Grayslake: More than Mated: Unbearable Love (Kindle Worlds Novella) (9 page)

L
ily looked
and sounded fine when they left the B&B, but Eli knew something wasn’t right. Julia had yanked Lily’s chain or rattled her cage. Enough so, that her heart rate took off like a doe in a hunter’s sight.

His eyes moved from the road to Lily’s car in his rearview mirror, looking for signs of distress. He was finely tuned into his mate, and even though she was a car-length behind him, he could smell her fear.

Frustrated, he was tempted to pull over and drag her into his arms. Everything would be okay. It had to be. This relationship was like a tornado that swept them both up. He didn’t know if he was coming or going. All he knew was he’d hang on until the storm passed because Lily was worth it. And whatever problem was bothering her, they would weather together.

He reached Miller Grocery a moment before her and was out of his truck waiting when she pulled up. He barely let her get a foot out the door of her car before he picked her up and hugged her tightly.

“What’s wrong, my Lily Love?” He adored the way her name rolled off his tongue. How funny her last name was Love. It was perfect for his girl.

“Nothing. Everything is good.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with desperation. The kiss scared him. It held a little bit of
I want you
and a lot of uncertainty.

“Lily.” Eli sat her on the trunk of her car and stepped between her thighs, pinning her in place. “We’re fated, which means I feel everything you feel. What are you afraid of darlin’?”

“Everything.” She reached up and wound her finger through his hair. “I’m afraid that what we have will be snatched away. I’m afraid that you’ll wake up one day and realize I’m no prize.” She inhaled a shaky breath. “I’m afraid of losing you.”

“Never gonna happen, sweetheart.” He nipped at her lips and ran his tongue across her jawline up to her ear. “I’m obsessed with you, and we haven’t even had sex.”

“That’s the other thing. What if I’m awful at the sex part?” She looked around the parking lot and relaxed when she saw they were alone.

“That’s not possible.” He pushed forward and rubbed his hardened length into her thigh. “Look what you do to me? Besides, I saw how you pleasured yourself, and the sounds you made would never come from a woman who’s bad in bed.”

“I’m afraid.”

Eli pulled her to his chest. “Then, we’ll wait until you’re not. We have a lifetime, Lily, and although I’d cut my left nut off to have you right this minute, I’d also wait to make sure it’s perfect for you.”

“Oh, Eli, how did I get so lucky to find you? You’re like a needle in a haystack.”

“I’m your needle baby, and I can’t wait to poke you.” He laughed at his lewd joke and lifted her from the car. “But…I’ll wait.” He adjusted his pants and walked her into the grocery store.

“Grab your favorites.” He pulled a cart from the corner and began tossing items into the basket. It wasn’t as if he had a plan, he wanted Lily to have anything she desired.

“I love chips and cheese.” She reached over and grabbed a bag of cheese-covered corn chips. Eli pulled several varieties from the shelf and put them into the cart.

“What did Julia hand you at the car?”

Lily stumbled a bit then regained her footing.

“My license. She said she found it in the hallway after we left.”

“Possible, but improbable. It was her way of telling you she was the one who vandalized your room.”

“Possibly, and probably.” Lily headed straight for the cookie shelf and pulled two boxes down. Eli followed up with a few more. He didn’t want her to run out.

When they turned the corner, they almost ran over Parker, but Mia was quick to pull him aside. “Young man, you’ll be the death of me—and you.”

“Mia.” Eli nodded, and knelt before the precocious little boy. “Parker, behave yourself.” He ruffled the little boy’s hair then stood.

Mia’s eyes widened when Eli put his arm around Lily. “Open season looks like it’s been successful for you.” Mia offered her hand to Lily. “We met at the sheriff’s office. I’m Ty’s wife, Mia.” She glanced down. “This little spitfire is Parker.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lily.”

“Lily is mine.” Eli broadened his chest.

Mia nodded her head. “So it would seem.” She eyed the area where Lily’s neck and shoulder met. “When will this be official?”

Eli knew she was looking for his mark, and if it were up to him, Lily would have been marked and mated already.

All eyes turned to Lily. A blush flooded her cheeks. “I’m still trying to convince him he deserves more.”

Mia placed her hands on Lily’s shoulders. “Don’t fight it if you feel it.” She leaned in and hugged Lily. “Welcome to the family, Lily.” Mia stopped Parker from scaling the shelving unit. “Parker, let’s go, young man. We have to rescue your father from babysitting duty. Or, maybe we need to rescue Sophia from your father.” She started to walk past them but turned around. “Let’s have a barbecue tomorrow. Bring your honey barbecue sauce. See you tomorrow, Lily.”

Eli turned to Lily. “I guess we’re going to a clan barbecue tomorrow.”

“Wow, I’ve never met anyone so confident.”

“She’s the Itana, but more important, she’s a good person. Everyone loves her.”

“If you’re bringing barbecue sauce, I have to bring something too.”

When would Lily start getting the message that they were a team? “We’re bringing barbecue sauce, Lily. We’re a unit now. No one will ever think of us as individuals. You don’t think of Lucy without Ricky. You can’t mention Mickey and not talk about Minnie. What about Tarzan and Jane?”

“I was thinking Bonnie and Clyde.”

“Planning on a heist?” He pulled catsup and peppers from the shelf and placed them in the cart.

“Does stealing your heart count?” He loved the way she was opening up. Whatever had clouded her mood earlier dissipated, and Lily was pure sunshine.

“Crime of the century.” Eli trapped her between him and the cart and pressed his body to hers as he walked around the store.

She picked out fruit and grabbed the fixin’s for a salad. “I’ll make dinner tonight.”

“Darlin’ I plan to feast on you.” When his lips kissed her neck, she squealed.

“Oh, look at how much of me there is. You’ll never starve.”

Eli wrapped his arms around her, grazing her breast on the journey. “You’re everything I crave.” Hidden by a fruit display, his hands roamed her body.

Her breath hitched. “You’re a man with simple tastes.”

Pressed against the banana display, he turned her around and tasted her thoroughly. “There’s nothing simple about you, but there’s so many things to taste.” Sliding his tongue across her throat, he settled on the place he planned to mark. Her blood vibrated against his mouth. “This place, right here.” He allowed his teeth to graze the artery pulsing at her neck. “This is mine. You are mine.”

Lily’s knees buckled beneath her and she would have collapsed if Eli weren’t there to catch her.

“Yours.”

“Mine.” He steadied her. “Let’s go, baby, we have a lot to accomplish.”

“Yes.”

Eli liked that he’d reduced her to single words. What he liked the most were the actual words she spoke.

“Yours” and “Yes” were his favorites.

“Are you okay to drive?”

“Yes.”

“Ready to go home, baby?”

“Yes.”

“Ready to give yourself to me completely?”

Lily stiffened. “Maybe.”

Shit.

One-word answers had lost their appeal.

C
ould she
? Should she? He wanted her. She wanted him. What would happen if she followed everyone’s advice and stopped fighting the inevitable? Fate had brought them together. Certainly, it could keep them together. In her heart, she belonged to Eli, but in her head, she was still the daughter of a powerful Itan who wouldn’t hesitate to tear Eli’s throat out.

She followed Eli’s silver truck all the way up the bumpy road to his house. It wasn’t enough time to calm her nerves or devise a plan.

Don’t fight it.

Don’t fight it.

She’d never felt her inner beast surface with such conviction before, but she understood Eli when he said his bear was clawing to get out of his skin. She’d have to tell him who she was before he claimed her. Not telling him was the equivalent of poking holes in condoms. She didn’t want to trap him into a situation he’d regret. She exited her car with a half-assed plan.

“What do you want to do with the afternoon?” It was a silly question. His eyes told her everything he wanted to do. If she weren’t mistaken, he wanted to do it multiple times.

He rushed around the kitchen, putting the groceries away. “I thought about that on the way up the hill.” He reached around her and snatched a box of cookies from the table. Once opened, he offered her the triple-chipped delight. “I think one of the reasons you’re nervous is because we don’t know each other that well.”

Lily experienced a flip in her stomach. It was as if they were sharing a brain. “I was thinking the same thing.” She bit the chips from around the cookie and watched Eli’s muscles ripple with each lift and stretch of his arms.

He walked past her to an entry closet and removed a long-sleeved shirt. “In order to know me, you have to know what I do. Put this on.” He tossed the shirt in her direction, and when she had it on, he helped her button it up.

“Your bees.” She gobbled up the last bit of cookie and rolled up the too-big sleeves.

Eli rolled them back down so they covered her hands. Out of the closet, he pulled a net-looking tent he placed on her head. “Bees sting, Lily.”

“What about you, Eli? Are you like your bees? Do you sting?” The net fell against her face, and she spent the next few minutes blowing it away so it didn’t attach to her sticky lips.

In a voice as thick as honey, he answered. “Would you like that?”

Eli lifted the veil. She was taken by surprise when his tongue slicked across her lips. It was a slow pass and every cell in her body responded.

“So sweet and delicious.” He pulled her lower lip into his mouth and suckled it. He tasted the depths of her mouth. His exploration was thorough. Not a crease or crevice went uncharted. “I love…”

Lily held her breath and waited for his next words. She didn’t understand this “fated to be mated” stuff. Was it biological or was it a soul connection? Could a person fall in love that fast? Would he say the words she craved to hear?

“You what?” Her voice was low and sultry. She halfway seduced herself with it.

He stood back and replaced the veil over her face. “I love the way you taste. The way you feel in my arms. I love…what you mean to my life.”

She didn’t know what she expected to hear, but she was intrigued. “What do I mean to you?”

“Everything, Lily.” He opened the door and walked onto the porch. “You mean everything.”

Lily floated on a cloud of what ifs and maybes as they made their way into the woods surrounding the cabin. She daydreamed about their future while he talked about beekeeping and how different flowers produced different tasting honey—how a clover honey was almost clear whereas an oak honey was as dark and thick as oil. She took two steps to his one to keep up with his long strides. Several minutes later, the sun beat down around them. The clearing was vast and full of stacked crates. Hundreds of hives dotted the open field.

The leaves in the forest around them swayed in the breeze. Birds flew overhead, but not a sound could be heard over the buzz of Eli’s bees.

A netted head cover hung from a nearby branch. Eli grabbed it and plopped it on his head.

“What about your hands?” Buried inside his long-sleeved shirt, she fisted her palms around the excess fabric.

“My hands are like leather.” Facing her, his roughened palms skimmed down the thin blue fabric covering her arms. “I never get stung, but I don’t want you to.”

“Are they aggressive?”

“Everything is aggressive when threatened.” His words rang true. Lily knew, without a doubt, she could turn into something ugly if Eli was threatened.

He gave her the grand tour, pulling supers from the boxes to show her the honeycombs and honey. The bees swarmed around them but she felt safe in Eli’s presence.

This wasn’t his only field. He had several, and each produced a particular honey. Planted around the hives were the flowers needed to produce the perfect mix.

“It seems like a lot of work.”

“The bees do most of the work. During harvest, I’ll spend every bit of daylight and most of dusk out here collecting the supers. Winter is easy. They hibernate. That’s when Brody and I experiment with the mead.” Eli looked her up and down. Lily felt naked under his examination. “Maybe this year I’ll take on the job of being your drone.”

“Isn’t the drones only job to feed and mate with the queen?”

“Yes, Lily, that’s right, and I’d happily take the job.”

“Before I give you the job, shouldn’t I interview all qualified individuals?” Lily loved teasing him. He could act like such a Neanderthal, but she liked his possessiveness. It made her feel like she had value.

“Darlin’, you wouldn’t make it to the first interview, or should I say, your interviewer wouldn’t make it past the hello phase.”

“You feel that strongly about it?”

“I do, and that says a lot, considering I was single and satisfied up until a few days ago. Then, I met you, and my whole world turned upside down. I’m risking my manhood to admit it, which makes me the biggest pussy in Grayslake.”

“My mom used to tell me if you don’t risk anything, you risk everything.” Those words ricocheted inside her head. What had she risked? What had she gained? Nothing. Absolutely nothing, and the time had come to put it all on the line. “Eli, there are things you should know about me. I’m—”

“Lily, I don’t care what you were, all I need to know is what you are. Mine. You’re mine.”

“But, Eli, I’m the d—”

“Darn cutest thing ever?” He placed his hand at the small of her back and pressed her forward—away from the field and conversation. “Yes, I know.”

They walked side by side to the next field. It was filled with a carpet of green clovers and white flowers.

“Your eyes remind me of fresh-sprouted clover.” Eli stepped in front of her and pulled off his head cover and raised the veil of hers like a groom would his bride. “I want to see your green eyes when I claim you.”

Her heart doubled its pace. Would he claim her now?

“Now?”

“No, darlin’, but soon.” His hands might be like leather but his lips were velvet, and each touch from them made her blood pump faster, and her skin burn hotter.

“Eli.” She had to tell him. I’m—”

“You’re mine.” When his lips came down on hers, she was silenced. Her confession would have to wait for another time.

Like teenagers, they stood in the meadow away from prying eyes and kissed until they had their fill. She loved the feel of his hands on her hips, his hard body pressed into hers, his ridged length a reminder of what lay ahead. And for the first time, it didn’t scare her. She would give this man everything. He already had her heart and soul. The only thing left to claim was her body.

Clouds darkened the sky and thunder shook the ground beneath their feet. “How fast can you run?”

“How fast do I have to run?” A crack of lightening answered her. They were off like sprinters. Eli led the way back to the house. The sky opened up a minute before they hit the porch.

“Oh, my goodness.” Lily pushed her wet hair from her face. “I’m soaked.” She shivered in a puddle on the porch.

“Let’s get you warm.” Eli scooped her up and rushed her to the bathroom where he sat her on the counter before he started the shower. “I’ll start dinner while you freshen up.” With a backwards glance, he took one step out the door.

“Stay with me.” This was it. She was risking everything. Her life. His life. Their future. “Don’t leave me, Eli.” Lily held out her hand and waited.

“Does that mean you’re ready to give me everything?”

Lily chewed her lip in earnest. “Does it mean you’ll accept me for everything I am. All the bad, the good, and the ugly?”

Eli closed the gap between them. He pulled his wet shirt over her head. “I already told you. I don’t care what you were yesterday, as long as you’re mine right now.”

God, this man was sexy. His green shirt stuck to every dip and curve of his chest. There was nothing left to her imagination, and yet, she imagined a great deal. “I’m yours.”

Eli pulled the cotton T over his head. “The last time we were in here together, it was quite stimulating.”

“We can do better.” Lily closed her eyes and lifted her shirt. The cotton tugged against her skin, causing goosebumps to rise on her flesh. Her nipples hardened to rock-like pebbles. Her heart tittered and skipped a beat. Her knees shook. Her body quaked. Was it the cool air, or was it knowing when she opened her eyes, he’d be staring at her?

One eye at a time, she peeled her lids open to find Eli taking her in. He wasn’t looking at her breasts that spilled over the cup of her white, lacy bra. He was looking at her, and she’d never felt more naked or exposed in her life. The funny thing was, it had nothing to do with her lack of clothes. He was seeing her for all that she was and wasn’t and if his grin was an indication, he liked what he saw.

With trembling fingers, she unbuttoned her jeans and pulled down the zipper one tooth at a time. The clicking of the metal tab eating its way down caused her to shudder with excitement. She kicked off her shoes and shimmied out of her wet pants.

Eli’s gaze was smoldering. “Come here, love.”

Without hesitation, Lily walked into his arms.

“You’re warm,” she said the moment she felt him next to her.

“You’re damn hot. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.” When his lips kissed her shoulders, she sighed. That’s what she wanted. She wanted his hands, his mouth, and his body all over hers.

He lifted the strap of her bra. “Can I?” He asked, not assumed, and when she nodded her head, he didn’t rip it from her body like in the books she consumed. He peeled it down her arm, exposing her skin an inch at a time. When her right breast broke free, he sucked in the air around them.

Lily scented something she’d never smelled before. Desire spun around them like a cyclone. With nimble fingers, he unhooked her bra and tossed the wet material onto the floor. Her breasts floated in his palms. His passion strained against his pants.

“You do something to me, Lily. You make me feel things I didn’t think were possible.”

Her shaky hand slid down his bare stomach to his jeans. She skimmed his waistband and settled her hand over his bulge. He was hard and thick and long.

“I feel things I’ve never felt before, too.” She’d never touched a man’s parts before. She’d read about a lot of them. In books, they were always long, thick, and throbbing, and in Eli’s case, it was no different. With timid fingers, she freed his beast and ran her thumb over its stretched satin surface.

His growl rattled the windows of the house. “Lily, you’re killing me.”

“Yes, but you’ll die a happy man.”

Eli shoved his jeans to the tile floor. He was perfect in his nakedness. All that remained on Lily was a pair of cotton panties. But they didn’t last long. One tug and they were gone.

“That’s better.”

“Yes…better.”

“Close your eyes. Let me make you feel.”

Lily did as he asked. It was an odd feeling having him lead her into the water while her mind floated in the clouds. “Hmm,” she moaned as the heat of his tongue licked at her body while the heat of the water licked her skin.

“Is this okay?” His hands were everywhere, and yet, they never touched the one place she craved him the most.

“Yes, it’s so good,” she sang out. “Had I known…” Her breath quickened with each touch. As his hands explored her body, he brought out feelings and emotions foreign to her. Her nipples ached for the heat of his tongue. Her thighs clenched at the emptiness between them. “More.”

“Baby, I’m going to give you a taste of everything tonight.”

“You’re going to taste everything?” Lily’s head fell back as she experienced sensations only described in the naughty books she consumed by the dozens. Heat raced across her body and exploded between her thighs when Eli fell to his knees and buried his face in her most private place.

“Oh, God,” she called out. Hot and persistent, his tongue lashed at her. Pure pleasure thrummed through her veins.

“Sweet. So damn sweet.” Long strokes followed by tiny flicks of his tongue had her grinding her sex against his mouth without shame.

“Feel good?” He pulled the hardened nub into his mouth and sucked.

Lily would have slid to the floor if Eli weren’t supporting her weight. His arms circled her thighs, giving her just enough support to stand.

Fire burned in her center until she was certain she’d explode. When her legs shook, Lily knew she was close. The tide of her passion rolled in and out as he sucked and pulled at her bundle of nerves until it came crashing back. Wave after wave consumed her until she was limp and worn through.

“Eli, I’ve never…” The rest of the words escaped her.

“I’m glad.” He stood and pulled her into his arms. “How do you feel?”

“I…I…I feel selfish.” She rested her head against his chest. Without his support, she’d be lying in a heap at his feet. “You gave everything, I gave nothing. If that was a code sixty-nine, we only got to the six.”

Eli pulled the soap from the holder and lathered up his hands. “Lily, I’ll be happy to let you wine, and dine, and nine me later.” He rubbed his soapy hands all over her body. “Right now, this is about you.”