Bachelor Untamed (14 page)

“For God’s sake, Mom, for once will you think of someone other than yourself? Don’t you know every time you hurt Dad, you’re hurting me, too?”

Ellie lifted a brow. He was talking to his mother? Mrs. Lassiter? She heard the pain in his voice and also the frustration. Immediately her heart went out to him.

“Look, Mom, this conversation isn’t going anywhere. You just refuse to understand what I’m saying. I’ll talk to you later. Goodbye.”

A part of Ellie wanted to go to Uriel, hold him and tell him everything would be all right, but he might not want that. That would be getting into his business, and until he invited her into it, she had to remain on the outside.

Ellie turned to head back up the stairs, and when she got to the top she eased down to sit on the step. She heard the back door open and close, indicating he had either left or gone outside to get some fresh air. Again she fought the urge to go to him, get him to talk about it.

She was about to get up and go back into her bed
room, when she heard the back door open and close again and then, moments later, Uriel rounded the corner from the kitchen and glanced up and saw her sitting on the top stair.

He didn’t say anything. He just stood there and stared up at her, and even then she felt his anger, but knew it wasn’t directed at her. Ellie’s natural instinct, the one that loved him, had always loved him, told her to go to him, risk having him tell her she was overstepping the bounds of what was permissible in their affair.

She decided to take the risk anyway, and slowly began walking down the stairs to him. When she reached the bottom step and stood directly in front of him, she wrapped her arms around him and leaned up on tiptoes and joined her mouth to his.

He reciprocated her kiss, reached out and placed his arms around her waist as he eased her closer to him. His hands stroked her back and her backside, while his mouth mated totally and thoroughly with hers.

She gasped when he swept her off her feet and into his arms and headed toward the sofa, sat down and cradled her in his arms. He said nothing for a long time, just sat there holding her, with his chin resting atop her head.

She decided to break his silence by looking up at him and asking, “Are you okay?”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, just continued to look down at her, and then he pulled her back into his arms, rested his chin atop her head again and said, “I want to believe that my mother at some point did love my father, but at times, I’m really not sure.”

She gave his words a chance to float around them,
and then she asked another question, one whose purpose was to make him think. “Why would you even believe that she didn’t?” she asked quietly.

He shifted her in his lap so he could meet her gaze, and then, in a quiet tone, said, “Because she is hurting him so much now. And I can’t imagine that a woman who professed to loving a man at one point, could deliberately hurt him the way she is doing. My father left the country this weekend because they were invited to the same party at the country club, and he knew she would be bringing her boy-toy. She parades him around like he’s the best thing to happen to her since gingerbread. My father still loves her. Nearly had a nervous breakdown when she asked for a divorce.”

Ellie didn’t know what to say. She had heard bits and pieces of the story from her aunt and her parents, but she hadn’t known how deeply the divorce had affected Mr. Lassiter. And she could clearly see the divorce had affected Uriel as well. She had a question to ask him, mainly because she needed to know.

“Is that the reason you won’t consider ever marrying, Uriel? Because of what’s happened to your parents’ marriage?”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment, and she wondered if he would reply. Finally he said, “Yes. I saw my father hurt. I felt his pain. I saw a strong and confident man nearly reduced to a whimpering, poor soul because of his love for a woman, and I made up my mind never to let it happen to me. No woman would ever touch my life that deeply or make me love her that strongly for that to happen. I refuse to let it.”

Ellie couldn’t say anything. He had pretty much told her in no uncertain terms, that no matter how enjoyable he found her in bed, no matter how much he might take pleasure in her company, when it was time for him to leave Cavanaugh Lake, he would do so without looking back, and possibly, as time passed he wouldn’t bother looking her up. If their paths crossed, she would have been just another woman from his past.

“How can I still love her for what she’s putting him through, Ellie?”

His question, since he’d asked, was one she felt she could answer. She shifted so she could reach up and place her arms around his neck. “You love her because she is your mom,” she said simply. “Our parents don’t always do what we want them to do, just like, as their children, we don’t always do what they want us to do. We love them anyway, and they love us anyway. Sounds like she’s going through a midlife crisis, and it’s sad they aren’t going through it together.”

Her parents certainly had, she thought, remembering how her parents, who didn’t even own bicycles, had gone out and purchased his and hers Harleys. And if that wasn’t bad enough, they’d joined a motorcycle club and traveled with a group on their motorcycles to Bike Week in Daytona every year. Once she’d gotten over the shock and saw how much fun they were having, she left them alone to do their thing.

“I asked her that, but she said Dad was too busy, never paid any attention to her, because he was working so much. Too bad she couldn’t appreciate that he was working so hard to continue to give her the things she’d
always wanted. My mother never worked a day in her life. She has a college degree she never used. I never knew how selfish she could be until now.”

Ellie said nothing, she just relaxed in his arms and let him vent. It seemed there was a lot he needed to get off his chest. Moments later, when he was finished, he sat there and held her, and she sat there glad to be held. She looked up at him. “Did you get something to eat?”

He nodded. “Yes. Thanks. The spaghetti was good, by the way.”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She glanced over at the window and saw it had gotten dark outside. She wondered if he would be staying for the night or if he would return to his home. As if he read her thoughts, he leaned closer to her ear and asked in a whisper, “May I spend the night?”

She twisted around in his arms again, and gently pushed him back against the sofa cushion, to sprawl her body over his. She smiled up at him and said, “Yes, you may,” before leaning up and placing her mouth on his.

In sleep, Ellie shifted her body to snuggle closer to him, and instinctively, Uriel tightened his arms around her. At least one of them was getting some rest, he thought, as he glanced around the room. They had left a small lamp on near the bedside. He had wanted to see her face while they’d made love. He had wanted to watch how pleasure infused her features when she came. Seeing it would make him explode inside of her, permeate her insides with the essence of him, and she would use her
muscles to clamp tight on him, refusing to let him go until she was sure she’d gotten the very last drop.

The thought of a woman wanting that much of him, the thought of wanting to give a woman that much of himself clamored his senses; but then there was nothing about their relationship that was even close to what he was accustomed to with a woman. He had talked about his parents to her. Granted, she knew them, but still, he had told her things he would never have shared with another woman.

And she had listened. He had a feeling that, deep down, she truly cared. Ellie had offered words of encouragement regarding his father. The main thing he should do now was just hope that his father continued to get involved in things. His dad had agreed to go with them to the next NASCAR race in Indianapolis, and that was good. Another good thing was that he would be spending time with Zion this week.

At thirty, Zion was the youngest of the godsons and the one everyone thought needed the most attention, mainly because Zion was considered the loner, the one who would go for months without staying in touch.

The five godbrothers understood and respected Zion’s need for privacy when he was working on his jewelry pieces. Unfortunately the godfathers most often did not. When one would show up unexpectedly, interrupting Zion’s work flow, he would be quick to put them to work. Uriel could only smile at the thought that his father was sitting somewhere soldering jewelry pieces at this very minute. At least it would keep his old man’s mind occupied for a while.

Another thing Donovan had suggested was that his father start dating. If his mother was all wrapped up in someone, then maybe his father should find someone, too. But preferably, unlike his mother, who’d basically gone and robbed the cradle, he’d choose someone closer to his age. Donovan’s cousin Vanessa had hinted at introducing his father to her widowed mother. He’d seen Vanessa’s mother, and he would be the first to admit that the lady was very attractive. And Anthony Lassiter, at fifty-five, was a good looking man who kept himself in excellent physical shape.

Ellie shifted again and whispered his name, but he quashed the urge to wake her up and make love to her again. He’d certainly made up for not having slept with her last night. They had ended up making love on the sofa downstairs, and then had come back upstairs to make love again. And he had enjoyed each and every moment of it.

But he didn’t want to dominate all her time during the coming days, and wasn’t into her dominating his, especially since he still had a lot of reading about his publishing company to do. Evidently, she had completed whatever it was she’d been reading. He would spend the night, and tomorrow he would return to his place for awhile and do a few things over there. Five men could get pretty damn sloppy, even in one day, and he needed to clean up the place.

“Uri?”

He glanced down and saw her sleepy eyes staring up at him. “Did my moving around wake you up?” he asked in a low tone.

“No. I woke up on my own.” A smile touched her lips. “And now, since I am awake,” she said, pushing him back among the pillows and straddling her body over his, “I might as well take advantage of it.”

And she did.

U
riel paused in taking the fish off the hook and glanced over at Ellie. “What do you mean you don’t know how to clean fish?” The two of them had gone fishing, and he couldn’t believe, he refused to believe what she’d just said.

She shrugged. “I mean what I said. No one has ever taught me. When my dad and I used to fish he would clean them. The times I went fishing with you and your godbrothers, you all would do all the cleaning. There was no need for me to learn.”

Uriel squinted his eyes against the brightness of the sun. “Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is a need now. We both clean the fish we catch. I believe in equal opportunity.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the face she made at him before turning and prancing off the pier and
walking toward her house, giving him a delectable view of her backside in a pair of shorts.

“And just where do you think you’re going, hot pants?” he called out to her.

She turned around with her chin lifted in the air and said, “Home. I don’t want to play with you anymore. I’m going to take a shower and relax. Later, after you’ve cleaned
all
the fish, come join me.”

He lifted a brow. “Umm, and what do I get?”

“What you’ve been getting all week,” she replied bluntly, before turning around and continuing her walk home.

Uriel couldn’t help the huge smile that touched his lips. Damn, had it been a full week already? Actually, it had been more than a week. Ten days, to be exact, and the woman had proven to be temptation and enticement all rolled into one.

Nothing was going as he’d planned. He’d thought he could leave her during the day and just show up at night for sex, but things weren’t quite working out that way. He’d tried it the first day, but now he was looking in her face 24/7. And he liked being inside her body, as well. He hadn’t missed a day making love to her since his godbrothers’ departure, alternating between his bed and hers.

They had taken out the time to go fishing, and she had helped him when he’d decided his living room needed a new coat of paint. They had done a movie night over at his place. He’d even been helping her pack up her aunt’s belongings in between bouts of lovemaking. Hell, they made love all the time and he was enjoying the hell out of it. But then they would sit down and talk
as well. She told him about how she was thinking about going into business for herself, but wasn’t sure if that would be the right move. She even mentioned just hanging out at the lake house a few more months before getting back into the workforce. And because he had been in the corporate world a lot longer than she had, he’d given her advice on what companies to avoid. One thing he liked was that she listened and asked questions. Bottom line was that he enjoyed her company both in and out of bed.

Picking up both of their fishing rods as well as the bucket filled with the fish they’d caught, he made it back over to his place. He placed the fish in the sink and grabbed a beer out of the fridge, deciding he would cool down before cleaning the fish. Then he would take a shower and go find Ellie, and when he found her he would—

The ringing of his cell phone interrupted his thoughts, but that was okay, since he knew exactly what he would do to her. He pulled his cell phone out of the back pocket of his shorts. “Yes?”

“Hey, Uri, this is Donovan. I’m a new uncle again. Morgan and his wife Lena just had a son. He came out looking like a slugger. I bet he weighed every bit of ten pounds.”

For the next few minutes, he and Donovan talked about the new baby and how the parents were handling things. And then Donovan asked, “How’s the fishing? They still biting pretty good?”

“Yes. You ought to grab your fishing rod and come down a few days.” Since Donovan had never met Ellie, he wouldn’t feel inclined to protect her honor like his
godbrothers had. But Uriel had made up his mind about a few things this week. No matter who else showed up at the lake—except for her parents or his, as a matter of respect—he didn’t intend on spending a single night out of her bed.

For him to be involved in an affair was commonplace to Donovan, and he wouldn’t think anything unusual. With Ellie living next door, Donovan would only think of it as convenient. Before Natalie had come into Donovan’s life, he’d been Charlotte’s number-one player. In a way, Uriel still couldn’t believe Donovan had given all of it up. Just for one woman.

“Donovan, I need to ask you something,” he said, when both confusion and curiosity got the best of him.

“Sure. What?”

Uriel knew that although he and Donovan were thick as thieves, were more brothers than friends, he still wanted to word his question carefully. He didn’t want to offend anyone or give the impression Donovan had made one hell of a mistake. But his engagement was still too mind-boggling to think about, and Uriel needed his friend to explain why.

“This thing with you and Natalie. The two of you just met last month. She’s a gorgeous woman and a nice person to boot. I liked her off the bat, but you’ve dated a lot of women—lookers, stunners, women so attractive I could weep with envy. Just think of all the booty calls you’re giving up. My question to you is, is it—”

“Worth it?” Donovan finished for him.

Uriel released a long and deep breath. “Yes, is it worth it?”

Donovan didn’t say anything for a moment, and then he said, “I wish I could explain it, Uriel, but I doubt if I can. And to answer your question, yes, it’s worth it.
She
is worth it. I didn’t think I would say that about any woman. You know my philosophy. There were too many out there to settle on just one. Being inside the body of one was no different than being inside the body of another. But I found out that isn’t true. There is a difference when something comes into the mix you don’t expect. Love. Damn, man, it was the weirdest thing. I think I fell in love with Natalie the moment I met her, and one of these days real soon I’m going to have to tell you all about it. You won’t believe how we actually met. And although I thought it was all about sex, and once I took her to bed that would be that, I found out it wasn’t. There is a difference, and if you ever meet a woman—the woman who is wearing your name somewhere on her heart—you will know. Maybe not right away, but eventually you will.”

Uriel thought about what Donovan was saying. If he didn’t know his friend as the man he was, as the player he had been, Uriel would think he was nothing more than a lovesick puppy. But he knew that wasn’t the case. Donovan hadn’t been out there looking for love. He had been doing what he usually did when it came to women, which was looking for sex. But now he was making plans to spend the rest of his life with the same woman, and he actually seemed happy about it. Uriel could not detect one ounce of regret in his voice.

“Like I said, Uriel, you’ll know her.”

Uriel frowned, deciding not to waste time telling his
friend it wouldn’t happen to him. That even if he met this woman, whose name he was supposedly wearing on his heart, he would wonder if she would eventually do to him the same thing his mother had done to his father. The thought of losing his mind over a woman was something he refused to consider.

“I know you met Natalie that one time at the Racetrack Café, but I’d love to bring her down to the lake to spend time with you. How about a fish fry next weekend?” Donovan was saying.

Uriel smiled. He had no problem getting out the fryer again. “Sounds like a great idea, and you and Natalie can have the whole house to yourself for the weekend.”

“And where will you be?” Donovan asked.

“Next door. The woman next door and I are…friends,” he said, knowing Donovan would get his drift.

“Oh, okay. If you’re sure it’s okay, I’ll make certain Natalie will be available for next weekend. I’ll call you later today and let you know.”

“All right.”

After hanging up the phone and placing it back in his pocket, Uriel still felt a bit confused, as well as somewhat curious. Maybe seeing Donovan and Natalie interact would help him understand the gist of it all. The one and only time he’d seen them together they’d been at odds with each other, and the only thing Uriel had felt flowing between them were tension and anger, at least from Natalie. Donovan had simply come across as frustrated.

Oh, well, he thought, as he went to work cleaning the fish, love and marriage might be for some people, but it definitely wasn’t for him.

A just-showered, fully relaxed Ellie slumped down in her favorite chair by the window, with her laptop in her hand, ready to write a couple of scenes today. And from where she was sitting, she’d be able to see Uriel when he left his house to come to hers.

She began typing, and as if she were in another world, one filled with love and passion, she brought life once again to Grant and Tamara. Her hands seemed to flow over the keys, knowing what they were about to say before they said it.

Moments later, when Ellie finally got to a love scene, she began typing, truly inspired. She and Uriel had been sharing a bed for more than a week and she had never known a more passionate man. Her cheeks couldn’t help but color with a blush just thinking about their nights as well as their mornings. And it just wasn’t in the things he did, but also the things he said. The man took pillow talk to a whole other level.

She wasn’t aware just how long she’d sat there typing, when she heard the sound of a door slamming shut. She glanced up and saw Uriel step off his porch and head over to her place. He glanced up and saw her sitting by the window and smiled before waving at her. She smiled back, noting he had showered and changed clothes.

Ellie shut down her laptop, but not before noting just how much she’d typed. She smiled, pleased with her accomplishment for the day. And she was pleased with how things were going between her and Uriel. It was pretty nice waking up in a man’s arms every morning, after falling asleep once she’d been thoroughly made love to at night.

Then there were the other things they did together, like cook breakfast and dinner. He helped her pack up the last of her aunt’s belongings to give away and had helped store in the attic those things she wanted to keep. He had driven her into town to a nursery to purchase a couple of fruit trees she wanted for the backyard, and had even chopped wood for the winter months; if she decided to come back later in the year, there would be enough ready for the fireplace. And he had made watching movies with him special.

Sensations suddenly overwhelmed her at the thought that in two weeks he would be leaving Cavanaugh Lake to return to Charlotte. Their affair would be ending. She would remain here and finish the book, which shouldn’t take too long. Then she would return to Boston. She had decided to wait until the first of the year to decide if she wanted to go back into corporate America, or start her own business. Uriel had given her good advice regarding the pros and cons of both.

She didn’t have to look up to know he had entered the bedroom. She felt his presence. She was intercepting his heat. She knew, at that moment when they went their separate ways, her pain would be almost too much to bear, but she would. She had no choice.

Tilting her head back, she stared at him. He was leaning in the doorway, shirtless and wearing a pair of shorts that, in her opinion, looked just as scandalous as any she’d ever worn. They displayed just what a good physique he had: flat stomach; muscular thighs; strong legs. And a thick arousal pressing hard
against his crotch. It wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t know what was behind the shorts. She knew every solid inch of him there, had seen it erect and nonerect. Her fingers had touched it, gently squeezed it, had given it her own personal massage. And one night, in a surprise move and with a bold degree of naughtiness, her mouth had tasted it, almost greedily, and several satisfied groans had escaped his lips. She now knew all the things that brought him pleasure, all the ways they could be done, what it took to push him over the edge, make him call out her name in a throaty growl. Remembering made an intense shudder ripple down her spine.

She had opened the bedroom window earlier, and a gentle breeze was coming in, stirring the heat he was emitting, as well as his scent. The air between them seemed to spark, and she had a feeling if she didn’t say something, didn’t start conversation, they were liable to go up in flames just from staring across the room at each other. So to break the silence, she asked, “Did you get all the fish cleaned?”

“Yes, with no help from you.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle. “You poor baby. Do you want some cheese to go with that whine?”

“Do you really want to know what I want, Ellie?”

“No,” she said, managing a faint smile, letting her gaze travel back down to his crotch, then back to his face. “I have an idea.”

A smile curved his lips. “And you’re probably right. But I can wait till after dinner for you to be my dessert,” he said, coming into the room. “Besides, we need to talk.”

She raised a brow. “About what?”

“More company coming. My business partner, Donovan Steele. I think I mentioned he’d gotten engaged.”

She nodded. “Yes, you did.”

“Well, I invited him and his fiancée to come to Cavanaugh Lake for the weekend for a fish fry.”

“This weekend?”

He chuckled. “No, next weekend. I haven’t forgotten my promise to take you rafting in the Smokies this weekend.”