Chapter Sixteen
I wake up slowly, my head rolling on the pillow. At first, I’m not sure why I feel so damn good, then the awareness of a body beside me wakes me fully. I open my eyes and turn to see the thick layers of long, dark hair on the pillow beside me. Her back is bare, all the way down to the curve of her ass, where her hips flare out from her waist.
I’m shocked as shit to see a tattoo there. A tulip runs the length of her spine, but the stem is made up of words. I know why I didn’t notice it when we were showering. I was far too focused on other things but now I tilt my head to make out the words, but they’re not in English.
Momentarily distracted by the beautiful naked woman, I start to come to my senses. Jesus Christ, what the hell were we thinking? I can’t even say alcohol was involved. Although we’d both had a couple of beers at my parent’s place, we were by no means drunk when we left. I’m undecided on whether that makes this better or worse.
It doesn’t feel like it was a bad thing. In fact, I’d thoroughly fucking enjoyed myself. Not only is Elle much more experienced, and way more adventurous than she’d been when we were teenagers, she is a lot more woman, too. She is self-conscious about her body, although she exudes confidence I could tell she worried about it, so I'd done everything I could to stave off any concerns.
She is fucking beautiful. Sure, her tits are rounder, fuller, but that is a good thing. Her hips may be slightly thicker, but still unbelievably sexy, I kept telling her over and over how fucking hot she is, particularly when she pushed me over and straddled me, riding me, and looking like a fucking goddess with the lamplight shining on her, as her body writhed over me.
I reach up and put one arm behind my head as I stare at the ceiling. I don’t want to wake her because the spell will be broken, we will have to face up to the consequences of what we did last night and even though I don’t regret it, I’ve no way of knowing how she will feel about it.
She was a willing participant. Very much so, but we have a past and a present, that this will affect. I shift slightly and feel a tightness in my thigh muscles. It’s been a long time since I fucked a woman up against a wall.
Ever since the kiss on the boat, fucking her had been on my mind. What red-blooded man wouldn’t have spent the entire night thinking about fucking a woman after a kiss like that? We hadn’t talked much after she practically rode me into a coma. I’d barely got rid of the condom before I was succumbing to sleep. Elle pressed up against my side, all pliant and warm.
Looking at her again, listening to the steady rhythm of her breathing, I trail the tip of my finger over the tattoo. I want to know what it says. It’s incredibly delicate, water coloring in the petals of the tulip. It’s still vibrant, so can’t have been there long.
My touch, though gentle, makes her shift and she rolls back slightly, the sheet doing nothing to cover those amazing tits I had in my hands last night. My cock gets ideas as the cold air in my room affects those pretty pink nipples. My fingers itch to touch her again. Would it be so wrong?
Yes, you ass, while she is sleeping and unable to agree to anything.
She lets out a soft moan and her eyelids flutter. When her lids crack open, for a second I can see how content she is, then she becomes more aware that her surroundings aren’t where she would have expected to wake up. She inhales and turns her head to see me watching her.
“Hey,” I say quietly.
Elle licks her lips, becomes aware she is completely uncovered, and reaches for the sheet. “Morning," she whispers.
“You okay?” I ask. I hold my breath, waiting for her answer.
I hate to admit I want her to not regret last night. Whether I like it or not, we’ve still got a connection, and last night was more than just sex. A soft smile graces her lips, and she nods and something loosens in my chest. I roll onto my side and trace my hand across her cheekbone. She stares at me the whole time. My fingers draw a pattern across her skin.
“What does your tattoo say?” I ask her.
Her brows lift slightly at the question. Clearly not what she was expecting me to ask, given the situation we find ourselves in. “Fai sempre quello che hai paura di fare,” she answers.
“ Fuck , that is sexy,” I grin.
“It’s Italian,” she laughs at my reaction and rolls so she is on her side, too. “I learnt it a couple of years ago.”
“You speak Italian?” I ask, impressed.
“Sì. è una lingua Bellissima e ho sempre voluto andarci.”
“Fuck, I don’t know what you just said, but that is hot.” I stretch my hand over her and ghost my fingers over the tattoo on her spine. “What do the words on the tattoo mean?”
She shivers at the touch, her voice comes out more of a whisper at first. “ Always do what you are afraid to do . It’s by Waldo Emerson. He was an author and philosopher. "
I nod. “It fits you.” She stares at me, her eyes soft at me admitting that. “You always were brave, Elle. You never let anything hold you back from what you wanted.”
“That isn’t totally true. Half the time I was terrified. Scared of making mistakes, of regretting the choices I made. I still am sometimes. Like I said the other night, I still can’t fathom how I got where I am.”
“Do you have many regrets?”
She nods again. My chest tightens. “I wish I’d done a lot of things differently.”
I want to ask if she means last night, or when she left Mystic, probably not speaking to her dad before he died. The look on her face tells me she is seeing right through me. We may have just been kids, but for me, Elle was the end goal. I hated to remember how long it took me to get over her leaving, how to forget the anger and try to be happy for her, especially as she got more successful over the years.
I could have resented her, did in fact, for a while. But hating her never sat right with me. I encouraged her to go in my own stupid way. I sincerely wish I hadn’t done it the way I did, but I was a dickhead kid, hurt and confused and not wanting her to go, so pushing her away felt like the best thing to do. In hindsight, I was a fucking idiot.
“I don’t regret last night,” she tells me, her hand moving between us and touching my jaw.
“No?”
“No, in realtà non ho pensato a nient'altro che a questo per tutto il tempo che sono stato qui.”
Well, that, no matter what that means, triggers me into motion. I lean over and kiss her. Elle welcomes me without hesitation as I push the sheet off her and roll her onto her back, dipping my head down to take her nipple into my mouth. Fuck, her skin is so soft. I cup her breast as I suck and gently bite on her flesh, making her moan. I run my hand under the sheet and between her thighs, fucking ecstatic to find how wet she is already as I dip a finger inside her.
“God,” she moans, her head dropping back so her throat is fully exposed.
Elle moans again as I pump my fingers inside her. I keep going, teasing her neck with my mouth and my fingers until her whole body tenses and she lets out breathy little pants that go all the way to my cock. She is fucking beautiful when she comes. Her whole chest flushes pink, her lips part and her back arches.
I lean over and reach for the bedside drawer, pulling out another condom. I slot myself between her open thighs, up on my knees, running my hands up the sides of her legs and lifting them so they’re up over my hips, then tug her down the bed towards me.
She lets out a whimper as my dick presses against her and I lean forward, holding her hips as I slowly ease inside, watching as my dick disappears into her body. Gritting my teeth, I stop, and just look up at her, willing myself to control the urge to fuck her, until I explode without a care for what she gets out of it.
“Ben,” she breathes my name, and that does things to me, things I have no right to be thinking, like how much I like that and want to hear a lot more of it. She pushes her hips up and reaches her hands out towards me. I lower myself down over her, settling my weight on her, and drop my mouth to her shoulder. I bite the soft skin just before her shoulder turns into her neck and she gasps.
“Shit, you feel so good. You take my cock so well, like a good girl. Fuck yes.”
My words draw a long, sexy moan from her, and she squeezes me, her eyes dilate, and her pants get faster. I swear she gets even wetter as her hands claw at my back. She likes that.
“Damn, I’m gonna come,” I say in her ear. “Be a good girl and come with me, Elle.”
Her back arches, her head rolls back, but I take her chin in my hand. I want her eyes on me. Her look is intense, delving like she’s seeing behind my eyes. It makes me falter, but I get my stride again when she leans up and kisses me hard as we both let go, our climaxes coming together. I swallow her moans, my tongue delving deep into her mouth, hers duals back with me just as hard as we try to come down from the rush.
Neither one of us speaks for a few minutes as I pull back and lay diagonally across the bed, one hand on my stomach, the other hanging limply over the side, trying to catch my breath. I stare up at the ceiling. Elle shifts so she is more upright, and I reach over and trail my fingers along her ankle and calf, liking the way it makes her shiver. It makes me think back to what just happened.
“You really liked it when I called you a good girl,” I say, arching a brow and her cheeks flush.
“Shut up,” she playfully kicks my arm away.
“You wanna call me daddy?”
“Oh my God,” she tips her head back and laughs hard. “Gross.”
“Hey, I’m giving you inspiration here,” I prop myself up on my elbow and grin. “I kinda like the idea of being all dominant. You could call me Master.”
“Now you’re pushing it,” she shakes her head at me, a broad smile on her face.
A howl and a bark come from downstairs. Damn dog.
“You should go see to him. Poor baby.”
I almost tell her he can wait, but she is already rolling off the bed, grabbing something from the floor and tugging it over herself. I’m about to cuss the dog out when I realize it’s my t-shirt she’s wearing. Fuck.
“Come on, he probably needs to pee.”
She’s right. I reluctantly get up and grab some jeans from the drawer and pull them on. I notice her checking out my ass before I manage to get them all the way up and wink at her.
Downstairs, after she’s loved all over Jedi and he laps it up, I show her where the coffee is and take the dog outside. When I come back in, I watch her in my kitchen and have to admit to myself, I like that. She turns to me and offers me a mug of coffee .
I’m interrupted from asking if she wants breakfast when my phone rings. I rub a hand over my face as I pick it up off the kitchen counter where I left it last night. It’s Denny. A horrible sense of foreboding takes over. “Shit.”
“What?” Elle asks, leaning back against the counter.
I hold up the finger and answer the call.
“I need the car. You said I could borrow it at the weekend. I couldn’t do it yesterday because I felt like shit, but I have a date, so I need it.”
“A date with who?” I try to change the subject.
“Don’t try to distract me. I’m coming over now.”
My heart hurts at the thought. Elle is frowning at me.
“You thought I’d forget, didn’t you?” Denny laughs. “Sucker. I’m walking over.”
“Wait,” I shout, but it’s too late. He’s hung up. “Fuck.”
“Everything okay?”
“Denny is on his way over to pick up the car,” I say, and then groan. I lean my elbows on the kitchen counter and lower my upper body.
“Are you hyperventilating?” Elle asks, amusement in her tone.
“It’s my Mustang,” I tell her. “And Denny.”
“He’s a bad driver?” she asks.
“I don’t give a shit how he drives. That car is my baby.”
She laughs, but I don’t join in. Jedi starts barking preceding the thumping up the stairs and a knock on the front door. Fuck, he was already almost here when he called. The little shit. Elle straightens up, looking down at herself. She doesn’t want Denny to see her here. That makes me frown, but I understand. He won’t be able to resist telling everyone if he sees her here.
I have no leverage either. He’s already managed to get my damn car. I tell her to stay in the kitchen and follow the dog to the door. There is a t-shirt I tossed on the sofa a couple of days ago, so I grab it and pull it on, then I slam my feet into my sneakers and grab my keys.
“Morning, sunshine!”
I bar him entry and he frowns. I step out and shut the door, then jog down the steps.
“Desperate to give me the car, are we?” he grins. I just scowl and he follows me. “I wanted to say hi to Jedi.”
“He doesn’t want to say hi to you. Come on, idiot.”
“Well, that is rude. But do you know what? I don’t care. I’m too fucking excited. This is gonna be awesome.”
“You don’t go faster than thirty miles an hour,” I say as I round the path towards my garage. “If you go in a parking lot, you park away from any other vehicles. You do not leave town. You do not eat food inside and you definitely do not drink, and not just alcohol. I mean anything.”
“Lighten up,” Denny strolls along beside me and stops as I unlock the garage and go inside. He steps around me and goes straight to the Mustang, pulling the tarp off the top of the car.
“I mean it Dennis.”
“Don’t Dennis me, you’re not mom,” he grumbles. He holds his hand out. “Gimme.”
“Not until you promise to follow the rules.”
“You are so anal about this car,” he laughs.
“It cost me a lot of money to rebuild this, you ingrate. You have no idea what this car means to me. If you go over twenty-five, I’ll break your neck.”
“You just said thirty,” Denny laughs at me and steps closer. “Keys. A deal’s a deal.”
“Sonofabitch,” I groan, passing over the keys. “If this car comes back with even a hint of a scratch on it, I’m going to bury you in the backyard.”
“Okay.” He snatches the keys, undeterred or even concerned by my threat.
I watch in dismay as he gets into the driver’s seat of the car and runs his hands over the steering wheel. I want to drag him out. He starts the engine, and she purrs like a fucking kitten, until he revs the engine, making my blood pressure spike.
“Get the garage door, would you?” he says and shuts the door.
“I hate you.”
“I’m sure it was worth it.”
Is it? It’s been days since Larry read out Acer’s will and completely threw my life off course. I don’t know what else I’m going to do to convince Elle Mystic is somewhere she could spend half of her time. I am hoping to use Dawn but haven’t had a chance to speak to her yet. I
hadn’t planned for what happened last night. Would that be enough? I shake that thought out of my head. No matter what Jared says, I didn’t take her to bed thinking about how to get her to agree to Acer’s deal. Acer was the last thing on my mind. And one night of sex isn’t going to change her mind, anyway.
She’s researching everything herself, or her researcher is. I wonder who that guy is. She was laughing and joking with him on the phone yesterday.
And nope. I’m not going there. I lift the garage door up so my beloved Mustang can be driven away from me by my idiot little brother, and a part of my soul goes with it as I follow it out. I don’t even feel a little ashamed to think about that.
I glance across to see Elle standing on the steps to my house. She’s fully dressed and has one hand over her mouth to cover a laugh when we hear my car revving down the street. Fucking hell.
“Are you alright, Ben? Or do you want to go after him?” Elle waggles my car keys.
“You read my mind.” I walk over to her. She grins as I take the keys.
“I’ve fed Jedi, so you don’t need to worry about him,” Elle says and comes down the steps after me. “You do know he’ll see you following him,” Elle points out, dropping her purse on the floor when we get in the truck .
“He’s not that smart,” I say, looking for my Mustang ahead of us. “Another reason I don’t want him driving it, he probably doesn’t even use the mirrors,” I grit out.
Elle laughs but tries to smother it when I glare at her. I should be grateful for this distraction. It takes a long time to get away from the awkward morning after chatting. It’ll come at some point.
“What exactly are you going to do when you find where he is?” she asks.
“Watch my car.”
“This is how you want to spend your Sunday, in a parked car, spying on your brother, or your car, I should say?”
“I can drop you back at the Hyatt and do this alone.”
“No, please don’t. This is way too entertaining.”
“So you don’t exactly have a thrilling Sunday planned either.”
“Apparently not,” she mutters.
Finally I spot the Mustang. Imagining I’m some kind of spy or cop, I keep a couple of cars between us, so Denny doesn’t notice we’re following him. There aren’t many places he could be going, and given I’ve told him he’s not to leave town, I don’t expect to be following too far. I do start to feel like an idiot, though. Elle isn’t exactly commenting that I’m a lunatic over my car, but I can practically hear her thinking it.
“So, on a scale of one to ten, how terrified will Denny be if something did happen to the car?”
“Nothing better happen to that car,” I snap. “Don’t even joke about it.”
“ We know that, but what if we messed with him?”
We stop at a red light. I watch the Mustang go through ahead of us. Shit, we could lose him. I sit up to peer over the roof of the car ahead of us.
“Relax, I see him. He’s actually just pulled into the lot behind that restaurant. So you better drive past a little or pull over before then, if you don’t want him to see you.”
“When did you become such an expert in stuff like this? ”
“I’m a writer,” she answers with a shrug. “We research all kinds of weird stuff. Anyhow, what I was thinking was, there is a spare key for the Mustang on your key chain.”
“So?”
“So…”
“I’m not following you.”
“We steal the car.”
At first, I just look at her. Steal my own car? Then it dawns on me what she means. “You want me to mess with him by taking my car, letting him think it got stolen? Shit, Elle, that is diabolical.”
She grins. “I’ll even stay in the truck. If you’re too scared I’ll breathe on the Mustang wrong.”
“Very fucking funny,” I drawl. The lights change and I head down the road, pulling into a side street. Not a moment too soon, either, when I see Denny walking along and heading into a restaurant in the rearview mirror.
“I could always put a scratch down the side of it if you don-” she cuts off with another grin when she sees my face. “We don’t need to take it far, or even leave. Just move it from where he parked it. See how long it takes him to call you?”
“You’re starting to remind me of Zach. He always came up with shit like this.”
“Yeah, we reminisced a little yesterday. He was telling Patrick about some of the things him and Jared did to the rest of you when you were kids. Then he realized Patrick was storing it away to use on his younger brother and made him swear he wouldn’t do anything like that.”
I can’t help but laugh. Sounds like something my nephew would do. “I kinda did make the deal with Denny, though. I said he could drive it. Messing with him might be a little cruel.”
She shrugs. “Okay. So we’ll just sit in a side street following him while he has breakfast and I’m starving. Cos that is normal.”
After a few minutes of silence, and thinking, I let myself grin. I take the keys out of the ignition and detach the Mustang key. “Meet you at the diner in ten,” I hop out of the truck to the sound of her laughter.