Chapter 27 #2
“Gotta say, the nerd uniform suits you,” Sadie says to Leo with a cheeky smile.
He quirks his scarred eyebrow at her. “Oh, reeeeeeeally? The Lamellar look doin’ it for ya, Sades?” I make an approving noise at his correct naming of his gear, and he gives me a smug look. “Oh, that’s right. I know my shit.”
Sadie smirks. “What can I say, I was always a sucker for the Viking-esque look. I mean, Conan the Barbarian? Birth of my libido.” She fans herself comically.
Leo’s grin widens. “Tell you what. Halloween this year, I’ll dress as a Viking, you dress as a Valkyrie. Or I can be Conan and you can be Red Sonja. Deal?”
She giggles. “Maybe.”
Hello.
The eye contact between them is going on just a little too long for it to mean nothing.
Sadie looks away first, but her lightning-bright grin remains.
I’ve been very much enjoying watching her reaction to Leo-with-a-sword.
She’s been wisecracking with him more than normal all night, leaning her head against his shoulder now and again on the flimsiest pretexts, and I also think she’d be shocked if you pointed it out to her.
I still say there’s something there on both sides, not just his, and I will die on that hill.
I’m just keeping my fingers crossed for them both.
They are so right for each other that it’s agonising to watch.
I’m gonna tap out, Dean says, finishing his drink.
He’s seemed a lot better tonight, and it was good to see him relax and join in.
He’s been a little subdued over the past few days, especially around me.
I get it. I was the only person in his life who had never seen him have an episode, and now I have.
But things will work out, I know it. I’ve made a point of treating him exactly the same.
No coddling, much as I would love to. No well-meaning sympathetic gazes.
He’s just Dean, and the only thing that has changed is my admiration for him.
I’m not making that obvious, either. Just being normal for him.
I think he appreciates it. Eli sure does.
“Alright, man,” Eli says, “thanks for dropping by.”
Dean nods. See you all tomorrow. Thanks, Em. He smiles and winks at me.
“Thank you,” I reply. “It was great. Thank you all,” I say, looking at Leo and Sadie as they say goodnight to Dean.
“I enjoyed that,” Sadie says, stretching her neck. “Should probably head out myself.”
“I’ll give you a lift,” Leo says, grabbing his leather coat.
“Ooh, please. Thanks.”
“Of course, milady,” he replies with a smile and a theatrical bow.
She rolls her eyes and giggles fondly. “Here we go. Sir Leo is now a thing we’re all gonna have to deal with.”
He shrugs. “What can I say? Sir Leo likes to treat a lady the way she deserves to be treated. Courtesy and common decency all the way.” There’s an undertone to his voice, and judging by her silence, Sadie has picked up on it, too.
After the hugs goodbye and the pleasantries, she gives him a thoughtful look as they make their way to his car.
I shut the door and sigh. “She needs to dump Peter and jump on Leo,” I whisper to ensure they don’t hear.
Eli makes a rumbly noise in agreement. “Chère, you are preaching to the converted.”
I lean back against the door and look him up and down. Yum. “Thank you so much for this evening.”
He smiles at me, taking me in his arms. “Anytime. I thought that went real well. Everyone had a good time.”
I lift on my tiptoes and kiss him. And not just a peck on the lips, either; I pour all my happiness about the evening into it, plus a healthy dollop of what I’m planning to do to him when we get to bed to say thank you for the surprise.
He growls quietly against my lips and presses me closer to him.
“I’m just gonna put a few things in the sink to soak overnight,” he purrs like a panther, “and then I’m taking you to bed and pickin’ up a little more of that.
” I grin and bite his lower lip playfully.
“OK, a lot more,” he chuckles, kissing my forehead and heading back to his kitchen.
Every kiss still gives me that delicious fuzzy feeling in my chest.
I let out a happy sigh, and then decide to make myself useful. I head to the table so I can gather up the glasses and chili bowls. My eyes fall on my phone, so I check my messages, remembering the email alert that pinged earlier.
Holy shit.
The email is from Rich, Gav’s brother.
I put the crockery down quickly and sit down in Eli’s chair, taking a deep breath and bracing myself.
Rich is highly charismatic and was always OK to me, but he wasn’t someone to mess about with, and I was afraid of him.
He was notorious in the area for his loud parties and for being a bit.
..unhinged. He used to square up to people at the slightest provocation, and was thrown out of court-mandated anger management classes for being too angry.
His family always laughed about that, like it was a badge of honour, but I always found that to be really worrying.
And he tried to push ecstasy on me that one time at one of his house parties.
Thankfully he took my refusal in good part, but I didn’t drink anything else for the rest of the night because I didn’t trust him not to spike my glass.
My heart is thudding with genuine fear. I can’t imagine there’s a heap of sympathy for me in this unsolicited email.
Oh, look. I’m right.
I have to say it's fucking disgusting that you haven’t had the decency to reply to Gav.
Get over yourself and at least have basic manners.
Always thought there was something off about you.
Didn’t say anything because you seemed to make Gav happy.
Wish I had now, might have saved my little brother a lot of time and heart on someone who clearly wasn’t worth it.
Running away like that, like he was a thug or something, was pathetic.
If things were that bad you could have come to any of us for help.
You didn’t. So all I can think is that you’re just another heartless fucking bitch.
Rest assured, we all hate you, and all of us think he’s better off without you.
You better pray I never see you in the street, cock sucking whore.
Don’t bother replying, I don’t want to hear your lies, and don’t you fucking dare come back.
“Is everything OK?” Eli’s frowning in the doorway, drying something with a tea towel.
“Um…” I sigh, putting my phone down. “Yeah, I’m fine.
” I don’t sound convincing, even to my own ears.
I tell myself not to let it bother me, but that much venom out of nowhere, and from someone with such a volatile reputation, is jarring.
Especially when the hate is so unfair. Eli wanders closer, still frowning.
“I just got an email from Gav’s brother.
” He freezes. “It’s...not very nice.” I hand him my phone, and he reads it as I try to calm down.
I’m thankful beyond words that Rich doesn’t know where I am, otherwise I wouldn’t put it past him to come to Foxton and do something like put a brick through my windows out of spite.
Gav would love to set his creepy brother on me.
Eli reads silently, and a muscle ticks in his jaw. He knows about the email Gav sent me, but I’ve never really mentioned Rich, so I tell him everything about him, too, so he can understand why my hands are shaking when he hands my phone back.
“What would you like to do?” he asks softly. “I can take care of this if you want - ”
“No,” I say straight away, shaking my head. “Don’t engage with him. I’m just going to delete and block him. It’s just...not a nice thing to receive.”
He kneels next to me and places comforting hands on my thighs. “I can imagine.” Eli’s really mad - I can tell by the way his jaw keeps twitching - but his first concern is me, and whether I’m OK, and what I want to do about it.
I squeeze both his hands. “I’m so glad he doesn’t know where I am,” I mumble. “I just have to hope that it stays that way.”
He takes his hands off my thighs and smooths my hair back from my face, cupping my jaw on both sides and tilting my head up to make sure I look him in the eye.
“If he does find out where you are,” he says quietly, “I’ll take care of it.
” I start to protest, and he shakes his head.
“I’m serious. He’s not going anywhere near you.
I don’t care how much of a bully he is. If need be, I know Leo and Dean will get involved, too.
And Sadie would rip his balls off. Trust me, you will never have to be afraid of him again.
” He kisses the top of my head. “Rich might be a big guy, and he might be volatile, but I’m not exactly small,” he says, one corner of his mouth pulling upwards wryly, “and if I wasn’t enough, I have good backup. We can handle him, I promise.”
I let out a breath. He’s right. Eli is built, and with everyone else at Wishbone on my side...maybe I wouldn’t have anything to worry about. I give him a shaky smile, and his face softens. “Now, about that kiss you gave me in the hallway…” His face takes on a wolfish quality.
I smile, happy to be distracted. “Sure, I’ll just put the dishes in the - ”
He cuts me off by taking my top off, giving my black lace covered breasts a hungry look and leaning forward to softly bite my collar bone. “In the morning...”
The feel of his teeth gently scraping against my skin makes my nipples tighten hard and my skin tingle with goosebumps.
Entirely of their own volition, my legs find themselves wrapped around his waist, squeezing a little because I just can't not when the ache in my pussy is so strong, so quickly.
The tightening of my thighs seems to set something off in him in turn, and he unclasps my bra with one hand, pulling it off before easing me down to the floor in one fluid motion.
Before I know it, he's thrown the rest of my clothes clear to the other end of the room, and I'm naked underneath him, the carpet tickling my back.
I grab his chin and guide his mouth to mine, kissing him deeply until our tongues tangle and a groan rumbles in his chest. "Gimme that mouth," he orders me, lifting up and ripping his jeans open.
He fists his shaft once, twice, and I can already see the tip is shining wetly.
It's irresistible, especially when he jerks my face back to his, maintaining insistent eye contact as he growls, "Now, Em.
" Bossy and dominant Eli is a lot of fun.
So I twist and crawl towards his cock, filling my mouth with him, relishing how he throbs on my tongue.
God, this dick is perfection. His moans of encouragement make me squirm happily, and I position myself so he can more easily reach my core with his fingers.
He does me one better, and pulls me towards his mouth, mercilessly devouring the most sensitive parts of me like it's all he ever wants to do.
Damnit, I cannot understand how a girl is supposed to give anything even approaching a good blow job when Eli Gastright's wicked tongue is working her to a crackling frenzy.
But I keep trying, stroking him with tongue when I can manage it and my hand when the urge to cry out gets to be too much.
As inconsistent as my actions are, he doesn't seem to be complaining.
Far from it, he licks me faster, more intently, his hips moving in time with the rhythm I've set.
There's something about this angle, my knees either side of his head, my pussy facing the opposite way to when he usually goes down on me, that really speeds up my pleasure.
It takes next to no time before I'm grinding against him, squeezing his dick helplessly with one hand and almost screaming as I come, my breathing ragged.
"That's my good girl," he murmurs when he's wrung every last spark of my climax out of me. I can hear the smugness dancing along his tones.
We'll just see about that, fella.
Trying to relax my throat as much as possible, I take him as far to the back of my throat as I can manage, my cheekbones hollowing as I suck him hard.
I refuse to be alone in feeling that peak.
And I know him well enough by now to know exactly how he likes it, the speed, the grip, the best places to lick and suck…
And I use every scrap of that knowledge, unleashing my very best efforts on him.
His abs jump, and I turn slightly for a better view, grinning to myself as I see his fingers digging into the carpet, like he's holding on for dear life.
I slow down a little, intending only to tease him, but it only makes him pulse harder in my mouth.
I store up the knowledge for future use: my guy likes to be tormented a little, forced to bask in the pre-glow before he lets go.
"Shitshitshit," he curses, grabbing hold of my hair and thrusting in and out of my mouth, hard and fast, like he just can't control himself any longer, making me breathless.
This is fucking hot. I will never be a sixty-nine sceptic again.
His back bows as he comes, pumping his release into my mouth with a force that stuns me, and I swallow down quickly.
I guess it's my turn to be smug.
But barely have I even completed that thought when he gives my butt an affectionate slap. "Up those stairs right now, Chere. Don't plan on getting much sleep."