I’ve heard all of that, which is what leads me to wonder what we’re doing here. Not that I need the promise of something magical, but I don’t need a guy who has a girl in another city, either.
My heart races as I prepare to ask my next question. “Then what do you want with me?”
His eyes are open, allowing me to see all his emotions. “More. I want more.”
“And what if you realize I’m not worth more?”
He shakes his head. “What if you’re worth it all?”
“You’ve spent a few hours with me, Eli. You can’t—”
“I’m giving you my truth,” he interjects softly. “All I’m asking for is a little of yours.”
The fear of falling for him is real. My mother and father left me, my husband left me, my sister will leave, and the last thing I want is to love someone else who will do the same. Eli doesn’t know anything about me at this point. Nothing past the superficial things. If I give him my truth, I’ll be giving him a part of me.
Fuck it. Not like he can go anywhere while we are still in the middle of the ocean. Plus, if I’m going to do this, if he wants to try, he should know.
“My sister is dying. She’s twenty-six and has Huntington’s disease, it’s a rare degenerative disease.”
His eyes widen as he sucks in a breath. “I don’t even know what to say. Is there anything that can be done?”
I shake my head. “No, it’s terminal. Stephanie’s disease has become my whole life. She’s my whole life.”
Eli takes my hand in his. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how hard it is for you.”
“Ha!” I laugh sardonically. “It’s excruciating. She was diagnosed at nineteen and since then, we’ve been on a downhill slope. My husband left me because Stephanie needed full-time care. I guess I wasn’t enough of a wife to him because I was too busy taking care of my dying sister.”
“That’s why he left?” Eli asks with disgust dripping from his words.
I look in his emerald eyes and sigh. “He couldn’t handle it.”
“He sounds like a fucking prick.”
That’s a nice way to put it.
“I’m telling you this now because whatever this is that we’re doing here can’t interfere with what I have to do for my sister.”
Eli’s hand tightens, and his head jerks back. “Interfere?”
“Yes, I won’t be able to follow you around to New York, and I can’t afford to spend time away from her. I can’t get caught up in this . . . thing with you and miss spending what little time I have with Stephanie. It’s what scares me. Well, that and the fact that you’re . . . you, and I’m not in your universe. I can’t allow myself to have regrets when it comes to my sister.”
“I would never want you to. I’m not asking you to give anything up. And as for your ex, he’s a piece of shit for making you think you should choose between your sister and a man. That’s ridiculous. I have a brother, and if it were him, I’d be at his side.”
A part of my bruised heart heals a little. I look in his eyes and wait for some kind of change in his thoughts. Anything to tell me that he’s lying, but it never comes. “You can’t be this perfect, Eli.”
He laughs. “I’m far from perfect, baby.”
“You’re kind, funny, and unbelievably hot.”
“Don’t forget a God in the bedroom.”
I shake my head. “Egotistical.”
“Keep going with all my stellar qualities,” he nudges.
Instead, I lean forward and touch my lips to his. “Don’t make me think you’re great and then break my heart.”
Eli’s fingers thread in my hair. “Don’t make me keep fighting so hard to win you.”
My defenses fall to the floor as he pulls my head closer. “What are you doing to me?”
He smiles. “I’m making you feel how you make me feel—helpless.”
Chapter 13
Eli
Kissing Heather is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I’ve kissed a lot of girls, but she makes me lose track of the world around us. It’s as if time is suspended when she’s with me. The first night we slept together, I thought it was the endorphins from entertaining.
I figured that once I’d gotten her out of my system I would be able to move on.
Now, it’s worse.
She’s opening herself to me, showing me who she is and it’s fucking beautiful. Everything about her brings me to my goddamn knees. How anyone can walk past her and not stop, blows my mind. The idea of her dickless husband leaving her is asinine. Who would walk away from someone as gorgeous as she is? It’s more than just her beauty, though. She’s smart, funny, strong—sometimes a little too strong, and she gives me a sense of hope that I haven’t felt in a long time.
“God, you kiss good,” Heather breathes, and then her lips are back on mine.
I hold her golden locks in my hands and plunge my tongue deeper. I taste the mint from the gum she was chewing. Heather’s soft hands slide up my chest to cup my jaw, and I lean back, taking her with me. I’m practically lying flat so I can enjoy her weight as it settles on top of me.
Our tongues push against each other, giving and taking in a constant battle for control. I don’t let up. I fight her for dominance. I struggle for her to let loose and give it over to me. The truth is, the harder she resists, the more turned on I get.
I tighten my grip in her hair, loving the moan she makes in my mouth. Her noises spur me further, wanting her so bad I think my dick is going to explode from fucking kissing. Because that wouldn’t be embarrassing . . . I can see it now: “Pop Star Blows His Load While Making Out” on page seven. Thankfully, I’m able to keep myself in control because the only place I’m blowing my load is inside her. I might actually die if that doesn’t happen soon.
My lips glide across the skin of her neck and down to her shoulders. “You’re so beautiful,” I rumble against her skin. “Every inch of you is perfect. I can close my eyes and see your body as if it’s that night all over again.”
She lets out a low moan as my hand cups her perfect breast. I let the weight of her fill my hand, and I roll it around, just brushing the nipple.
I’m a boob guy, always have been. Tits are like gifts from God. There’s a reason men don’t have them—if we did, we’d play with them all day. I would take a shit and cop a feel. I’d be showering and just rub them. I don’t care if that sounds crazy, it’s true.
“Tell me this is real,” she demands.
“It’s real,” I say as I untie the knot of her bikini. I hold it there because I want her to lead this. If she wants to have sex and run away again, she’s going to be swimming because there’s nowhere to go.
She moves her hand to mine and pulls the strings down, giving me the view I am desperate for.
My mouth waters as I stare at her tits. I’m dying to taste her again. I shift our bodies so she’s straddling my lap, and push my dick against the warmth of her pussy, wanting nothing more than to bury myself in her heat. My mouth latches onto her nipple, lavishing it as she holds my head where she wants it. The feel of her hands, controlling me has me sucking her harder.