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He sensed this was about more than the pancakes burning, so he kissed her throat a final time and stepped away. “I’ll set the table.”
He put the plates and the cutlery on the table and grabbed the syrup and butter. Eleanor set the plate of pancakes in the middle of the table, and they both sat down. She put a couple of pancakes on her plate and smothered them with an obscene amount of syrup. Wes took two pancakes as well, but his appetite had disappeared, and his lion whined like a tiny cub.
What if Eleanor regretted last night? What if she hated that she let him mark her? What if she -
“Wes,” Eleanor said. “I don’t regret last night, so stop looking like I’m stomping on your balls, would you?”
He twitched and nearly dropped his fork. “Since when did you become a mind reader?”
She laughed. “I’m not. But when you’re into a guy who doesn’t talk much, you become an expert at reading his facial expressions and body language.”
He poked at the pancake with his fork. “Will you tell me what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, exactly,” she said. “It’s more of a… we need to be clear on some particulars type of thing.”
He knew they needed to have this conversation, so why did he feel so sick to his stomach about it?
Maybe because it’s your birthday. A day that used to be good but now sucks, and there’s a big part of you that wanted to spend all of today with Eleanor in your bed, so you don’t have to think about how it’s your fault Derek isn’t here on his own fucking birthday.
He set his fork on the table so Eleanor wouldn’t see the way his hands trembled. He was a selfish asshole, and thinking he could use Eleanor today to forget how fucked up he now was, was repulsive.
Eleanor means more to you than that, and you know it. Stop denying it, asshole.
He ignored his inner voice. Eleanor couldn’t be more to him than a distraction. He wouldn’t fuck up her life the way he’d fucked his. She deserved to be happy, and he would never make her happy.
“Your continuing silence suggests I’m freaking you out,” Eleanor said before shoving a healthy forkful of pancakes into her mouth.
“You’re not freaking me out,” he said. “I’m worried about upsetting you, but I also want to be honest with you and be confident that what I’m about to say is clear and not misleading.”
She made a face and swallowed her bite of pancakes. “I know this is a fuck buddies situation. I won’t start crying because you say the words out loud, Wes.”
His mouth dropped open, and his lion made a startled growl. Eleanor took a sip of coffee and sat back in her chair. “Why do you look so surprised that I’m all right with a sex-only relationship?”
“I don’t… I guess I thought you wouldn’t be into it.”
“I had the best sex of my life last night, Wesley. Why wouldn’t I be into it?”
“Because you like me,” he said, then grimaced. “Shit, that sounded more arrogant than I meant.”
She shrugged. “I do like you, but I’m also an adult who knows when a guy isn’t into me the same way I’m into him. Normally, I’d move on, but since you’re stuck with me until I figure out what my father sent me that people are willing to kill for, why shouldn’t we enjoy the bonus of banging each other’s brains out?”
“I’m not stuck with you,” he said irritably. “I want to help you, Eleanor.”
“I know,” she said, “and I appreciate it more than you know.”
“You want to be in a relationship,” he said, “and I can’t give that to you.”
“You’ve made that clear. But I won’t exactly be looking for my Prince Charming while someone’s actively trying to kill me. Once the danger is over, you and I can go back to friends only, and I’ll keep looking for,” Eleanor smiled, but it looked forced and unnatural, “the love of my life.”
His lion had a lot of very loud things to say about Eleanor being with anyone else but them. Wes poked at his pancakes again. He needed to say no, but he couldn’t resist being with Eleanor for even a little longer. One night with her wasn’t enough.
“Push your chair back, Wes.”
He glanced at Eleanor before wordlessly pushing his chair away from the table. His breath hitched in his throat when Eleanor straddled him and rubbed her pussy against his growing erection. “You aren’t eating your pancakes.”
“Not hungry.” He gripped her hips and stared into her sweet face. “Eleanor, are you sure about this? I feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”
“Actually,” she bent her head and kissed his throat before nipping at his jaw, “I’m the one taking advantage of you.”
