Chapter Five
Elliott
I’ve tried to be a good man, reining in my lust, and tethered my needs, but every passing day seems to toss in a challenge that threatens to strip me bare.
It started with Chloe showing up to breakfast in a robe, one that played peekaboo with her breasts.
Then at dinner, she’d wear one of the T-shirts I lent her instead of the clothes I’d bought her.
It took considerable strength not to bend her over the kitchen counter and spank her red for having no self-preservation.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d believe she was seducing me, but that can’t be right.
How could someone so beautiful and precious want a grump like me? All I know is that now, I’m stuck with a girl who struts around my house in nothing but a T-shirt that does little to hide the outline of her braless tits or that pert little ass that tempts me every waking hour.
Fucking hell.
“You’re brooding.” A voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I look up to find a pair of blue eyes watching me curiously.
“What?”
“I said you’re brooding,” she says with a hint of a smile, leaning forward and peering at me. “I thought you said today was a successful day.”
“It was,” I say, turning back to my food, but I realize I don’t have much of an appetite. Not when the one thing I want is the very thing I can’t have. “The weather was favorable, which brings the fish closer to the surface. What did you do today?”
“I painted,” Chloe says, spinning her fork over the pasta. “You’re not allowed to see what I’m working on until it’s done. It’s a surprise.”
“So, are the paints I got you okay?”
“They are,” she says with a shy smile. “You can never go wrong with acrylic, and the canvas is the perfect size for what I’m painting.”
“Let me know if you need anything else. What’s not in town can be ordered in. It may take a few days, but it’ll get here eventually.”
“Why?”
“Well, the town is remote, and—”
“No.” She shakes her head. “Why do you go out of your way to help me this much?”
Good question. “Because I want you to get better soon.” It’s not a lie, but it’s not entirely the truth either. There is something about Chloe that calls to my protective instincts, and saying that out loud will only raise more questions.
“You want me to get better soon,” she parrots, her brows furrowing in a way that shouldn’t be as pretty as it is. “Does that mean you’re hoping I’ll remember everything and leave. I know I’m intruding on your privacy and not really contributing much—”
“Stop!”
I reach out before I can stop myself, touching her face. I just can’t fucking help myself. “I want you to get better, Chloe, but not because I want you gone. I just want you to be healthy.”
What I can’t say is that I need her to get better soon so I can stop feeling guilty about wanting a woman with no memories of her past. For the past three days, I’ve been driving myself to madness, wondering if she has a boyfriend back home who’s worried sick about her.
What if she’s in love with someone and is betraying them by being with me without even realizing it.
These thoughts are the reason I haven’t touched her in days, but I feel my control slipping.
Every time her blue eyes lock on mine, full of something I don’t know how to name, I feel myself fall a little. I want her. Even with the fears that someone out there might already have a claim on her, a sick part of me wants to make love to her and keep her with me forever.
Mine.
But she’s not mine. Goddamnit.
“Can you stay with me tonight?”
My head shoots up at her words. “That’s not a good idea.”
I watch her chew on her bottom lip for a moment before releasing it.
“The nightmare didn’t come back when you slept in the bed with me that first night.
Besides, I feel guilty about waking you every time they come,” she quickly adds before I can speak.
“Maybe if you stay with me again, then we’ll both get some decent sleep. ”
“Chloe,” I pull my hand away to slide it through my hair, pushing it back from my face. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to sleep in the same room.”
“But—”
“It’s better if we both sleep in our own rooms.” The words come out harsher than I intended, and they seem to shut Chloe down immediately.
She nods stiffly and focuses on her food.
I want to take my words back and give in to what she’s asking, but how can I spend a night in bed with her and not touch her?
I’m not completely certain I’ll be able to hold back this time.
Dinner continues in silence, and when Chloe excuses herself, I don’t stop her.
I store the leftovers in the fridge, then head up to the master bedroom.
I get ready for bed but can’t make myself climb in, staring like it’s a foreign object.
My mind is on the room down the hall and the woman inside it.
I want her.
I want her so much I ache with it. I’ve never been one for relationships, and whenever I felt lonely, I would go down to the only bar in town and let a tourist flirt with me until she got bored and I’d head home.
A single night is all it ever was. I never got these protective instincts with any of those women.
Never had dark thoughts about keeping them the way I want to do with Chloe.
I want to protect her. To hold her here.
Everything, I realize. I want everything from the girl whose name I don’t even know for certain. And the thought that she could be in her room, scared and hurting, bracing for yet another night where she gets sucked into her nightmares, chips at me.
“Goddamnit!”
I walk out of my bedroom and head down to hers.
I don’t allow myself a moment to overthink my decision as I rap my knuckles on the door once before pushing it open.
She’s left the window open to allow the moonlight into the room, which helps me spot her, curled up on the bed.
She turns around when I open the door, and I hesitate.
She’s beautiful. Bathed in silver light, she’s the most stunning thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. Is it a wonder that my heart aches for her, that my cock hardens from one look?
“Elliott?”
I cross the room and pull back the covers, sliding in beside her.
When she moves into me, my arms wrap around hers, pulling her flush against me.
She tucks her head to my chest and sighs, the warmth of her breath feathering over my skin.
Christ, I almost forgot how soft she was—so warm, so achingly feminine. And the way she smells…
“Sleep,” I say roughly, my hand settling at her waist.
Silence falls in the room, and when her breathing softens, I’m certain she’s asleep. Maybe I can get through the night without losing my damn mind, but then…I feel her fingers tracing lazy circles on my shoulder. I clench my jaw against the jolt of pleasure that rushes down my spine. Fuck.
“Elliott,” she whispers into my neck, her breath blowing softly against my skin, making my dick throb. “Have you always wanted to be a fisherman?”
“It runs in the family,” I tell her, biting back a groan when she shifts slightly, rubbing herself against me. “You need to sleep, Chloe. The doctor recommended rest.”
“I know, but your voice is so soothing. Talk to me a bit. It’ll help me sleep.”
Kill me now. I don't think I can do this.
“Were your parents fishermen too?”
“My mother died when I was young. My dad was a fisherman, and so was my grandfather. It’s run in our family for generations.”
“I’m sorry about your mom,” she murmurs. “Do you like it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Fishing? Some people are pressured into following in their parents’ footsteps, and it isn’t always what they want to do,” she says quietly, almost wistfully. Almost personal. “Do you enjoy fishing, Elliott?”
“I like the ocean,” I confess. “I knew I’d be a fisherman from the first time my father took me out. I was about five, and the moment I caught my first fish, I knew that’s where I belonged. It’s why I’ve never left Eden Cove.”
“Hmm,” she hums, pressing her lips briefly to my neck—a soft thing, barely there, but it lands like a brand. “I wouldn’t want to leave Eden Cove either. It’s paradise.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah,” she whispers, lifting her hips and sliding them against mine. “The sunrise and sunsets are magical. The water is beautiful, and you have everything you could ever need here. I would never leave if this were my home.”
That wistful note is back in her voice, and I don’t miss it this time—but before I can unravel it, her lips trail up my throat in a path that cannot be read as anything but deliberate. And I, the weak man that I am, don’t stop her. I’m losing my will to fight this, Fight her.
“You could stay.” Her breath catches. “I can?” She pauses. “Even if I never get my memories back—you’d let me stay here? With you?”
There are a thousand reasons to take it back. I don’t. “Yes,” I say, tightening my hold on her. “This home is yours, for as long as you want it.”
“Then I’ll stay.”
I don’t know which of us closes the distance—maybe we both do.
And then our lips meet, kissing like we’re trying to keep each other from drowning.
I slide my hand under her T-shirt and cup her pert ass, kneading the soft flesh as I lick into her mouth, groaning with every sweet taste I pull from her.
My cock is hard as rock, begging me to push Chloe onto her back and drive into her.
She doesn’t have any panties on, and it would take little effort to yank down my sweats and bury myself inside her.
Her virginity—I want to claim it. I want to make her mine, pleasure her until she’ll never want another man’s hands on her.
Mine.
The thought is strong, possessive—and this time, I don’t shove it back. I let it spread. I let it infect every part of me until there’s no doubt in my mind that this woman belongs to me.
“I want you,” I rasp against her lips, cupping her breast and pinching her nipple between my fingers, tugging gently. “I want to be inside you, kitten. Stop me now. Push me away.”