Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
E lias
I sat on the patio, gazing at the distant waves as the sun sank, readying to kiss the horizon and disappear.
Brooding and dwelling, I failed at this so-called relaxation. I wouldn’t forget about how we’d gotten into this mess.
Ozias was still out there, adjusting his plans and setting the rest into action. I refused to call his bluff, not when they were hits on my wife and her sisters.
Still, I wanted to sit and calm down for at least a few hours for the rest of the night. We’d succeeded in finding Cali. She lived. And Ozias couldn’t evade me forever.
One day at a time, Eli. One day at a time .
Calista faced a long road to recovery. She had remained in and out of consciousness until we finally managed to get her to a private medical facility Nikolas oversaw.
However, once her mind cleared, her eyes were filled with fear and unimaginable horror. There wasn’t any need to confirm what she’d endured, I knew.
If they hadn’t been dead already, I’d take great pleasure in making them wish for death.
We returned to Patras immediately. We set Calista up with round-the-clock care of doctors and nurses in the guest wing of the house. With rest and physical rehabilitation, she would make a full recovery.
Mentally? I had no idea.
Her scars ran deep and jagged. I would find a way to help her, even if it meant flying in the best therapist in the world to counsel her.
I exhaled deeply, attempting to let go of the tension I had carried for weeks. For one night, at least, I could say I’d delivered on a promise I had made.
I wasn’t like Ozias Xenos at all. He knew nothing of love except for a love of himself.
There was no understanding him, and trying to do so was an exercise in futility. It was better to focus on the peace I felt for the first time in my life.
I watched the birds dive into the waves and lift back into the air.
Was this what it felt like to have a home?
As if my thoughts had conjured her, the rustle of Avra’s nightgown alerted me to her arrival .
“I thought you were going to bed,” I said.
She glided over the stone, and her hair flew in gloriously long, dark tresses over her shoulders and down her back with the breeze. As she walked closer, I noticed the lingering sadness in her eyes and the fatigue on her beautiful face.
“I couldn’t stop thinking.” I opened my arms, and she snuggled against me. “I want to take Cali’s pain away. But it isn’t possible.”
I nodded, brushing my lips over her temple.
She burrowed against me as if she couldn’t get close enough.
She fit.
She was so tall, so much larger than life with her spirit and strength, but in these private moments, I cherished how delicate and small she seemed compared to me. It reminded me of her reliance on me, how she counted on me for my strength and guidance, and I’d never forsake her for ever needing them.
“She’ll have such a long road ahead of her,” she said.
“She will. And we won’t let her do it on her own.”
“You don’t mind if she moves in here?”
I shook my head. “Whatever she wants, I’ll make it happen.”
She leaned up and cupped my face, kissing my cheek.
“I have no doubt she’ll survive it all,” I told her. “I’ve realized the Vitalis women are stronger than they look.”
“Hmmm.” She rubbed her cool hand over my chest. “We are.”
“Not to mention their sharpshooter skills. ”
She lifted her head and grinned.
“Who taught you?”
“Papa.”
“He’d be proud of you, you know.”
She peered up at me. “Did you ever meet him?”
“Once, without knowing who he was. I spoke with him at a meeting.”
“I’m sure he would’ve come around to appreciate you as his son-in-law. You’re not so bad when you’re not mean.”
I arched a brow. “Mean?”
“You look pretty good while you’re at it. I like it when you’re rough.”
I held her closer, dragging my hand up her thigh and savoring her soft yet firm warmth.
“I see how it is. You like the dirty side of me better than the elegant side.”
She toyed with her lip, pulling it between her teeth for a second. It drove me crazy, tempting me to lower my head and kiss her bite away. “I love all sides of you.”
I gripped her thigh, loving the sound of those words on her lips. It wasn’t the first time she’d told me, but it was the first time since Ozias had imploded my world. I had nearly lost her because of him. I’d believed I would never hear her say those words to me again.
I couldn’t look away, staring at her soulful, sweet gaze.
“Say it again.”
“I love all sides of you.”
I growled, diving in to kiss her perfect lips. She wrapped her arms around my neck as I stood, picking her up and carrying her back into our room.
“Again.”
“This isn’t something new. I’ve said this before.” She almost giggled, smiling up at me.
“I like hearing it. Now say it.”
“I love you.”
I toppled to the bed, still kissing her and holding her close on top of me.
“Again—”
“You’re so silly.” Her hands gripped my pants, shoving them down.
She rolled with me as I positioned her beneath me. “Only you would ever say such a thing to me. I’m mean and a killer.”
“Definitely silly. I love you.” She reached up to seal her parted lips over mine, dueling with my tongue.
Desire lanced through me, heightened and spiced with something extra as she repeated the words between kisses.
“I love the way you drive me crazy.” She threaded her fingers through my hair and tugged as I lifted up to kick off my pants off. Naked, I rolled her again so she’d be on top.
“I love the way you know how to fuck me.” She tugged her nightgown off, gifting me the sweet reward of her tan, smooth, bare skin, all for me to feast on.
“No.” I pulled her beneath me again, enjoying the light laughter that slipped out at our constant battle for who’d be positioned were. “How to fuck you?” I lowered, covering her with my body as I kissed her long and deep. She wrapped her arms around my back and locked her legs in a tight loop around my waist.
She moaned into my mouth, panting and breathing heavily as I lined my cock up to her wet pussy. I pushed the head in, stretching her as I rose to see her face.
“I don’t mind fucking you,” I said.
She rolled her eyes at my teasing tone.
“But this time.” I thrust inside her with a long, hard push, winning her sexy moan in reply, “I want to make love to you, wife.”
Her smile was slow and sweet, lost with mine as I kissed her and filled her with deliberately slow slides through her slick pussy. She gripped me like a glove, milking me too soon.
As the tension built along my spine, in my balls, seconds before I came, I cupped her chin and tipped her face up to mine. “I love you.”
Her lips parted, caught in a silent groan as she came, squeezing me close, her trembling legs still hooked around my waist.
“Oh…” She opened her eyes after shutting them so tight at the release. “I love you, too, Eli.” She smoothed her hand along my jaw. “Forever.”
I collapsed onto her, then shifted to my side so we could lie together, catching our breath and watching the moon rise in the sky through the open doors.
As her chest rose and fell steadily and she drifted asleep, I closed my eyes. I held her close, content with the realization that I’d finally found my family in the arms of my enemy .
Ready to see how Laya takes on the Vitalis claim?
Then grab Influence and see how she navigates, fighting for her birthright and marriage to a man who hides a darker side behind the facade of a calm, always-in-control persona.