AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I make a right on 281 and head for my house, watching my cell, waiting for bars to pop up so I can exhale.
ELEVEN
THIS IS DURESS
ELIAS
Iknock on Brighton’s door. I know the risk. She could slam it in my face.
When it cracks open to squinty eyes, my first thought is that she’s pissed. It’s quickly evident that she’s been sleeping and hasn’t had the chance to get her defenses up. At least it’s one break I’m catching today.
“Elias?” She pulls the door open, her gaze dropping to the potted orchid in my hand.
I extend it as a peace offering.
“I wanted to bring you flowers, but I wanted something that would last.” My words drift off when I see the softness in her eyes.
“I don’t understand you.” She turns her back to me, walking deeper into the house, effectively shutting me out from the first look of tenderness I’ve seen from her.
Ever.
“When I’m inside you, you call me ‘Eli’.” I close the door behind me.
She stops dead when I say it. It’s like she’s frozen in her thoughts. She turns painfully slowly to face me, the orchid bloom blocking part of her face.
She opens her mouth, I assume to reply, but only manages to close it again, before shaking her head and trying again. Again, nothing.
“I like it when you call me Eli,” I press and move toward her.
She doesn’t retreat, but stands before me, sleepy, congenial, silent, with the flower a barrier between us. This Brighton isn’t the one who’s always in control. She’s tender, less brash, softer.
“You were asleep?” I push a hank of hair out of her face when she allows me close enough to touch her.
A nod.
“Did you have a good nap?” My finger trails from her temple, down her cheek to her neck, my eyes following its movement.
“Yeah. It was necessary after last night.”
My hand wraps around her neck, my thumb dances across her jaw, and I lean in, moving my lips to below her ear. “You are so fucking beautiful. So smart. So fucking sexy.” I feel the shiver run through her at my words.
She sucks in a huge breath, and I wait for her to tell me to get out.
“What are you doing here, Eli?” She leans closer to me, but her face tilts away, giving me greater access to her neck.
“I needed to see you. I needed… you.” I take the plant from her white-knuckled hands, and set it aside, before tilting her head in my hands. My lips hover over hers. I look between them and her eyes. “Need you.” The last comes out as a whisper as I take her mouth.
Her arms wrap around my neck, holding me to her. Her body melts into mine, fitting perfecting like a long-missing puzzle piece.
I pull her tighter, deepening the kiss. It’s desperation and desire. It’s longing and passion. It’s fire and fight. It’s vacation and it’s home.
I must say the last out loud because she pulls back and looks at me quizzically. “What?”
I hold her eyes and lay it out there. “You’re like coming home.” I move my lips to her neck, to below her ear, to her collarbone. “Home.”
I feel her head shake, her hair sliding back and forth against my fingers at her neck, soft as silk.
I pull back from my kiss, studiously avoiding moving my hands down her body. I want her. I always want her, but this is different. This is deeper.
