My Heart's Protector

by Jenn Sable

  “I don’t know why I’ve been thinking a lot about my parents and their love recently. There's another one like it in the study. Dad was always asking Mom to dance,” said El, catching me studying the photograph.

  “How romantic,” I said.

  “It was, but not for the reason that you think. Sammy and I used to call their dancing work meetings,” said El, smiling at the old memories.

  “Oh yeah? Why is that?” I asked, curious.

  “Mom and Dad ran this place together, and Dad also had his furniture-making business on the side. Plus, they had us, four rambunctious daughters. Things were running full speed ahead around here, all of the time. When Mom would get mad, or frustrated, my dad said that they did their best talking through problems while dancing. He said Mom couldn't stay angry long while in his arms,” said El. A pained look crossed El’s smooth features, and I wanted to soothe her hurt.

  “Does your mother's hot cocoa recipe have any special elements that I should be aware of? Are you planning to brew a love potion for me tonight?” I asked and wagged my brows.

  Her lips twisted in a wry smile. “Something like that. Hot cocoa has a way of opening up an evening's potential,” she said, smiling and turning to reach up inside another cabinet.

  “I am an unabashed hot chocolate fan, and I'd love a cup. I am also having the most wonderful sense of deja vu right now,” I said, smiling as I took a seat at the kitchen table.

  “Now that you mention it, me too. However I remember you standing a little closer.” She giggled.

  My smile turned wolfish. The tops of my thighs brushed against her curvy backside as I moved to stand behind her again. “Like this?” I whispered into her ear.

  El gave out a breathy laugh. “Yeah, exactly.” She opened another cabinet, and I noticed that a rosy hue had bloomed on her cheeks.

  “Did I ever tell you that I love your hair and the curve of your neck, especially when you pile your hair under your garden hat,” I said.

  That was an overshare but, screw it

  El paused from pulling down a tin of cocoa. “Troy, I never realized that you watched me work in the garden. That's adorable.”

  El settled into a flow of motions and chatted about her mom's secret cocoa recipe. I watched, impressed by her steady hand with her kettle, saucepan, milk, and secret mix. El was in her element, and it looked good on her. I smiled when I pictured her preparing us coffee or cocoa in the morning and imagined me standing at the stove, flipping pancakes.

  A thread of worry slithered through my veins. It was nice being in the kitchen with El, flirting with her, spending time with her alone when the rest of the world was quiet and felt a million miles away. I already imagining us together in the morning, enjoying a nice breakfast. Everything about this was just so damned perfect. I couldn't remember the last time I spent an evening with a woman at her home. I couldn't remember the last time I had wanted to spend this kind of time with a woman or daydreamed of making her breakfast the next morning.

  “Don't get me wrong, I'm tea lady to the core, but I can make a mean cup of hot cocoa. But if you ask me, the creme de la creme is the fresh whipped cream. I just need a few minutes,” said El, looking over her shoulder at me, smiling.

  My stomach muscles tightened. Am I now doomed to relive my damn fantasy of losing myself inside her every time El looked over her shoulder at me?

  My body moved, and suddenly, I was wrapping my arms around her and breathing against her neck. “You are so beautiful. I can't tell you how many times I've made love to you in my dreams.”

  The corner of my lips tugged into a half-smile when I saw how my whispering against her neck gave her goose bumps.

  “Sorry, you seriously do something to me,” I said.

  “Okay, that's it. I can't concentrate when you're over here in my space, sweeping my hair to the side and giving me chills with your whispers. Brushing against my backside. Here's the thing: You can't have hot cocoa late at night in your daytime clothes. This beverage demands pajamas,” said El.

  I smiled. “Say no more.” I stood and extended my hand and walked out and upstairs.

  She went into her room, and I went into mine. It felt nice to pull the clothes off my body and relax in something comfortable, and I enjoyed hearing the dresser drawers open and close in El's room.

  I walked down to the hallway and tapped lightly on her bedroom door. “El, I'll be down in a moment. I just have to make one more call to the station and double-check on things after tonight.”

  “Okay, but don't be late, sir. This cocoa doesn't wait for anyone.”

  I chuckled. “You got it.”

  Pushing open the kitchen door, ten minutes later, the smell of hot chocolate filled my nostrils, and the kitchen was warm compared to the chilly night air outside. I glanced over at El and did a hard double-take when I noticed her pajamas. I shamelessly raked my eyes over her, taking in her oversized sweatshirt, short shorts, and warm, fuzzy socks. The soft mounds of her breasts under her white sweatshirt tempted me to reach out for a touch.

  I started imagining what it would be like to slip a hand up under her top and palm one of her exquisite globes in my hand. Although it looked like she had on a sports bra under her sweatshirt, I could still see evidence of the tight buds of her nipples that poked against the fuzzy, cotton fabric. Staring at it made my dick want to poke at the zipper of my pants.

  Tearing my eyes away from her breasts, I scoped out her cute, pale-purple pajama shorts that were high cut and showed off her shapely legs. The draw-string at her waist was tied in a sweet little bow and dangled above the sweet V of her legs, which made the primal part of my brain want to unwrap her like a present. My internal groan was so loud that I thought maybe El heard it because she looked over at me curiously.

  She was a mixture of innocent, sweet, sassy, and sexy. I wanted to peel that sweatshirt right off her and bury my face in between her breasts and confess every fantasy I had ever had of her. I clenched and unclenched my jaw a few times to allow the hot wave of desire to pass through me.

  “Troy? Troy, did you hear me?” asked El, pointing to the mixer on the counter.

  “Huh, no. Sorry, what do you need?” I asked and walked over.

  She'd already filled the bottom of the mixing bowl with heavy cream, and the shiny sugar granules that floated on top caught the light and sparkled.

  “The mixer stopped working. I can't believe this. Abby used it the other day, and it worked just fine,” said El, disappointed.

  Rolling up her sleeves, she slowly clicked the mix button onto low and then worked her way up the mixer speed scale. Nothing. No sound, no movement. She pushed the dial to ten, the fastest speed, and the machine roared to life, startling the two of us and causing some cream to slosh over the sides of the mixing bowl onto the counter. I reached for a paper towel, and El grabbed a wet cloth from the sink.

  If it was hard to get the mixer started, it was even harder to get it stopped. I grabbed the dial and shoved it back to zero, but it didn't matter. The mixer whirred continuously beating the heavy cream into a thick whip.

  “Oh, Jesus, we’re going to make butter!” cried El. She shifted the mixer to unlock and tilted back the spinning whisk head, effectively spraying globs of whipped cream everywhere. She screamed, I laughed, and the counter, cabinets, and the two of us got creamed.

  It was sheer pandemonium. I ripped the electric cord out of the wall and the crazed machine went lifeless. We stood there, silent and motionless for a moment. El held out her arms and caved in her chest, looking down at her splattered pajamas. I reached up and wiped a glob of whipped cream off my eyebrow.

  “Holyー”

  “Shit,” I said, finishing her thought.

  Our eyes connected. “What the hell just happened?” asked El, starting to laugh, holding out her arms to inspect for globs of sweet, thick whipped cream and licking all splatters within reach.

  I huffed out a laugh, watching her. “This mixer goes hard or goes home, I
guess.”

  “It’s in my hair, on my clothes, and look at you!” said El and quickly covered her mouth with her hands, trying not to laugh in my face.

  I smirked. “Are you saying that I don’t look delicious?”

  I reached out to El and wiped a glob of cream from her cheek as she stood in front of me with tears of mirth in her eyes. She surprised the shit out of me when she grabbed hold of my wrist then slowly descended her mouth over my finger, sucking off the cream. My nerve endings ignited, and desire flooded my system. Seeing her suck anything, especially something attached to me, and feel her warm, wet mouth on my skin was my undoing.

  “Fuck, El. You’re driving me insane,” I breathed

  When she released my finger from her mouth I threaded my fingers through her hair and pulled her toward me, pressing my lips to her and quickly delving my tongue to meet hers. She tasted sweet, and I didn’t think that I could ever get enough of the feel of her tongue on mine. She pressed closer to me, and I growled in the back of my throat. I could feel the corners of her lips turn up in a smile.

  El pulled at the hem of my shirt. “Let’s go upstairs and wash off,” she murmured, her words washed over me, and my shaft twitched in my pants.

  “Are you sure? Because I’m a trooper, not a saint, Eloise. If I’m about to agree to jump into a tub with you, naked, there’s a really good chance that I won’t be able to keep my hands to myself.” I laughed, running a ragged hand through my hair and blowing out a long breath.

  “Very sure,” she said, clear-eyed and confidently. I didn’t resist when she took me by the hand and pulled me up the steps into her bedroom.

  El’s bathroom epitomized her. It was warm, feminine, and had lots of smooth curves like she did. She started the shower, gave me a sassy wink, and reached down to take off her fuzzy socks. “Are you going to join me, Old Man Witmer, or are you just going to stand there and watch me get undressed?” she teased.

  I smirked. “Both.”

  My jaw clenched when El gripped the bottom of her sweatshirt and peeled it up and over her shoulders, dropping it onto the floor. A teal sports bra lovingly cupped her breasts, and I wanted to replace it with my hands and mouth.

  I pulled my T-shirt up and off, and El’s eyes sparkled mischievously as she shimmied out of her pajama shorts, revealing another pair of silky panties. I’m going to last five seconds. Then I will rebound and love this woman until dawn.

  “You’re gorgeous, El. You’re smart, funny, and fucking gorgeous,” I said, shaking my head.

  El sauntered over to me, and slowly, she lifted her sports bra up over the mounds of her breasts. They fell heavily from the bottom of her sports bra.

  I sucked air through my teeth. My hand became magnetized to her breasts and they were soft, supple, and perfectly fit in my palms. I loved how El moaned when I rolled my fingers over her rose-tipped nipples. “You’re more beautiful and feel softer than I even remember,” I said hoarsely.

  She smiled. “How many fantasies of yours do you think we can act out in one night?”

  I growled and shook my head. “El, stop, you’re killing me. I wished you would’ve accidentally sent me a photo of your panties a year ago,” I said and smoothed my hands around her back and hugged her to me, enjoying the feel of her naked chest against mine.

  El eyed me curiously. “Are you in love with me?”

  I cupped her face. “Yes, Eloise. I'm completely in love with you. You've ruined me for anyone else, and I couldn't be happier about it. Do you love me?”

  She unzipped my jeans, and I smiled. “Yes, Troy, and I couldn't be happier about it,” she murmured.

  I pressed my lips to hers and she gripped and pulled down my jeans and my boxers. I chuckled when she gasped as my rigid cock sprung out and slapped lightly at her stomach.

  “Oh. Oh my.” El giggled.

  “How about we skip that shower and settle on a good hand washing,” I said laughing.

  El smiled. “That's a great plan.”

  Standing at her bathroom sink with my cock sliding along her buttocks while we washed our hands together just about turned me from man to animal. As soon as we rinsed, I reached over and scooped El into my arms and carried her to her bed like a bride.

  I laid her down in the center of the mattress and marveled at her beautiful olive skin, the way the mounds of our breasts lit up and opened for me, her chestnut hair fanned out over her pillows as though she were some goddess waiting to be worshiped.

  I pressed my mouth against her ankle and kissed up her leg to the apex of her thighs and pressed my mouth to her sweet little mound. She bucked her hips off of the bed when I swept my tongue over her clit. I was like a hungry mad-man. I couldn't get enough of her. I wanted to be inside of her, and taste her, and feel her, and kiss her all at the same time. She was blowing my circuitry, but I didn't care.

  “Troy, please, I need to feel you inside me. I need to feel you on top of me and inside me,” she whispered harshly, begging for me.

  I swept my tongue over her one last little time and then climbed up, spreading my body over hers like a shield against the cold. She felt so small and yet so strong and curvy underneath my large frame.

  I cursed softly.

  “What's the matter? What's wrong?” She asked.

  I pulled my head back far enough to lock eyes with her beautiful honeyed depths and chuckled. “I have to go get a condomーfrom my truck. And no, I'm not putting on any clothes to go do it. So the night critters are about to get a show.”

  El laughed, loosely wrapping me in her arms yet not allowing me to break away. “Troy, I'm on birth control. Please don't go. I need you. I need you in me now, and I need to feel just you against just me. Are you okay with that?”

  I growled low in my throat and buried my head into her neck and lightly bit along the lovely curve of her shoulder. Ruined. El you've ruined me completely, and I haven't even been inside of you. “You're mine. I've already claimed you with my heart. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, I feel it too. I felt it since the morning I opened up the door and saw you standing on the porch with the noise complaint. As soon as I locked eyes with you, I knew something had shifted between us. Deep in my soul, I just knew that we wouldn't be able to walk away from the feelings we have for one another.”

  Her legs naturally fell to the side and opened for me, and I fit my hips in between her soft thighs and closed my eyes for a moment, pressing my forehead against hers. There I took in the sensation of what it felt like to be between the legs of the girl I loved and to be wrapped in the arms of the woman I needed. She was so soft and so wet when the tip of my cock pressed against her swollen and sensitive folds.

  El bucked her hips underneath me and let out a frustrated groan. “Troy, please. I'm going to go mad if you don't make love to me.”

  Long slender legs wrapped around my hips, and El pulled me closer and tighter to her body, causing my throbbing erection to push between her lips and rest against her slick entrance. My curse softly cupped one side of her face with my hand, and she turned her face to kiss the inside of my palm.

  Balancing myself with my other arm against the bed, I slowly pushed inch after inch of my shaft into El's tight, slick pussy. I tried to go as slow as I could for her sake. I tried to relish the sensation of the first time entering El, but we both were so anxious and excited to join, connect, that our bodies moved in sync and of their own volition. After a few slow thrusts, El started rocking her hips to take me in deeper, whimpering and softly moaning her pleasure in my ear. I clawed at the bedding, thrusting in and out of her with powerful, steady strokes, nearly pulling the way out only to push a full length back into her tight, pulsing entrance. We started to climb to ecstasy together, her moans and my thrusting took us higher and higher to a plane of pure sensation.

  Eloise whispered my name over and over again, and it felt incredible to hear if from her lips as I was pushing inside of her, feeling her, fucking her, be fully joined with a woman I was go
ing to make my wife.

  I was going to make Eloise my wife. She was the woman I was going to marry. She would carry and bear our children, and I would love and protect her and the family our love made for the rest of my life. The realization hit me so hard and so powerfully that when I felt the beginning tremors of Eloise's release, my balls tightened. I groaned from a place deep inside myself that I'd never accessed before. I came so hard and so deep inside El that I was sure that I'd infused her with the very essence of my heart and soul.

  We collapsed into a heap of sweat-sheened limbs, hot, heavy breaths, soft murmurs, and little chuckles. I carefully pulled away from Eloise and stumbled to the bathroom for a hot washcloth. I sat on the side of the bed and smiled over the embarrassed blush that worked its way up El's neck and over her cheeks while I slowly and thoroughly cleansed her of my come.

  Eloise sighed happily as I crawled back into bed, gathered her against my chest, wrapped her in my arms, and kissed the top of her head before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 13 - Eloise

  The lanterns burned brightly, illuminating the inn in a gentle glow as the cloak of darkness swept over Frost Forest. Troy helped me light the thick-wicked candles. Seeing him walk from lantern to lantern brought back memories of the night we shared before I flew to Paris.

  Tonight the inn was buzzing with activity. Jeremy, Troy’s coworker, was over visiting and helping to secure the property for the big event. Troy had thought it would be a good idea to have extra back up tonight, just in case, although things were quiet on the investigative front with Nigel’s death, and no links to Devin Sharpe could be substantiated. I was beginning to wonder if maybe I hadn’t seen him in the reflection of the Jeep’s rear-view window.

  It was just dark, as my father used to say and my favorite time of the day. It symbolized relaxation, the formality required in the bright light of day was over, and it felt like you could breathe with ease. The stars twinkled, and the night flirted with the potential that something magical was about to happen. The inn looked like a palace of potential, especially with tonight's tea party theme: Feminine Fire and Desire. Lord, help us. Hopefully, I won't be driven out of my hometown for such scandalous behavior.