by Nikki Winter
“Is going to be incredible and I can’t wait,” she snarled.
“Not. Gonna. Happen,” he snarled back.
“Oh fuck you! I’m very much single.”
“Which has been duly noted by me, the man who’s actually managed to notice that you have a head attached to your tits! They’re extraordinary tits but I still see the rest of you!”
Her eyes rolled to the ceiling. “So you’re annoyed because someone else may notice said extraordinary tits and want to spend a week with them?”
“No,” he growled. “I’m annoyed because you’re searching for what’s right in front of your face. What is it about me that seems so unattractive to you that you can’t sit and share a meal?”
She sighed. “The fact that you honestly believe you have a right to question who I do and don’t date. Eli, we kissed. A. Kiss. You grabbed a handful of ass, I briefly considered allowing you to discover what color my nipples were but aside from that, nothing happened. You wanna fume about me laughing over margaritas and a blended Italian-Argentine menu? Okay. But you’re not going to dictate my social life.”
Oh she had this all wrong. All wrong. It wasn’t just a kiss. It was a spark. Something that had put a gnawing hunger in his gut the likes of which he’d never known. He needed that hunger sated. The burning had to stop and the only satisfaction he’d find, rested between the thighs of the woman who was currently examining him as if he were the contents of a petri dish. Carmen was by no means the typical beauty and typical methods wouldn’t work here. Her intelligence and her spirit and her humor made her sexier than her physical attributes already did. She wouldn’t respond the pretty words or bouquets of flowers. Oh no, those words would get his tongue ripped out and minced whilst she attempted to shove a flower stem up his urethra, leaving him to piss petals for the rest of his life.
She only responded to one thing. Actions. And as a man who was in constant motion during his day to day life, he was all too happy to oblige her desire for more than verbal nuances and the occasional compliment on her beauty. So when he gripped her face between his hands and kissed her hard on the mouth, hard enough that their teeth clinked together, before he swept his tongue inside and sucked the very air from her lungs—that was action number one.
The second? Pulling her towards the edge of that counter, pushing her thighs apart and running his middle finger down panties that were distinctly wet to the touch. Moving back with a harsh inhale, he stared into her lust dazed face and said, “At some point you’re going to beg me to tear these off with my teeth and I will. Then I’m going to fuck you and you’ll love it. Keep running, Carmen. The harder you fight, the sweeter it’ll be when you surrender.”
Executing a military turn, Eli marched out, shoulders back, head held high. He even chose to ignore the knife that impaled the wall to his right, just mere inches from his head.
Four
“Argh! I hate him!” Carmen growled dropping into the seat across from Addison. It had been two days since her last encounter with Eli and that goddamned kiss had kept her up at night. Not necessarily because she couldn’t stop thinking about it but because she was constantly throbbing. Her overactive nether regions needed to be brought to a heel! Eli was the blame for this bullshit! He was to blame for everything!
Carmen had known from the moment he’d touched her that he would be a nuisance to her libido. This was why she’d stayed as far away from him as possible. However, that was becoming harder and harder to do now-a-days. Eli was gorgeous, he knew it. He also knew he could have women falling at his feet so when he’d come after her, she figured she was just another conquest.
He was just entirely too effortless, infallible. He unsettled her, made her squirm. Carmen had been through more than enough heartbreaks in her time to know better than to allow herself to melt around him. She hadn’t the slightest clue why he all of a sudden felt so possessive but, he could drag his magnificently formed ass out of her way. Carmen had no intentions of involving herself any deeper with him than they were at the moment. It would affect more than just the both of them if things went left. With the people they loved getting married and planning to procreate, it could only end badly.
From the first time they’d danced together she’d been well aware of Mr. Aaronson’s desire to have her under him, on top of him and bent over in ungodly positions for him. The thing of it was, she’d avoid that happening until she couldn’t anymore. In just two weeks, she’d be strolling the beautiful shores of Mexico and finding relief to the never-ending ache she’d developed. She needed to get laid; preferably to someone attractive, intelligent and interested in just a few nights of consensual filth. There was one thing standing in the way of that—her goddamn feelings for Eli.
Sleeping with him was just too risky. However, taking a chance with someone who she had no attachments to could prove to be incredibly fun. Something she’d been sorely lacking in the last few months, what with her plans to open another restaurant location. Work was beginning to take up the space she’d reserved for personal endeavors and something had to give. Why not enjoy herself in what was virtually paradise?
Addison finally blinked up from her Cuban sandwich. “Who? Mak?”
Carmen frowned. “No, not Mak. Why would I hate Mak?”
Her best friend’s lip curled before she pointed downwards at the multitude of bridal magazines before her. “Maybe because all of this is his fault.”
“This, being your upcoming nuptials?” Selena McClain questioned, slipping into another seat with a menu, her lips curved into a smile. Being that it was clear Addison’s mother was more than elated about her daughter’s engagement, she obviously saw the amusement in her child’s frustration.
The news of Addison and Maikao’s pending nuptials had been exciting for both older women for more than just the obvious reasons. It also gave them a chance to share their own revelation. The pair had been approached by a luxury resort chain to make their dual business of a spa and boutique into a chain exclusive to their locations in Mexico, Europe and the states. Being that the owner of said luxury resorts wanted them to sign on the dotted line, he’d thrown in hefty discount packages for the women as an incentive which included family and friends if they so chose to vacation at one of the many venues. Because of this, Angeline and Selena were able to give Addison the wedding she’d always dreamed of while taking the pressure of a groom who wanted to please his bride off of Maikao’s shoulders. This meant that the normally extravagant pricing would be brought down for all attending. It was a win for everyone involved and no one could understand why Addison was so worried.
“But…you wanted to get married,” Carmen pointed out.
“I wanted to get married. I didn’t want to be driven mental,” Addison growled. “I’m losing my shit. How is this okay?!”
Selena and Carmen shared a look.
Reaching across the table, Carmen patted her friend’s hand. “The day will be here soon enough.”
Addison’s lip curled. “Maikao tells me that too and do you know what my response is?”
Carmen leaned backwards. “No and please don’t feel the need to inform me.”
Snorting, Selena said, “I now understand why he lives in constant fear.”
Gaze lasering into her mother, Addison proclaimed, “He should be fearful. He should tremble every time he hears my voice. Do you know what I caught him doing last night?”
Both Carmen and Selena stared.
“Sleeping,” Addison announced.
They continued to stare before Carmen innocently asked, “And that’s…wrong?”
“Yes. And do you know why it’s wrong?”
“Can’t say that we do,” Selena answered.
“Because my anxiety won’t let me sleep. So you know what? If I don’t get to sleep, he doesn’t get to sleep. And if I should so catch him in the act again I am going to take one of the beautifully designed throw pillows I love so much off of the ottoman I love so much and smother the man I love
so much!”
Carmen didn’t look at Selena. She wouldn’t look at Selena. She refused to look at Selena. Why? Because if she looked at Selena, all the pinching she was currently doing to her own arm to keep from falling over out of her chair while tears of laughter rolled down her face would be completely obsolete.
So she sat there. She sat there and she bit her lip and she said nothing. Apparently years of mothering, Addison had taught Selena some fine survival skills because she didn’t even twitch. She just calmly picked up her menu and continued looking through her options as if nothing had just happened. Carmen had to say, it was one of the qualities she admired most about her.
***
“Hey, hey, hey! Pocket bride!” Eli yelled from his lounging position on the station’s couch as Addison strolled past the doorway. He wasn’t surprised to see her roaming the halls being that she frequently brought Maikao lunch.
She walked backwards then raised a brow in his direction. Eli raised one also and Addison sighed before coming inside the hideaway, situating herself into a comfortable chair. “Yes?”
He put out his arms. “What is this stringent attitude?” Eli pointed to himself. “Soon-to-be-pseudo brother-in-law remember? You and I, we talk, we converse, we share, we—”
“Bullshit?” she queried eyeing him with that stare that said she could see straight through him.
Placing a hand against his chest, he affected a sincere look. “Addie, I’m just trying to talk to you here. When’s the last time we sat and had a chat and—”
“Bullshitted?” Addison interrupted again.
“I just want to—”
“Bullshit?”
“Would you stop?! I’m trying to keep—”
“The bullshit going?”
He bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to laugh. “Sometimes,” Eli solemnly stated. “I hate you.”
She winked, a smirk in place. “Sure you do. Now what do you wanna know about Carmen?”
“That obvious, eh?”
“As obvious as a man’s favor when he’s wearing tights.”
Eli snorted. “That is imagery I could’ve done without.”
Her head cocked. “Go ahead and ask whatever it is you wanna ask.”
He ran a hand through his hair then grabbed the back of his neck and squeezed. “She didn’t happen to uh...um...mention her plans, did she?”
“No, she didn’t happen to uh...um...do that,” Addison mocked.
His eyes narrowed.
She chuckled. “No, Eli. She didn’t say shit to me and I know it’s because she knows Mak will get me to reveal said information before he gives it to you.”
He pouted. “Why doesn’t she like me?”
“Because, and I say this with love, you’re an ass.”
“I didn’t hear the love in that statement. Not at all.”
“Aww, did I hurt your feels?”
“Yes,” he answered, blinking owlishly. “Yes you did.”
She shrugged, hands folding primly in her lap. “Can’t say that I particularly care. I’m two pounds away from my goal weight for my dress and I’ve got to somehow figure out how to shove the extra ass meat off. Your feels are not my concern.”
“I am both curious and perturbed.”
Who would’ve thought that just a few short weeks ago, the woman sitting before him originally had her sights set on locking Eli down as opposed to Maikao? Of course she’d been in denial about the clear adoration she had for Maikao but it was comical none-the-less to consider the fact that Addison thought he was the right tree to bark up. Nah.
The night he’d met her at a football game, Eli had briefly thought of pursuing her, at least until he saw the look on Maikao’s face. It was a look that said, “I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you and I’ll feel nothing after I kill you.” So he’d put his cupid skills to the test and dicked around his best friend’s last nerve until boom, things got done. Important things.
That family man act, fantasies of a white picket fence and corgi puppies? That wasn’t him. It never had been and it never would be. What Maikao and Addison had was real, but he’d seen what heartbreak and disappointment could do to two people after a failed relationship that had gone off like a land mine, obliterating everything in its wake.
Eli didn’t believe he had it in him to be consistently responsible for the emotional well-being of another individual. Physically, he could conquer just about anything. He’d had the desire to become a firefighter from the moment he truly grasped what it meant to save a life, keep someone safe. He just wasn’t in a place emotionally that allowed for commitments. Eli didn’t really have a clue what he wanted at this point. Why tether himself to someone and make them suffer through that?
Addison had enough faith in Maikao to know that he’d give his all to return to her safely each and every day. That faith was the pulse to their relationship. Eli wouldn’t find that and he wasn’t looking for it. He couldn’t afford to seat himself in that chair, to worry someone unnecessarily on his behalf. He found his mother’s anxiety to be more than enough. Lynne Aaronson spent her days mulling over all the harmful possibilities of his profession.
He’d discovered with time that the majority of women he’d had any type of relationship with enjoyed his humor, his ability to show them a good time and his career title. He never got too deep, never went too fast and never found himself or them hurt. It was the perfect arrangement. He had no intentions of breaking a routine that had kept him unscathed.
Addison suddenly grunted and rubbed her temples.
Eli was across the floor in seconds, kneeling at her side. “You’re not about to have another anxiety attack are you?”
He only asked because she’d had one after finding out that Maikao had no intentions of drawing out their engagement and no intentions allowing her to weasel away.
“No,” Addison snapped. “But I want this shit to be over already. I’m exhausted and the sooner it’s done, the sooner I can enjoy married life without the dog and pony show.”
His lips twitched. “For someone who’s repeatedly said she’s marrying the man of her dreams you seem awfully cranky,” he sung.
“Unless you want to intricately lose all of the parts that keep you functioning on a basic human level, you’ll stop speaking to me as though I’m two.”
Eli nodded obediently. “Yes ma’am.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry, Eli. I dunno what’s happening to me. I’m terrified of what happens after I walk down the aisle. I’m constantly questioning if we’re rushing things. I’m wide because I’m bloated. I feel wide. I hate feeling wide. My fiancé is afraid to come home because I may kill him in his sleep—which if I catch him sleeping again while I’m obsessing about hotel reservations and our honeymoon—I just might.” She blew out a breath.
“Addie,” Eli said softly. “Sweetheart, all wedding days are different. I’m not an expert on what takes place after marriages or how magical things get with the exchanging of vows but, I think you’re doing just fine. You’re not wide. Even I would attempt inappropriately touching you if I were a stranger on the street. Maikao is attempting to keep you stress free and my guess is that he’s just as terrified as you are. You’re not rushing anything. This, what you have, was meant to be. You’ll feel it the moment you walk down the aisle.”
A watery smile lifted her lips as she petted his cheek. “You’d really try to touch me inappropriately?”
“In a heartbeat,” he answered solemnly. “I’d go straight for the ass.”
She patted his face. “You’re such a lovely man.”
He wagged a finger at her. “Watch it now. You had your chance but, you chose the pretty mofo as opposed to my rugged handsomeness.”
Laughing, she sat back. “Because I like you, I’m not going to block you from banging Carmen.”
His eyes widened. “You’re not?”
“Nope,” she chirped cheerily. Her voice then plummeted, veering into something deadly. “But if you hurt her, I wa
nt you to understand and remember that I have access to thousands of needles. These needles will be accompanied by anesthetics strong enough that you won’t wake up until the last vulture has gotten his fill on your shredded, unrecognizable, sun husked flesh. This is not my anxiety or terror talking. This is me, Elijah Christopher Aaronson. Are we clear?”
He swallowed, gave another dutiful nod. “Yes ma’am.”
Her smile returned. “Excellent. Now I need to go and hit the gym. This extra ass meat is not going to disappear on its own.”
Five
“Love, in the time that I’ve known Eli I’ve come to realize something that should be very apparent to you by now.”
Carmen sighed, gripping her phone tightly. She slid her feet from the towering pumps she’d been wearing for the last eight hours. Her soles sank into plush carpet, while she turned on lights. She’d known she should’ve left her mother and Selena to their weekend on the coast, since they’d been gone for the last few days now and therefore totally incapable of making either herself or Addison mental. But Carmen had to call her. Why? Because she was quite obviously a goddamn glutton for punishment, that was why!
“And this would happen to be what, Mamá?” Carmen finally asked, reaching her bedroom and unzipping the side of her skirt.
“He’s determined to have sex with you,” Angelina answered.
Carmen almost dropped her phone. “Ma!”
“What?” her mother demanded. “Do I lie? Are my facts inaccurate? That man wants you. He wants you and he’s going to have you.”
“I don’t like this line of talk. I don’t like it at all.”
“I could express my deepest regrets at your discomfort or I could be honest with you. I have never been one to cut corners. I don’t fumble over the right thing to say or how to roll it in sugar because I learned a long time ago that complete brutality would be the only thing that could keep us both alive and quite well. Therefore, I want you to invest in the largest box of condoms you can find—”