Chapter 14
Fourteen
Eliot
I was cleaning up lunch. Lily didn’t look as wan as when I’d arrived or even this morning after she woke.
I would not think about what it was like to wake up and have her right there. To see the way she eyed my body when she thought I wasn’t looking. If she hadn’t been sick only hours earlier, I would’ve crawled back into bed. But there’d been a baby in the room. And we weren’t a real couple.
Weekends like this made it hard to remember.
I started the dishwasher. Lily was feeding Kellan, and Cali had laid herself down for a nap. She’d been thrilled to see me this morning, but she’d been mellow all day. It must’ve been a helluva week with school and stomach bugs.
When I was done, I went outside. At some point, since she’d had Bug, she found time to erect an enclosure for the dog to run around in until he got used to living in wide-open country. I let him out. Since I was in the yard, Lily said he’d stick around. It was when he was bored and alone that he got into trouble. I picked up a ball and tossed it. He darted off.
Lily could clearly handle herself. She was a single mom with a house and forty acres, two kids, and several pets. Strong women like her intimidated weak men. Her ex had undermined her confidence to the point of hyperindepedence. Would she ever trust me enough to tell me what she needed?
My phone rang. Cody.
I answered. “Hey.”
“Eliot. When do you need us this fall?” Cody always got right to business.
Hadn’t he been preparing me for a lack of familial help this fall? “I haven’t looked at the dates yet. You know I like to see what the weather’s going to be like.” Barns used to have us moving cattle—rain, sleet, or snow be damned. The work would get dangerous for us and for the animals.
“Yeah,” he said, resigned. “I wanted to get this planned around baby appointments and football games. Ivy’s in basketball now too, and that’s in the fall for her age.”
A thread of envy twined around my neck. “You can sit this one out.”
“The kids love going. It’s good for them.” He sounded more like he was justifying the trip. “We’ll figure something out.”
“Don’t worry about it.” My ever-present bitterness crept out. Cody always figured his shit out. I just never pointed out that it was for himself. I’d be a selfish asshole to do that, but I was also left holding the bag, or in this case, two hundred and fifty head of cattle and twenty horses.
“Any chance Chambers is around? If he’s working today, I wanted to catch him.”
“I don’t know, but probably. I have better internet than him.” Chambers’s wife didn’t like old westerns, and shootouts were all I heard coming from the office during the day.
“You don’t know if he’s there? Where are you?”
“Lily’s.” I stubbed the toe of my boot into the ground. Bug returned with the ball, dropped it, and ran back and forth, anticipating the next throw. I lobbed it again. “She got really sick, so I came down for the weekend.”
He grunted. “My first thought was that you were with some other woman.”
Anger dripped hot in my veins. “What’d ya take me for, Cody? I promised her I wouldn’t.”
“It’s just… You’re acting like you’re married.”
Annoyance made me grind my teeth. “I am married.”
“Yeah, I’m gathering that.”
“Her family has to believe it.” Bug dropped the ball and raced away before I had a chance to throw it. I tossed it with extra force. Cody’s tone chafed.
“More than her family might be believing it. You like this girl.”
First Chambers, now him. “Of course I like her, or I wouldn’t have helped her out.”
“Sure. That’s all it is.”
Lily’s full breasts underneath a wet towel did not flash through my mind. Nor did the way she fit against me in bed. “I’ll let you know when I have some dates in mind. It’ll be around the middle of October, as usual, but like I said, don’t worry about it. You’ve got a lot going on.”
“Are you coming back at Halloween?”
Since when did I plan a thing for Halloween? I didn’t have kids, and I lived too far out of town to get trick-or-treaters. “Why?”
“Lily’s got kids.” Amusement rang in his tone. “Cali’s going to be all about trick-or-treating. You guys can always join up with us. Ivy loves being a mother hen.”
Ivy was bossy in the best ways, like her mom had been. “I hadn’t planned on it.”
“You’re married now.”
“Until next June.”
“They’re welcome regardless, but it’d be fun to have you out.”
How’d he know to yank at the string that wanted to experience domestic bliss so badly? “It’s not my decision to make.”
“True. Send me the dates and then I’ll expect to see you in costume.” A kid’s holler came over the line. I couldn’t tell which niece or nephew it was. “Gotta go.” He disconnected.
A thud landed at my feet. The ball. This time, Bug paced instead of running after the ball before I threw it. I stooped just as he ran by, licking my cheek in the process. “Ah, gross.”
I was laughing just as Lily stepped out. She put her hands in her green hoodie’s front pocket. The front had the logo of the Billings Zoo. Her skin was no longer pale, and her eyes weren’t glossy. A whole different Lily than last night. “Both kids are napping.”
“Do you need to lie down too?”
She shook her head and dropped to sit on the step. Bug raced toward her, got some ear scratches, and ran off. I wandered to sit next to her.
“I think fresh air will do me some good.” She stretched her legs out. “I feel almost normal.”
I tucked my phone back into my pocket. My brother’s roundabout invite was in my head. I shouldn’t plan to be away from home during a busy time of the year, but I also didn’t want Lily to miss out on something I’d never been a part of. “Cody said you could join them for Halloween. Ivy would love to lead Cali around for trick-or-treating.”
Surprise lifted her brows. “He wants us to go with him?”
“He thought I was coming down, but yeah, you’re invited along regardless.”
“Oh.” She curled her arms around herself, a slight frown on her face. “I haven’t thought that far ahead. Cali has. She wants to be a witch this year.”
If I was waiting for an invite, I was left disappointed. My throat grew scratchy, and I cleared it. I would be busy. By then, her brother would be training with me, and I would have to be around to train him.
I scratched the back of my neck. “What are you going to dress Kellan as?”
“A baby who sleeps through the night.”
I laughed. “He did last night.”
“I think that was the magic of you being there.” The prettiest blush filled her cheeks.
“I never thought a woman wanted me in her bed so her baby would sleep through the night.”
Her laughter chimed across the lawn. “You might find yourself inundated with interested ladies. Good thing you’re married, or you’d be getting a lot of proposals.”
I grinned and rested my arms on my knees. Bug was chasing after a yellow cabbage moth.
“What will you be doing?” she asked hesitantly. “For Halloween?”
I ignored my thrill at her interest. “Dunno. We work cattle in October and move them to the winter pastures. We used to move horses, too, and we still do, but it’s a lot easier with less of them. Jasper’s starting soon.”
Surprise made her eyes a brighter purple, almost blue. “He’s really going through with it?”
“You didn’t know?”
She shook her head. “They expect information to funnel up, not down to me. Besides, we’ve all got our own lives.”
I was intensely grateful my family had populated Crocus Valley. Lily would have them if not her own.
“Thank you for helping Jasper.” She leaned in until our shoulders brushed. Heat wicked down my neck, traveling south. I clamped down on the inside of my cheek. A shoulder touch shouldn’t feel that erotic.
But damn. It’d been a long time since I’d been inside a woman. And the need to bury myself in this one grew stronger.
“I think he’s felt a little lost since he got laid off,” she said. “At least that’s the impression I got when they were all here. He thinks he hides it well.”
“As long as he didn’t lie about being able to ride a horse.” I smirked at her. “It won’t matter. We’ll teach him everything. I can’t afford to be that picky.”
“He’s in good hands with you.” That blush returned. “I can tell you’re a good boss.”
“I’ve had worse.” I shrugged. It was my father, but I didn’t say it. The sympathy that lit her eyes told me she’d heard it regardless.
“You and your siblings turned into amazing people.”
“We’ve had our rough patches.” I rested my arms on my thighs. “We also saw how Barns treated Mama. Don’t get me wrong, she didn’t treat us the best, but what she had to deal with in a husband?” I shook my head. I couldn’t imagine behaving like that around Lily. Making her stay with me because she had no choice.
Wasn’t that the position she was in?
Men are poison to women, Eliot . Mom’s haughty voice haunted me. I hadn’t understood her words at the time, but I sure as fuck remembered them as an adult.
“I’m sorry for what she went through.” Lily saved me from starting a comparison chart between my marriage and my parents’. “If the silver lining is a guy who’d drop everything to drive three hours and clean up vomit, I guess there could’ve been a worse turnout.”
“Anytime, Lily.”
Her smile wavered, and she licked her lips like she was nervous. They glistened, not quite as plump as after I’d kissed her. How easy would it be to dip my head down and capture that mouth again?
“I’m sure I pulled you away from something way more interesting,” she said. “I mean, I’m sure Cali did.”
“I was at the bar.”
“Oh.” Those ripe lips of hers stuck farther out. “I’m sorry. You were out having fun?—”
“No, Lily. I wasn’t having fun. I was chatting with an ex of Wilder’s about how in love he is—and always has been—with Sutton.”
“Maybe she was scoping you out.”
“Doesn’t matter.” I wiggled the finger with the ring on it. “Married. Remember?”
“Hmm… I seem to recall something about that.”
“Last night sucked for you, I have no doubt. But it’s one of the most interesting Friday nights I’ve had in a long time.” I stared into the distance to avoid her gaze. Bug was trotting around the yard, ready to investigate any moving thing. The breeze was growing colder, and I didn’t want Lily to catch a chill.
I rose and held my hand out to her. “What movie is next on the list?”
The awe and disbelief in her gaze could give me a complex. I wasn’t her hero. But if she left this marriage knowing how a man should treat her, I’d consider that the biggest success in my life.
Cali opened the front door, blinking. Her hair was messed up on one side. She must’ve slept hard. “Mom, Flakes isn’t in his cage.”
Lily
Flakes was found curled up inside a cabinet his tank sat on. The door had been left cracked open. There had only been thirty minutes of panicked searching. Eliot had blanched like he’d never sleep in that room again. If he didn’t like Flakes, he’d never said, and he’d helped look for him without hesitation. Kellan had awakened when Cali started calling Flakes like he was a puppy.
My heart rate had finally returned to normal.
I was cuddled on the couch with Cali between me and Eliot. Kellan was in his swing, his eyelids droopy. We’d already eaten dinner, and his bedtime was soon. Eliot had made us his special pancakes and eggs for supper.
We were on our second run of Snow White. Cali wanted to dress like the poisoned apple lady for Halloween. Not quite a witch, but different enough to satisfy her requirements. If she caught wind that Cody had invited us to do the Halloween thing with him, she’d talk about little else until then.
I might have to take Cody up on the offer. It’d keep my mind off Eliot’s absence.
“I think she’s asleep,” Eliot murmured.
I peeked down. Sure enough, her eyes were closed, and her head was tipped on his shoulder.
“Poor thing is still recovering from the week. School and being sick takes a lot out of her.” I was about to move to carry her to bed, but he shifted to stand while keeping her from falling to the side.
“I got her.”
The sight of him carefully picking her up and carrying her to her bedroom would stay with me forever. Her dad had never had time to just sit and enjoy the evening. I knew if we were at Eliot’s place, he’d probably be working until sundown and even later. But when he didn’t have to be here in the first place, this was nice.
The sight of his broad back in full flex was sexy. A flush fired across my skin, and it had nothing to do with being sick. I’d felt great all day.
When he returned, he dropped into Cali’s spot. We weren’t touching, but he was close.
“Think it’s time for something that’s not animated?” He grabbed the remote, and I tugged half the blanket over his lap.
“Sure. What do you like?”
“You should know by now that I’m fine with whatever you like.”
He was always spoiling me, but this time, I wasn’t delighted at the way he coddled me. The smallest favor I could return was picking a show he liked. “What do you like to watch?”
He slid his gaze toward me. “Anything.”
“When you have the chance to watch TV, what do you pick?”
His eyes narrowed slightly, like he couldn’t figure out why I wouldn’t just choose something I enjoyed. “I like a superhero movie as much as the next guy.”
“DC or Marvel?”
He straightened the blanket over him. “I dunno. I guess I like them all.”
“Is there one you haven’t seen and you want to?”
He twisted to face me. “What’s this about?”
“I want to know what you like.”
“No, you don’t.”
Now my irritation was notching up. “Yes. I do.”
“Just pick a show.”
“It pleases me to do something you like to do.”
“You don’t want to know what I like to do.”
I rolled my eyes. Stubborn man. “You can say it, you know. It’s okay to let others know what you want?—”
“I like to fuck, Lily.”
I snapped my mouth shut. My pulse kicked up faster the more his words sank in. I heard him wrong. That was it. “I don’t know if that’s DC or Marvel.”
Incredulity widened his eyes, then he laughed. His Adam’s apple bobbed with the deep, pleasing sound. “I haven’t seen the latest DC, but I don’t recall seeing sex, or even tits, in either franchise.”
Lust rammed into my belly. I clenched my thighs together. “Then you haven’t been looking. Those costumes don’t hide a lot in the females.”
He held my gaze. “I’ve been looking, just not at theirs.”
I sucked in air. Did he mean…mine?
I gazed up at him. He was still turned toward me. At some point in our conversation, I pivoted to face him, like I was a sunflower and he was the sun.
I ran my tongue along my lower lip. His gaze lowered to watch, then lifted back to me.
My heart skipped at least two beats. “I don’t think mine are?—”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I like them very much.”
He hadn’t seen them. Last night, they’d been covered. By a wet towel.
His gaze was still glued to mine like he was waiting to see what I’d do.
I had no idea what to do. I wasn’t a femme fatale. I’d been a harried, easy target for a man who had wanted a housekeeper, a cheap employee, then a mom. “I like your muscles,” I blurted out.
A dark brow lifted. “My muscles?”
“You have a lot of them.”
He nodded, thoughtful. “You know what else I like?” He had my rapt attention. “The way your lower lip is bigger than your upper lip. It gets nice and plump when you lick and nibble it, and Christ, Lily, I want to taste it again.”
“Why don’t you?” I could groan. The answer was obvious. “Never mind. Last night?—”
A low growl rumbled from him, then his mouth was on mine.
Desire raged through my body. His lips were firm but gentle. He was tense until I ran a hand through the dark locks of his hair. I clenched a fist in them. I’d only put my hands and mouth on him, but I knew I’d never get enough.
He relaxed as if he’d been holding himself back. I was slowly pushed backward until I was underneath him. I stretched my legs out around him.
God, his weight over me, pressing me into the cushions? I could come from that alone. Had it been that long since I’d gotten off?
Yes. But also, it was him. I was never this responsive.
I wound my arms around his neck. He licked against the seam of my mouth, asking for me to open. He didn’t have to. I’d do anything this man wanted. I widened the cradle my legs made until he was settled between my thighs. I rocked up into him, and a low groan vibrated through his chest. I did it again, and he went taut.
He released my mouth. “Goddamn, you keep doing that and I’m going to come in my pants.”
“Me too.” I rolled my hips into him again. Electricity radiated out from the juncture between my thighs. I could feel that I was wet.
He nibbled a path from my jaw to my ear. “Do you need to come, Lily?”
The way his voice rumbled straight into my eardrum sent shivers across my body. The shudder added to the way I was thrusting my hips against him. There was a perfectly large ridge in his pants, and it was the exact place I needed it the most. A ton of pesky clothes were in the way, but the promise of a climax was in sight.
Part of my brain said that wasn’t possible. I could not orgasm with all my clothes on. Dry humping was never enough.
My pussy didn’t care. My clit was too starved to listen to reason. And when he gripped my ass and pulled me hard to rock against the monster erection his jeans were holding back, I wrapped my legs around his waist. My mind was no longer invited to the party.
He nibbled a path down my neck. The moan that left me sounded like it was right from a phone sex call. I wouldn’t know what that sounded like, but it wasn’t a sound I normally made. Just like being this close to a peak wasn’t something I did without a ton of stimulation and some impatient grumbles from my partner.
He braced himself on the armrest behind my head and ground into me. Another ragged moan left my body. “Eliot,” I groaned.
“Are you going to come for me?” He dug a knee into the cushions, keeping himself anchored while I rubbed myself all over him.
“Yes,” I gasped. “Oh god, yes.”
“I want to taste that little clit of yours.”
I couldn’t make a sound. My desire clogged around my vocal cords, building into a giant bank of thunderclouds that were ready to unleash every spark of energy they’d collected since the last time I’d orgasmed, months and months—a year?—ago.
“Eliot,” I said on a whine.
“I bet it tastes as sweet as this pouty lip.” He nipped my mouth, then licked where his teeth had been. “Come for me.”
I did exactly as he asked. I shattered. I arched into him, my head digging into the armrest. I couldn’t move him, which only kept me in place to ride out the tsunami wave of ecstasy that crashed over me.
He kissed up my neck and placed a sweet peck on the side of my mouth. “That was fucking beautiful.”
“I don’t usually— I don’t.” I couldn’t catch my breath, but embarrassment was also starting to sink in. “I’m not like this.”
“Like what? Expressive?”
Yes. “I usually have a hard time…you know…finishing.” Maybe the baby hormones fixed something that was broken? But with his solid weight over me and his large erection trapped between us, I didn’t think so. He could get a granite statue to climax. “It’s new. Thank you.”
His chuckle lightly shook both our bodies. “Anytime, Lily pad.” He lifted his head to study me, his expression questioning.
Anytime . We were married. We were adults. I swallowed. The afterglow from my peak washed away in the onslaught of nerves. He said he wouldn’t fool around while we were married. He must be feeling the strain. “We could, you know. Do it anytime.”
The muscles in his jaw flexed, and his gaze stroked over my face. “We are married.”
“Just what I was thinking.” I dragged a hand through his messy locks. “Seems a waste to abstain if we both want to.”
“I do want to,” he murmured, easing my anxiety that his desire stemmed from having no other option. His gaze softened with an almost smile, then concern took over. “I don’t have condoms.”
Oh. Shit. “I’m not on birth control.”
“I can bring them next time.”
“When is that?”
He thought for a moment, then kept thinking. “How many weeks away is Halloween?”
Weeks. I wanted this man inside me now. But I’d taken on a large dog that was still in his puppy years. I couldn’t add another baby. I wouldn’t make this man feel baby-trapped after what his mother went through. “Six weeks.”
He groaned. “Dammit, Lily. That’s a long fucking time away.”
“We have to make this work for a year. I’m not burning you out with traveling in the first six months.”
“Wilder and Sutton made it work when they had the same living situation. We can do this.”
“And I can tell my aunt that if she stops by, we’re still newlyweds, and we were so swept away that we had no idea the logistics would be such an obstacle.”
A shadow flickered over his expression. “Yes. Your aunt. She hasn’t seemed to care so far.”
I didn’t want to talk about the reason why we married. I was already tired of that being the motivator between us. The fantasy was getting sapped out of this moment.
“We’ll make it work when we can.” I slid my arm between us and curled my fingers around the hard line behind his zipper. “But right now, I think I can help with this.”