Bachelor Untamed (11 page)

She glanced over at the clock. It was close to six in the morning, and the sun was peeking up over the mountains. Typically, on most mornings, he would be up, dressed in his gym shorts and in the backyard working out. But today, after a night spent with her, he was still asleep, with no signs of waking up.

Ellie smiled. She would love to think she had worn him out after their night of lovemaking. She would be the first to admit it had been intense.

A small piece of lint off the bedspread had settled in his hair and she wondered if she could remove it without waking him. She leaned over and reached out, and when he suddenly opened his eyes, her hand froze in midair. His dark, intense eyes met hers, and she wondered if he
was trying to figure out where he was and why they were in the same bed. She pulled her hand back. “There’s a piece of lint in your hair and I was going to get it out,” she explained.

He held fast to her gaze and asked in a voice that was raspy from sleep, “Is there?”

“Yes.”

His gaze slowly moved from her eyes and shifted upward to her hair. “What do you know? There’s a piece of lint in yours as well.”

And then he reached out and his hand first went to her hair, before he cupped his hand behind her neck and drew her face down to his, capturing her mouth.

Ellie was so absorbed in the kiss that it took her a while to notice he had shifted positions again and she was now underneath him. After an intense mating session with their tongues, he pulled back and let his gaze run over her. “You put your gown back on,” he said in a throaty murmur.

She smiled up at him. “Yes. Aren’t you going to go work out this morning?”

He lifted a brow. “And how do you know I work out every morning?”

She shrugged innocently. “It was a lucky guess.”

Tilting his head, he studied her for a moment and then said, “I don’t think so. Have you been spying on me again?”

She pretended to be taken aback by his accusation and had to keep the laughter out of her voice when she said, “I can’t believe you would accuse me of such a thing, Uri.”

When he didn’t say anything but continued to study
her face, she finally asked, “Well, aren’t you going to say something?”

He smiled. “Yes. Do you want to work out with me?”

She couldn’t help rolling her eyes. She recalled what he did while working out, and it looked too strenuous for her. Besides, he was too good at it, and there was no way she could keep up. “No, thank you.”

“You sure? I can tone things down a bit.”

“Don’t bother. Besides, I never liked jumping rope anyway.”

“And how do you know I jump rope?”

Too late. She’d been caught. She wondered how she was going to get out of this one, then decided to use the same reason she’d used earlier. “I guessed.”

“Once again, I don’t think so. That means you will be working out with me this morning, and we’ll start with my version of push-ups. But first I need to get rid of this.” Rising on his knees, and with a quick flick of his wrist, he removed her nightgown.

Then he kissed the surprised gasp from her lips, and by the time he took his mouth away, she felt her bones seem to soften like jelly. “Now,” he whispered close to her mouth as he straddled her body, “this is how it’s done.”

And he proceeded to show her.

T
hrough exhausted eyes, Uriel watched the delicious sway of Ellie’s naked hips as she left the bed to go to the bathroom.

He forced his body to roll over, trying to recall just how many push-ups he’d actually done, so many he’d lost count. The only thing he remembered was that her body had been the mat, and each time he’d lowered down to it, his shaft had been dead center to enter her. The tempo had been quick and rapid, the strokes sure and precise, and when an orgasm tore into her, it tore into him as well; and the final time he came down on her, he locked in to her tightly, as his release exploded inside of her.

He closed his eyes, remembering his vow that last night would be the one and only time he made love to
her without a condom. But a condom had been the last thing on his mind every time he’d lowered his body to hers, felt the connection, went inside of her, felt how her inner muscles had tried to clench him before he’d quickly pull out, only to push back in. That had been one hell of a workout, one he doubted he would ever forget.

He opened his eyes when he heard the shower going and had every intention of joining her there. But first he needed to get a second wind. When had any woman made him do that? He glanced over at the clock. It was past ten already. When was the last time he’d stayed in bed this long? Hell, he could barely remember what day it was. All he remembered was how it felt being inside of Ellie, making love to her, releasing a part of himself inside of her.

Uriel closed his eyes again, reliving the moment. He snagged her pillow and buried his face in it, needing to breathe in her scent. He felt at peace, relaxed, sleepy—and although he wanted to join her in the shower, he gave in to sleep.

Ellie stood on her back porch with a cup of coffee in her hand, while gazing out at the lake. It would be another beautiful day because the most beautiful man was upstairs sleeping in her bed. She had expected him to join her in the shower and had been surprised when he hadn’t. When she had dried off, and slipped into a pretty pink shorts set, and returned to the bedroom, he was sleeping like a baby.

Going downstairs, she had taken her laptop and—remembering where her aunt’s manuscript ended—she
picked up from there, to pen her own words, and had been surprised to see just how easily her thoughts had flowed. It had been a scene where Grant and Tamara had met for lunch, and later Grant had invited her to his house. There had been no doubt in either of their minds what would happen when they got there.

Ellie had been surprised just how easily the dialogue had come to her, and she could actually feel the chemistry between them as she typed each word. It was as if she had gotten into their heads. She’d known each time Grant had wanted to reach out and touch Tamara but had fought the urge to do so, still thinking he didn’t need or want a woman in his life.

Ellie had not written the lovemaking scene, deciding she wanted her full concentration when she did so, and didn’t want to have to worry about Uriel walking in on her and possibly asking questions about what she was doing.

After what they’d shared the night before, she felt inspired, in awe and quietly resigned to the fact that Uriel could stir up passion within her as if it was his right. And those pushups…

Where on earth did he come up with this kind of stuff? He had placed his body in perfect formation over her, his chest flat, arms shoulder level, feet apart and parallel. Even after the first contact with her body, he had kept his body straight, although he had cheated a few times by bringing down his hips for deeper penetration. He thrust inside of her each time he lowered his body, inhaling as he did so, only to exhale when he would raise his body from inside her. He had done two sets of fifty, and she hadn’t been able to handle any
more, and had tumbled over into an orgasm so strong it nearly drowned them. It seemed her orgasm triggered his, and they both had gotten washed away. She had discovered firsthand just what strong muscles he had.

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

She swung around. Uriel was standing in the doorway with a cup of coffee in his hand, and the only stitch of clothing he had on was the gym shorts from last night. Now in the daylight, she could see just how scandalous those shorts looked on him, exposing his muscled thighs and strong legs. She knew how those legs felt cradling hers.

She moved her gaze from the lower part of his body back to his face, and noted the sleepy look in his eyes. Sleepy and sensually hazed over. “I figured you needed your rest,” she said, her gaze slipping back to his shorts, specifically the middle, and what was so obvious. Could he be aroused this morning already? But then she’d heard that some men woke up with erections that had nothing to do with sexual desire. However, with the way Uriel was looking at her, she wasn’t so sure.

“Have you eaten breakfast already?” he asked, taking a sip of coffee.

She smiled. “No. Are you hungry? I can throw something together in—”

“The reason I asked is because I wanted to treat you to breakfast this morning. I had a good week fishing, and I know how much you like fried fish. At least, you used to like it.”

Her smile widened. “I still do.”

“Then give me a chance to shower and get things set
up outside. I’m going to use that big fryer Dad stored in one of the closets,” he said.

“Wonderful! Is there’s something I can do? Anything you need me to bring?”

He didn’t say anything as his gaze moved over her, and she could tell by the way he looked at her that he liked her outfit. Figuring she’d be alone at the lake, she’d purchased several shorts sets that were comfortable, feminine and so easy to wear. She’d also figured it’d be hot, although not this kind of hot. The way Uriel stared at her had her blood nearly boiling.

“Uriel?” She tried to get his attention away from her bare legs.

His gaze roamed back up to her face. “Yes?”

“I asked if there was something I could do and if you needed me to bring anything.”

He moved away from the doorway and walked toward her. When he came to a stop in front of her, he reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her face. He then lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her in a slow, drugging fashion. The taste of coffee on her tongue mingled with the taste of him. But it wasn’t just his taste that she found intoxicating, it was the way he used his tongue. He was a master at making each and every kiss memorable.

He pulled back, met her gaze and said in a husky voice, “I’ll let you know what you can do when you get there. And as far as bringing anything, just bring yourself. You will be more than plenty.”

He moved away to walk down the steps, and then looked back at her, smiled and said, “I promise to
return your coffee cup, but this is the best coffee I’ve drunk in a long time, Ellie Weston. You’re good at everything you do.”

She watched him walk away, thinking that if his compliment was meant to butter her up for some reason, it was working.

Ellie decided to prepare something to bring anyway. It was the least she could do, since he was frying the fish. And though it was close to noon, and breakfast had turned into brunch, she would bet any amount of money he would be cooking a pot of grits.

It hadn’t taken her long to throw together a container of coleslaw, and while she was at it, she decided a nice desert was in order, so she had baked a batch of peanut-butter cookies, using her aunt’s recipe. She even made a pitcher of lemonade, Mable Weston’s own blend.

While the cookies were baking, she sat at the kitchen table with her laptop. Although she couldn’t see him from where she sat, Ellie could hear the commotion Uriel was making as he set up the deep fryer outside. The last time she recalled it had been used was for Uriel’s eighteenth birthday party.

His birthday was in September, but his parents had decided to celebrate a month early, since he would be leaving home and going off to college at the end of August—and it would have been the ideal time for his five godbrothers to attend. That had been the last time she had seen all six of them together. As she made her way over to Uriel’s, she thought it was wonderful that the men had stayed in contact all these years.

“I was wondering when you would get here,” Uriel said, smiling at her when she appeared through the trees. He hurried over to take some of the items from her hands. He was wearing a pair of denim cutoffs and a T-shirt.

“What’s all this?” he asked. “I thought I told you that you didn’t have to bring anything.”

She returned his smile. “I know, but I couldn’t resist. There’s nothing like coleslaw to go along with fish and grits. And I couldn’t resist baking some of those peanut-butter cookies you love so much.”

His eyes lit up. “You have your aunt’s recipe?”

She laughed. “Of course. Aunt Mable left me everything.” She refrained from saying: including her unfinished manuscript. “I’ve even made a pitcher of lemonade that I need to go back to get.”

She glanced around and saw he’d already placed several pieces of fish in the fryer. She knew they had been coated with his father’s fried fish batter recipe, and the aroma of mouth-watering fried fish was circulating through the air. “It seems like you have everything under control,” she said, smiling over at him.

He grinned. “Did you doubt for one moment that I would?”

“No, not really. If it’s okay, I’ll go inside and put the slaw in the refrigerator.”

“No problem, go ahead.”

“Thanks.”

“And while you’re in there, how about grabbing me that hush puppy batter I have in the fridge.”

“Okay.”

The moment Ellie opened the back door and went
inside Uriel’s home, memories assailed her and she glanced around the kitchen. Everything basically looked the same, and she was surprised he hadn’t made any changes. Maybe that had been deliberate, and he wanted to remember earlier times when his parents had been happy together, or so he’d assumed. She wondered if he knew the reason behind his parents’ failed marriage of thirty-plus years, and if it had a bearing on how he viewed relationships. She hoped not. But then, she would be the first to admit that she believed in a strong marriage for herself, because her parents had one. If she found out different, would she think otherwise? She didn’t think so, but one could never be absolutely sure how they would react in certain situations.

After placing the slaw in his refrigerator she remembered he had asked her to bring back the hush puppy batter, so she grabbed the foil-wrapped container. Moments later she was headed back outdoors, but stopped when she got to the screen door, and glanced out. She couldn’t stop the grin that touched her lips. Standing in front of the fryer with tongs in his hand, Uriel looked relaxed, as if he was actually enjoying what he was doing.

Just as he’d enjoyed what he’d been doing last night as well. At least he had given her the impression that he had enjoyed himself. She knew that she had. He was an experienced man in the bedroom, and there was so much he could teach her, so many ways to inspire her. But a part of her knew finishing the manuscript was only a small part of her wanting to be with Uriel. She would be fooling herself if she convinced
herself otherwise. She truly wanted to be with him—to spend whatever time she could with him was a dream come true for her, and she intended to be satisfied with that.

He must have felt her gaze on him, because at that moment he looked over her way and smiled. “Are you standing there drooling over me or the fish?” he asked, taking a few pieces out of the fryer. She all but licked her lips when she saw they were a golden brown.

“The fish,” she said smiling, as she opened the screen door and walked out on the porch. “Why on earth would I be drooling over you? And here’s the hush puppy batter.”

“Thanks, just set it on that table. The first batch is out, hot and ready to eat, just as soon as I get a few hush puppies going. I hope you’re hungry.”

“Starving. I’m going to get the lemonade. Is there something I can do or get for you before I leave?”

“Yes, there is something. Come here for a second.”

She actually thought he was going to ask her to watch the fish while he took a bathroom break, and when she reached out for the frying tongs, he reached out for her. Before she had a chance to react, he bent his head and took her mouth.

Desire as hot as the fryer oil raced through her body with his kiss. When he pulled back, her senses felt totally wrecked. She could only stand there in a daze and look at him.

He smiled. “You can go get the lemonade now.”

His words made her blink, and she felt a little embarrassed that she’d been standing there, starting at him like a ninny. “Yes, of course.”

As she made her way along the path toward her house, she could only fight the fires that were beginning to rage out of control inside her.

And she knew at that moment that a summer fling with Uriel might be more than she could handle, if day one was anything to go by.