Signed and Sealed (14 page)

From far off in the distance, he could hear a dog barking. It seemed like a dream at first, but the sound grew nearer and nearer and louder and louder until he was brought back to awareness and came fully awake. Disoriented, he jumped to his feet and looked around. It was a few moments before he remembered his walk and the stream. Will checked his watch and was startled to realize he’d been asleep for nearly two hours.

“William!” He could hear Eli calling, but he couldn’t see him, until suddenly a large, dark horse burst out of the underbrush and leapt toward him.

Will stepped back, losing his balance, stumbling against the tree and landing on the ground with a thump. Elijah quickly dismounted and immediately helped him up, hauling Will up against him.

“Do you have any idea how long you’ve been gone?” he asked. His voice was tense with worry but he did not seem angry, which surprised Will. He felt a little guilty for causing Eli concern. “I went for a walk, and I sat by the stream for a while.” He was scrambling for a plausible explanation. “I fell asleep, I’m sorry.” He looked like a complete idiot, and he knew it.

“Am I always going to be looking for you?” Eli said with a hint of humor. He released him and stepped back a few feet; Will missed his support. He leaned back against the tree to steady himself as Elijah moved toward the stream and just stood there looking out at it. “I was worried about you,” he stated without turning around. Will did not respond. “I’m sorry for standing you up at breakfast.” Will stared at Eli’s back, wondering why he would feel the need to apologize to him for that.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said absently. “It’s not important.”

Eli swung on Will, pinning him to his spot with eyes that flashed and burned. “It damn well is important!” he nearly shouted. “Do you really think so little of yourself that you don’t care how you are treated?” Eli was directly over him now. Will was flat against the willow and wishing there was some way to get around it and away from Eli. He was so close that there was no way for him to move without having Eli move first.

“Of course I care! That’s why I didn’t meet you in the stable,” Will answered hotly.

He smiled smugly. “I thought so.”

Will realized then that Eli had trapped him into admitting his motives. Another game, another trick; it never ended.

“That’s why you took off, too, isn’t it?”

Will just glared; there wasn’t any need to answer him.

Eli’s eyes traveled Will’s face, studying every nuance of expression. “You
are
important, and you matter very much.” Eli continued to watch him, and Will met his gaze but said nothing. This man was trouble. He was too smooth, too knowing. Will could lose himself in this man. His pretense of love and desire was truly ridiculous; Will’s rational mind told him this, but his heart was aching, and his senses needed what Eli was offering. Will wanted him so badly that his hands were shaking with the need to touch him. How was he to defend himself, and how was he going to survive until the thirty-first? None of this was real to him.

“I’m sorry for worrying you and for making you interrupt your day to come find me.” He repeated his apology laced with sarcasm.

“I thought you might have gotten lost. Rob told me that he gave you my message.” Eli smiled down at him. “He also told me that you walked off in the opposite direction. I’ve been riding around looking for you for a while now. Jake, here, is the one who rooted you out.” Elijah patted the large hound sitting at his feet. “Go on home, Jake,” he commanded, and the dog instantly took off.

“Your dog is well trained,” Will commented.

“If only I could say the same for my men.” Elijah laughed at his outraged expression.

“I’m not your man,” Will seethed.

“Ask anybody on this ranch or in this county, for that matter, and they will tell you that William Drake is Elijah Hunter’s man.” He laughed even more deeply and pulled Will up into his arms until he was practically off the ground. “Fight as you may, you cannot escape.”

“You are out of your mind,” Will declared and demanded to be released. He could feel the lean strength of Eli’s body pressed so tightly to his and fought the urge to succumb to him. Every fiber of Will’s being was screaming for Elijah to ravish him, but his mind kept him in check.

Suddenly, Eli picked him up completely, and cradling him in his arms, began walking toward his horse. “Let me go!” Will yelled.

“No,” Eli answered.

“What are you doing?” he said as Eli threw him up into the saddle.

“I’m taking you to lunch,” he answered as he swung himself up onto the horse, directly behind Will. Eli put his arms around him and drew Will up very close to him. “Are you comfortable?” he asked.

“Not very,” he answered unconvincingly. “I feel like I’m sitting on your lap.” To his consternation, he soon found himself rocking back and forth against Eli with every movement of the horse.
This shouldn’t be erotic
, he told himself, but his dick wasn’t listening at the moment.

“You are,” Eli declared. 

He walked the horse through the dense underbrush, but once they were on clear ground, he brought him to a full gallop. Will noticed that his knuckles were turning white due to the solid grip he had on the horn. Elijah held the reins with one hand and held Will tightly around the waist with the other. The faster the horse went, the tighter Eli held him. Will could feel Eli’s breath on his neck and the beat of his heart against his back, and he seemed so calm. His breath was even and steady, as was his heart. Whereas Will’s heart was racing and his breath was catching due to a combination of Eli’s nearness and the speed of the horse. Eli slowed the horse back to a trot after a mile or so, but did not loosen his grip on him.

“I have to meet with my men working on the south fence,” he said, “and then we will have lunch.” He squeezed Will playfully. “Okay?”

“Sure,” he answered hesitantly.
Where’s lunch going to be?
he wondered. They were miles from anywhere.

They rode up to a group of four men working on replacing a section of fence. They seemed very surprised to see Will with Elijah, but made no mention of the fact. Eli jumped down and handed the reins to Will.

“Hold him for me. His name is Buck. I will be right back,” Eli said and walked away toward the men. Will loved being in charge of the horse, although if Buck decided he wanted to leave, Will highly doubted that he would be able to stop him. He was a beautiful animal. Will wished he had the skill to ride him by himself unaided, but he didn’t know the first thing about riding. He watched as Elijah gave directions and some commands to his men and then returned to deftly swing back up into the saddle behind him. He was agile and in command, that was clear. He tightened his grip on Will once again, and they rode off.
So
what is the game today?
he wondered.

First it was the bank card and then the marriage proposal, what did he have planned today? What sort of test of his merit had Eli designed?
He seems genuinely happy to be with me, but he is also a very good actor. That proposal the other day could have melted the heart of anyone stupid enough to believe it. It affected me, too, but I’m not that stupid.
Rational thought and logic eventually gained the upper hand, and he was yanked back to the reality of his situation. All he could do was play along and hopefully not be taken in by Eli’s false sincerity. One wrong move and he would be paying the price for Katrina’s crimes.

Eli took him to a beautiful location for lunch. It was a large grassy knoll that overlooked a sparkling stream and miles of open range. Elijah spread out a blanket that he’d brought with him and laid out the lunch that Mrs. Coleman had prepared. Will was quite hungry and welcomed the sandwiches and the coffee. They sat there, side by side in silence, for some time before Will, as usual, was compelled to speak.

“What is it you really want from us?”

Eli didn’t answer. He continued to look out over the valley and eat his sandwich.

“You don’t want Katrina to marry Martin. You told me as much on the telephone. You said, ‘She will marry Martin over my dead body’,” Will reminded him. “Katrina does not have $500,000; you know that she has run through all the money and assets that Father left her.” Eli continued to eat and didn’t respond. “My property is not worth $500,000. It might be worth $250,000, but once you subtract the cost of litigation, you will probably end up with less than $100,000 to the good.”

“Your sister has two choices: she will marry or she will pay,” he said coldly. “My offer to you is still open,” he added without humor. 

“My question is, why go to all this trouble? Why not call the authorities, report the crime, and let that be an end to it?” Will wanted to respond to his previous statement but knew Eli was just baiting him again. He decided to just ignore it.

Eli looked at him then, searching his face before answering. “My reasons are my own,” he said.

“Okay.” He relented and let it go. “I probably wouldn’t understand, anyway.” Will took his mug and refilled it from the Thermos of coffee Eli had brought.

Elijah watched him, surprised by Will’s acceptance of his statement. Most people would have badgered and fought to get the answer they wanted. Will withdrew, knowing that his fight would be fruitless. Will understood more than he realized.

“Try this,” he said, changing the subject. “Mrs. Coleman makes them special just for me,” he gloated.

Will took a bite of Eli’s sandwich. “That’s really good. What is it?”

“It’s a secret,” he teased.

“May I have another bite?” Will asked, genuinely interested in the sandwich and in figuring out its contents.

Elijah offered the sandwich, and he took another bite and savored the ingredients. Will was deep in thought when Eli leaned over and gave him a light kiss. It was unexpected, and it startled him, so he jerked back. Eli leaned closer and caressed Will’s cheek with his hand.

“Don’t be afraid,” he whispered. His words were nearly brushing Will’s lips because his face was now so near to his. Eli’s thumb stroked his cheek, and his eyes roamed Will’s face. Gradually, the hand on his face slipped behind his neck and brought his head the few inches toward Eli’s. He kissed Will softly on the mouth. Will realized that, as before, he was not resisting Eli’s advances. It was the way he looked at him, touched him, and kissed him, that made him always want more. Eli’s lips pressed harder against his until Will opened up to him and began to return his kiss with almost a new level of desire on Will’s part; he did not hold back.

Overwhelmed by his sudden and unexpected compliance, Elijah groaned aloud and then went swiftly forward, laying him out on the blanket beneath them in a matter of seconds. His mouth gripped Will’s with a fierceness that surprised but did not scare him. Will arched his back, grinding himself against Eli wantonly, eliciting another groan for his efforts. Eli’s free hand moved to the waistband of Will’s jeans and began to undo the button and then the zip in one swift motion. Eli pulled off Will’s T-shirt and his own button-down, so their chests now rubbed together free of any barrier.

Will groaned into Eli’s mouth as his hand drifted down and cupped Will’s painfully hard arousal through his increasingly confining underwear. Will looked deep into Eli’s lust-darkened blue eyes and saw only love, want, and need mixed into one. Although his mind was telling him to back off, he ignored it. Instead he surrendered to the sensation of Eli peppering kisses down his body. Will ran his hands down Eli’s muscular back as he sucked on his shoulder, desperately trying to find purchase against Eli’s thigh, letting him know just how much he wanted this. 

Eli’s mouth left his, trailing kisses and whispers down his throat, exploring, tasting and touching. He was saying incredibly lovely things to Will as his hand continued to massage and stroke Will through the soft fabric of his underwear, building a heat and a need within him that was threatening to consume the last shreds of his guarded reserve. “Oh, Will,” Eli groaned and returned to plunder the moist softness of his lips.

He shifted his body slightly in order to cover Will more completely. Will marveled that for such a large and muscular man, he seemed virtually weightless upon him. His hips pressed urgently into him as Will wrapped his legs around Eli’s strong waist, as if giving entrance to the most vulnerable part of his being. Eli’s hand, which was doing so many new and marvelous things, moved to the waistband of Will’s jeans. With one swift motion, Eli rid Will of his jeans leaving him only in his underwear.

Feeling daring, Eli slowly moved his hand beneath the waistband and took Will’s manhood in his hands, marveling at the look of ecstasy on Will’s face. The exquisite thrill of his callus-roughened hand on Will’s over-sensitized cock was nearly overwhelming, and Will had to stop himself from coming right then and there.