CHAPTER 10
ELWOOD
My mind drifts as I put the last of the books on my cart away. This day has dragged on. And I’m very aware of why that is.
For the first time, I’m not excited to be at work. There’s somewhere else I would rather be, and I’m sure everyone around me is very aware of how much I would prefer to be with Hollyn.
But I’m not at home with my woman. I’m here. At work. In the library.
I’ve always prided myself on my work ethic, but it’s escaped me completely today. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it, but I do know there’s no changing it. I’d rather be at home with Hollyn.
The fact that she still believes she’s going to get in her car and drive away from Storyville sometime soon feels like a splinter under my skin. I want to rage. I want to demand that she stay. I want to tie her to the bed and never let her go.
But I can’t do any of those things. Not just because at least one of them would be illegal.
Could I watch her drive away? Could I ask her to come back? If I did, would she?
So many questions are swirling through my head, and I don’t know where to start answering most of them.
As I look around, I’m filled with a sense of rightness. At the same time, I would walk away from all of it. For Hollyn.
If she wants to go back to Seneca Falls, I could leave all of this behind. It wouldn’t even be a hard decision. The person I would miss the most is Greylin, but I could visit her. Or she could visit me.
It’s not like my sister takes vacations. She loves what she does, just like I do. It’s a passion, one she’s thrown herself into and I respect the hell out of her for it.
Yeah, I could leave if I needed to. If the woman who is meant to be mine, destined as if the stars themselves connect us, wanted to leave, really leave, then I’d be at her side.
The realization settles something inside of me.
I won’t deny that I want to talk her into staying here, but if I can’t, then I’ll go. I’ll travel. I’ll be the person who keeps her safe as she fulfills the last wish of her best friend. I’ll do it all with a smile on my face.
As I push the cart back toward the main desk to park it in place, the library door opens and I turn in that direction. My heart starts to pound in my chest because Hollyn has just stepped inside the library.
Something has happened over the last few days, something I wasn’t sure would happen when I first met my closed-off woman. As we’ve spent more time together, her walls have been crumbling around her. I’m not even sure whether she realizes it yet or not.
Part of me hopes she doesn’t, because then she won’t try to fortify them. The other part of me hopes she’s letting it happen because she wants the connection between us just as much as I do.
Either way, the results are the same.
She’s letting me in.
And that becomes even more evident when our eyes meet across the library and she smiles at me. Smiles. At. Me.
All on her own, and not just a small tilt of her lips. No, this is a big smile, one that even shows teeth and sparkles in her eyes.
I’m striding closer to her before I even realize what I’m doing. I don’t give a single fuck about who is around. There isn’t a lot of traffic today with most of the town already on holiday time and kids out of school. They aren’t doing homework on my tables, that’s for sure.
When I’m close enough, I haul my woman against my chest. Her feet dangle a few inches off the floor as I carry her to the most unused corner of the library. The moment we’re alone, I set her down and press her back against the shelves.
My mouth slams down on hers and I steal her breath. The need I have for this woman, which has been steadily growing all day since the moment I kissed her forehead this morning and left the house, explodes through me.
The kiss turns sinful within a heartbeat. Her fingers dive into my hair and grab hold as if trying to hold me in place. I groan against her lips, and she swallows down the sound.
I reach down and grip her knee, pulling her leg up until it’s wrapped around my waist. The way Hollyn climbs up my body to wrap her other leg around me and grind down on the hard bulge barely contained in my pants is sexy as fuck.
“Hey, Sweet Girl,” I speak the words against her lips.
“Elwood,” she groans softly.
“What are you doing here?”
Her breath hitches and her fingers dig into me as if she’s trying to ground herself. My grip tightens on her as my hands slide around her body, needing to feel her and wishing it were her skin. When I cup her tit in my hand and squeeze, her eyes pop open wide.
For a long moment, I’m held captive by her green eyes. They’re so expressive and the shadows of pain and grief are overshadowed by the way the twinkling lights hanging from the ceiling cause them to sparkle.
“I wanted to see you,” there’s a shyness in her voice as she answers me.
“Oh yeah?” I tease her. I can’t help it. The way her blush deepens makes it worth it. I love that color on her and I want to see it as often as possible. She hums out a response as I coo, “I missed you too, Sweet Girl.”
She scoffs softly, but there’s no real displeasure in the sound. “I didn’t say I missed you,” she argues, her voice breathy as my hands roam over her.
Memorizing.
Reminding myself that she’s in my arms.
For now.
My lips kiss and nip along her jaw until I reach the lobe of her ear. My words skitter along her skin, “Yes you did.”
I don’t let her get away with it. Not with pushing me away. Not today when she came here just for me.
We both know the truth, and she’s not going to minimize it or try and pretend it’s something else.
“Yes, I did,” she sighs out the words, her body melting against mine.
I kiss the spot right behind her ear, the one that makes her writhe in my arms. She lets a small whimper escape her lips and I can feel the way her body strains from pleasure.
“Good girl,” I growl softly.
While kissing her neck and collarbone, I glide my fingers under the waistband of the leggings she has which is paired with an oversized sweater that looks cozy as fuck on her. The small sounds coming from her have my cock begging to be buried inside of her.
But this isn’t about me.
I’m going to make her come. I can’t help myself at this point, but what can’t happen is my cock coming out.
No matter how much I wish I could fuck her right here.
“You’re going to be quiet for me,” I tell her.
She nods, her fingernails pricking my skin and making me swallow a groan of pleasure. I love the way she responds to me. It’s sexy as fuck and she has no idea what it does to me.
I glide the tip of my finger up and down her drenched slit. Her body tightens as if she’s trying to anticipate my next move.
Even though I’d much rather tease her, now isn’t the time. I can’t risk being found. Not because of me; I don’t give a fuck about that.
There’s just no way I would ever allow anyone else to see my woman in a state of bliss. That is for my pleasure only.
“So wet for me,” I grit out through my teeth, my jaw clenched tightly as my cock throbs.
“Please,” she whispers, the word barely passing her lips, but I can feel it all the way down to my toes.
“I’ve got you, Sweet Girl,” I promise.
When I plunge two fingers inside my woman, her walls squeeze around me, and she lets out a gasp of surprise. I keep my eyes trained on her face, watching her carefully as I fuck her with my fingers. My thumb easily finds her clit as I twist my wrist a little.
Her green eyes lock with mine and we hold each other’s gazes as I plunge my fingers in and out of her wet channel. The way her clit is practically pulsing under my thumb is hot as fuck.
“Elwood.”
Hearing my name on her lips is almost too much to take.
I’ve always loathed this corner of the library because it doesn’t get the attention or traffic that it deserves. But right now, I’m thankful for it.
If it were busy or if I was afraid of someone finding us, I wouldn’t have my fingers buried inside my woman right now while she teeters on the edge of an orgasm.
I can feel it in the way she’s getting wetter for me. I can feel it in the way the walls of her pussy flutter around my fingers.
Her wide eyes are staring up at me while her breathing becomes labored. She’s close.
And I can’t wait to watch her succumb to what she desperately needs.
“You’re going to coat my fingers in your sweet juices,” the words rumble from deep in my chest and she shudders. “You feel so right in my arms.”
I want to tell her that she’s never leaving me. That she’s where she belongs. That this is her home.
But I bite back the words. She’s not ready to hear them and I’m not going to do anything to make her run from me.
Her chest is heaving as her eyes roll back in her head while I plunge a third finger inside of her. The way the walls of her pussy stretch around the additional finger has pre-cum leaking out of me. If there’s a wet spot there, it’ll be worth it.
Totally fucking worth it.
I can feel her orgasm building and building with every stroke of my fingers. I tighten the circles I’m making on her clit and press down with just the right amount of pressure.
Her back arches and I know the sound that is about to come out of her will be hot as hell, but loud. I cover her mouth with mine and lap at the scream that rattles in her chest as she comes.
Hard.
My jaw clenches and I almost come in my pants, but I hold off. Barely.
Hollyn is so damn beautiful. When she comes? Fuck me.
“Watching you come is about the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen,” I tell her softly.
While I slow my fingers and gentle my touch on her clit, her eyes flutter closed, and she lets out a heavy breath like she’s been desperate to let it out for far too long. She clings to me, but I welcome it.
Fuck, I never want her to let go.
I kiss her softly and gently, wanting her to feel just how much she means to me. Even if I did press her against a bookcase and finger fuck her until she came.
When I pull my fingers from her sensitive pussy, I suck them into my mouth and let out a growl of approval. She tastes so fucking good.
I desperately want to dive between her thighs and taste her, but it will have to wait. And, fuck, that pisses me off more than it should.
A breathless giggle comes from my woman as if she can read my mind. She has a satisfied look on her face, and her eyes are glazed over with lust. It’s a damn good look on her.
“I like how satisfied you look, Hollyn,” I grunt.
The woman bats her eyelashes at me, and I can’t help but bark out a laugh. I love this side of her. Fuck, I love all the sides of her.
I love her.
It’s been such a natural feeling, I didn’t even realize what it was at first. But there’s no doubt in my mind now. I’m in love with her.
She’s everything.
When Hollyn reaches for my waist, I grip her wrist and shake my head. “That was all for you, Hollyn. If you take my cock out and I fill you with it, I won’t be able to let you leave the library again.”
She grins, probably thinking I’m joking. I’m not.
Before she can see just how serious I am, I kiss her again. She melts into me, and I soak up the feeling.
It’ll have to be enough.
For now.