Chapter 26 Riot
Riot
It’s been a week, and I haven't heard from Eloise. She missed her lesson again and hasn’t responded to a single one of my texts or calls.
I’ve stopped by her secret beach hideout dozens of times, but there’s been no trace of her—even her beloved Murten’s bowl has remained empty.
I’ve taken the liberty to fill it whenever I stop by, but when I catch sight of the fluffy orange cat, my worry for Eloise grows.
A small part of me is concerned she’s avoiding me because she regrets sleeping together, but the larger half—the logical one—believes it’s something more nefarious.
I’m terrified that Dave found out about us, about me, and that he’s keeping her locked up in that house like a prisoner. The longer I go without word from her, the deeper I descend into madness, spiraling into a darkness that only Eloise’s touch could pull me out of.
I gaze down at the phone in my hand, thumb hovering over the Buy Now button. Eloise has a showing tomorrow in Neon Valley, and though I know it’s best to stay away—to let her come to me—I just can’t. I have to see her. I need to know she’s safe.
I buy the ticket, hoping I don’t regret it.
I sit in the Neon Valley Concert Hall, the buzz of the packed auditorium rising, adding to the pressure building behind my eyes. Just like the last time, every single seat has sold out, and I’m just as out of place in the crowded hall.
I run my tongue over my lip rings, searching the wings for a sign of Eloise. It’s five past the time the show was supposed to start, and the crowd is getting restless. But none are as anxious as I am.
As if my thoughts have called her, Eloise saunters onto the stage, and my heart stops at the sight of her pink hair and bright eyes.
She’s dressed in a tight purple halter-style dress, backless and held aloft by a thin strap of fabric curving around her neck.
The front dips low in a dramatic V, showcasing her full breasts that bounce with every measured step.
My mouth waters as my eyes trail down her frame, roaming over the sensual curve of her ass and thighs. The memory of her taste floods my senses, and a shudder runs through my body as I work to stay seated instead of rushing the stage and taking her into my arms like I want to.
Noticing her arrival, the audience rises, erupting in thunderous applause, but Eloise doesn’t seem to notice—all her attention is focused on the gorgeous Steinway sitting at the center of the stage.
She sits at the bench, her eyes lowering to the keys as she takes a deep inhale.
Eloise gazes up for less than a second, giving a nod to the conductor before placing her hands on the keys.
That’s all the warning I get before sound explodes into the air, filling the grand space with her music.
Eloise looks beautiful—it’d be impossible to find a moment when she doesn’t—but her eyes are so profoundly sad.
Sitting there, her shoulders slumped and mouth downturned, Eloise seems so broken and hopeless—nothing like the strong, vibrant woman I’ve come to know these past few months.
Cracks form in my heart as I watch her, each passing minute spreading the fissures until I’m left with a gaping chasm of anguish. I want to help her so badly, to take her away from here so she can be happy, but all I can do is sit and listen to her break.
This time, I sit through the entire performance, staying seated long after Eloise exits the stage and the crowd begins to filter out of the theater. My eyes flit to the door leading to backstage, wondering if I would be able to sneak back there without anyone noticing.
As far as I can tell, no one is guarding the area—and the crowd is so thick right now, no one would notice one person slipping into an unauthorized area.
With my mind made up, I stride toward the back of the theater, forcing my expression to remain neutral so as not to call attention to myself. I make it through the door without any problems, closing it softly behind me before making my way down a narrow, darkened hallway with doors on either side.
At the end is a dressing room with a piece of paper taped to the front, the name Eloise Marquette standing out like taillights in the fog.
I rush toward it, stopping with my fist wrapped around the handle, listening for sounds of someone approaching.
When there is none, I turn the handle and burst into the room, my senses flooding with the scent of cherry blossoms and sunlight.
“Hey! You can’t be in here—?” Eloise freezes, her mouth forming a silent gasp as she meets my eyes. A myriad of emotions flicker in her sky-blue pools—shock, disbelief, fear, and finally, adoration.
“Riot,” she whispers, my name rolling off her tongue like a dark prayer. “What… Why are you here? How did you—?”
“Shh.” I clear the distance between us in two steps, reaching up to cup her cheek in my palm.
I brush my thumb over her jaw, staring deep into her misty blue eyes.
“I had to see you. I couldn’t go another moment without seeing you, touching you.
” I slide my hand up her arm, loving the shudder that runs through her. “I missed you. So fucking much.”
“I missed you too,” she says, her mouth tipping in the first smile I’ve seen all night. “I didn’t realize just how much until now. Until you walked through that door.”
I lean down, pressing my lips to hers in a gentle kiss. Eloise wraps her hands around my neck, weaving her fingers into my hair and tugging on the strands at the base of my neck. I groan, sliding my tongue across her bottom lip, needing to deepen the kiss.
As I claim her mouth, Eloise slides her hands to my chest, fisting my black tee in her small, cold hands. Wanting to warm her, I cover her hands with one of mine—and freeze at the feel of fresh scabs covering her skin.
I break away from the kiss, pulling her hands up to the light to inspect them before she has time to protest. Just as I thought, her hands and fingers are absolutely covered with wounds—some fresh, others in the latter stages of healing—all covered with a thick paste of stage makeup.
There is no way this is from gardening.
“Who did this to you?” I growl.
“No one—”
“What piece of fucking filth made you bleed, Eloise? Tell me, and I’ll make them pay for it with theirs.” She pulls back, but I won’t let go. “Eloise…”
“Don’t, Riot.” She shakes her head. “It won’t do any good.”
“Tell me who, Eloise.” I let out a soft curse, knowing deep in my soul without her having to say it. “It was Dave, wasn’t it? He’s been hurting you, hasn’t he, Eloise? Because of me.”
She won’t meet my eyes, and rage boils in my blood. I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking kill him. “I need to take care of something.”
I try to leave, but she stops me.
“Riot, please… Stay here with me. Please.”
The desperate look in her eyes does something strange to my body. At that moment, I know I’m a goner, that I’d do anything—forget my morals, give up my dreams, change my way of thinking—to give her whatever she wants. A dangerous state for a man to find himself in.
“Okay,” I murmur. “Okay. I’ll stay.”
He presses her fingers to his mouth, giving each digit a gentle kiss as he stares deep into her eyes.
“Fuck, I’ve missed you, little muse. I’ve missed you so goddamn much it’s killing me.”
“I know,” she whispers. “I know, because I feel it too.”
“Fuck me,” I groan, crashing my mouth to hers. I swipe my tongue over her lip, and she opens up for me, beautifully, sensually. Her sweet taste invades my senses, overpowering and sensual and fucking addicting. More. I need more.
Crazed, I back Eloise up to the wall, my fingers grasping wildly at the hem of her dress, desperate to feel her skin against mine.
“More,” I growl, raking my teeth down her bottom lip.
“I want more. More of you, more of us.” I slide my hand up her thigh, cupping her heated sex with my palm. “More of this.”
She whimpers, pushing into my touch, her hands sliding up to grip my shoulders. “Riot…we can’t.”
“Wrong.” I lean down, nipping at her earlobe. “We already are.”
I spread my hand, dipping a finger into the opening of her dripping pussy. Eloise gasps, her knees buckling, but I’m there to hold her upright. I push deeper inside her, caressing her walls with the pad of my finger, searching for that magic spot that makes her scream.
Once I find it, I add another, and Eloise’s moan causes all the blood to rush to my cock. She presses a hand to her mouth as I work her, attempting to stifle the beautiful sounds pouring from her lips.
I won’t have it.
I snag Eloise’s wrist with my free hand, pinning it to the wall above her head. “Look at me, sweet girl,” I murmur. “I want to see the moment you come on my fingers.”
One more thrust, and she does, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as her face twists in ecstasy.
I slide my fingers out of her, swirling them around her clit while my other hand works the button of my pants. My cock springs free, and I wrap my hand around the thick length, giving it a few rough pumps as I gaze down at Eloise’s flushed face.
A growl builds in my chest as I hike her dress up to her waist, and it flows into the air as my hands slide under her ass, hoisting her into the air. I wrap her legs around my hips, steadying her with a possessive arm around her back.
Her bare pussy brushes against my abdomen, slicking my skin with her arousal. My pulse spikes at the knowledge she’s not wearing any panties. “Dirty fucking girl,” I whisper, leaning in and nipping her bottom lip. “My dirty girl.”
Eloise gasps, reeling back with such force that the back of her head smacks into the wall with a thunk—but she doesn’t seem to notice. I loosen my grip to crash my mouth against hers, the passion of the kiss stealing all the oxygen in my lungs.
I reach down, fisting my cock and giving it a few savage pumps before angling it upward, pressing the tip against her dripping entrance. Breaking away from the kiss, I stare deep into Eloise’s eyes, committing her flushed expression to memory, shaking from the beauty of her essence.
“You’re mine, Eloise,” I growl, sliding my tip up her center, causing her to cry out. “Say it. I want to hear you say you’re mine.”
Eloise’s breath comes out in shuddering pants, her eyes glossed and out of focus. “Yes, Riot, I'm yours. I’ve always been yours.”
“Fuck, yes,” I moan, leaning forward and pressing my forehead to hers. An animalistic growl builds in the base of my throat as I thrust, seating my length deep inside Eloise’s cunt.
Her eyes go wide as a guttural moan bursts from her mouth, and I clamp my hand over her lips, cutting off her sound as she succumbs to her pleasure.
I thrust into her wildly, our sexes slapping, filling the room with savage sounds of mating. Eloise’s eyes roll back as her walls collapse around me, and I pinch her nose with my thumb and forefinger, cutting off her oxygen.
Her eyes fly open in shock, pussy quivering, desperate for release. She struggles, but I hold on for just a little longer, knowing when she comes, it’ll be like nothing she's ever experienced.
“Eyes on me, sweet girl. I want to see when you come on my cock.”
I thrust once, twice more, and Eloise explodes, her body shuddering, flooding my thighs and the floor with her release. I let go, and she sucks in a breath, her walls convulsing all over again as another orgasm rips through her.
I reach down, toying with her clit as my hips shove against hers, drawing out her pleasure, desperate for more of it, more of her.
Eloise takes her lip between her teeth, biting down hard to stifle her moans. A drop of crimson beads at the corner of her mouth, and I swoop down, lapping up her essence. Her taste coats my tongue, and I groan, thrusting to the deepest part of her and freezing.
I press my face into her shoulder as I come, pumping my release to the back of her walls, filling her up. It drips out of her and onto the floor, joining hers in a messy pool.
She shudders around me, clenching my cock and milking the last of my seed. Her whimpers make it to my ears, and I pull back, my cock still deep inside her as I begin peppering her face with kisses.
Across her cheeks, over her nose and jaw, down to the little dip in her shoulder that I love so much. We stay like that for a long time, soaking in the bliss of the aftermath, holding each other, knowing eventually, we’ll have to let go.
Eloise wriggles her hips, raising her eyes to meet mine. “Riot?”
“Hmm?”
“You gonna put me down?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
She lays her head against my chest, listening to the thrum of my heart. “What are you thinking about?”
“How much I want to come inside you again.”
She reaches up to cup my cheek. “As much as I’d like that… a bunch of people are waiting for me outside. I can’t stay in here with you forever.”
“You could try.”
She buries her face into my neck. “You make a good argument.”
At that moment, the door handle rattles, and we jerk, the peaceful moment shattered. “What do we do?” she whispers, her eyes wide with fright.
“Just wait. If it were Dave, he’d have the key, right?”
“Yeah, I guess…”
After a few minutes, the person on the other side gives up and walks away—allowing me and Eloise to let out a deep sigh of relief.
Though I’d like nothing more than to stay here and bury myself in Eloise’s warm pussy, I know she’s anxious that someone else will come in and discover us.
I lower Eloise to the floor, keeping my eyes locked on her as she settles her dress back into place. When she’s done, she gazes up at me, her gaze misted with an emotion that causes my heart to crack. “I… have to go.”
“I know.”
She steps forward, wrapping her arms around me and pushing her face into my chest. “I promise I’ll text you as soon as things calm down with Dave. Okay?”
“Okay,” I whisper, pressing my lips to the top of her head. It’s not what I want to hear, but it’s the reality of our situation. I’d wait forever for Eloise, so a few more days without her won’t kill me.
Unless it does.
Eloise leaves the dressing room first, her gaze lingering on mine longer than it should—but then she closes the door.
Even though I shouldn’t, I stand there for a long time, half expecting her to show up again. She never does.