep her gaze from roaming over every face in the room, over and over again. Dinner came and went.
The room grew quiet, heads and chairs all swiveling in the same direction, when Finlay Ugagnkin, the company CEO and Eli’s father, stepped to the front of the room. Most people just called him Mr. U. Marley had wondered since the first time she met the older man, if Eli would age that gracefully. Finlay—he insisted people call him by his first name—had the same platinum hair and strikingly pale eyes as Eli, and as far as Marley could tell, not a single wrinkle on his face. He might as well have been in his mid-thirties. Lucky guy.
Finley rambled through his standard spiel. She liked that he thanked everyone for their hard work, and let the entire company know what their year-end profit sharing would look like. It wasn’t a bad speech. She just had other things on her mind.
“And before I let you all get back to your conversations”—Finlay’s voice took on a serious tone.
Marley snapped back to attention at the shift in mood. If the room had been quiet before, it was deathly silent now. At least she hadn’t been the only one who’d heard the change in his voice.
—“I have an announcement to make. I have to admit, I’ve known this day was coming for a long time, but I still hoped it never would.”
Her brows rose, and her gaze locked on Finlay. That sounded serious. He’d just told them they’d had a record year with revenue, so it couldn’t be about the company. But knowing what it wasn’t about didn’t alleviate the tension suddenly crawling under her skin.
“Eli.” Finlay gestured toward the back of the room. “You’re not making me do this alone.”
Marley turned with everyone else, as the familiar figure pushed away from a wall and wove his way through tables. Her stomach flipped in on itself. Maybe she shouldn’t have eaten that…well, any of it. He looked amazing. Button-down shirt with no tie, untucked from his jeans, and all of it hugging that incredible form she hadn’t been able to get out of her head since waking next to him.
She swallowed her desire, and kept her gaze fixed on the center of attention.
Finlay gave Eli a quick handshake and shoulder clap, before turning back to the room and speaking. “I couldn’t be more proud of my son. And not just because he’s done things with this company’s technology no normal person could accomplish. He’s excelled in so many ways most fathers only hope for.”
Eli’s smile was casual, but never shifted. If the compliments embarrassed him, it didn’t show. Marley tried to convince herself it was just coincidence his wandering gaze never landed on her.
Finlay continued. “So I admit, I begged and pleaded and bribed him when he handed in his resignation, earlier this week. Today was his last day with us.”
Marley’s stomach dropped into her shoes. A loud hum echoed in her ears, drowning out the sudden rush of whispers. Last day? No warning? Her mind whirled with confusion. It couldn’t be because of her. Could it?
She’d thought they were friends. Talked about everything. And she hadn’t had any clue this was coming. Had she read their entire relationship wrong? A tiny voice in the back of her head asked if this opened the door for things to happen between them. Her doubt shoved the hope aside. He hadn’t warned her at all.
The room erupted in confusion. People congratulating Eli. Others giving him their goodbyes. Dragging him further from her with every moment that ticked by. Her brain worked on overdrive. She was stunned and hurt at what had just happened, but she still just wanted a few moments alone with him. When she saw him break away, she managed to excuse herself and do the same.
“Eli.” She caught up to him as he stepped outside. The snow had just started. Even though the sun had set already, the streetlights reflected the clouds in the sky. Flakes drifted through the air, melting before they touched him. That was an illusion, right? She was just imagining he didn’t have a single spec of snow on him?
“I have to go.” He wouldn’t look at her.
“Bullshit.” She grabbed his arm. “You can give me two minutes. You owe me that at least.”
He finally met her gaze, and her chest felt like it might shatter. There was so much sadness and regret in his eyes. “You’re right. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you.”
“Not even a hint?” That wasn’t what she wanted to say. She needed to ask what this meant for him and her. If she was never going to see him again, she might as well find out if there had even been a chance of them.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry. There wasn’t time.”
The apology wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “About this past weekend.”
He pulled out of her grip, and stepped back. “It was nothing. A slip is all. I need to go.”
She stood in the falling snow, watching him walk away, struggling for any words to bring him back. But the finality in his voice… She didn’t know what to do with that. She didn’t know how long she stood there, before someone joined her outside. And then a couple more people. Apparently, the party was over. She shook more hands, walked to the parking lot with a group of people, and dropped into her car, mind still a blank.
The lot emptied as she stared at the snow building up on her windshield. A whisper of resolution wormed its way into her thoughts. No. This wasn’t the way it was going to happen. She’d hidden from a lot of things in her life, but she couldn’t ignore this connection with Eli. If he wasn’t interested, he’d have to tell her. This quiet brush off wasn’t going to cut it.
She took a deep breath, and pulled onto the road. Several inches of snow were already packed into the asphalt, so going was slow. She didn’t care. She was heading to his house, and she was going to say what she needed to.
Chapter Seven
Eli paced the length of his living room. The hurt on
Marley’s face was etched into his thoughts, taunting him with every step. He hadn’t turned the lights on yet. The falling snow and clouds reflected the glow through the large windows framing his living room enough to keep him from tripping on something.
He should’ve broken ties with her sooner. Months ago. He knew the consequences, and he’d still let himself get lost so deeply in how much he wanted her, he was second-guessing his decision to never see her again. It wasn’t as though he had to confess his undying love to her. Or dying love. Whatever. Maybe just a night together would have been enough to sate his curiosity. Probably.
Not that she was a one-night-stand kind of woman, but he also knew the idea wasn’t completely foreign to her.
He shook his head to banish the thoughts. No. It was done. It was over. He’d made the right choice. He could build his own start-up. He had the connections, the ideas, the funding. And he’d always wanted to…
Something disrupted the peace outside, and he paused. The crunch of tires on snow. He wouldn’t look. Whoever it was, it wasn’t for him. Seconds later, a knock filled the empty room. After countless weekends of having her over for weekend movie marathons, he only knew one person who knocked instead of using the bell. He didn’t know if he should groan, or praise his ancestors.
He yanked the door open. Marley stood on his front porch. Snowflakes dotted her hair and eyelashes. She looked at him, jaw clenched and eyes hard. “You have to hear me out.”
He could’ve argued, but the desire wasn’t there. Stepping aside, he gestured her in.
She hovered in the entryway, chewing on her bottom lip, her eyes searching his face.
“I’m listening.” It was the best he could manage. Even in her winter clothes, she was gorgeous. Cheeks flushed, a rainbow of emotions on her face, accentuated by that stubborn streak she only showed when she really wanted something.
Operation: Santa's Elf: 3 Sweet & Spicy Christmas Novellas (Operation: Holiday Cheer Book 1) Page 4
