Dangerous: A Seaside Cove Romance

by Cora Davies

  "Yeah."

  "Lucky, lady," Edgar said, looking between the ceiling and the scrap pile.

  "I've been hearing that a lot lately," Claire said, forcing a smile. "In my opinion, good luck would've been if the ceiling had stayed up there." She pointed at the hole.

  "That water damage might have saved your rear, excuse my language, when they decide what to do with your claim," Edgar said, laughing. "Replace quite a bit in the house."

  "Oh." Maybe she was lucky after all.

  Edgar handed her his clipboard, pointing to a few places for her to sign. "So, what's the plan?"

  "I'm sorry?" Claire asked, flipping over a sheet of paper.

  "Personally, I'd start from the bottom up," Edgar said. Claire looked at him in surprise. "I can't tell you what to do, but if it was me, I'd put a little trailer out here while I rebuilt. Tear it down to the foundation."

  "That sounds like a lot of money," Claire said.

  "You could sell the land, I'm sure it would fetch a pretty penny. Buy something in town, you'd have a nice down-payment from this place." Edgar took the clipboard, thumbing through pages, and nodded. "Looks like we've got it all in order. It takes around a week for the office to get back to you. Good luck, Miss Bennet."

  Edgar placed a ball cap on his head as he walked out the door.

  "Oh hi there, Mr. Tomlin," Edgar said once on the porch. Claire took a sharp intake of breath.

  "Lovely to see you Edgar," Ben's voice drifted through the open window. Ben was there? At her house? "Is Claire inside?"

  "She is," Edgar said. "Have a good day, Mr. Tomlin."

  Dizziness overtook Claire as she thought of everything Eli had told her about Ben. What was he doing there? She reached for her knife-block on the counter, when she remembered the counters were all outside, waiting to be burned. She looked around for something else to protect herself with, but it was too late.

  Ben stood in her living room, watching her. His hands hidden in his pants pockets, she prayed he was not holding a gun. She glanced out the front window, just in time to see Edgar pull out of her driveway. She was alone with Ben.

  "Claire, what's wrong?" Ben asked, peering up at the ceiling hole.

  "What are you doing here?" Claire's voice shook.

  "I heard you were on the schedule this morning. Edgar has a reputation for being a stickler with the rules and I wanted to make sure you're okay."

  "Why do you care?"

  He stepped closer to her and the pile of scraps. She edged one way, further from him. "We're friends, Claire. I like to make sure my friends are taken care of."

  "We're not friends."

  "That makes me sad," Ben said. "I thought we were friends. And now that you and Eli have gone your separate ways, I thought we could be more."

  "What?" Claire laughed, a short, angry sound. "You're kidding right?"

  "Hear me out, Claire. Do you know how many more votes I would get if I married a veteran? Or, simply dated one? A single mom on top of that?"

  "You're nuts." Claire turned and ran for the door, her sandal catching on the edge of a piece of wood. She slowed just enough that Ben grabbed her arm.

  "You're going to leave before I get to tell you what you get out of it?" he asked, pulling her towards him. His mouth pressed against her ear while he gripped onto the base of her ponytail.

  "There's nothing I'd get out of being with you," Claire said, her eyes on the front door, jerking her arm free. Ben released his hold on her hair. She ran to the door, scooping her keys off the end table. Her hand was on the doorknob when Ben spoke again.

  "Ella and Robby."

  Claire turned to face Ben. "If you touch my children-"

  "I won't hurt them if you smile for a few pictures with me." Ben took a step closer to Claire. "We'll play the engaged game, just until after the election. If you play really nice with me," Ben's hand was on Claire's neck, his finger trailing lower down her collarbone, "I won't hurt Eli either."

  Claire blinked. "Why me?"

  "We've gone over your electable qualities. More important than that, I have a friend at the state department who tells me Eli has become pretty talkative. Of course, he won't win, not with his," Ben's upper lip curled, "reputation. It's you because I want to teach him a lesson. Remind him who's in charge. Remind him there's no getting out."

  Claire turned and grasped at the doorknob, but Ben threw her against the wall, pinning her. "Let go of me!"

  Ben's mouth was on her lower neck, rough lips, then sinking into a bite. Claire screamed, and his erection grew against her. "You sick asshole!"

  Ben's bite relaxed; then he inhaled against her hair. "Which lesson should we teach Eli?"

  Claire bent her leg to knee Ben in the groin, but he pinned himself too close against her, and she could not reach. Keys still in hand, she laced them between her fingers, and pushed forward, finding his stomach. He cried out, grabbing the keyring from her, loosening his grip just long enough so she could knee him in the crotch.

  She yanked open the door and ran. She could not outrun him - that she was sure of. But if she headed into the woods, she might lose him. Claire and her children took daily walks in these woods, and she knew a few places where she could easily hide from Ben.

  She heard him clamor down the steps as she entered the forest. She sprinted along the trails, hoping she was quiet enough in each turn that he would not find her. Ben's crashing through bushes and over leaves came closer, then a moment later, further in the other direction.

  After at least a minute of quiet, Claire sat, trembling behind a boulder. There were always sounds in the forest. Birds chirping. Squirrels sprinting across fallen leaves. Instead, the only sound was the small brook running over the rocks somewhere in the distance.

  "There you are!" Ben appeared, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet. She thrashed, kicking at him. She elbowed him in the face, and he let go for a second, stepping back and clutching his chin. "You bitch!"

  Claire backed away but Ben moved towards her. If she turned her back to run, he would have the upper hand entirely. But, if she faced him, she might have a fighting chance.

  She whispered a quick prayer and balled her fists at her sides. Ben stepped to her, and for a moment she could not understand what she was seeing. She was so braced for his brutal attack, and to fight for her life, that the scene in front of her did not make sense.

  He seemed to float in slow motion, flying a few feet into the air. His face to the sky. She noticed the leaves stuck to the bottom of his wingtip shoes and realized, he slipped on the wet ground. She could not move. Then the moment frozen in time ended, Ben fell back to the earth.

  There was a sickening crack as his head hit the mossy boulder.

  "Ben?" Claire whispered, watching red flow from the side of Ben's head and travel between the rocks on the forest floor. A small blood stream moved downhill through the mud, finding its home in the brook below.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Eli sat in the backseat of Jack's truck, holding his breath as they pulled into Claire's driveway. This was the only way Eli could come and make sure she was okay – with other people at the front, Eli in the shadows - according to Ken. If he planned on moving forward with everything legally. Two police cars and an ambulance sat, seemingly empty next to Ben's car.

  Molly turned around in the front seat. "I'll go talk to her, okay? Just stay here."

  Eli nodded. Molly hopped out and walked up to the house, showing ID to a policeman standing by the front door. He stepped inside, then came back out a few seconds later, letting Molly in.

  "You can drop everything now, right?" Jack said. "I mean, now that..." He scraped something invisible off the dash. "Well, there's nothing to worry about anymore, right?"

  Eli sighed. "I need to talk to Jones, but I'm still going forward. Do the right thing."

  Jack nodded. "I get that." It looked like Jack might say more, but he was quiet.

  They watched the door open, and a different police
officer stepped out on the porch, talking on a phone and looking wearily at Jack's truck. Eli waited to see if Claire would appear, but the door closed again.

  "Look, if anything happens, I want you to know, you and Molly made my life into something worth living. If it wasn't for the two of you," Eli looked uncomfortably at his hands, "I'd have gotten nowhere, ending up just like my old man." He paused and cleared his throat. "Make sure Claire's alright for me, will ya? She's-"

  "Shut up," Jack said, turning around in his seat. "You aren't going anywhere. You need to call Ken and drop all this shit."

  "I can't."

  "You can't leave her alone, not after this; you won't." Jack jabbed a thumb over his shoulder towards Claire's house.

  "I'm doing this for her," Eli said. Jack turned back in his seat, glaring at the steering wheel. "I spent years pretending like it never happened, but if I want to be a man worthy of her, I need to do it with a clear conscious. I need to be a good man."

  Jack sighed. "You're already a good fucking man. I wouldn't let any of Molly's other ex-boyfriends hang around as much as you do. A piece of paper from court ain't going to change that, one way or another."

  Eli blinked. "Zombies, blood, trucks-"

  "Shut up," Jack said, punching the steering wheel. "I meant what I said. I punished myself for too long over something I didn't do. I won't see my best friend do the same."

  They both looked at the porch as Molly stepped out of the cabin. Alone. He thought about the years Jack had believed he was guilty, keeping himself away from Molly. Permission from the court system was how Eli could find solace. Eli needed to pay for his silence.

  "But you didn't do anything wrong, Jack. I did."

  Molly climbed back into the truck, slamming the door. She looked at Eli. "She said she'll call you later when the circus is gone."

  "Is she okay?" Eli asked.

  "I don't think he hurt her," Molly said, quietly, "not too bad. She's just scared."

  Eli rested his forehead in his palm. Claire had killed a man that morning. Deserved or not, an accident or with purpose, Ben's death would weigh on her the rest of her life.

  Alone, Eli pulled into Claire's driveway late that night. As promised, she texted him as soon as the police left, and asked him to come over.

  He pushed her front door open to find her standing in the center of the room, shoveling broken bits of her house into a metal trashcan. She stopped the moment he pushed the door open.

  "You don't have to clean this all up right now," he said, taking the shovel from her and leaning it against the wall.

  "I have to do something," she said, before bursting into tears and throwing herself into his arms.

  Eli stood, holding her tight, his hands in her hair, pressing her against him. They stood like that for a few minutes, until her tears seemed to slow, then stop.

  She pulled back and touched his shirt where it was wet from her tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that." She did not look at him.

  "I'm sorry I got you involved in all of this," he said. "This is all my fault."

  "Stop." Claire smacked an open hand against his chest and kicked the trashcan. "Not everything is your fucking fault!"

  It was the first time he had ever heard her use the word, and it left him quiet, long enough to really study her. She wore a black t-shirt, and a pair of dirty white jeans. But his eyes were drawn to her ponytail hanging over her shoulder, in a failed attempt to hide her dark and bruised skin.

  Pushing her hair off her shoulder, Eli flinched at the bruise on her neck, already turning purple. Obvious teeth-marks in a circle. His stomach plunged so far, he was sure it would hit the ground. If Ben was not dead already...

  "Baby," he stroked her neck around the bruise, "oh baby, I am so sorry."

  "Don't apologize for one more thing, Eli Dunlan, or I swear to God I'll never talk to you again." Claire ran the back of her hand over her eyes. "Molly said you're still going through with it all. You're still going to talk to the lawyer and confess all... all the stuff?"

  Eli nodded, once, his eyes still on her neck. The world needed to know the man Ben truly was, not the man he pretended to be.

  "Why? It's over now."

  "What happened?" he asked, forcing his voice to stay even.

  "He came here, he wanted to teach you a lesson-"

  "What did he do?" The word lesson darkened his vision around the edges.

  "He bit me and chased me through the woods. He fell, and... it's done. Why keep it going? Why go through, everything? If you don't have to? Why would you do this?"

  Eli sat on the arm of the couch, rubbing his forehead. Ben could not hurt anyone again. Claire was safe. Everyone was safe. Could he just drop it? Call Ken and tell him he changed his mind.

  No, he could not. "I need to do the right thing."

  "But what about me?"

  "I'm doing this for you."

  Claire threw her hands in the air. "I never asked you to do this!"

  "I know," he said, pinching his brow. "Trust me. I need to do this for you. For us. To make everything right, before we can be together. I can't be with you while I have a demon on my shoulder, counting down the days until I'll screw up again. I can't be in your life - your children's lives - with this hovering over me."

  She grabbed his head, pulling his face to hers. "Please, I don't want anything to happen to you. It's not fair that-"

  "Nothing's fair," Eli kissed her forehead, "but I can't pretend like none of it ever happened anymore."

  "But, I'm going to lose you." Claire let out a sob.

  "You won't lose me." He stood, holding her at an arm's length to look in her muddy brown eyes. "They've been after a handful of members in city government for years who were involved in Ben's business - before my father and I even came to Seaside Cove. Jones and me were offered deals for testimony. We're going to be okay." Eli sighed. "Please trust me, I'm doing this to make our lives better."

  Leaning in, he tipped her chin and pressed his lips against hers. Weeks since they touched each other intimately, they were hungry. Her tongue pressed against his greedily. Her hands ran up his arms, his hands pulled off her shirt, then his own. She kissed the divots between his chest muscles, then grazed over his scar, sending electricity through his body.

  She slowed. "I'm sweaty and gross from today."

  "I'll give you a shower," he said, pulling her towards him, his fingers on the button of her jeans as he dove in, kissing her again. Her pants hit the floor, and his palm cupped against her moist fabric.

  He lifted her in his arms, her limbs wrapping around his body. Her mouth pressing on his neck as they walked into the bathroom, and he turned the water on. He set her down on the sink and slid a hand behind the elastic of her panties.

  She gasped as he touched her, wet with anticipation. His other hand massaged her breast, loving the firmness between his fingers. She nipped again at his scar, and his erection finished building girth.

  "I missed you," he whispered before pulling her earlobe between his teeth and sucking. His thumb on her clitoris, he began a slow stroke, back and forth, hoping to bring her much needed relief and replace her memories of the day.

  She fell back against the steam-filled mirror, and he tugged down her panties, dropping them on the floor. His work boots hit the wall with a thud, followed by his remaining clothes, then he helped her into the tub, closing the curtain around them. Naked body against naked body.

  His hard cock throbbed against her stomach, and her hands traveled up to grasp him. He let out a sigh as she stroked him, slow at first, then building speed, bringing him close to climax. He wanted to cum deep inside her, nothing between their bodies. Something desperate told him to lift her and thrust inside, but he silenced that voice.

  She protested as he grabbed her hands, bringing her movements to an end. He dropped to his knees and pushed his mouth against her peak, pulling it between his teeth and tongue. She gasped, her body stiffening again, and he pressed harder. His tongu
ed swirled her clitoris in fast churns, his hand on her butt, drawing her against him. He looked up at her, enjoying the pleasure on her face.

  "Please, it's too good," she said, lifting a foot to rest on the side of the tub. Between gasps, she asked, "Did I tell you, you were the first man to ever make me cum?"

  Words like a siren's song, he slid two fingers inside her, moving in and out at the same rapid, hungry pace as his tongue. From the corner of his eye, he spotted her ankle resting, the cuts and scrapes from her run through the forest.

  No one would ever hurt Claire again. He let his emotions play out on his tongue; anger, frustration, fear, love. Moving faster and hungrier until Claire cried out in climax. Her body quaking, he continued his pursuit until her body began to still. Then he slid his fingers out and he stood.

  Eli had grown harder and longer tasting her, like he was bursting at the seams to fill her. When she slid his naked, engorged cock inside her body, it was as if he had waited for the connection his entire life. He lifted her against him, sliding her body up and down his hard shaft, until he climaxed deep within her.

  Setting her back on her feet, he wrapped his arms around her. They stood there, in perfect ecstasy and silence for a few minutes, before he washed and massaged her body head to toe.

  When they were dry from their shower, they crawled into bed, and held each other deep into the night.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Claire pulled Ella's hair into a high ponytail, then quickly twirled three blonde tendrils into a long braid.

  "You look like a fairy, Mommy," Ella said.

  Claire glanced between herself and her daughter in one of the floor length mirrors that had been brought into Molly's office for the day. Claire's long olive green dress looked like a mossy background next to her daughter's lilac flower girl dress.

  "Thank you, sweetie. You look like my little flower fairy," Claire said, bending down and kissing Ella on top of her head.

  "The loveliest flower girl there ever was," Molly said, smiling at them as she moved a lock of hair back behind her shoulders. Ella twisted the toe of her shoe against the hardwood, her cheeks going pink.