Chapter 9
nine
VI
Twenty minutes later, we were out walking on the street our hotel occupied. It was a mix of old homes and charming little shops, which made me happy. In the lobby, we’d learned that there was a local favorite at the end of the street, so that’s where we were headed.
Though I loved the town’s vibes, my thoughts were still on what I’d realized in the hotel room.
And what it meant for my future.
Our future.
The idea was bizarre, but I would wrap my mind around it eventually, I hoped.
My side was pressed against Eli’s, his arm draped over my shoulders, as we approached the restaurant. It wasn’t huge, or fancy, but there was plenty of seating. Though the place was full of life, and much busier than anything else we’d passed given the late hour, it wasn’t packed.
We were seated immediately when we stepped inside, and tucked in a far back corner without hesitation when Eli asked for privacy. There was another table across from us that could’ve seen us, but it wasn’t occupied.
Rather than sitting across from each other, Eli and I sat down on the same bench. His arm went back over my shoulders. I knew the touch was his requirement for being out of the hotel while heat was raging through us, so I leaned against him.
After we ordered drinks and an appetizer, the waitress left us alone. She’d been polite, and I appreciated her lack of staring at Eli, even though she had to have noticed him. The man was impossible not to notice.
And drool over.
“So,” I said, fiddling with the fork in front of me to give myself something to do. The conversation I was starting could very well be an unpleasant one, but it wasn’t avoidable.
“So.” Eli perched his chin on the top of my head.
I let out a long breath, but didn’t put it off any longer. “I told you I don’t want a relationship,” I said.
“You did.” He didn’t sound happy about it, but he also wasn’t trying to argue.
“I didn’t tell you why. I was with my ex for five years.”
Eli’s body stiffened, just slightly.
“It ended badly,” I said quickly. “We were engaged. He cheated. A few of the years were during high school, so they don’t count as much, and we never lived together. But it was serious, obviously. It… broke me. For a long time. After I finished putting myself back together, I made a vow not to risk my heart like that again. So, I’m not willing to try a relationship. I was never even planning on dating again, let alone starting a bond like this.”
Eli was still stiff behind me.
When he didn’t respond, I forced myself to keep going.
“That said, I understand that this situation is just as much outside of your control as it is out of mine. There’s no way around… physical intimacy.” I would’ve felt weird saying sex in the middle of a restaurant. What if there was a kid around, and I just hadn’t noticed? It was late enough at night that I shouldn’t worry, but I did anyway.
“And I’m enjoying that part, obviously,” I added. “We might as well have fun given the situation, right? But I need you to know that for me, it can never be more than just physical.”
Eli was so tense, I started to wonder if he was still breathing.
I listened for a moment, until I was certain he was.
And since he still hadn’t replied, I went on. “I know you said we’ll have to live together after heat, and that’s fine. I’m thinking we can just be roommates, either at your cabin or in Mate Mountain. We can split the bills and keep things friendly. When heat comes around every month, we’ll have fun again, and when it's over, we’ll go back to normal. I know it’s probably not ideal for you, but it’s all I can offer.”
There was a beat of silence, and then the waitress returned with our drinks and appetizer.
Neither of us touched them for a solid minute before Eli finally let out a slow, long breath. “I appreciate the honesty.”
I bit my lip.
He grabbed his cup and held it out to me, as if waiting for me to clink mine against it. “To being roommates with occasional benefits.”
Though he was still a little tense, I could tell he was trying, and appreciated it tremendously. My shoulders relaxed with relief, and I lifted my cup to his.
The tension between us vanished as we ate, chatting about flying, and the gorgeous view from the window nearby. We made a list of things we wanted to do while we were there, and decided to stay a few extra days to explore afterward if heat made that too difficult.
It was easy.
And fun, honestly.
Since me and Eli weren’t enemies anymore, maybe we could even be friends .
We headed to a bar when we were done at the restaurant, and spent a few hours singing terrible karaoke with a handful of drunk people. We drank enough alcohol to get us there too, if not for Eli’s magic. I only got the tiniest bit of a buzz, and even that vanished as soon as I wasn’t touching Eli.
Heat wanted us miserable when we weren’t in bed together, but screw heat.
We were enjoying life.
After we belted out the lyrics to one final pop song, we finally collapsed in a booth together, laughing and tired and blissed-out at the same time.
And a little horny, too.
Eli’s arms were around me, his chin resting on top of my head as we slouched against the wall, our legs sprawled out lazily in front of us. The grin on my face wasn’t going anywhere, anytime soon.
“That was fun,” I said, my gaze on the ceiling above us.
“Best night of my life,” he agreed, squeezing my middle. “Unless we count the first part of last night.”
“The part when we hooked up?” I drawled.
“Mmhm. That was great. This can be second.”
I snorted, my mood ridiculously upbeat. “We should probably try to get some sleep so we can go exploring during the day tomorrow.”
“Probably.”
Neither of us moved, though.
We were too comfortable.
And too happy.
But, a few minutes later, the bartenders announced they were closing. So, we had no choice but to hit the road.
My side pressed to Eli’s as we walked back to the hotel, still feeling more at peace than I had in ages. I wasn’t lonely. I wasn’t sad. I wasn’t missing Randa. I was just… content.
Maybe all I needed all along was a roommate.
An attractive one.
With wings.
When we made it back to our room, we plopped down on the bed together and turned on a movie. Eli’s arm was still around my shoulders, though I was using his thick muscles as a pillow by then.
He played with a few strands of my hair while we watched, and despite heat’s pressure, I fell asleep less than halfway through.
We woke up around noon, sweaty and horny again. Eli got me off on his mouth before we headed out for a day of exploration.
An hour or two after lunch, the pain I’d felt with our separation the day before started to set in, even though we were touching.
Eli was having a harder time keeping his cool, too, growling at anyone who looked at me for more than a few seconds.
I tried to make it work for another hour before finally giving up. He apologized on our way back to the hotel, but I told him not to worry about it. My pain would’ve driven me back sooner rather than later, even if he hadn’t been struggling too.
As soon as we reached our room, I stepped into the shower. Eli hadn’t asked me to, but I’d caught the tail end of one of his thoughts about other scents on my skin from the restaurants.
He followed me in, sitting on the countertop as I slid beneath the falling water.
“I don’t think that’s meant to hold a gigantic dragon shifter,” I remarked.
“Probably not. Breaking a countertop seemed like a better idea than following you into the shower, though.”
My body flushed a little more. “Why?”
“Because if I join you, you’re going to end up trapped against the wall while I fuck you.”
My thighs clenched. “You’ve got a thing for walls, don’t you?”
“I’ve got a thing for having you pinned against them.”
I couldn’t stop my lips from curving in a smile.
A phone started buzzing in the bathroom, and my smile vanished. “You didn’t turn on my phone, did you?”
“Nah. Turned mine on to let August know where we are.”
“And he’s calling you now?”
“No. That would be Randa.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why is my sister calling you?” The words came out a growl.
I loved my twin, but I would not share my… roommate… with her.
“According to her texts, because your phone is off and she wants to know what’s going on.”
Shit.
That did check out.
Elodie would’ve told Randa what she’d learned after giving me a day to do so.
And she’d learned that we were mated.
Yikes.
“I’ll call her back after heat ends,” I finally said. “She left her phone off when she and Jasper got together, so she shouldn’t be worried about that.”
“Mmkay.”
Eli’s nonchalant answer made me suspicious. “Where’s the judgment? The disappointment?”
“I understand meddling siblings. If you want privacy, it’s yours.”
“E,” I warned, hearing the undertones in his voice.
“You were so worried about Randa when she went radio silent that you called me a dozen times to check on her. And you hated me.”
“I didn’t hate you.”
“You didn’t like me either.”
He had a point.
And I had called him too many times, because I’d been scared out of my mind for my sister.
But, I hadn’t known what was really going on. No one told me the details about heat. Randa knew the details; she should be fine with waiting to hear from me.
I scrubbed my hair in silence, waiting for my guilt to fade, but it didn’t.
“You know exactly where to hit me the hardest,” I finally grumbled at Eli, as I rinsed the shampoo from my hair.
“Just doing my duty as a good roommate.”
I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t hide my smile entirely. “Fine. I’ll talk to her when I get out.”
“Probably a good call.”
“I know.”
I got out of the shower a few minutes later, and Eli surprised me again by holding a towel up for me. I thanked him, and wrapped it around myself before making my way out of my room.
“Look at those legs. Damn, Spaghetti,” he whistled behind me.
My face would’ve flushed if I wasn’t already sweating again thanks to heat. I flipped him off over my shoulder, and he laughed.
It only took me a minute to get dressed, and he waited inside the bathroom until I gave him the okay to come out. I was already on my last pair of clean sleep clothes, which meant laundry needed to be done, and soon.
I’d worry about that the next day.
Eli’s eyes burned over my body. I didn’t have to wonder if he appreciated it—his filthy mental images leaked into my mind.
Him eating me out.
Me riding his cock.
Him pinning me to the wall while we had sex.
“You’re just an endless fountain of lust, aren’t you?” I drawled.
My own desire was pooled between my thighs, and he could probably smell it.
“For you, yes.”
I dug my phone out of my bag and turned it on while I padded to the bed. My entire body ached. Sex was the only thing that would fix me, but stubbornness had me putting it off.
Eli tucked himself under the blankets with me, his head on the pillow while I leaned up against the headboard. When I saw all the texts and calls I’d missed from Randa, I grimaced.
She rarely sent two texts before getting a response, let alone three.
She didn’t mind waiting for an answer.
But… apparently this time she minded.
Guilt had me hitting the button to call her back. I lifted the phone to my ear while it rang.
She didn’t make me wait long.
“What the hell, Vi?” she yelled into the phone.
Her panic caught me so off guard, I literally jerked away.
“I’m video calling you. Answer,” she ordered, then hung up the phone.
I blinked down at it.
It lit up a moment later, and I hit the button to accept.
Randa’s face filled the screen, her cheeks pink and her forehead creased. “What the hell?” she yelled again. “I thought you were making a peace offering, then Mom told me you and Eli were pretending to be mates to keep women away from him. Then I hear from Elodie that you guys are in heat, and fully mated, but your apartment’s empty, and Eli’s cabin is too, and?—”
“Breathe, Randa,” I commanded.
She sucked in a deep breath.
Jasper murmured something on her side of the line, and she flashed him a dirty look before focusing back on me. “What’s really going on here?”
I sighed. “It’s kind of a long story.”
“I’ve got nothing else to do. I’m currently sitting on the porch of the cabin Jasper secretly bought for us in Scale Ridge, since my attempt at finding you failed.”
My eyes widened. “He bought the honeymoon cabin?”
“Yes.” She sighed, like that was some hardship.
“Were the pictures he showed you real?”
“Mmhm.”
I leaned forward. “Then why are you not jumping with joy right now? Or having sex on one of the balconies?”
“That’s what I said,” Jasper grumbled.
“I didn’t need another place to live!” Randa exclaimed. “And… well, okay, I’m happy about it. I am. It’s gorgeous, and it’s fairly close to Elodie’s, and Eli’s, which is apparently now yours, and—we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you! Why didn’t you call me immediately? I can’t believe you texted Elodie instead of me. That’s just…” she huffed, too frustrated to finish the sentence.
“I wasn’t going to interrupt your wedding night,” I said. “And it really wasn’t planned. I gave Eli the spaghetti at your reception, and he admitted that he’d told the other women we were mates to get them off his back. I was shocked, but played along. Mom caught us during that, so what we told her was true. But one thing led to another, and he went home with me. While we were hooking up, heat started, which sealed the bond before we had a chance to fight it or walk away or whatever. So, we’re mated.”
Randa’s eyebrows were high on her forehead. “Holy shit.”
“Believe me, I know.”
“Where are you guys now?”
“Switzerland,” I admitted. “Eli doesn’t want to tell me why he flirts up a storm and sleeps around while most other dragons don’t, so I agreed to let him keep the secret for a few weeks if he took me on vacation.”
Randa’s forehead creased. “Eli doesn’t sleep around.”
Mine creased too. “What?”
Jasper murmured something I couldn’t hear.
My gaze jerked to Eli, who was staring pointedly at the ceiling above us. My eyes narrowed, but he didn’t move.
So, I looked back at Randa. Her lip was between her teeth, and the look on her face told me she was about a minute from making a run for it.
“Tell me what you know,” I ordered.
“Jas thinks I shouldn’t get involved,” she said, her voice reluctant.
“Eli does too,” Eli offered from the bed beside me.
“Both of them can screw off. Tell me,” I commanded.
She grimaced. “Having sex with random women would risk starting a mate bond every time. Eli would never risk that, even if he did want a mate. He’d make sure he found someone he’d like being with before sleeping with them. Which I doubt he did with anyone except you. I don’t know why he would’ve been flirting, but he definitely hadn’t been with any other women before he went home with you.”
I stared at my phone’s screen, struggling to process what she’d said.
“Maybe you should talk to him and call me back?” Randa suggested.
“Yeah. I’ll do that. Might be a while if heat gets intense.” My words were forced. “Love you.”
“Love you too. Good luck.”
She hung up, and I dropped the phone on the bed while my gaze landed on Eli.
He was still staring at the ceiling.
And he’d started whistling. I recognized the tune as one of the pop songs we’d sung karaoke to together the night before.
“You lied to me,” I said, my voice growing accusatory.
“I didn’t lie . You assumed, and I let you.”
“You said you’ve been sleeping around,” I shot back.
“ You said I’ve been sleeping around. I just didn’t tell you that you were wrong.”
I scowled. “A lie by omission is still a lie, E. You knew what I thought, and let me think I was right.”
His eyes finally met mine. “You wouldn’t have agreed to spend that first night with me if you knew I was a virgin.”
The words stopped my thoughts in their tracks.
Was he right?
If I’d known… well, I would’ve realized it was a big deal for him. He wasn’t young, even for a supernatural. Having sex for the first time had to be significant after waiting for so long.
I’d only agreed to hook up with him because I thought it was casual. If I’d realized it was his first time, I would’ve known it wasn’t.
And I probably wouldn’t have gone through with it.
So, he was right.
“You still should’ve told me,” I finally said. “If not before, then while we were together. I would’ve tried to make it better for you, or?—”
He cut me off. “It was perfect , Spaghetti.”
The words made me feel good. Really good.
And even though I should’ve asked for more details, I didn’t.
Maybe I didn’t want to know.
I just turned my phone back off and settled down on the bed next to him.