When they were finished, they collapsed onto each other, exhausted and spent.
“That was incredible,” Forrester panted.
“I can’t believe it,” she answered.
“Nothing, and I mean nothing, in my life up to this point has come anywhere close to feeling so good,” he said.
He was lying on top of her and he rolled over to her side and pulled her in close against him. She felt safe there, nestled in his arm. He pulled the blanket up over her naked body.
“I’m going to protect you now,” he said. “You sleep well tonight, baby. My job is to make sure you feel safe and protected and warm in my arms.”
Elle smiled. He was sweet. “I hope so,” she answered, her eyes already closing with exhaustion.
Chapter 16
Elle
ELLE WOKE THE NEXT MORNING feeling happier than she had in a long time. Getting her brains screwed out by Forrester had a very relaxing effect on her body. She felt as if she’d been at a spa for a long massage the day before. Every muscle was happy and ready to take on a new day.
She slipped out of the bed quietly, careful not to disturb Forrester who was sleeping soundly. There was a desk across the room and she sat on the beautiful antique chair and put on the hotel room coffee machine. As her cup of coffee percolated, she watched Forrester sleep.
The tattoos on his arms and torso were intricate and beautiful, and seemed to tell a story. There were the pit bulls of course, which she knew represented the things his father had done to him as a child, but there were happy things too. There was a sunrise over an ocean, there were mountains with what appeared to be vineyards growing on them, and a beautiful house with a barn outside it. If they were a continuation of the same story as the pit bulls, it appeared as though Forrester had managed to find some happiness for himself. There was also a gun tattoo however, and an open safe, and the logo of the Harley Davidson motorcycle company. Elle wasn’t sure what to make of it all. Could it be that Forrester was some kind of criminal? That would explain why he was staying in the honeymoon suite of what had to be one of the most expensive ski lodges in the world.
She sighed as she gazed at him.
He was so dreamy she could hardly believe he was hers. If he was hers. She knew all too well that the passion a man might show in the night, could very easily vanish the next morning.
Was that what was happening here?
Elle tried not to worry about that. She knew that her insecurities sometimes made her doubt people who wished her nothing but good. She couldn’t let her own demons creep in and spoil her relationship with Forrester.
But what if he was playing her?
What if all this was too good to be true?
It certainly felt that way. Who was she to deserve so much affection and attention from the hottest guy in town? Phil and his friends, she could see them giving her attention. They were the kind of creeps she was used to. But Forrester was different. He was above all of that stuff. He was living a life less ordinary. Elle could tell that much already.
As the coffee brewed, she couldn’t help but worry that she was being a fool. Forrester had been good to her, he was a kind and generous lover, but he couldn’t really be falling for her the way she was falling for him. Of course he couldn’t. Life wasn’t a fairytale. She was the girl who’d been abandoned by her own mother, after all. People didn’t love Elle. They liked her, sure, but they didn’t love her. She wasn’t worth it.
She bit her lip as she watched Forrester breathing gently in his sleep. Maybe he liked her. She wished she could jump into his mind and find out. Was he playing her, or did he really like her? She couldn’t take the risk. She couldn’t let herself get hurt.
She was a fighter above anything else. She didn’t drop her guard for anyone. Not for her mother, not for Gris, and not for this amazing man whose bed she’d just shared.
If he liked her, if he wanted her to trust him, he’d have to show her that. He’d have to overcome the defenses she’d built up around herself.
Silently, with a heavy heart, she picked up her clothes and put them on. Then, she quietly unlocked the bedroom door. She was gone before the coffee had even brewed.
Chapter 17
Forrester
FORRESTER WOKE WITH A START. The hotel room door had just been shut. He’d half heard it, half dreamed it, but he knew it was true.
“Elle,” he called out, softly. “Elle, are you there?”
No answer. He smiled to himself.
Gone already.
That was a first. Forrester had snuck out of girls’ bedrooms at dawn many a time, but this was the first time a girl had pulled the same thing on him. She wasn’t as easy prey as he’d thought. He would have sworn she’d be eating out of the palm of his hand after the night of sex they’d just had. There’s no way on earth she’d ever orgasmed as hard, or as often, ever before. He didn’t care who she’d been with, he knew he had a rare gift when it came to pleasuring women’s bodies, and they always came back for more.
Maybe he’d met his match.
There was a cup of coffee at the machine and he got out of bed to get it. It was hot. She must have just made it. Had she been intending to drink it herself? Had she thought better of being in a hotel room with a guy like him? He looked down at his naked body and despite the muscle and tattoos, all he saw were the cigarette burns and scars.
Forrester had confidence, but he wasn’t beyond self-doubt. He knew exactly what it felt like to be rejected. Had he just been rejected by Elle? He had a sneaking suspicion he had.
Was she protecting herself from him, so that he wouldn’t be able to reject her?
Maybe.
One thing was sure. She was in his head now and he wouldn’t be able to forget her. He didn’t think a girl had ever gotten under his skin the way Elle had. He pictured the look on her face when she’d orgasmed the night before, the way she’d bitten her lip and moaned his name. His dick got hard just thinking about her.
If she’d stuck around, he’d have had his way with her again for breakfast.
He thought of her soft, supple breasts, the taste of her nipples under his tongue. He though of the soft lips of her pussy, and the way she’d been hungry for his cock. Her mouth was like a piece of heaven. He’d come so hard inside her, but he wanted more. He thirsted for more.
And the room felt so empty without her now. He saw that the chair had been pulled out. That’s where she must have been sitting while she made the coffee. What had she thought while she sat there? Had she worried about what he’d thought of her? Forrester hoped so, he hoped that was the reason she’d taken off.
He felt suddenly lonely. He ran his fingers over the chair, where her butt had been.
“Elle,” he whispered.
He picked up the phone on the desk. He didn’t have a number he could reach her at, so he did the next best thing and dialed Lacey’s number. Lacey was the one person in the world who’d always been there for him. He could always turn to her. She was like a big sister.
“Forrester, how are you, baby? How did the funeral go?”
“It went fine, Lacey. As good as can be expected, anyhow.”
“Did anyone show up? Any family members?”
“Nope, just me and the priest.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Forrester.”
“It’s all right. I don’t think I could have handled meeting any relatives. It’s better the way it was.”
“You sound a little down. Are you upset about it?”
“No, not at all.”
“What is it then?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Forrester.”
“All right, all right. It’s a girl. I met a girl here.”
“A girl? And you’re down. That doesn’t sound like you.”
“I know, right.”
“You’re usually the one doing the heart breaking.”
“Well, now I’m getting my karma, Lacey. Because this girl could really break my heart.”
“Oh, come on. You’re just feeling emotional from the funeral. You can’t have fallen that hard. You only just left a few days ago.”
“I know, I know. Maybe it is the funeral and all, but this girl, she’s different, Lacey.”
“Sure she is.”
Forrester laughed. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“I get it. You’re smitten. Enjoy it. It’s a beautiful feeling, if you can handle the agony of it.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Anyway, I can’t imagine there’s any girl up there in the mountains that wouldn’t return your feelings. Unless she’s already taken. She’s not in a relationship is she?”
“No, not at all. At least not as far as I can tell.”
“And she turned you down?”
“Well, not exactly. She came back to my room last night.”
“Oh, Forrester, that sounds like things are going right according to plan.”
“Yeah, except for the fact that she was gone when I woke up.”
It was Lacey’s turn to laugh.
“It’s not funny,” he protested.
“Well,” Lacey said, “now you know what it’s like for girls. You guys pull that shit all the time.”
“I guess we do.”
“Yes, you do.”
Forrester cleared his throat. “Why would she have left? Because the sex wasn’t good?”
“Calm down, casanova. Don’t start doubting yourself just yet. You really are clueless about girls, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am. I’m a guy.”
Forrester could hear in Lacey’s voice how much she was enjoying the conversation. “Well, let me set you straight, sweetie. Girls don’t slip out in the morning because the sex wasn’t good. We slip out because we’re afraid you’re not going to want to see us there in the morning.”
“Why on earth wouldn’t I want to see her? I’m falling for her, Lacey. Plus, I woke up with a hard on for her like crazy.”
“You don’t have to give me every detail.”
“Sorry.”
“Anyway, if you want my advice, you have to get her guard down. Girls aren’t stupid. They just don’t want to get hurt, Forrester. Especially by a guy like you.”
“A guy like me?”
“Yes, believe it or not, you’re not exactly the average dude that asks a girl for her number. You’re different. You’re more intense. And if this girl is anything like me, she’ll be afraid that you’re just having a fling with her, and that you’re not going to get invested in the relationship. The last thing she’ll want, is to feel like an idiot. She’s not going to put herself in the position where it looks like she’s trying to cling on to you and you don’t want her. Believe me, that’s the way I’d feel if I was in her position.”
“So, you’re saying that if she realizes how much I’m into her, she’ll jump right back into my bed.”
He could tell from her voice that Lacey was shaking her head.
“It might not be as simple as all that, Forrester, but I’d bet once she knows how you feel about her, she’ll be able to get over her own fear of rejection a lot easier.”
“All right, thanks for the pep talk.”
“Anytime, bro. Anyway, when are you coming home?”
“Not until I can get a plan together with this girl.”
“Bring her here. We’ll look after her.”
“I know. Maybe I will, if I can convince her. I also have to take care of my father’s estate, so that will probably take a few days too.”
“Okay. Well, call me if you need anything. And be nice to the girl. Remember, the most important thing a man can be to a woman, is kind. If you’re kind to her, the rest will fall into place.”
Chapter 18
Elle
ELLE JUST BARELY MADE IT to the diner in time for opening. When she got there, Kelly and Gracie were gossiping, and they both looked up at her expectantly.
Kelly handed her a cup of coffee.
“Well?” Kelly said. “How’d it go?”
“How did what go?”
“You’re night with lover boy.”
“Oh come on,” Elle protested, “it wasn’t like that.”
“It looked like that,” Kelly said, grinning at Gracie.
Elle sighed. She realized how scared she was of appearing like an idiot in front of her new friends. “It was just a fling,” she said, praying to herself that it wasn’t true. She wanted more than anything to have something real with Forrester.
“Just a fling? Oh come on,” Kelly said.
“Really, until I hear otherwise, that’s all I’m treating it as. I don’t know who Forrester is, I don’t know where he comes from, I don’t know what his personal life is like. Until I know more, I’m not getting my hopes up.”
Grace cleared her throat. She had a look of compassion on her face and her voice was full of kindness.
“Elle, dear, it sounds to me like you’re being very cautious.”
“I am not.”
“Tell me you didn’t slip out of his room this morning.”
Elle was about to respond when her voice caught in her throat. She was caught off guard by the fact that Grace could read her so easily.
“So what if I did,” she said defensively. “Boys do that all the time.”
“I know it makes you feel safe to have walls around your heart,” Grace said, “but believe me, until you let them come down, you won’t be able to find happiness.”
“I’m not, I don’t,” Elle sighed in frustration, unable to finish her sentence.
“Relax, child. No one’s accusing you of anything. I’m just telling you, I know how you feel. I’ve been there. Believe me. I’ve been treated so badly by men I thought I loved, that it took me years to learn how to trust again. But let me just tell you this much. Unless you open up your heart to danger, it can never truly find happiness.”
Then Grace pulled Kelly into the kitchen. “Come on, you. Let the girl have a cup of coffee in peace. She’ll be run off her feet soon enough.”
Kelly went into the kitchen with Grace and then came back out and sat with Elle. Elle noticed that she didn’t bring up the Forrester issue again. Grace must have told her to let it lie. Elle knew they were right. She’d taken psychology classes. She knew how it worked. She’d been hurt. Now she was afraid to be hurt again. That’s why she slipped out of Forrester’s room. She didn’t need the whole world analyzing it for her. She just needed some time to learn how to feel safe with Forrester, then she’d be fine. There was nothing wrong with her. It wasn’t a crime to be careful with her heart.
Elle was violently yanked out of her little reverie when a man came crashing angrily through the door of the diner.
Oh great, the first customer of the day and he’s an asshole.
But then Elle stopped dead in her tracks. This wasn’t just any asshole, it wasn’t even the assholes she’d already met in Stone Peak, Phil and company.
It was Gris.
“I knew I’d find you here you little bitch,” Gris said, stumbling into the diner.
He’d been drinking. He was unshaved, unwashed, and very angry.
“Gris,” she gasped. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know, you little bitch. I’m going to make you pay for wrecking my Camaro.”
“Gris, please, not here.”
“Look at you. You see me and within two minutes you’re begging again. I told you you were a worthless little whore.”
“Gris, you have to get out of here right now. If you don’t, I’ll call the cops.”
“Oh, you’ll call the cops. Maybe I’ve spoken to them myself already. Maybe they called me, to tell me you were here. You forget, that piece of shit car you drive is in my name.”
“You can take it back, Gris. You can keep the car.”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch. I didn’t come here for the car. I came here for you. You’re coming home with me, where you belong, and you’re n
ever going to run off like this again.”
“I’m not going back with you Gris, not now, not ever.”
Elle didn’t know what to do, what to think. She was terrified. She’d lived for three years under Gris’s abusive thumb, and she was only just beginning to come to terms with the fact that she might have gotten free of him.
“Come on, get in my car. Your holiday’s over.”
Elle looked at him. She looked into the cold, hard face of the man she’d given everything to for so long.
“No,” she said.
“No?”
Elle shook with every violent word from Gris.
Then she heard Grace’s voice, and suddenly remembered that she was no longer alone. She had friends now. They might not be able to protect her from someone like Gris forever, but they stood with her, and they had her back.
“That’s right, fuck head,” Grace said. “The lady said, no. Now get out of here before I blow your fucking brains out.”
Elle turned and saw that Grace was pointing a hefty shotgun right at Gris’s face. Gris put his hands up in self-defense. “Oh, you stupid old hag. You’re going to pay for this. The sherif’s on my side. This girl took my car, smashed my other car. She’s mine. She’s my fucking property.”
Grace just looked at him, waited for him to finish his rant, and then cocked the shotgun menacingly.
Reluctantly, Gris backed out of the diner.
When he was gone, Elle realized just how terrified she’d been. She sat down on a stool at the counter and burst into tears. Her entire body quivered in fear.
“Oh my, God,” Kelly said. “That’s your ex?”
“That’s my ex,” Elle said.
“He’s even worse than Phil,” Kelly said.
Grace came over, threw her hands around Elle, and hugged her as tightly as Elle had ever been hugged by anyone.
“Oh, sweetheart,” Grace said. “Now I see why you’ve got such high walls around your heart. You listen to me. We’re going to keep you safe here, okay, sweetie. We’re going to keep you safe. We’re your family now.”
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