Chapter 7 #2
He didn’t remember what happened, but one moment he was standing still with his arms at his sides, and the next his hand was around the collar of the guy’s jacket, hauling him out of the booth and onto the floor. The man hit the ground hard, beer bottles scattering off the table.
“What the fuck—”
Eli didn’t let him finish. He yanked him up by the front of his shirt until they were face-to-face. “Get out.”
“Hey, easy, man, we were just—”
“I said get out.”
The tall one stepped forward, chest puffed. “Or what?”
Eli released the first guy and turned on him, but before he could do anything, a fist came from somewhere to his left. He ducked, the punch sailing over his head, and drove his shoulder into the guy’s midsection, sending them both crashing into the neighboring table. Then, the bar erupted.
Eli couldn’t tell who threw the next punch, but suddenly everyone was moving. Matty tackled one of the outsiders into a stack of chairs. Danny McGill, who apparently needed no excuse, decked someone who’d gotten too close to his drink. Bobby Fitz hurled a barstool that shattered the front window.
“Eli!” Olivia’s voice cut through the chaos.
He whipped around. She was on her feet, backed against the wall, eyes wide with fear. He fought his way to her, shoving bodies aside until he reached her.
“Are you okay?” He put himself between her and the mayhem, his eyes scanning her for any sign of harm.
“I’m fine, but we need to go. Now.”
Jacob materialized from the back hallway, still drying his hands on his jeans. He took one look at the mayhem, his eyes growing wide. “What the hell did I miss?”
“Long story,” Sloane said, grabbing his arm. “Cops are coming. I can hear the sirens.”
“Back door,” Eli said. There was a service exit through the kitchen that opened into the alley behind the barbershop. He grabbed Olivia’s hand and they moved, Sloane and Jacob right behind them. Patrick waved them off from his booth, looking thoroughly unbothered by the pandemonium around him.
They spilled out the back lane just as red and blue lights flickered into the darkened alley. They huddled in the shadows as Jacob sprinted for the SUV, which he had around the corner in under a minute, and they piled in. Nobody spoke until they were three blocks away.
“That went great,” Sloane said sarcastically.
“I think it’s time we went to the hotel,” Eli breathed. The anger—both his and his wolf’s—was still there, bubbling inside. He couldn’t help it. Seeing another man touching Olivia had made him see red and he lost control.
As if sensing his emotions, Olivia reached over and covered his hand with hers. After a whole afternoon of touching and staying close to her, it had become familiar and soothed his frayed nerves.
Finally, they arrived at the hotel, a modest place a few miles outside Southie. Jacob handled check-in while the rest of them waited by the elevators. They quickly piled inside as soon as Jacob arrived, who punched the “four” button.
“All right,” Jacob said, handing out keycards when they reached their floor. “Sloane and I are in four twelve. Eli, you and Olivia are in four sixteen.”
Eli blinked. “One room?”
“Yeah, there was a mix-up with the reservation. They’re fully booked.” Jacob didn’t look particularly sorry about it. “There’s two beds, though.”
Sloane, standing behind him, didn’t even try to hide her smirk.
“It’s fine,” Olivia said quickly. “We’re adults.”
“That’s what got you into this situation,” Jacob muttered, earning a sharp elbow from Sloane.
“Goodnight,” Sloane said with a final wave as she dragged Jacob toward their room across the hallway. “Don’t stay up too late.”
Eli and Olivia stood in the hallway for a moment after the other door clicked shut. Swiping the keycard to their room, he held the door open for her. As she brushed past him, the scent of cinnamon and something sweet hit his nostrils.
The room was small but clean. Two queen beds with white duvets, a window overlooking the parking lot, and a TV mounted to the wall. Another door that was probably the bathroom.
A thought hit Eli. This was the first time they’d been truly alone since that other hotel room weeks ago.
Olivia dropped her bag on the bed closest to the window and sat down on the edge, slipping off her shoes. He set his own bag on the other bed and stood there, hands in his pockets, unsure of what to do with himself.
“So,” she said.
“So.”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “About what happened at the bar. Those guys.”
“I shouldn’t have lost my temper.” But he couldn’t keep it under control, not when it came to her.
“That’s not what I was going to say.” She crossed one leg under herself on the bed, turning to face him. “I was going to say thank you. But also … I should probably explain. What those guys were doing.”
He waited for her to continue.
“I’m a model, Eli. Like, professionally. That’s my job.” She watched his face as she said it. “Those men recognized me because I’ve been on magazine covers and billboards and fashion shows. Sometimes barely wearing anything more than underwear.”
“A model.” He was doing his best to process this.
“Yeah.” She bit her lip. “You really didn’t know?”
“No.” He sat down on his own bed, facing her. “Should I have?”
A laugh escaped her mouth. “Most people do. I’m not one of the top names, but I do get a lot of big bookings. Fashion weeks, magazine shoots, that kind of thing. I was in a Grammy-nominated music video once, you know.”
He didn’t read magazines, didn’t watch TV unless it was on in a break room somewhere, and the only thing he’d ever looked up on the Internet was directions. “I don’t really pay attention to that stuff.”
“I’m getting that.” She tilted her head, as if studying him. “Does it bother you?”
“Why would it bother me?”
“Some people get weird about it. They see the job and not the person. Or they assume things.”
Now it made sense, what she had said yesterday about being worried he would brag to his friends about sleeping with her. “I don’t know anything about your job,” he said. “I just know you.”
Something shifted in her face. Slowly, she got up, and crossed the distance between until she stood between his knees. “Eli,” she said in a breathy tone, her hand landing on his cheek. “Today was nice, wasn’t it?”
He stiffened. “Before the cops came, you mean.”
She grinned. “Yes, before that.”
Closing his eyes, he leaned into her soft palm. Just like this afternoon, her touch felt natural. Soothing, even. Turning his head, he nuzzled at her wrist, the scent there the strongest at the pulse point. Fuck, he wanted to drown in that scent. In her.
“Olivia, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
He inhaled a sharp breath. “I’m not strong enough to resist you.”
“Resist?” Her finger traced down his cheek to his chin, tipping his head up. Her brilliant eyes shone with an emotion he didn’t want to think was real. “Why would you resist? I’m right here, Eli.”
He couldn’t look away. “I don’t want to have sex.”
“Oh?” she said, her words loaded with challenge.
“I mean, not just because we’ve already done it.”
She placed a hand on her hip. “When are we going to have sex then? When our kid is eighteen?”
His gaze flickered down to her stomach at the reminder that they were going to have a child. Somehow, that was making this whole resisting thing harder. “You deserve more. More than this shithole motel, more than me—”
She pressed a finger to his lips. “Don’t say that. I know what I want.” She leaned down until they their faces were centimeters apart.
“I want to do this the right way. Take you out on dates and buy you flowers and stuff.”
“Why?”
“Like I said, you deserve to be treated that way.”
She let out a huff. “I’ve been on dates with lots of guys. Many of them gave me gifts like diamonds bracelets and expensive flowers.”
The very thought of anyone else with her had him seeing red again, but he managed to control himself.
“Fancy dates, too. All over the world. One time, a guy even bought out an entire restaurant so we could be alone.”
He gritted his teeth.
“But today, when we were in the pub and you were beside me, touching me, it was so natural. Like it was meant to be. From the first moment I saw you, Eli, I wanted to be with you. How about you?”
“I … yes.” The dam that had been holding back his emotions was on the verge of collapsing. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. No one, past or future, can compare. I haven’t been with anyone else since I laid eyes on you.”
“Me neither. And all that fancy stuff? That crap? I don’t need all that, Eli.”
His heart stopped beating. “What do you need, Olivia?”
“You,” she said. “Just you.”
Only a Goddamned monk could have resisted that, and Eli had never been religious.
With the dam inside him finally breaking, he slid his hand around her head and brought her forward for a kiss.
He wanted to start gentle, to savor her, but her lips were much too demanding.
Her tongue swept against the seam of his lips, and he opened to her.
Their tongues tangled, and the urge to have her, to claim, overwhelmed him.
His grip on her hair tightened, which made her gasp and open up to him more.
He was going to take everything she would give, everything he had denied himself this entire time he was with her.