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When we got back to the barn, Eliza’s eyes were wide at the sight of us, even though we both said we were fine. She healed all of the scratches and bruises she found on me. I didn’t need her help, but I wanted to be close to her. It was nice to have her touching me. I kissed her, but she pulled back not too long after we started. She wanted to go check on things, make sure there wasn’t more she could do.
Damage control wasn’t too bad, but more meetings were coming. Sterling was all worked up. He wanted to take the enemy clan out and had an idea how we were going to do it. It would be nice to go on the offensive.
I wanted to talk to Eliza, see where we stood, but for now I could wait. I knew we were on the same side and that when this was over, she would be right back in my bed. I was quite sure of that.
16
EDDIE
The next attack was at Mystic Falls Ranch, and it was all women. I was all for killing our enemies, but when they were women, it made it harder to do what I was supposed to do. I didn’t want to do it, and I was thankful that Calvin and I had taught Eliza how to call animals to her. It told me that she was meant to be here with the Dark Riders and though she wasn’t born to us, she belonged here.
Eliza was able to make the cattle on the edge of the ranch that were grazing peacefully stampede the women who were attacking the ranch. Eliza didn’t get a scratch on her, though Calvin did get a few bumps. He was so quick to get fixed up, I started to think that maybe he had done it all for attention.
Eliza finally went to bed alone, likely too conflicted with who to go to bed with. I think secretly, Eliza wanted all of us together. She certainly could handle it, or at least she would try. I got turned on thinking about it, and if things would have been less stressful, I would have tried to bring it up.
Instead, I went home to an empty bed and regrets. It was no wonder that I couldn’t sleep and was up and on the porch a while later. I saw Eliza walk up and wondered what she was doing. I didn’t say anything at first though, because I was afraid she was a mirage and I would dispel the magic. She always looked exceptional, but the moonlight had her glowing.
“What are you doing up here, Eliza?” I knew the reason I wanted her to be here, but I wasn’t going to get myself all worked up for nothing.
She came up onto the porch and sat next to me. “I miss you.”
“Here I am.”
She put her hand on my knee and smiled. Damn if I didn’t melt right there. It was hard for me to feel anything but overwhelmed in her presence. Eliza had quickly learned that I would do about anything for her in the right circumstances.
“How is your leg feeling, all better?”
I nodded. I’d had an injured leg that made me limp my whole life and Eliza healed me like it was nothing. I felt like a whole new person. Eliza was the one who had given me that gift. She was such a wonderful person to be around, as well as the good things that she did.
She leaned in to kiss me, and, of course, I was ready. I needed her. It was hard to want her as badly as I did and not get her. While I was upset that she had mated with another man, as long as I got to hold her, touch her, and kiss her, I didn’t care all that much. If I had Eliza, I wasn’t all that worried about who had her officially as a mate. I could share.
I pulled Eliza into my lap and she straddled me. We both made sounds of pleasure as she sat down on me. Eliza felt so good, and her hot need was so close to me. I tried to focus on anything else, but it was impossible.
It was Eliza who took things further. She slipped her hands between us and undid my pants and pulled out my shaft before she sunk herself down on top of me. She had come prepared, bare under her skirt. She felt so damn good, tight, hot and eager to ride me. She was close to coming, I could see it on her face, and I slowed her down as she tried to pick up the pace.
She whimpered, but I just kept holding her hips in place as she moved back and forth on me. “Please!”
I brought her to the edge of madness, before backing off, then did it again. I liked Eliza when she was like this, begging for me. I took things slow, and I was rewarded tenfold for it. I wouldn’t have thought that Eliza would be so wild, especially knowing that she was mated to someone else.
When it was all over, we stayed outside talking on the porch for a while. Eliza needed some reassurances. She felt like this was all her fault and the losses were more than she was worth. She was afraid that we were going to kick her out and the Dark Riders were going to be done with her. It wasn’t her fault that any of it happened, but she was so convinced that they would want her to go. I didn’t want her to go anywhere. I was at the point where if Sterling really wanted her to leave, then I would leave as well. When I said that I was going to protect her and make sure she was okay from this point on, I meant it. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.
Eliza eventually went back to the bunkhouse. I was happy that she had come to me at all, and it felt almost greedy to expect anything more out of it. I had gotten everything that I wanted, so was it even fair or right to ask for more? It felt like I was asking for too much to have her all to myself.
I went to bed wondering how this was all going to work out. Sterling was not happy with the situation at all. He blamed us for the trouble that was coming our way. I didn’t think it was very fair, considering that we were already fighting with the Bransom Country pack, so it wasn’t like she brought us new enemies. Eliza just gave them a new reason to attack. She didn’t want any of this to happen, and if Sterling would take even a moment to get to know her, he would understand that. I could understand his position, but at the same time, I wasn’t going to let anybody blame Eliza for something she had not done. I was here for Eliza, against anyone that I had to be against.
* * *
Sterling cameby the next morning to ask Patrick if he knew where his pack would be hiding. He gave us his best guess based on Amos’s decision process.
After the meeting, Sterling took Calvin and I aside and wanted to know what we were going to do to make this right. There were apparently millions of dollars’ worth of dead horses from the initial ranch attack, and he was laying it all at Eliza’s feet.
I gave Sterling a dirty look because she could hear everything he was saying. I didn’t want her feeling bad about it, and I told him to stop being so obnoxious. I got one hell of a growl from Sterling in response. He was the alpha, after all, and I didn’t have a right to speak to him that. I knew as much, I wasn’t stupid, but I did not want Eliza feeling worse about herself. She had already taken enough blame in my opinion and he was making it worse.
“The Dark Riders and the Bransom Country pack have been enemies since either one of us was born. No matter what you feel about Eliza, this was all going to happen anyway. Maybe they were emboldened to come now because of her and trying to break the bond, but the bond is broken, so they have no reason to be here. She was rejected from them, which means that they have no further say on her.”
“You bonded with her?”
“No, it wasn’t me.”
