Chapter Thirty-One
Sunlight streamed through the vista windows, bathing the wholly too-big bed in glorious golden light.
Tucked in the feather soft sheets, Soph stretched both arms and legs until she found a wall of solid warmth and muscle. Eli groaned at the touch, rolling over to drag her into the circle of his arms.
Bliss.
Pure, utter, divine-given bliss. Could this moment be any more perfect? Could he be any more perfect?
The only thing that could possibly ruin the timeless bubble they found themselves in was…
“I can hear a vacuum,” she whispered, lips against his forehead. He smiled, eyes fluttering open.
“It’s fine,” he murmured, nuzzling her neck. Awake now, she could feel his hardening length against her thigh as he pulled her even closer.
“Better not,” she tried to wiggle away, only to have his arms tighten. “I need to pee.”
“You can squirt on me. I don’t mind.”
A burst of startled laughter escaped her lips, and she gave his chest a more forceful shove, to no avail. “Are you crazy? I’m not doing that!” A pause, then she added, “have you done that with someone before?”
“No.” He shifted, propping himself up to pin her with his weight, his hands caging her head. He gazed down at her with sleep mussed hair and hungry eyes. “But I’ll try anything with you, Witchling.”
“I think squirting is where I draw the line,” she decided, although… the thought of him bringing her to an orgasm so intense, they made such a mess…
He must have seen her reconsideration in her eyes, for a knowing smirk curled the corner of his lips as he dipped his head to kiss her.
The bedroom door banged open.
“Oh my, Mr Damiani, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t - your car - you didn’t-”
Eli looked over his shoulder. “Good morning, Eloise.” Cheeks burning, Soph propped herself up so she could peer over his shoulder too. A woman with pale blonde hair and dark brown eyes stood in the doorway, vacuum in hand, adorned in a navy blue uniform. Her gaze darted around the room, touching anything but them. She must have noticed Soph, though, for she gasped lightly and flushed a deep shade of crimson.
“I’m sorry,” she said again, though she didn’t make the obvious move of backing out of the room. “Your car,” she accused. “It wasn’t out front. I didn’t know. I didn’t - You didn’t -”
“It’s okay,” Eli consoled, though he didn’t move from his position above Soph. “Perhaps you can go down and tell Robb I’ll have someone joining me for breakfast this morning?”
Eloise nodded vigorously, though her eyes continued to dart. “Yes, of course, Mr Damiani.”
Finally, she took hold of the vacuum and lugged it out of the room. She left the door open.
Eli turned back to Soph, knee pressing between her thighs as he lavished her with kisses as though nothing had happened.
“Stop!” She said with a laugh, shoving his chest. “That poor woman just copped an eyeful! Who is she? Why didn’t she knock?”
“That’s Eloise, one of my cleaners. She didn’t knock because she’s forgetful. We ruined her routine by being here.”
“She walks in on you often?”
“Lately, yes. When I was working in City Central, I’d be gone before she arrived, but now that I work in Europe and am randomly home during the week, she forgets to check before coming in. We made a deal that I would leave the car out front so she knew I was home, but last night I forgot and put it in the garage.”
They’d fucked in the garage the night before, across the hot bonnet of his car, unable to keep their hands off each other long enough to get inside the house.
Eli lifted her legs, pressing her knees together so her calves parted across the broad expanse of his chest. Fingers swept down her slit, parting her folds, more thoroughly coating her in her own slick.
“Eli,” she groaned, head dropping back against the pillow as his cock replaced her fingers. “The door is open.”
“Better not scream then, Witchling.”
* * *
Breakfast was an exquisite affair. Served out by the pool, they had a selection of tropical fruit, natural yoghurt, fresh roasted granola and local honey.
While they ate, Eli talked through an idea he’d had for getting around her drug testing issue when interviewing for jobs. He wanted her to start her own business.
She initially laughed at the idea, but he insisted, explaining the steps of getting set up, how to price herself, and even encouraging her to reach out to those she’d interviewed with to offer her services as a freelancer.
He was quite sure they’d liked her enough that they’d look past the poor medical results to engage her as a contractor.
By the time breakfast was done, he’d convinced her, and she went to collect her laptop from her bag so he could show her how to set up a business number.
They whiled away the morning hours beneath the pergola by the pool, surrounded by falling bougainvillea flowers. When lunch was served, Soph found herself staring at a beautiful Thai salad with pork belly, still steaming bread rolls, bowls of fluffy white rice, grilled barramundi and mango salad, and a bottle of crisp white wine.
“Do you always eat like this?” Soph wondered, trying a mouthful of the pork salad before dropping back against her chair with a hedonistic groan. No wonder Eli had been perplexed by her near-empty fridge if he was used to eating like this every day.
“No.” He gave her a sideways look as he spooned rice onto his plate, followed by the fish and mango salad. Louder, he added, “I think someone’s showing off.”
His words seemed to have their intended effect for a man with a long black beard and a wide grin appeared in the doorway. He crossed beefy arms over his chef whites.
“Soph, this is Robb,” Eli introduced with barely a glance up. “Robb, this is Soph.”
“This food is divine,” Soph complimented, and Robb bowed his head.
“I’m glad you like it. It’s nice to be cooking a proper spread instead of to macro specs.”
Soph raised an eyebrow at Eli and he said, “what, you think I don’t have to work for this figure?”
She snorted, and Robb chuckled. “How long will you be staying, Soph? So I can prepare a menu.”
She looked at Eli again, and their eyes met, though he said nothing.
“Until…” she began slowly, not breaking their eye contact. She didn’t want to overstep her stay, but nor did she want to spend a second without him while he was in City Central. “Until Wednesday.”
Eli’s gaze dropped back to his food, and a smile curled the corners of his mouth. “Good girl,” he murmured, the deep cadence of his tone setting every nerve in her body alight.
Robb gave his leave and went back to the kitchen.
“Macros?” She shot across the table, piling more food onto her plate. “Really?”
Eli chuckled. “You really thought I got this body with magic? I have to work hard for it, thank you very much.”
They jested throughout lunch, then Eli went to chat with Eloise and her brother, Mark, who ran the cleaning company. Soph found a deck chair in the sun and got to work on a logo for her newly hatched business.
When Eli eventually returned, fresh drinks in hand, she told him about Nona’s request for him to attend Luie’s wedding.
“And if I don’t come, I’m dead to her?” Eli sat down on the deck chair beside her feet and sipped his scotch. Soph didn’t look up from her logo as she duplicated it into a new colourway.
“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” she told him nonchalantly, though she wondered what would cause a bigger scene at the wedding - Eli coming or Eli not coming.
“What does your cousin say?”
Soph saved her file and glanced up. “Why does that matter?”
Eli frowned. “Because it’s actually her wedding? Shouldn’t she get the final say?”
Soph shook her head and set the laptop aside before sipping the cocktail he’d brought her.
“This is not just an Italian wedding,” she explained. “It’s a witch wedding. Two covens joining allegiances. Nona is like royalty in the witch world. Stefan’s family is lucky to be joining ours. What Nona says generally goes.”
“Okay then, I’ll come.”
Soph stared at him, stirring her drink with the straw. “Are you sure…” she said slowly. “Because honestly, it’s going to be so full on. I don’t want to scare you away.”
He laughed, lifting her hand to kiss it. “I’m both a witch and Italian. I feel like I’ll be in my element here.”
“She’ll ask you when you plan to marry me,” Soph warned, in total disbelief that he’d so easily agreed to come. And now that he had, a whole new set of worries banded her ribs in a tight vice. What if Nona didn’t approve? Would there be a public altercation? What if Marco caused a scene?
“I’m sure I can think of something to say that will keep her happy.” Eli smiled, then pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’m disappointed by your lack of faith in me. Come here.”
She scooted up the chair to sit beside him as he started a video call to an international number. “What are you doing?” She asked wearily.
“Let’s have a practice,” he said, putting his arm across her shoulder. “I’ll introduce you to my parents first.”
“WHAT?” Soph exploded, but it was too late. A man answered the phone. He was as handsome as Eli, just older.
“Ciao, Eli!” He said.
“Ciao, Papa,” Eli returned warmly. “C’è qualcuno che voglio che tu incontri.”
“Alice,” Eli’s father called to someone out of sight. “Eli ha una ragazza al telefono!”
There was a loud noise, and the phone went blurry with quick movement. Then Soph and Eli were looking at not only his mother and father, but a set of grandparents and one of his sisters.
“Eli!” Alice greeted with boundless enthusiasm.
“Mama,” Eli greeted her and Soph marvelled at how cool he remained. She sat stock still at his side, like a deer in headlights. “I want you to meet my girlfriend, Sophia.”
“Hello,” Soph said with a small wave. Eli’s family were silent for a moment, then they cheered, turning to each other in a cacophony of congratulations and chatter. Soph couldn’t help a tentative smile at their exuberance.
“Have you proposed, Eli?” His father asked in broken English. Soph cringed.
“Not yet,” Eli replied smoothly. “But when I do, you’ll be first to know.”
“It’s so lovely to meet you, Sophia,” Alice said warmly.
“You too, Mrs Damiani,” Soph replied. The smile was still plastered on her face, but in her lap, her hands shook.
“I want to meet Sophia in person!” His sister demanded.
“If Mama and Papa say it’s okay, I’ll fly you and Anna over next month. How does that sound, Sara?”
Sara grinned, nodding. Soph felt her own phone buzz in her lap and she looked down. Luie was calling. She hung up quickly.
“We’ll leave you to it,” Eli said to his family. “I love you all.”
“Love you!” They replied in unison, then the call ended.
“How was that?” Eli said with a smirk as Soph, still with shaking hands, ran her fingers through her hair.
“They only asked about a proposal once,” she said in amazement.
“That’s because I didn’t try to deny one. If they think one’s coming, they’re less likely to push back.”
“You told them I’m your girlfriend.” Her phone buzzed in her lap and once more she declined the call.
“What should I have told them?”
Soph didn’t know. A quiet afternoon in the sun with some graphic design work and a cocktail were quickly slipping away into a familiar mound of family stress.
Eli slid off the chair to kneel before her and for one horrifying moment, she thought he was going to propose right then and there.
“What’s wrong, Soph? Have I got the wrong idea about something?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know,” she croaked. “It’s been barely over a week and we’re already doing the family thing and talking about attending weddings and proposals. It’s too fast.” Her phone buzzed for the third time, and she shoved it off her lap and onto the deck.
Eli shook his head. “You really do baulk at this relationship stuff, don’t you?”
“It’s not the relationship, it’s everyone else’s expectations of it that get too much.”
Her phone buzzed for the fourth time, and this time Eli picked it up off the deck and turned it over.
“Maybe you should take this,” he offered the phone back to her. She sighed and answered it with the speaker on.
“What is it, Luie? This isn’t a good time.”
The phone line was muffled, then Luie put it to her ear. “Hello? Soph? Why wouldn’t you bloody answer?”
“What’s wrong?” She’d never heard her cousin so distraught, and she stood, heading towards the kitchen to get her bag in case she had to leave.
“The venue cancelled for the hen’s night!” She wailed. “It’s tomorrow night! How am I supposed to find something for fifty people before then?”
“Fuck,” Soph groaned. This close to a Saturday night, it would be near impossible to find somewhere nice to host that many women. “Give me a few hours, Luie, I’ll call around.”
“Have it at Sinister.” She hadn’t even realised Eli had followed her in. She jumped, putting her hand over the speaker so Luie couldn’t hear.
“I don’t think she could afford a Sinister room. In any case, wouldn’t they be all booked out?”
Eli frowned at her. “It’s my club. Don’t worry about the cost. The penthouse isn’t booked.”
Soph stared at him, then slowly lifted the phone. “Luie?”
“What am I going to do, Soph?” She cried.
“I think I’ve got somewhere. Don’t stress. Leave it with me and I’ll send you the details.”
She hung up, then turned to face Eli.
“Thank you,” she said with reservation. His frown deepened.
“What’s going on, Soph? Is it the girlfriend thing? Because we can talk about it.”
“I think I should pay for the Sinister room,” she stated, dodging his question. She was still rattled by all the family stuff.
Eli shook his head. “Why? it’s vacant tomorrow, and I said you could use it.”
“Because,” she braced herself for the backlash. “I don’t want to rely on you like that. I don’t want to be seen as the gold digger with the rich boyfriend who coasts through life on his coattails. I’ve always paid my own way and I want it to stay like that.”
A single eyebrow rose. “Fine,” he said stonily. “It’s twelve thousand a night for the penthouse.”
The numbers settled on her like sludge. That was like a third of her annual salary - when she actually had a job. “Ah, fuck,” she sighed.
Eli smirked, then he laughed. Soph couldn’t help but smile. She really was being stupid. He pounced at her, grabbing her bodily and putting her in a playful embrace.
“What am I going to do with you, you flighty little thing?” He joked while she tried futilely to get free of him. “You take the news of potential magical warfare in your stride, but you baulk at meeting the parents? Those are some truly skewed deal breakers.”
He loosened his hold on her slightly so she could breathe, but didn’t completely let go of her. Soph didn’t quite meet his eye.
“I know you find it funny, but when you meet Nona, you’ll understand. Commitment is hard when she wants to control every aspect of it.”
Eli tilted her chin up, surveying her with such a serious look she almost laughed again. “The wedding is weeks away. Plenty of time to prepare for the overlord witch-royalty Nona. Why don’t we focus instead on winning you a best bridesmaid of the year award with a bachelorette party in the penthouse of the hottest club in town?”
“Yeah, okay,” she muttered. He kissed her. Deep. Lingering. And then, with her still braced against his chest, he lifted his phone to his ear.
“Tony? Yeah, good. Can you reserve the penthouse for a bachelorette tomorrow night? Fifty. Yep. Yep. DJ and catering too. Okay, thanks. Bye.”
“That’s it? It’s booked?” Soph asked incredulously. That phone call had taken less than thirty seconds.
“That’s it.” He smiled. “Now you better call your cousin and let her know, then we can put this family stuff behind us for the rest of the day and do something more fun.”