Chapter Eighteen

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Elizabeth

I was almost overwhelmed with the potentials for my future as we ate in near silence, just listening to the news broadcasts that came with no updates on the senator’s condition.

My mind swirled with all the things that could be coming. Police interviews and fighting off the press if the senator lived and I had to let the world know what he’d been involved in. If he didn’t survive, the funeral, the press I would be in charge of until his wife officially fired me.

Then, of course, everything after that.

Different cities, different lives I could try on like outfits, all of which I was sure would feel scratchy and too tight, not quite right.

The only thing that I concluded that I knew I wanted, at least in my immediate future, for as long as I could have him, was Elian.

So just this once, I wasn’t going to weigh the pros and cons. I wasn’t going to second-guess myself. I wouldn’t let my mind get in the way of what my heart and body were begging for.

I set down my coffee then moved over him, my hands sliding up the sides of his neck to cradle his face as I lowered fully down on his lap, then sealed my lips to his.

His fingers dug into my hips as his lips came alive under mine, deepening the kiss as my arms slid around his neck, pressing my body close to his.

This , this was the only thing I was sure of in my life right then.

Elian sat up, bending me backward a bit as his lips bruised into mine, as his hands slid from my hips down to my ass, squeezing, then pulling me more fully against him.

I rocked my hips forward, feeling his hardness against me, dragging a ragged moan from deep in my chest, the sound vibrating on our lips.

Elian’s lips broke from mine, his heavy lids watching me as his hands dug further into my ass, dragging me against his cock again, this time watching me as a moan escaped me, as my head fell back and my fingers dug into his shoulders.

His hands slid from my ass, reaching up under my shirt to touch my overheated skin, then slowly draw up my shirt and toss it to the floor.

The cold air washed over me, but it was the raw hunger in Elian’s eyes that had a shiver coursing through me.

My hips rocked against him again, hinting at what my body needed, but not giving me what my body was screaming for.

“Elian, please,” I whimpered, shameless in my need, my hips writhing against him as his hands moved up my thighs, then my sides, before finally closing over my breasts.

His hands squeezed for a moment before his fingers and thumbs found my nipples, rolling, and teasing until I was whimpering and rocking more wildly against him, desperate for relief from the clawing need in my core.

He pulled me up, making me lose contact with his lap, dragging a grumble out of me until I felt his lips close around my nipple, sucking, circling, making the desire reach a fever pitch.

“Elian,” I cried as he moved across my chest, continuing the sweet torment.

His face moved between my breasts, his soft hair tickling my over-sensitive skin for a moment before his hands sank into my hips, grabbing me as he suddenly moved, tossing me flat on the couch, and coming over me, his lips claiming mine again as the weight of him pressed down on me.

My hands were free to roam, and I yanked at his shirt until he had no choice but to rise up to pull it off and toss it to the side.

His hard lines met my softer ones, his chest crushing my breasts as I wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled him more tightly against me.

Elian ground down, his cock pressing against my cleft over and over, driving me up as his lips ripped from mine to kiss down my neck.

Then he was pulling against my hold, his lips moving down my chest, between my breasts, over my belly, pausing only when he met the waistband of my shorts.

On a grumble, he sat up on his knees, pulling my legs straight up in the air, then reaching down to pull my shorts and panties down my legs, then off my feet, tossing them carelessly to the side as he looked down at me.

I watched his chest expand as he sucked in a deep breath, then slid his hands down my calves to my knees, where he grabbed, then pulled my legs wide.

Then his gaze was moving from my face, gliding over my body, creating little fires of need, until he was staring at the core of me, a rumbling sound moving through him for a second before he was moving downward.

Then his tongue was sliding up my cleft, the touch like a current through my body, making me jolt and writhe as my hand slapped down on the back of his neck, holding him against me as his tongue started to slide around my clit.

My hips rocked against him restlessly as he worked me, driving me up.

Elian’s hand slid from my thigh to slip between us, two of his fingers thrusting inside me as his lips closed around my clit, sucking.

I saw white for a second as the orgasm slammed through me, leaving me crying out as the waves crashed through me over and over.

Elian’s fingers worked me through it as his tongue traced around my too-sensitive clit, giving me time to come back down before he started to drive me up again.

My fingers were in his hair, holding him against me as the pleasure bloomed into need once again.

“Elian, please,” I whimpered, but he kept working me, not knowing what I was begging for.

My fingers yanked at his hair, pulling until he had no choice but to lift up to ease the pain in his scalp, his hungry eyes sliding to my face.

“Please,” I said, shameless in my need, my hands reaching toward his waistband, watching as he understood what I was asking for.

He reached for me, wrapping my legs around his waist, then closing his arms around my back, holding me against him as he got to his feet, carrying me with him as he turned out of the living room, and headed down the hall.

He didn’t get far, though.

He slammed me back against the wall in the hallway, his lips claiming mine again as he ground himself against me.

My head fell back on a moan, and he saw the opening to bury his face in my neck, to tease with lips and tongue and teeth.

The yearning was reaching a fever pitch, making me lock my legs more tightly around him, grinding myself against his hardness in a desperate plea to get some relief from the aching desire.

My fingers traced over his shoulders, down his back, feeling the coil of his muscles, the way they tensed and shifted under his skin as he rocked against me.

His lips took mine again, harder, feral, brushing into mine, stealing my breath as our hips moved together, the need inside becoming a piercing ache.

Elian moved away from the wall, his hands sliding down my back to grip my ass, holding me tightly against him as he moved us into his bedroom.

I clung to him as he bent me backward, the mattress meeting my back before Elian’s weight was pressing into me.

My legs stayed wrapped around him, but my hands were desperate to explore, roaming over his back, down his sides, sinking into his ass.

With a frustrated grumble, I released my legs, reaching between us to fumble with his button and zipper.

Elian pressed upward, allowing me to start to draw his pants and boxer briefs down as far as I could reach.

Desperate for the feel of him, I grabbed his hips, pulling him down as my legs went around him, my heels digging into his ass, pushing his hard length against my cleft.

A shiver racked my system as he glided against my clit, making my fingers curl into his arms, nails digging crescents in his skin as he looked down at me, eyes molten, as he rocked against me again.

The sound that escaped me was a desperate plea, for more, for everything, for him .

“Elian,” I whimpered, writhing against him.

Answering the need in my eyes, in my voice, in my body, Elian’s weight shifted as he moved onto his knees and reached into the nightstand, grabbing protection, then sliding it on, his hungry gaze on me as my fingers glided up his thighs.

Finished, Elian sucked in a greedy breath, his chest expanding wide, as he reached for my thighs, grabbing, and yanking me closer.

Then, still holding my legs wide for him, he shifted forward, the head of his cock pressing against me until I whimpered, hips rolling, trying to take him in.

Then he surged deep, taking every inch of me, his groan drowned out by my cry of pleasure as my walls closed around him, as he finally made me his.

“Fuck,” Elian sighed, his muscles taut as he tried to hold himself back.

But I didn’t want him to.

I wanted him just as pulled apart as I felt with my need.

I pulled against his hold, wrapping my legs around his hips, using his body for stability as I folded up, climbing onto his lap, and starting to ride him.

Slowly at first, enjoying the sweet stretch of him sliding inside of me, but growing more desperate with each passing second.

With a deep rumbling sound in his chest, Elian shifted, dropping me down on my back, his body crushing mine as he started to thrust.

The control was gone.

And I held on tight as he fucked me hard and deep.

My legs hooked around him, angling myself just right, so his cock was sliding against that sensitive space inside, and his pelvis pressed against my clit with each thrust.

I was too far gone to hold on for long.

My legs were shaking, my chest tight from my frantic, shallow breaths, my back arched up off of the bed.

“That’s it,” Elian murmured, dark gaze watching me as I rushed closer and closer to that crest. “Come for me,” he said.

Then the waves were crashing through me, the pleasure spreading until it overtook me completely, my cries loud even to my own ears as Elian continued to fuck me through it.

“You feel so good when you come for me,” he teased, lips against my ear, as I came back down, clinging to him. “I need more,” he added, teeth nipping the lobe of my ear as I realized he hadn’t come with me, that he was still rock-hard inside of me, something that made my walls tighten against him again.

As Elian pushed up, there was a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, letting me know he felt it, that he knew how insatiable I seemed to be for him.

“Feels like you want more,” he said, hips doing tiny little thrusts into me, just enough friction to have my desire growing, but not nearly enough to ease the ache as it started to grow again.

My answer was a soft mewling sound as my hips rolled.

Elian sat back on his knees again, reaching for my legs, pressing them together, then pushing them both to one side, resting on the mattress at an angle, changing the sensation, increasing the friction, as he started to thrust faster again.

It shouldn’t have been possible again, let alone so quickly, but it wasn’t long before my moans were filling the room, before my walls were tightening, then pulsating hard as another orgasm screamed through my system.

This time, Elian didn’t pause to let me come back down.

Instead, he grabbed me, turning me onto my belly, then grabbing my hips, and pulling them back toward him as he fucked me faster still, his fingers digging into my flesh on one hip as the other slid between my thighs, engaging my clit as he took me harder and harder, driving me right to that cliff, then sending me hurtling over, crying out as I came. But, this time, I took Elian with me, feeling him rock harder, then slam deep, cursing out.

There was nothing after, save for the sounds of our ragged breathing, and the feel of Elian’s thumb lightly caressing the skin of my hip as he slowly came back down from his release.

He leaned over me, pressing a kiss to my shoulder before moving away from me, heading into the en suite bathroom for a moment.

Alone, I rolled onto my back, and scooted under the covers, feeling a looseness in my muscles I hadn’t felt in ages. An ease in my soul that I’d almost forgotten existed.

It lasted all of, oh, twenty seconds, before it all came rushing back.

Getting the confession.

The gunman.

The senator getting shot.

Hiding in the bathroom.

Coming out. The blood. The scuffle. The paramedics and police. The press.

My chest felt crushed in a vice, and there was a steady throbbing in my temples when Elian came back out of the bathroom.

One look at me, and his gaze went sad.

“Oh, honey,” he said, coming into the bed, sitting back against the headboard, and pulling me against his chest.

His hands went up, fingers pressing into my temples, and rubbing with a firm pressure that eased some of the pain simmering.

“Are you alright?” he asked as I let myself enjoy the feel of him, the sense of calm and security he provided.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “There’s… a lot to think about.”

“Want to think out loud?” he offered.

“What do I do now?” I asked.

“Now that the senator is shot, you mean?” he asked.

“Yeah, I mean… wouldn’t turning over the recording be like kicking a man when he’s down?”

“Elizabeth, consider this, that gunman was there to shoot you… because of him.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, sucking in a deep breath to try to tamp down the guilt that I had no business holding onto.

I hadn’t caused any of this.

In fact, I’d been actively trying to stop it by getting the senator to confess to his criminal activity, so he would no longer be able to use his office to aide and abet terrible crimes.

“I think you should go through with giving it to the police,” Elian said. “But if you don’t feel comfortable doing that, I will support that decision too.”

“You’re not worried?” I asked.

“Worried about what?”

“What happens if a different senator is elected?” I asked. “You know… given your… profession.”

“No, I’m not worried.” He sounded so certain.

“Why not?”

“Because no one person has the power to change shit that much. If there’s anyone I need to keep an eye on, it’s the local cops and DA. But I don’t remember the last time anyone was pulled in on charges that actually stuck. Are you worried about that?” he asked, fingers moving down to rub the tension out of the sides of my neck.

“What do you mean?”

“With me. With this, us, are you worried about my career?”

Us.

My heart squeezed at that.

If there had ever been a question on whether this was just about sex or something more, that little squeeze definitely cleared it up for me.

“Honestly, I really haven’t given it too much thought,” I admitted. “I’ve been a little busy trying to fight the attraction.”

“Why?”

“Because I needed you, as much as that hurts my pride a bit to admit, and I didn’t want to make things awkward by giving in.”

“I don’t feel awkward. Do you?” he asked, hands moving to my shoulders, pressing into knots I’d been living with so long that I didn’t even know they existed until he started to work them out.

“No,” I admitted. “But…”

“But what?”

“I have to leave,” I said, surprised when tears flooded my eyes at the idea, making me need to blink them rapidly away before they started to overflow.

I wasn’t going to pretend that they were there at the idea of leaving the home I really did love. Or the city as a whole.

No.

They had everything to do with my growing feelings for this man who’d been nothing but good to me. And the idea of losing something that I believed could be really amazing.

“Well, we’ll see about that,” Elian said, finished with the knots, and wrapping both arms around my chest instead.

“I can’t ask you to try to fix this for me.”

“You’re not asking. I’m offering. I can’t make promises, but I am going to look into it,” he told me, leaning down to press a kiss to my head. “I don’t want you to go anywhere.”