Have Me Forever by Ally Blythe
6
Eli
His heated gaze pins me to the spot, my chest heaving, wondering what the fuck I just did. Grabbing my hips, he hoists me onto the counter, his rough hands shoving my knees apart, his body slotting between my legs. His mouth finds mine, his tongue sweeping in a passionate, consuming caress. He overwhelms every sense, commanding my body. I moan under his demanding touch.
“So fucking good,” I mumble against his mouth as his hands run along my chest, down my stomach, and to my thighs.
A grunt is his only response as he grabs my jaw, angling my head so he has better access, licking a trail down to my collarbone before nipping it.
He does something wicked with his tongue and I lose all rational thought. My sole focus is on more pleasure. I rake my nails down his back, then grab him through his jeans. He’s so hard the heat pulses through his clothes. “Fuck.” He grinds against my palm, his voice like gravel.
My cock responds to the sound, needing more—that quiet, animalistic sound. I’m not kidding myself, he’s my ex-girlfriend’s father, and has never given any indication he’s into men, so this won’t go further than right now. We’ve given in to this tension, this pure insanity, but that’s it. It feels right, and I’m going to take everything I can while we’re in this moment. Every touch, every breath feels amazing, and I want more.
He nips at my neck, then licks away the sting, drawing me away from my negative thoughts. Instead, I focus on the path he’s licking and sucking. “Fuck, Noah. So fucking hot.”
He hums against my skin, pleased. The vibration leaves a warm, molten feeling in my bones. I run my fingers through his hair, tilting my head back to give him more access.
A loud pounding comes from the front hall, and my hands stop, freezing at the sound. We take a second to process what’s going on. “Fuck.” His chest heaves, hands tightening on my neck. “Fuck.” His voice sounds panicked, but he doesn’t release me. I tug at his hand, making him take a step back so I can slide off the counter. “Stay here,” he whispers as he readjusts himself.
He hurries out of the kitchen, leaving me to worry alone. I fucked up. I squeeze my eyes shut, wincing as the pain from my cheek and stomach returns. What was I thinking, coming here? I knew it wasn’t a great idea, but knowing Angel still had the album my grandfather gave me, or the notes and stories I wrote for her didn’t sit right.
I may have come here with pure intentions, but those flew from my mind when Noah put his hand on my cheek, when he caressed my jaw, at the look he gave me. I thought I read the same fire in his eyes that I felt in myself. Grabbing the items, I walk toward the hallway and listen, choosing to ignore everything that’s shouting at me to freak out. I crossed the line, but I’ll have plenty of time to over-analyze later.
Noah’s deep voice echoes down the hall, the gravel of lust absent, replaced by annoyance. “What are you doing here?”
“Ang said I could stay here, sir.” Pendejo. Angel wants that dickhead to move in here? All those tears she shed, the calls she sent, they meant absolutely nothing to her. She only wanted to save face. I can’t say I didn’t expect that, but it stings. And I’m a fucking hypocrite. God, what did I get myself into?
“I’ll tell you what I told my daughter. You are not welcome here and you certainly won’t be living here.” I glance around the corner, risking being seen, to see the happy, smug smile wiped from Tom’s face. It’s the least he deserves after following through with his threat. I rub my face again, a ripple of pain striking at the memory.
He turns, as if to walk away, clearly stunned. It’s weird, I’ve never seen him at a loss for words. It doesn’t last long. He takes a few steps, stops, then turns back to Noah, his face contorting in rage. “What is Eli doing here?” Mierda, he must have seen my car parked on the street. He shouts my name.
“Stop shouting. Eli isn’t here.” The lie falls smoothly from Noah’s lips. The same lips I kissed only moments before, which still seems unreal. I don’t know what I was thinking when I launched myself out of my chair, practically mauling his body. He’s just so kind, and he seemed so genuine in his concern for me.
His hand was warm, brushing against my jaw, holding ice against my cheek. Every move made me ache for him, and so I’d jumped, taking the risk, not expecting he’d return the kiss.
Tom looks behind Noah’s shoulder, and I fall back, hoping he didn’t notice me. I know he’s not going to buy the lie, but catching me hiding will probably make things worse.
Spur-of-the-moment, I decide I should go up the back staircase and come down the front like I’m getting stuff from her room. I came here to do that, so it’s a believable reason. If he sees me leave with my things, there’s no reason he should be suspicious.
“I know he’s here,” he grinds out between his teeth. “Is he waiting for Angel, trying to beg her to take him back? He’s so fucking pathetic.”
“Watch your mouth. If you have nothing else…” I lose track of the conversation as I race up the stairs with my things. Once at the top, I descend the front stairs, stopping a few from the bottom. I see Tom’s stance shift the second he sees me. His stupid, smug grin falling back into place.
“I thought you said Eli wasn’t here.” Then he looks at me again and his eyes widen. “What the fuck? Are those hickeys? Did you hook up with Ang, you son of a bitch? It wasn’t enough to get me kicked out of Vi’s place… but now.” He stops, tension radiating through his body, causing him to vibrate on the spot. “No, no. Ang wouldn’t do that to me, which means you were cheating on her too, you fucking asshole. Why’d you rat me out when you were doing the same fucking thing?” I resist the urge to cover my neck and look guilty. I didn’t cheat on her, even if I’ve made quite a few questionable choices recently.
If looks could kill, Noah would have surely managed it the way he’s glaring at Tom. “I told you to leave my house.” He tries to slam the door in Tom’s face, but Tom catches it, taking a menacing step forward, sights set on me. Noah catches his arm, yanking him back. “Get out before I call the cops for trespassing.” Noah looks my way with meaning. “Or assault.”
Noah lifts his brows, staring down someone who I thought was a close friend, threatening him for me. All I see now, as I watch Tom, lost to his rage, is a complete stranger. Someone who betrayed me, punched me, and hates me. I want to ask him what I did, because it has to be more than telling Violet, but I don’t know if the answer will make it any better.
He hesitates another second, then turns, grabbing the door and slamming it on his way out. I collapse, the adrenaline coursing through me giving out, leaving me half sprawled across the stairs. “Fuck,” I shout, wincing at the outburst.
I lower my voice and start again. “Sorry. I didn’t realize that would make it worse. I thought if Tom saw me, he’d leave, satisfied he was right.”
Noah comes into my line of sight and I stare up at him—his short brown hair, messy from my fingers, his eyes full of compassion and worry. Worry for me. All those thoughts and feelings I did my best to bury jump to the surface as he takes my hand and pulls me up. All I see now is a handsome man who let me kiss him, who seems to care if I’m okay or not. The same man I want to kiss again. I can’t though, which makes this whole situation worse.
Then there’s the fact that I’m pretty sure he’s only into women. He was married to a woman and Ang has said she’s seen him with one or two women since then. And I’m supposed to be straight. I’m totally straight. I replay the exchange, wondering if I took advantage. He’s a nice man, and all he wanted to do was comfort me. Fuck, the hesitation, it was plain as day. I should have stopped after I mentioned the pool. I kept pushing, and I ended up kissing him. What the fuck is wrong with me? My mind keeps oscillating between hurt, confusion, anger, arousal, and back. And I have to say, I don’t love the mixture.
“None of that was your fault. He’s the asshole. It wouldn’t have mattered if you came out here or not. He was looking for a fight after I told him to leave.”
“Yeah, why did you do that?” Shit. I need to learn how to filter my thoughts better. I don’t know if I want to hear the answer. In equal parts, I fear it and crave it. Did he do it for me, or was he just being protective of Angel? That I’m even asking should clue me in on how truly fucked I am, but my stupid, bruised heart doesn’t care for logic. It wants to hear that he did it for me because we shared one kiss that he might not have wanted.
“It was the right thing to do.” My heart beats harder. “He assaulted you, and I will not give him the chance to do that to Angel in a fit of rage.” My heart sinks. Right. The right thing to do for his daughter. I shouldn’t be upset by that. Obviously, I don’t want her hurt either. But I want it to be, in part, because of me. And that’s problematic.
“Right.”
He switches the conversation. “We should talk about this.”
I’d rather not. “No.”
“Eli.”
“It never happened.”
“It did.”
It did. And it felt fucking perfect, despite every reason it shouldn’t. If Angel finds out, she’s going to think I made a move out of revenge. That wasn’t it. The pool was one of the hottest things I’ve ever done in my life until now. What I shared with Noah was wrong. Hot, but wrong. Yet it was something more. Honest, at a time where everything in my life feels like a lie.
Even knowing it wasn’t some ploy to get back at her, it leaves me wondering if I did something more unforgivable than what she did to me. I may not have kissed him until we were already over, but I’ve always felt close to him, and there was that day in the pool.
I rub the back of my neck, looking away from Noah. I can’t think about those things right now, not while I’m still in front of him. Not when it looks like he wants to say more. I think it’s time for me to leave before I do anything else extremely dumb, like try to kiss him again, when he is clearly freaking out.
“Well, I got the things I came for. I, uh, should probably go?” I don’t mean for it to come out like a question. I’m not sure if he’ll drop the subject or if he’ll force me to talk about it.
When he says nothing, I sigh, moving toward the door and opening it, already thinking about the best ways to avoid him altogether. It shouldn’t be that hard, since there’s no reason for me to be at this house, and I’ve never once run into him on campus. I spend most of my time in the business building, which is two miles from the English building, if not more.
“Eli.”
“Bye.” I shut the door and race to my car, not looking back at the house once. I arrive back on campus having reached a decision. About Tom. I’m still not thinking about Noah. I won’t go home to my parents and I’m not running away from my dorm. Either he needs to find somewhere else to stay, or deal with it, because switching rooms isn’t an option for me. It will give my parents enough ammunition to pull their financial support. One saving grace is the fact that I have a full ride for tuition, but that doesn’t include housing expenses. Which means they can keep me under their thumb.
I make my way to the room, listening outside the door before cracking it open. He isn’t there, thankfully. He’s left his mark though.
He took everything that’s mine and threw it around the room. He ripped open boxes of food, smearing it all over my shirts. My bookshelf is tipped over. The one picture I have of me and my grandpa while I sit on his lap, his record player resting behind us, smashed. I race to it, pulling it from the shards, heart pounding as I pray it’s otherwise unscathed. I analyze every inch, relief coursing through me, as I determine it’s in one piece and barely rumpled.
With that realization, my body goes numb, unable to process the destruction of all my property. What the fuck is wrong with him? How could anyone do this to someone they once called a friend? I don’t have answers, and I know I won’t get any from him. I look down at the picture again, finding a folder to slide it into, then go in search of my Resident Assistant. Tom is such a piece of shit. I may not be leaving our room, but after what he did, he will be.