“Ellington,” I say as I break away for air.
“Say it again,” he commands. His lips suck at the skin on my neck, and I hold his hair. “Say my name, Heather.”
“Eli,” I moan as he starts to move lower.
“No, baby, try again.”
I know now what he wants. Eli Walsh is the man I share. Ellington is all mine. I pull his hair back so he looks at me. “Ellington.”
I watch the fire burn in his gaze, and I melt for him. “That’s who I am to you, baby. Only you.”
“Kiss me,” I request.
He seems to struggle with moving, but I don’t let him pull away from me. I’m not breakable. Eli made sure that, no matter what, I had what I needed, and now he needs me.
Instead of letting him decide, I push my lips back to his. He moans against my tongue, and it’s the sexiest sound ever. There’s nothing I love more than driving him to the edge. To have influence over this man is exhilarating.
He stops quickly, taking two big steps back, both of us breathing heavily. “Why did you stop?” I ask.
“Fuck!” He bellows as he looks to the ceiling.
I hop down. “What happened? Are you okay?”
His eyes close, and he takes a few deep breaths. “I’m fine, just pissed, and I shouldn’t’ve taken it out on you.”
I touch his cheek and smile. “Did it look like I minded? If that’s how you handle being pissed, then I may piss you off constantly.”
He bursts out laughing and shakes his head. “I love you,” he says without hesitancy.
We still haven’t said it since that night. I didn’t need him to, either, but my smile is wide. “I love you, too.”
My hands rest on his chest. “I was worried I imagined that night.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve said that to anyone. I’ll be sure to tell you more often.”
“You show me every day.”
He kisses my nose and sighs. “That was my agent. The producer is livid, demanding I return to New York in twenty-four hours or I’ll be hearing from their legal team.”
I’ve been selfish to think he could keep this up. We’ve both been living in our own dream world. He’s under contract. I can’t keep him here. “I’m doing fine now. You don’t have to stay for me.”
“I’m not here because I don’t think you’re okay, Heather. I’m here because I can’t leave you. I don’t want to go to New York and not see your brown eyes when I wake up. There’s nothing up there for me, and you’re everything I need here.”
I know he’s an actor, but there’s no doubting the sincerity in his words. Knowing that he wants to stay because he wants to be with me makes me fall even deeper. However, if he loses his job and has this big legal battle because of me, it could possibly cause a rift in our relationship.
“You used to tell me you weren’t going anywhere, the same goes for me, babe. I’ll be right here when you get back. We have to trust that what we’ve found here is strong enough to endure a few months apart.”
He starts to pace the room, and the air fills with his confliction. “I know that, but they’re being fucking ridiculous.”
There’s nothing I’d love more than for him to stay, but it’s wrong. I walk over to him, lacing my fingers with his. He needs to go, and I need to be on board with it. As much as he says he’s not still here because he’s worried about me, I know a small part of him is. Maybe he’s not worried that I’m going to go catatonic again, but he’s still concerned. I need to ease his mind and get him back to work.
“Eli, you have to go back to work. You’ve given them no timeframe so they’re going to make threats. It would be the same in my department. I don’t want you to leave, but we both know it’s what needs to be done. I’m going back to work in a week anyway. With as amazing as our little world we’ve made is, the reality is we can’t stay here.” I hate the words because they’re true. Our time together has been perfect. It’s been what we’ve needed, but now we have other things that we both have to face. “I love you, and part of loving each other is trusting that we can handle this. You love acting, I love my job, and we need to build our life where we have balance.”
Eli doesn’t respond, he grabs the phone, dials, and waits. “I’ll be in New York in one week. If they want to sue me, I don’t fucking care. I’ll be there next Monday ready for work. Let them know that I have other priorities now, and I’m going to be coming to Tampa on weekends.”
The phone goes sliding across the counter, and I smile. He’s going to come here on the weekends. Without a word, he takes my hands, guiding me upstairs. When we enter the bedroom, he pushes me onto the bed and climbs over me.
“I have seven days with you.” His green eyes glimmer with lust. “Let’s see how many times I can make you scream my name.”
Eli continues to surprise me each time we’re together. I’ve never known the kind of pleasure like he gives me. He’s rather proud of the fact that I scream his name multiple times. I’m not complaining, either.
Sated, he passed out quickly and I lie awake next to him, watching him sleep. I want to do something special for him. When he talks about his life, it’s almost surreal. People are always doing things for him, but it isn’t like they care about him. They do it because it’s their job. No one ever really thinks about him.
Thanks to my Wikipedia stalking, I know his birthday is going to be in two weeks. Since I’ll be back to work, and so will he, I want to celebrate with him early.
So, I leave a note on my pillow that says I’d be back after I run a few errands and head out.
My first phone call is to Savannah. I ask if they’d be willing to come to the house for a party in two days. Of course, she agrees and then goes on to give me a list of his favorite things and then offers to help make sure everyone can make it.
After I have a list, I head to the grocery store. Eli’s favorite cake is German Chocolate, which is not exactly the easiest thing to bake for someone who knows what they are doing. I’m not that person. I love to eat cake, but I can’t make it. However, I want everything to be made by my hands. I can’t give him fancy things. I’m not rich or have people to call to get things done, all I can give him is my heart and my time.
My phone pings with a text.
Best Sex of My Life: Hey, babe. Where are you?
He’s ridiculous. I can’t believe he changed his name in my phone again.
Me: A little full of yourself, huh?
Best Sex of My Life: I have no idea what you mean.
Me: Really? The name in my phone keeps upping your game.
Best Sex of My Life: Well, it’s all true so far.
I laugh. It’s these things. These little things that make him so endearing to me.
Me: I’m not sure about this one. I’ve had better.
Best Sex of My Life: The hell you have.
Me: Wouldn’t you like to know . . .
Best Sex of My Life: I’ll show you when you get back. Start stretching because it’ll be one hell of a workout. Which leads me back to the first question, where are you?