by Lily Zante
After a while, Lou leaves to take another phone call. His phone hasn't stopped ringing all day. Jake and Santos quickly eat, then move away. They’re busy on their phones. Everyone’s phones haven’t stopped ringing since last night. I’ve left mine in the room, haven’t even bothered to charge it up because all the people who matter to me are right here.
“Did something happen at the training camp?” Nina asks, when Harper walks away to take a call.
“Like what?”
“You know exactly what I'm talking about, Elias. Don’t pretend you don’t.”
I give her my best clueless face.
“Don’t worry. I like Harper,” my sister gives me her blessing. “But what changed? Because you didn't like her much before.”
“The training camp might have had something to do with it.” I try to suppress my smile. Every time I think of those two nights, I get a fuzzy feeling inside. I want more nights like that, and I want all of Harper. The anticipation of what is yet to come sets my thoughts on fire. “Being in a confined space can be difficult.”
“Athena still has high hopes… ”
“She can kiss them goodbye,” I say, just as Harper returns from the bathroom. She sits down. “Are we having dessert?” She peers at the menu.
“Billionaire's cheesecake sounds good,” Nina says. They both make approving noises.
“Do we have time?” Harper asks, “I don’t want you to miss your flight.”
“I can make time for dessert,” Nina replies.
“Speaking of flights, what happened to ginger dude?” I ask.
“Gerry isn’t happy with me. He’s been weird ever since we came here.”
“That’s because he likes you,” I tell her for the hundredth time.
Nina places the order for the cheesecakes, then leans in to the conversation. “Who likes her?”
“Gerry,” I state as calmly as I can.
“He does not,” Harper insists, with a shake of her head.
“I don’t see it,” my sister informs me. “I wasn’t getting that vibe off him.”
“Maybe he likes you, then,” I say. Come to think of it, my sister keeps her private life private. I have no idea who she’s dating and whether she currently has a boyfriend or not. It’s another thing we don’t talk about.
“Are you okay about going with Gerry?” Harper asks my sister.
“I will survive. I have my headphones, my phone, and a book. Even if we end up sitting together, don’t worry, I can handle him. I’ve had stranger people for breakfast.”
Harper and I blink at one another, not sure how to take that. “He’s lonely, and divorced, and until recently he was still in love with his ex-wife, but she’s now hooked up with an old school friend. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“I’ll be fine,” Nina insists.
Chapter Forty-Two
ELI
* * *
It’s been a crazy day.
I am surrounded by people wherever I go. I couldn’t even get into the cab to see Nina off at the airport because crowds mobbed the vehicle.
Tommy and Lou tell me I’m famous now that I’ve hit the big leagues, and I’ve made millions from this fight, apparently. This in itself is huge except that my brain is so fogged up at the moment, I can’t process it.
In the space of twenty-four hours I’ve gone from being no one to being this ‘overnight sensation’—Tommy’s words, not mine.
Nothing about my success was overnight. Every step from the moment I was born led up to this.
Harper decides to see Nina off alone. I guess she feels bad because she asked Nina to come here, and she hasn’t spent much time with her. And she’s kind of left Gerry and Nina together.
My sister understands, and doesn’t consider this a big deal, but Harper still feels bad. She has a big heart. I was so wrong when I think about my first impressions of her. She likely had the same wrong impressions about me.
It’s a miracle that we ever got together in the first place.
I spend the rest of the day doing as Lou asks, doing interviews, and posing for photos. I am the heavyweight champion of the world, and I got the other titles too. Garrison must be feeling like life just kicked his ass. I’ve had that feeling most of my life, so I enjoy this new one, feeling like I’m the king of the world.
Harper has already told me that she has some work to do when she gets back from the airport; a write-up about the fight which she needs to send over to Merv and Gerry.
We’re both busy, and I tell Lou that once I’m done with the press stuff, I want to go to my room and not be disturbed.
* * *
HARPER
* * *
I saw Nina off at the airport. That girl is so sweet, and she kept saying I didn’t need to go with her, and that Eli needed me more, but I feel responsible, and I wouldn’t dream of just ditching her when I was the one who got her to come here in the first place.
It all worked out like a charm in the end. I knew Eli would appreciate it, and I’m thrilled that Nina got to see the fight live. I have a feeling that in years to come, these memories will be priceless.
Eli’s been busy all day. I wish they’d leave him alone, because he seems so stone tired after the fight. Everyone wants him. He’s like the new golden boy of boxing.
I told you, I want to scream to the world. I knew he would do it. Now the world is his, and my heart turns soft and gooey knowing that everything he worked for has paid off. I’m hoping this will go some way towards helping put the past to bed, as much as is possible.
When he returns to the hotel room, I’m on the bed, sitting up with the laptop on my legs.
He throws something at me. I laugh out loud when I see that it’s a pack of condoms.
“Are you sure one pack is enough?” I ask, bending down to put my laptop on the floor.
He grins that cheeky, sexy, heart-melting grin, and throws another pack at me.
My eyes widen in supreme happiness. “Now we’re talking.”
He opens the hotel door again and puts out the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign.
I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since the training camp. He’s had the fight to preoccupy him, but I’ve had only him to preoccupy me.
“I don’t plan on talking much,” he says, his eyes and face full of promise as he walks towards me, discarding his clothes casually.
“No foreplay?” I ask, raising my body as I kneel on the bed. I start to unbutton my shirt slowly. The jeans I’d already taken off.
Completely naked, he joins me on the bed and takes over unbuttoning my buttons while I’ve barely had a chance to recover from seeing his hardness.
“I’m going to fuck you for hours,” he promises.
“I’m counting on it.” His body makes mine dance for joy. I try to regulate my breathing as he undoes my bra, then kisses me. Blood rushes through my veins, my belly flip-flops as our mouths say a long, lingering hello. I wriggle out of my panties, which is tricky given that his fingers are playing with my breasts and his tongue is dancing with mine, and I’m about to lose my balance on the bed, but I want to be completely naked. I don’t want to waste any more time. I’ve waited long enough.
We kiss and stroke one another, eager hands exploring each other as we tumble onto the bed, a tangle of hungry mouths, and entwined limbs. My fingers trace and linger all over him; he denied me this for so long, and now that I have him in the palm of my hand, I take my time to examine every inch, roll my fingers over every crevice.
The moment stretches out blissfully, and I am more than ready as he finally moves away and rolls a condom over himself. A throb of adrenaline shoots through me at the size of him, at the anticipation of what is to come. I can hardly breathe, hardly dare to blink as I savor the sight of him poised above me.
His eyes, once so hard and cold, now look down at me with a softness that makes me go limp. He leans down, pressing his hard cock against me, and I moan softly. His face is inches from mine but his fing
ers are below, stroking my clit, drawing out my pleasure. I touch him, and he growls. We feel one another up, as if we’re playing with something new and precious for the first time.
He kisses me again, this time its deeper, a more intimate kiss that turns me to liquid.
My sigh rolls out. The pleasure is intense, building slowly, slowly, slowly, rippling from deep in my core, and spreading out to my belly.
“Harper,” he moans, burying his fingers inside me, making my back arch off the bed. My nerve endings dance, blood swirls, my senses heighten.
He spears me hard, and my body jerks from the contact. Sweet Jesus. Eli consumes all of me. My heart suddenly swells with so much love for this man, I think I’m going to pass out. I’ve never felt like this before. I’m used to the weight of his stare, but not like this, not with so much softness. He strokes my face and his mouth latches to mine and we suck and kiss greedily, swallowing one another. He is my heart and my soul. He is so deep inside me that I don’t know where he ends and I begin because it feels as if we are one.
Then he pulls out, and I moan in disappointment. I feel like he ripped my heart and guts out and my face crumples in protest, but he slams into me again, and I cry out, gratitude pouring out of me. “Oh, yes,” I gasp, low and breathless.
Yes, yes, yes.
And then he slams into me, over and over and over. This isn’t lovemaking, this is pure fucking, and I love it.
I bring my knees up to hug his hips, and his eyes roll back for a sweet, sweet second. He gets a rhythm going, and I claw his buttocks. They’re as hard as steel; there is no softness in his body. No place, no inch where the muscle is soft, or where the skin sags.
His all-over hardness makes being with him so unique. A pleasure, a privilege, something rare. I feel lucky to have him. Everything I touch—his biceps, his forearms, his back—is rock solid. It’s a sensation that’s new to me. I’ve never had a man who was so perfectly made, and now I have him. And he’s inside me, pounding me mercilessly, and I am liquid and fire. Heat glides all over me.
“Oh, god, yes,” I scream, as waves of my orgasm roll over me. He doesn’t let up, and my entire body jolts each time he rams into me. I don’t want it to stop, and he doesn’t look like he’s about to. It’s like we have a connection that goes beyond words. He is doing everything to my body I could wish for. Pleasure moves through every cell in my body. I think I’m going to die because it feels so good.
I love him inside me. I love the heat, and the sweat, and the messiness of him and me being together. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for this man.
I think I love him.
That’s my last thought as I descend into the abyss. My pleasure peaks and I shudder as I go to pieces, moaning and squirming beneath him. Right now I’d do anything he asked me do.
I arch my back almost off the bed, and he watches, sweat streaking down the sides of his face. His lips are parted, and his eyes are dark. It’s intense, and intimate, this moment, and I’m in his grip. He rewards me with a kiss. His tongue pistons into my mouth with the same rough abandon that his cock drove into me.
He pulls away, letting me breathe. “Is this what you like, Harper?” he asks, between pants. He hasn’t come yet, he’s holding on for as long as he can. I marvel at his strength, but it shouldn’t surprise me. “Yes,” I beg. I’m suddenly on a precipice again, as if I’m ready for the next fall.
“You’re so soft, so tight,” he murmurs, burying his face into my neck. “I could go on all night.”
“Please do.” I am overcome by a feeling of connection, more deep, more honest, more pure, than any I have ever known. He drops his head lower and sucks my breast. I loosen my leg-hold on him as excitement shoots from my breast to my pussy, and I feel the beginnings of a wave. I have never come this many times before. After this, sex with anyone else is never going to compare.
But, after this, I won’t want anyone else.
I come again, or maybe it’s the same shockwaves still rolling over me. Another tide of pleasure rocks through me. I have no control over my body. It shakes and shudders, but I still have him in a hold. My legs are still crossed over his back. Even though I’ve had sex before, this feels like a first, for I have never been this closely entwined, or in tune, with anyone before.
“I love you inside me,” I tell him, between pants.
I raise my finger to his lips, wiping some of the wetness from them, them plop my finger into his mouth. His hand moves over to my other breast, and he kneads it, pulling the nipple and circling it. I feel soaked and sweaty, as if we’ve been doing this for a while, but my body isn’t done, and I want more.
“I dream of fucking you every single night,” he tells me, his voice raspy and brimming with want.
I smile at the compliment. Elias dreaming of me every night is a compliment. He sucks my breast, as if he’s never ever sucked one before, and I start to moan again because the pulsations between my legs become stronger.
He flips me over, and just as I start to make sense of what’s happened, just as I start to raise myself up on my forearms, he shoves himself into me. The exquisite sensation sucks the air from my lungs. The push sends my face into the bed, and I savor this new position. My body tingles all over, and my breasts are pushed into the cotton sheets.
I push back slowly, his rough hands are all over my buttocks, kneading and feeling my flesh. He pounds me with a rhythm, then reaches over and strokes my clit. My senses are ready to explode. The mounting pleasure has peaked once more, and I want to cry out. I come again, clutching hard at the bedsheets as he slams into me over and over again. My pathetic moans become the orchestra to my release, and in the next second, he lets himself come, grunting once, twice, before impaling himself deep inside me.
It’s a wonder I can breathe, for I have no energy, not even to move. I could happily stay like this.
He finally moves away, and we collapse onto the bed. He lies down with his forearm over his forehead, as if he’s done a full day’s work. I’m exhausted, but I’m not done. I don’t think I’ll ever be done. I think I’ll want this feeling every single day. I don’t want to move. I want to lie by his side and stay here forever.
Chapter Forty-Three
HARPER
* * *
We didn’t sleep much that night, in between making love and talking, but mostly making love.
So, early next morning, we unwillingly let go of one another, and I stole out of Eli’s room. It killed me to leave him, but I had a gut feeling that I was already in Gerry’s bad books, and I needed to haul my butt back to work as soon as possible.
I caught the early morning flight back to Chicago and was showered, dressed and at work only forty-five minutes later than usual.
As I barrel through the doors of the building, I don’t have time to wonder why my dad has left multiple voicemails on my cell phone.
Merv’s terse voice when he summons me to his office causes me to curse under my breath.
It’s when I walk in and see his red face that I begin to suspect something serious is up. The air is prickling with so much tension that I dare not sit down. I’m not even an hour late, I conducted ‘some’ sort of interview with Eli—Merv doesn’t need to know I did it while straddling him in the bathtub—so I’m unclear as to why he’s looking daggers at me.
Without saying a word, he hands me a large brown envelope.
“Take a look inside,” he barks, when I stare at it without moving. This is most peculiar. I grab the envelope and flip it open. There’s something inside that look like photos.
“Pull them out,” Merv orders. I do as he says, then freeze. It’s as if someone’s thrown a bucket of ice at me.
The photos are of me on my knees, pleasuring Eli. They’re grainy, and a little dark, but it’s obvious what’s going on. These were taken that night I went to his apartment, and I couldn’t help myself. Eli’s face registers pure ecstasy.
I close my eyes, then shove the photos back as if they’re burnin
g my fingers. My teeth clench, and I am too angry, too humiliated, too puzzled to worry about what Merv thinks.
“When I told you to get to know him, well, I didn’t mean that well.”
I try to think. We were in Eli’s apartment, and who the hell would have even known I was there? Who would have gone to these lengths to humiliate Eli and why? I’m suddenly fearful for him.
Lou said there’s a huge welcome home parade planned for Eli in a few days’ time when he returns to Chicago. Will these photos damage his newfound fame and eclipse his win? I’m more worried about him than I am of what Merv thinks of me, and what he will do next.
Of course I’m embarrassed, but it’s not easy to make out that it’s me and I have my back to the camera. Plus, I am not famous. It’s Eli I worry about.
“Well?” Merv asks, his voice tight as if he’s trying to rein in his fury.
I stare at him defiantly. “What do you want me to say, Merv? This was a private moment.”
“Your piece on Cardoza was supposed to be objective. You and him and that,” he jerks his head at the photos in my hand, “that doesn’t help your case.”
Shock hits me. “Are these… are these in circulation?” That would be disastrous.
The thought of these photos getting out suddenly slams into me like a juggernaut.
My body tenses. I would hate for my friends and my parents to see this. They would be able to tell it’s me.
It would also ruin Eli’s homecoming. I can’t see it having too much of a negative impact on his reputation though; from experience, these things tend to work out better for men than women. The public will see it as him being caught in the act… the boxer who had to go without sex for months. It would be acceptable.
I’m the one who will be judged. It’s bad enough that Merv is judging me now.
“Who else has seen this?” I ask, trying to figure out what possible motive the person behind this would have. Was it to embarrass Eli, or threaten him for money? I can’t see that happening. The only person who would be embarrassed is me, and I’m not important or famous enough that this would matter if these photos got published online. I won’t be able to look Merv in the face for a few weeks, but I’ll get over it.