Chapter Twenty-Five Dane
Every fibre of my being wants to race across this platform and pull Eliott into a bone-crushing hug.
I want to bury my face in her hair, wrap my arms around her soft curves and bask in my own personal slice of heaven that is Eliott Rayne.
Somehow, I manage to restrain myself. But only just. Instead, I let Cash and Finn take the lead while I hang back with James and Leo. Cash reaches them first and pulls Bailey into the kind of embrace you give someone if you haven’t seen them in years, not four days.
I get it though. Because I’m itching to do exactly the same thing to Eliott right now.
I want to pull her into the kind of hug that’ll sweep her off her feet and let her know just how much she means to me.
Instead, I have to settle for giving her a friendly wave.
Like there’s absolutely nothing between us and we didn’t spend an evening mutually masturbating on FaceTime together two nights ago.
‘This is Eliott,’ Bailey says once Cash has her back down on solid ground again. ‘Not sure if you guys all remember her from the engagement party?’
Finn, Leo and James all say their greetings to Eliott before Bailey turns to me. She’s got a sly look on her face that I don’t trust for one second.
‘And Dane? You remember Eliott, right?’
Cash coughs into his elbow in a terrible attempt at disguising a snort of laughter. I ignore it in favour of shooting Eliott an easy grin. ‘How could I forget such a gorgeous face?’
Everyone rolls their eyes. They’re all used to my flirting and probably don’t see it as anything more than a quick one-liner being thrown at a pretty girl.
But Eliott knows that it’s more than that and she gives me that smile again. The soft one that’s just for me.
‘Hey, Dane. It’s good to see you again.’
I can hear the unspoken ‘ I missed you ’ underlying her words and I give her a nod, hoping she can hear my unspoken message, too.
Me too.
We have the entire first-class carriage on the train to ourselves. James and Leo each snag a row to themselves and both conk out before the train even pulls out of the station, while the two happy couples sidle into a four-person booth together.
On any other occasion, this might irritate me, being left out like this, but not today. Instead of claiming the empty row next to their booth as my own, I follow Eliott down towards the other end of the carriage and drop down into the empty seat next to her.
‘You don’t want to sit with your friends?’ Eliott asks as I shove my bag under the seat in front of us.
I drape an arm over her shoulders and pull her into me as close as she can get. ‘I promise you, baby, I’m exactly where I want to be right now.’
She sighs as she nuzzles into my side. ‘Me too.’
From up the carriage, Cash catches my eye. I expect him to say something, to alert the others as to what’s going on over in my corner of the carriage, but he doesn’t. He just smiles and gives me a small nod before he turns his attention back to his future wife.
I half expect Eliott to pull away once the train starts moving, but she doesn’t. She stays curled up by my side like that’s where she’s meant to be; where she belongs. At some point in the journey we both fall asleep and, if I’m honest, it’s the best sleep I’ve had in weeks.
‘Just look at this view !’ Bailey squeals as she throws open the doors to the balcony. ‘It’s even better than in all the photos.’
Cash and Bailey definitely undersold this place.
They’ve been describing it as a villa for the last few months, but it’s more like a castle embedded in the mountains than anything else.
The host has been giving us a guided tour for the last thirty minutes, and I don’t think we’ve seen even half of the property.
Even Finn, who bought Amber a multimillion-dollar lake house in New York like it was nothing, looks impressed.
‘We’ll be conducting the ceremony down there,’ the host says, following Bailey out onto the balcony to point towards the fairy tale-esque terrace below us. ‘My staff are still setting up below but we should be finished within an hour or so for you to check through.’
I peek below and get a glimpse of a small army of staff setting white chairs up and draping the trees and bushes with lanterns.
An unexpected wave of emotion hits me and I can’t help but grin as I turn my attention back to the rest of the group.
Tomorrow, I get to stand up there with my little sister and my best friend and watch them get married.
I’m happy. Genuinely happy.
A cloud of dark brown curls suddenly appears in the corner of my vision. My grin widens and that feeling of happiness expands in my chest, morphing into something else entirely. It’s an emotion I don’t think I’ve ever felt before, and I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Eliott’s down there, amongst the staff setting up, getting some test shots in preparation for the big day tomorrow. Even from here I can see the smile on her face and I just know there’s a glimmer of excitement sparking behind her beautiful brown eyes as she works.
I can’t wait to see if I can coax out that same level of excitement and joy from her later tonight.
Everyone who is part of the wedding party is staying here over the weekend, but Eliott’s got a room at a boutique hotel in the town below us.
If I’m being honest, I’d much rather her join me in my suite so we can take advantage of the comfortable king-sized bed in my room, but I doubt she’ll go for that idea.
She looks up suddenly and meets my eye. Her expression softens slightly and that emotion from earlier, the one I can feel in the very core of my chest, swells within me some more.
I could stand here and watch Eliott work all evening, but our host pulls us away to continue the rest of the tour and I reluctantly follow.
The rest of the tour takes about another half hour, but I’m barely listening as we traipse after our host. I don’t think it’s possible for me to care any less about the antique bay windows in the main foyer that have Amber gasping and reaching for her phone to snap photos, or about the spot in the second terrace around the back of the villa that apparently is the best spot for golden hour photos that Bailey makes note of.
My disinterest must be obvious because Cash suddenly pulls back from the rest of the group and nudges his shoulder against mine.
‘Somewhere else you’d rather be right now?’ he asks with a knowing smirk.
‘Nah,’ I lie. ‘Just a little tired after all this travelling.’ We’ve been up since about four and have crossed three borders today. I’m actually surprised everyone else isn’t dead on their feet.
‘I think the plan is to have an early night,’ Cash says. ‘Everyone in bed by ten since we’ll be up early tomorrow.’
I pretend to frown. ‘Tomorrow? Why? Is something happening?’
‘Hilarious,’ Cash deadpans. ‘Seriously though, are you good? You seem… distracted.’ That smirk is back again in full force, like he knows something, but he’s not willing to say it aloud just yet. He’s waiting for me to take the first step.
‘I’m not—’
Eliott chooses that moment to waltz in through the secondary terrace doors and I suddenly understand exactly what our host was talking about when she mentioned golden hour.
The world seems to slow down and the sounds of everyone talking and laughing around me fade away until the only thing I can hear is the steady thrum of my heartbeat.
Eliott is bathed in a warm glow and the sunlight is practically dancing across her skin.
Her gaze scans the room and quickly finds my own. Eliott’s eyes – always beautiful, always expressive – catch the last rays of the sun before the doors swing closed behind her, making them sparkle with an intensity that quite literally takes my breath away.
She looks like a goddess.
Ethereal.
Her full lips curve into a shy grin of acknowledgment before she turns and waves down Bailey and Cash.
‘I think I’ve got everything I need, so I’ll head over to my hotel now.’
I cross the room without even thinking about it, my legs moving on autopilot.
‘Are you sure?’ Bailey asks. ‘We’re not doing anything crazy tonight, but we’ll probably hang out around the fire pit for a while and have something to eat. If you want to join us, you’re more than welcome to.’
‘That’s so kind of you,’ Eliott starts. It’s only for a brief second, but her gaze flickers over to me before returning to Bailey and Cash. ‘But I’m pretty tired, so I’ll just head back and get an early night.’
Bailey’s lip twitches and Cash ducks his head suddenly as if he’s hiding a laugh.
‘Totally understand.’ Bailey turns and raises a brow at me. ‘What about you, Dane? You coming to hang by the fire pit?’
‘Sure,’ I say with an easy shrug. ‘I’ll meet you guys out there.’
Bailey’s lip twitch turns into a full-on grin. ‘Are you going somewhere first?’
I feel my cheeks start to warm. She knows exactly what she’s doing and I’ve fallen straight into her trap. I shrug again, trying to keep my expression as casual as possible. ‘Thought I’d help Eliott carry her stuff back to her hotel.’
‘We can get a taxi for her,’ Cash says. The grin on his face is almost identical to Bailey’s.
Those two really are meant for each other.
‘Waste of money,’ I say dismissively. ‘And I wanted to get some air, anyway.’
It’s an incredibly lame excuse and I expect them both to pick it apart immediately. But they don’t. Instead, their grins soften slightly into something a little less shit-eating and a little more genuine.
‘Cool,’ Cash says. ‘We’ll catch you later tonight, then.’
‘Yeah.’
Cash pulls Bailey into his side and drags her away over to where the rest of the group has started spilling out onto the terrace.
‘See you tomorrow, Eliott,’ Bailey sings as she allows Cash to guide her away. She turns around just before they reach the door and wiggles her brows. ‘Have fun .’
And then they’re disappearing through the doors and it’s just me and Eliott alone in the room.
A grin splits my face in two.
‘You know,’ Eliott says, quirking her brow as she turns to look up at me. ‘We probably should’ve taken the taxi offer. It’s a long walk and my bags are heavy.’
‘That just means more time with you,’ I say.
I mimic Cash’s earlier action and pull Eliott into my side.
She slots in perfectly and I realise that I’ll never get tired of this.
Just the feel of Eliott by my side is a high I never want to come down from.
‘And I’m definitely not complaining about that. ’
She hums and the sun catches her eye again as she looks up at me. ‘Me neither.’
Everyone else is only one bathroom break away from stepping through the doors and spotting us, but I don’t care. I lift a finger and tilt her chin upwards, enjoying the way she lets me guide her without any hesitation.
I lean down, my lips brushing against her forehead. It’s the softest of touches, one I’ve done several times before, but this time it sparks something inside me.
It’s that feeling from before. The one I felt in the deepest caverns of my chest that quickly becomes all-consuming.
Eliott lets out a soft whimper as fingers come up to fist my shirt. ‘We should go,’ she whispers against my lips.
We should.
But we don’t. Not yet.
I close the minuscule gap between us and press my lips against hers, enjoying the way she lets out a pleased sigh as she sinks into my touch.
Kissing Eliott is very quickly becoming my favourite activity. Everything about it sets each one of my senses on fire in the best kind of way. The sounds she makes. The way her tongue slides against mine. The feel of her curves pressed against me.
It’s simultaneously too much and not enough.
I want more.
I need more.
‘Let’s go,’ I mutter before I reluctantly pull away.
She huffs out a sigh of frustration I understand only too well. ‘Yeah.’
‘Don’t worry, baby,’ I say with a teasing grin as I tug her towards the door. ‘There’s still more to come.’
Her next four words send blood rushing straight to my dick and, judging from the satisfied smirk on her face, she knows it too.
She licks her lips and pins me in place with a sultry stare. ‘I’m counting on it.’