Chapter 8
Luke
I couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss, how he’d taken control, devouring my mouth like he was starved for it. Even if nothing more came of it, I’d be jerking off to that kiss for the rest of my life.
Six years of distance had evaporated in seconds, replaced by something primal and hungry that should’ve scared the shit out of me. Eli was dominant, possessive, and most definitely a top.
Maybe that was why I’d never felt right letting a guy top me.
But Eli? Eli could spread my legs and rail me six ways from Sunday if he wanted to. He probably didn’t want to, but a guy could hope. I wondered if he was into BDSM.
I didn’t hate the thought of Eli in leather, threatening to spank me when I was bratty. Okay, fine, he give up his flannel, even as a sexy dom.
As I pulled into the Honeyfern Inn’s gravel driveway, I forced myself to forget about the flannel dom fantasy and focus on the task at hand: the trap we were about to set for Mioko. Which, if I was being honest, I kind of also hoped ended with someone being railed six ways from Sunday.
I climbed out of my car, the cold Vermont air slapping sense into me. We had a plan. Eli had already texted Mioko about renting shop space, invited her to lunch at the inn, and when she made it about me, I’d play along and accept whatever date she proposed.
Only this time, we’d make sure she was there, too.
As I walked up, Eli was waiting on the porch, bundled in a thick flannel jacket, steam rising from the mug in his hands.
He looked up as I approached, and the naked want in his expression made my stomach flip.
I sped up, just in case he was thinking about fucking me over the porch rail, but he quickly masked his want with a casual smile.
“Morning,” he said, his voice light. “Coffee?”
“God, yes.” I climbed the steps, careful to leave a respectful distance between us. If he was what I thought he was, he needed to make the move.
He reached behind him, picked up a mug off the table, and handed it to me.
“So,” he said after a moment, “are we going to discuss last night, or pretend it didn’t happen?”
I took a sip of coffee to stall. It was black, two sugars, exactly how I’d always taken it. At least before I’d discovered espresso, but he didn’t know that.
“Which part? The part where our scheming friend tricked us into a romantic sleigh ride, or the part where you kissed me like I was yours?”
“Both, I guess.” Eli’s eyes met mine, searching. “Though I’m more interested in the second part.”
I swallowed hard. “It’s okay if you don’t want more. I know you were putting on a show for Mioko,” I said, hoping he’d correct me.
“Right. A show.” Eli nodded slowly, eyes searching mine. Everyone said he could read my mind, but I was starting to doubt it, because I was thinking about filthy things I wanted to do to Eli’s dick, and he looked unmoved.
“Speaking of Mioko, how did she respond to the text?”
“I told her I was renovating the garage apartment and could wall off part of it as a workshop or studio apartment, if she was interested and rent it alongside the shop. She seemed excited, but I assume it was all an act.” Eli took a long drink from his mug.
I watched him, wondering if he was disappointed that Mioko was flirting with us as part of a scheme. Just in case he could read my mind, I projected an explicit fantasy of us fucking the gorgeous woman together.
“Did she text you yet?” He had clearly not read my mind.
I sighed. “Yeah, she wanted to talk about a surprise for Lori and suggested the Inn.”
Eli snorted. “Of course she did. She’s so invested in this matchmaking bullshit, she probably thinks she’s orchestrating another ‘accidental’ meeting between us.”
“So what’s the deal with the apartment? I thought you planned to move in.”
“We. We planned on it. Didn’t seem worth the effort without you.”
“Oh,” I said, cheeks growing hot. “Where do you live, then?”
“Still in Henry’s apartment in the inn. There’s plenty of space there, and it’s convenient. Besides, the one above the garage needs work. No one’s lived there in years.” Eli drained his mug and set it on the little table on the porch. “Come on, let’s go look.”
I followed Eli around the main building toward the detached garage, a charming structure with the same Victorian gingerbread trim as the inn, but in a little worse shape.
The lower floor was a garage and shop for Henry and Eli’s trucks and the inn’s various lawnmowers and tools.
An outside staircase led to a small covered landing on the second floor, with a big porch behind it.
Eli rummaged in his pockets for a minute, pulled out a key, and unlocked the door, leaving the key in the deadbolt so we wouldn’t lose it.
“I’m sorry I left,” I said suddenly, the words bursting from me like they’d been caged too long. “I’m sorry I didn’t visit more. I let my hurt feelings rule me and let things between us get all fucked up.”
He eyed me for a moment. “I’m sorry I said what I said. When you told me how you felt, my response… it came from my own pain, not from how I really felt.”
“Aw, that’s okay. Want to hug?”
He groaned and pushed open the door. “Come on, that’s enough feelings talk for today. Let’s go work on your ridiculous scheme. We’ll need to clean up enough to convince her this is a real rental property and not a shack in my back yard.”
The door creaked open, revealing a dusty time capsule of yellowed lace curtains, faded wallpaper, and sheet-draped furniture. Sunlight filtered through dirty windows, casting beams across the hardwood floor and illuminating dust motes that danced in the air.
“Wow,” I whispered, stepping inside.
Eli moved past me, pulling a sheet off a sofa, sending a dust cloud into the air that made us both cough. “Okay. Let’s make it look like I’m serious about renovations and renting her a space.”
“Are you? Serious about renting her a space?”
He walked over to the thermostat and fiddled with it until we heard the quiet roar of the heat pump kicking on. “I mean, I think so. She’s got a great eye. I’ve checked the Moss & Whimsy social media, and she has a big following, too. I think it’d be good for both of our businesses.”
I nodded, rolling up my sleeves. “We’ll figure out how to sell her on it. While fucking with her head just a little.” And… maybe just fucking her, if she was into us like that.
He smirked at me. “Won’t the revenge scheme make her not want to rent from me?”
“It’s not revenge. It’s seduction.”
He frowned. “I thought we were going to give her a taste of her own medicine.”
“Yes! Her medicine is seduction. Duh, Eli, keep up.”
“Don’t tell me you’re planning a threesome.”
“Okay,” I said, grinning. “I won’t tell you. You can just catch the visuals through our psychic link.”
“I’ve told you a hundred times, we don’t have a psychic link. We just know each other well enough to make educated guesses.”
“Good to know. I’ll be fantasizing about hot threesome sex and don’t need to worry you’re poking around in my head and finding out how good I am at sucking dick.”
He rolled his eyes but said nothing, which meant the sex plan wasn’t out of the question.
For the next few hours, we fell into a familiar rhythm that made my chest ache.
Eli took the kitchen area while I tackled the living room, and we worked in comfortable silence.
It was so much like our teenage years doing odd jobs around the inn for cash that I could almost convince myself the six-year gap had never happened.
Almost.
I looked up to find Eli staring at my mouth, an intensity in his eyes that made my stomach flip. Hopefully, he was thinking about me sucking his dick. After a beat, he stepped back and shook himself, wiping imaginary dust off the coffee table, which I’d already cleaned.
“We should, um, check the bedroom,” he said, his voice slightly rough. “Make sure there aren’t any mice or whatever.”
I followed him into the primary bedroom, where a king-sized bed stood with just a mattress cover and dust ruffle on it, and a layer of dust over everything.
“I have extra pillows and bedding in the supply closet,” Eli mused, running a hand through his dark hair in a gesture that made my throat tight with want.
“Why bother?” I asked. “We’re not planning to stay up here. Ooh, you do want to fuck her?”
Eli turned to face me, with a strange expression on his face. “Luke.”
“Sorry. You know me. It slips out.”
He smiled a little. “I thought I’d be glad when you got your personality back, but now I’m wondering…”
“Fuck off, I always had my personality.”
“If you say so. Anyway, we need to make the rental unit look convincing. You strip the bed and vacuum everything, including the mattress. I’ll get some bedding from housekeeping.”
“Right.” I nodded, trying to ignore the way my heart rate kicked up at the thought of Eli putting fresh sheets on a bed we might use. “Good thinking. Not for the sex, though.”
“I’ll be right back,” he said, disappearing down the stairs.
Alone in the apartment, I gathered up the rest of the dust cloths and tossed them in the pile on the porch, then vacuumed everything again, wandering from the main bedroom, to the office, and the empty guest bedroom.
I’d forgotten how beautiful the space was.
Since all the rooms were on the second floor, there was a spectacular view from every space, either of the forest behind the property, or across the Inn’s wide, grassy lawn to the lake.
I could imagine how lovely it’d be at sunset, and how gorgeous the big, open living space would be fixed up with modern appliances.
Everything reminded me that Eli and I had once dreamed of sharing this apartment.
I was coming out of the bathroom when Eli returned, arms loaded with a massive laundry bag and a wicker basket.
“Grandpa caught me in the linen closet,” he explained, dropping the bedding onto the sofa. “Insisted on sending up food since, and I quote, ‘young people need feeding if they’re going to be working all day.’”
I laughed, moving to help him sort through the pile. “Henry never changes.”
“Not really, no.” Eli’s smile was soft, fond. “He asked what we were up to, and I told him we were setting a trap for Mioko to confront her about her matchmaking.”
“And?”
“He called us ‘a pair of damn fools’ and said we should thank her instead. Then he packed this basket and told me to make sure there was wine. I’m pretty sure he was involved in the scheming.”
“He was involved in the demonstration the other day. He and Mioko looked like two peas in a pod. Both scheming.”
Something about that made Eli smile. Then he cleared his throat. “He, uh, also asked if we planned to lock the girl in with us, and I admitted that we were.”
“What did he say to that?”
“He offered to help. He’ll sneak up here once we’re inside and lock the deadbolt on the front door, so we’ll be stuck until he lets us out.”
“When we renovate this place, we should put in a new deadbolt. Why the hell does it need a key to open from the inside?”
Eli stared at me for a long moment, then opened the picnic basket, peering inside. “Let’s have a snack, and both shower. I don’t want to make the bed when we’re all dusty and grimy. I brought a change of clothes.”
“Shower… together?” I asked.
He just shot me an irritated look and disappeared into the bathroom. I really wanted to follow, but since he hadn’t explicitly invited me, I restrained myself. Barely.
I distracted myself from picturing Eli naked by taking the pile of drop cloths downstairs and hiding them in the garage, and he was out, dressed in a fresh sexy lumberjack outfit, by the time I was back.
“How was the hot water?”
He grimaced. “I only turned the water heater back on a few hours ago, so it’s lukewarm at best. Enjoy!”
Showering with Eli in the other room was oddly erotic, so it was probably best that the water was a bit chilly. I was forced to rush through the shower, with no time to jerk off to fantasies of Eli accidentally walking in. As much as I would have enjoyed those fantasies.
Clean and dressed in a pair of Eli’s jeans and his black henley, I helped him stretch a fresh mattress cover and sheets over the newly cleaned mattress, our hands brushing, sending electric currents up my arm.
When we finished, the bed looked inviting—clean white sheets, a thick quilt in shades of blue and green, and plump pillows in crisp white cases.
“There.” Eli stepped back, admiring our handiwork. “Looks almost civilized.”
I caught him looking at me again, his eyes lingering on my mouth before darting away.
“Okay, what is it?” I asked. “You keep staring at me like I’ve got something on my face.”
Eli froze, caught. For a moment, I thought he might deny it and retreat behind the wall of casual friendship we’d maintained all day. But instead, he took a deep breath and said, “You’re wearing my clothes.”
I flexed my arms and patted my stomach. “Bit big around the waist. I work hard on my abs, not that I don’t appreciate your thick, muscular build.”
“Have you ever fucked a guy? I mean, I know you’re bi, but… have you?”
“Yes,” I said, watching his reaction, with was satisfyingly irritated. “For a few years, I was strictly dickly. I think I was trying to prove to myself that guys could be into me.”
His expression shifted, jealousy flashing across his features before he schooled them back to neutrality. “I assumed so.”
I stepped closer, emboldened by the crack in his armor. “Did you also assume I spent my college years mastering the art of blowjobs? I hoped I’d get the chance to suck your brains out through your dick and make you forget you were straight.”
Eli’s face flushed, his eyes widening as he processed my words. “That’s not—that’s not even physically possible,” he stuttered, but he didn’t step back.
“Try me,” I challenged softly, my eyes on his. “Once you come in my mouth, you’ll never be the same. I fucking love sucking dick, and if you ever let me have yours, it’ll be full-on worship.”
The tension between us crackled with possibility. Eli’s gaze dropped to my mouth again, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He swayed slightly forward, and I held my breath, certain he was about to—
“Hello? Eli? Henry said you were up here?”
Mioko’s voice shattered the moment, and Eli jumped back like he’d been burned.
“In the bedroom!” Eli called back, eyes on my lips. I didn’t need a psychic connection to know he was imagining them wrapped around his dick.
Mioko appeared in the doorway, her dark hair in her usual messy braid, her expression shifting from confusion to delight as she saw us standing on opposite sides of the freshly made bed.
“Well, this is a surprise,” she said, her smile widening. “Both of you here. Together. How... unexpected.”