Elise held up her screen, displaying her voicemail alongside multiple other alerts. I showed her mine with Gordain calling. Together, we climbed the stairs to the borrowed getaway home and answered our calls.
“G, are ye home?”
“Aye. Got in a few hours ago. Everyone else is asleep, but I have information for Elise. Are ye both okay?”
“We had a wee standoff with a photographer or two, but they didnae catch us.”
Gordain grumbled. “Good lad. I have a name for the bodyguard. I sent Elise a text, but she hasnae answered.”
“We were, uh, busy. She’s fielding messages right now. Tell me.”
“His name, according to the agency, is Duncan Smith, but that’s fake. He’s newly registered, and no one could explain why he had been put on such a high-profile account.”
“Which means someone with access to their rotas switched him in.”
I held open the interior door for Elise, and we entered a bright kitchen diner. Still listening to her calls, she went straight to the fridge, pouting at the empty shelves.
“Exactly,” Gordain continued. “I’m running background checks to look for connections. I’ll let ye both know when I find something more.”
I strode through the room, taking in the space and poking my head into doorways. “Any more on the threat to Leo?”
“Nothing, as expected.”
Gordain had spoken separately to Elise after the concert, then Leo and Viola once they were home. It seemed he’d been on the money with his guess. All the more reason for me to stay close to Elise—the true target.
He checked if we had somewhere safe to stay then we said goodbye.
“Oh, Janelle,” Elise said, grimacing at her phone before tossing it to the counter.
Closing the fridge, she dropped against it then banged her head once on the polished metal.
I crossed to the opposite worktop, near but not crowding her. “Problem?”
Elise blew a lock of yellow hair from her eyes, her focus flitting around the room. “Janelle is panicked about the rumours I’ve started with my and Leo’s performance. She thinks it’ll overshadow the movie premiere and make it even less likely that the funding for the second part of the trilogy will be released.”
The fucking nerve. “Your manager heard the rumours that you’d accused your ex boyfriend of sexual assault and she gave ye a hard time?”
Elise’s gaze shot to mine, and a tremble took her muscles. “Right? That’s a strange way to react.” Then she shook her head. “Or it could be filtering through wrong. Janelle is like family. She’s all too aware how Mom’s business suffers if my movies don’t do well. Maybe it’s normal for her to worry about that first, particularly if she’s been in a meeting with Mom. I’ll bounce back. It’s their job to see the bigger picture.”
The stoic, calm version of me vanished. Elise was suffering on all fronts. Her ex, her ma, and her manager had fucked with her head.
“No. Just no. Anyone who cares about ye would think of ye first. Put your welfare ahead of money. Be calling the fucking police on that shite specimen of a man who laid a hand on ye.”
Her tremor worsened, but she kept her gaze on me, as if she needed my words, my help.
I approached carefully, a hand outstretched. “We’re going to do three things. One, check out this place. Two, order enough takeaway to send us into a food coma. Three, hide together until ye feel like talking it out, working through what to do next, whatever fits.”
“I don’t want to be a wreck with you. I thought I had it under control, but that call, it just threw me.” Her breathing sped.
“Aye, because it was bollocks. Now, action number one is starting. We’re exploring.”
Elise took my waiting hand. Her cold fingers pressed mine, and we climbed the stairs to the next level. Three bedrooms and bathrooms met our inspection, then we continued up again. The top floor hosted a spacious living room with a wall of glass overlooking the ocean.
Waves rolled in on a small beach, the water sparkling on the sunny afternoon.
Then there was the master suite. A wide, soft bed watched the same view. Elise stared at the bed.
“I’ll sleep out here tonight.” I gestured to the lounge.
“Could you sleep with me?” she asked quietly. “If I promise to do my hardest not to freak out, will you stay?”
My heart cracked in two.
Such a simple request, but it drove pain and wild emotion through me. The more I got to know Elise, the more I understood her. She’d carried other people’s secrets and shite behaviour for so long, and without complaint. Right up until it almost broke her. Nothing was hers alone.
Except me. For now, at least.
“Nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Her grateful smile sent me spinning.
On the coffee table, menus waited. I picked them up and held them out in a fan.
“Item two on the plan. Pick what we’re eating. Don’t look.”
Elise closed her eyes and ran her finger over the pack before settling on one. “What did we get?”
I tore my gaze from her to check. “An All-American bar and grill. Delivers all day. Hungry now?”
We’d skipped lunch, and my stomach was ready to devour itself.
“God, yes.”
In a few minutes, I had the order placed and food on its way. Elise updated her suspects’ table, adding a note that the means maybe included access to the storage facility, or the picture had been taken a long time before. Then I fetched our bags while Elise showered.
After she finished, she called me in to take my turn. I entered the bedroom to find her perched on the bed, wrapped in a white towel. Instantly, my dick jumped and my blood warmed.
After what happened earlier, I needed Elise to lead me in how we touched, so I offered a wink and forced myself to keep walking into the en suite.
“Hey.”
I turned to find her right behind me.
Elise eclipsed the distance and kissed me. I gripped the doorframe and kept my touch light. But my lass needed more. She pressed up on her toes to get closer and slid her fingers into my hair.
My nominal resistance shattered. I sank into the kiss.
Elise uttered a soft moan, and heat swept down my body.
Then the minx grinned and inched back.
“Wait,” I begged.
“Just checking I hadn’t messed things up with you entirely.”
“Ye haven’t. Watch me shower and see how far that is from the truth.”
I only had a sweet laugh as an answer.
One fast shower later, and I was dressed in time to grab our food from the delivery driver. We sat cross-legged on the cool floor and ate a feast of burgers and chicken at the coffee table.
Reclining against the square-edged couch, I closed my eyes, tiredness settling over me like a blanket.
“I wish we could go for a walk.”
I opened one eye. Elise peered out the plate-glass windows at the sea.
“Maybe once it’s dark, we can explore the garden. Swim.”
“I don’t have a swim suit.”
“Neither do I.” I raised my eyebrows at her, earning a laugh. Then I hauled myself up and extended a hand. “Right now, I need to curl up with ye and nap.”
Elise pursed her lips. “A nap?”
“Aye. I’m running on minimal sleep and just ate my body weight in junk food. Plus, I want to try something.”
Curiosity sparked in her gaze, and she took my fingers and let me lead her into the master bedroom. Despite the fact all the windows were tinted, I swept the blinds closed.
I prowled back to Elise. “On the bed,” I commanded.
She complied, and I stripped my jeans then climbed on with her. The house’s air-conditioning kept the room cool, but still Elise’s cheeks pinkened.
“Dinna look at me like that,” I chided. “You’re not going to have your wicked way with me. We need to work out where your challenges are, so we’ll get physical in every other way. Starting with ye finding how best to settle on me for sleep.”
I dropped onto the pillows and hauled her onto my chest. Elise’s knees slid either side of my hips, and she straddled me.
She blinked at the change, her fingertips grazing my chest. “I love that you said we.”
My heart panged, but I ignored the ache.
Elise huddled in, settling her head on my shoulder. Then she wriggled, half sliding onto the bed, her leg thrown across my waist and both hands clutching me.
“Ye have no problem when it’s your weight on me,” I said low.
She remained quiet for a minute then pushed up on an elbow. Hooking the back of my knee with her heel, she dragged my arm and rolled us, inverting our position. Now I was mostly on top of her, though I didn’t dare relax my tensed muscles.
I watched her for signs of panic.
The cool room warmed, the light growing dimmer.
Elise took short breaths. “I want your weight on me. I like it.”
I swallowed at how hard she was trying. “If I lie on ye, we have a problem.”
“You won’t crush me.”
That wasn’t the issue. I indicated between us to where my rapidly hardening cock begged for attention. “Ignore him. It’s just the proximity.”
“Him?” Elise said with an amused chuckle.
Still, she hugged me, pulling my weight down onto her. Nestled in the big bed, and in the cradle of her hips, I tucked my face against hers and held on for dear life.
Never had intimacy been so complicated. Nor so all-encompassing.
I’d thought myself a happy man, mostly content with my existence. But in a heartbeat, all that changed.
Nothing could beat this.
I’d promised her sleep, but the tiredness that had accompanied the heavy meal evaporated. I was only too aware of every breath this lass took. Every tiny movement of her fingertips against my flesh. Her tight hold on me. Her warmth.
How I was in very real danger of falling head over heels in love with her.
“Is this okay?” Elise asked.
I was so fucking far from okay.
“Should be me asking ye that.”
She gently nudged my head with hers, a demand for me to look at her.
I did, her bright eyes captivating me. Then she pressed her lips to my bearded jaw. I opened my mouth to apologise for my rough face, but those soft lips continued on, trailing fire until they captured my mouth.
An achingly sweet kiss played out between us. Though Elise had initiated it, I matched her moves. My eyes shuttered closed, and I lost myself to the most perfect moment.
Despite what she’d asked, I kept my weight mostly suspended. But she interlaced our fingers on both hands then stretched out her arms above her head, taking mine with her.
Now, I fully pinned her down.
She didn’t stop.
Between us, I grew even harder. Painfully so. Elise grinded her core into my erection, and I caught my breath.
“What if we postpone that nap?” she whispered. “I don’t want to tie you up, but I really want to keep going now.”
She could ask me for anything, any single thing in the whole world, and I would find a way to give it to her.
“I’m all yours,” I answered with no small strain in my voice.
Elise kissed me again, then pushed me to roll onto my back once more. She unbuttoned her jeans shorts and wriggled them over her hips, losing her underwear at the same time.
I breathed through my nose then eased up the bed so I was higher on the cushions, half sitting.
“Whatever ye want to do is good with me,” I said. “Seriously. Anything.”
Only my boxers created a barrier between our bodies.
Elise took hold of the waistband, stripping the shorts down my hips. I lifted my arse so she could remove them entirely.
“I hate freaking out like I did earlier.” She straddled me once more, settling into place.
Her wet core hit the base of my cock, and I stifled a groan.
Elise watched my expression, drawing her teeth over her lip. “What if we were to do this bare?”
My heart thundered. I slammed my eyes closed for a long second before forcing myself to look at her. “Assumed ye were going to say the opposite. I was ready with condoms. A vasectomy. Whatever it took.”
Her answering smile was brief, replaced with pure heat. She ground down on me again, giving a small gasp that had my head spinning.
“I don’t want that specific thing from earlier to break me. I won’t get pregnant, and I’ve never done this before.”
“Me neither. On both counts.”
Neither of us said anything more. I was a slave to whatever she was trying. I loved it, the erotic tease of her flesh on mine. I liked not being in control. I badly wanted her to take possession of me in every way. Even if that could never happen, I still wanted this.
She worked herself up and down me. My breathing grew ragged, my temperature soared.
I dug my fingers into the quilt to keep from reaching for her. All my muscles locked, and sweat broke out on my brow. Then Elise slowed and lifted off me enough to take hold of my cock. She gave me a long stroke and notched me to her entrance.
After a tiny pause that felt like an eternity, she sank onto me.
I gave up a guttural growl.
“Fuck,” she whispered.
Then she pulled back and surged forward, then again until she was fully seated.
I’d closed my eyes, and my jaw had slackened. I couldn’t look at her for fear of overexcitement.
The tightness of her drove fresh impulses through my system.
Ones that demanded I flipped her. Fuck her hard.
Make her scream my name.
Yet resisting those urges came naturally. A single wrong move or word from me could break this. I only wanted her pleasure. And that came at a cost. Of time. Of patience. Of not being the one calling the shots.
Whatever it took.
Elise pressed her hands to my chest and rode me. She started slow then built up pace, jacking her hips before rising to make a circular motion.
Fuck. She was killing me.
My fingers itched to indent her thighs, but I relented only enough to open my eyes and watch her instead.
God, she was glorious. With her blonde hair damp from the effort, she arched her back, slamming herself down onto me.
She ran one hand inside her V-neck top, and into her lace bra, cupping her own breast. With her thumb, she stretched her nipple, playing with herself. My mouth watered, but still I held my ground.
Then she switched to her clit.
Around my cock she tightened.
Oh fuck.
“God,” she gritted out. “Cameron.”
The tightening turned to her orgasm, clamping down on me in pulses. I’d never been so aware of the feeling, and it blew my mind.
Elise gasped and collapsed down onto me. She moved her hips one more time as if trying to continue the motion for my benefit, but succumbed to her climax, sucking in long pulls of breath.
I badly needed to come.
I was so close.
My body screamed for me to take over, but I balled my hands into fists.
“Holy shit.” She raised her head to peer at me, a dazed smile in place. Utter satisfaction, too. Then her gaze darkened. “You should see your expression right now. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging.”
She took up the motion again, dragging my overeager cock in and out of her. That previous determination had been replaced with delight. My cracked heart leapt at her happiness.
The rest of me was one hundred percent engaged in getting off.
I still knew better than to touch her, but Elise was doing all the work. I groaned as pressure built, and Elise laughed. She picked up speed and reached between us, finding my balls.
“Going to come,” I warned.
“Yes!” she encouraged.
“Inside ye. Ah Christ.” My orgasm slammed through me, and my brain checked out.
The powerful force had me reeling, the shock of it unreal.
Pleasure rinsed me out.
The feel of her alone had been all too good. Though I’d been so focused on her enjoyment, I hadn’t given my awareness free rein. But that pure act, of coming deep inside her body, awoke some animal reflex.
Then pain followed. Because in simple degrees, I became hers.
Yet our worlds were so far apart, I knew she could never be mine.
Delighted, Elise kissed me, then disappeared to the bathroom to clean up. I did the same, then we resumed our tight cuddle.
Elise’s breathing gentled. “Without sounding like a weirdo, was that as good for you as it was for me?”
“Better.” I kissed her hair.
She held me tighter, and I tried to calm the racing of my heart.
There was no way this could end well for me, but what we’d done had helped her. She fell asleep, and I watched over her, regretting absolutely nothing.
