“I couldn’t save her,” he finally said.
Behind his dark sunglasses I could not see Eli’s eyes, but tears were welling up in the corners of my own. This partial revelation had explained so much. We drove not saying a word. I tried to be there for him, to show him I cared, but I could tell he did not wish to tell me more. Maybe later.
We entered a tunnel through one of the mountains and the radio stopped working, which made me even more painfully aware of the long gap in our conversation.
Eli turned onto an even steeper and more winding road. We drove to the top of a mountain all covered with green trees. The road kept going on the other side of the mountain, winding down into a valley. Around a particularly sharp curve, the road came to a dead end. Eli stopped the SUV in front of an elaborate wrought-iron gate that reminded me of the main entrance to the Rutherford estate back in Shiloh.
“Home away from home,” Eli muttered. Then he put the SUV in drive and mashed the gas. We rammed the gate, hard, metal scraping metal. The gate was bent but not broken. Eli backed up several feet, then rammed it even harder. The gate burst loose, swinging wildly from its hinges. Eli never even slowed down.
“Jesus,” I said. “A little warning would be nice.”
“Consider yourself warned,” Eli said.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Maurice is going to be so ticked at you. And I am NOT taking the blame for this one.”
Eli turned to me and grinned. “One-oh-three Chestnut Avenue.”
“Let me guess. Maurice’s address?”
“Maurice’s address.”
So Eli was planning to pay back Maurice, too. I admired Eli’s intentions, but they seemed a bit on the optimistic side. If we got caught, he would never be able to repay Maurice and the other innocent bystanders we had “borrowed” from.
We drove for what felt like a long time, then crested another hill, and then I saw the lake. Its crystal-blue water filled the deep valley below, lapping the base of a series of dramatic rocky cliffs. Mountains ringed the lake on all sides. Yes indeed, this was one secluded getaway spot—and the perfect hiding place for my mother, if she was here.
At the edge of the lake was a chateau built all of stone. To me, it resembled a European castle. It was three stories tall, with large windows and a steep roof. The sight of it took my breath away.
“God,” I said. “It’s beautiful.”
Eli snorted. “Looks can be deceiving,” he said. “Just look at your mother. Hell, look at you, for that matter. A little brat in a woman’s body.”
My feelings were hurt until Eli grinned, and I realized he was joking. He reached over and brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes. Then he tucked the strand behind my ear, and his hand cupped the back of my neck. He squeezed, and it felt so warm and nice.
“Thank you for taking this journey with me, Avery. There is no way I could have done any of this without you.”
“I know,” I smiled. “Just don’t forget me when you’re back on top.”
“Never,” he said, and I believed him with all my heart.
We parked in a well-concealed spot behind some brush and scrubby trees a few hundred yards up the road, and approached the chateau on foot. Overgrown forest lined the drive leading up to the chateau, and we hugged the shadows in case anyone was watching from one of the top-floor windows.
When we were close enough we jogged the rest of the way up the steps, right to the front door. Eli turned the knob, and to his surprise the door opened. It creaked as it swung wide, revealing the faded glory of the Rutherford clan’s forgotten chateau. We stepped inside a darkly cavernous room with a double staircase near the back wall. Life-sized murals adorned the walls. Some of the men bore a striking resemblance to Eli. The room was filled with the kind of fancy and delicate-looking antique furniture that no one in their right mind would want to use.
“This place gives me the creeps,” I said.
Eli shushed me. “We’ll start at the bottom and work our way up,” he whispered.
Eli was obviously excited, striding across the floor with a real sense of purpose. But I had a feeling we would not find what we were looking for. To me, it looked like no one had visited the lake home in months. Maybe years. But I went along with him, like a good girl.
Eli found a flashlight in a hall closet, then led me to a hidden stairwell down to the basement. The bomb shelter door had been left ajar. Eli flicked on the flashlight, the beam casting a slant of yellow light in the darkness.
The bomb shelter was seriously creepy. I wanted to turn around right then, but Eli walked into the darkened room, shining his light this way and that. It was like a regular living room from a home in the 1960s, with brightly colored furniture and shag carpeting, but the walls were lined with gallon cans of every kind of preserved food you could imagine. I nearly gagged when I saw the gallon of potted meat. It was all so weird. I couldn’t imagine being stuck in this place, eating all that old food. I might have to take my chances with the bomb.
“Nothing’s changed since I was a kid,” Eli said.
Eli made a sweep of the bomb-shelter living room, then the kitchen and three modest bedrooms. I trailed close behind, trying not to bump into things.
“Let’s check the other floors,” he said.
We did. We saw a tasteful parlor and a library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. I pulled out one of the books, and its pages crumbled in my fingers.
The dining room was big as a banquet hall, and there was a fully stocked kitchen, but no recent signs of human presence.
Leaving behind the ground level, we ascended the staircase to the second and third floors, entering the bedrooms one by one, with their overstuffed beds, chests-of-drawers of dark and rich-smelling wood. We found miscellaneous items of furniture that varied from one room to the next, but still no evidence that a real-live person had occupied any of these rooms in years. The entire chateau was like a very expensive an exquisitely preserved dollhouse.
Eli and I came to the second-to-last door. Eli paused in front of the door, then skipped it and entered the final room at the end of the hall. His decision to bypass the door puzzled me, but I said nothing. We walked inside a bedroom that was larger and more opulent than all the rest. This was clearly the master suite. Still, though, it was deserted.
As we left, Eli shut the door behind him, then turned to face the door he had passed over moments before. Something was holding him back. I placed my hand on his shoulder and felt him trembling ever so faintly. “What is it, Eli?” I asked.
“My mother’s room,” he said, not moving.
“Let me,” I said. “I’ll go in. You stay here.”
Eli took a deep breath, but he didn’t step aside. Instead, he opened the door and walked in, electing to confront his demons. Late-afternoon sunlight was shafting through a west-facing window, illuminating the small but tasteful room. There was a canopy bed and a small wooden desk, and a rocking chair beside a window overlooking the lake. I imagined Eli as a small child being rocked to sleep by his mother.
“We searched the whole house,” Eli said. “There’s nowhere else. I … I need to think.”
“There, there,” I said, guiding Eli to sit on the edge of the bed. His body seemed drained of its power, and he sat without protest. I could tell his mind was torn between two conflicting thoughts—of my mother’s whereabouts, and memories of his own mother, long dead.
“She was very beautiful, you know,” he said. “I remember her face so clearly—her smile, the way she laughed. I was always doing little things to make her smile. When she died it’s like a piece of me died, too.”
I was sitting next to Eli on his mother’s bed. I hugged his waist, and he held me in his arms. I looked up and saw there were tears in his eyes. I wiped one from his cheek. For some reason, my simple action made him smile through his sadness. He touched my forehead, brushing my hair out of my eyes just as he had done earlier in the truck, again tucking the loose strand behind my ear. I loved the gentl
e touch of Eli’s fingertips.
“When I look at you, sometimes I think of her,” he said. “You are lovely, just like she was.”
Eli’s touch and his words made me love him more than ever. They were like a magnet drawing us closer. Eli held my face in his hands as we gazed into each other’s eyes.
“I love you, Avery,” he said.
Eli leaned in and lightly kissed my forehead. I craned my neck, yearning for more, and I felt his kiss land softly on my cheek. My eyes closed as I breathed in his familiar scent, my lips curling into a smile. Then his mouth moved from my cheek, and I felt him next to my mouth, his lips brushing my lips, grazing them softly, gently. His lips moved slowly and lightly, like a man tasting forbidden fruit. Eli’s hands explored my hips.
“I tried to ignore my feelings for you, but I can’t. Not any longer,” he said.
It might have been a sin, a father seeking comfort in his only daughter, but no god would strike us down for the love we shared. My lips parted slightly, and I could taste him. It only made me hungry for more. Eli dipped his tongue between my lips, filling me with excitement. The way his tongue fell in and out of my mouth, I felt a stirring between my legs and a need to feel something more inside my mouth. I wanted to taste Eli’s manhood, to feel him sliding between my lips and dominating my mouth as I swallowed every delectable inch of him. Just thinking about it made me wet.
I pushed Eli away. “I have a present for you,” I said with a girlish grin.
Eli’s eyes widened with surprise as I fell to my knees, bowing before him. I ran my hands up and down his thighs, then over his crotch, touching the hard bump that was already forming there. I fumbled with the button of Eli’s jeans, greedy for his cock. Eli impatiently unsnapped the button as I tugged at the zipper, exposing Eli’s underwear. It was bulging beyond belief, barely containing Eli’s manhood.
He reached into his drawers, and the next thing I knew, he had pulled out the most magnificent cock I had ever seen. It was semi-hard and already as big around as my arm. And long. That kind of girth, I wasn’t sure if it would even fit between my lips. My eyes widened with terror, even as I licked my lips, my mouth watering with anticipation.
Even if I got him into my mouth, my biggest fear was whether he would fit where I ultimately wanted him to fill me the most.
I wrapped both of my hands around his manhood, my small fingers not quite reaching all the way around his girth. I stroked him as he grew before my eyes. My lips kissed the tip, my tongue lapping the swollen head, then licking down his long, meaty shaft. He was salty and delicious, and my tongue ran up the shaft and back to the tip as I lapped him up.
Eli groaned with pleasure. With my hands gripping his shaft, I playfully nibbled his tip, then opened as wide as I could to guide it between my lips, hoping he didn’t mind the teeth. I savored the feeling of his throbbing head as it filled up my mouth, easing farther in. The way his cock dominated me, I couldn’t think of anything beside my desire to suck him off and drink down his cum.
My head bobbed on Eli’s cock, my hands and lips running up and down his shaft. Eli let out a ragged moan.
“Fuck, Avery,” he said. “This feels so good.”
I needed to come up for air. I massaged Eli’s balls as I took a deep breath, my spit mingling with Eli’s precum and dribbling down my chin. I wiped off my chin and used the wetness as lube as I stroked his cock.
This was as good a time as any. I’d been harboring a secret.
“Eli?” I said, my hands pumping up and down on his rock-hard rod.
Eli grunted. His eyes were closed, and he was leaning back on his arms. His body was rocking to the rhythm of my hands as I drew him closer and closer to completion.
“Eli,” I repeated. “I have to tell you something. You’re not going to like it.”
He grunted, still ignoring me.
“Eli! I’m the one who killed Mama.”
“What?”
I kept jacking him off, even as I spoke again. “I killed Mama. I killed her.”
“That’s not funny,” he said.
I squeezed his dick as hard as I could, just to get his attention. “This isn’t a joke,” I said. “You and I are meant to be together. Can’t you see that? She was in our way and I took care of it because I knew you wouldn’t.”
“You’re not serious.”
Eli’s eyes were most certainly open now. He was staring at me with shock and disbelief. I smiled slyly and licked the tip of his cock.
“I most certainly am,” I said.
“You killed my wife?” His voice was rising with anger. “You killed your own mother? How could you! But … but what about my money?”
“I have no idea,” I said. “I didn’t take the money.”
Fury flashed in Eli’s eyes. He leaped from the bed, and I stumbled backward onto my knees. With that untamed look in his eyes, I was afraid he might kill me.
“You crazy little bitch,” Eli shouted. “You goddamned crazy little brat.”
Eli slapped me across the cheek and I glared at him. My skin stung, but I refused to cry. Eli’s cock was swinging between his legs only inches from my face. It was mesmerizing to me, like a hypnotist’s swaying clock. Fear and desire mingled, only heightening my arousal.
“This is what you like, huh?” Eli shouted, grabbing his dick just above the balls. “You want some dick?”
Eli swung his manhood and it smacked my cheek. He beat my face with its firmness, hitting me over and over. I loved every second of it. “Punish me, Daddy,” I said. “I’ve been bad. Real bad.”
“You crazy fucking brat! I should kill you for what you did.”
Eli grabbed my hair and held my head. I was ready for him to strangle me, and I knew I deserved it.
Instead, Eli thrust his cock into my mouth. It caught me by surprise, and I gagged as he pushed against the back of my throat. “That’s right,” Eli said. “You’re gonna choke on my dick.”
My mouth was so full I couldn’t breathe, and I panicked, my arms flailing at my sides as Eli mercilessly fucked my face. I remembered to breathe through my nose, and then I relaxed my throat. I felt Eli push every inch inside of me. I gagged on his cock as he groaned, enjoying the tightness of my throat. My hands were cupping the hard little muscles of his butt as I tried to pull him even deeper than was humanly possible.
If Eli was really going to kill me, this was certainly a unique way to go.
I opened my eyes and saw that Eli was staring at me. He grabbed me by the ears and peered deep into my eyes. Eli began to speak. Every word was punctuated by the ruthless movement of his cock ramming into my mouth.
“Don’t! You! Ever! Do! That! Again!”
The last thrust was more brutal than any before. I felt Eli’s muscles tighten, and then he let out a savage growl as he shot his seed. It was wet and warm as it ran down my throat, and it tasted salty as some of it ran through my lips and drizzled my chin.
Eli pulled his cock out of my mouth and aimed at my face, painting me with his white, sticky cream. I felt so naughty and wicked I couldn’t help but grin. I had sucked off my own stepfather, and he loved it as much as I did.
To my surprise, Eli seemed to have forgotten why he was so mad in the first place. I figured he would have a million questions for me as soon as his erection was gone, but instead he slumped backward onto his mother’s bed and just sighed contentedly.
By now my panties were soaking wet, my pussy aching for Eli’s cock. I wondered how long it would take before Eli would be ready to return the favor. I licked my lips and used my fingers to wipe Eli’s delicious cum into my mouth, hungry to drink down as much of it as I could.
Then I heard the helicopter. When I glanced out the window, my body froze with fear.
6.
“Fuck,” Eli muttered. “How the hell did they find us here?”
A police helicopter was circling in the air above the chateau. Two searchlights beamed down from the helicopter, shining through the dusk. Eli lift
ed back the curtain to look at the driveway, and he cursed again. “The place is swarming with cops. Fuck! We have to think fast. Fuck!”
I looked down at the dark blue surface of the lake three stories below. The lake was separated from the chateau by a narrow walkway. “Eli, how deep is the water?”
“Deep,” he said.
“We can jump,” I said. “Look! I bet we can jump far enough to land in the water.”
Eli looked down, then looked at me, then returned his gaze to the surface of the lake. “Too risky,” he said. “There must be some other way out of here.”
I watched as one police car after the other drove up and parked. Officers were stepping out of their vehicles. Even in the shadows I could see their guns were drawn as the officers made their way to the door.
“You’re the expert,” I said. “But you better think fast.”
“Fuck,” Eli muttered again. Fear had significantly reduced his vocabulary. He tried the window latch, and it opened easily. All it took was a single jump, and then we’d be plummeting to possible escape. Eli’s face was full of doubt.
“I swore I would never step foot in this lake again,” he said. “I can’t lose you, too. I could never forgive myself.”
“Eli,” I said, grabbing his shoulders. “You mom’s death was not your fault. There was nothing else you could have done. But if you let us get captured in this room because you were too afraid to jump—well, then you would be to blame. We have no other choice.”
Eli looked down once more. I had no idea what he was going to do.
“Take my hand,” he said.
We clasped hands. His touch seemed to give me strength. My adrenaline was pumping so hard it overpowered my fear. When the helicopter had circled behind the house, blocking the pilot’s view of us, we climbed onto the window sill. Eli shut the window behind us so the police wouldn’t immediately know to look for us in the water.
The air was surprisingly cool, and gusts of wind nearly knocked me off balance. My toe slipped on the dusty sill and I nearly stumbled, but Eli caught me. I looked down and felt dizzy from the heights.
Alpha Billionaire Taboo Prison Break: A Contemporary Romance Page 4