by Maree Green
My hands scrambled to do the same to him, my need growing to the point of hysteria. Ripping his shirt over his head, I went straight for the button on his jeans, while he flicked the clasp on my bra. As the last of our clothes fell to the floor, Eli grabbed me and pushed me to the bed, climbing over the top of me, his mouth taking mine with greed as he pushed my legs apart. But I had other ideas. I wanted to taste him too.
Wriggling underneath him, I pushed at his body until he succumbed and flopped onto his back, groaning as I straddled his hips. Leaning down to kiss him, I slid my tongue inside, the same time I rubbed my pussy over his straining cock.
“Fuck, Jess,” he grunted, his hands grabbing at my hips, trying to still my movements.
But I wasn’t ready to stop. Licking my way down his neck, I sucked at the spot where his neck and shoulder met, tasting the sweet spiciness that was purely Eli. And then I slowly worked my way down.
Running my tongue over his nipple, I pressed my chest against his cock, letting it slide between my boobs as I writhed on top of him. When I reached his belly button, I felt him strain underneath me, his cock twitching with need, mere millimeters away from my lapping tongue.
With my hands on the bed on either side of him, I slowly ran my tongue over the length of him, from the base of his cock, to the tip, swirling the tip of my tongue around the end of his broad head. I wanted to touch him, clasp my hand around his thick shaft and feel the hardness of it as I moved it up and down. But I took my time, teasing him, licking as much of his cock as I could get to.
“You’ve got thirty seconds, Jess,” he grunted. “That’s all I’m going to be able to take. Then you’re mine.”
Fleetingly, I wondered if I could tell him no, but as his body tensed underneath me, I knew I had no chance of stopping him if he decided my time was up. Taking the opportunity while I had it, I grabbed a hold of his cock with my hand and lightly squeezed as I slowly sucked all I could fit of him into my mouth.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” he roared, his whole body arching, veins straining with tension.
Then I began to work him, my hand and mouth finding a nice, steady rhythm, my tongue stroking, circling the tip, before I took him deeper, again and again. I watched him as I pleasured him, his head lifting to gaze down at me, desperation mixed with insanity burning in the depths of his eyes, before he dropped it back to the pillow, his chest rising and falling, fast and deep.
His cock twitched in my mouth, the length of him growing harder again, preparing to take his climax. I reveled in it, stroking him faster, sucking him harder, but then I was moving, my body twisting, falling, and Eli was pushing at me, pressing me into the mattress, his cock sliding against the inside of my thigh. Opening my legs wider, I tilted my hips, thrusting higher, my body searching for a way to have him inside me.
As Eli pinned my hands to the bed beside my head, he took my mouth with his own, scorching me, biting at my lips, growling his need for me. “I meant what I said the last time I had you like this, Jess. If we’re going to do this, I want you on birth control, because I want to come inside you. I want to know that you can feel where I’ve been. I want you to be reminded of me every time you move and you can feel my come dripping from your pussy.”
My head swam, my body coiled so tight I felt ready to explode. “I’m already on birth control,” I choked out. “And you know my results were clean,” I added, reminding him of the tests that had been included with the drug test.
“Fuck,” he grunted. “I need you so fucking much. Can I have you like this, Jess? I promise I’m clean. I need to feel you. I need to come inside you.”
As his cock slid over my clit, I gasped, the instant tremor that came before a climax shocking me into a state of desperation. “Oh my God, Eli,” I choked. “I’m going to come.”
Without another word, Eli slammed into me, only thrusting a few times before he roared and I screamed. And as stars exploded in the sky, I let myself believe it was going to work. Because I honestly didn’t know what would happen to me if it didn’t. I wasn’t sure I’d actually survive.
Chapter 44
Eli
Hands clutching hers, I pressed my lips to her neck and inhaled, desperately trying to catch my breath. Inside her, my cock twitched, defiant and so very unwilling to leave the sanctuary he now wished to reside in for the rest of his life. Somewhere inside me, a voice was telling me I’d just fucked up and I needed to fix it right now, but I shoved it down, burying it deep, trying to just let the scent of her reassure me into calm.
Underneath me, Jess let out a little moan, her breath racing as her hands tightened on mine. Like me, her body was still reacting to her orgasm, her pussy occasionally clenching around my cock as we both slowly came down.
When I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer, I shifted, slowly withdrawing until I could roll onto my back beside her. “Holy fuck.” It was all I had. I was in a state of confusion and shock and awe. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing, or where my head was at.
Jess let out a long, slow breath. “Uh-huh.”
I chuckled at the dazed sound. She seemed just as bewildered as I was. “Are you all right?”
She rolled onto her side and smirked at me. “As much as I love the idea of your come dripping from me all day,” she said, her words impossibly making my dick twitch with interest. “I need to pee.”
Leaning over, she kissed me sweetly, before climbing from the bed and slipping out the door, giving me my first chance to appreciate her naked ass from a distance. As she disappeared from view, I drew in a long, deep breath, trying to keep my thoughts from trying to work out where the hell I went from here. I knew I couldn’t push her away again. Not only would that be cruel, I just didn’t have the strength to do it anymore. I wanted her too fucking much.
Pulling the sheet over my lower half, I stretched my body out, sliding my hands under my head as I waited for her to come back. Letting my mind wander back to her kitchen rant, I considered the words she’d used, scrutinizing them analytically—minus the emotion that had been running rampant when she’d said them. There wasn’t a single thing she said that I disputed. I didn’t doubt that she’d be able to study her course load and allow me to get on with mine. It was my ability I was skeptical about. I felt like, now the door had been opened, I could easily just run amok like a kid in a candy store, having her whenever I wanted, however often I wanted. And I had three years’ worth of tension I could easily unleash on her. If I didn’t get myself under some sort of control now, I was going to fuck this up.
As Jess swept back in through the doorway, she grinned before jumping on the bed, landing on her belly beside me, but I didn’t miss the anxiety that had been on her brow when she’d walked in. I was sure she was worried about what she might find. Not that I could blame her.
“All right,” she said, running her hand over my stomach. “Time out on the play time. I was serious about what I said downstairs. Failing is not an option for either of us, so, do you have any work you need to get done today? If you do, I’m going to kick your ass out of my bed.”
The little worrying man in the back of my head quieted a fraction with her words. “I actually don’t have anything I need to do today. My day is free,” I said, running my fingers through the curls that were falling over her face. “That’s why I came to see you in the first place. What about you?”
She bit her lip, suddenly looking a little guilty. “I’m actually a little ahead of my course load.”
The way she said it made me narrow my eyes. There was something she was hiding. “How far ahead?”
“Uh . . . a bit,” she said, giving me an apologetic smile. “Like maybe a lot.”
Moving swiftly, I rolled, taking her with me until I had her pinned under my hands. “Explain a lot.”
She let out a full laugh then, her eyes shining happily. It was the most beautiful I’d ever seen her. It made something inside my chest contract, and I wasn’t sure if it was pleasure or pain.
I recoiled a little. “How the hell did you manage that?”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “Summer semesters in my freshman and sophomore years. And I’ve been trying to do eighteen credits a semester. I was hoping to graduate early, but I didn’t get there in the end.”
Drawing in a deep breath, I hummed, narrowing my eyes suspiciously. “Now I’m not so sure you can be trusted,” I mumbled, my lips descending toward her neck. “Who’s to say you’re not going to be annoying me with all this free time you have on your hands.”
As I kissed her neck, she arched into me. “Because I want you to succeed just as much as you do,” she breathed, her hands sliding over my back. “I want to make you happy, Eli, and I know how hard you’ve worked to get to where you are. The last thing I want to do is fuck that up for you.”
“What if it’s me I have to worry about?” I murmured against her skin. “What if I see you with all this free time, and I just want to play?”
Her fingers twisted in my hair, pulling me harder against her, her breath quickly growing shaky. Underneath me, she parted her legs, my hips falling into place between them. I had no idea how my cock could possibly get hard again so quickly, but he was.
“Jess,” I said, lowering myself down onto my forearms, “I’m really trying to be open to this, but my track record isn’t great, baby. I fucked things up with Anna because she wanted more than I could give her. I don’t want to do the same to you. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Reaching up, she ran her thumb over my cheek. “I get it, Eli. I really do. I was fine with Wyatt’s work load. That didn’t bother me at all. What I didn’t agree with was his decision to meet Zac instead of me when we hadn’t seen each other for a week. Or that we’d be together and then he’d just leave like I was some sort of one-night stand or something. Or that he’d choose to go to a friend’s party-for-the-sake-of-a-party instead of Mom’s birthday dinner. I don’t need my boyfriend to go everywhere I go, but I would like him to show me that I am important to him.”
Lowering my mouth to hers, I brushed my lips against her full ones. “Well, that’s where I’m different, Jess. Because if I consider you mine, I’ll be there for you whenever you need me to, and then probably longer again. In fact,” I said, thrusting my hips into hers, “you’ll probably be telling me to fuck off.”
As she shook her head, her teeth biting down on my lip, she made a little sound of disagreement. “Never.”
Then I would never leave.
Chapter 45
Jess
With my coffee mug clasped in both hands, I leaned against the kitchen counter and gazed out the window. Ever since Eli had left first thing this morning, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. Or the number of times he’d taken me the night before. I’d seriously never had sex more than once in a night. It was a sad fact, but true. Up until now, I hadn’t thought about how strange that actually was. But now I knew what it could be like when both of you were as equally attracted to each other, and it was nothing short of mind-blowing. I felt like I was floating on cloud nine.
“Oh my God,” Emmy said, shuffling into the kitchen. “I’d ask what you were smiling about, but I have a pretty good idea.”
I smirked as I watched her fill a mug from the coffeepot, but I couldn’t help the slight blush that heated my cheeks. I’d be stupid to think she wouldn’t have heard us last night. The only reason I didn’t feel bad was the fact that we’d gone to sleep by midnight because Eli needed to be up early. Well, that and the fact that I’d lost count of the number of times I’d heard her and Aiden going at it over the last six months. I had a lot of payback to dish out yet.
As she slid her butt up onto the counter, she grinned. “So where is your sex god this morning?”
I inhaled slowly, feeling all the little endorphins scatter throughout my body. “He has a job interview at Studio Lawyers this morning.”
Her head cocked to the side a little as her eyes narrowed. “Aren’t they lawyers for the entertainment industry?”
My smile grew a little bigger. “They are. That’s the field Eli’s decided he wants to focus on. I think after listening to the guys talking about all the troubles they’ve had with Leighton, and the crap Josh’s had to go through with the media, it kind of sparked something inside him. It’s something he feels really passionate about.”
Emmy nodded, her eyes wide with understanding. “All I know is the guys need a good freaking lawyer to protect them once they’re out of this contract with Leighton. There has seriously been no way for them to get out of the contract they signed when they first started. It’s been a nightmare. None of them want anything close to what happened there to happen again.”
“Exactly,” I said, feeling their pain on a personal level. They were my friends, and I hated to see them being fucked over. “The shit Craig Leighton dragged them into was what made Eli consider going in that direction.” I smiled. “And now he’s got them as one of four aces up his sleeve.”
Confusion creased Emmy’s brow. “What do you mean?”
“Apparently, Eli’s been talking to them about it for a while now, and they said if he can source the best firm in the business, they’ll agree to let him represent them.”
Her gaze flickered between mine, her mind visibly working. “That’s such an amazing idea, Jess. On so many levels.”
“I know. I’m so proud of Eli. He’s been working on this for a long time. I mean, it helps him get his foot in the door with a good firm, it ensures he’s working and learning from the best lawyers in the business—because the band won’t agree to work with anyone unless Eli’s working with them—and when he’s the best in the business, the guys will know someone they can trust has their back. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
She nodded, excitement shining in her eyes. “But you said the guys were one of four aces. What are the other three?”
One side of my mouth curled up knowingly. “It’s who, Emmy. Who are the other three. And they would be The Dark Hybrid, Joshua Emerson, and Lucas Cantrell.”
Emmy’s eyes bugged. “Seriously?”
“Yep. Josh called Eli after talking with Dean and said the same thing. If he can find the best, he’d be on board for sure. And it kind of snowballed from there. Josh and Lucas are really close, and apparently, Lucas has been having a whole heap of drama with one of the studios and is ready to give it to them, and The Dark Hybrid are desperate to get out of their contract with Leighton too, so now Eli has four very attractive aces.”
“Oh my God, I’ll say. That’s crazy,” she said, shaking her head in awe.
“I know,” I said in definite agreement. “I mean, not that Eli wouldn’t be a good asset without the aces. He definitely is. He’s one of the top students in his class. But this just gives him more of an edge.”
“Hell yeah it does. I mean, I’m super excited he’s got this amazing opportunity, but I’m way more excited to know the guys are finally going to have someone they know and trust in their corner. It’s perfect.”
I beamed as I watched her excitement. I was so happy for Eli. If anyone deserved this to work out, it was him. I just hoped the firm saw the opportunity for the amazing one it was too.
Glancing at the clock, I started. “Crap. I need to get moving. I’m supposed to be meeting Amber in, like, ten minutes.”
Emmy just laughed at me as I tossed my coffee back and ran for the stairs. I would’ve yelled at her, but I laughed at her for running late more than the other way around. Quickly brushing my teeth, I grabbed my bag and jogged back down the stairs. “Later, bitch,” I said, sweeping out the door with a cheesy smile.
I tried to school my features as I made my way toward the park, but the happiness that pulsed in my veins was like a damned disease. The smile was barely containable. Eli had been like a completely different person last night. Not different from what I knew o
f him, but different with how he was toward me. I’d been so worried after the first time we’d had sex yesterday. When I’d gone to the bathroom, I wasn’t sure what I was going to come back to. Even though he hadn’t said anything, I was half expecting to find him already dressed, ready to run.
A thrill swept through my body as I thought back over the last day of my life. Eli and I had spent the majority of it in my bed, either taking advantage of each other, sleeping, eating, or just talking and laughing. It seriously was the best day I’d ever lived. But I needed to be careful. As much as I told Eli I was ready to kick his ass out of my bed if he had work to do, I also knew I was weak when it came to him. If he told me he had work but didn’t want to leave, I was almost positive I wouldn’t argue with him. And I knew that could easily be my downfall.
If this job opportunity worked out like Eli wanted it to—and I had no doubt that it would—he needed to finish his degree with the highest grades he could manage, and he’d need to ace his bar exam in July. And that was going to take some serious studying.
Following the path, I raised my face to the sun and felt the warmth kiss my skin. Good things were finally coming my way, and I’d never been readier. As my cell phone started ringing in my bag, I scooped it out and smiled at the picture of Eli flashing on the screen. I wanted to roll my eyes at the little tingle of giddiness that leapt in my chest, but I didn’t care. I liked it. Sliding my finger across the screen, I raised it to say hi, but was stopped by a voice calling my name across the path from me.
Glancing up, I felt the air around me still. Oh no. “Zac—”
Chapter 46
Eli
Sunlight flickered in through the window, the shadows of the trees casting shapes along the plush gray carpet and textured cream walls. Sitting back in my chair, I ran the tips of my fingers over the heel of my palm, watching the sharp gaze of the man sitting across from me as he tapped his pen on his desk.