“I found a nice grassy patch when I was running through here the other morning.”
“Do you run every morning?”
“Pretty much.”
“Even if it’s raining?”
He smiled. “I have to keep fit for my job. I can’t afford to be a fair weather athlete.”
She ran her gaze from where he was holding her hand up his arm, noting the toned, impressive muscles, and let her gaze linger on his broad shoulders and wide chest. “Mm,” she said approvingly. “Show me something impressive.”
“What, like turning lead into gold?”
She giggled. “No, you know what I mean. With this athleticism of yours. Go on. Impress me.”
He looked at her with amusement, then glanced around the forest. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. Use your imagination.”
He stopped walking, lowered his backpack to the ground, and scanned the trees near to him before walking up to one with a horizontal branch about eight feet off the ground. He swung himself up on it as if he were on the gymnastics high bar. Tabby watched, mouth open, as he slowly raised his legs until he was standing upside down on the branch, elegant and graceful. He balanced there for about ten seconds before swinging back down and dismounting with a simple somersault.
“Wow.” She gaped at him, and he laughed as he walked back over to her and picked up his backpack.
He shouldered the bag and met her gaze, eyes twinkling. “Impressive enough?”
“Eli Black, you are quite honestly the hottest guy I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
He grabbed her hand, lust lighting his eyes. “Come on. Our picnic spot’s not far away.”
After a few minutes of walking, the track branched, and he took a left. Within seconds, a building appeared through the trees.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“It’s a DOC lodge.” The Department of Conservation owned similar self-contained buildings across the country, which could be rented for a small fee. “Don’t worry, it’s locked, and there’s nobody there.” He led her past the lodge and across the grassy clearing in front of it. A fringe of trees lined it, and through them she could see a couple of smaller glades beyond that, still grassy, bright in the sunlight.
He led her through the trees and stopped. “What do you think?”
She turned in a circle. The clearing was about twenty feet across, and the grass was dry and short. It couldn’t be seen from the main track, and when she listened, the only sounds were the birds in the trees and the rustle of leaves in the breeze.
“It’s lovely,” she said, lowering her lashes as he smiled.
He slid the backpack off his shoulder, unclipped it, and pulled out a blanket, which he spread across the grass. They sat, cross-legged, facing each other, and he retrieved the bottle of wine and two plastic cups and poured them both a glass.
“Cheers,” he said, knocking his cup against hers.
“Cheers.” She sipped her wine. His eyes were hot and lusty, and she shivered, although the sun was warm across the grass. Would he really want to have sex here? Out in the open, where anyone could walk past?
He delved into the backpack and pulled out some rolls and fruit he’d pilfered from the tent at the set. “There’s chocolate as well,” he promised. “I won’t get it out yet, in case it melts.”
She smiled. “This is lovely. Thank you, Eli.” She helped herself to a chicken roll, surprisingly hungry after their walk.
“No worries.” He ferreted in the bag and pulled out a packet of something, raised an eyebrow, and threw it down next to the bottle of wine. “Just in case.” It was a pack of condoms.
“A whole pack?”
“I like to come prepared. So to speak.”
She studied him as they ate and he fiddled with the radio. Why had he gone to all this trouble? Obviously, he’d seen her on the phone, getting upset. But her happiness wasn’t his responsibility. She had to sort out her own problems. The phone call with her mother came flooding back, and her spirits sank a little. She shouldn’t take consolation in Eli. He was sweet and thoughtful, but she mustn’t let her brain convince her it meant anything. In three weeks they were going their separate ways, and she’d probably never see him again. The thought made her sad.
Either he didn’t notice or he didn’t comment, singing as The Trammps “Disco Inferno” came on, followed by Barry White’s “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe.” After a third song came on, he said, “I think the radio’s transported us into the seventies.” Laughing, they cleared the food away, and Eli stretched out on his side, propping his head with a hand, while Tabby lay on her back and looked up at the canopy of leaves above her.
He moved a bit closer to her, so their bodies were just touching, and tickled her face with a piece of grass.
“Men have done that to women since time immemorial,” she said, “and it’s always been irritating.”
He threw it away. “I’ll use my lips instead.” And he covered her face in tiny, light kisses across her forehead, eyelids, nose, cheeks, and finally down to her mouth.
He brushed her lips with his tongue and she opened her mouth to let him kiss her more deeply. He did so for a while and then sat up. Grabbing his T-shirt by the back of the neck, he pulled it off.
She raised an eyebrow.
“I’m getting hot,” he explained, throwing it to one side. He lay next to her, his head propped on an elbow, and traced light fingers down her shirt. When he reached the bottom button, he popped it skillfully with one hand. She met his gaze, her lips curving at his naughty smile. He moved his hand up and released all the buttons one by one, pushing her shirt aside to reveal her lacy, cream-colored bra.
“Yum,” he said.
She sat up to let him slide the shirt off, and was going to lie down when he put a hand on her back, keeping her there. He unclipped her bra strap, removing that garment, too, before letting her lie down.
“This feels wicked,” she said, self-conscious lying there topless, burning under his heated gaze.
“Absolutely it is. You are a sinful woman.” He cleared his throat. “Okay, so I have a bit of an apology to make.”
“Oh?”
“I think I rather neglected your breasts last time we had sex.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes.” He moved even closer to her, hooked a leg over hers, and trailed a finger down between them. Tabby’s heart pounded as he surveyed them with interest. “They’re incredibly beautiful, and they deserve much more attention than I’ve been giving them. So I’m going to apologize to them for a little while.”
Tabby’s breath caught in her throat as his warm mouth closed over a nipple, and she slipped her hand through his hair. He was so gorgeous, so kind and loving. She’d wanted the physical comfort of his warm body against hers, but his movie-style romance made her ache. If only…
Don’t go there, Tabby.
She bit her lip as tears stung her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry in front of him. She really wasn’t.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to concentrate on her body rather than her emotions. Men supposedly separated the two all the time. How difficult could it be?
With one hand, Eli traced patterns across her upper body. He circled one breast and occasionally warmed it in his palm and brushed her nipple with his thumb. Meanwhile, his tongue trailed over the swell of her other breast before he took her nipple into his mouth and sucked. Every now and again, he grazed the end with his teeth and then flicked it with his tongue. She sighed and felt him chuckle, and he raised his head to look at her, and pressed kisses on her cheeks.
“Sorry sweetheart,” he said, his deep voice sending shivers through her. “Am I distracting you?”
“Just a little.”
“Good.” He rolled to one side and pushed himself to his feet, unzipped his jeans, and kicked them off with his boxers, revealing a rather impressive erection.
“Whoa.”
He gave her a
wry look, knelt by her side, and starting unbuttoning her jeans, helping her slide them off. When she lay naked, he stretched out next to her again and kissed her while he explored with his fingers.
“Hmm.” He lifted his head and looked into her eyes as he slid his fingers into her core, which was slick with moisture. “Very nice.”
She caught her breath as he began to stroke her. “Eli…”
He kissed her lazily. “Mm?”
“I need you inside of me,” she said.
He raised his head again and appeared to consider her proposal. “Mm…I don’t think so.” He started to kiss down her body. “Not yet, anyway.” He kissed lower, dipping his tongue in her navel, and then brushed her pubic hair with his lips.
“Ah…” She sat up, bringing up her knees, and he moved back, surprised. She swallowed. “I…ah…”
“What is it?”
“Um…It’s just…I don’t like it much.”
“Oh?” He raised his eyebrows. “May I ask why?”
Her cheeks burned. Damn it. How could she explain to him that Simon had always treated oral sex as if he were doing her favor, growing impatient if the minutes ticked by and she didn’t come? He’d never said anything, but usually after about five or ten minutes, during which time she grew more and more tense as she became aware he was waiting for her, he would give up.
“Huh.” Eli tipped his head to one side in the way she was beginning to realize was his thoughtful mode. “Tabbs, how many guys have you been with?”
“That’s a bit personal.” Her cheeks must’ve been fire-engine red, judging by the heat in them. He raised both eyebrows, waiting, and she looked away. “One.”
“Yeah. I figured. That dickhead’s got a lot to answer for.” He put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her onto her back. “Now.” He kissed her nose. “Tabatha.”
“Yes, Elijah?”
He grinned, and he had such a sexy smile, with the dinky gap in his straight teeth, that she just melted. “Now, Tabatha, I’m going to go down on you, and I’m going to enjoy myself for, perhaps…” He looked at his watch. “An hour and a half? And honey, if I can’t make you come by then, maybe I need to rethink my abilities.”
“An hour and a half?” She pushed herself onto her elbows and stared at him, wide-eyed. “Geez, Eli. You can’t…I mean you wouldn’t…”
“I would.” He kissed her abdomen, then her stomach, and then moved over her, pushing open her legs and settling himself on the blanket between them. He kissed her pubic hair, raised his head, and gestured toward the trees. “Lie back and count leaves.”
“I…Oh.” She gasped as he slipped his warm tongue into her, and her head dropped back as she inhaled and inhaled, forgetting how to breathe out.
He lifted his head again and gave her a mock stern look. “Lie down.”
So she did. He curved his arms around her thighs and rested his hands on her stomach. And then he lowered his head.
Chapter Eleven
Feeling wicked and decadent, lying naked in the warm sunshine with Eli’s tongue buried inside her, Tabby looked up at the leaves that were beginning to turn gold and red. She marveled at how he always seemed to make her feel better. He aroused her slowly, gently, licking, sucking, and trying different pressures, sometimes making her giggle and squirm, then eliciting soft sighs from her as he found her sweet spot. He gave appreciative murmurs from time to time, and before long she forgot about being self-conscious, forgot how long had passed, forgot about everything except the warmth of his mouth and the sensations rising in her body.
After a while, his fingers joined his tongue, and as a light breeze swept across them, making her nipples tighten, Tabby began to realize that maybe it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that she’d take the whole hour and a half to reach orgasm.
He stroked her, slid his fingers inside her, and she inhaled, tightening around them. She slipped her hand into his hair, closing her eyes for the first time, her whole attention focusing on the growing sensitivity of her swollen, moist skin as he continued to arouse her relentlessly.
“Eli…” she whispered, and he stroked the outside of her thigh with his other hand as his fingers slid in and out of her, and his tongue continued to brush gently. “Oh God…”
He grazed the most sensitive part with his teeth, and she moaned and then cried out as he sucked firmly. She held her breath as her muscles tightened in a concentrated whoosh of sensation, and then her orgasm exploded inside her. She clenched her hand in his hair as wave after wave of exquisite sensation rolled over her, leaving her limp and exhausted, as spent as if she’d gone for a five-mile run.
Eyes still closed, she rested an arm across them and tried to calm her hammering heart with deep breaths. He moved away, and she heard a rustle of paper.
“Mm, chocolate,” she said.
He chuckled, and a shadow fell over her. A heavy weight pressed her into the grass. “Not yet, sweetheart. That was just an appetizer. We have the main course before dessert.”
Before she could protest, or say anything in fact, he pushed up her knees and slid inside her. She cried out, her eyes flying open.
“What?” he said innocently, his eyes wide. He bent his head and kissed her, and she smelled her arousal on his lips.
Lazy and sated, she waited for him to get comfortable on top of her, bearing his weight on elbows and knees. “Help yourself. But don’t get upset if I doze off.”
He laughed at that, moving his hips so he ground against her. He looked at his watch. “We’ve still got well over an hour before we have to leave.” He slid out of her, then back in again. “Plenty of time for another orgasm.”
“Oh, I couldn’t.”
He kissed her neck. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
He licked around her ear. “We’ll see.”
“Honestly, Eli. I’m quite happy just lying here.” And she was. She was in heaven. She rested her hands on his chest, and couldn’t resist flicking his nipples with her fingers.
He took her left wrist in his hand, then her right in his other hand, and pinned them above her head. “I have amazing stamina,” he informed her, continuing to move inside her. “And while I’m waiting, I’m going to sing to you.” The song had just changed on the radio. She didn’t know the new one, but he began to sing the words to her, interjecting each line with a kiss. It was an awful love ballad, full of corny rhymes like “moon,” “dune,” and “spoon.”
“That’s terrible.” But his deep voice aroused her as much as his gentle thrusts, and she was suddenly unable to discount the possibility of another orgasm in the near future.
His smile faded as his eyes met hers. She’d never thought blue eyes could be hot, but his were, like the center of a flame, filled with passion and desire. He pushed himself up on his hands, and she wrapped her legs around him as he began to move more urgently inside her. For the first time, she saw his self-control begin to slip as he closed his eyes.
The sun shone through the dappled leaves, outlining his dark hair with a golden halo, and a blissful feeling started to spread through her. She slid her hands up his chest and dug her fingers into his hard muscles as he thrust harder and faster. And although she’d thought she couldn’t possibly come again in such a short time, the orgasm made her squeal with its intensity, and Eli pushed deep within her, shuddering as his own climax rocketed through him.
Afterward, he lay beside her and pulled her to him as the radio continued to play terrible seventies love songs. He hummed along and sounded happy, but even though Tabby felt sated, the warm glow in her stomach was beginning to worry her. She was kidding herself if she thought this was going to be the last time they made love. He was almost certainly going to ask her again, and she was going to say yes. Why deny it? She wanted him, enjoyed being with him, and she wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to spend more time together.
Three weeks, Tabby. She was well aware of the expiration date stamp on this relationship. Whatever else
happened over the next three weeks, they were going to have to say good-bye at the end.
She ignored the unease that settled over her at that thought and nuzzled his neck, feeling his fingers skate down her spine in response. Just think about today and make the most of it. Let tomorrow take care of itself.
…
“What are you doing?”
Eli kept his gaze on the soccer ball, counting as he played keepie-uppie, now up to forty-seven taps of the ball with his knees and feet without dropping it. “Forty-eight…forty-nine—is this a trick question?—fifty.”
It had been almost a week since their tryst in the woods, and the filming on location was nearly over. Everyone was working at a frantic pace, trying to finish the scenes before they returned to Wellington, which was why Eli and Mick were in full costume, waiting for their call to camera.
“I don’t mean with the soccer ball.” Mick lay on the grass, arms behind his head. “I mean with Tabby.”
“Apart from the obvious? Fifty-four…fifty-five…”
“You’re trying to tell me it’s just sex?”
Eli glanced at him, nearly missed the ball, and knocked it up with his foot at the last moment. “Stop trying to distract me. Tabbs and I are having fun, that’s all. Fifty-nine…sixty.”
Mick snorted. “I’ve seen the way you look at her.”
“She’s gorgeous, Mick. I fancy the pants off her. End of discussion. Sixty-eight…sixty-nine.”
“Eli, you don’t look at her like you fancy her. You look at her like you want to put your cloak over a puddle for her.”
“I’m not putting my new jacket in a puddle for anyone. Seventy-seven…seventy-eight…seventy-nine.”
“It’s obvious you love her.”
The ball bounced on the grass. He caught it and glared at the guy on the ground. “What the hell? I was one off eighty—that’s a personal best.”
Mick sat up, making himself comfortable as he scrutinized Eli. “Huh. I was just guessing.”
Kiss and Make Up Page 9